Naruko: The Story Retold
by: dbrame91
Finally getting to just barely introduce two OC's that I have wanted to start using for a while in this chapter. Keep a lookout for them in a later chapter or two where I will give more info on them. Sorry about the too long break, I have had a lot of change with work and my personal life. Because of the long break I decided to make this an extra long chapter.
Chapter 13: Naruko
The time between Team 7's return and the start of the Chunin exam flew by. Everyday Kakashi and his students started with extreme conditioning, asking for Kushina's help in designing the training regimen. The training went until 1 o'clock in the afternoon, at which point the three teens would take a simple mission before being dismissed for the day. As the test drew closer with each day, Naruko found herself going to the large gates of her home to watch the people coming and going, keeping an eye out for anyone likely to be participating in the upcoming advancement tests.
It wasn't until the first day of the second week that Naruko began to spy foreign hitai-ate among the crowds. No one truly stood out for several days until a group from Kiri showed up. Naruko had been sitting on the top of the wall watching the groups approach. By this point it had become known that Konoha was housing one of the Mist's Seven Swordsmen, and that he was being treated as a probational member of the village. Any Kiri movements were to be treated with extra scrutiny and questioning. The team that came to their village was a four person cell of three Genin and one Jonin.
The Jonin was in a men's yukata of grey with misty blue patterning to it, one shoulder pulled off with the excess material tucked into the blue sash which also held a sword to his hip. Under the yukata he wore a black shirt similar to one of Kakashi's, though a bit more snug of a fit, and full length pants similar to the ones Zabuza had been wearing back in Nami. The mystery man's hair was black, and his facial features denoted his nation of origin from outside the Elemental Nations. In terms of his build, he was very similar to Kakashi, but on the taller side and a bit more upper body than the blond's own sensei.
The lone female on the team was a waif of a girl, slender form covered in a large cloth material that reminded the Uzumaki of something. Her ankles and wrists were shackled with chains going from cuff to cuff. The chains were long enough for her to get about half her full stride or wingspan in motion. With brown hair that seemed to be closer to going blond. Like her teacher, her features were that of an outsider but differed from those of the tall man's own, as if there was some very distant, ancient, relation in their history going back almost countless generations.
The other Genin were both male, neither one stood out in any way. Their attire was as if they had just grabbed whatever clothing they happened to find in a Kirigakure shop. Both carried smaller blades on the back of their waists. One was about the same size as Sasuke, while the other was more akin to Haku's structure of compact and light muscle.
At the gate they were stopped by the usually present guards who took on an air of extra seriousness when they saw the symbol of their Kiri allegiance. "Stop right there and hand your identification papers to us for inspection," One of the two guards said as he held an open hand out, signing for the four to stop. Each member of the team, except the girl, took out their paperwork, the girl's papers in her teacher's possession. "What are you four doing here?" The guard was sure he knew the reason but he had to follow orders on this matter. As he asked the question his companion went to the booth and began to check lists of expected visitors.
The teacher of the Genin team just smiled as he answered, his voice holding a slight accent. "We are here so my students may participate in the Chunin exams your village is holding." When the second guard returned he handed the paperwork to his partner and pointed to a concerning issue on the piece of paper.
The first guard eyed the issue before he looked back at the group. "If you are going to falsify identifications you should at least know to not use a clan name while you're in the clan's home village." The guard started to tense in anticipation as he not so subtly inclined the Kiri Jonin was lying. "And what about the girl? Konoha does not condone any form of enslavement."
"Ah, you mean 'Hyuuga'? That is purely in name only, and a favor from someone I helped during the tail end of the Third Shinobi war." The instructor answered. "As for my fellow foreign ninja, she is still learning the local language as she was abducted at a young age, but never taught by her abductor. We're not really sure where she comes from. And as a kindred spirit in the regard of being from outside the Nations I opted to take her in. The chains and shackles are a combination of training and necessary restraint."
The first guard didn't accept the explanation and got in the face of the swordsman. "Look, you can either turn around now or I can call for ANBU to take you in for questioning."
The foreign man's features grew serious as he met the eyes of the gate guard. "I do not lie if I can help it, however my proving my claim is something between the Hyuuga clan and myself." Stepping forward a bit more, the foreigner touched the tip of his nose to the other man's. With the distance between the two being nonexistent it became clear that the foreigner was half a head taller, and a few hands wider in the shoulders.
"OYYYY, WHAT'S GOING ON DOWN THERE!?" Naruko yelled down before jumping off the top of the wall to slide down the steep incline. When she came to a stop she looked over the Jonin and smiled as she stuck out her hand. "Namikaze Naruko, heiress to the Uzumaki clan, close friend of the Hyuuga." Her smile grew when the black haired man accepted the hand and shook it.
"Hello, my name is Misuto. Ahhh, good muscle definition and callous build up, you're a swordswoman. And going by the similarity to someone else I know, how is Zabuza doing? Is he a good teacher?" Naruko instantly pulled her hand free. "Apologies, I mean no harm. I know Zabuza-san from the Civil War, we both fought for the freedom Kiri is building."
"I don't know what you are talking about, but I will see if my teacher knows the guy." The blond replied as she backed away a step before bumping into someone behind her, at the same time she noticed the curious look on the waif's face in regards to her. The shackle bound girl's nose flaring by an almost imperceptible degree as she inhaled.
When Naruko looked up she saw that the person behind her was Zabuza, driving her adrenaline up as she got ready for anything. The former Kiri assassin crossed his arms over his chest in a relaxed manner. His Uzumaki clan loyalty displayed by the large, shoulder covering, patch on the left sleeve of his brown shirt. For pants he wore a camouflaged design of greens and browns, instead of the dull blues and grays of the Mist camo. "Been a while Misuto, how is Mei doing as Mizukage?"
"Not bad, worrying herself into wrinkles that she later complains about constantly." The Kiri shinobi stated as he looked at Zabuza. "Where is Kubikiribocho? I thought you would never be caught without it."
"Not allowed to leave the house with it. Still on probation, but the blond has a sword I can use if I need one." Zabuza's words were meant as a mix of banter and warning. Misuto nodded his head and put his hands up between himself and the other man. The two male genin both made a sudden rush, each drawing their weapon and going for Zabuza. Catching the start of the assault Naruko intercepted one, releasing her new sword from the scroll in her coat pocket to block the bulkier of the two. At the same time that the blond was moving so did the brunette girl, as she stood behind her thinner teammate the chain between her hands wrapped around his blade and pulling the tip back to point it at his own throat. "Though I would say that there is little to worry about here. Who taught these morons? Their form is terrible." Zabuza said in carefree conversation, ignoring the quickly settled activity of the four genin.
"Not really sure. Don't even know if they were taught. When I got the team their info said nothing about kenjutsu skill." Misuto answered with a weak sigh of exasperation. "Honestly this is the first time I've even seen them draw those cheap blades." Looking at the weapon locked against her own Naruko noticed the ornate design that spoke of the blade being a family heirloom.
"Well any time you need a practice partner come by the Uzumaki compound. I'm almost always there since I took over as the Head of the Guards. It is more of a title of loyalty, as there is just one other guard besides me." Zabuza said as he relaxed his arms and put a hand on Naruko's shoulders. "Why don't you take him to the Hyuuga compound so he can take care of his business there?" The question was meant as an order to the blond, who nodded her head and said the visiting team should at least go to their hotel first. The four complied, shadowed by ANBU the entire way after the quick outburst.
