Chapter 11: The Forest Of Death

Naruto sensed someone approaching the window fast. By the looks of things the person was going to crash into the window. The windows shattered and the Genin looked to see a burner that read 'The sexy second exam proctor Anko Mitarashi'

"All right brats there is no time for celebrations I am the second exam proctor now follow me!" the female standing beside the burner yelled. She had violet hair, her eyes where brown. She wore an overcoat, with a fitted mesh body that stretched from her neck to her thighs and a dark orange mini-skirt.

The Genin's got from their sits and followed her. They followed her till they reached a fence. Behind the fence was the forest. It gave all bad vibes to the Genin. They were signs if danger all over fences. It signified that it was a dangerous place. Anko had a too sweet smile upon seeing the forest as if she was familiar with it. Naruto knew the woman was always at the forest of death playing with her snakes. It was creepy.

"This is training ground 44 also known as the 'Forest of Death' it will be the stage of the second Chunin selection exam." Anko said with a grin.

"This place gives me the creeps." Sakura said. She had never been to the place but the weird feeling she was feeling about it was enough to creep her out. Naruto was beginning to get bored now. They should have just let them go into the forest without telling anything. Those who did not know the forest would see that the forest was like with their own eyes. He really did not have to listen to someone explain to him something that he already knew.

"You will find out soon why this place is called the forest of death." She said with a smirk. The Genin's gulped, some shuddered. They did not hope to find out why the place was called a forest of death. Naruto could tell that Anko liked to plant seeds of fear within the hearts of other people.

"Before we start I would like you to sign these papers." She said as she held a paper in her hand, the Genin looked at her curiously, "In this test there will be killings, and I don't want to be responsible for your deaths so you have to sign these wavers." The Genin looked at her some thinking they should quit, they were going to do the second test in a place called a forest of death and now there was going to be some killings in the forest, it was too much for some Genin's. "I will explain the test before you sign the wavers. This test will be a survival test; the training ground 44 has locked gates, a river, forest and a tower at the centre. From each gate there is about 10km until the tower," She paused for a moment to let them digest her words.

"In this training ground you will compete in an all-out, no rules scroll battle. Each team will be given one heaven or earth scroll. For a team to pass you have to present both heaven and earth scrolls to the tower in the centre of the training ground. There is a time limit; you have only five days to get into the tower with both scrolls to pass the test. If you arrive after 120 hours you will fail the test. There is not quitting once you enter the training ground. You will in there for five days." she said to the listening Genin.

"What about food?" Choji asked while eating snacks. He was worried that he would have to be trapped in the training ground without barbecue and chips.

"The forest is full of food, all you have to do is avoid man-eating bugs, poisonous insects and plants," The genin shuddered at the thought of being eaten by bugs. The forest was indeed a scary place, "The forest will be full of enemies, so if you get to the tower faster with both scrolls you will avoid enemies," She paused for a moment before going on "Now let's get on to who gets disqualified, the first I have already told you, which is not being able to get to the tower with both scrolls and in time," She said as the Genin nodded. "Second is those who lose a teammate or a teammate gets killed. Lastly you must not open the scroll before you reach the tower. As Chunin you be expected to courier important documents. This will be a test to your trustworthiness." She finished her explanation to the Genin's.

"Come on now and take the wavers and sign them!" She said as the Genin's went over to her and took the wavers to sign. Some were hesitant to do so, but everyone singed them and handed them to Anko. She had given each team their scroll, but did it in a way that no team would know which team held an earth or heaven scroll. This would avoid a team going to a specific team; it would also cut down numbers because a team would take a scroll from another team they have defeated even though it is the same as theirs. She did not tell them that, they did not need to know it. "Final word of advice, don't get killed!" She said with a maniacal grin that had the Genin think that she wanted them to kill each other. Each team went away to their assigned gate and got ready for the second test.

The Forest Of Death

Team 7 entered the welcoming mouth of training ground 44. Death and all its friends sang songs that boomed inside their heads. Darkness ate all the light within the forest. One could only imagine the horrors the trees have had to witness within the forest.

Naruto looked at his teammates as they slowly walked within the forest. Sasuke seemed fine, but Naruto could see a bit of excitement from the Uchiha. The atmosphere of the forest could make anyone who enjoyed a good challenge feel a ting of excitement invading their bodies. Sakura on the other hand seemed to too sure of herself.

They had yet to make plans on how they should proceed in the forest. Ever since they touched the belly of the forest they had yet to speak. Naruto did not mind the silence he would rather have the silence than to have Sakura spouting nonsense. Sasuke stopped walking getting his teammates to follow his lead.

He seemed to have lost all his excitement and the cold emotionless gaze that seemed to be part of his face had returned from its vacation, "We should make plans here, before we go any further into the forest." he said looking at both his teammates.

"We should stay together as a team and not separate. I can take care of myself, but if I were to separate myself from you and you happen to come across another team Sasuke won't be able to protect himself and you," he said looking at Sakura straight in her eyes, "We should just go ahead straight to the tower. I am sure we will come across a team while we head to the tower."

