A Snake in the Forest

Naruto walked back to the other genin as Anko spun around and grinned at them. "Welcome one and all to the second stage of the Chunin Exams, training area forty-four. Or as I like to call the Forest of Death."

"Ah! My home away from home." Naruto said with a smile, making many of the genin who head him turn and look at him with an incredulous expression.

Anko snickered a bit, "You gakis are looking are looking at one of my favorite training grounds, The Forest of Death, you'll find out why it's called that soon enough."

"Ha! You can't scare us lady!" Kiba scoffed, trying to hide how nervous he felt staring into the forest in front of him. He had heard stories of this place from his mother, and if she was afraid of it then that meant the place was to be avoided at all costs.

Anko grinned as she threw a kunai at the dog using ninja, slicing his cheek open. Before Kiba could even yelp a hand gripped onto his skull to hold him in place while Anko appeared behind him and licked the Genin's blood from his cut.

"You know, its tough guys like you that spill that delicious blood I love so much all over the forest's ground," Anko grinned as she continued licking the petrified Genin's cheek.

"Naruto-kun no offense, but your friend really scares me," Tenten whispered into the blonds ear.

Naruto just chuckled, "Yeah she tends to scare people the first time they meet, but she's not bad once you get to know her. However, you really need to ask yourself this, is she creepier than the Lee and Gai-sensei's sunset genjutsu of youth?"

An involuntary shudder ran down Tenten's spine, "…I don't think anyone can match that level of creepy." She had, had more than enough of that genjutsu to last for several dozen lifetimes over.

Anko grinned in amusement as she watched Kiba look shocked, embarrassed, turned on and scared shitless all at the same time; kami how she loved messing with these genin. She stopped her blood sucking when she felt a presence behind her and drew another kunai, turning to see a strange woman with a straw hat and an overly long tongue with her kunai being held in said tongue.

"Here's your kunai proctor-san," the woman spoke in an eerie yet perfectly understandable voice, despite having her tongue sticking out.

"Why thank you," Anko smiled as she took the kunai and put it away in her pouch. "But next time I would recommend not sneaking up on me like that, unless of course you have a death wish."

"I apologize, I just get excited at the sight of blood, and your kunai cut my precious hair so I couldn't help myself," the Kusagakure (Hidden Grass Village) kunoichi licked her lips.

"Well it looks like we've got a bloodthirsty bunch this year," Anko said, turning her attention to Naruto who was still speaking with Tenten. "Oi! Gaki, get over here and help me pass out these papers!" Anko reached into her trench coat and pulled out a stack of papers from…somewhere, where exactly somewhere was, was a question up for debate considering she had no pockets on her persons or her…clothes.

"Whatever," Naruto said as he made several Kage Bunshin to help Anko pass out the papers. "You just don't want to do it cuz you're so damn lazy!"

"Oh! Perhaps we need to play some more tag, that way I could show you how lazy I am." Anko gave Naruto a sweet smile.

Naruto paled, "Um…no thanks, I take back what I said."

"Good!" Anko gave one of the clones the stack of papers. Said clone gave several sheets to the other clones and then they began to pass out the papers.

"Before we begin the second exam I need you all to sign these forms. There'll be deaths in these exams and if you don't sign them I'll be the one they hold responsible, suffice to say I don't want to have to deal with the paperwork when your village bitches and complains to me about your death. But before we get started on the blood bath that I hope will come, I'm going to explain the second exam to you. After that your team will check into the booth behind me."

"You will be attempting to live through what will be considered the ultimate survival test. Each team will go through one of the forty-four gates and head towards the center of the forest where you will find a tower. However, before you get to the tower you have an objective you must complete. You are to use whatever means you deem necessary to obtain one of two scrolls, a heaven or an earth scroll. Half of you will get one, while the other half will get the other."

"So we not only have to go through this forest, but we also have to get our hands on the opposing scroll and take them to the tower with both intact?" Sasuke asked.

"Yep! That's pretty much what it comes down to," Anko said with grin. "However there is also a time limit. You only have five days to retrieve a scroll and get to the tower."

"Five days!" Ino shrieked.

"But what about food!" whined Chouji.

"There's plenty to eat in the forest, either that or you can kill an enemy and eat them," Anko's grin turned bloodthirsty, causing many genin to shudder. "Now there are two ways you can fail this test. One is if you don't show up at the tower within five days with both scrolls or don't show up at all. And two is if one of your teammates dies in the middle of the exam. Also, I shouldn't need to say this but you cannot look inside the scroll until you reach the tower."

"You know, the way you tell me not to do something really just makes me want to do it, you know, so I can spite you," Naruto spoke up, grinning at the purple-haired proctor.

Anko smirked, "Well if you do open either of the scrolls you'll be in for a nasty surprise. So for your benefit and my entertainment I hope you don't, I want to see you fight. So now that the explanations are done, sign the form and turn them in at the booth, then pick a gate and prepare to begin the exam."

