Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto (either manga or anime!); the wonderful Masashi Kishimoto-sensei owns all rights. However, the plot and Namiko Uzumaki are mine!

Chapter 7: Forest of Death, Part 1

After finishing the written part of the Chuunin Exam, Anko led everyone outside the village walls and past some of the larger training grounds.

"Welcome to the arena for the second exam: Training Ground Forty-Four. Also known as the Forest of Death!" Anko called out as the genin all stood near a massive forest surrounded by a high chain-link fence.

Teams 7 and 8 were standing near each other, trying to take everything in front of them. "This place gives me the creeps," said Sakura with a shudder.

Anko's voice rang out again, "You're all about to find out why this is called the 'Forest of Death'!"

Naruto rolled his eyes, mocking Anko with a babyish tone of voice, "Oooo… 'You're about to find out why they call this the Forest of Death.' Like that's really gonna scare us! You're trying to psych us out and I'm not gonna fall for that!" Namiko rolled her eyes at her brother's antics. He should know better than to mock a proctor.

"Oh really?" Anko had a sugar-sweet expression on her face. "You're pretty cocky, aren't you?" Before Naruto could even blink, Anko launched a kunai at Naruto, grazing his cheek and making him bleed. She quickly moved behind him. "Huh, your kind are always the first to go. Spilling all that sweet, lovely, luscious blood…"

Anko sensed someone behind her and whirled around, another kunai in hand. A woman stood behind Anko and Naruto, holding Anko's kunai she threw wrapped in the woman's tongue. "Your kunai. I believe you dropped it," said the woman in a gravelly voice.

Namiko shivered and took a step back. Something was wrong with that woman's chakra but she didn't know what and she didn't have her chakra sensing activated. She was honestly afraid to activate it. She saw Hinata looking concerned about the predicament Naruto was in and heard her whisper Naruto's name.

"Don't just stand behind me emanating bloodlust unless you're in a hurry to die," said Anko to the woman.

The woman gave a small bow and began to walk away. "I'll try to keep it under control, but the sight of warm fresh blood really makes me crazy. Plus I was already revved up from losing a strand of my precious hair."

Anko let go of Naruto. "Sorry about that. Looks like we have a hot-blooded team on our hands this time out! This should be fun…"

Naruto rushed over to where the rest of Team 7 and Team 8 were. "What the hell was with the giant tongue? That's not normal!"

Namiko leaned over to Naruto. "I don't think any of that was normal, nii-chan. I think normal is long gone." She kept glancing back at the strange woman, still nervous to activate her chakra sensing as to not make herself more nervous than she already was.

"…Um…Na-Naruto-kun, you're cut. Here," said Hinata with a light blush tinting her cheeks, pulling out a small jar of healing ointment.

"Oh, I don't think I need that, but thanks, Hinata!" Naruto answered boisterously, a large grin on his face as always.

Namiko elbowed him in the ribs and hissed under her breath, "Don't be rude!"

Naruto flinched and then took the jar from Hinata. "Okay, maybe it might be a good idea to go in with my full strength, right?" He quickly swiped some on his cut and handed the jar back to Hinata, blushing slightly when their hands touched and Hinata blushed bright red.

Namiko subtly nodded. 'Good job, nii-chan, and smooth going, Hinata-chan. I'm actually pretty proud that she was able to do that on her own and without passing out.'

"Before we begin the second exam, there's something I need to hand out," Anko's voice boomed out before continuing her speech and holding up a stack of papers, "Consent forms. We want to make sure you all are aware of the risks before the first deaths occur."

Hinata and Namiko's heads both snapped to look at each other. Kiba noticed and gave a small chuckle and threw his arms over their shoulders. "You two will be fine! You've got me and Akamaru watching your backs…well, technically Hinata can watch her own back…literally." Namiko smiled at Hinata and they both relaxed just a little bit.

"First, I'll explain what the exam entails and then you can choose to sign and go on or run away with your tails between your legs." Anko paced back and forth intimidatingly. "To put it simply, the exam is a no-holds-barred survival test and some of you could die."

Anko unrolled a large map to show everyone. "The Forest of Death is bordered by a circular fence and has forty-four locked gates. There are forests, a river, and a tower located in the center, approximately ten kilometers from the gates." She rolled up the map and pulled out two scrolls. "There are twenty-six teams and each of you will start with a scroll saying heaven or earth. You'll need to collect both scrolls to pass, meaning that you have to hold onto your own scroll and collect the other scroll, then bring them both to the tower at the center."

