No noise was heard inside of the classroom after Ibiki's final instructions. Naruto looked around, an uncertain expression on his face that was covered by his mask. One of the proctors looked his way, prompting him to quickly look back down at his own paper.

'Man…I've always been bad at theory work…What was Ibiki saying about cheating?' He thought with a frown. 'Hey, did you hear what he said?'

No reply.

'Hello?'

"Were…Were you asking me?" The fox replied with confusion practically dripping from his words.

"Yeah."

"Have you been hit over the head too many times? Why would I pay any interest to such nonsense?"

'I don't know, I just thought- You know what, never mind.' He cut the mental link and focused back on his paper. 'Decode the following cipher and summarize its meaning…Uh…'

He scribbled down a half-hearted answer and decided to move on to the next question. 'The parabola marked B represents the greatest effective distance the enemy Shinobi, A, could…Kurama, what's a parabola?'

"Quit asking me questions, moron. I don't care."

'But they're so confusing and ambiguous though, how are we supposed to figure these out!?' He complained in his mind while leaning back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling. 'Who came up with these? Do they even have an answer? Am I totally screwed? …Are those mirrors?'

Sakura stared at her test, a bead of sweat trailing down the side of her face. 'This is bad, these questions are high level stuff! First cryptography and now algebra. The average student wouldn't be able to answer something like that! It's like they want us to fail…'

She looked ahead at Naruto and noticed him staring off into empty space…Like usual. 'Gah! Naruto, don't tell me you've already given up! Although I can't really fault him…' She sighed to herself and looked over at her second teammate. 'Well…I hope Sasuke's fairing a little better…'

Said Uchiha looked around the classroom, then down at his paper with a confident smirk.

'Heh, what do you know. I can't answer a single one of these questions.'

As time ticked by, it started to become clear to Naruto what the rules were. Cheating without getting caught sounded like a counterintuitive rule at first, but it made sense when you thought about it a little more. Shinobi would be tasked with reconnaissance missions every day. Gathering intel as discreetly as possible was a necessity for survival.

WHOOSH. THOK.

"Ahh! W-What the hell!?" A Konoha genin screamed. Naruto didn't recognize him, so he must not have graduated with the rest of the rookies.

"That's five strikes…You're out" Kotetsu said with a smirk.

"No way…"

He watched him argue with the proctor for a while longer before losing interest and looking back down at his sheet of paper. Something didn't feel quite right. At some point when his mind had started wandering and he'd looked around the classroom, he noted some familiar faces not counting the genins that he already knew. A few of those people taking the exam, he'd seen them in the past sporting green flak jackets. And if the main goal was to cheat and not get spotted, then answering the questions meant…

'…The tenth question will be provided at the end of the test. Please answer the question to the best of your ability.'

'This is hurting my brain… I'm too tired for this.' The blond thought while resting his chin on his palm. He closed his eyes and soon got lost in his own head again.

SLAM.

His eyes flew open as his body jumped in surprise when Ibiki slammed his hand on his desk. Startled, he looked down at the man's hand then up at his face, who was now sporting a disapproving look.

"Uzumaki…" He drawled out. "Is this test perhaps too easy for you?"

"No, sir." Naruto replied quickly.

The scarred man removed his hand and turned back around, allowing Naruto to breath out a sigh of relief.

"If I catch you sleeping in my classroom again, I'm throwing you and your team out the door myself. Do I make myself clear?"

Naruto quickly nodded and looked over towards his teammates, who both seemed pretty nervous. How long had he been spacing out for?

Ibiki glanced up at the clock and called out in a loud voice. "All right, pencils down! I don't want to see any movement!"

He looked around at each student and walked back to the front of the classroom. "Congratulations to everyone that has made it thus far. Now that we've weeded out the worst of the slackers, it's time for the tenth and final question!"

"Oi, listen here."

'Wha-'Naruto began.

"I can feel your restlessness regarding that woman from earlier. Knowing you, you're going to disregard my warnings and go after her. I meant what I said. Do not approach her. Stay as far away from her as possible."

'What's with you? Are you afraid of her or something?'

"Do not insult me!" Growled the fox. "Such a pathetic insect means nothing to me. But you, are about as defenseless as a wet kitten."

'Hey, that's not fair.' He stopped short when a few students raised their hands and were promptly ordered to leave. 'You're making me miss important info here, can this wait?'

"Fine, have it your way. But don't come crying to me."

Naruto closed the link and took another look around the room. A bit more than half of the classroom had left already, and the rest of his team seemed visibly shaken. 'What the hell did I miss?'

