13 Chapter 13: The forest of death

"Hey, what's this all about? You kids are interrupting the exams."Anko walked up to them placing her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, I was just about to ask what you guys are doing here." Naruto looked at Konohamaru.

"We're here to do an interview for the academy's newspaper."

"Oh, that's right. Lord Hokage told me about that."Anko remembered. "Alright then, we are taking a ten minute break!" she announced walking away.

"An interview?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, we are interviewing people here, but there is one person who is the most important." Konohamaru pulled out a notebook and a pen.

"And who's that?" Naruto asked.

Konohamaru chuckled. "Well, it's you, boss!"

"Huh? Me?" Naruto exclaimed in surprise but his shocked expression was quickly replaced with a grin. "Well then if that's the case, I'm gonna make it clear to your readers why the Leaf has the greatest ninja in the world, myself included of course." He smiled cockily.

"Alright, boss. First, tell us a little bit about yourself."

"Okay!" Naruto grinned and fixed his headband. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the Leaf's number one most unpredictable, knuckleheaded ninja, and I'm on my way to becoming the greatest Hokage this village has ever seen. I'm a member of team 7, my sensei is Kakashi Hatake and my teammates are Hinata…" he pointed towards her. "…and Sasuke." He stuck out his thumb in Sasuke's direction.

"Okay then. Let's hear something about them too." Konohamaru looked towards Hinata with a hopeful smile.

"Uhh…ok…" Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Wasn't I supposed to be the star here?" he whispered to Konohamaru.

"Yeah but the whole article can't be just about you, boss."

"Yeah…ah… I mean of course not but…" Naruto reddened in embarrassment but Hinata's chuckle drew his attention to her. "Hey, don't you laugh at me!" He walked towards her pulling her close with his arm while ruffling her hair and jokingly pinching her nose with his other hand making her giggle even more.

"You're so silly." She blushed.

"Yeah, but that's why you like me." He winked at her making her blush even more.

Their eyes met and for just a couple of seconds they were lost in each other's gazes.

"There's that tingly feeling again…" Naruto pulled himself together and gently rubbed his nose against Hinata's in a sweet Eskimo kiss intensifying the butterflies in her stomach.

"Awww…" Moegi giggled while everyone just stared at the two. Sasuke looked away annoyed while Sakura and Ino looked at the two with their mouths open.

"Who knew that Naruto could be so…so…affectionate?" Ino tried to find the right word for what she was seeing.

"Yeah…" Looking at the two Sakura felt a tinge of jealousy and a bit of sadness feeling that she just lost a fan boy of hers, probably the only one she's ever had. Was she that awful to him that he got over her so easily? Especially after having a crush on her for years and asking her out a hundred times a day, he seemed to have forgotten about her completely. The feeling of envy increased a bit as she remembered that Sasuke never showed that kind of affection towards her and maybe even never will, but Naruto sure would have if she had given him a chance. Right now she just needed to try and be friends with him again and apologize for insulting him.

After a long interview with all the rookies, the very pleased Konohamaru left with Moegi and Udon.

"Boss's girlfriend is very cute!" Moegi exclaimed.

"I know, right." Udon agreed.

"Yeah, but unlike him she's very quiet. She didn't say much about herself for the interview." Konohamaru said. "Anyway, let's go make this into the best newspaper the academy's ever had!"

"Yeah!" The two agreed.

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Back at the exam location all the participants were wandering around with a piece of paper they needed to read and sign in case they actually died during the exam which made the situation even more serious and showed just how dangerous this exam is.

After getting one of the two scrolls the teams were let into the forest. No one knew what to expect and some of them had no idea that just hours after getting into the woods they were eliminated by chakra sucking slugs, traps, eating poisonous plants and getting knocked out by peeking into the scrolls which was forbidden for a reason.

