Chunin Exams: Forest of Death Part 1

All of the Chunin Exam takers followed behind the girl named Anko as she was leading them to whatever place they would continue.

They stopped in front of a gate with a Massive forest behind the gates. The trees had to be about 40 feet wide minimum and their roots were no joke either, having proved it themselves by having even the smallest section above ground being taller than most adults.

No one could see too far in, their view either being blocked by more giant trees or the fact that the shadows further in became dark enough in some places to make it seem almost like night.

"Welcome to the second stage which is taking place here at Training grounds #44, also known as the Forest of Death." Anko told. "You'll also soon find out why it gained its nickname."

"Forest of Death?" Naruto started to look like he wanted to prove that he wasn't scared of such a name.

"Don't." Suki told, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing it slightly. "Our team has already attracted too much attention in this exam. If there is a team vs team event, several will likely come for us."

She was looking around at all the participants, looking for a certain person.

"Now! Before we begin, we need every participant to sign these agreement forms," Anko held out a stack of papers. "There will be deaths in this part and if you don't sign them, then I am responsible for your deaths. Therefore, if anyone refuses to sign these, you and your entire team will be prohibited from entering and will fail the second exam."

'Makes sense. It prevents other villages from saying that the Leaf just let their shinobi die when they are supposed to be treated as guests.' Suki thought.

"I'm going to explain the second exam before you are able to sign it to allow you to make your decision. Afterwards, you and your team will check in at the booth behind me." She waited for any kind of questions.

"Simply put, the second exam is the ultimate survival test." She then held up a map. "Around Training Ground #44, there are 44 locked gates. Each team will be placed at a gate. All at once, the gates will open, allowing all of you to enter into this circular area with forests, a lake, and a tower in the center. The tower is located 10 kilometers [6.2 miles] away from the gates. Once you enter, you and your team will have an objective to complete within a span of 120 hours. You will be using all of your weapons, jutsus, and skills to complete your objective in this...scroll battle!"

She then rolled up the map before holding out two scrolls: one black with the kanji for Earth on it and a white scroll with the kanji for Heaven on it.

"You will be fighting over these Heaven and Earth scrolls. One by one, each team will approach the booth and turn in your agreement forms and will be handed one of these scrolls. You will also be given a gate number and you will report to it."

She took a second to allow them to digest that information. "Now, I will tell you the conditions that will cause you to fail or be disqualified. First, if your team has not made it to the tower within 120 hours with both scrolls, you fail. Second, your team will fail if one of your teammates has died."

She placed her hands on her hips. "There is no quitting once you enter. When you enter, you WILL be in there for 120 hours. Also, one more rule. You are not to open the scrolls until you reach the tower."

"What if you do?" A random ninja asked.

"Then you'll be in for a surprise!" Anko told with a dangerous smile on her face.

"A Chunin will be asked to handle classified information. This is a test of your trustworthiness."

She about left before stopping and looking over her shoulders at everyone.

"One last piece of advice: Don't die."

Someone came out from behind the booth a few minutes later.

"It is time to exchange your forms for your scroll."

Just then, a black tarp covered the front of the booth, preventing anyone from seeing what scrolls a team got.

"Should have known it would be that troublesome." Suki heard faintly.

A few minutes passed before their team walked up.

They turned in their forms before Suki was handed a Heaven scroll, which she immediately put into a seal on her left shoulder.

They were given Gate #12 and waited there for the test to begin.

"We will be going with our usual method of checking for a clone." Suki whispered quietly. "We can still make other methods as bait however."

Sasuke and Naruto nodded.

She then looked at Naruto then Sasuke. "Be careful from here on out. I couldn't find who but someone had ill intentions for our team."

"Don't most here have it out for us since the first exam?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes, but someone here is extremely dangerous."

She activated her three tomoe Sharingan and placed them both under a weak genjutsu.

"Anyone paying attention to us only see us waiting for this to start." She explained since they both could tell they were under a genjutsu. "However, I mean this with 100% seriousness." She gave them a look to tell them that there wasn't a hint of playing around with what she was about to say. "Someone here is way more dangerous than we are prepared for. Someone is here that even Kakashi would hesitate on fighting."

