"Oh, what hit me?" Naruto groaned aloud as bright light shined directly down upon him causing him to groan even more and put his hand in front of his eyes it order not to go blind from the sun.
He didn't know where he was, but where ever it was it was hot, very hot. So much so that his forehead was sweating an awful lot and could feel his clothes were sticking to him a little making him feel a little uncomfortable.
The ground beneath him was flat and soft, however it felt lose and like it was shifting beneath him.
"What am I lying on?" he thought as he began to sit up. When he went to rub the back of his neck he found sand covering it. Look behind him completely he saw his whole back was covered in sand.
"What the…?" he said before he finally took a good look around and noticed they were currently under the shade of a few cacti that were piled together, which were station in the middle of the desert.
"WHERE THE HELL ARE WE?" he shouted out causing movements to stir next to him. Looking over he saw Anko and Itachi all lying next to him, but were showing signs of beginning to wake up.
"Guys wake up, we got problems." He said as he shook them both awake. The last he remember was being in the classroom with the other teams that passed the first tests
"Ok already, take it easy dude," Anko complained as she began to sit up and rub her eyes. Itachi did the same and was blinking his eyes.
As they both began to wake up, they began to notice where they were. They blinked furiously as if believing it was a genjutsu and even tried to dispel it. Once they realized it was not a genjutsu and they were really in the desert, Anko summed up everyone's thoughts.
"WHERE THE FUCK ARE WE!?"
"The desert by the looks of things; damn proctor must have knocked us out with knockout gas." he said as the trio began to shakily stand up.
For the next minute they checked themselves over and sighed happily that everyone still had all their belongings. Naruto was especially thankful no one took his blade but then again he had that in a storage seal on his right wrist since he did not want people seeing his beautiful blade just yet.
"There's a note." Itachi said as he look over at one of the cactuses and saw that pinned to the center cactus was indeed a note.
They all got up and went towards it. Itachi delicately took it off, not wanting to get struck by one of the prickles of the cactus plant and read out what it said.
Congrats for passing the first exam. Now the real test begins. Your team has been stranded in the middle of the Suna desert to which your team must survive. You have five days to return to the Suna village. If you do not return in that time then you will be disqualified. Along the way their will be a surprise in store.
"Oh goody, this sounds like a heap of fun." Naruto commented dryly as Anko and Itachi could not help but agree with him.
"So we are stranded. Who the hell came up with this stupid idea?" Anko wailed as the two sighed and shook their heads.
"Five days, huh? I don't suppose anyone actually know which direction we have to go in, do you?" Naruto asked as he looked around them.
"I guess that is another thing we have to figure out. Navigation and stuff like that." Itachi added, though he was more worried about getting food and water once they ran out.
"Well if we have five days than I guess we should aim to get their sooner than that. Everyone check you packs to see what food or water we have since water especially is going to be something we will need to treasure in the desert."
It took a few minutes, but they quickly figured it out. They had about two bottles of water each along with a few ration bars between them as well as one rice ball each. It was not much but it would have to do.
"If we run out then we either have to hope we find some kind of oasis and that Kami is smiling at us or we make quicker haste towards finding Suna."
"Well that is great and all but how exactly do we find Suna? I don't see anyone with a compass?" Anko said making both Naruto and Itachi think.
They thought about it and now really did wish they had a compass and a map. But if they wanted to be chunin then they had to figure out news way to get back to Suna.
"Naruto," Itachi asked getting the blonde attention. "Your sensor ability, how far can you sense with it?"
"My sensor ability? I can sense pretty far, I mean when I was five I could sense at least a few miles, but I have never tried anything that long range. I know there is no chance I could sense all the way to Suna since I have no idea how far out we are."
"Hmm. Don't try and find the village instead look for the nearest sign of life and we can head in that direction. What about your Sharingan?" Said Anko, thinking of a way that she could help out.
"But what if the other sign of life is another team?"
"It's a chance we will have to take. Plus my Sharingan can't see that far." Replied Itachi.
"I GOT IT!"
Both stopped talking as they look towards Anko who was beaming with pride. "I know how we can find our way back to Suna." she said getting raised eyebrows from both boys.
"Would you like to tell us this way of yours?" Naruto asked as Anko grinned.