Sakura had no objections to what Naruto had said. They would have to be together till they reach the tower. She felt a little sad that Naruto had pointed that she needed to be protected by her teammates she was not that weak.

Sasuke nodded but still, "What if we reach the tower without coming across another team?" he asked
"Then will hunt a team to get what we want, now let us move on!" Naruto said

His teammates followed him behind. The plan was simple and it would have them get to the tower faster. They were given a maximum of five nights to get to the tower, but one could get to the tower in the second day of the exams. Sasuke wanted to fight someone he had yet to fight anyone since the exams. But this test gave birth to a chance for him to fight someone. He would have to make sure that he did not leave the forest without testing his power against Genin's from other villages.

The team walked for a few hours. Day was already calling for night to take over its rein. They had to clash with another team. They had been walking on a rather relaxed pace. It was something that was done with the thought of Sakura in mind. The girl had a low stamina, running for an hour and he would have forced them to take a break. It was better to just walk for the day that is tomorrow they would quicken their pace to ensure that by the end of the day they had reached the tower. They could worry about getting the scroll they needed while they made their way to the tower.

A few hours later

They had been travelling for 3 hours. It was not nonstop they had to take a few breaks to allow Sakura to regain her strength. Had it not been for the girl they would have covered a lot of ground by now. It annoyed both Naruto and Sasuke and the number of breaks they had to take because Sakura always got tired after running for a few minutes. Sakura was by no means a stamina freak like Naruto. Naruto had more stamina than Kakashi so she could not compare herself with him. She had only seen him slightly winded once. But even when he was winded he would still push further like he was not tired. She did not understand where he got his energy from. He always seems to have more energy than anyone. Even at the academy he always seemed energetic.

Naruto, who was in the lead suddenly stopped and motioned for his teammates to do the same? He looked at his left side there were three dark shadows that had been following them for the past hour. He had sensed them the moment they started to shadow them. He thought they would go away seeing that team 7 had its guard always on. He knew they had been waiting for an opportunity to present it and they would try them.

"What is it Naruto?" Sakura asked the blond.

"Someone strong is following us." After those words left Naruto mouths gusts of winds hit the Genin's sending them flying. Even Naruto was caught; he had not been fast enough to react after sensing the chakra build up. The gusts of wind were strong but other than sending team 7 crashing towards the trees there was no injuries suffered.

A Nin wearing a Kusa forehead protector appeared in front of the genin. The Kusa-nin was a woman. She unleashed her murderous killing intent. She enjoyed the look of fear her killing intent brought to her preys. She could never pass a chance to plant a seed of fear in her preys it was always fun watching them cower in fear, it soothed her soul. The Genin's froze at their places. The killing intent had put them under an illusion. They watched themselves being killed in any ways. It was horrifying watching your own death.

None was affected more than Sakura. The girl was on her knees shuddering with eyes wide. The experience she was having now was far worse than what she had experienced at the wave mission when Zabuza had unleashed his killing intent. It was unbearable, she wished nothing more than death to make her one with it.

Sasuke had thought it was genjutsu at first when he was seeing his death. But he had come to a realization that it was not illusion, it was just the effects of a killing intent by the Kusa-nin. His body failed to obey any command his mind. His mind was screaming for his legs to carry him and run away. But all it got was silence from the feet. The pressure of the killing intent was so much that he too was forced into his knees. But he was not shuddering like Sakura. This time he could not blame the girl for shuddering in fear. Even he was doing his best to keep fluids from escaping his body.

After sweating a few bullets he shrugged off the killing intent and looked at the Kusa-nin with an unreadable expression. The Kusa-nin seemed amuse by seeing Naruto shake off her killing intent. She could do worse than she was doing at the moment. But she chose not to. Her tongue escaped from her mouth and extended into a length that no human tongue should. The tongue kissed the frames of her mouth as she got ready to play with her preys.

The Kusa-nin dashed forward at Sasuke who was still suffering from the pressure of the killing intent. To him it felt like earth had brought out her hands and gripped him tightly. Upon seeing the Kusa-nin charging at him, Sasuke took out a Kunai stabbing himself to wear off the killing intent. His plan worked as he recovered and jumped away in time to avoid being hit by the Kusa-nin. He jumped on a tree branch and stared back at the Kusa-nin.

Naruto found himself staring at yellow silted eyes of a large snake. The snake could chew him to bits without breaking a sweat. Its eyes shined with a glint of malice as its fangs extended from its mouth. The snake rushed at him at fast speeds. His attention was no taken away from the Kusa-nin and Sasuke. He jumped up to avoid the snake's mouth. The snake followed him, its head crashed into a tree he was on breaking it.

Naruto wondered what a snake was doing here. Of all the times it just chose to attack him while his team was being attack at the same time. It was too much of a coincident. Naruto stretched out his senses finding that the Kusa-nin was still fighting with Sasuke and there was no other person other than Sakura near the place.

He looked into the snake's eyes and activated his sharingan. His sharingan morphed into his six-bladed Mangekyo. Naruto closed his right eye and concentrated his left eye on the snake. "Amaterasu" He muttered as black flames engulfed the snake. The hissed in pain inflicted on it by the black flames. The snake began to roll uncontrollably on the ground while the black flames ate it.