Ibiki remained silent and waited a few more minutes, before folding his arms and shutting his eyes. "Now then, everyone that is still here right now…" He smiled and opened his eyes again. "Congratulations. You all pass."

Silence reigned in the room as all the Genin present processed the information. Then came the inevitable outrage.

"What!? What do you mean passed? What about the tenth question!?"

Before Ibiki could reply, a large object crashed through the window and shattered the glass. Two kunai emerged from said object and anchored themselves to the ceiling, displaying a large banner that read 'NEWLY ARRIVED SECOND CHIEF EXAMINER OFFICER, MITARASHI ANKO.'

"Alright, listen up you worthless runts! I am the second chief examiner officer; Mitarashi Anko! Time's a-wastin' people, Let's go! Follow me!"

"…"

"Anko…" Ibiki muttered as he peaked from behind the banner. "You're way too early."

Anko Mitarashi was a special Jonin of Konoha. She had purple hair tied into a ponytail and brown eyes, and wore a tan open trench coat with some fishnet clothing underneath. The revealing attire coupled with the entrance made for an intimidating presence to the Genin in the classroom.

"Eh? Are you still not done with your speech? The tenth question is a hoax to see who had the balls to stay under heavy pressure, yadda yadda." She stopped as her gaze surveyed the classroom. "Only 42 people leftover this time. So, 37 teams have already left huh?" She cackled to herself and continued. "If you all thought this part was tough, then you don't know what's coming for ya. I'm getting excited just thinking about it! I'll explain things further once we're there. So, follow me to training ground 44! Be there in 10 minutes or be disqualified!"

Everybody scurried out of their seat and rushed out of the classroom, afraid to face the wrath of the scary woman.

"Welcome to my home away from home! Training Ground 44, also known as the Forest of Death!" Anko called out proudly. As she began to list off the rules of this portion of the exams, Naruto looked over at his teammates.

"Hey, why did you guys look so scared back then in the classroom?" He whispered.

Sakura turned to him. "Huh? Oh, that last question was just a little scary, is all. But you know us, that's not gonna be enough to stop us!"

"Right…" Naruto began in an unsure tone. "What was the tenth question anwyay?"

"What do you mean?"

"I got distracted and didn't hear what it was."

"You did what!?"

Thunk.

Naruto's head swayed slightly as a pen bounced off the side of his mask. He brought up a hand to rub the spot that it had impacted against only to feel an elbow pressing down on the top of his head.

"Oh, hi Naruto. Do you mind paying attention to my instructions before I give Kakashi another reason to visit the memorial stone?" Anko said in a sickly-sweet tone.

"Sorry…" Naruto mumbled in apology. Anko's eyes narrowed, a kunai appearing in her hand right as the creepy lady from earlier materialized into view, pen held by her unnaturally long tongue.

"Your pen…I believe you dropped it."

"Don't stand behind me like that…Unless you want to die." Anko threatened with a small smile on her face.

"Sorry about that…" The tall lady with the wide hat said as a chuckle escaped her lips. "The sight of all these defenseless Genin, it makes it hard for me to hide my excitement.

"Uh-huh…" Anko replied with narrowed eyes. "You can keep that." The Kusa nin simply smirked in amusement. Anko turned back towards the gathered genin, noting that Naruto had at some point slunk out of her grasp and now stood a few feet behind his teammates. She hadn't interacted with Kakashi's brat that often, but she could tell that he seemed uneasy. 'Probably shaken by the creepy grass chick.' She dismissed.

"Before we begin this exam, there's something I have to hand out!" She reached into her coat and pulled out a stack of papers. "These are consent forms. Everybody has to sign one."

Naruto sighed and hung his head when he saw her evil grin. 'This doesn't bode well…'

"Part two of the Chunin selection exam begins…Now!"

The proctor's words echoed through Naruto's mind over and over again like the toll of a bell. Something about this whole thing was putting him on edge, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He pressed the palm of his hand against the side of his head in an attempt to mitigate the pain and focused back on the task at hand. Sasuke was leading their group, Sharingan darting side to side picking up the tiniest movements. He and Sakura flanked him, not too far behind. He looked down at the scroll in his hand, the word 'heaven' inscribed on it and slipped it back into his ninja tool. Staring ahead again, his eyes picked up a subtle hand movement from his Uchiha teammate.

Landing on a tree branch, he bent his knee slightly and used it as a springboard to launch himself up and vanish from view. Only seconds later did a body fall from the foliage at great speed and crash onto the ground below them. Sasuke and Sakura landed next to the Shinobi, with Naruto joining them soon after.

"Any luck?" Sasuke said, crossing his arms. Sakura approached the unconscious body and patted around for the scroll.

"No…" She said with a sigh.

