Red Is A Pretty Colour

12

Hiko's pov

It was the day of the second part of the exam and we had all been gathered in front of a large fence that separated us from a scary looking forest.

"Woah, nice place, what is it?" Naruto asked.

"This is the location for the second phase of the exam, its the 44th battle training zone, but we call it the forest of death." Anko said.

Just then a huge cloud of smoke appeared beside Naruto and when it cleared it revealed three children talking to Naruto.

"Hey! You over there, what are you doing? You're holding up the exam!" Anko said as she approached them.

"Sorry but konohamaru was telling me something about an interview for the academy news paper." Naruto replied.

"Oh yeah! I forgot all about it, lord Hokage had mentioned something about them interviewing me. Alright, we're taking a ten minute break. For those who are scheduled to be interviewed please be respectful to the reporters from the academy news paper." Anko said.

Time skip

"So, tell us about yourself for the newspaper." The little girl, Moegi said.

"I'm Hiko Uzumaki, I'm a tactician on team 7. I'm good at coming up with tactics on the spot that are tailored to my teammates and adapting them to the situation, I'm also sassy and a selective hearer. I'm on a squad with Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno and my twin brother Naruto. Sasuke is a skilled fighter but he doesn't necessarily like teamwork. Sakura is extremely intelligent but she spends all of her time obsessing over Sasuke. Naruto is a complete moron who has a lot of Stamina making him great in long battles. Our squad is pretty dysfunctional, none of us get along too well. I honestly don't think we'll pass these exams." I said. "Is that good enough?"

"Uh, I guess." Konohamaru said.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I played with my hair.

"You've been brutally honest is all." Moegi said.

"No point in sugar coating things." I said. "Can I go now?"

"Y-Yeah." Udon said.

I walked away from the three kids and took a seat against a tree. It took about an hour before the exams were back on their way.

"Now before we begin this test I have something to hand out to you all. Its just a standard consent form, before the test all of you are going to have to read over this form and sign it." Anko said.

"What for?" Naruto asked.

"Some of you may not come back from this test and I need to get your consent for that risk, otherwise it would be my responsibility. *laughs*" Anko said. "Now, I'll explain what you'll be doing on this test, here, pass theses out. The first thing you'll need to know is that this test will tax every one of your survival skills. First I'll give you all a description of the terrain on the practice field, the 44th battle training zone has 44 locked entrance gates, there are rivers and a forest inside. In the center is a locked tower located 10 kilometers from each gate. Its in this confined area you will undergo the survival test. The test consists of an anything goes battle to get your hands on these scrolls."

"Both of them?" Kabuto asked.

"Yes, you'll be fighting to get both a heaven and an earth scroll. All together 26 teams will be taking part in this test so half of those teams will be going after the heaven scroll and the other half will be trying to get the earth scroll.ill hand over one kind of scroll to each team and that's what you'll be fighting for." Anko replied.

"Okay, so how do we pass the test?" Sasuke asked.

"Your entire squad must bring both a heaven and an earth scroll to the tower." Anko said.

"That means at the very best half of us will fail." Sakura said.

"No one ever said it would be easy. Oh and one more thing, the test has a time limit. You must finish it within five days." Anko said.

"Five days out there!?" Ino exclaimed.

"What are we gonna do for food!?" Choji exclaimed.

"Just look around, the forest is full of things to eat, there's plenty to feed all of you." Anko said.

"That's not all the forest has, there are man eating beasts and poisonous plants in there." Kabuto said.

"Oh man." Choji said.

"Quiet down, this is why they call it survival you know." Ino said.

"That means with these circumstances there's no way half the teams will pass the test." A Hyūga boy said.

"With the days getting longer the nights are getting shorter so we'll have less time to sleep and less time to recover. It is a challenge indeed." Bowl cut boy said.

"Completely surrounded by enemies there won't be time to rest, we'll have to keep a constant watch." Sasuke said.

"We're being tested on how well we can survive behind enemy lines." I said.

"Exactly, this is designed to be a grueling test and I'm sure some of you won't be up to the challenge." Anko said.

"So um, let's say mid exam, can we quit?" Shikamaru asked.

"Of course not, in the middle of a battle you can't say sorry I quit. Well, I guess you could but its probably gonna get you killed." Anko said. "There are also some ways you can get disqualified, the first is simple. If all three members of a team can't make it to the tower with both scrolls after five days. Number 2, if a team looses a member or if a member becomes incapacitated and cannot continue. Most importantly, none of you, absolutely none of you may look at the contents of the scrolls until you've reached the tower."

"What if it just happens to flap open and you read it?" Naruto asked.

"Let me put it to you this way young man, You, don't, want, to, know." Anko replied. "There are times when a ninja will be asked to carry secret documents, the scroll rule is to test your integrity. Okay, we're done, each team take your consent forms and exchange them over there for your scrolls. After that, each team pick a gate and you'll be lead inside. One more word of advice, just don't die."