After they were assigned to their rooms the two foreign ninja dropped off any supplies they had, and followed Naruko to the Hyuuga Estate. "So how is it that a complete outsider is actively using the Hyuuga name, when not a Hyuuga?"
"You will see in due time young Namikaze," was Misuto's only reply. When they got to the large gate to the compound the guards stood a bit taller. "I have business with your clan head and lady. They would not know I am coming though, so I will wait."
"We can already tell you, that you are not going into our clan's home. Only Hyuuga clansmen may come and go without appointment." The older of the two guards responded as he crossed his arms over his chest, well aware of the two ANBU watching from a rooftop.
"And that is why I am here." Rolling up the long sleeve of his undershirt, Misuto exposed an odd version of the Caged Bird Seal. "This mark was given to me during the Third Shinobi War, with the claim that if it was ever needed, I would be able to seek aid from the Hyuuga clan. It is not an active curse seal like what your clan uses, just the image." This earned the Jonin a violent response from the guards who rushed him, both ready to strike, before being called off.
"Enough! Let him and the two with him in." Looking over their shoulders, the two Hyuuga men found their clan heiress just inside the compound gates. "I will take responsibility if anything happens, now let our guests in." When the two men were about to argue with her, Hinata lifted her hand, making a feigned threat to use the seal affixed to both men's foreheads. Seeing this, both stopped and motioned for the visitors to enter.
"I will have to apologize to them in a bit. Maybe bring them something to eat and drink," Hinata said to herself as she walked the halls of her home, leading the guests to her father's study.
"The older guy likes sweeter drinks, and the younger likes his coffee black." Naruko spoke up as she made a face in regards to the coffee. "I can help you with that after these two get to your father." With a small smile and an arm slung over the long-haired heiress's shoulder, the group walked to the door of the clan head's personal space. That was the last of that situation that Naruko knew of as she had gone to help Hinata.
After the two foreigners had their meeting with the Hyuuga head Naruko had walked them back to their hotel. It was during this walk that she learned more about the older of the two. Misuto was a medi-nin who had been active during the Third Great Shinobi war but had not received his master's blade yet, the Nuibari. One day, while tending to prisoners, Misuto found a few of the other Mist ninja trying to force them selves onto a kunoichi. Taking action Misuto intervened, pulling the men from the cell before locking them into a different cell.
Returning to the kunoichi, Misuto saw that she was a Konoha nin from the Hyuuga clan. After making sure the kunoichi was unharmed, Misuto sent a water clone to the ninja overseeing the care and treatment of prisoners to report the issue. Knowing that the individual would consider this issue seriously, due to them being a Kunoichi with a bloodline as well, Misuto was not surprised when Mei decided extra precautions needed to be taken, including that Misuto be assigned to assisting in the care of prisoners.
The second incident was about 4 days after the arrival of the Mist team's arrival and visit to the Hyuuga clan. It was more of just a passing feeling than an active incident from a random group of three from Kusagakure. Something about the one in the front of the group was not natural. It was as if the kunoichi was far above Genin or Chunin, and probably more than Jonin as well. The individual also exuded a sinister aura but hid it well and often.
The third time that a foreign group set off some kind of alarm for the blond was a trio of siblings from the Land of Wind's Sunagakure. Naruko and her team had been given the assignment to watch the group of three kids who liked to call themselves the Konohamaru Corps. During the babysitting mission, the group leader, Konohamaru, ran off after angering Sakura and bumped into one of the three Suna teens. Part way through the encounter, the teen who had been bumped into was ordered to stop by the last member of his team, an absolute fear coursing through the make-up wearing male. The red head was named Gaara.
When Naruko interacted with the red-haired teen, she could pick up on a very intense bloodlust. It was passive yet stifling. The teen did not need to actively apply the threat for it to be there.
Naruko had made the relatively dumb decision to approach the teen. She did so calmly and with no intent behind the approach at all. There had also been a delay in her approach and the teen's reaction, something that shocked all three of the Suna Genin. When the shock had passed, Gaara had used sand to try and attack her. As Naruko dodged the sudden wave of granulated earth, she heard the kunoichi of the group speak. "No one has ever gotten that close to Gaara before without his sand activating. That shouldn't be possible."
The situation ended as quickly as it began, with Gaara turning and leaving after a short exchange with Sasuke. His bloodlust spiking at the possibility of a worthy test being in the lush village of Konoha.
The day of the test finally arrived, and the village was a whirlwind of activity. Late arrivals hurried to get through the gates and moved as quickly as they could through the streets to the building where the first exam would begin. Civilians gossiped among themselves about the diversity of ninja villages present. Higher ranked members of the ninja discussed everything from the weather to minor bets about which local teams would make it to which part of the exam. The genin of Team 7 met up in the middle of town early and walked to the testing site at the Konoha Academy building, each carrying their filled out waivers in the pouches on their hips. At the door, Team 7 was met with Iruka and Haku at the table, processing the incoming applicants' paperwork.
From the front desk, Team 7 was directed to the third floor. Along the way, on the second floor, there was a commotion outside one of the rooms. As the members of Kakashi's genin team approached the hallway blockage, they picked up on the cause of the commotion. There was a teen in a green jumpsuit, with bandage wrapped forearms and orange leg warmers, and around his waist was a Konoha hitai-ate. His hair was in a black bowl cut, and his eyebrows were similar to fuzzy caterpillars. There were two other older teens harassing the green clad youth.
Having seen and heard enough, Sasuke had stepped forward and cleared his throat to draw attention. "You morons should really just move on. Everyone here already knows this isn't the right floor. They most likely stopped only to watch this sad show." The two older teens stopped, looks of annoyance as they scoffed and began to walk away. A female teen in the crowd moved forward to the older boy, helping him up. A second older teen moved forward, a Hyuuga that the Uchiha and Uzumaki heirs recognized as the older cousin of Hinata.
"Kotetsu, Izumo, you guys need to work harder on your technique!" Naruko yelled to the two retreating "teens" before they burst into smoke, exposing their usual appearance. The two now stood at least a head taller, both in vests displaying their higher rank. Immediately both resume their walking, this time grumbling as they return to the main waiting room for the first part of the exams.
Along the way to the testing room Team 7 was stopped by the energetic male teen in the green jumpsuit. Introducing himself as Rock Lee, the youthful Chunin hopeful challenged Sasuke to a fight.
"Not happening. We need to get this test started." Sasuke sighed a bit as he flexed the area of his shoulder blade, earning a soft pop. "Besides, I would rather test myself against someone stronger than myself."
Rock Lee scowled a bit before straightening up. "Then you will be my first target during these exams, Uchiha Sasuke. If I defeat you, I shall declare my love for the beautiful cherry blossom next to you, and should I lose, I will train for 7 days and 7 nights before trying again!"
Naruko laughed at the sudden declaration and the pure randomness. "You are pretty funny, Bushy Brows. Hopefully, we will get to see you in the later parts of the exam." With a sudden thought coming to mind before walking away, she called to Rock Lee again. "Try to stay away from a team from Sunagakure, two older teens and a third with red hair. The redhead has some serious stuff going on, and he aims to kill."
