Desert Flower

Second Exam

    "This is the location for the second exam," The second proctor said as we stood before a tall fence surrounding large trees in a forest. "the 44th Training Field. Also known as....the Forest of Death." She was smiling with a glint in her eye, but we were momentarily interrupted by some children from the Academy for interviews. It only lasted a little while, so it wasn't long before we were back to the main issue at hand; The exam.

  "This place is called the Forest of Death, you'll soon realize why." The proctor had that smile again. Up front, I saw the blond in the orange jumpsuit put the back of his hands onto his hips before he mocked the woman while.... Was he wiggling? What in the world was he even doing?

  "The Forest of Death, you'll soon realize why." Naruto, as he had called himself before, seemed to not care at all that the woman could more than likely kick his ass. "That kind of threat won't work on me one bit!" He then stood up straight while talking to the proctor. "I'm not scared!" He then pointed.

  "Really?" Anko smiled with mock sincerity while slightly tilting her head and closing her eyes. "You've got a lot of energy." She moved rather fast as she dropped a kunai from her sleeve and threw it at the blond, grazing his cheek before quickly getting behind him. "A kid like you dies at the very beginning, dappled with the red blood I like." And as she was taunting Naruto, she quickly dropped another kunai from her sleeve and was ready to attack the person who had come up behind her.

  Swallowing, I fiddled with the hem of my shirt. I was confident in my fighting skills, and I knew I could rely on accurate information from Kami-sama when I was battling. But ever since the incident involving the ninja I killed, they had whispered for me to end the life of everyone I had fought. I managed to hold back the voice, but with the way things were looking, would I continue to be able to?

  I mean, I was only sparring and practicing since then, but could I keep Kami-sama at bay in a real life-or-death battle? Looking at my teammates, I calmly took a deep breath. For these two, I'd have to.

  "Well, before we start the second exam, I have to pass this out to you!" Anko raised her voice as she walked back towards the fence. She then pulled a stack of papers from her jacket and slightly smiled. "It's a consent form. Before you take part in the test you have to sign this."

  "Why?" Naruto questioned.

  "From here on out, corpses are going to come out, I have to get your consent to that!" Anko then smiled again. "Or it'll be my responsibility." She laughed rather lightly about the situation. "Well, I'm going to start the explanation for the second exam. In other words, the limits of your survival will be challenged." She handed the stack of papers to Naruto, and he passed it on while keeping one consent form for himself.

  "First, I'll give you step-by-step instructions on the terrain of this Training Field." The proctor unrolled a map of the forest. "Training Field #44 is surrounded by 44 locked entrance gates, there are rivers and a forest and a tower in the middle. It's about 10 kilometers from the tower to the gate.... In this confined area, you will go through a certain survival program. The contents of which are....anything goes scroll battle!" Anko put away the map into her jacket before holding up two scrolls.

  "Scroll?"

  "Yes." Anko nodded. "I want you to fight for two scrolls, the Heaven Scroll and the Earth Scroll. Altogether, 26 teams got through the first test. Half of them....13 teams get the Heaven Scroll, the other half get the Earth Scroll. I'll hand over one scroll to each team. To put it simply, that's what you're vying for."

  "And the conditions to pass?" The black-haired boy with Naruto questioned.

  "Three of you bring both the Heaven and Earth Scrolls to the tower in the center." Anko replied.