"Someone even Kakashi-sensei would hesitate?" Naruto muttered surprised. He had seen how Kakashi wasn't really phased fighting Zabuza, someone far above their level individually and still above them together without Kakashi distracting him.

"This person is named Orochimaru, a Sannin. A Sannin is the group of three individuals who were given the title by fighting someone in Ame who became known as an unofficial God of Shinobi due to their ability. They are also known for one other thing: All three were trained by Hiruzen Sarutobi, our 3rd Hokage."

"Old man trained him!?" Naruto asked in shock, realizing how bad this could be.

He may joke around and Naruto can look at him as a grandfather figure, but he still understands that Sarutobi became Hokage from more than his grandfather like attitude. You don't become Hokage without the strength to back it up.

"He's known as a summoner of snakes. I have an idea why but he's targeting our team for a specific purpose."

She then had to break the genjutsu.

The gates swung open, telling them the second part had begun.

They dashed inside, jumping from tree to tree before jumping to the ground as a scream was heard.

All three of them could easily recognize that it came from a human.

"Sounds like it's begun." Suki commented.

"I...have to use the bathroom." Naruto told.

"Seriously? Hurry up." Sasuke told, annoyance clear in his voice.

Naruto left to go behind a few trees away.

Suki and Sasuke waited for a few moments before Naruto came back.

"Sorry for making you wait!" Naruto told with a smile.

Suki looked into his eyes before reactivating her eyes and placing him under a genjutsu.

"Go get Naruto." Suki told, which Sasuke nodded before heading in the direction he had come from. Suki turned her attention back to the imposter. "What scroll do you have?"

"We have the Heaven Scroll." The random ninja told.

"Release your transformation."

He did so, revealing themselves to be a Hidden Rain Ninja.

She heard something coming towards them.

She jumped out of the way before seeing what it was. It was several kunai with cheap explosive notes on them.

After starting sealing, she quickly found out how quality of seals worked. The better the calligraphy, the better the seal. Most explosive notes are of cheap variety for most Genin due to...well, how cheap they are. She had used the Shadow Clone Technique and her Sharingan for about 3 days before being able to create seals of that level extremely quickly.

She watched as they landed where she was before blowing up, sending the ninja flying away slightly before another figure quickly moved and grabbed him before escaping.

'I thought I felt a presence.'

She quickly made her way back down before Naruto and Sasuke arrived.

"Injuries?" Sasuke asked.

"None. The ninja had back up and managed to escape." She told.

For a brief second, she felt someone's chakra nearby.

"We need a code phrase." She brought up, getting their attention before they seemed to understand.

"Here's how we'll start. Ask when did we become a team. Answer with "On the day of the hottest sun when Amaterasu herself came down and seemed to congratulate us herself."" She explained.

"If any of us get it wrong, assume that they are the enemy." Sasuke reminded.

At that moment, a large amount of smoke appeared, causing the three of them to hide.

Suki made her way towards Sasuke's signature.

"When did we become a team?" Sasuke asked, gripping his kunai.

"'On the day of the hottest sun when Amaterasu herself came down and seemed to congratulate us herself.' I hope you didn't eat too much fruit before we entered that you suspect me." She told.

"Not as much meat you devoured. I'm surprised that you're even moving around." He grunted back, however loosening his grip on the kunai and bringing it down from ready to be thrown.

Soon after, Naruto ran into the clearing.

"Man, that hurt." Naruto groaned. "You two alright?"

"When did we become a team?" Suki asked.

"On the day of the hottest sun when Amaterasu herself came down and seemed to congratulate us herself." Naruto told.

Suki and Sasuke both threw a kunai at him, causing him to dodge.

"What's the deal!?" Naruto exclaimed.

"Drop the disguise. We know that you're not Naruto. That passphrase you used was in the case that anyone was nearby." Suki explained.

The Naruto chuckled before being surrounded by smoke.

The smoke soon cleared, revealing it to be a Grass nin with a straw hat on.