As soon as she finished the chunin pulled a black curtain over the booth so that no one could look in. Everyone walked away after that, going somewhere to sign the forms before walking over to the booth to get their scrolls.

Sasuke looked down at the scroll he had received. It was a heaven scroll, meaning they would need to get an earth scroll to pass. He looked over at Naruto who was grinning from ear to ear, reminiscent of the crazy proctor who had just finished speaking, while Sakura was looking into the forest with a nervous expression.

There's bound to be deaths in this exam. I hate to say it, but I'm confident Naruto can handle anything that comes our way; however I'm unsure if Sakura will be able to deal with it. Sasuke looked into the forest that his team was going to be stuck in for five days. Whatever the case, we're going to need to be careful in this forest if we want to survive.

"You excited teme?" asked Naruto, smirking as the raven-haired Genin looked at him.

After a moment Sasuke smirked as well, showing a rare display of comradeship with his blond teammate. "Of course. This will be a great opportunity to test myself against ninja from other villages."

"This will definitely be one hell of a party, I can tell you that," Naruto grinned.

Suddenly Anko's voice came on over the speakers, "The second test of the Chunin Exams begins…now!"

The gates opened and the teams shot forward, heedless of the dangers that awaited them. Naruto and Team Seven stopped as the sounds of screaming began to echo through the forest. They had known there would be deaths, but actually hearing the screams of people who may be dying at this very moment really made the dangers of this forest sink in.

"Dobe, from what I heard from your conversation with that proctor you've been here before?" asked Sasuke.

Naruto nodded, "That's right; I actually train in here several times a week. You could say I know this place like the back of my hand."

Sasuke grunted, "So then what would you suggest we do?"

Both Naruto and Sakura looked at their teammate in shock; neither of them had expected Sasuke to ask someone else for their opinion.

Naruto was the first to recover, "Well we came through gate thirty-three, if we head two miles east we'll run into a river that will take us all the way to the tower. My suggestion would be to take that stream all the way to the tower and then set traps at said tower, since we already know that everyone will be heading their eventually. Of course in this sector there are several man-eating plants so we'll have to watch out for them. Our best bet for avoiding them will be to stick to the middle ground along the tree branches until we reach the stream."

Sasuke nodded, "I think that's the best plan we can come up with given the circumstances."

"You know, you seem pretty chill with essentially giving me the chains of command teme." Naruto raised an eyebrow and grinned, "Admitting my superiority?"

"Hardly," Sasuke scoffed, "but you know this forest better than I do, so it would be stupid of me not to at least get your input when coming up with a plan."

"That's so heartwarming to know you trust me teme, I'm touched."

"Just don't get used to it."

The two smirked at each other before moving again, making a confused Sakura follow them. After several more minutes of running Naruto stopped.

"Why'd you stop dobe?" asked Sasuke.

"Gotta take a leak," Naruto replied.

"Gross Naruto, don't say such things in front of a lady," Sakura crinkled her nose in disgust.

"A lady? Where?" asked Naruto grinning like a madman as he moved behind a large bush, leaving a fuming Sakura.

Finished listening to the call of nature Naruto zipped his pants back up and was about to go back to his team, when he heard a noise. Turning around he was just in time to see an Ame ninja rush up to him.

Naruto had no time to act as the Ame ninja stabbed him with a kunai. However the Ame ninja was surprised when Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke. The real Naruto jumped right on top of the Ame ninja's head, smashing him into the ground where he met blissful unconsciousness.

Grabbing the Genin by his light tan jumpsuit Naruto hauled the Genin into the clearing where his two teammates were waiting.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked as he eyed the unconscious Genin.

Naruto scowled, "Bastard tried to jump me while I was answering the call of nature. Seriously! Who does that? Isn't this a violation of one of the man laws or something!"

Sasuke just rolled his eyes at how over dramatic his teammate was being, "Does he have a scroll?"

Frowning Naruto dropped the Ame Genin and search him, grinning triumphantly when he found a scroll, but frowning when he saw that it was the heaven scroll.

"Great, another heaven scroll," Naruto sighed. "Looks like our luck is good, but not good enough to get what we want."

"Quit complaining," Sasuke said, "at least it means one less scroll for someone else." He looked down at the unconscious Genin. "We should tie him up and then we need to come up with a codeword in case we get separated and someone tries to do this again."

Naruto created a Kage Bunshin to tie up the Ame ninja. The blond looked at the heaven scroll in his hand before sealing it away in a containment seal on his wrist. After that the three gathered around each other.

"Alright, we'll need a codeword in case an enemy captures us and tries to disguise themselves to get close. If we do this and the person gets it wrong we'll assume it's an enemy." Sasuke stopped and looked around to make sure no one was listening in. "When someone asked for the ninja song nin machine, this is the answer you give them, 'A large amount of enemies is the friend of the shinobi, hide and remain silent. A shinobi must understand the proper time, when the enemy is tired and ill prepared.'"