"Better. I can show you," she said before biting her thumb' and planting it on the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu."
A tiny cloud of smoke appeared jut in front of Anko and thy watched a small green skinned snake appeared and slivered towards Anko and up her arm.
"What can I do for you Misssssssss Anko?" the snake asked.
"Rela, do you think you could point us in the direction of the sand village, Suna? We have to make it their in the space of five days though we don't have much food and water so we would prefer to get their as soon as we can."
The snake nodded its head and slivered back to the ground and put its head in the air as its body coiled around on the sand.
The trio waited for a couple of minutes as the two slits that were its nostrils smelled the air along with its forked tongue slipping out of its mouth and tasting the air.
Once the few minutes were up, the serpent's eyes twitched before it began to slither way motioning for the trio to follow after it.
After putting on their cloaks to protect their bodies form the harsh light of the hot sun and try to keep themselves cool and not sunburnt, they quickly followed after the snake with Anko up front and then Naruto and Itachi behind.
"Wow that was handy. How did she find it so quickly?" Naruto asked Anko as they got their things together and began walking after the snake.
"I had Rela familiarize herself with the scent that Suna gave off. It may not be a person but the village does have a unique smell accustomed to it. Plus my summons snakes can sense chakra to with their inferred vision; picking up heat signatures from a great distance. We may be far out but a snake has great enhanced senses to that of a person."
Naruto whistled to himself while Itachi nodded at the explanations.
"Summoning animals really are amazing and the things they can do can even trump a shinobi. You know I kind of wish I had one myself. They would really be amazing to have as a partner."
"I agree. They would be greatly beneficial. It is a shame the Uchiha does not have a summoning contract bound to us like a few other clan in the world. I can see they would be of great use."
Anko looked back at Naruto while they continued to follow Rela. "Well aren't you going to sign the Toad contract Naruto? I mean your dad had signed it as well as his sensei Jiraiya who is like always with your family. Wouldn't you sign that?"
Naruto face grew cold for a second before he steeled himself and looked away.
"No, I probably won't be signing it; knowing my parents they will probably just give it to the twins and Mina and leave me out like usual." he said though he whispered the last part out.
Anko looked at him a little confusingly as did Rela who cocked her back a little before getting back to the view in front of her.
"Why would you say that? I am sure they will let you sign it if you asked." she said wanting to understand what he meant by it but saw Itachi shake his head to her as if telling her to stop asking
"Besides just because I won't have the Toad summons doesn't mean I won't have a summoning contract one day It might not be the Toad, or Slug or the Ape contracts that Hokage-sama and Ero-Sennin hold or the ones Baa-chan and Jiji have, but I will hold one eventually and it will beat the other contracts." he said thinking about other animals that may have contracts to them and which he would love to have.
Anko shrugged. "Well good luck with that. Summoning contract aren't exactly easy to come by."
"Then I will have to be on the lookout in the future." he said as they followed Rela.
Nightfall
After hours of trekking through the harsh Suna desert and using up about one third of their water supply, the group stopped for then might at a small rock formation that provided some cover for them that they could use for shelter.
After thanking her and managing to catch a desert mouse as a treat that Anko gave her, Rela disappeared and went back to her home.
The trio made a small supper with what they could spare for the first night before they got in their sleeping bags. Unlike the sweltering heat of the daytime, the night was quite cold as the moon hit them along with the cool desert winds.
"It's a nice night tonight." Naruto said as he lay down on the soft sand looking up at the star filled sky with Itachi on his right and Anko on his left.
"You know," Anko said leaning on her elbows and turning to Naruto. "Why don't we just travel through the night instead? It would be a lot less strenuous since we won't have the heat of the sun hitting us and no one would be expecting it."
"I had thought about that, but their lies a problem with that theory." Itachi spoke up from his spot. "If we were to travel at night we would have multiple problems with defending ourselves as well as making our way to the village. There will be no daylight so we will not be able to see a thing. Plus there are poisonous animals in the desert, hat if we tread on one in the dark and it hits us?"
Naruto nodded as Anko thought about it. "I guess that a good point. But can't we use the light form the moon?"
"And what would happen if one night the clouds cover the moon therefore giving us no light?"
