#and ibiki pulls back the flap

[nashifics-blog]

The Chunin Exam Stage Two: The Forest of Death!

The second exam arc is going to be a lot shorter than it was in the anime. I’m probably going to condense it into one chapter like I did with the first one.

Nanashi slumped to the ground the second she made it to the meeting place for the exam. She laid down and closed her eyes, ready for sleep to claim her, but she soon felt a presence looming over her. She cracked one eye open, grinning, “Hey, Sassy! Join me!”

All of the rookies - plus Lee, Neji, and Tenten - had gathered around where she collapsed. Sasuke sat in the grass beside her. Reiko and Emiko followed suit, though Emiko already looked dead on her feet to begin with. Sasuke looked over at the teal-haired girl. “You’re not a morning person, are you?” Emiko just blinked sleepily in response. Sasuke turned back to Nanashi, “So, what’s the deal with you and all these people I never knew you knew?”

Nanashi cocked her head as she tried to register what he was asking. “Oh! Well, I met Gaara, Kuro, and Mari on that mission to Suna I told you about. I know Lee, Tenten, and the Hyuga jerk through Uncle Guy - Guy and Lee are helping me with Taijutsu. Ibiki and Anko I know because of Dad.” She sat up, stretching her arms out in front of her. “And as for Kabuto, he’s really just an acquaintance. I met him a few years back, but we barely know each other.” She glanced over to where the silver-haired ninja stood with his team, lowering her voice, “To be honest, he kinda freaks me out. Something seems a little off...”

Before they could continue their conversation, Anko arrived. Sasuke stood up, the twins following suit. He held his hand out to Nanashi, hauling her up onto her feet when she took hold of it.

Sakura clasped her hands together in front of her chest, her eyes wide with fear as she took in the sight of the place they would be holding their exam. “This whole place just completely creeps me out!”

Anko smirked, “It should! They call it the Forest of Death, and soon enough you’re gonna find out why.”

Naruto huffed, putting his hands on his hips. His voice took on a mocking tone as he did a weird dance, “They call it the Forest of Death and soon enough you’re gonna find out why! Do your worst, you’re not gonna scare me away! I can handle anything!”

Anko’s smirk turned into a fake smile as she tilted her head, “So… looks like we’ve got ourselves a tough guy.” Suddenly, she threw a kunai at him, catching his cheek and drawing blood. She disappeared, reappearing directly behind him. “You tough enough to handle this? You’re not afraid, are you?” Nanashi watched the exchange in amusement as Anko turned Naruto’s head, “Tough guys like you usually leave their blood all over this forest.” Just as she wiped some off of his cheek with her finger, she whipped around, pulling out another kunai. Nanashi couldn’t repress the shudder that wracked her body as a long tongue extended toward the Jonin, holding the kunai she had just thrown.

A Grass ninja stood right behind her. “I was… just returning your knife.”

“Why thank you, Grass ninja,” Anko replied in a falsely sweet voice. “Y’know… I really only recommend you stand this close behind me… If you wish to reach a premature end.” She took the knife back and the woman’s tongue retracted back into her mouth.

“My pardon. With the sight of blood, and your blade slicing through my hair, I’m afraid that I just became a little excited. I meant you no harm.”

‘Jeez, this one is creepy…’

Anko watched as the Grass ninja walked away, “Likewise…” As Naruto attempted to stretch his own tongue out behind her, Anko smirked, addressing Nanashi, “Seems like everyone here today is quick-tempered. There must be something in the air. This is gonna be fun!”

Nanashi grinned, nodding. “We gonna get this party started or what?”

“Good idea!” Anko turned and walked toward the fence. “Now, before we begin this test, I have something to hand out to you all.” As she spoke, Nanashi wandered off toward the Sand Siblings. Kankuro waved in greeting, but stayed silent as he listened to the proctor. She was holding up a stack of papers. “Just a standard consent form. Before the test, all of you are going to have to read over this form, and then sign it.”

“What for?” Naruto asked.