Naruto blinked, "Why the hell would you want us to say such a long ass phrase. I thought this was a password not a poem."

"What's the matter baka, too long to remember?" asked a smug Sakrua.

Naruto glared at her, "Of course it is! Only someone with a large ass brain like you could remember that," He dutifully ignored the pinkette's growl, "Look I've got a better idea." The blond pressed a hand to his left torso and unsealed a brush and a bottle of ink.

"What are those for dobe?" asked Sasuke, more curious than angry at having someone suggest something else; at least for now. He may not always get along with his blond teammate, but he knew that Naruto could come through when it counted. And with such a serious test in front of them, Sasuke couldn't afford to let any feelings of superiority or jealousy get in the way.

"I always carry some fuuinjutsu equipment on me in case I need to make a seal," Naruto explained as he uncorked the bottle. "I want both of you to cut your finger and put some blood into the ink."

"W-What? Why would we do that?" asked Sakura, not comfortable with the idea of cutting her own finger.

Naruto rolled his eyes, "This will let the ink bind with you, making the fuuinjutsu, especially the one I'm about to make that much more powerful."

To both Naruto's and Sakura's surprise, Sasuke cut his finger and dripped some of his blood into the ink. After a few seconds Sakura followed suit, albeit much more reluctantly.

"So what is this seal?" asked Sasuke as he watched Naruto place his own blood in the ink and begin to mix it.

"It's called Sotei Jinsei Fuuin (Binding Life Seal), basically what it does is create a set of seals that will react to their brother seals whenever they are within sixteen feet of each other by glowing a light blue and giving a light vibration." Naruto dipped his brush in the bottle and stirred it a bit more. "There are more powerful variations of this seal that actually give a subtle hint of what the other person wearing the seal is feeling, but those are only for two people to use at a time since anymore would overload the human brain. I created this so that it can be used by more than two people, and it will only work for those whose blood is in the ink. Sasuke where do you want yours?"

Sasuke sat next to Naruto and showed the underside of his wrist. He watched in mild interest as Naruto used precise and quick strokes of his brush to create what looked like a bunch of scribbles to him. Sakura received hers on the opposite wrist as Sasuke and Naruto had to have a clone do his on the left side of his neck, one of the only places that was not covered in cloth and did not have a seal already there aside from his face.

Once he had made all of the seals Naruto created two more clones who went through the same hand seals before putting a hand against one of the seals on the three genin. "Sotei Jinsei Fuuiin!" The seals began to glow a light blue before the three felt a slight vibration.

"There we go, all done," Naruto said, feeling proud of finally finding a use for one of the seals he had created for actual ninja uses.

"Good now we should get moving," Sasuke said as he stood up.

The group was about to move before Naruto felt a small pulse of chakra. He turned around just in time to feel the beginnings of a wind jutsu. His eyes widened and just when he was about to alert his teammates to the danger a powerful gust of wind hit them, sending the three flying off in separate directions.

Sasuke groaned a bit as he stood up and surveyed his new surroundings. He turned around as he heard a twig snap and saw Sakura stepping out from behind the bush. He would have gotten into a combat stance but his seal began to glow a light blue and give off a soft vibration.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said in relief as she came up to him.

"Sakura," Sasuke gave a nod of acknowledgement. He may not quite like her but she was his teammate and the in situations like this they would need to stick together. "Have you seen Naruto?"

Sakura shook her head, for once not scowling at the mention of her blond teammate. "No, I haven't seen him yet."

As if summoned by magic Naruto appeared in the bushes a little ways away. "Hey guys! Are you two ok!"

The blond began to move however as soon as he got a few feet from them Sasuke tossed some several shuriken, forcing the blond to block and dodge the attacks. "What the hell teme!"

Sasuke glared at the blond. "This has to be the most pathetic attempt at henging into someone I've ever seen. First off, Naruto would most likely make some smart ass remark about Sakura trying to get me alone so she could rape me." Sakura gave a heavy blush and nosebleed at the mental image that evoked, while Sasuke shuddered but continued anyways. "Second, the seal Naruto placed on us hasn't changed since you got here, it should have increased in intensity by now. I suggest you reveal yourself before I'm forced to simply kick your ass without an explanation as to who you are."

"Ku ku ku, very good Sasuke-kun. It looks like there is more to this team than I thought besides you." There was a puff of smoke, and when it cleared, it revealed the Kusa kunoichi who gave the pair a blood thirsty smirk. "Looks like this is going to be more entertaining than even I had hoped for."

Naruto sighed as he continued jumping through the trees, trying to locate his teammates through the small scent of them he could find. "Ugh, just my luck to be knocked the furthest away."

As he continued grumbling Naruto was forced to jump to the side as a giant snake crashed into the tree he was on.

I don't remember seeing any giant snakes in the forest. Naruto frowned as the snake hissed and glared at him. "Whatever, I don't have time for you so you're going to have to go!"

