Wish Upon the Night Sky (Naruto Fanfic)

Chapter 29

Usagi twenty nine


>>>>CHAPTER 29<<<<

>>>>The Forest of Death<<<<

"This is the arena for the second exam: training ground 44... Also know as... The Forest of Death!!" Anko, the proctor of the second part of the exams, announced to the crowd of genin surrounding her.

"It looks creepy..." Sakura said, staring at the huge forest ahead of her.

Anko let out a creepy laugh. "You're about to find out firsthand why they call this the Forest of Death!"

Naruto mocked her words. "Oohh... 'You're about to find out firsthand why they call it the Forest of Death!' Like that's really gonna scare us!! You're just trying to psych us out, and I'm not gonna fall for it!!"

"Oh really..." Anko smiled, but not in a good way. "You're pretty cocky, huh?" Two seconds later, she stood behind Naruto, licking the blood from the cut she put across his cheek. "You're kind always go first... Spilling all that red blood..."

Usagi his behind Shikamaru in shame.

"She's crazy." He commented. ‘Kinda like my mother when she’s mad.’ Usagi nodded. She knew all too well how crazy Anko could be.

As Usagi continued to hide from the woman, a number of things happened, but she blocked out everything... Until a consent form was handed to her by...

"You thought you could hide from me?" Anko smirked.

[I was simply ignoring you.] Usagi held up her notebook not bothering to hide the fact that she had been hiding from the woman.

"You break my heart kid." Anko sighed. "Anyway. Sign the form, and try not to die."

Usagi nodded, and the explanation continued.

There were a few questions, such as. "What are we supposed to do for food?!" Asked by none other than Choji.

"That's your problem." Anko said. "The forests are full of foods... But they're also filled with man-eating animals, deadly insects and poisonous plants. Which reminds me... Usagi, stay away from the poison berries."

Said berry-eating girls face flushed red with embarrassment. She just had to bring that up...

"Anyway, there's no way thirteen teams are gonna pass. As time shortens, the trials will become harder and faster, with less recovery time for any mistakes, accidents or injuries. You'll be surrounded by enemies at all times, so you'll have to sleep with one eye open.

"So, in addition to those who die in attempts to capture of defend a scroll... Some of you are hound to succumb to exhaustion, exposure, starvation and dehydration.

"Now, let's talk about the rules. Obviously, teams that fail to reach the tower in time are out. So is any team that loses a member, whether to death or severe injury. And under no circumstances can you leave the forest before the time is up. No recess, no timeouts. Also, you're forbidden to look at the contents of the scroll until your inside the tower."

"What happens if we look at the scroll?" Naruto asked.

"That's for those who look to know. If any of you make it to chunin level, there will be times when your entrusted with top secret documents... So consider this a test of your trustworthiness.

"Now, that's all the explanations you get. Each team will receive one scroll. When you've gotten yours, choose which gate you want to start from. Everyone will begin at the same time.

"One final piece of advice... Stay alive!"

After getting a heaven scroll, team seven made their way to gate 12.

"Part two of the chunin exams begins... NOW!!"

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

A faint scream was heard by team seven.

"Did you guys hear someone scream?" Sakura asked.

[It was probably someone dying.] Usagi wrote with a smile.

"... Creepy..." Sakura shuddered.

Two seconds later.

"Uh... I gotta take a leak." Naruto was about to go right in front of his teammates, but...

"NOT IN FRONT OF ME, IM A LADY!!" Sakura whacked him over the head.

When Naruto walked off to do his thing, Usagi pointed something out. [You would have been fine with it if it were Sasuke.]

"Usagi!" Sakura blushed. "You're not supposed to actually point that out! Not that it’s true!!" She denied.

As they waited for Naruto to return, Usagi couldn't help but notice Sasuke’s eyes burning into her soul.

[What?] She held up her notebook, just under her eyes.

"Hn." Sasuke continued to glare.

