Hence // Naruto Various x Reader Insert

Ch. 46| Commence the Second Exam!

TW: Swearing; Second Person; Injury; Blood; Mean People; Author definitely isn't going crazy and this is the LONGEST CHAPTER now; (It was supposed to have more too—); Tobirama
Note: *An author's note and little extra stuff at the end.
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The air felt so thick that one could hold it in their hand. Shinobi from many of the lands had gathered once again, but the setting was significantly changed. A mix of awful stenches reeked from the cluttered land in front of everyone.

The Forest of Death.

"Zaku, there you are. I apologize for my lateness." A voice traveled finely across the edge of the crowd. Teams were already eyeing each other from every angle. Watching. People seemed to already be forming plans, despite the test not even beginning yet... and despite not even registering the new presence.

The Abumi nodded his head for a tired, short greeting. Haku looked around him when he reached the boy, "Where is (Y/N)? I thought she left with you."

Zaku pointed his thumb behind him to a large rock. "She's right over there."

Haku walked forward to indeed see you lying like a dried-up starfish on the rock. Your limbs stretched everywhere, leaving no room for anyone to sit with you. Your eyes moved little, staring up into the clear sky. He let out a brief hum, "She seems more relaxed than yesterday. Did something occur that I missed?"

Zaku's gaze fell flat on his teammate. "You're joking right? This is the most stressed I've seen her. ..Been happening ever since she came back with you and Buza, y'know.."

"I see." Haku brushed off Zaku's comment. He slowly moved his attention away from you and turned towards the inner crowd of shinobi standing peacefully before you all. Eyes caught against his as they examined him and his team, similarly to the way he did to anyone else he could see.

"Zaku."

"......Hm?" Zaku stood next to him, but unlike him, his eyes remained solely on your still form.

"Tell me everything you know about all of these shinobi."

The space around you grew notably colder by the second, empty. Glutton remained at your side, unable to fill the two other empty spots next to you. Your shoulders began to ache. 'I don't want to know if they're even there yet.' Thoughts of the Hokages pounded at your head like a ton of bricks.

"Time to listen everyone!" Another voice called out from the front of the crowd. Teams that were once squaring each other up now looked to the familiar crazy proctor. "This is the site of the second exam, the 44th training field. But we like to call it... The Forest of Death."

Team 7 leaned closer to one another as a strong gust of wind flew by, coming from within the forest. Sakura was seconds away from jumping into Sasuke. Naruto's mouth stilled in unease, "Forest of... Death?" 'This whole place gives me the creeps..'

"Soon enough, you all will realize how it got that name~"

Anko was already feeding into the tensity around everyone. It wasn't hard for you to recall how both her and Kabuto had worked for the same person.

Smoke shot through Naruto's nostrils like a bull being tested and his butt and legs fanned outward like a chicken. As he began to dance, Zaku snorted. He stopped as you walked past him, away from your rock.

"'They call it the forest of death. Soon enough you all will realize how it got that name.' —That kind of threat won't work on me one bit! I can handle anything!"