There was a puff of smoke before it cleared to reveal a rather ornate katana that was several inches longer and two inches thicker than a standard sword. As the snake came at Naruto the blond shot off the tree like a rocket, letting the giant reptile crash into the tree, shaking it. Hitting another tree Naruto pushed chakra into his feet before blasting off.

He came at the snake hard, channeling wind chakra through his blade as he sliced at it, cutting the head off. The creature thrashed around for several seconds before it went still, then to Naruto's surprised disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"That was a summon?" Naruto said to himself in shock. "But that's not possible, the only ones who can summon snakes are Anko and…" The blond stiffened as he realized who that snake summon belonged to. "I have to find Sasuke and Sakura fast, and pray that they haven't run into the person who summoned this!"

Naruto caught a whiff of the pairs scent before heading off faster than before.

The strange Kusa kunoichi pulled out a scroll from her pouch and held it up for them to see, "You guys want this right? An earth scroll since you have the heaven scroll." As soon as she finished the kunoichi brought the scroll to her mouth, right before she shoved it down her gullet.

Both Konoha genin turned a light green and looked like they wanted to puke.

That's disgusting! Sasuke thought as he shuddered.

"Now we can fight for these scrolls, with our lives on the line," the woman finished as she released an intense killing intent.

Both Sasuke and Sakura gasped as they fell to their knees, shaking and struggling to breath as images as their deaths at the Kusa ninja's hand came to their minds. They saw themselves getting gutted by a long sword, getting brutally ripped apart and all manner of gruesome deaths. The images of death lasted several seconds before they disappeared. Yet the feeling remained the same, gripping their hearts and preventing them from moving.

T-this is no genjutsu, Sasuke struggled just to breathe. Her killing intent is so intense it showed images of my death! I've never felt something like this before, not even from that time with Zabuza!

"S-Sakura," Sasuke turned and saw that Sakura was even worse off than he was, shivering uncontrollably as tears ran down her cheeks

"Well it seems neither of you can move, a pity. I expected this to be a challenge." the woman said with a frown. "I guess I'll just get rid of you right now." She pulled out two kunai and gave them a lazy toss towards the two prone genin.

C'mon move, I've got to move. Sasuke struggled to move the hand he had that held his kunai. C'mon move! MOVE!

At the very last moment Sasuke managed to stab himself in the leg. Acting quickly he grabbed Sakura and leapt away.

"I see, so the prey managed to use pain to get rid of his fear," the strange kunoichi licked her lips. "It seems the prey might be more interesting than first glance may seem."

Sasuke stopped behind a tree when he felt they had gotten a safe distance away. He knelt down on the branch, pulling the kunai out of his leg with a wince. His Sharingan eyes began spinning frantically as he looked around for any sign of the frightening woman.

"Sasuke-kun, your leg looks pretty bad!" Sakura said as she looked at the wound. "Let me help you wit-" The pinkette was silenced when Sasuke covered her mouth with his hand as he searched for the woman.

He's completely terrified right now. I've never seen him this scared before, Sakura thought in surprise.

It was then that she noticed the large snake above them, getting ready to devour the pair and tried to warn Sasuke, but couldn't because of the hand on her mouth. Finally she managed to back away as she pushed the hand back, "Sasuke-kun there's a snake above you!"

The raven haired boy turned and grabbed Sakura before jumping off the branch just as the snake smashed it. He set down Sakura and jumped away as the snake seemed to follow him. Damn it! I was so frightened I wasn't aware of my surroundings!

Sasuke grabbed several kunai and shuriken and began flinging them at the snake, aiming at the head in order to kill it. He gave a soft sigh of relief as the snake hissed and began to fall down. Then to his horror the scales on the snake began to crack, and then revealed the woman who had been chasing him came out, grinning at him widely.

"You two shouldn't relax even for a moment," the woman gave a bloodthirsty grin, "in the presence of a predator."

The woman began to slither across the tree branch, only to be stopped by a powerful wind blade cutting the branch in front of her.

"You know, if you two wanted to have a party like this you should have invited me," A voice spoke up from above them. The two genin looked up to see their teammate standing there; despite the joking tone he had a serious expression on his face.

"Well, well that was quite the wind jutsu," the woman said with a grin. "I don't think I've seen a wind blade that powerful before in a while, and coming from a Genin too. Surprises seem to abound on this team."

Naruto glared as he jumped down to his teammates, "Get the fuck out of that disguise, it's not fooling anyone…Orochimaru."

His two teammates stiffened and paled at the familiar name. Everyone had heard of Orochimaru, a genius shinobi who had been trained by the Sandaime Hokage along with Jiraiya and Tsunade. A man who was considered the foremost ninjutsu expert and along with his two other teammates had been dubbed the title of Sannin due to their famous battle against Salamander No Hanzo. He was also one of Konoha's worst traitors, an S-ranked missing ninja who was wanted for inhumane experimentation on citizens of Konoha and most likely, many other villages and countries.