Once in the designated room, Team 7 was greeted with a full room. Most of the occupants in the room were older than the team. Looking around a bit more, Naruko caught the site of Shikamaru's easily recognizable hair style. "Yo you lazy fuck," the blond called before laughing as she approached the newest generation of Ino-Shika-Cho. "Why are you three here? I mean, I get that Ino missed me," here Naruko wiggled an eyebrow at the other blonde, "but you and Choji, I would have thought you would be choosing against it."
With a sigh, the Nara clan heir looked at Naruko from the corner of his eye. "We wanted to, but Ino wouldn't let us. She blackmailed us by going to our mothers with the info."
"Ha! I knew you wouldn't have come if you could help it." Naruko responded as she began to ruffle his hair, pulling the hair tie from his pineapple-like spikes before getting slapped at lazily.
"Oh come on! You all are here too?" Turning her head to the side Naruko caught sight of Kiba and his two teammates. The nin-dog Akamaru trotting along side his human partner. "I thought this test was only for those worthy of advancing to Chunin."
"Oh please dog-breath, the only reason you are here is so Hinata and Shino can have the chance at the promotion." Naruko replied with a bland expression on her face. At a bark from Akamaru the blond was forced to look down and nod, "oh sorry, I forgot about Akamaru also being ready. Good boy, can you forgive me?" Naruko patted the dog's head softly, idly scratching one fingernail at the spot where the back of the ear joins the head.
As Kiba was about to start an argument with the Uzumaki heiress a voice cut the wild boy off. "You really should try to draw less attention to yourselves. Being fresh Genin, you'll be targeted quickly." The speaker was an older male teen with white hair and glasses. "My name is Kabuto, and I have more experience here in the exams than anyone. I could even give you some info on other participants. I just need whatever you can give me to find who you mean."
"Namikaze Naruko," Sasuke said after Kabuto had pulled out a stack of cards. This was a test mostly, to see how accurate the info would be.
"That is no fun. You already knowing the name makes it too easy." Here Kabuto shuffled the cards a bit before flipping over one of them to expose a blank front. "Now I just add a bit of chakra to expose the info." With a small puff of smoke the card now had a picture of Team 7's blond member, her name, a chart that mapped out her skillset and proficiencies, the clan she would one day lead, a breakdown on her mission counts, and even many of her known jutsu. "Anybody else you want to know about?"
"I have two. First is from Sunagakure. Red hair. I know his name starts with G." Naruko spoke up this time, wanting to try and gather info on the scary teen, as well as checking to see if a hunch she had was right. "Second is a girl around my own age from Kirigakure. Brown hair, outsider to the Elemental Nations. Sensei is a Kiri loyal Seven Swordsman." Despite not being worried about the girl herself, Naruko had a feeling there was a lot of information not yet released about the waif.
Kabuto began to shuffle the cards again before pulling another card and revealing a blank front side. With a simple application of chakra info hidden on the card was revealed. Sabaku no Gaara, is this the first one you wanted?" At the nod from Naruko the white haired older teen continued. "Unfortunately, I know I don't have any information about any Nation outsiders. Back to this Gaara one for now though. Gaara is one of three siblings all on the same team per the command of their father, the reigning Kazekage. Impressive mission record. Eve though he is a genin like everyone else here, he has taken several C and B rank missions without ever receiving a single injury. There is also a note about there being top secret information, but not what it might be about." With another release of chakra the card went blank again as Kabuto returned it to the stack. "I also have information about the villages as well. Want to know anything about the Rain Village or maybe that new small village, Otogakure?"
"How about you worry about yourself before you go and share information about other villages." A male teen said as he turned to the group, revealing himself to be heavily bandaged as well as wearing a hitai-ate with a music note in design on it. Without another word the mummy from Otogakure jumped forward at Kabuto swinging at him. Shifting his weight back Kabuto avoided the punch but due to an unseen secondary effect of the attack Kabuto lost his equilibrium as a small trickle of blood flowed from his ears.
Sakura quickly stepped forward to attend to Kabuto as Sasuke and Naruko got ready to intercept any follow up attacks. "THAT'S ENOUGH YOU BUNCH OF MAGGOTS!" Suddenly the room filled with smoke, and as it cleared over 20 Konoha shinobi now stood around the room. The one at the front of the room, a scarred man in a long black coat with a black headband called out. "Everybody find the seat with your name on the desk and settle in."
After several minutes, all of the chunin hopefuls were seated and scattered around the room so that no teammates were together the scarred shinobi spoke again. "Good. My name is Morino Ibiki, and I am the proctor for the first part of the Chunin Exams this year. I am the head of Konohagakure's Torture and Interrogation department. These chunin here with me will be assisting me in making sure no one tries to break the rules." Reaching into a pocket on the inside of his jacket Ibiki pulled a stack of papers into the open. "This first part of the exam is a written test to demonstrate what you all know. There are a total of 10 questions, but the test sheets only have the first 9 questions on them. After 50 minutes the 10th question will be administered, and after an hour, the test will be over."
"Now there are rules to this exam. First rule, no violence will be tolerated during the test. This room is rigged to blow at my command, and if I feel it is needed I will trigger it. Second rule, if anyone here is caught cheating three times they will be removed from the room, their answers voided and their entire team disqualified as well. Third, the test is a joint effort where every team's tests are scored together. Any team scoring less than 66.7% will be disqualified." Ibiki motioned his hand around the room to the present chunin. "As I said before, these chunin will also be making sure no one breaks the rules. I will now begin passing the tests to the people at the front of each row. You are to take one copy for yourself, pass the rest back, and the next person will do the same before also passing it back. When everyone has a test I will give the order to start the exam, do not start until I have given the okay."
Looking around the room Ibiki made sure everyone had a test in front of them. "You all have one hour. Now, begin." As everyone turned their sheets over and picked up their pencils they began to review the questions. Everything on the test was clearly too complex for a fresh chunin, and even some more experienced ones as well. This was a realization most of the test takers realized as they began to review. One question was about throwing velocities required in order for a ninja standing at the top of a 60 foot tree to throw two kunai 3 seconds apart from each other but have both hit the target at the same time. Another question was about the best tactic to force an enemy to reveal key information under the situation of a stealth reconnaissance.
Sakura looked over the sheet before she began to work out the answers. Taking a few seconds to review the questions, Naruko raised her hand to get the proctor's attention. The Uzumaki heiress's right hand was held in a way so that her pinky, ring finger, and middle finger were balled up while her index finger was pointing up and her thumb rested on the middle finger. This positioning of her fingers was intentional for those in the room who knew what to look for "What do you want, genin?" With Ibiki's question all genin present were pulled away from the test.
The blond made a brief show of beginning to reply before stopping herself. "I have a sneeze coming on. Does anyone have a tissue or something?" Naruko looked around the room for anyone willing to help, making note of which genin were positioned where around the room. This was an old method that Naruko and the fellow students of her graduating class had worked out a few years in at the academy. As Naruko turned to the front of the room again Ibiki supplied her with a tissue which she took before lightly blowing her nose before winding back and sneezing hard, her forehead hitting the desk in front of her hard, causing a pop and sudden burst of chakra packed mist to fill the room.
The real Naruko slipped into her place quietly before complaining of hurting her head, before she began listening for the sound of pencils scratching out in the mist. 'I should have a few more seconds before anyone thinks to clear the mist out, but even if they do I have smokescreens hidden in the vents of the entire academy. I'll just set one or two off if I need to.' In two spots Naruko heard the sound she was looking for. Taking her sheet Naruko slunk her way over to Shikamaru and put her hand on his shoulder. When he put a hand to hers, it had a paper in it that Naruko swapped with her empty test sheet. Meanwhile across the room Akamaru was doing roughly the same for Kiba with Choji.