Getting fed up with Sasuke’s immature behaviour, Usagi scribbled down a paragraph for him.

[Sasuke Uchiha, we have both had our deal of crap thrown at us throughout our lives, and I understand you're an angry, emo, depressed child who is obsessed with revenge, but taking out your anger on me will do no good.
To you, I am untouchable. We are on completely different levels.
Challenge me when hate isn't driving you. Only when you forgive can you be truly strong. In your current state, you're weak.]

"You hate her, don't you?" Sasuke asked, surprisingly calm. "Your mother."

[I never said I wasn't weak, however, I am much stronger than you. My hate doesn't drive me.]

"You don't want revenge?"

[I can't say I don't want revenge, but I don't let it drive me like you do.]

"Hn." Sasuke grunted. "You're still weak."

[And so are you.]

The two waited for Naruto, taking in each other’s weakness. Both of them let dark thought cloud their minds, and even though both tried their best to ignore them... Slowly, the dark thoughts were taking over.

On a less depressing note, Naruto showed up again.

... Wait. That is not Naruto.

Noticing it was a fake, Sasuke punched him straight across the face.

After pointing out the obvious flaws with his transformation jutsu, the ninja attacked.

After Sasuke, with assistance from Usagi, scared off the ninja, the real Naruto showed up.

"If we get separated again... We can't trust each other blindly. It could end up like this again." Sasuke said.

It was at this point that Usagi noticed they were not alone.

[Someone's here. Be careful.] She held up her notebook.

Now knowing that someone was listening, Sasuke continued talking as normal, hoping to trick the enemy.

Despite the fact Sasuke and Usagi generally hated each other, they worked together really well.

"The safest thing we can do for now is make a password. That way, we'll know who's who. Listen carefully... I'll only say it once. It a poem called Ninki. When I ask for it, here's what you respond:

"We thrive in the chaos of an enemy tide. Quiet shinobi don't need dens to hide. Our only concern is to watch and wait until the enemy lowers the gate."

"Got it." Sakura said.

"You expect me to remember that?!" Naruto shouted.

[It's not that hard.]

"But you remember everything, Usagi!" Naruto pouted.

"You’re such a dunce." Sakura sighed. "I've got it down already!"

"I say we need a better password." As Naruto thought up a better password, Usagi sensed the person eavesdropping was now gone.

[Were in the clear now. Probably not for long, though.]

"Alright." Sasuke said. "I'll take the scroll."

"How about swordfish?!" Naruto shouted, suggesting a new and improved password.

Usagi stared at him blankly. 'Only Naruto...'

Suddenly, she sensed three chakras. Before she could warn her teammates, a giant gust of wind tossed her away from her teammates.

"Sakura..." Sasuke recovered from the blow and ran into the pinkette.

"Sasuke!" She squealed.

"Wait!" He stopped her from approaching. "What's the password."

"Oh right." Sakura said. "We thrive in the chaos of an enemy tide. Quiet shinobi don't need dens to hide. Our only concern is to watch and wait until the enemy lowers the gate."

"Good." Sasuke sighed, realizing that this was the real Sakura. "Now... Where are Usagi and Naruto?"

As if on cue, the blonde showed up. He however, was a different story from Sakura. He recited the password exactly as Sasuke had told it, word for word.

Sasuke realized that this was a fake, and immediately threw a kunai at it.

"What gave me away?" A grass ninja poofed out of the transformation.

"I knew you were eavesdropping on everything we said. That's why I chose that kind of password. The real Naruto would never have memorized it." Sasuke explained.

"I see... Maybe I should have transformed into the girl... Oh well... Too late now. While I'm here, let's have some fun."

________________________________________________________________________________________

AN/ Another week another chapter!

The book has gotten 2.1k reads! Holy shit. That’s a lot of reads >.<

Thank you all :) I appreciate all the votes and comments and stuff, even though my writing isn’t all that good.

As always, thanks for reading!


-C