The Chunin exams were off to a rough start as the first part was literally an exam with impossible to answer questions. The proctor for this part of the exam was Ibiki who watched them like a hawk along with four other proctors who were seated around the room. Mac watched as entire squads were disqualified for cheating more than five times. Which at first the rule of cheating more than five times was strange, but Mac soon caught on that the exam was rigged so that you had to cheat without getting caught. By the time the final question was written on the board only six squads remained. It turned out that there was no tenth question and the exam didn't matter at all, because those who made it to the tenth question automatically passed. Ibiki instructed the eighteen genin to make their way to the forty fourth training ground. As they all exited the class a group of genin from The Hidden Sand Village caught Mac's eye. Terra's face flashed in his mind as he observed them. (I wish I could've prevented what happened to her) Mac thought to himself. He held his right arm as he walked, his cast had broken off when he fell face first after Orochimaru gave him the curse mark. "Hey Mac is something wrong?" Sakura questioned as she looked over her shoulder. "No, I was just thinking about what the next part of the exam will be like" Mac replied. "Don't worry Mac it's just like you and Sasuke said we'll make it to the finals and all three of us will become chunin" Sakura exclaimed and gave Mac a reassuring smile.
(When it does come down to the finals I'm finally going to see what Mac is capable of) Sasuke thought to himself. It didn't take long for team seven to arrive at the forty fourth training grounds along with all the other genin. "Ok listen up because I'm only going to explain this once" Anko exclaimed. Silence befell everyone as they perked up their ears to listen to their proctor. "Each squad will receive either an earth scroll or a heaven scroll. The goal to of this part of the exam is to obtain one heaven scroll and one earth scroll and make it to the tower located in the center of the forest of death, of course you'll have to do this within the time limit" Anko exclaimed. With that said she handed each squad a scroll and sent them into the forest of death. Team seven were the last to enter the forest of death, it was strangely quiet considering the fact that there were fifteen other genin running around in here. "So since we have an earth scroll were going to need a heaven scroll" Sakura exclaimed as she held the scroll in her hands. "That's easier said than done" Mac exclaimed. (If we split up we could cover more ground and find a heaven scroll faster but, Sakura isn't such a great kunoichi and all three of us have to make it to the tower. If she comes with me she'll only slow me down so she'll have to go with Mac) Sasuke thought to himself. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Mac questioned as he looked over at Sasuke. "If you're thinking about splitting up then yes" Sasuke replied. "We can regroup at the center tower in a few hours" Mac replied and turned around ready to set out on his own, but before he could leave Sasuke took off on his own leaving Mac with Sakura.
Mac took a deep breath and turned around only to be greeted by Sakura's confused face. "Come on Sakura we don't have time to waste" Mac exclaimed and leaped up onto the nearest tree branch. Sakura hesitated for a minute and then followed Mac. Although she didn't say it, Mac could tell Sakura would have preferred to go with Sasuke. After about a half hour of leaping from tree branches in complete silence Mac came to a sudden stop. "What's wrong?" Sakura questioned. Mac didn't reply he was staring down at something but Sakura couldn't see what it was. So she decided to jump down from her branch which gave away their position, Mac jumped down and followed Sakura closely. Sakura froze in place as her eyes locked with cold eyes of a severed head. "He must be from The Hidden Grass Village" Mac exclaimed as he approached the mutilated body. "How can you tell?" Sakura questioned her voice trembled with hints of fear. "By the symbol on his headband" Mac replied. "I see you've stumbled upon my mess" Orochimaru exclaimed as he stepped out from behind the trees. "What the hell do you want now?" Mac questioned as he stood up. Orochimaru chuckled as he looked at Mac and Sakura. As he locked eyes with Orochimaru, Mac realized he had seen those green eyes before. He was almost certain he had seen those eyes somewhere when he was a kid. Orochimaru's chuckle soon turned into a demonic laugh. That sent chills throughout Mac's entire body. "Sakura, get out of here" Mac exclaimed. "What, I'm not going to leave you here alone" Sakura replied in a shaking voice. Suddenly Orochimaru dashed forward, Mac reacted without thought and jumped in the way of Orochimaru's sword.
Everything seemed to slow down as Mac looked down at the sword that pierced his stomach. A waterfall of blood escaped his mouth as he tried to tell Sakura to run. Sakura's eyes widened with fear as she saw Mac's eyes close and his body hunch over. Orochimaru slowly pulled out his sword and let Mac's body hit the ground. Blood dripped from the sword and painted the grass red. Sakura stood there unable to move fear had completely taken control over her body. Suddenly the words "Wind Sycthe Jutsu!" echoed in Sakura's ears. Orochimaru was caught off guard and his body was lifted up into the air by a vortex of air. Temari emerged from the bushes and glared over at Sakura. "Hand over the scroll and I won't hurt you" Temari exclaimed as Orochimaru's body hit the ground with a loud thump. Sakura's mind went blank, and she sprinted off into the forest. (Well, I can't say that was unexpected) Temari thought to herself. As she turned around she realized that Orochimaru was gone, and Mac was lying in a puddle of blood. Temari walked over to Mac's body and knelt down beside him. (Poor bastard, I really don't understand why they let weaklings graduate the academy) Temari thought to herself and took a deep breath. She reached into her ninja tool pouch, and pulled out a roll of white bandages. It only took her a few minutes to wrap the bandages around Mac's stomach. By the time she was done the bandages and her hands were red with blood. Temari wasn't sure why she helped someone who she had never even met before, but for some unexplainable reason she just felt compelled to help him. A few hours passed before Mac woke up. As he sat up he noticed it was night time, his head snapped to the right as he heard someone let out a sigh. Mac locked eyes with Temari who was standing with her back up against a tree. "Well it's about time you got up" Temari exclaimed. "Who are you?" Mac questioned as he struggled to stand up.