“Some of you may not come back from this test! And I have to get your consent to that risk. Otherwise, it would be my responsibility!”

Nanashi held out one hand, motioning for Anko to give her one, “Give it here, I got nothin’ to lose.”

“Now, I’ll explain what you’ll be doing on this test. Here,” She held the stack out to Naruto, who took it from her. “Pass these out. The first thing you need to know is that this test will tax every one of your survival skills. First,” She held up a scroll, unraveling it, “I’ll give you all a description of the terrain on the practice field. The forty-fourth battle training zone has forty-four locked entrances gates.” As Anko continued to talk, Nanashi signalled for Kankuro to turn around. Once he did, she pressed her waiver into his shoulder, using him as a surface to write on. “There are rivers and a forest inside. In the center is a locked tower, located ten kilometers from each gate. It’s in this confined area that you’ll undergo the survival test. The test consists of...” She pocketed the scroll again, “An anything goes battle! To get your hands on these scrolls.” She held up two more scrolls, both sealed. One was white with the kanji for ‘heaven’, the other was black with the kanji for ‘earth’.

“Both of them?” Sasuke asked.

“Yes. You’ll be fighting to get both a heaven scroll and an earth scroll. Altogether, twenty-six teams will be taking part in this, so half of those teams will be going after the heaven scroll, and the other half will be trying to get the earth scroll. I’ll hand over one kind of scroll to each team, and that’s what you’ll be vying for.”

“Okay…” Sasuke said, “So how do we pass the test?”

“Your entire squad must bring both a heaven and earth scroll to the tower.”

Sakura spoke up, “That means, at the very best, half of us will fail! More if not every team is able to get both the scrolls.”

“No one ever said it would be easy. Oh, and one more thing. The test has a time limit. You must finish it within five days.”

“Five days out there?!” Ino whined.

“What are we supposed to do for food?!” Choji exclaimed.

“Just look around! The forest is full of things to eat. There’s plenty to feed all of you.”

“Yeah, but…” Kabuto interjected, “That’s not all the forest has plenty of. There are man-eating beasts and poisonous plants in there.”

“Oh maaaaan!” Choji complained.

“Quiet down!” Ino nagged her teammate, “This is why they call it survival, you know?”

“That means,” Neji added, “With these circumstances, there’s no way half the teams will pass the test.”

Lee continued for him, “With the days getting longer, the nights are getting shorter, so we will have less time to sleep and less time to recover. It is a challenge, indeed!”

Sasuke and Nanashi shared a glance, determination written on their faces, “Completely surrounded by enemies. There won’t be time to rest, we’ll have to keep a constant watch.”

“Right!” Anko confirmed, “This test also measures endurance behind enemy lines! This is designed to be a grueling test, and I’m sure some of you won’t be up to the challenge!”

Shikamaru raised his hand, “So, um, let’s say mid-exam. Can we quit?”

Anko glared at him, “Of course not! In the middle of a battle, you can’t say ‘Sorry, I quit’! Well, I guess you could, but it’s probably gonna get you killed.”

“Oh, just great… This is gonna be a drag...”

“There are also some ways you can get disqualified. The first is simple. If all three members of the team can’t make it to the tower with both scrolls after five days. Number Two. If a team loses a member, or if a member becomes incapacitated and cannot continue. But most important, none of you - absolutely none of you - may look at the contents of the scrolls until you’ve reached the tower!”

“W-What if it just happens to flap open and you read it?” Naruto asked nervously.

“Let me put it to you this way, young man. You. Don’t. Want. To. Know.” Naruto just groaned in exasperation. “There are times when a ninja will be asked to carry secret documents. The scroll rule is to test your integrity. Okay, we’re done. Each team, take your consent forms and exchange them over there for your scrolls. After that, each team pick a gate, and you’ll be let inside.” Anko sighed, “Oh, and I have one more word of advice. Just don’t die!”

“Great pep talk…” Nanashi muttered under her breath, earning chuckles from Temari and Kankuro.