Under all the desks and across the rows Shikamaru had connected his shadow to Choji's so that as he filled in answers Choji would also write in the same information. This time though Shikamaru and Choji would begin only after the mist cleared. Shikamaru also had to make sure that he left enough space between characters so that Choji could put the answers in his own hand writing to reduce the chance of being caught.
Naruko could feel as the mist began to thin around her and returned to her seat with the filled in test sheet. Once seated again the blond sneezed again, the signal for Akamaru to return to Kiba before the mist cleared, and they all got caught. Sasuke, having remembered the scheme set up by the four participants made sure to activate his Sharingan in preparation for the clearing mist to cheat off the Nara clan heir. Hunching over her sheet tightly to block prying eyes, Naruko waited for the feeling of the mist to fully dissipate as she picked up her pencil to rewrite the answers. The wild card of Team 7 knew that as soon as the mist was gone Hinata would activate her Byakugan to read any test sheets around her. Figuring that he was also a Hyuuga, Naruko also guessed that Neji would do the same. 'Ino will likely target Sakura and use her clan body switching techniques," the blond thought to her internal sister.
"Somebody open a window! We need to clear out the room." Ibiki called from the front of the room in a snarl. As the sound of several windows opening squeaked through the room the dark clad shinobi released a wind style jutsu. The technique caused a gust of air to blow through the room and force the mist away.
Once the mist was cleared and everyone returned their attention to the test Naruko worked slow to make sure it looked like she was actually working on the material. Through out the fifty minutes a good number of the present test takers were eliminated, leading to a little more than half of the starting teams still present. Currently the stand out teams that could be accounted for was the Rookie 9 from Konoha, as well as Kabuto and his team, and Team Gai. From outside of Konoha there was the Suna Siblings, the single team from Kirigakure, the team from Grass with the unnaturally oppressive female team member, and the Sound village team. Several less impressive teams also remained; a few Konoha teams that were several time attempters, two teams of faux genin from Konoha who were meant to be targets to be cheated from, a team from Rain, and a few other small village teams. "Everyone, pencils down. The first 50 minutes have passed. Before I issue the final question I have to tell everyone who is still here something."
Ibiki gave the gathered genin a few seconds before he continued. Taking a deep breath Ibiki steeled his expression, "This last question is the only one that matters. Everything on that piece of paper in front of each of you is unimportant. If you get this wrong, you automatically fail your entire team. On top of that, if you fail here, you and your team will never rise above your current rank. You can choose to back out and that will disqualify your whole team, but you and your team will be able to take part in future advancement exams. If you want, now is the time to back out."
Ibiki waited and watched as several hands began to raise, making note of Konoha examinees who were about to bow out. 'That pink haired girl is hesitant but she is going to give in. It's a shame too, that blond in the team was very blunt in her cheating but it was still only one violation. On top of that, there was that advanced shadow clone with the application of water chakra to make it a mist bomb. There is also her other teammate, the Uchiha. He is another promising aspirant if for nothing other than his still developing Sharingan.'
At this point there was a loud slam from the front row. Standing as she yelled Naruko began, "What the hell does that even mean? There is no way that you can do that, some people here have taken the exam multiple times." At the outburst many of the present test takers stopped before fully raising their hands, shocked at the... Audacity? Bravery? Stupidity? Whatever it was that had inspired the loud-mouthed girl to speak up as she did.
Locking eyes with Naruko, the proctor responded sternly. "Well they never had me as their proctor. If you can't get around something like this then you will never be able to."
"And that is just horse-shit!" Naruko replied. "You say that we would be stuck as genin for the rest of our careers, but there are always field promotions, lateral movements, and Kage appointed advances. Not to mention the fact that doing that would start to negatively effect the Ninja Corps, in any village. Nothing you say or do can actually enforce that." As the blond haired Uzumaki continued to have a stare-down with the T&I head she began to bristle more, her hair raising slightly as if caught by static electricity. "I don't care what you say about it. I can prove you wrong in a hundred ways." At this point any genin who had been about to raise their hand to step down put their arms down, inspired by the girl foolish enough to challenge the grizzled man.
Taking stock of the time Ibiki sighed before looking around at the rest of the room. "Well, you all are lucky that yappy here spoke up as much as she did. We're out of time and I doubt anyone is going to listen if I try again, so all of the teams still here have officially passed."
Sakura raised her hand slowly and asked before being recognized, "What about the last question though? You never gave it to us."
"The choice to stay or step down was the final question. Chunin need to make hard decisions every day they leave for a mission, and what choice could be harder that the future of yourself and your teammates?" Here, Ibiki took off the bandana from his head, exposing more ragged and sizable scars. "Sometimes the choices a Chunin makes can be the death of their teammates, and we need to make sure that you are ready to make those choices, and can deal with the possible consequences. But again," Ibiki began as he retied the black fabric around his head, "you are all still here, and I congratulate all on making it through this portion of the exam. If you all wait here, the proctor for the second part should be here shor-"
At this point Ibiki was cut off as a large shadow slammed into a window and shattered it, before unfurling itself exposing a large banner that was secured to the walls of the room, blocking Ibiki from sight, and revealing a woman with purple hair, a tan trench coat, mesh armor and a brown skirt. "Great work everybody. I am the proctor for the second part of the exam, Mitarashi Anko. If you all-" Stopping midsentence the newcomer looked at the rest of the room and began counting heads before pulling the banner up to look at her supervisor. "What gives Ibiki? There is still 20 teams here, old man. Are you going soft or something?"
"No, Anko. Everyone here passed, though it is mostly because of the blonde in the front row. More of them were going to drop out until she spoke up." Morino responded before letting go of the banner himself, allowing it to drop back into place.
"Blond in the front row?" Turning her head from side to side Anko examined the front row. " Where," Anko asked before having her attention drawn downwards directly in front of her.
"Um down here, right in front of you." Naruko said as she turned her head to look to the side. "Also, you should probably wear underwear if you are going to do things like this in the future. I mean, I don't mind, but someone else might."
"What do you mean? I'm wearing..." Anko began before a breeze came in from the destroyed window and blew itself up her brown skirt. "Dammit, I knew I forgot something when I left the house." Shoving her hands into the large pockets of her coat Anko sighed as her mood shifted to a very neutral level. "Whatever. Everyone hurry up and get to Training ground 44, and don't make me wait." Without another word or waiting for any questions Anko jumped out the same window she had entered the room through and was gone before the genin could think to stop her.
"Um, Morino, sir? Where is Training Ground 44?" Sakura asked as she looked out the window before returning her attention to the matter at hand.
Sighing to himself, Ibiki lifted the banner again and stepped in front of it. "From here, go north and look for the giant chain-link fences. You won't be able to miss them if you stick to the rooftops. Good luck." At this Ibiki reached up at the top edge in the middle of the banner and pulled hard, releasing it from the walls of the room. "Note to self, make Anko pay for the repairs to the walls and window."
As the remaining teams stood and began to leave two teams stayed behind before dropping their disguise techniques to reveal additional chunin who had held out through the last question. "One of you lot, collect the exam sheets. Even if the point was to cheat I want to see what some of them picked for a few questions. Hokage-sama wanted me to try and create character profiles for them."