But team 7 wasn't doing any better. After getting separated from each other by a powerful wind jutsu, Hinata located Sasuke with her byakugan and after they met Naruto came running back towards them only to be punched in the stomach by Hinata who recognized him as a fake. After the fake Naruto unveiled himself as a ninja with long black hair he attacked them with a genjutsu getting them to see their own death. While Sasuke managed to snap out of it by stabbing himself in the leg, Hinata didn't as she was sitting still, her entire body shaking unable to move.

Meanwhile, a little further away in the woods Naruto broke out of a giant snake's stomach using his shadow clones and headed towards his teammates. What he found made his stomach flip. Hinata was sitting against a tree with her eyes wide open while Sasuke was in front of her holding a kunai in his thigh and his other hand on his neck covering something black.

The creepy ninja looked at him with a scary grin. "So, you've managed to escape from my friend."

"So it wasn't just a random giant snake, this guy sent it." Naruto frowned.

"Okay, now slider away before I kick your ass!"

"Idiot! You don't know who you're dealing with!" Sasuke yelled at him surprising him.

What surprised him even more was when Sasuke turned to the guy pulling their earth scroll out. "Here, take it. Just leave us alone!" He threw the scroll towards the guy but just before he could wrap his long tongue around it he got socked by Naruto who caught the scroll and jumped over to Sasuke.

"Have you lost your mind! What do you think you're doing?! When did Sasuke become such a coward?!"

"Shut up, moron! Just give him the stupid scroll!"

"No way in hell!"

"He's too strong for us!"

Naruto was just about to yell back but he got caught in the guy's tongue who pulled him closer.

"Ugh, gross! Let me go before I yank that tongue out of your throat!" Naruto tried releasing himself but it was no use.

The guy laughed maliciously. "You sure are loud for such a little brat. What a fool." He reached out for the scroll but stopped when he felt a powerful surge of chakra. Looking up and Naruto he was met with his red eyes.

"What is this chakra? It's like evil itself. Could it be?"

Meanwhile, Sasuke managed to shake Hinata out of the genjutsu. She looked towards her crush and gasped. "I-is he…?"

"Yeah, that's definitely the real Naruto."

"Let...me…DOWN!" Naruto growled punching the guy so hard he broke three threes in a row slamming into the forth one unconscious. Running towards his teammates he yelled at them. "Run!"

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Anko was getting closer to them having heard that Orochimaru was in the forest, finding him standing next to a row of broken trees she knew it meant no good.

Fortunately, team 7 managed to escape and they were now sitting against a rock next to a river and panting heavily. After having a much needed meal of roasted fish the rested until they were approached by Kabuto. Recognizing him they decided to trust him and headed back into the woods only to get in trouble again.

After getting attacked by a team with masks who put a genjutsu on them they were fortunately able to beat them thanks to Naruto.

"That was amazing, you've got a lot of energy in you." Kabuto smiled at Naruto.

"Meh, it was nothing."Naruto grinned before walking up to the three ninja who were sprawled out unconscious and going through their pouches. "Hey guys!" He jumped up holding a scroll. "Look, it's just what we need, a heaven scroll!"

"Good for you." Kabuto fixed his glasses.

Hinata exhaled in relief. "Thank goodness…"

"We should go, the time is almost up."

After getting to the building in the middle of the forest they were met with Kabuto's teammates.

"Kabuto, where were you?"

"Sorry, I got a little… sidetracked."

Waving goodbye to Kabuto they entered the building.

"Look." Hinata pointed at a script on the wall.

"What is it?" Naruto scratched his head.

Hinata read the script out loud:

"If qualities of heaven are what you desire, acquire wisdom to take your mind higher. If earthly qualities are what you lack, train you body and prepare to attack. When heaven and earth are opened together the peerless path with become rageous forever. This…something is the secret way that guides us from this place today."

"This…what? What does all of that even mean?" Naruto asked even though he was listening to Hinata very carefully hypnotized by her sweet, gentle voice pronouncing the rhymes written on the wall.

"It's about the scrolls but there is a letter missing…I think… I think we should open them now."