Anko pouted as he spoke to her like she was a child and went back to lying on her back and crossed her arms as Naruto looked at her playfully.
"Fine then."
Naruto laughed while Anko shook his head at his teammate's amusement as he continued to stare up at the sky while Naruto and Anko made idle chat.
"I wonder how Kaa-san is doing back in Suna?" he thought to himself despite knowing Mikoto was more than capable of looking after herself since she was a powerful shinobi.
As Naruto made idle chat with Anko, Naruto thought back to the snake he had seen Anko use earlier and it had brought up a question in his mind that he had about Anko ever since the first time he met her and used those snake abilities in front of him.
"Hey Anko," he said getting her attention. "How did you get the snake contract anyway?"
He saw next to him that Anko froze up and in her eyes had a brief look of panic hit her before she narrowed them a little and looked directly at him.
From his spot Itachi looked over as well since he had wondered the same thing.
"Why do you ask? You have never wondered before." she asked.
"Well like you said earlier, you said that summoning contracts rare to come by since not many shinobi actually have them. And it made me wonder just how you managed to get yours. The Snake contract is a very powerful summoning contract.
My jiji told me about one of his past students that went bad took off when I was only a few years old. Jiji told me that he had the Snake summoning contract and took it with him, so it made me curious to how you have it."
Naruto looked back at Anko but when he did he was surprised to see an angry Anko lunge at him with an angry and upset look on her face.
She landed on him, but Naruto quickly turned the tables and managed to use his greater physical strength and flip her over onto her back while he managed to pin her hands to her sides as well place his knee's on hers to stop her from kicking him.
Itachi was going to help, but Naruto gave him a look that told him not to interfere.
"DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT! I EARNED THAT CONTRACT AND THAT BASTARD BETRAYED ME!" she shouted as Naruto put his hand over her mouth since they did not want nay nearby teams to hear them.
"Anko we still are in the second exam. You must try and be quiet." he said, but felt a little taken back when he saw tears cascading down her face. "Anko-chan?"
"He promised he would look after me but instead he turned is back on me, saying I outlived my usefulness and branded me forever with his curse mark. I trusted him." she sobbed as Naruto was not sure what to do so he just hugged her into his chest and wrapped his arms around her.
Itachi watched in silence but listened in and felt his heart go to his friend.
"Tell me what happened to you, Anko-chan; tell me so I can help you." Naruto gently pushed as Anko sniffed a little before she explained.
She explained how six years ago when she was four, the Snake Sannin Orochimaru had taken an interest in her and had taken her under his wing and made himself her guardian and mentor.
She had spent four years with him and he had even taken her with him when he had turned his back on the village. At first she said he was a nice person who made her feel at ease but then would disappear for long periods of time and each time he had become more and more sinister like.
Then one day when he came back he hate bitten her out of the blue and put some kind of seal on her neck that caused her to fall into excruciating pain as it made her body feel like it was on fire and being ripped in two.
Afterward when she had woken up he had shaken his head at her saying it had not giving him the desired result he had wanted before just leaving her where she was and never looking back. Two days later she had been found by a team of hunter-nin from Konoha where she was quickly returned.
"Why has my father and mother not tried to get rid of this seal?" Naruto said with a look of anger on his face as he looked at the seal on her shoulder but felt Anko shrugged.
"I'm not too sure. The Hokage said the once that without knowing the formula Orochimaru used, it would be difficult to destroy it. Plus they said he put some of his essence into it, making it darker and it made those uneasy to try and tamper with it in case it backfired."
Naruto nodded and though it did make sense, he understood where they were coming from; though it still made him pissed as he covered the seal up.
"Anko-chan look at me," he said as Anko looked up at him. "As you know I am practicing and training to be a fūinjutsu master and after seeing this seal and hearing your story I will make you this promise right here and now.
"I promise I will make Orochimaru pay for hurting you and I will get that seal of you. I promise it on my way of the Shinobi." he said as Anko looked up at him with shocked and wide eyes.
"I second that." Itachi muttered making the two look at him forgetting he was even there. "We will make Orochimaru sorry for ever harming you Anko-san. We will bring you justice."
"Guys," Anko said quietly before she grabbed Naruto and Itachi from where he lay and hugged them both tightly.
