Naruto : Struggle Of Childhood

In the Forest of Death

The Forest of Death was an old part of Konoha, and it had been carefully grown, pruned and cultivated so that it would be as deadly as it was possible to be. Hinata remembered that her father had once told her about it, but now the lesson was impossible for her to remember. It had been too long ago. Tsunade hadn't told them much about it only that usually, going through the Forest of Death was part of the Exams.

The real shock had been the fact that the only rule was as Anko-san had said so plainly: Don't die. That was easier said than done.

The entire forest was a death trap. There were bloodsucking leeches living in some trees, plants that could throw poison darts and eat carcasses, animals that would attack anything that moved, and, of course, if the environment wasn't dangerous enough, the other contestants were. Hinata knew perfectly well that she was facing all out war right now. The Chuunin Exams were, in reality, an organized form of war between all the countries, which was why they all would participate unless there was open war going on, even those who did not particularly like one another.

The jungle-like landscape that they were in just added to the danger. Since the trees grew large and thick, it was easy to lay traps, but on the other hand, one was able to light a fire without people seeing at a long distance. Hinata did hope that there weren't any animals that were...too big.

Hinata jumped to another tree branch and looked at the other two. Gaara could keep going almost all day. Like Naruto, he had something inside him with pretty much unlimited energy. Sai wasn't that lucky and neither was she. They would have to rest eventually, and that was when they would be attacked.

Hinata activated the Tenshi Byakugan and looked around. There was a group of Waterfall nin following them from a distance, but they looked like they were debating about whether to attack or not. They were smart then. The smarter ninja understood that a younger opponent in this Exam was here for a reason. It was best not to underestimate a single person.

"Is there anyone following us, and are they in range?" Gaara asked.

Hinata was the unofficial leader of Team Shugo just as Kimimaro led Team Kekkei Genkai and Naruto was leader of Hakumei and Team Dattebayo. It wasn't an official rank; it was just that she was the person who would think quickly enough to lead. Also, the Tenshi Byakugan gave her the ability to see things that the others couldn't.

"No, I don't see anyone," Hinata said, scanning a little harder, "Not for at least five hundred meters."

"Good, then I can call you Hinata," Sai said, "it gets hard to remember to call you Rei all the time, and Hinata is much prettier."

"Are you flitting with her?" Gaara asked.

"No," Sai said, "Why would I flirt with someone who isn't interested in me? I'm telling the truth."

"Alright," Gaara said, "I wanted to make sure. Sometimes you confuse me."

"I confuse everyone," Sai smiled, "It's actually fun, you should try it sometime."

"Both of you," Hinata said sternly, "This isn't the time for this."

"Sorry," Sai said, looking a little sheepish.

"Now, we have to formulate a plan," Gaara said, "One that preferably doesn't involve my simply allowing 'Sandy Wandy' to run around killing every single person within range."