Sakura frowned. "Meaning at least half of us will fail…right?"

"Yup!" Anko grinned. "You also have a time limit of exactly five days…"

Choji yelled out, "Five days?! What are we supposed to do for food?!" Ino and Shikamaru both rolled their eyes.

"That's your problem," said Anko nonchalantly. "The forests are full of things to eat, but they're also full of things that could kill you, plants and animals alike. There's no way that thirteen teams will actually pass, and as time passes people will become more desperate and you'll face more trials and more danger. You'll be surrounded by enemies at all times, even while you sleep. You'll also have to be careful to avoid exhaustion, exposure, starvation, or dehydration."

She tucked the scrolls away in her hip pouch. "Now let's talk about ways you can be disqualified. First, if you run out of time or don't get both scrolls, you fail. Second, any team that loses a member to death or severe injury fails. Third, you cannot leave the forest. No breaks, no time outs. And last, you cannot look at the contents of the scrolls until you're in the tower."

Naruto eyed Anko. "What happens if you look?"

"That's for those who look to know. If you make it to chuunin, there will be times when you will be entrusted with top-secret documents. So, consider this a test of your trustworthiness. Once your team has signed their consent forms, trade them for your scroll at the table and then pick your starting gate. Everyone will start at the same time. Oh, and one piece of advice," said Anko with a straight face, "stay alive!"

Everyone started to separate into their teams to fill out their consent forms. Before Teams 7 and 8 went their separate ways, Namiko took a glance at her brother. "Nii-chan, please, please be careful. Don't do anything crazy…"

"You need to drop out of the exam," Naruto said bluntly to Namiko, not a hint of a smile on his face.

Namiko froze for a split second, not sure she heard him correctly. "…excuse me?"

"Drop. Out. This is too dangerous for you!" Naruto raised his voice as he gripped Namiko's shoulder firmly.

Namiko smacked his hand away, her eyes narrowing in warning. "It is not. I'm not as weak as you think. And if I can't fight, I can run. You know how fast I am!"

"And what if that's not enough?! What if you get hurt and I'm not there?" Naruto was half-yelling, sorrow threading through his voice.

"Then I get hurt!" Namiko fired back, cheeks flushed in anger. "Plus, I have my teammates to back me up!"

Sasuke stepped in between the siblings, putting his hand on Naruto's chest to push him away from Namiko. "Naruto, look, Kurenai sent her team in because she believed they were ready. She believes Namiko is ready and I agree. Your opinion doesn't matter because you aren't her teacher, just her brother. Trust her."

Namiko stared at Sasuke as he lowered his hand and backed away from Naruto. As he turned away she whispered a quiet, "Thank you, Sasuke." He smirked in response, but she couldn't see it from the angle as he walked away.

Naruto hung his head. "Sorry…I should trust you."

Namiko gave a small smile. "You better be careful too. I want you in one piece when this is over."

Naruto just grinned madly. "Imouto, I'll be fine! I can take care of myself, and probably have to take care of Sasuke too!"

"Shut up, dobe." Sasuke glared daggers at Naruto but didn't act on his unspoken threat.

"That means you don't torture Sasuke either." Namiko gave a small laugh and hugged Naruto.

Naruto smiled gently at her, a look of seriousness on his face that Sasuke and Sakura weren't used to seeing. He lowered his voice and whispered in her ear, "Namiko…if you get in trouble, just call for me and I'll be there. Your big brother will always protect you."

Namiko gave his hand a small squeeze before turning to join Hinata and Kiba. He couldn't guarantee that no matter how much he wanted to; she had to learn to trust her team instead. That's what part of this exam was, right? Learning to work with your team and accomplish dangerous missions.

Sasuke watched Namiko walk back to Team 8 and then noticed the table where they were going to turn in their consent forms was shielded from prying eyes by a thick curtain. 'They're keeping us in the dark. We won't know who gets the scroll on each team or which scroll they have. With all of us equally determined, this could be a bloodbath.' Team 7 turned in all their consent forms and received their scroll (Heaven).

Over with Team 8, they were just wrapping up filling out their forms. "If it's a test of survival they want, then we've got it made!" shouted Kiba excitedly, raising his fist in the air as Akamaru let out an excited yip.

