Summary: 2 years has passed since becoming Genins as the 5 characters prepare for the 2nd part of the Chunin exams. A series of short scenes from the night before the exam.

***The settings have been slightly shifted from the Naruto universe to match the story. They'll be explained as the story progresses, but don't be surprised if you suddenly find someone that was alive dead, or someone dead alive. =D

Note: I'm using character titles for the names temporarily (Midnight Azure Scarlet Breeze Crimson), but definitely willing to decide on an actual name. Comment below if you've got any name suggestions!

Note 2: Rated it as T because I plan on writing some material that should definitely be rated like that. However, not all of them are necessarily T.

Note 3: The title "Past" will come up from time to time when referring back to the characters' Genin or childhood days, like the academy exam. Other titles mean it's in the present.



Forest of Death (1): Midnight Before the Fight

Midnight stood leaning on a tree, looking over the moonlit streets as he polished his sword using a piece of cloth. He stopped midway as he quickly switched his grasp on the hilt, slashing through the air towards his back. He heard his sword clash against another steel loudly through the night as he glanced back.

Behind him, Midnight saw a masked man that stood with a short sword in his hand, creaking against Midnight's blade in midair. Noticing the ANBU mask, Midnight withdrew his sword bitterly. “…What business do you have?”

The masked man began to speak, and Midnight could’ve sworn he heard his voice somewhere before, but wasn’t quite sure where. The man spoke rather calmly as he withdrew his sword in the scabbard on his back. “Good evening, Midnight…As you may already know, I serve under lord Danzo. He’s greatly interested in you and wanted me to deliver this letter to you.” The ANBU lookalike handed him a scroll as he finished speaking.

Midnight opened and read through the scroll, filled with texts that mainly broke down to a formal invitation letter. He was use to it by now as it was about the 10th time receiving the same letter this month. He closed it and looked up, the man long gone. “…Chunin rank is required, huh...”



Forest of Death (2): Team Practice

Crimson watched from nearby, sitting against a tree bark with his legs crossed in the moonlight as Scarlet and Azure breathed heavily, barely holding themselves up in a clearing. Scarlet wiped off his sweat, looking up at Azure. “That’s...enough practice. You’re not gonna last tomorrow if you keep going.” Azure laughed at the comment, responding without looking up. “Wait wait wait! Last one, I promise. Last one…” Azure formed her hand signs, using the jutsu with little chakra she had left. “Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!”

Scarlet groaned as he scratched his head. “I don’t know what the heck I’m doing in the middle of the woods at midnight…” Scarlet formed his own hand signs as he spoke. “Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!”

A blue water dragon rose from the ground beneath Azure as it launched itself at Scarlet, while Scarlet blew fire into his fingertips, forming a similar dragon, red and burning in blazing light. The two dragons clashed midair, creating a massive amount of steam that blinded them for a few seconds before dissipating into the cold midnight air.

Scarlet fell over onto the grass, looking up at the night sky.“…Give up, give up. I can’t keep up anymore.” Azure barely managed to sit down instead of falling completely, equally exhausted. “…I hope we’re not late tomorrow.”

Crimson got up and walked over to his team members, sighing as he picked them up easily, one on each arm. They had no strength left to resist, nor did they really feel like resisting. “You guys are both gonna be late if you stay here. I’ll take you guys home, so sleep tight, kay?”

“Yes, father…” Azure and Scarlet replied in unison jokingly. Crimson sighed and started to walk towards Konoha gate, all the while wondering if he actually looked that old.




Forest of Death (3): Family Fight

Breeze opened her fan to the fullest, smashing it on the ground as she hid behind it. She formed a hand sign as she quickly generated a shadow clone, running out of the fan’s coverage towards Naruto.

Naruto made his own dozen shadow clones, and easily intercepted the charging clone, but he realized it was a fake as it disappeared. The moment her clone disappeared, Breeze picked up her fan from the concrete ground. “Wind Style: Vacuum Blast Barrage!”

Naruto’s clones disappeared one by one as they were slashed at by the wind, and soon Breeze didn’t see any Naruto clones in front of her, or anything in general. The real Naruto snuck up behind her, launching himself at Breeze from the back. “Gotcha-“

Moments before Naruto reached her, someone appeared on top of his head, his cloak fluttering in the air as he pressed Naruto down. Naruto smashed onto the floor before reaching Breeze due to the new weight on top of him. Breeze looked up closely to notice Minato, kicking his tongue at both of them. “Just what are you guys fighting over this time?”

Naruto struggled to get up but couldn’t with his father sitting on top of him as he spoke. “Ow…you’re back already, dad?…Breeze has her second exam tomorrow, so I thought I’d help her out a bit, y’know? Ha..haha..” Breeze turned around without responding and walked down the stairs, seemingly annoyed by the interruption. Naruto was obviously lying, but it was unlikely Breeze would tell Minato what the fight was about. Minato sighed as he spoke in a softer tone, moving away from Naruto to let him get up. “Naruto…Breeze has to sleep early to get to her exam tomorrow. Can’t you be a little nicer to your little sister? And besides, if you guys fight like that on the roof, our house isn’t gonna last.”

Naruto slowly got back up as he held out his thumb. “You bet!”

This post was last edited by Praybird at 2016-11-7 19:34