At the same time that the promotion seeking genin got to the site of their next test, Ibiki was going through the tests, reading their answers that were more telling. "This Gaara kid seems unstable. No qualms with sacrificing his teammates, in fact he seems to want the chance to get rid of them." Ibiki moved the sheet to the small stack of reviewed tests and picked up the next as he began to read. "So the blond is an Uzumaki? That explains a lot, and her answers support that as well. As the T and I head was about to put the paper down he noticed a note scribbled in the margins of the test. Feeding a small amount of chakra into the scribbled seal under the note a stack of cards fell into Ibiki's lap along with a note. 'Hey there Mr. Scary-face. These cards belong to a Konoha genin by the name of Kabuto. I nabbed these during that freak mist incident. It seemed a little suspicious how he could have so much information about people taking the test for the first time. Also, let the Hokage know I think Sabaku no Gaara might be a jinchuriki.'
Back with the Genin, everyone had made it to the training ground and now stood gathered in their individual teams waiting for an explanation of the next test. Anko dropped down from a tree when she was sure that everyone had made it. "Welcome to Training Ground 44, otherwise known as the Forest of Death. This miniature jungle is home to lots of mean critters. Tigers, snakes, poisonous insects, man-eating plants, etcetera etcetera. This is also going to be the testing grounds for the second part of your Chunin Exams." Anko then walked over to a table, manned by a pair of shinobi, and picked up two scrolls one with a white border and one with a black. "Your test is going to be as follows. Every team will approach the table and be given one of these scrolls, either a Heaven scroll or an Earth Scroll. After every team gets one you will be assigned gate numbers. Once everyone is in place, the gates will be opened and you will be sent in. For the following 5 days you will all attempt to get a scroll of the opposite alignment to the one you receive, and after retrieving the appropriate scroll your team will then make their way to the center of the training ground to a tower, and enter said tower. During the 5 days, do not open the scrolls, you will be disqualified."
Anko put the two scrolls back on the table in their labelled trays. As she turned back to the crowd, the purple haired woman picked up a stack of papers and waved them at the gathered genin. "These are Injury/Death release forms. If you are going to continue with the exam you need to fill this out. All it does is waives your family's and home village's right to raise a stink if you die or get maimed while in the training ground. After your whole team has filled out their forms you can approach the table and hand them in to receive your scroll." Anko then began to approach the crowd and hand out three sheets to each group. "Everyone keep in mind it is likely that less than half of the teams here will make it to the next part of the test."
An hour later all of the teams had been given a scroll and were standing in front of a gate. Naruko and her team were discussing their approach to the test as they waited. Sasuke was going to hold the team's scroll as his Sharingan would give him the advantage if anybody tried to take it from him either by force or trickery, and be at the rear of the travelling formation. Sakura would be in the middle of the formation and assist Sasuke by providing backup if a confrontation occurred. It would be Naruko's job to take the point of the formation, where she would act as the lookout for tracks or other signs of ninja presence. After Team 7 got their hands on any scrolls, be it their target or a copy of the scroll they already had Naruko would take possession and seal the scrolls in a hidden storage seal she would apply to the bottom of her foot. Additionally, while on the way to the tower, Team 7 would try to eliminate any extra teams they crossed paths with along the way.
There was a loud buzz over a speaker system, and then Anko's voice broke over the staticy speaker. "The gates will open in 1 minute. The chunin stationed at each gate will give the okay for the team to move out after the gate has completely opened. Don't die, I don't feel like cleaning up any remains in the Forest after. 30 Seconds." After the 30 seconds passed another buzz blasted over the speakers and the gates began to open. Team 7 stared at the gate, eyes darting to the chunin as they waited. As soon as the gate stopped the chunin called out and hopped out of the way of the three teens as they bolted into the Forest.
Team 7 travelled at ground level until they got out of sight of the gate before taking to the high branches of the trees. "The day is already pretty much gone with the first test and all the waiting before we were allowed in," Naruko called backwards before eyeing the ground level again. "We should probably find a water source near a spot we can easily defend through the night."
"You're not wrong, but it is still too early for that. We should travel deeper for another hour or so before making camp, give us more ground between possible attackers." Sakura responded before continuing. "And if we don't find a water source along the way we should have enough provisions for the night. After that we may have to rely on your suiton knowledge to keep us hydrated until we do find one."
"That isn't ideal if we get into a fight and need her to have as much of her chakra as we can get, Sakura, but I agree and can't think of anything better." Sasuke replied keeping his ears and eyes open. Every few tree branches Sasuke would activate his sharingan and do a visual sweep of the area before deactivating his bloodline to conserve chakra. "We should also set up a passphrase incase we get separated for any reason."
"How about Kakashi-sensei's favorite excuse for being late," Naruko offered. "Even if it is a Konoha shinobi impersonating us, only we would know the excuse we are familiar with."
"No, it should be a two part thing. That way we can all be assured of each other's identities," Sasuke returned. "Something like one side asks where we stayed the night before crossing into Wave. Obviously we know the answer and could answer that, but we should also plan to give a vague answer so we can judge the asker's reaction."
"So then should we have two answers ready? Koriyo and the Garden?" The blond of Team 7 suggested unconvinced.
This time the pinkette of the team responded. "If we are going to make the passphrase related to Koriyo we should make it just, 'What do you think of Koriyo?' That way people from outside the team are more likely to answer incorrectly, and the answer we give should either be hideout, work, or home."
Both Sasuke and Naruko thought it over before agreeing. Sasuke put forth further reasoning behind the agreement. "Yeah, that should work. Anyone from outside of Fire will either not know anything about Koriyo, or if they do they will just think the same as everyone else. If they are from Fire we would likely just be told brothels or something similar."
Team 7 continued for the hour that they had agreed upon. After that time the team dropped back down to the forest floor and found an area tightly encircled by trees. Naruko was set to the task of setting up traps for the defense of the encampment. Sakura began work on setting up a small fire and a screen to block a majority of the light from it that wouldn't block the warmth from it. Sasuke got a light meal ready for as soon as the fire was ready. "We should set up a watch order," the pink haired medic said to the rest of her team. "Naruko should probably be the last, since we didn't find a river or anything. We can have her refill our water canteens tonight before going to bed, and then she can sleep to recover her chakra until last watch. Sasuke you should be the first watch, that way you can get a solid rest on your chakra for tomorrow. I'll take second watch since my chakra stores are pretty much still full, and I can subsidize my awkward sleep with a soldier pill or two."
"Makes sense, and it sounds the most fair, but we should also make sure that tomorrow night's rotation is different too. That way it is fair to everyone, and you don't run out of supplies Sakura." Looking over at her fellow female teammate Naruko called forth several canteens from storage and began to fill them with low level suiton jutsu. "We should also let me put a hidden seal on Sasuke for our scroll as well, incase someone manages to sneak by us and get to our things."
"If we do that, it should be in my armpit or somewhere equally hard to target and unlikely to be searched." Sasuke proffered as he put the minimal meal over the fire to cook. As he let the food heat up Sasuke kept a silent watch on the surrounding trees. "We need to make sure that we are more careful tomorrow. Today we should be lucky, most teams probably went further into the forest as quickly as they could to either set up a base of operations closer to the tower, or in expectation of others doing that they went to target the teams that did try that."