Namiko rolled her eyes. "Don't get cocky, Kiba-kun. We have the tracking skills and intelligence to get through this, but it doesn't make it easy. We're still the rookies and we'll have a target on our backs." She let out a huge sigh as she finished her consent form. "There are some seriously dangerous shinobi in this exam. The trio from Suna is going to be a challenge, and that woman from Kusa honestly terrifies me. There's something sinister about her chakra…"

"We'll be fine! Just promise me that you both won't go soft on me." Kiba's voice went from upbeat to low and serious. "You have to be willing to fight for this as hard as you can, even if that means seriously injuring or being willing to kill."

Hinata nodded slowly and Namiko looked like she was about to throw up. Killing was the last thing she wanted to do. "I know…" She knew that being a shinobi, it was almost guaranteed at some point, but that didn't mean she had to like it. Kiba seemed to be all for fighting whenever possible.

Team 8 received their scroll (Heaven) and walked to their gate, Gate 16, and waited for the signal to start. She was honestly trying not to worry about how the next five days were going to go. Naruto was strong, but he didn't always think things through before doing them, and she had the intellect but not the physical strength. Right now, her speed would be her best physical trait to depend on.

Namiko made note that Team 7 was close by at Gate 12 when she heard Naruto call out, "All right! Let's go!" as the signal for the start of the exam sounded and the gates opened. Every team rushed forward into the danger beyond.

Team 8 ran a few hundred meters into the forest before Kiba stopped them. He waved Akamaru off and the pup ran a little farther into the forest. "We're being targeted," he said, voice just above a whisper, "and I'm smelling some Flying Leeches. If we stop here, we can set a trap." He pulled out a rope net trap. "Hinata, do you see them?"

Hinata quickly activated her Byakugan and scanned the forest. "They're closing in on us, we maybe have two minutes max."

"I remember reading about those leeches; this is a really good idea, Kiba-kun." Namiko started helping him set up and they finished with about thirty seconds to spare.

Kiba smirked as the incoming ninja got closer. He spoke in a slightly louder tone than normal. "Everyone's going to head to the tower, so we might as well just go there and set up traps."

Namiko activated her chakra sensing and locked eyes with Kiba once she found the ninja. She subtly used hand gestures to show Kiba and Hinata where they were. The ninja that found them were also Konoha shinobi, so Namiko didn't want to use deadly force if at all possible.

Akamaru made a small noise to let Kiba know the incoming ninja were where they should be. "Good boy. Looks like we've got company…"

One of the Konoha shinobi spoke to the others, "Stupid kids. Looks like they know we're here but don't know where." He glanced at his team member, noting something was off. "What's wrong with you? Why are you so pale? And what's under your shirt?"

The ninja in question pulled at his collar to see a giant leech attached to his neck and screamed. "What is that?!" the third teammate yelled.

Suddenly, giant leeches started falling through the tree branches and onto the unfortunate Konoha shinobi. The men screamed as they tried helplessly to avoid the bloodsuckers.

"They're called Flying Leeches. They sense body heat and perspiration and attack as a group." Kiba's cockiness was all over his face. "If they suck your blood for five minutes, it's all over."

The shinobi tried to remove the leeches without success, all falling to the ground and getting weaker by the minute. One of them reached out to try and stand, his hand hitting the tripwire that Kiba and Namiko had laid down moments before. The net that Team 8 planted scooped up the other team, leaving them at the mercy of the leeches.

Namiko walked over to the men in the net and turned her head to the side, and started looking for their scroll, careful to avoid the leeches. She found the scroll in one of the men's hip pouches: an Earth scroll. Namiko held up the scroll proudly, a large smile on her face. She handed it over to Hinata and Hinata tucked it safely in her hip pouch.

"Well, that was easy! Let's head to the tower!" Kiba started walking away from Namiko and Hinata.

Hinata's eyes softened. "Kiba-kun, we can't leave them to die."

Kiba groaned, turning back around to face the girls. "Hinata, can't we just go?"

"Hinata-chan is right." Namiko turned back to the men in the net. "I have an idea…you may want to stand back though."

Hinata and Kiba both backed up to the edge of the clearing as Namiko did several hand signs before yelling out: "Lightning Style: Electroshock Jutsu!" Blue lightning bolts streaked through the air and made contact with the men, causing them to scream before they all went silent. The leeches started falling off the men, dead.

