Mitsuki of Konoha (naruto fanfic)

Chapter 29: In the Forest of Death

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CHAPTER 29: IN THE FOREST OF DEATH

Akira's POV

"Why aren't we starting yet?!" complains Hiro.

He's been complaining for the past ten minutes, to my dismay. I sigh again.

"Do me a favor, kid, and just shut up!" the Leaf ninja yells, obviously just as irritated as I am by Hiro's incessant carping.

The Chuunin checks his watch again, pacing back and forth impatiently.

"No, no. Patience is the key. Just one minute. One more minute. Then this idiot will finally be gone," he mumbles to himself.

"Hey Akira," rambles Hiro, ignoring the man, "What do you think we should do? Should we get the scrolls as fast as we can, or should we prepare a defense first? Offense, defense, offense, defense, offense--"

I hold up a hand, silencing him. Frowning, I think of a strategy. "It'll probably be best to prepare first, but I'd rather not stay in the forest too long.. We should just get this over with. But..."

I turn to Mitsuki. "Can you handle being on your own? I know what Hiro and I are capable of, but I don't know your abilities.."

She smiles and gives me two thumbs up. "I'll be fine! I'm super duper strong!!! Believe me!"

"Yeah, I believe in you, Tsuki-chan!!" Hiro cries, giving her another thumbs up.

I facepalm, still a bit worried. If she dies, we fail the Exams. So of course I should try to keep her alive. The best way to keep everyone alive is by strengthening our defense and man-power by staying together. But if we do that, it'll take longer to steal the scrolls from others because we don't have the stealth. And then again, I doubt staying in this forest too long is a safe idea...

A small beep comes from the Leaf ninja's watch. "Finally! Get in there and go do whatever you have to do!" The Leaf Ninja growls. He unlocks Gate 44 and shoves us inside.

Hiro yells, "Yeah, finally!!! Let's go!"

I shove him and hiss, "Shut up! What if someone hears you?"

"Ehehe.." He rubs the back of his neck. "Sorry."

I sigh again, rubbing the sides of my head. "Okay. So this is the plan: we'll meet up in the afternoon at the riverbank. Just go do whatever you want, but try to survive and get a 'Heaven' scroll if you can. If you're in danger, come to the riverbank anyways. By fighting together, we'll have more power. Our goal is to finish this in the first day! Go!"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

As the sun sets, I smirk as I leave the unconscious bodies tied to a tree trunk. That was just too easy. Were they really Leaf ninjas? I thought they were supposed to be stronger, coming from the first Hidden Village, but it is true that rumors get exaggerated easily...

I toss the 'Heaven' scroll into my bag with our original 'Earth' scroll. I guess I'll just rest at the river and wait for Mitsuki and Hiro.. As long as they can survive long enough, we should be able to finish this test easily before the end of today.

I freeze when I feel the four chakras in front of me. I soundlessly dive into the bushes, mentally cursing at myself. How did I not sense them earlier!?