"I'm Temari and hadn't it not been for me you'd be dead" Temari replied. "Not to sound ungrateful or anything but I'm sure I could've managed without your help" Mac replied. "Oh yea I'm sure you would've eventually stopped bleeding" Temari replied in a sarcastic tone. "Where's Sakura?" Mac questioned. "If you're referring to the pink haired girl, she ran off into the forest and left you for dead" Temari replied. "Why didn't you leave me? It's not like were from the same village so you didn't have to help me" Mac replied in a questioning tone. "Well I wasn't going to just leave you there in a puddle of blood, so I bandaged your wound, and then moved your body over here" Temari replied. "Well thank you for the help but I have to go find my teammates" Mac replied. "So you're just going to leave without telling me your name" Temari exclaimed as she grabbed her fan and latched it onto her back. "I'm Mac" Mac replied and ran off into the forest. (Hopefully Sakura and Sasuke have already regrouped) Mac thought to himself. The forest was a little too quiet, the only sound Mac could hear was the wind, which howled in his ears as he ran. Mac searched every inch of the forest, but still couldn't find his teammates. (Where the hell are they?) Mac thought to himself. His ears perked up as he heard twigs snapping behind him. Mac reacted quickly and launched a few ninja stars in the direction from which the sound had emanated. His ninja stars were all deflected and Orochimaru emerged from the bushes. "A bit jumpy aren't we" He exclaimed. "Well I wouldn't be so jumpy if someone hadn't tried to kill me earlier" Mac replied as he pulled out a kunai knife. "I was trying to kill the girl not you, and you can put the knife away because I'm not here to fight you" Orochimaru replied. "Then why the hell are you here?" Mac questioned. "I just wanted to give you this" Orochimaru replied and tossed a pill at Mac who caught it in the palm of his hands. "What is it?" Mac questioned. "It is known as the mind awakening pill, it will advance your cursed seal to stage two, but it will put you in a temporary death state" Orochimaru replied. "And why are you giving this to me, do you really think I'd be dumb enough to take something that you give me" Mac replied and put the pill in his ninja tool pouch. "Yes I do believe you will take that pill because just like Sasuke you desire power, but unlike Sasuke you possess The Nine Tailed Fox spirit which I'm sure will keep you alive once you enter your false death state" Orochimaru replied with a smirk.
"If I enter a temporary death state won't the fox enter a temporary death state to?" Mac questioned. "Well I'm sure it's going to take more than a small pill in order to put a tailed beast into a temporary death state" Orochimaru replied. "How do I know this pill won't kill me as soon as I take it" Mac exclaimed. "I wouldn't dream of killing you, you're a major part of my future plans" Orochimaru replied. "I'm still not going to take the pill" Mac replied. "Well maybe you won't but I don't think Sasuke will be as reluctant to take it" Orochimaru replied and licked his lips. "What did you do to Sasuke" Mac exclaimed as anger began filling him. "Oh I just gave Sasuke the same gift I gave you" Orochimaru replied. "You bastard" Mac exclaimed. "Don't worry he's alive in fact your team isn't too far from here" Orochimaru replied. "Where are they?" Mac questioned. "Follow the path straight ahead and you'll find them" Orochimaru replied and vanished leaving only a puff of white smoke behind. Mac stood there for a second before he began making his way up the path. As he walked out from behind a tree a kunai knife skimmed his left cheek. "Relax I'm not the enemy" Mac exclaimed as he looked over at Sasuke. Sakura ran up to Mac and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry I left you behind" she exclaimed. Mac's body went completely stiff this was the first time in his entire life that anyone had actually hugged him. "It's ok" Mac replied. Once she let go of Mac, Sakura reached into her ninja tool pouch and pulled out two scrolls. "Put those away, we don't need anyone trying to snatch them before we make it to the center of the forest" Sasuke exclaimed. "So you managed to get a heaven scroll" Mac exclaimed. "Yes, but now we need to get to the center tower before morning" Sasuke replied. "Alright then let's get moving" Mac replied. With that Said team seven began making their way towards the tower in the center of the forest. Once they arrived and entered the tower they were greeted by Kakashi.
"Congratulations on passing the second part of the exam" Kakashi exclaimed. "Kakashi sensei are we the last team to arrive?" Sakura questioned. "Well yes but don't let that discourage you" Kakashi replied as he looked at his squad, who appeared as though they had gone to hell and came back. "I'm guessing the third part of this exam won't be any easier" Mac exclaimed. "No it won't but you have a week before the finals Kakashi exclaimed. After that everyone was instructed to grab a piece of paper with a number on it to determine their opponents in the finals. Mac ended up with the number one and as luck would have it Gaara ended up with the number two. Mac knew one thing for sure, the first match of the Chunin exams was going to be one hell of a fight.