Naruto looked over his shoulder as an uneasy feeling washed over him. "Let's keep looking. We don't want to hang around the entrance for too long.

He jumped up onto a tree branch and continued onwards deeper in the forest, his team hot on his heels. His face scrunched up in worry as the odd feeling still nagged at his mind, like a brief feeling a deja vu. But he did his best to ignore it and keep his mind sharp.

"We're being followed." Sasuke called out. The team stopped and quickly hid into the canopy, out of sight from potential ambush. They remained quiet, waiting for a sign of movement, but nothing could be heard but the sound of the wildlife around them.

Naruto held his breath, the suspense beginning to make him anxious. His attention was drawn to a nearby puddle. He stared at a ripple that was already beginning to disappear, but was soon followed by another slightly bigger one.

"What is that...?" He heard Sakura whisper next to him. A low grumbling was getting louder, much too fast for his liking. His eyes widened and barely had the time to shout to his teammates before jumping away.

"Fall back!"

The team sprang into action, all jumping away in different directions just in time to avoid a massive snake that crashed into their previous spot, open maw swallowing up the tree and everything around it. The reptile continued on in its path of destruction and disappeared further ahead.

'That was close...' He thought. "Okay. I think we should be good."

"...!"

His eyes widened as he noticed a figure only a few dozen feet away from them. It was the woman from the grass village from earlier. What was she doing here?

The woman seemed content with just observing them from her slightly elevated position, a small smile marring her features. A smile that was putting Naruto more and more on edge.

"Tch, looks like we got another fight on our hand...Where's the rest of her team, though?" Sasuke wondered aloud.

"Hold on, Sasuke..."

The woman let out a small, nearly inaudible chuckle, but it was enough for the wind to carry it to Naruto's ears.

"Who are you...?" Naruto asked. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his voice, a slight tremor laced with the words he spoke.

The woman said nothing and fished out two kunai from her pouch. She jumped high in the air and threw it at the team, who once again scattered into different directions. Naruto landed on a tree branch and used it as a springboard to jump back up to her before she'd met the ground again. He threw a kick at her midsection, which she easily caught, and was pushed back when he lashed out with his second leg and narrowly missed a blow to her face.

Naruto backflipped and landed on a branch into a crouch. From her airborne position, the Kusa nin began flying through handseals, but was interrupted as a giant fireball flew at her, burning everything in its path.

'Kukuku...Interesting.' She thought with a small smirk as the fire swallowed her. The team converged together once more and watched as the smoke began to clear. But the woman was gone.

"Did you get her?" Sakura asked. Sasuke barely heard her, his eyes were too busy darting around the area. He glanced over to Naruto, the better sensor of the group and frowned when he seemed equally as worried as him, if not more. That wasn't good. Among all of them, he was the most level headed one.

The sound of clapping coming from below made them jump in surprise and look down at their feet. The woman smirked from her position, upside down on the same tree branch that they were standing on. "Very good, team seven. I see that you are living up to your team title...Like the others before you."

Naruto clenched his fist and shot it forward, a compressed ball of wind punching a hole through the bark. The woman jumped off and landed onto the ground below with team 7 quickly following her. The jinchuriki frowned and pointed a finger at her. "You...What's your connection with Orochimaru?"

Sasuke seemed confused by the question, but that name was not unfamiliar to Sakura. "Did you just say Orochimaru? As in one of the Sannins, that Orochimaru?"

The woman merely chuckled again, a sound that made Naruto's hair stand on end. The pressure around them began to grow, and the three children were starting to find it hard to breath.

"How perceptive you are...Naruto-kun." A long tongue snaked its way out from between her lips. "You're right...I do have ties with that man." She looked up, allowing him to see his eyes peeking from under her hat...Those eyes that he'd seen in his nightmare. "Would you like me to show you...Just how close to the truth you are?"

Naruto's blood ran cold. For a second, he had to remind himself to breath. The pressure increased tenfold, forcing Sakura and Sasuke to their hands and knees. It was like they were staring death in the face. But Naruto had it worse than them. Killing intent barely had any effect on him anymore. Kakashi had made sure to train him in that, and once you've met the nine tailed fox, nothing else could really compare. But that voice, and those eyes...It was like he was back in that room again. So far away from Konoha, so far away from everything he knew, and at the mercy of that twisted man. Orochimaru began to take slow steps towards the team, gaining great pleasure from the fear on their faces. Like a hunter stalking a cornered animal.

'No no no no no...This can't be happening. Not again. No way. This has to be...This has to be some sick joke.' His body began trembling. 'Why here of all places? Why? Why why why why-"

"God, you're pathetic. Are you going to just stand there and wet your pants?"