Meanwhile the kunoichi just chuckled, "That's quite insightful, I would never have expected it from the dead last of his class." The kunoichi brought a hand to her face, peeling away the skin to reveal a pale face with yellow slitted eyes. "Tell me how you knew it was me?"

Naruto glared back despite the feeling of dread that was in his gut. He had really hoped he was wrong about who this was, it had been an assumption based on the fact that only he and Anko could summon snakes. "Only two people in this world can summon snakes; you and Anko-nee-chan."

"Ah! Yes, that's right, you know my old student." Orochimaru chuckled in twisted glee, a part of the Sannin was amused that this boy seemed close enough to consider Anko as an older sister figure, maybe he could use that for some form of psychological warfare.

"Ku ku ku, tell me how is dear Anko-chan? She was always my favorite you know. Is she still sore about me leaving her? You know I've heard many stories about her promiscuousness within Konoha, I guess I shouldn't be surprised you two seem to be getting along well."

"Don't you dare talk about Anko," Naruto clenched his fists so hard he began to bleed. The urge to kill this man was so strong the whiskered blond had almost launched himself at the Snake Sannin right then, it was only through sheer force of will and knowledge that he would not last five minutes against this man that allowed him to contain himself. "Because of you she's become an outcast, and only a few people are even willing to try and get to know her!"

"Ku ku ku, it seems I touched a sore spot," Orochimaru chuckled, "you and Anko-chan seem quite close. However I have not come here for idle chatter about my previous favorite tool, there are other matters I must attend to."

What's he after? Naruto kept his eyes trained on the Snake Sannin as he listened to the man's words. The whiskered blond did his best to remain calm and think clearly despite being near someone who could kill him as easily as one breathes. There's only one reason someone like him would reveal himself to a couple of genin in a village that he betrayed, but that wouldn't make sense! An S-rank missing ninja comes to the Chunin Exams for the entire purpose of fighting one of us in the Forest of Death? I don't understand what he hopes to gain from something like this.

"Why are you here?" asked Naruto, he was not quite sure that he would actually get an answer. After all, why would someone with such a reputation bother to tell a genin his plans? Because of this line of thought it came as quite a surprise when he did receive one.

"Why I am after Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru chortled, "He has something I want."

"What does he…" Naruto's eyes widened as he realized what this was about. "You want his Sharingan!"

That was the only possible explanation Naruto could come up with. Anko had told him about her relationship to Orochimaru, how she was his apprentice. She had also informed the blond of her sensei's desire to learn all the jutsu in the world. At the time Naruto had simply snorted, wondering why someone would pick such an impossible dream. However if Orochimaru ever got his hands on the Sharingan that dream could possibly become a reality. Sasuke's head snapped up and he looked between Naruto and Orochimaru, looking slightly pale and angry.

"It seems information on you was wrong. You are much more intelligent than my informant gave you credit for," Orochimaru said, licking his lips. He would love to investigate this matter further, however, "but I have no time to play games with you unfortunately. So just let me tend to my business with Sasuke-kun and I'll let you live."

Naruto looked back at his teammates, Sasuke was still standing behind him looking nothing like the Sasuke he knew from his team. Sakura was watching the proceedings in fear, shaking from head to toe at being so close to an S-ranked criminal of Orochimaru's caliber.

I must be stupid to even think of taking on a Sannin on my own, Naruto thought as his hands made a hand seal, releasing the weights and resistance seals he had been wearing. He instantly felt lighter and more agile, he knew it would not be enough to defeat a Sannin but it would at least help. He turned back around and glared at the Sannin.

"I may not get along with these two very well, but they're still my teammates! The only way you're getting the teme is over my cooling corpse!" Naruto declared, shocking his teammates and amusing Orochimaru.

"How admirable," Orochimaru chuckled at the blonde's determination, amused by his desire to protect his comrades. "Ku ku ku, very well then, let us see how you do Naruto-kun."

"Sasuke, I want you and Sakura to get out of here," Naruto said as he turned to look at his shocked teammate. "I doubt I'll last more than five minutes against snake face over there, you'll have to get away and find a safe place to hide in that amount of time. I suggest you leave now."

Naruto brought his attention back to Orochimaru. He began pumping chakra through his body, strengthening limbs and speeding up his reaction time. Without preamble the blond launched himself at Orochimaru, closing the distance in several seconds as he reared his fist back to punch the Snake Sannin.

Only for a knee to smash itself into his gut. However at the last second Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke and was replaced by a log. "Oh, Kawarimi," Orochimaru mused with a grin.

"Fuuton: Kamikaze No Tatsumaki (Wind Release: Tornado of the Divine Winds)!" Naruto shouted out as he appeared on Orochimaru's left, thrusting out both palms towards the Snake Sannin. Two large tornadoes ripped from Naruto's palms and through the air. Orochimaru jumped out of the way as the branch he was on got torn to shreds.

"I don't think I've ever seen that jutsu before," Orochimaru mused as he looked from Naruto to the destroyed tree branch.