Kankuro patted her on the head, “You ready for this, Shortstack? Think you can handle it?”

Nanashi tried to glare at him, but she couldn’t keep the smile off of her face, “Can you?”

Before he could counter, he was interrupted by Sakura and Ino screaming at each other nearby. Nanashi sighed in frustration, shaking her head. Kankuro raised an eyebrow, casting a glance in the direction of the two girls. “Do they ever shut up?”

“I’ll let you know when I find out…” She looked around, spotting Hinata standing by a tree. Then she noticed Naruto walking toward to the shy girl. “...’Scuse me, I gotta see this firsthand… Good luck out there! Stay safe, okay?” She gave him a tight hug, before doing the same to Temari. “You too, Mari. I better see you at that tower!”

Temari smiled fondly at the younger girl, “You know you will, dear.”

Nanashi turned to her third companion. She paused for a moment before breaking into a wide smile and extending her hand to him. “Good luck to you, too, Gaara. Though, I doubt you’ll really need it!” Gaara studied her suspiciously, before letting his gaze drift to her outstretched hand. He shook her hand briefly, nodding his head once.

She released his hand, walking over to where Hinata was. As she left, she heard Kankuro muttering to Temari, “So, does that mean she thinks we will? Rude.”

Nanashi stopped next to Hinata, beaming as the other girl noticed her. “‘Sup?”

Before Hinata could even answer, Naruto had finally looked up from the paper in his hand. “Huh? What are you guys doing all the way out here?!” He called, causing Hinata to turn around, blushing.

“Oh! N-Naruto!” Hinata responded quietly, before turning her gaze away and blushing even harder. Nanashi couldn’t fight the grin permanently etched onto her face as she watched her two friends. “I, um, I just… Nothing!” Naruto’s expression turned to one of confusion. “I…” She gasped as she noticed the cut on the blond’s cheek. “Oh, you’re cut!”

As Hinata searched her pockets for something quickly, Nanashi acknowledged Naruto. “Hey, Mr. Whiskers! Don’t die out there, you got that? My advice, avoid the giant snakes.”

Naruto laughed loudly, putting his hands on his hips. “You have nothin’ to worry about with me! I’ll ace this test!”

“Here, I have…” Just as Hinata found what she was looking for, Naruto started walking off. “This!”

“Well, anyway, see ya later!” He raised his hand, never looking back.

Hinata hung her head as Nanashi winced, “Ouch…” She patted Hinata on the shoulder, “Don’t worry, Hinata. You’ll get plenty of chances to give it to him later.”

“Yeah…”

“Alright, everyone!” One of the Chunin had poked his head out from behind the curtain hiding the scroll table, “We’re gonna start handing out scrolls!”

Nanashi met the twins at the table, where they exchanged their papers for a heaven scroll before making their way over to a nearby gate. Reiko looked around discreetly, before nodding her head in the direction of another group. Emiko nodded in understanding, and they walked off, leaving Nanashi standing alone and confused.

While she waited for her teammates to return, Sasuke approached her. “Hey. You alright?”

Nanashi beamed, “Yeah! Rei and Emi just ditched me, though.” Her expression turned serious. “Be careful out there, Sasuke.”

Sasuke nodded, “You too.”

As the twins rejoined them, Nanashi and Sasuke fist-bumped, speaking in unison. “Good luck.”

Sasuke left to find his own teammates, and the gates opened soon after.

“So…” Nanashi began, interrupting the silence. “Where’d you two go off to?”

Reiko shrugged, a falsely innocent look on her face, “Oh, just to chat with a few Waterfall ninja.”

On Nanashi’s other side, Emiko was casually twirling an earth scroll between her fingers.

#naruto #naruto fanfiction #original character #character insert #Nanashi Yamamoto #Naruto Uzumaki #Sasuke Uchiha #Sakura Haruno #anko mitarashi #shikamara nara #ino yamanaka #choji akimichi #neji hyuga #Rock Lee #hinata hyuga #Gaara #Temari #Kankuro