[ Location: Training Ground Forty-Four: The Forest of Death ]
Anko and the rest of the Passing Class arrived at the gates of the Training Ground Forty-Four - The Forest of Death. Already waiting for them were Tigress and Haku, standing before the forest gates with their backs turned to the upcoming group. Anko walked at Tigress's tail waved slowly and dangerously, like a predator ready for a hunt. The instructor narrowed her eyes and the back of the masked girl, her brow began to sweat as her eyes twitched; Anko could fell the air around the girl and it was suffocating in its own right but with the boy standing next to her, it was almost like she was going to pass out.
"Hey! Tigress! Haku! How did you guys get here before we did?" The loud voice of Naruto Uzumaki called out to the pair as he broke himself from the crowd to walk over to them. Anko noticed that Tigress suddenly gripped her opposing arm with her seal-written arm as her arms remained folded - like she was trying to keep herself from saying something or attacking.
'Sudden aggression. Does she have something against Naruto in particular?' Anko questioned herself while continuing to watch Tigress and Haku who turned their upper body halves to look at the upcoming walking orange.
"A Jutsu my wife created, it was the same Jutsu that she used to teleport Master Zabuza and I from the bridge in the Land of the Waves." Haku explained.
"Really? How the hell did you teleport using crystal?" Naruto asked as his teammates finally caught up with him. Sasuke's glare never left the masked tiger hybrid.
"That's not your concern, Uzumaki." Tigress's voice came out in a growl.
"Why do you keep calling me by my last name? Just call me 'Naruto', all my friends do." Naruto smiled; the movement under Tigress's mask ribbon suggested that Tigress narrowed her eyes in annoyance under her mask.
"We're not friends, Uzumaki. I have no interest in being friends with you." Tigress growled out as she turned her body back to look upon the massive forest. Naruto pouted and placed his hands on his hips.
"What did I ever do to you? Ever since you got here, you've shown nothing but anger and hatred towards me and my village. What did we do to you?" Naruto asked with slight anger in his blue eyes.
"Have you forgotten that you and your pathetic village killed my husband and his father figure?" Tigress growled, not turning to face him.
"Hey! You brought them back to life so that's no reason to hate me or my village anymore." Naruto insisted but Tigress didn't even listen to him. "Hey, listen to me." Naruto said as he reached out and placed his hand on Tigress's right shoulder.
"Big Mistake, Boy." Tigress growled out.
With a quickness unseen in regular kunoichi, Tigress's hands unfolded and her dominant hand grasped the handle of her sheathed sword, pushing it down until the pommel of the hilt was pointing to the ground and pushed it back with such a force that the chape (the bottom of the sheath) lodged itself deep into Naruto's stomach, knocking the air out of his lung and sending him soaring back about 5 feet from the masked hybrid until his back hit the ground with a thud, clenching his stomach, rolling on pain. Sasuke and Sakura jogged over to Naruto, who picked himself up in a sitting position but his hands remained around his stomach. His teeth bearing at Tigress as she fixed her sword's position in her stash.
"Geez! What the hell is wrong with you?! I was trying to be nice so that you can at least have one friend in this village for the Chunin Exams! Why did you attack me like that?!" Naruto roared as he shook a fist at Tigress.
"I've told you once and this is going to be the last time I tell you, Uzumaki: I have no interest, no desire, to befriend anyone in this village. This village is pathetic and I wish I never stepped foot here again; this place is like a parasite that gets under your skin and taints your from the inside out...just like the people who live in its' walls." Tigress growled out, a faint blue glow shining from the mask's eyeholes through the ribbon covering her eyes. The pressure around Tigress seemed to have increased with each and every word and it was getting stronger until Haku placed a hand on his wife's shoulder; his hand was glowing blue with his chakra and the longer the kept it there, the thinner Tigress's Pressure seemed to have become. Anko narrowed her eyes in confusion.
'It's like he's using his chakra to calm hers down. He acts like a repressor for her power and keeps it under wraps.' Anko made the observation.
"That's enough, My Crystal Tigress. I understand that you are angry but you must not let your emotions get the best of you; not here and now. You will have your chance to let loose but please calm down until them." Haku pleaded with his wife, who exhaled and nodded; taking a more relaxed pose before he removed his hand and shut off his chakra.
"Alright, Maggots. The show's over. Let's get the trial underway." Anko said walking up to the gates while Haku led Tigress back to the group but not too close to anyone. Sasuke helped Naruto off the ground but his eyes remained on Tigress - she was a mystery that he wanted to solve. Anko looked at everyone and held up 2 scrolls: one was blue with the word 'Earth' written on it while the other was white and had the word 'Heaven' written on it.
"This is your objective - Find a Heaven Scroll & an Earth Scroll then take them to the tower in the center of the forest and open them in the room there; not before. If your scroll is opened before you find the partnering scroll or getting to the tower, that is an automatic disqualification; no ifs, ands, or buts about it." Anko explains. Anko instructed that everyone was going to get a scroll and report to a gate - after which the gates to the forest will be opened then sealed again when all teams were inside.
Haku and Tigress went to the table and they were given an Earth Scroll - meaning they were going to need a Heaven Scroll. They reported to their gate and waited for Anko to come let them into the forest. After 10 minutes, she came and opened the gates for them, Haku walked first and Tigress followed behind him but before she could walk into the darkness of the tree's shade, a hand stopped her and that hand was Anko's.
"What do you want, Instructor Anko?" Tigress's voice was low but she didn't make a move to attack Anko, which the Snake Mistress was grateful for.
"Tell me something, Tigress: What did you mean when you said 'you wish you ever took a step in this village again'? We've never done anything to do nor do we remember every seeing someone like you." Anko asked in a low voice. Tigress was silent for a while before she spoke.
"What are you going on about, Instructor Anko?" Tigress growled out.
"Who are you really? You obviously have some grudge against the Hidden Leaf Village, as if we wronged you in some way. What is it?" Anko got straight to the point.
"I have no ties to this place that you need to concern yourself with but if you press the matter, I can't guarantee your safety, Instructor Anko." Tigress hissed out. Anko narrowed her eyes and tightened her grip on Tigress's shoulder.
"Is that a threat, girl?" Anko hissed at her.
"No. Merely a warning." Tigress said as she shrugged Anko's hand off her shoulder and walked to catch up with her waiting husband who looked at her with a nod. Anko watched as the two of them faded away into the deadly darkness with every step.