"You shouldn't take your eyes off your opponent!" Naruto yelled from behind Orochimaru, his fist already in motion to attack.

The Snake summoning shinobi spun around and weaved through the fist, kick combo that the spiky haired blond sent his way, bending like a snake as he did so. Orochimaru lashed out with a punch that managed to connect to Naruto's chest, sending the genin staggering back.

Before Naruto could recover Orochimaru was in front of him, launching punches and kicks at Naruto who did his best to dodge and black them. However for every one attack the blond got away from, at least three more hit their mark. It was obvious to the two who were watching that Orochimaru was merely playing with Naruto, picking apart the Genin's defenses like they were nothing. He would get inside Naruto's guard and place several hits that, while stung, did not really damage Naruto. Then he would retreat and test the blonde's reaction times.

Naruto strained his eyes as Orochimaru continued moving; trying to see his attacks and counter them. The man was fast, He was even faster then what the blond had seen from Gai, and Naruto knew he was still holding back immensely, making the battle enough of a challenge to prove interesting. He knew from his conversations with Anko that Orochimaru was like a snake dealing with its prey, he loved to play with them, to toy with them and humiliate them, to lure them in and strike them. Exactly what he was doing to Naruto right now

Naruto side stepped a punch, only to find it was a feint and get kicked in the stomach. He would try to block a kick, only for Orochimaru to switch at the very last second and kick Naruto with the opposite leg. He would try to come in with an attack of his own, throwing punches, kicks, launching elbows, knees and head-butts. Orochimaru would weave between them like a snake and then hit him with his own attacks.

Naruto sent a heel kick out that was aimed for Orochimaru's leg, watching as the man slithered around the attack and came in with his own. Barely managing to shift his body to the side, the blond Jinchuuriki let the attack slide past him. He grabbed onto the limb and attempted to reel Orochimaru in so he could strike at the man's face. However despite not looking it and despite not being as physically strong as his teammate Tsunade, the Snake Sannin's strength still exceeded Naruto's.

Rather than letting the blond pull him in, Orochimaru yanked his arm and made the blond shinobi stumble. With his opponent now off balance the S-ranked criminal used a knife strike to hit Naruto in the throat, forcing his esophagus closed for a moment and choking him. Orochimaru then lashed out with a kick to the blonde's ribs, sending Naruto tumbling back.

However Naruto managed change his fall into a roll, kipping back on his feet.

Realizing he was merely being toyed with Naruto decided to attack from a distance, launching a wind blade from his hand. Orochimaru raised an eyebrow in mild surprise at the display of pure elemental manipulation, but still managed to dodge the attack.

Naruto launched several more wind blades, hoping to distract him and buy him enough time to come up with some kind of plan to get him out of this alive.

However it seemed Orochimaru did not feel like giving him any, "Sen'eijashu!" the Snake Sannin thrust out his hands and six snakes shot from the man's sleeves.

Thankfully for Naruto he had been fighting against Anko for several months and had come up with an effective strategy for dealing with this jutsu. Channeling wind chakra into the palm of his hand Naruto thrust it forward, unleashing a powerful wave of wind that the snakes smashed into and stopped cold, it was almost as if they had hit a wall. The snakes dispersed and the blond also thanked himself for his foresight in learning how to manipulate the elements in its raw form rather than just using standard jutsu, that he could do this with just the training he had proved that this was a good path to follow up on.

Going through several hand seals for something he was not yet capable of doing with just manipulation, Naruto called out one of his more powerful wind jutsu, "Fuuton: Renkuudan!"

Naruto hit himself on the stomach, causing a baseball sized bullet of air shot out of Naruto's mouth. It sailed right towards Orochimaru who merely bent his body in an angle that no human should be capable of, before resuming his original standing form.

However that small dodge had given Naruto time close the distance between them again. He launched a fist that had wind chakra surrounding it at Orochimaru, who merely redirected the fist elsewhere as it released a blast of wind. Getting closer into the blonde's guard, the Sannin shot a punch into Naruto's ribs; only for Naruto to disappear in a puff of smoke and be replaced with a log.

The real Naruto appeared behind Orochimaru, his fist linked together by his thumbs as he thrust them out. "Fuuton: Kamikaze Seiken!"

Two large fist shaped blasts of wind smashed into Orochimaru, leaving two fist shaped indents on his chest and stomach. Before Naruto could celebrate his victory Orochimaru broke down into snakes that slithered away.

"Ku ku ku. That was quite the jutsu Naruto-kun," a voice said behind him.

Naruto stiffened in surprise; he turned just in time to receive two fists to the chest. Naruto felt his a few of his ribs compress under the pressure of the hit before breaking. Time seemed to stand still for those few seconds as Naruto's ribs buckled and caved under the strength of the attack. It restarted itself and Naruto found himself smashing into a tree trunk hard enough to leave an imprint of himself before he slid down it.

