The next morning I got ready quickly for the Forest of Death today.
Just as I was about to get some leftover ramen, there was knocking at my door.
I opened it and saw Anko. I looked back at the clock, seeing she was twenty minutes early.
"Sorry for the sudden visit, but I wanted to start heading out now so we won't be late," She said.
Well, so much for my leftover ramen. I'm going to be starving the entire time now. I slipped my shoes on and left my house. I followed Anko to the Forest of Death.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you that Lord Hokage said some students from the academy want to do an interview for their newspaper. Remind me later if I forget," She said.
We got there and I saw it was empty. Damnit, I should've just reheated it and took it with me. I can't stop thinking about that ramen now.
We were waiting on some jounin who are supposed to come here with the heaven and earth scrolls. Anko was impatient, even though they were on time and was muttering about how they need to hurry up.
They got here and we helped them set up two tables for them to hand them out.
The genin eventually arrived and my stomach growled when I remembered that ramen in my fridge.
Okay, I need to get my mind off of the food.
I hope the genin will be okay out there. I know the forest was one of the toughest part of the exams. Most of them were looking terrified at the huge gates.
I took a deep breath before speaking. I know these are just kids, but I still hate public speaking. I started explaining to them how this was going to work, and then I let Anko do the rest of the talking since she wants to scare them.
"This is the location for the second phase of the exam," I said. "It's our 44th battle training zone, but we call it the 'Forest of Death',"
I saw a few of the genin shuddering at the name.
"This whole place just creeps me out," I heard a voice say. It sounded like Sakura.
Anko smirked. "It should since it's the 'Forest of Death' and soon enough, you're gonna find out why,"
Sakura widened her eyes a little and Naruto snorted loudly.
"They call it the Forest of Death and you're gonna find out why," He mocked, with this hands on his hips.
I had to hide my amusement.
Anko closed her eyes and smiled. I rose an eyebrow watching her.
"So, we've got ourselves a tough guy," She said and in the blink of an eye, she pulled a kunai out from her sleeve and threw it, causing it to cut Naruto on the cheek. She then quickly appeared behind Naruto.
I looked at the spot where she was in and then back at Naruto. How the hell did she get there so quickly?
I knew she wouldn't seriously hurt him, so I wasn't alarmed.
"You tough enough to handle this?" Anko whispered to him. "You're not afraid, are you?"
Naruto was too stunned to speak to her. The cut on his face was bleeding and she continued to scare him.
"Tough guys like you usually leave their blood all over this forest," Anko smirked.
A grass kunoichi approached Anko from behind, while holding the kunai she threw at Naruto with a long tongue. I only knew one person with a tongue that long. I watched their movements, alarmed.
Anko was alarmed since she couldn't tell who it was and was prepared to grab another kunai, but then realized it was just the grass ninja.
"I was just returning your kunai," The woman spoke.
"Why, thank you, grass ninja," Anko smiled. "You know, I recommend you stay this close behind me...if you wish to reach a premature end,"
The grass ninja backed up and pulled her tongue back into her mouth.
"My pardon," She spoke. "With the sight of blood in your blade slicing through my hair, I'm afraid I became a little excited. I meant you no harm."
Naruto started sticking his tongue out as if he was trying to imitate her and I chuckled quietly at that.
I had a slight staredown with that grass ninja since she was already giving me weird vibes. I also caught that blue haired genin looking at me again and I had a slight staredown with him too.
Maybe I'm just being paranoid.
Yeah, that's all it is. I'm just jumpy. I need to calm down.
I handed out consent forms to the students while Anko explained everything to them.
The jounin who here helping us earlier handed out the scrolls and I helped them. Just as we were about to start the exams, we were interrupted by Naruto shouting at a square-shaped rock. I was confused and then the square rock revealed to be some kid.
The hell?
"I'm Moegi, the fastest kunoichi in preschool. Check me out!" The girl with Konohamaru introduced.
"I love algebra, call me Udon!" The nerdy-looking boy introduced.
"And I'm the number one ninja in the village, Konohamaru! Together, we're the Konohamaru Ninja Squad!" Konohamaru shouted.
I was confused, but then I remembered that's Lord Hokage's grandson. Why is he here?
"Hey, you over there!" Anko shouted, irritated. "You're holding up exams!"
"Sorry, but Konohamaru here told me something about the academy newspaper." Naruto apologized.
Anko and I exchanged looks. We both completely forgot.
"Oh! Lord Hokage did tell me about something about them interviewing. Alright, everyone, we are taking a twenty-minute break and please be respectful to the reporters!" Anko shouted and everyone groaned because they wanted the exams to start.
Anko whispered to me.
"I don't trust that grass ninja. Something is off,"
I nodded in agreement.
"Me either. Something is off about her," I whispered back.
The break ended and the Hokage's grandson left with his friends. Now it was time for the exam to start again.
"You will only have five days to get the scrolls. I forgot to mention that this test has a time limit," I said.
"FIVE DAYS?!" Someone shouted.
"WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO FOR FOOD?!" Someone else shouted.