Kurama's voice broke Naruto out of his mental spiral, at least for the moment. 'What...You knew about this, right? Is that why you told me to stay away from him? Why didn't you tell me sooner?'

"Quit your whining. I didn't need you breaking down like you are now, so WAKE UP!"

He winced at the loud noise and snapped back to the real world. Orochimaru was still taking his time walking over towards them. He looked down at his team and tried to force a small smile on his face, even though they couldn't see it. "Don't worry, guys...I won't let any of you die..."

Sasuke wiped his lips and slowly pushed himself back up with extremely shaky legs. "H-Heh...You think that's enough to scare me? I was just caught off guard, is all." He bent down and helped Sakura up to her feet as well. "Doesn't matter who he is. We'll come up with a strategy and-"

"No."

Sasuke blinked. "Huh?"

"Listen to me. When I tell you, I want you to run. As fast and as far away as possible. I don't care where. Just get out of here and let the people outside know of what's happening here."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "What? You can't seriously expect us to just run away?" Sakura remained silent, still visibly shaken. To be honest, the idea of running didn't seem so bad to her either. "What about you? What will you do?"

"I'll run too."

"Even if we try, what's stopping him from just catching up to us? And what happens if he does?"

Naruto was silent for what felt like an eternity, but was only mere seconds. "Do you trust me...?" He asked, glancing back at his team.

Sasuke grit his teeth. "What? What does that have to do with anything?" He was met with more silence, causing him to give a sharp exhale in frustration. "Yeah. Of course I do."

"I do too." Sakura replied.

Naruto smiled, an action that was not forced this time. "Thank you..."

Orochimaru's smirk grew in amusement. "What are you kids whispering about over there? Did you come up with a plan to take out the big bad snake man?"

Naruto fixed his gaze back on Orochimaru and drew in a shaky breath. He took a step forward and began making his way towards him as well. "Get ready..."

His foot crashed down on the ground and he dashed forward at great speed. He got within striking distance and skidded down low, his arm reared for a strike. Orochimaru's smile never left his face as he moved to intercept him, but was caught off guard when the blond disappeared from view and reappeared right behind him with a body flicker.

'Good effort...' Orochimaru thought. He spun around, fist drawn out and sent it flying forward. "But not good enough!"

With surprisingly good reflexes, Naruto tilted his head to the side and let the fist fly past him. Before Orochimaru could follow up, he felt his smile leave his face and get replaced by a look of shock as black powder seemed to fly up in front of his face in slow motion. Within an instant, the powder ignited and exploded in his face, severely disorientating him.

"Gaah!" Orochimaru didn't know whether to cover his ears or his eyes first. As soon as the powder ignited, Naruto spun and kicked Orochimaru across the face as hard as he could, sending him toppling down the tree lines.

"Now!" He shouted. Within a second, all three dispersed in separate directions. Naruto hopped up onto a tree branch and glanced behind him, making sure that his team was fully out of view. He waited a few seconds, then stood up, looking down where he'd last seen the Sannin.

He couldn't run away. He couldn't let him get to his teammates. No matter what, he would protect them.

Orochimaru walked back into view, rubbing the back of his hand against his cheek. "That was a cheap trick...Naruto-kun." He said. His tongue slid out as he began licking his lips, his predatory gaze meeting Naruto's stare.

The blond barely had time to lean out of the way as Orochimaru's neck elongated to extreme lengths and shot towards him, a sword coming out of his mouth aimed straight at his face. He let gravity pull him down closer to the ground and sprung out at the last second, dashing through the trees at blinding speed as Orochimaru's head followed close behind. He skidded to a stop and changed his trajectory, then used a burst of wind to propel him forward. He continued the random twists and turns and suddenly stuck his hand up, catching a branch up above and launching upwards. Orochimaru's eyes widened when his head came to a stop, having been led into a trap as his neck was now stuck amidst the maze of trees he'd been following the blond through.

Before he could retract his head though, a clone appeared next to the airborne blond and grabbed hold of his hand before spinning and launching him back down. Naruto slammed both his feet on top of Orochimaru's head, making his chin crash violently against the ground. A loud ring echoed through the forest as Orochimaru's teeth snapped around the blade. But Naruto wasn't done. He jumped again and slammed back down. Again, then again and again, before finally hopping back to a safe distance.

Orochimaru's face remained in the dirt for a few moments, before his whole body began to dissolve into mud. Naruto's head snapped back in alarm as he felt the tree rustle before the wind was knocked out of him. He fell, bounced and promptly re-adjusted himself again without missing a beat. Orochimaru smirked as he watched the blond run away again, and summoned a serpent beneath him, who slithered at impressive speed after the blond.