"Well that was certainly an amusing battle, ku ku ku," Orochimaru smiled as he turned to Sasuke and Sakura who had not left like Naruto told them to. "Now I wonder if you can do any better Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke's eyes widened as the S-class criminal walked towards him at a sedate pace. "No! Stay back!" He threw several shuriken and kunai at Orochimaru, but the man merely weaved in between them like they were not even there.

"Ku ku ku, it seems you still hold fear child," Orochimaru bit his thumb and began doing a few hand seals. "What a disappointment. If this is all you're capable of I'll just let my pet deal with you," "Kuchiyose No Jutsu (Summoning Jutsu)!" Orochimaru slammed his hand onto the branch, causing seals to appear on the tree branch under it. There was a puff of smoke and Sasuke and Sakura found themselves staring at a large snake. "Time to feast my pet," Orochimaru chortled from atop the snake.

The reptile hissed as it bared its fangs at Sasuke, right before lunging down to devour the boy whole. Sasuke could do absolutely nothing as the snake closed in on him, too busy dealing with the shock of Naruto's decision to protect him, and the fear he felt of Orochimaru.

However, before the snake could swallow the two genin whole, Naruto appeared in front of it, letting the creature hit him in the back as he channeled chakra to his feet. The giant snake was stopped by Naruto right in front of Sasuke, who stared at the blond in shock.

Outside of the Forest of Death one Mitarashi Anko was happily drinking her red bean soup and munching on some Dango. "Mmmm. There ain't nothing better than dango and red bean soup…once I'm done eating I guess I'll head over to the tower. It's been about twenty-four hours, so the fast ones should be finishing up."

Anko finished eating all of the dango on threw the pointy toothpick at the tree. "There, a perfect leaf symbol." She exclaimed as she finished making the symbol of Konoha from the toothpicks she had been throwing that had held her dango.

There was a sudden puff of smoke and one of the Chunin proctors appeared in front of her, "There's big trouble Anko-san! We need you right away!"

Anko stared at the Chunin with a blank expression as she chewed on her dango, "What is it?"

"Bodies, three of them. There's something wrong with them, something I think you need to see."

Anko tapped her chin in thought before deciding to follow the Chunin. When she got to the bodies it was to discover something that rather shocked her, especially since she had seen it before.

"After examining their papers and personal items, they seem to be from Kusagakure who were entered into this exam but…" The Chunin who was looking at the information on the team shook his head. "As you can see they have no faces. They're blank, as if they've been completely melted off."

There's no mistaking it, this jutsu is Orochimaru's work! Anko thought frantically. But why is he here? And why now?

"Show me the pictures of these three?" Anko demanded. When she got to see the photo id's it was to see the face of the woman who had grabbed Anko's kunai with her tongue.

I should have realized this from the beginning! He was already in disguise at the time, the Snake mistress swore as her mind became a whirlwind of activity.

Anko whirled on the three chunin who were at the scene, "I need you to report this to Hokage-sama! Get him to send in some ANBU teams into the Forest of Death! I'm going after them right now!"

Anko did not bother to wait for a reply as she ran towards the gate and jumped over it, heading into the Forest of Death to confront her old sensei.

Naruto's head was looking down, casting his eyes in shadow as he spoke. "What the fuck is wrong with you!" The voice was different, more guttural and raspy then it had been. "I asked you a question teme!" Naruto lifted his head up to reveal red eyes with black slits running down the middle. His whisker marks were thicker, more jagged than the standard lines they normally were. And his canines had elongated, jutting from his upper lip.

"What's the matter pussy! Too scared to even run away!" Naruto glared at Sasuke. "Tch. This isn't the teme I know, that Sasuke may have been a prick, but he was never this weak and cowardly!"

Naruto reared his fists and then slammed them into the snake behind him, leaving two decently sized imprints on the creature's face. The snake hissed out in pain before being forced back the summoning world.

"I guess I'll just have to take care of this myself!" Naruto glared at Orochimaru as he landed on the branch.

Now this is interesting, the snake Sannin thought to himself as he began to dodge and weave in between Naruto's renewed assault. His speed, reflexes and strength seems to have doubled. The boy is quite the surprise.

Naruto jumped into the air and descended on Orochimaru with an axe kick. The Snake Sannin jumped back, letting Naruto's heel hit the tree, creating a small crater on the branch. Naruto appeared in front of Orochimaru and attempted to claw the Sannin's eyes out. Orochimaru ducked and weaved under the attack, coming into the blonds guard and hitting him numerous times in the torso. However, this time, all they did was make Naruto stumble back a little.

Glaring Naruto came in again, this time with a low kick high kick combo. When Orochimaru dodged all of them Naruto shot a wind blade at him from point blank. To Naruto's surprise, Orochimaru was able to dodge the attack enough that it only left a light wound on his left arm.

Gritting his teeth, he charged in even more furiously than before. Despite the increase in speed Orochimaru found that Naruto was getting increasingly sloppy. Where before his attacks had some fluidity, now he was leaving nearly twice the amount of openings.