Hinata went wide-eyed. "N-Namiko-chan, you didn't ki-?"

Namiko quickly shook her head furiously. "NO! No, no, no! They're just out cold. The shock was enough to kill the leeches, but not hurt them. Well, maybe that's not true. It's painful yes, and they'll be extremely weak after the blood loss and electrocution, but not dead." Hinata let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Can we go now?" Kiba asked, practically jumping up and down.

Namiko rolled her eyes. "Yes, Kiba-kun. We can go." She chuckled softly as they took off into the trees, making sure to pause once in a while to have herself or Hinata scan for enemies.

Team 7 had stopped for a moment to discuss their strategy for the exam when they heard the scream of the Konoha ninjas that Team 8 had just encountered. Shortly after that, all hell broke loose. Someone had impersonated Naruto, not once, but twice. The first person, an Ame ninja, had been difficult but able to be defeated. Sasuke had quickly come up with a password to prevent any future problems. The second impersonator, however, was absolutely terrifying. It was the Kusa ninja that had given back Anko her kunai. She wasn't normal by any means; the amount of fear she induced in them with just a glance was unparalleled.

Sasuke and Sakura were currently hiding behind a large tree from the Kusa kunoichi. They had both been frozen in terror earlier and Sasuke had to stab himself in the leg to break free from the mental prison he had been put in. Sasuke had his hand currently over Sakura's mouth to keep her quiet and trying to think of how to escape their situation and find Naruto. 'What did we sign up for? And what is with that shinobi? I've never been scared like this since that night…'

Sakura shoved Sasuke's hand aside and yelled "Sasuke! SNAKE!"

When Sasuke turned, he saw a large brown snake coming towards them. He swiftly pushed away from Sakura and launched multiple shuriken at the beast. The shuriken pierced the snake and shredded it in several places. It started to split open…

The Kusa nin crawled out of the downed snake, with an evil glint in her eye and tongue flicking everywhere. "You let down your guard! You should stay on your toes like a good prey should. It makes the chase so much more rewarding for the predator…" The ninja's neck elongated like a snake and spiraled around a nearby tree, much to Sasuke and Sakura's horror, and only stopped when shuriken came flying from a different direction and landed right in front of the nin's face.

"Sorry, Sasuke," called out Naruto, standing atop another tree. "I forgot that stupid password."

Sakura shouted happily, "That was awesome! Way to go, Naruto!"

"Naruto, you don't want to be here. This guy is way out of our league! Run while you still can!" Sasuke yelled at Naruto, fear starting to taint his voice and Sharingan active.

The Kusa nin was still wrapped around the tree. "Congratulations on escaping from my little friend, Naruto."

"Little?!" cried Naruto incredulously, "That thing was massive! That just proves that you're targeting us."

"Naruto, stay out of this!" Sasuke stared down the Kusa nin. "There's only one option… If it's our scroll you want, just take it and leave!" He threw the scroll toward the shinobi, but in a flash, Naruto grabbed it and landed in front of Sasuke.

Naruto slugged Sasuke across the jaw, hard. "I can't prove it, but this isn't Sasuke!"

"It's me, you idiot!"

"I call bull! You're a coward, which Sasuke isn't. So, you're not him!" Naruto was fuming, staring at Sasuke sitting on the ground. "Even if we did hand over the scroll, there's no guarantee he'd spare us!"

"You're exactly right," said the Kusa ninja, rolling up her sleeve to reveal a thick black tattoo. "Maybe I should do that after all…"

"I'd like to see you try!" Naruto ran towards her, kunai at the ready.

"Naruto! No!" cried Sakura.

Naruto jumped into the air to attack the Kusa ninja from above. "I've got this!"

She bit her thumb and spread the blood across the tattoo. "Summoning Jutsu!"

A burst of wind pushed Naruto back as a snake, even larger than the previous one, appeared as the Kusa ninja stood on its head. The snake pulled back its head before flicking its tongue to knock Naruto off his aim and he landed nearby. The snake's tail came next, whipping the trees out from under Naruto like ripping tissue paper and knocking Naruto into a tree so hard he coughed up blood.

"Naruto!" Sasuke and Sakura shouted as they could only watch in horror as their teammate began falling head first to the ground. Sasuke felt a wave of fear go through him, followed by him picking up a strange, strong chakra.