"Ok." Naruto gulped handing her one of the scrolls. A drop of sweat ran down both their faces as they slowly opened the scrolls. They both looked at the content of the scrolls in confusion.

"A man?...A person?" Naruto flipped the scroll around.

"Quickly, drop the scrolls it's a summoning jutsu!" Sasuke yelled out.

The two threw the scrolls away and they started to smoke before exploding.

"Long time no see." A voice behind the smoke said…a rather familiar voice. The smoke cleared revealing…

"Iruka –sensei!" Naruto yelled happily.

"Hi you three…phew…and you're just in time too…congratulations, you've passed the second part of the exams." Iruka smiled at them.

"We…passed?" Hinata looked at Iruka who gave her an honest smile. "You did."

"Alright!" Naruto yelled out latching onto Iruka.

"Hey, hey, it's still too early to celebrate. The exams aren't over yet. And Naruto…"

"Hm?" Naruto looked up at him in confusion.

Iruka ruffled his favorite student's hair. "Just…don't overdo it, okay?"

"Iruka-sensei." Naruto's eyes glowed with determination. "When you gave me this headband you acknowledged me as a ninja, and you know yourself how tough I am, so don't worry I got this! Believe it!"

"Um sensei…what does that writing on the wall mean?" Hinata asked.

"That's actually why I'm here. If you lack in body strength you need to be powerful in intelligence…but if your fault is in your intellect…Naruto…" Naruto frowned and crossed his arms while Hinata giggled. "You need to be strong in spirit. But if you have them both…" He looked at Sasuke. "Then you need to make sure you know how to use them together in order to be invincible."

"Hn."

"Okay, okay, I get it, I get it…"

Iruka smiled at Naruto. "You've come a long way…I'm proud of you…I'm proud of all three of you. Good job."

Naruto chuckled and scratched his neck in embarrassment and Hinata blushed.

"Alright, what's next?" Naruto grinned.

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All of the genin who passed lined up in front of the Hokage and other jonin including their sensei who were looking at them proudly…some of them…a little too proudly.

"I see your team managed to pass, Kakashi…" Gai spoke not even looking at his rival. "But of course with my team still in the competition your team is doomed to failure. I think it would be for the best if you just pull them out, don't you agree Kakashi?" He chuckled and turned to his rival.

Kakashi merely looked at him. "I'm sorry, did you say something?"

"GAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Gai screamed before he calmed down and flames appeared in his eyes. "Boy, I hate it when you act so cool, but you will not get the best of me!"

TenTen looked at the two from her spot in the lineup. "So that's Gai-sensei's eternal rival? Based on looks alone…I'd say Gai-sensei would lose."

But Lee had a totally different opinion. "Man, Gai-sensei is so cool, I mean he practically glows with cool!"

"Alright, listen up." The Hokage spoke. "Before we move on onto the final exam we will have a preliminary exam."

"A preliminary exam?" Sakura asked.

"Well, you see…we didn't expect so many of you to still be here…" Hayate said surprising the present genin.

After the Hokage gave a long speech explaining why the exams are actually held Hinata looked at Sasuke in concern.

"Sasuke…are you sure you are well enough to fight?"

Sasuke rubbed his neck. "Yeah, don't worry about it."

"Hey, what is that thing? What happened to you guys in the forest while I was away?" Naruto asked.

"That guy who attacked us bit Sasuke on the neck…the mark is giving him trouble."

"Huh? He bit you? Well, you better be okay cuz it won't be fair if I'm kicking your ass while you're unwell."

Sasuke turned to Naruto. "Naruto…"

"Hm?"

"You're among the ones I want to fight the most."

Naruto blinked in surprise. Was he just acknowledged by his rival? It felt so amazing to know that he's finally good enough to match him.

"Okay, let's start the first match. The names of the two who will be facing each other will appear on the screen above me." Hayate said.

The screen glowed and green letters appeared on it and after a few second spelled out the names:

Yoroi Akado vs Sasuke Uchiha