As Sasuke talked a clone of Team 7's Uzumaki heiress popped into existence, sitting next to him and lifted his left arm to give her a spot where a seal could be hidden. The clone then pressed a thumb to his armpit and with a pulse of chakra left behind a seal that would fade if no chakra was applied to it. The storage seal was then surrounded by a second seal that would act as a lock to the first, only allowing three signatures to reveal the storage seal. "Sasuke, focus some chakra to the seal. It will register your signature so you can expose the seal whenever you need. Sakura, you should do the same after he does. That way if he gets knocked out and I am not around, you can get the scroll. And after you, I will finish it so an unlikely seal expert can't hijack the set up and still expose the seal. That should keep it pretty much impossible to find."
After the seal was completed the three teenagers sat and ate their meal, with Naruko securing a spot near the fire and falling asleep once she had eaten. Sakura followed the blond's lead and got comfortable. "Wake me up in about 3 hours so I can take over the watch. Then I will wake Naruko up in another three hours and have her wake us both 3 hours later so we can get packed up and going." Sasuke replied with a nod of acknowledgement and a soft smile before he went back to watching the surroundings. The three rotations of sleeping and watch duty went by quick enough and with no issues.
Team 7 started their day by packing up the remnants of their camp from the prior night and agreeing on a plan of action for the day to come. Sasuke began the conversation, "We should focus on clearing out of here as fast as we can, and stick to the trees. It will be harder for anyone to track us that way. Our main goal today should be eliminating at least one team, and hopefully scoring the scroll we need. And if we take out a team with the same scroll, it gives us something to barter with, or sacrifice without being an actual loss for us. We will likely find more support with another team from out graduating class, or another Leaf team. Any other situation, and we will likely need to fight." The Uchiha stretched an arm up and let it bend at the elbow to help wake his body up.
"Agreed, although we should aim for two or three teams instead. We also need to find a river or something so we have fresh water with less hassle, but other teams will also search out a similar body of water, so that will give us a chance to set up an ambush to make eliminating teams less energy consuming for us." Naruko offered as she tucked the last storage scroll of supplies and equipment into her hip pouch.
"Don't forget we will also likely have to contend with wild animals here in the forest, and that will be more likely around bodies of water. What we should do is set up an observation spot among the tree tops. Anything on the bigger side would likely be coming up to us, so we could jump down before it gets close enough and we can also come down on the opposite side of the tree to avoid being caught coming in for the ambush." Sakura chimed in as all three bent their knees and jumped towards the trees and began to run along the vertical surface with Sasuke in the lead, Sakura in the middle, and Naruko in the rear.
It took Team 7 about an hour to find a river that flowed for a decent length. Following the way the river ran, the team found a more open area with rocky edges. Naruko marked the spot on a map they had started developing in case the team got separated and needed a place to regroup. The blonde member of the team started kicking around rocks, and picking up any that were around the size of the palm of her hand. "What? I can use them for personal... homework while we are in the forest," was the only response the Uzumaki heiress gave when she noticed her teammates watching her. After everybody took the chance to splash some water in their faces then returned to the trees in order to plan an ambush. After an hour the team had not seen any other test takers and concluded that it was probably just a bad spot, especially as the tower was in the middle of the forest, and any water near it would be a better set up.
Soon after the three 16 year old ninja resumed their hunt for opponents. About 10 minutes into their travels Team 7 experienced a strong rush of wind which had come just as Naruko had left one tree branch for another, and blew her deep into the forest. It was at this time that a lone Kusagakure kunoichi appeared before Sasuke and Sakura. "Well, that is one annoyance removed," the kunoichi said as a wicked smile grew on her face. "But how should I deal with the other one?" As the last word left her mouth, the kunoichi released a wave of killing intent powerful enough to paralyze both members of Team 7.
Both Sasuke and Sakura felt the wave of intent hit them, leaving them with the impression of each being speared in the forehead with a kunai that the mysterious kunoichi had thrown at them. Due to the exposure Sasuke resorted to driving a kunai into his leg, using the pain to break himself from the fear. As Sasuke's consciousness returned to the moment we watched as the kunoichi threw the kunai, and seeing that Sakura was still being affected by the killing intent Sasuke dove at her side, sending them both to the bark of the tree branch they still stood on. The shock from being tackled by her dark haired teammate woke Sakura back up to the situation, prompting her to look at Sasuke from the corner of her eye, and say as quietly as she could. "We need to run Sasuke, try and find Naruko. Together we stand a better chance, though I don't know if even that will be enough."
"If we try, this freak will no doubt follow us and, in all likelihood, kill us before we can even find that blond haired loud mouth." Looking around for anything that might help them Sasuke sighed and slipped a hand under his shirt, unsealing the scroll. "Look, we're no match for you. This is our scroll, we will give this to you in exchange for letting us go.
"Smart choice boy. Offer the predator a more enticing option. Fine, I accept your offer." The kunoichi spoke, her malicious smile never leaving her face as she approached and reached for the scroll. Just as the Kusa-nin was about to wrap her fingers around the scroll the sound of something slicing through the air started to fill the area, and a large piece of sharp iron embedded itself in the wood of the tree. The curved gap in the edge of Naruko's blade had surrounded the scroll when the blade cut into the tree, with both the Kusagakure ninja and Sasuke jumping away from their spots.
"What the hell do you think you are doing teme?!" Naruko's voice came from somewhere among the trees before she appeared in a swirl of leaves. Crouched on the handle of the blade, Naruko was holding the end in one hand, one foot on the back of the weapon just before the hilt and the other closer to the wood. "There is no way this creep would just let you go because you offered her our scroll." Hopping off of the embedded steel the blond pulled the weapon free with one hand at her male teammate. "What do you think of Koriyo?"
"What?" Sasuke froze up, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Answer the question. Sasuke would never give up so easily, so you must be an imposter." Naruko responded as she eyed the kunoichi from over her shoulder. "That freak is one of the shinobi I saw. The one who felt like they were above Jonin rank. The one that Ero-sennin said he would have to look into." Turning fully towards the threat, Naruko took hold of the sword with both hands and leveled it to around her waist. 'If this gets bad, Jiraiya gave me that scroll to contact him with.' Exhaling slowly Naruko tensed her legs and jumped as the kunoichi rushed her. With the distance between them restored the Uzumaki heiress placed her weapon on her back and threw a shuriken down at her enemy and made a hand sign. "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." The lone shuriken vanished within a puff of smoke and emerged followed by a fifty others.
"Fuuton: Reppūshō." Lazily lifting a hand towards the falling ninja star, the Kusa-nin sent out a surge of wind that knocked them from their path.
Slapping his hands together Sasuke formed three hand signs before taking a deep breath and blowing out a stream of fire that quickly turned into a spherical inferno. "Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu." As the fireball closed in on the mysterious woman a shadow clone of the blonde member of Team 7 formed at their feet, slapping the scroll off of the branch, and away from the blaze.
"Sakura, protect the scroll!" Calling on her own wind natured chakra Naruko threw her palm out and directed her Reppūshō, to meet with the fireball and strengthen it. As Sakura dove off the branch to catch the scroll, the woman screamed from within the fire as her silhouette flailed and collapsed.