Naruto's eyes suddenly snapped open as he neared the snake; they were red with slit-like pupils, and the whisker marks on his face had gotten a bit darker as well. He flipped around and kicked the snake in the nose, rebounding off and landing on a tree before kicking off again and landing on the snake, punching its nose repeatedly as he yelled in frustration. "Take this, you creep and your creepy snake!"

Sakura's eyes went wide. "Whoa…he's gone nuts…but where did he get that power all of a sudden?"

Naruto landed on another tree again before pushing off to go after the snake and Kusa ninja again, only to see too late that the Kusa ninja was preparing an attack. She blew a fireball at Naruto which knocked him down, breaking several trees before finally coming to a stop on another tree. Neither Sasuke nor Sakura could see Naruto from their positions.

The Kusa ninja set her sights on Sasuke next. "Come on now, Sasuke, let's see what you can do." She and the snake rushed towards Sasuke, but he was frozen in place. Time seemed to slow down and all he could hear was his heartbeat in his ears.

Just before the snake could make contact though, Naruto leaped in front of Sasuke, arms spread wide holding back the snake from getting to Sasuke. "Hey kid, you're not hurt, are you?" Naruto lifted his head to look Sasuke in the eyes with a smirk on his face. "You scaredy cat! Standing there frozen like a frightened rabbit. No way, you're not the Sasuke I know!"

Sasuke still stood frozen as the Kusa ninja wrapped her tongue around Naruto and lifted him into the air. Naruto started wriggling and squirming. "This is gross! Let me down before I yank this tongue out of your head!"

The Kusa ninja brought Naruto closer to her and made a hand sign as she lowered her voice so only Naruto could hear. "I see, when your anger comes to the surface, some of the kyuubi's chakra is released. What an interesting childhood you must've had…Five-Pronged Seal!" The ninja slammed her fingers into Naruto's seal and all went black for Naruto as he went unconscious.

Naruto was falling fast towards the forest floor. Sakura glanced towards Sasuke who was still frozen, she quickly grabbed a kunai and aimed it towards Naruto, catching the back of his jacket and pinning him to a tree. Sakura scrunched up her face in anger. "Sasuke! You can say what you want about Naruto, but at least he's not a coward!"

Hearing Sakura's words, Sasuke pushed his fears aside. "No! I'm not going to lose!" Sasuke's Sharingan flashed to life as he rushed the Kusa ninja. 'I've been living with the hope of one day killing Itachi, and I thought it was the most important thing…but maybe I've been the idiot all this time! Naruto, Sakura…because someone who can't even stand up for his friends at a time like this could never beat him.'

Sasuke pulled out multiple kunai and shuriken as he ran. He leaped up high, throwing the kunai towards the Kusa ninja, but the ninja dodged skillfully. Sasuke decided to test close combat with taijutsu. They both attacked and blocked equally, Sasuke's Sharingan keeping up the pace and helping him to track the ninja.

He backed off slightly and decided to use a few of the infamous Uchiha fire-style jutsus. They made contact, but the ninja didn't seem to be affected in any way. He decided to back up a little further and stand in an "at ready" position while he thought over his next move.

The Kusa ninja launched several kunai towards Sasuke, and he deftly avoided them, leaping back and pushing back off a tree. He pulled out several wires, including in his mouth, threading them around a tree behind the ninja using shuriken. He tightened the wires, trapping the Kusa ninja against the tree with no hope of escape.

Once Sasuke knew his opponent wasn't able to move, he quickly launched his next attack. "Fire Style, Dragon Flame Jutsu!" The Kusa ninja was burnt beyond recognition and dying…or so Sasuke thought.

The wires broke and the ninja stepped forward. It looked like its face was peeling away to reveal another face. Yellow snake-like eyes stared down at Sasuke and Sakura, freezing them in place yet again.

The ninja spoke again, but the voice was no longer that of a woman, but a slithery, sinister male voice, "Such mastery of the Sharingan at so young an age. You're a true Uchiha after all. Yes, you'll do nicely. You definitely are his brother; if anything, your eyes are keener than Itachi's."

"Who are you and what do you want?!" Sasuke snapped through the pain.

An ominous laugh came from the man. "My name is Orochimaru." He pulled out the earth scroll from his hip pouch. "As for what I want, that will have to wait until we meet again. Which won't happen until you finish this test with the best score of all." The scroll in his hand started to burn with a green flame until it turned to ash.