I see so the more heightened his emotions get the stronger and faster he becomes. Orochimaru side stepped a punch and delivered his own at the Genin's face, sending the blond stumbling back. But it comes at the cost of his ability to think clearly.

Deciding he had seen enough Orochimaru waited until Naruto attacked next, Kawirimi'ing himself with a Tsuchi Bunshin(Mud Clone). He appeared behind Naruto and wrapped his tongue around the blond genin's neck.

"What the-! Hey, let me go you stupid fuck!" Naruto grabbed onto the tongue as he began to struggle against the tight hold. Orochimaru lifted the parted Naruto's cloak and lifted up his shirt.

"Ah! So that's the seal that keeps it at bay. I have to admit, it's quite the masterpiece. When your emotions are heightened and you're in danger it releases the power of the Kyuubi, very interesting. You may actually be of use to me."

The fingers Orochimaru's left hand began to glow purple. However, just as he was about to slam his fingers into the seal with the Gogyou Fuiun (Five Prong Seal), Naruto decided that he would rather not have the snake Sannin's touch his stomach, or any other part of him for that matter. Channeling chakra into his gauntlets the 'slinct' sound of his tri-claws coming out sounded, right before he sliced a decent sized chunk of Orochimaru's tongue right off.

"Gah!" Orochimaru hissed in pain as half of his tongue was severed, "You goddamn brat!" He opened his mouth and a snake shot out of it The snake opened its mouth to reveal a sword, which stabbed Naruto right through the stomach, just missing his spinal cord as it went out the other end.

"AAAAHHHHGGGG!" An Animalistic howl of pain shot out of Naruto's mouth as he slammed into a tree, the sword pinning him to it.

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted, her voice working for the first time since the fight started.

"Ku ku ku. That was quite the performance Naruto-kun." Orochimaru regained his composure as he began going through more hand seals. "As a gift to you I will grant you some of my power, think of it as a gift for impressing me so much." The Snake Sannin's neck elongated and he bit Naruto on the left side of his neck.

"AAAAHHHH!" Naruto screamed as a seal began to form in the place Orochimaru bit, taking the shape of a diamond pattern.

"Now…" Orochimaru turned to look at Sasuke. "Let's see if the Uchiha can do as well as Naruto-kun did."

Had Orochimaru bothered to look at Naruto again he would have seen the seal he created pulse, with wisps of purple chakra coming out of it.

Naruto's eyes shot open as he sat up. "What the- where am I? What happened?" He asked himself as he looked around frowning when he saw that he was in…Konoha? At least, it looked like Konoha. The buildings were the same, and he could see both the Hokage Monument, and the Tower.

However where the Leaf Village would normally be bustling with activity this place looked dead. There was no one there, something that rather disturbed the young genin. Standing up Naruto began to walk around, trying to find any signs of life.

"How did I get here?" he asked out loud, not expecting an answer. "The last thing I remember was-" his hands immediately went to his neck and stomach, checking to see if the stab wound and the puncture marks he would not doubt have on his neck were there. They weren't there, making Naruto frown. "I don't think I dreamed it so…"

He was knocked out of his thoughts when he saw a shadow hopping across the roofs. Spinning around Naruto jumped onto the nearest roof and took off after the shadowy blur.

"Hey! Stop!" He called out to no avail. Either the person didn't hear him or the man was just not listening. "Damn it, listen to someone when they're talking to you! Stop!"

Naruto chased the shadowy figure all over Konoha, eventually ending up on the Hokage Monument. "What the hell is going on here! Who are you!" He glared at the figure whose back was turned to him. "Answer me!"

"Hehehe." The figure laughed, the voice sounded demonic and with an odd echo, as if two people were speaking. "So you can't figure it out? Figures, I was always the brains between the two of us."

The figure turned around lifted the hood it was wearing, causing Naruto to gasp as he saw the spiky blond hair, and three whisker marks on each cheek. There was no mistaking it.

It was himself!

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Sotei Jinsei Fuiin (Binding Life Seal) - Fuuinjutsu, No rank. A seal designed to inform one's teammates when they are in the same vicinity of each other. Works in a sixteen feet radius by glowing a soft blue and vibrating when a teammate is near. Glow and vibration intensify when more than two people with the connecting seals are near.

Fuuton: Kamikaze No Tatsumaki (Wind Release: Tornado of the Divine Winds) – B-rank Elemental Jutsu. Channeling wind chakra and rotating it around the fists, the user thrusts his hands out and releases his chakra. This creates two large tornadoes filled with wind blades that slice and dice an enemy within the tornado.

Tsuchi Bunshin (Mud Clone) – C-rank clone jutsu. As the name suggests this clone is made by infusing one's chakra into the mud and making it take the shape of its creator. Unlike Mizu Bunshins and Kage Bunshins, one hit will not dispel this type of clone. It is designed to take more punishment than the other clone types, and is standardly used as a great escape jutsu to use in conjunction with

Kawarimi.