"Thank you both so much." she muttered making the two boys smiled at return the hug to her before they decided to call it a night and prepare for the second day of trekking through the desert of Suna.
Next Morning
The trio woke as soon as the sun hit their faces and quickly packed or sealed their stuff away before making their way back towards the sand village.
Anko looked happier than either of the two boys had seen her before as she summoned her snake summon which quickly led the way again though this time at a quicker pace since none of them wanted to spend another four days in the sweltering heat of the Suna desert.
As they walked they felt Kami smiling on them when they found a few rows of cacti on their path.
Knowing that cacti stored water within them, Naruto cut of some of the cacti parts and the trio drained what they could from the cacti and got more water to last them an extra day if they needed it.
They walked for a few hours and were feeling good about themselves since they were making good time until Itachi and Anko noticed Naruto had stopped.
"Naruto?"
Naruto placed his index finger to his lips. "There is someone here." he said instantly making Anko and Itachi on guard as they group together back to back in a triangle formation.
"Where are they?" Anko asked as Itachi had his Sharingan activated when Naruto had his eyes closed searching around them.
After a few moments of searching his eyes narrows twenty meters east of them. "There."
They all turned to the spot Naruto had pointed at before firing off their attacks.
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"
"Suiton: Teppoudama!"
"Sen'eijashu!"
The three attacks surged forward together right to the spot where Naruto's sensor abilities pin pointed. Just as they neared a trio reddish orange balls burst out of the sands and hit the attacks causing a small explosion to occur that knocked sand all over the place from the gust of the attack.
As the sand and smoke cleared a figure jumped out from the smoke cloud covered in a light brown cloak with an Anbu mask covering their face. Looking at them they could not tell whether the cloaked figure was a male or a female.
"Fuuton: Kaze Senbon," the figure said in a voice that was monotone and must of have a voice changed to it since they could not tell their gender.
A flurry of wind made senbon shoot from the users hand and towards the team. Before they hit Naruto slammed his hands to the ground. "Doton: Doryūheki."
As the wall came up and successfully stopped the wind made senbon form striking them, the figure leaped over the wall and pushed themselves forward and towards the group. They landed in the middle of the group making the trio jump back.
Naruto unsealed Shusui and swung at the masked shinobi, but was blocked by a chakra enhanced kunai.
"Why are you attacking us?" he asked as Anko came up from the right side and kicked the shinobi who then managed to duck out of the way.
"I can't let just anyone get to the next round of the chunin exams now can I. You three have come quite far in such a short amount of time." the figure said making the three look at them in surprise.
"So it is part of the test. We have to get past you in order to get to the next round." Naruto said as he watched as the unnamed shinobi nodded.
Naruto looked at Anko who was still trying to hit the shinobi and nodded to her who then nodded back. Both pulled away and jumped a fire distance before the unnamed ninja saw Itachi making hand signs.
"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu," he called out as five fireballs shaped like flower shot towards the shinobi.
They hit their target though when the attack cleared they saw a log in its place.
"Kawarimi," Naruto said he searched around but sensed them underneath Anko. "Anko beneath you!"
Anko jumped just as hands shot out of the sand that went to grab her ankle as they person shot out of the ground following after Anko and deliver a hard kick to her abdomen that made Anko get the wind knocked out of her.
As she fell Itachi came up from behind her and caught her while Naruto sent a flurry of shuriken towards the enemy but deflected them with a ray of their own shuriken.
"Suiton: Mizurappa," Naruto said as a jet of water shot out of his mouth.
"Katon: Haisekishou," the enemy said as ash poured out of their mouth and formed a protective layer in front of them that the jet of water hit instead.
Before Naruto could make a move the figure appeared next to him and punched him, making him fall back; before he could land though the figure quickly appeared behind him and kicked him in the back as well before finally throwing him towards his friends.
When he landed Itachi grabbed a kunai with a paper bomb on it and threw it towards their enemy.
It exploded just as it went past her head put quickly saw they had used the Kawarimi once again.
"You will have to do better than that." the shinobi said appearing behind them and used the wind senbon on them again.
"Katon: Boukaheki no Jutsu," Itachi said as a wall of flames erupted in front of them which stopped the wind senbon.