"Just leave already!" shouted Sakura. "If we never meet again, it'll be too soon."

"Oh…he and I will meet again…" Orochimaru made a hand sign they had never seen before and suddenly his neck lengthened like a snake and towards the young shinobi. Orochimaru's head bit Sasuke's neck, leaving two bite punctures. A strange mark began to form on the area between Sasuke's neck and shoulder; it looked almost like the tomoe of a Sharingan.

Sasuke fell to the ground in pain, and Sakura immediately went on the defensive. "Sasuke! What did you do to Sasuke?"

Orochimaru smirked. "I just gave him a parting gift. Very soon, Sasuke will seek me out. He'll desire my power." With his last words, Orochimaru sunk into the tree he was standing on, vanishing completely from sight.

Sasuke screamed in agony as he writhed on the ground. Sakura was disturbed by what had just happened. She knelt next to Sasuke, unsure of what to do. "Sasuke, just hang on! You'll be okay…" Sasuke finally passed out from the pain, leaving Sakura alone with both teammates unconscious. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do…"

Namiko was running with Hinata, Kiba, and Akamaru through the forests. Kiba motioned for them to stop for a break. "Let's grab a drink and sit for a bit. Hinata, how far are we from the tower?"

Hinata took a brief look with her Byakugan in the direction they had come from. "We're about three kilometers from the gate where we started."

"So, roughly seven kilometers from the tower in the center," said Namiko as she popped a food pill in her mouth and made a face of disgust. "Ugh, these are awful."

"Didn't Sakura-chan give those to you?" asked Hinata as she retracted her Byakugan and took a sip from her water bottle.

Namiko turned slightly away from her friend. "…yeah. It was thoughtful of her and they work, but they don't taste very good. She made them for Team 7 but had extras, so she gave some to me."

"You could've just thrown them away. You're too nice for your own good sometimes, Namiko." Kiba chuckled a little and handed Akamaru a piece of jerky.

"Hey, they say you catch more flies with honey," Namiko said with a shrug as she stood up and activated her chakra sensing. "Hinata-chan, did you notice anyone nearby?"

Hinata shook her head. "I was honestly just looking to see how far we were from the gate."

"I'm going to make sure no one is around us." She activated her senses with her eyes closed since she had her teammates watching her back. On the edge of her senses, she felt a few different chakras around them (most going away from them), along with a group of familiar chakras: Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. She also felt two more: one extremely sinister one that reminded her of the same feeling she got from the Kusa ninja earlier in the day as well as some sort of large animal.

'What kind of animal has that much chakra? It's almost as much as a person. That's odd…' Namiko felt a pulse go through her, eyes snapping open, breaking her concentration. Her eyes started burning and she closed them again, rubbing them vigorously.

"Namiko-chan?" Hinata's eyebrows furrowed, she knew Namiko had sensed something. "What's wrong?"

"My eyes are burning…"

Hinata stepped towards her, laying a gentle hand on Namiko's shoulder. "Let me see, please." Namiko opened her eyes. Her normally blue-violet eyes were red with slit-like pupils. Hinata took a quick step back. "Your eyes…"

Namiko closed her eyes again, rubbing them, praying for the feeling to go away, and trying to use her chakra sensing. She felt a pulse of chakra from inside her, but it didn't feel like her own. Her eyes snapped open again, now back to their blue-violet color. She locked eyes with Hinata, fear written all over the redhead's face. "Naruto is in trouble. We have to help…"

Namiko looked at Kiba pleadingly. He hadn't seen Namiko's eyes, her scent had changed slightly for a moment but nothing else seemed out of the ordinary. He sighed heavily. "I'm going to regret saying yes, aren't I?"

"Kiba-kun, you're the best!" Namiko said with a slight smile, still worried about her brother.

Kiba put his things in his hip pouch and Akamaru climbed back on his head. "Okay, let's head out."

'Please Naruto, just hang on. Your sister is coming…'

A/N: There's the first half of the FOD! I cut out some things (mostly details that were just explanatory when we all first watched/read Naruto) but I wanted to show what happened with Team 8, which you'll see more details later too. Things will change a bit in the next chapter; some plot points may be the same in parts but who does them will be different. I'm sorry in advance if you don't like it; it's what I wanted to write. This fic will focus almost solely on Teams 7 and 8. Yes, there will be Team 10 and Team Gai but this story isn't focused on them. I'll see you soon!

-Eriisu