"Neither of you are tired from that confrontation from earlier." The ninja seemed pleased at that.

He held out his hand, revealing an Earth scroll. "You want this, correct? Considering that you have the Heaven scroll."

He proceeded to SWALLOW the scroll. "Now then, let's continue the battle for each other's scroll with our own lives on the line"

Suki could see the yellow snake eyes staring at her with nothing but curiosity.

He suddenly released his killing intent.

It was the second strongest killing intent Suki had felt in her life. It had made her freeze in place. It was as if she was a child again, only this time, it felt as if Itachi had found her and planned to finish her off.

She heard vomiting next to her, making her aware that she wasn't the only one being affected either.

She stood back up, having been knocked to her knees in surprise and terror, her arms and legs were trembling slightly.

The ninja threw two kunai at them.

Suki and Sasuke both drew kunai.

And each stabbed one of their legs.

They both jumped backward and jumped away.

----------------

*huff, huff, huff*

Both of them were out of breath.

"Was...that..." Sasuke seemed to be trying to answer.

"Yes." Suki managed to answer.

"We...need to...find Naruto."

"He's likely already on his way." Suki told, regaining her breath.

Sasuke seemed to see something behind her.

"Snake!"

They jumped away before Sasuke threw several shuriken and kunai into the giant snake's head while Suki went through hand signs.

"Great Fireball!"

She breathed out a large ball of fire that struck the snake and caused it to stop on a large tree branch.

The smoke hung in the air for moment before a figure could be seen coming out of the dead looking snake.

"You shouldn't relax for a moment," the figure spoke.

It was the same person from before, except their face seemed to be tearing into several pieces. The figure tore off what remained of their face before revealing almost pure white skin, purple marks that went around their yellow snake eyes before stopping on both sides of their nose.

"Orochimaru's true face." Suki whispered, informing Sasuke.

"Not when there's a predator after you." Orochimaru finished.

"Suki..." Sasuke started. "Give him the scroll."

Suki said nothing.

There was no sound.

Until someone got hit in the head.

"The hell are you doing?!" Sasuke yelled, clutching his head.

"I may not remember the password, ya damn fruit, but I know you're an imposter! There's no way someone who is my rival would be this cowardly and idiotic!" Naruto, who had just shown up, yelled in his face.

"Idiotic!? It's the only way to get out of this alive!"

"It wouldn't work." Suki told. "He's in complete control at the moment. There's no guarantee that he would let us go and he's given no sign of letting us go since he found us."

"Naruto-Kun, Suki-chan..." Orochimaru started before giving a damning smile. "You are correct. Since I could just kill you and take that scroll."

He bit his thumb and rolled up his sleeve.

Suki quickly went through signs.

"Wind Style:"

Orochimaru slid his thumb over a symbol.

And Naruto charged him.

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

A large snake appeared before hitting Naruto into the air.

"Wind blades!"

She shot out several small blades of wind at Orochimaru.

"Screw you!" Naruto yelled, punching the snake's head downward, exposing the back of its head.

Which was slashed through some of the scales but not all the way through.

However, Orochimaru realized something before grabbing Naruto and formed 5 fires on his fingertips.

"Release!" Suki exclaimed, releasing her rank 3 resistance seals.

Initially, these actually place less stress on her arms and legs, but they helped strengthen other muscles that weren't getting as good of a workout from her training weights.

She dashed forward before finishing the last sign before a loud screeching noise went through the air.

Orochimaru moved Naruto in the way before slamming his hand into his stomach, almost knocking Naruto out.

A poof of smoke appeared beside Suki before being revealed to be a shadow clone. It grabbed her arm before swing her over the top of Naruto and pulling her down, sending her heading towards Orochimaru's face.

Only for a foot to slam sideways into her side, sending her flying and crashing to a tree.

"Kyumon [2] release!"

She moved at the speed of a Jonin before creating her flaming claw.

Orochimaru threw Naruto to the side where Sasuke caught him.

She tried slashing him, over and over, but he kept dodging her.

Easily.

"Seimon [3] release!"

She moved faster, fast enough that his smile was a tiny bit less smug.

