"Alright Maggots! Welcome to the Forest of Death! The rules for round two are simple! Round two shall consist of a five-day survival challenge! Each team will be given either an earth scroll or a heaven scroll! Your goal during the five-day survival period is for your team to obtain one of each scroll and reach the central tower before the end of the fifth day! Also, all team members must make it to the tower, or you automatically fail! Also, opening your scrolls before you are instructed to also results in an automatic failure! Are these rules understood?!" Anko blasted out. Everyone gave an affirmative nod. "ALRIGHT! Head over to the booth when you are called and grab your scroll! Don't let your enemy see your scroll!" She commanded. After a while, everyone had received their scrolls and headed to their assigned gates. Suddenly an announcement was made over the intercoms and the gates opened. Every team sprinted in at max speed. Naruto immediately began searching for Hinata and Sasuke.
"Kin, Zaku…I need your help. I'm searching for Hinata and Sasuke. Think you can find them?" He asked.
"Of course!" They replied in unison as they began using their sound jutsu to search for the two. Once they received the right signal, they took of towards them. They quickly caught up, since they luckily started at the gate closest to theirs.
"Sasuke! Hinata!" Sasuke and Hinata stopped. Their fill-in third member then stopped. Naruto stopped in front of the two. The third member, realizing he had a chance to be made a hero, quickly threw a barrage of kunai at Naruto. Naruto caught them all. "Nice try." Was all Naruto said. "Anyway, Sasuke, Hinata, do you guys want to go with us through the forest?" Naruto asked.
"Of course!" they both replied. Their third member however, wasn't so willing.
"Absolutely not. If you guys agree to this, then I'll forfeit!" He threatened. Naruto sighed.
"I figured this would happen. Anyways, catch you guys later." Naruto said in farewell as his team took off. He could hear the tortured screams of the new guy as they left. Kimimaro's team arrived and handed Naruto a scroll.
"We picked this up off of the team closest to ours. You have the heaven scroll, correct?" he asked Naruto.
"Yes Kim. Thank you." Naruto replied as he tucked away the new earth scroll. It was starting to get dark so the two teams stopped and started setting up camp for the night. Soon after they had stopped moving, Kabuto's team arrived at camp. Kabuto had gotten his hand on two scrolls somehow, and ended up completing the three sets of scrolls. They all finished setting up base camp and settled in.
Meanwhile…
"We should stop guys." Sasuke suggested, seeing the light disappear. Suddenly a very strong chakra signature appeared in front of them and none other than Orochimaru was standing before them. He quickly incapacitated the third member, putting him under a Genjutsu.
"Greetings Sasuke, Hinata." He stated with a bow. The two confusedly bowed back. "Would you like for me to make everything clear?" Orochimaru asked, showing he held no hostilities towards them.
"What do you mean?" Hinata asked.
"I mean about Naruto. I'd be happy to enlighten you." He stated. The two glanced at each other for about a minute then made a decision.
"Yes, we would." Sasuke replied politely. At that Orochimaru erected a Genjutsu barrier. He spent the next 3 hours explaining everything to them. After he finished, they seemed resolved.
"We would like to come to the sound." The two stated in unison. Orochimaru sighed.
"It's harder than you think." He stated reluctantly.
"Not if Itachi were to come with us!" Sasuke exclaimed. "Please…this place is no longer our home…" He pleaded. Orochimaru sighed in reluctance.
"Ultimately, the choice is yours…but pl-" He was cut off by Hinata.
"We have thought about this. Our home is with Naruto." Hinata stated firmly.
"Fine. I'll have a chat with the Hokage. Stay safe you two." With his final statement, he vanished and the third member began to wake up.
5 Days Later, Central Tower…
"Alright. Congratulations to all of you to making it this far. However, before the finals, we will need to hold a preliminary round. Here are the rules..."
A/N: Sorry that this chapter was so short. I just couldn't really think of a way to expand the forest of death since Orochimaru isn't there to mess up everyone's day. I hope you enjoyed! More will come soon!