As the fire died all that remained was a burned husk, but with shocking speed it flew off the side of the branch and caught the scroll before Sakura could. As the body continued to rocket towards another tree branch the flash fried flesh began to peel away in long strips and exposed the kunoichi as if nothing had happened. "That wasn't very very nice," she said as her feet connected with the branch and clung there. Looking up at Sasuke and Naruto as she landed on her feet, the ninja put a hand on their face in a way that framed one eye. The skin around the eye was torn apart, and revealed a bone white complection underneath as well as purple markings around the eye. Sighing the figure began to close their hand, and pull it away from their face, peeling the skin off like a mask. With a deeper voice than before the figure spoke as they presented the scroll to Team 7 and used pure chakra to ignite it. "It looks like your only hope to stay in the exams now is to beat me and take the scroll that I have. Kukuku."
Dropping the burning scroll to the forest floor below the ninja jumped back to the same tree as Team 7's two offensive members and pulled out an exam scroll. "Unfortunately, getting this scroll is not going to be easy, children." Opening their mouth the now undisguised male wrapped his tongue around it, and began to use the pink muscle to guide the scroll into his his hand he pushed the scroll in and down his throat. "Now then, are you ready to keep going?" Taking off faster than Team 7 could realize the man rushed at them, driving an open palm into the chests of Naruko and Sasuke to send them sliding back into the trunk of the tree.
Both residents of the Uzumaki household coughed from having the breath knocked out of them. Driving the thumb side of her fist into her chest Naruko inhaled as deep as she could and coughed more as air suddenly returned to her lungs. Naruko crouched tighter and threw herself forward, with an arm pulled back. Roaring at the mysterious man, the blond threw her punch before turning the strike into an axe kick. Naruko was pushed back again by a blow to the chest, this time though she pulled her sword free and drove it into the massive branch to slow herself. As her slide was almost done the Uzumaki felt a foot plant itself on her upper back, and pushed off of her as a springboard.
Sasuke sailed over Naruko quickly and rushed through the hand signs for another katon technique. Before expelling the fire the Uchiha pulled his arms back, tightening eight strands of ninja wire around the figure and brought them to his lips. When the fire hit its mark, it detonated across the male ninja's entire body and cast off a surge of heat that Sasuke could feel from his place. While the fire began to die down again Naruko charged out from around Sasuke, sword in hand, and swung horizontally. The sharp blade bit into its target and cleaved through. As Naruko came to a stop, behind the man, she turned with an angry expression on her face. "Watch out teme! The resistance felt like cutting through cold butter. That's probably a doton clone!" Taking her own advice Naruko jumped up as hard as she could, catching the underside of another branch with her hand and sticking to the tree.
Also taking the cue Sasuke jumped as well, to join Sakura on the branch of a different tree. Looking over to the tree he was just on Sasuke yelled to Naruko, just as the spot he had been standing on erupted into a storm of splinters. Next to each other, the Uchiha whispered to his girlfriend. "You need to find somewhere to hide. This guy is ridiculously strong, maybe an ANBU level opponent."
"Sasuke, step up your game and activate the Sharingan! We're going to need every advantage we can get." Naruko called over to her male teammate, still hanging by her chakra stuck hand from the branch. As the blond dropped back down to the team's opponent the man in question pulled himself from the wood of the tree and rushed towards the blond's landing spot. During the rush Naruko made to intercept the rush by throwing several kunai and shuriken, only for the enemy ninja's legs to trail behind him as he dropped to the wood, and slithered like a snake around the branch. As soon as her feet made contact with the branch again Naruko jumped again, pulling her knees to her chest as the snake like man passed under her. Lashing out, Naruko speared her feet back down to stomp on the pale man.
Just as the blond's feet were about to crush his torso the overly powerful figure's tongue darted out and around her ankle, pulling her off course before slamming her down on her back. With the wind knocked out of her again, Naruko tried to inhale as she was lifted by her ankle and thrown off the branch into a free fall. Looking in all directions the Uzumaki heiress desperately tried to find a spot to catch herself on, but found none. Making a split second decision Naruko brought her hands together and performed a Kawarimi jutsu, using the snake man as her substitute. Not expecting the attempt, the man was not ready repel the technique and found himself to be the one in freefall as Naruko swapped places with him and landed on the tree branch she had just been thrown from.
Sasuke appeared next to her, his eyes a deep red as he looked her over. "This is no time to take a break blondie. He may not have been expecting that, but there is no way it put him out of commission." Reaching down the Uchiha grabbed the front of her jacket and pulled his fellow future clan head up to her feet. "This isn't an academy play yard brawl Naruko. Think before you try and brawl it out."
"Kukukuku." Team 7 heard the man before they saw him. Again he seemed to rise from the wood of the tree, moving through it as easily as water. "Not many people would even try doing that in the moment, and just as few would have succeeded. You have impressed me child, but now I have to make sure to remove you from this game." As the teens watched their opponent a second one of him rose from the wood behind them, grabbed the blond by the back of her head before slamming her face first into branch they all stood on. In the time it took Sasuke to blink the copy of the pale man had rushed towards the other, dragging Naruko across the branch as he went, and released the chakra holding him together to become a pile of mud. As the snake man was about to speak again the blond at his feet went up in a puff of smoke. "Oh? Kage Bunshin?" Though he spoke calmly, there was a sense of annoyance around him. "Well, either way it is just you and I for now young Uchiha. Kukuku." Making a one handed sign the man's neck shot up and then towards the Uchiha.
As the man's mouth opened sharp fangs were exposed, aiming to sink into the clan heir's neck. Sasuke threw his arms up together in front of him to guard himself, but before the bite could make it to its target the Uzumaki blond came falling from above, sword drawn again, and sliced through the neck. Both body and elongated neck fell to the branch weakly. Both teens watched the body for a few seconds, trying to suck in as much air as they could, before relaxing slightly. "Ugh, finally got a good hit." Naruko walked over to join Sasuke as she exhaled deeply and flicked the head and neck off of the tree branch before falling back on her rear end. As the adrenaline began to subside Sasuke and Naruko could feel themselves shake slightly. "I still don't think this is over to be honest. No blood from the wound so this has to be some kind of bunshin, but it hasn't disappeared yet. It doesn't help that I think this guy might be the traitor sannin, Orochi..."
The teens' momentary break was cut short as the body began to twitch and the almost named attacker began to climb out of the neck wound, without even a scratch and leaving the beheaded remains behind like a shed skin. "Now, where is the fun in ruining the surprise like that, little Namikaze?" Orochimaru began to walk towards the two, malicious grin stretching across his face. Bringing the distance between himself and the teens to about 15 feet Orochimaru stopped as they jumped back up to their feet. 'Between trying to implant the curse mark and having to shed my skin once, I can't use much more chakra. Taking into account any other jutsu I may need to use, I can try the curse mark one more time but then I won't have the chakra for skin shedding again.'
Extending a hand Orochimaru called on his chakra and produced a Reppūshō that drove Sasuke back against the trunk of the tree and held him there. 'I still have enough for the curse mark. I need to remove the problem though before I can try though.' Looking at Naruko the pale man contemplated his next move. 'I will need to use another Doton Bunshin.' Using one hand the traitorous shinobi made a hand sign, creating a clone which engaged the blond. "Kukuku. I'm going to wait and make sure that annoying girl is taken care of before I move onto you, Sasuke."