"Just look around," Anko answered. "This forest has enough to keep you full for a few days,"
We opened the gates and before they walked through, Anko spoke again.
"And one last thing," She said seriously. "Don't die,"
We shut the gates after they walked through and my stomach growled loudly again. I sweat-dropped.
"Uh, I'll be back. I'm just going to go pick up some lunch," I said.
Anko nodded and grabbed a bento box out of her pouch. I left to reheat the ramen in my fridge and came back with it so I wouldn't be missing out on anything. Anko was eating soup and I started eating my ramen next to her.
Time passed and we didn't talk again. It was awkward. She was throwing dumpling sticks at the tree to form a perfect Leaf symbol.
"Let's go check and see how the kiddies are doing," She said looking at her watch. "The quicker ones have probably finished already, so let's go to the tower instead,"
We threw out our garbage and just as we were about to leave, a puff of smoke appeared in front of us suddenly.
I recognized Mozuku.
"Pardon m'am, there's a problem," He said.
"Hm? What sort of problem?" Anko asked, slightly annoyed.
"Problem?" I ask, quirking an eyebrow.
"Corpses m'am," Mozuku replied. "Three of them,"
"Corpses? What the hell?" I replied.
"I think you want to see them, there's something strange about them," Mozuku replied.
Anko rose an eyebrow. "Besides being dead?"
Mozuku brought us to a graveyard and I saw Izumo and Kotetsu were there. I looked down, seeing dead bodies on the ground.
"I went through their belongings, found their identifications," Kotetsu said. "Ninjas from the Hidden Grass Village, they were registered for the Chunin Exams. They weren't just killed,"
I was horrified to see these corpses because they had no face.
"All of their faces...they're gone..." Anko remarked as if she already knew what happened.
"You know, I've seen a lot of things, but this is probably the most morbid thing I've seen so far..." I remarked.
"Yeah, there's nothing where their faces used to be. Like they melted or something." Kotetsu replied.
I looked over at Anko, to ask her about our emergency plan and I noticed she was clenching her teeth in anger and was gripping at the back of her neck.
"Are...you okay?" I asked her.
She ignored me. "Okay, I need photos of what these three used to look like. Where are their I.D.'s?"
"Right here, ma'am," Mozuku said and handed them over to Anko.
She handed me the pictures after she looked at them and I realized it was the grass ninja. I looked back at Anko, who almost looked...nervous.
"We've got big trouble!" Anko said and turned around. "Okay get moving! Tell Lord Hokage exactly what happened here and while you're at it, tell ANBU Black Ops they better get a couple of convoys to the Forest of Death,
"Meanwhile, Hana and I are going to head after these guys. Now go!" She said.
"Right!" Izumo, Kotetsu, and Mozuku replied and left.
Anko stood there for a moment, touching the back of her neck and then turned to me.
"We have no time to waste, let's go," She said.
I nodded and we both ran into the Forest of Death, traveling quickly.
"Look, I know you don't wanna talk to me, but can you at least tell me what's going on?" I asked her.
She looked over at me, a bit surprised at what I said.
"Do you remember my Sensei?" She asked.
"Orochimaru..." I widened my eyes.
She nodded.
"But what is he doing here?"
"I don't know. He's definitely up to something though. He killed those two genin and used their faces to disguise himself to get in here. We need to stop him right now," She answered.
I never liked him. What the hell is he after?
I noticed the sun was setting and Anko stopped.
"He's here somewhere," Anko spoke "I can feel him,"
She touched the back of her neck again. She's been doing that a lot lately. I'd ask, but I don't want to pry.
Anko stopped at another branch and she stood there, staring at the branch in front of us. There was a body emerging and I saw the familiar long black hair. It was definitely him.
He noticed us and turned around.
"Well, well," He spoke. "Anko, Hana, it's been a long time,"
I'm surprised he remembered me.
"There's no time to reminisce," She snapped. "You're an S-class criminal, top of the 'most wanted list'. You've got to be taken down, and it's only fitting that I'm the one to do it,"
I got in a battle stance, but she motioned for me to stay back. She took needles out of her sleeve and looked at him.
"Cause, after all, you're the one who taught me everything. Right, Sensei?"
"Not quite," Orochimaru smiled at her and then turned to me. "I have a gift for you, Hana,"
I had my hand ready to form a rasengan. Anko tensed.
The blue-haired boy stepped out from behind him. He ran at me taking me off guard, and grabbed me with a surprising amount of strength.
"Hana!" Anko shouted.
"I'll handle him. You handle Orochimaru!" I shouted at her.
The boy ran off into a quiet area that was far from where Anko and Orochimaru were and he smirked.
He shoved me back onto the ground and threw off his disguise.
"Catching the target was easy," He grinned. "Now the search for the Yellow Flash's niece is over."
Great.
I wish Kakashi was here.
~~~~~~~~
I know a lot of stuff are mixed up here, but this is the second time I've had to go through this arc lol. I have to go through it more thoroughly in two other stories so that's why I'm rushing it a bit.