However the shinobi jumped through the fire wall and lunged at Itachi and the two began to taijutsu spar.
Naruto recovered from the hits from earlier and went forward with Anko to help their team mate.
As the figure managed to trip Itachi up and made a kunai appear out of their sleeve and drove it towards Itachi, Naruto appeared beside Itachi blocking the strike with Shusui. Anko came up to the side and kicked the figure which managed to connect this time.
However the enemy shinobi grinned underneath their mask before they suddenly dispersed in a gust of wind.
"Wind Clone," Naruto said as they looked where they had been standing before a voice rang out behind them
"Fuuton: Taifuu Kougeki," they said as a tornado of wind erupted form their palms and shot towards the team.
"Disperse," Naruto said as the trio jumped away. But when they did, what they guessed was clones came up from behind them and kicked the three of them away.
The three landed with a thud as the clones disperse in wind again as the shinobi approached them.
"Maybe I should use my new sword technique…"he thought since he really did not want to use Mokuton for this. He could not risk being exposed as a Mokuton user just yet.
"We need to work together. Whoever they are they are no chunin, they must be stronger maybe a Jonnin level like Mikoto-sensei."
"Why do we get stuck with someone who a high level ninja? Why couldn't we get a chunin?" Anko wined as she stood up.
"I guess they thought we were different form the others. I don't think we should disappoint." Itachi said as the three nodded.
"If we work together we can do it." Naruto said as the three readied themselves.
"Not giving up yet. How do I know you are worth my time?" the ninja asked.
"Watch and see." Naruto said.
"Sen'eijashu," Anko called out as two snakes erupted from her sleeves. They struck at the shinobi who jumped back.
When the masked ninja did he/she saw a flurry of kunai from Naruto and Itachi heading towards them. "Fūton: Daitoppa," they said as a blast of wind erupted from her knocking the kunai away.
When she looked towards them she saw Itachi and Anko had vanished. Looking up she saw the two coming down towards them and engage the masked shinobi.
Itachi kicked high while Anko attacked low, making the shinobi work a little harder than before but still managed to rather elegantly dodge the attacks. As she attacked, the masked shinobi noticed Naruto had now vanished. Her eyes searched around all the while defending form the other two.
She saw Anko have an opening and went to kick her but stopped when a thud was heard behind them. Looking round she saw a bottle of water on the ground that was used to collect the water from the cacti from earlier.
"Suiton: Sentou no Umi," a voice said from behind revealing Naruto who had used the camouflage jutsu to hide himself from the enemy.
Their eyes widened a little from the name of the jutsu and looked down to the bottle of water that was still before the water suddenly shout out of the bottle and created a sharp spire about five foot high.
The shinobi cursed inwardly and had to jumped forward, towards Anko and Itachi in order to get out of the way.
When they did though, Anko's foot hit the ninja's stomach hard and Itachi through a kunai that grazed their right arm. Shaking out of her stupor, the ninja went to make some hand sign but felt another presence from behind them.
Naruto appeared from behind and has both his hands on Shusui. The masked shinobi noticed the blade has a blue aura around it showing Naruto is pouring chakra into it.
Bringing the sword up for a moment with both his hands as he channeled his chakra though the blade before swinging it down, making a after image be left in its place form how quickly he brought the blade down.
"Kiri Shigure!" he said as the blade hit the kunai that was being used to stop it but it cut right through it and the tip of the blade managed to slice across the ninja's cheek and a bit of their shoulder.
"Shit!" the shinobi said allowed without the voice muffler revealing to all of them that it was a woman behind the mask. The now revealed kunoichi jumped In the air away before making a few hand signs.
"Shakuton: Kajōsatsu,"she said making the trio look in surprise before three swirling balls of gas just like what they had first seen earlier appeared and shot towards them.
"Doton: Doryūheki," Naruto said as he shot mud out of his mouth to make a mud like wall in front of him and the others which they all crowed behind as the explosion hit making the wall quickly crack and get destroyed. It pushed the trio back and made them land on the sand but they quickly got back up.
"What was that? Scorch Style, I have never even heard of that before? Is it some kind of bloodline?" Anko asked.
"An old bloodline of Suna, though I am unsure of how many there are that can use it since I don't think there are many left." Itachi said as they readied for another attack but instead saw there was no one there.