Naruko lifted her sword again as she engaged the clone. As she charged the snake Naruko stopped short and threw the heavy weapon using the Hisenken technique. As the clone dodged the flying sword and closed the gap between himself and the blond there was a sound of a dispelled jutsu, and a kunai embedded itself between the clone's shoulder blades. The false Orochimaru hissed as the knife sunk into his back and turned back to watch as the formerly disguised clone dispels itself. With his back turned the Naruko who had thrown the sword jumps at the snake, and plants a foot on the knife, driving it further into the clone's back before jumping backwards off from his back. With a clap of her hands Naruko inhales deeply, using her chakra to generate water within her mouth and expels it suddenly, riding on the wave as it forms beneath her "Suiton: Bakusui Shoha no jutsu." The clone of Orochimaru watched as the wave closed in on him and sunk into the wood underfoot as he was obscured from view. Jumping from the wave Naruko formed the tiger hand sign and created more water in her mouth. "Suiton: Teppodama no jutsu," the blond called as she shot off a ball of water roughly the size of a watermelon at the other Orochimaru, trying to free Sasuke.
As the water jutsu closed in on the "original" Orochimaru the clone rose from the wood, blocking the shot by swatting the ball of water with its hand, and losing the limb in the process. The lost arm began to regenerate as the clone ran to catch the Namikaze girl, driving his uninjured hand into her throat, cutting off any more jutsu as well as cutting off her air intake. Tightening his grip the clone swept a leg behind the teen's and pulled it back to push her to the wood beneath her.
"Well, the girl should be proud. She lasted longer than most your age would have." The Orochimaru facing Sasuke said as he made eye contact. "Now that she is under control, it is time that I finish up my work here and be on my way. Making another hand sign with the one free hand Orochimaru's neck elongated rapidly and raced towards Sasuke.
As Sasuke's vision became nothing but the approaching head of the Leaf Traitor he felt a sudden tug at his body and a familiar chakra encircle him. "No, don't do it!" in an instant Sasuke only saw white smoke as his orientation of the world around him changed and he found himself on his back, crimson eyes wide and frozen on the spot that he had been just a second before. In his place was his sister, mouth open in a silent cry of pain as the fangs of Orochimaru transferred the chakra for a curse mark into her neck. "Naruko!"
With a hiss of annoyance and disgust the original Orochimaru pulled his mouth away from the blond, watching as the mark formed on her neck. "Again, you have ruined my plans Namikaze girl," as he spoke the aggravated snake could feel the chakra loosen in the clone he had created and heard Sasuke's yell. "Unfortunately I don't have the chakra left to continue engaging with you." The wind jutsu died down and Naruko dropped to her knees, hand on her throat, covering the spot that felt like a raging fire burning through every nerve in her body. As the lone Orochimaru's head returned to his shoulders there was a brief moment of pain as a knife drove into the back of his skull and his body became nothing but a pile of mud, and a single exam scroll.
"SAKURA! NARUKO NEEDS YOUR HELP!" Sasuke called out as he ran past the mud and caught the blond before she could fully collapse. "Just hold on blondie. Sakura will be here to heal you up."
"Sasuke, in my hip pouch there is a purple scroll. Open it and swipe a bit of my blood on it." Taking a deep breath as she winced Naruko looked up at Sasuke. "It will call Jiraiya here. Tell him what happened, but don't let him take me back to the village. We're going to finish this round and move on to the next." As Sakura arrived the blond looked at her when she gasped. "Don't worry Sakura, it's not as bad as it looks. Throat is a bit sore, chakra is running low, and that freak bit me on the neck. Other than that, nothing needs your attention." With a weak smile to the pinkette Naruko tilted her head back, to expose her throat for the medi-nin. "Sasuke, don't forget to grab that scroll the freak dropped. We'll have a hard time moving forward if we lose that."
Sasuke took the scroll from Naruko's pouch, opened it, and rubbed blood from the bite on her neck along the seal inside. Suddenly a blue and green toad appeared in the center of the seal. After telling the toad that Naruko needed Jiraiya it disappeared in a cloud of chakra smoke after thumping a webbed hand to its chest. Sasuke went over to the mud pile and pulled out the scroll. Starring at it bitterly Sasuke contemplated the twisted sense of victory that it represented. Team 7 had just held their own against Orochimaru, ultimately losing to him, and then finding out that Naruko was right and that from the beginning the man they fought was a clone. Sasuke growled in restrained anger just as the sound of someone suddenly appearing in the area sounded. Turning back to his teammates Sasuke watched as the cloud of chakra dispersed and Jiraiya stepped out, marching over to Naruko. "What happened here gaki?" Jiraiya said as he took to one knee, staring at Naruko who only shook her head and pointed to Sasuke.
"We just barely survived a fight with your former teammate. He was disguised as a Kusagakure kunoichi at first." Turning on the male teen Jiraiya looked to be experiencing rage and terror. "I think the only reasons we survived is because he was a clone and ran out of chakra. He tried to bite me twice. The first time Naruko took his head off before he could get his fangs in me. The second, she swapped places with me using a Kawarimi no Jutsu and ended up taking the bite." Rounding back to the blond Jiraiya roughly grabbed her chin and turned her head, first in one direction, and then the other.
At the sight of the curse mark, the sannin cursed and pulled out ink and a brush. "You two secure the area. I need to try and take care of this while I have the chance." As the two better off members of Team 7 hopped to another tree and began circling the area Jiraiya shook Naruko by the shoulder to keep her awake. "Look gaki, this is going to suck. You need to stay awake while I contain the curse mark Orochimaru left on you. Containing it won't save you from it, just lessen the effects. After this part of the exam, your mom and I will work on removing it. Is there anything you want me to pass on while you are still in the forest?
"Let Lord Third know that he needs to be wary of the Sound village. I noticed at some point that the snake was wearing their village symbol." Naruko opened her jacket and pulled it off her shoulders. Looking over her exposed shoulder Naruko asked her godfather, "do you need me to take off the mesh armor too?" At his nod the blond sighed and pulled her mesh armor over her head. "Bra too?" Again the man nodded so Naruko sluggishly took off the undergarment as well. Despite him being a pervert, the blond knew that he would take this matter seriously. The Uzumaki heiress kept her breasts covered with her stripped clothing, taking an extra precaution to keep some semblance of modesty.
After 20 minutes of careful calligraphy work the Toad sage exhaled and placed a hand over the script that he had circled the curse mark with. "Okay kid, When I activate the sealing circle it is going to hurt. After that, you will probably sleep for most of a day." Jiraiya watched as she nodded her head and he sighed before activating the seal. In a matter of seconds, the scrawling ink that had taken minutes to assemble constricted into the center of his work,each mark burning a shade of orange as it was charged with chakra. "Okay, that's it Naruko. We should get you home so you can rest and recover."
"Sorry Jiraiya, but she told me before calling for you that you can't take her. She wants to keep going with the exam, and after saving me from that bastard I'm inclined to follow her request. Sakura and I will watch over her, we found a good spot to set up camp while we secured the area." Sasuke explained as he carefully picked Naruko to carry her piggyback. "If you want to check it before you head out, feel free to follow us."
Chapter End
This is where I am going to call it for this chapter. As I said this is an extra long chapter at 13,386 words in the actual story and 79 words in the intro. I wanted to get to 15,000 words, but this feels like the best place to stop. Don't worry, I'll be starting work on the next chapter tomorrow morning.
Thanks all for coming back, dbrame91