Naruto cursed under his breath and glanced behind him. Orochimaru jumped off the reptile's head and sent a kick towards the blond, who blocked the blow with his arms and was sent crashing back, toppling a tree along the way. Orochimaru followed after him, barely giving him time to breath. His body stretched and slithered around the branch and threw a punch, which Naruto deflected before jumping back. He fished out three shuriken and shot them forward. Orochimaru easily avoided them and came in close once more. He threw a high kick which was blocked and immediately brought that leg back down, trying to catch him off guard. Naruto moved out of the way just in time and fell back, before rolling and springing to his feet again. When he looked up though, Orochimaru was gone.

'Where did he go?' He thought while frantically looking around. He barely caught a blur as Orochimaru dashed around at blinding speed, almost too fast for him to follow. Orochimaru's body suddenly stretched and crashed down where he stood. Naruto quickly jumped up and flew through handseals.

Great Breakthrough!

His chest expanded, molding wind chakra before spitting out a fearsome gale of wind. Naruto gathered more chakra, and his jutsu shrank in size, but became more concentrated and powerful. The tempest turned into a stream of vicious wind, and Orochimaru was quick to put his arms up in defense. He used his hand to protect his face but was surprised when his pam burst open, having been shredded by the violent torrent of wind.

'Kukuku...This brat is better than I thought...' He thought in amusement. Quickly jumping back, he summoned the snake once more and landed on his head. The snake wasted no time to dash forward and crash into the blond, sending him flying. Naruto soared through the air and attempted to right himself, but the snake was already behind him. Orochimaru threw a violent punch, which sent Naruto flying in the opposite direction. He cursed and threw a smoke bomb, obstructing the sannin's field vision and hid behind a tree.

Orochimaru patiently waited for the smoke to clear. He didn't have anything to worry about after all. He smirked and casually walked in a direction, looking left and right. "You should know by now that there's no use hiding from me, Naruto-kun. I will always find you."

"Let's hope this works..." Naruto muttered to himself with his head peeking out from the tree he was hiding behind. He leaned away then brought his hand up and stared at his open palm. He took in a breath and braced his wrist using his other hand. The wind began to pick up around him as a small amount of chakra gathered in the center of his hand. He stared down in concentration, his face shining blue as the energy grew in size.

Orochimaru's eyes turned towards where the sound was coming from and smiled wider. He began approaching the source. But his eyes shot up as a blur flew over the tree, glowing blue orb in hand before crashing down onto his summon's head.

Rasengan!

The snake's head slammed down onto the ground as the orb of destruction tore into the reptile. It thrashed around a few times before finally stilling and disappearing into a cloud of smoke.

Naruto caught his breath and waved the smoke away. When he looked up, he was taken aback when he saw Orochimaru's smile was gone, having been replaced by a look of pure discontent.

"That jutsu...Is really getting on my nerves." He growled out. Orochimaru flew forward and struck Naruto in the face, snapping his head back and sending him flying away. He hit his back against a tree and coughed when the wind was knocked out of him. Gasping, he took in a few breaths and coughed as his head was still ringing.

Crack.

'Huh...?' Naruto thought. A small piece of porcelain fell to the ground, followed by a larger one. The rest of the mask joined suit, laying in front of him like a puzzle. Orochimaru frown deepened as he began walking towards the downed blond.

"I grow tired of you, and those fools, Jiraiya and Sarutobi-sensei. Spouting on about the will of fire and their narrow-minded ideals. It's time I put an end to this. To you, and the rest of this wretched village.

Naruto couldn't hear him though. Without his mask, he felt exposed. Too exposed. It was like he lost his shield, his blanket protecting him from the monsters at night. He reached up and covered his face with his hands as he felt the unfamiliar feeling of wind brush against his face. Between his fingers, his blue pupils turned to red, and his eyes darkened in hatred.

"Hm?" Orochimaru stopped short as he felt a sudden spike of chakra. His eyes narrowed, before his face pulled into another smirk.

"So you've finally come out to play...

...Nine Tailed Fox."


Author's Notes: Hey there, I know it's been a while...8 months to be exact. Wow, time flies by fast. I don't really have a real excuse besides being busy and not having inspiration. This chapter is short, but it's only part 1. I just wanted to upload something. Right now as we speak, i am minutes away from leaving on a trip that will last a few weeks. But once I'm back, part 2 will come out much quicker than that. This story is not abandoned and I still have big plans for it.

Thanks for sticking with me all this time. See you when I see you.

Oh and join my discord. d isco /j7 cru wQQ9Em (remove spaces since doesnt like links)

Review or ill raise your rent.