Naruto they asked as they looked at Naruto to see him concentrating before he let out a relieved sigh. "They're gone. I can just about sense her leaving the area."
"So we pass then and can keep going back to the village?" Anko asked as Itachi nodded.
"Thank Kami." she said before dropping to the ground which was quickly followed by Naruto and Itachi as they could finally catch their breath.
"Man that match was intense. She was so strong and her hits were hard. Not as hard as Baa-chan but they still packed a wallop." Naruto said as the others agreed with him.
"She was very skilled. From what I could see form her speed and strength and following her movements with my Sharingan, she must have been Jonin level. I think my Kaa-san would have even had a bit of a struggle with her." Itachi mentioned, panting slightly from the fight.
Naruto grinned. "Well who ever she is I want to fight her again one day. She seems like an awesome opponent!" he said making Itachi and Anko shake their heads, but had to admit they agreed with him.
As they rested they noticed a small scroll sitting a little beside them that they just noticed. Itachi took it and looked at the symbol on the scroll and showed a symbol of the chunin exams.
"I guess that's for us?" Naruto asked.
"Since we passed this test, I guess this is just to confirm it. The kunoichi must have left it here just before she departed."
They all accepted the answer and took another few minutes to rest from their recent skirmish.
Elsewhere
The masked shinobi dropped down beside a rock formation a few miles away from the battle she had just been in and took a few ragged breaths as she got her bearings together.
"Those brats were actually pretty good." She breathed out as she henged making her form get covered by a small cloud of smoke. When it disappeared, it showed Pakura, the proctor of the chunin exams.
She winced, a little as she bandaged the cut on her shoulder before getting it seen to later when she returned to the village. She then traced over the small cut on her cheek. The blood had dried off but she was surprised that the trio, Naruto mainly had even managed to hit her.
'Those kids are quite something.' She thought having been impressed by Naruto in the first exam which prompted her to want to test him during the second. 'I may not have been going all out but to actually wound me and make me use my Shokuton is not an easy feat.'
Clicking the joint in her neck she began making her back to the Suna all the while thinking. 'That blonde kid has some skill. He might just win this exam.'
Next day
Two chunin gate guards stood as the entrance to the sand village as they watched over the horizon.
As they watched, three figured in cloaks that covered their body made their way towards them. The two guards readied themselves for some kind of fight but saw the kids' faces when they got closer and recognized them from the other day.
As the trio got near they took off their hoods as Naruto stood forward and showed the scroll they were given the other day.
"So you three actually made it back?" One of the guards asked looking a little impressed, it was one of the fastest times for the Suna survival exam. "You're the first team to make it back."
"Well don't we feel special." Anko said as her arms were a little sun burnt form where the sun has managed to get them. Naruto and Itachi were in a similar state.
Once the trio had suppressed the disguised Pakura, they continued their way through the desert though this time at a quickened pace as they now just wanted to get to Suna as quickly as possible.
The desert quickly became one of their least favorite places.
After another night of camping and a lot more running, Naruto finally managed to sense the village nearby as he recognized the signatures there from the other day.
"So what do we do now?" Itachi asked the guarded as they pointed to the scroll in Naruto's hand.
"Open it up. Now that you have arrived at the gate you can now open the scroll." The other guard said as the trio looked at the scroll and shrugged.
Naruto opened the scroll before it began to shine. He place it on the floor in front him and took a step back. After a couple of seconds, smoke covered the scroll before it quickly got swept away and revealed a smiling Mikoto looking at her team with a proud look.
"Kaa-san?" Itachi said surprised while Naruto and Anko grinned at seeing their sensei.
"Well done all three of you." She said as she quickly glomped the trio in a massive hug. "I knew you would all do it, but I was still so worried all the same."
"So since we made it back does that mean we pass?" Naruto asked with a hopefully expression while Anko did the same though Itachi was a bit more suppressed.
Mikoto laughed a little before nodding. "Yes congratulations, you have passed the second round of the chunin exams." She said as Naruto and Anko fist pumped the air while Itachi smiled.
After getting their stuff together and getting a well done from the gate guards, they made their way towards their hotel since there was another two days to go for the other teams to arrive before they would find out what was next for the third test.