However, he showed just how out matched she was.

When she missed another slash, his arm seemed to act like a rope, coiling back before shooting into her gut, knocking the wind out of her. He followed it up with a knee to the chin and finished it by extending his arm around to the back of her neck, grabbing her shirt, and throwing her hard enough to go through one of the trees.

Her gates closed once more, leaving her slightly hurt and out of breath.

"As fun as this is, I only have a limited amount of time here." He told her before looking at Sasuke. His neck started to expand.

She reacted on instinct.

Her eyes morphed. "Amaterasu!"

A line of black flames appeared in his path, surprising him and jumping away.

He looked at her in surprise before gaining a mad smile.

"Well, how did I overlook you to that degree?" He couldn't help but ask.

The black flames flew towards her before making a light armor like look that covered her chest, arms, and legs.

She couldn't bring out the violet flames like last time because she couldn't focus enough and her chakra had taken a bit of a hit.

Those violet flames take a lot of chakra to make. It was the reason she largely only used them with the gates. Either that, or her chakra control wasn't high enough yet to properly make them.

"Amaterasu!"

Black flames appeared where Orochimaru used to be, before he moved and started heading in her direction.

"Suki!" Sasuke yelled.

She saw him. Saw him close the distance quickly. The black fire was following him quickly. It would reach him any second now.

A second too late.

"Lightning Style: Lightning Flash." Was all Orochimaru told.

Before she couldn't see due to an extremely bright flash. The flash also disorientated her enough that she lost control of Homusubi.

She then felt something pierce her right shoulder before her world became pain.

---------------------------------

Sasuke hated himself for multiple reasons. He was weak, defenseless when Itachi killed everyone and he saw his growth rate slower than Suki's and Naruto's own growth rate.

While still painful, the pain he currently felt over those two things were nothing compared to what was happening now.

Even in the past, he never saw himself as a coward. Sure, he wants to kill Itachi but he knows that at the moment, he would likely die trying. That was just smart to not try and fight him then.

But here he was, watching from the...sidelines...as both of his teammates were fighting someone he couldn't see them beating anytime soon.

But they kept trying.

All while he stood to the side, doing absolutely nothing.

He seemed to regain himself when he saw this Orochimaru person shoot at Suki at a much faster speed than before with the black flames from Suki seeming to try and catch up with him.

He saw him form quick signs as he approached behind his back.

"Suki!" He yelled, trying to warn her that something was wrong.

He was way too late.

He had to shield his own eyes from the light, wondering how Suki could still fight with such a light in her face.

Turns out, she couldn't.

"AAAHHH!"

Not if her scream had anything to say about it.

He quickly looked again and saw...

Suki dropped to the ground while holding her right shoulder.

"There, a little going away present." Orochimaru told before holding out his Earth scroll and burning it.

Orochimaru looked over at Sasuke. "Do be a good boy and keep her alive."

He about left but stopped and stared at Sasuke.

'I could mark him as well, but I'll have no need of him in the future. I doubt he'd even come to me after all I did to dear Suki-chan.' He seemed to think. 'I'll give him a year, see if he continues growing or if he plateaus. Suki-chan however, I could see it.' He thought, slinking into the ground to get away before the 'real' shinobi show up. 'She will never plateau if she can help it.'

His last thought before going away completely, was simple.

'Suki-chan doesn't simply want strength, she desires it. She will do whatever it takes to get strength. Or, at least, she will by the time I see her again.'

Sasuke was still tense before running over to Suki.

"Suki!" He dropped to a knee and a tried to get her attention.

Suki seemed to curl into herself, showing just how much in pain she was in, considering she may be used to the pain the gates cause her body.

"Sasuke..." He heard. He looked over and saw Naruto slowly coming towards them, only to collapse before them.

"Naruto!"

He looked at them as his rage at himself activated his eyes, causing both to have 2 tomoe.

"Alright," He took a deep breath. "Let's get you both to a safe place to rest."

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End of part 1.

The second part of the Chunin exams have a lot that goes on so I'm ending this part here.

Next Chapter: Chunin Exams: Sasuke's Turn