Naruto looked away from the snake and wiped off the blood leaking from his left eye. He was glad that for the exams he had no shadows following him. He blurred away but not before deactivating his sharingan. Had he stayed a bit longer he would have seen the snake burst into a puff of smoke.

With Sasuke and Sakura

After Orochimaru used that strange technique, he just settled for two Kunai's and threw them at the still frightened Genin's. Sasuke saw the Kunai's, but could do nothing. He, then, grabbed a kunai of his own and pierced his own thigh, in order to somehow wake him up from the trance Orochimaru placed them in. Quickly, he grabbed Sakura, saving her from the kunai. Still, Orochimaru pressed on his taunting attack, forcing Sasuke on the defensive. The raven haired genin was beginning to cower in fear upon seeing a snake appear behind him. Sasuke screamed at his opponent, more like begging him to leave him alone, before throwing various shuriken's at the snake, killing it. However, once more Orochimaru appeared from within the snake, licking his lips while doing so.

"You can't let your guard down Sasuke. A prey needs to strain their minds all the time and run around in the presence of the predator" Orochimaru said, before extending his body like a snake and charging at Sasuke. However, before he could reach the already cowering Sasuke, a few Kunai's and shuriken's appeared in front of him, stopping his path just as Naruto shouted.

"Sorry I was late Sasuke. I had to deal with something on the way here" Naruto shouted as Orochimaru looked at the blond, wondering what happened to the snake he sent to deal with the annoying brat.

"Wait a minute…" Sasuke called, before reaching for the scroll inside his holster. "In exchange for letting us go, we surrender our scroll to you. There, take it…" Sasuke said, much to Sakura and Naruto's shock and confusion.

Orochimaru just smirked at the brat's cleverness. "Smart kid…in order to save yourself, you give the predator something more precious in return. However, it seems that the Uchiha Clan's pride is non-existent if the heir acts all cowardly like this" The obvious jab was meaningless when compared to Sasuke's survival at this point.

"Just take it and leave…" He threw the scroll towards Orochimaru who smirked as he watched the artefact approaching his position slowly. When the snake was about to get it, though, the scroll suddenly vanished as Naruto appeared on the tree next to them holding the scroll. Sasuke was beyond pissed at the blond for his stupidity, as he shouted for the blond to give the scroll to the enemy immediately. Naruto took a moment to look at Sasuke like he grew a second head and sneered at his cowardice. This wasn't the Sasuke he knew and the one that was a part of team 7.

"Are you crazy? Giving up the scroll would be like saying we didn't pass, dammit! I want to pass and I know you want to as well…" Naruto knew that talking would be ineffective, thus he needed to get his point across. However, the fact that Sasuke so easily gave up, made his blood boil. This wasn't the Sasuke he knew, or the one he kept challenging all the time. He was just a scared little rabbit. Gathering as much strength as he could muster, Naruto landed a fierce punch on Sasuke's face, sending him flying. No one could see his eyes at the time of the hit.

"What's the matter with you dammit? Quit trying to become the hero!" Shouted Sasuke, before something inside of him urged him to stop breathing. This feeling of dread, it was similar to the time he faced Zabuza. He looked at Naruto, only to gasp as the blonds eyes was changed. They were red silted eyes that promised anything but death.

"You're definitely not the Sasuke I know. You're just some scared cat trying to save its own ass. I'm dealing with this enemy and we are going to pass this exam!" Naruto said, before he grabbed a kunai and charged the still smirking enemy. Orochimaru just summoned one of his snakes one more time and ordered it to pound Naruto. The problem, though, was that now Naruto was, even if unconsciously, using the fox's chakra, alerting Orochimaru instantly. He saw Naruto punching the snake hard and he felt instantly the same feeling from twelve years ago when the very Kyuubi no Yoko appeared in Konoha.

'So, this is the Kyuubi brat…such remarkable power…maybe branding him as well isn't such a bad idea. He could prove useful in the future' thought Orochimaru

Just as Naruto managed to break the snake's jaw, he saw the snake disappearing and licked his lips once more. Meanwhile, Sasuke and Sakura were wondering when Naruto had ever shown such power. Naruto, then, charged the snake sannin in disguise, only for the man's tongue to envelope Naruto's body. The blond tried fighting with all his might to free himself from Orochimaru's grasp. However, the man had enough chakra focused on his tongue to hold Naruto at bay, even if he was subconsciously using the fox's chakra. Such strength only managed to further Orochimaru's interest in using Naruto against the very village that raised him. He lifted his shirt up, made some hand signs and then on each finger a blue flame appeared and he yelled "Five Prong Seal" and hit Naruto's seal with his own.

Without further a due, he lowered Naruto's body until the blond was in front of him. Orochimaru sunk his teeth in Naruto's neck with much strength that the blond screamed in agony. The poison instantly ran through his veins and before Naruto knew, he was unconscious as a strange looking seal appeared behind his neck.

As soon as he turned towards the still stunned Sasuke, he threw Naruto towards the ground hard. Sasuke tried moving, but Orochimaru still had his genjutsu activated, meaning Sasuke couldn't move. Sakura even tried to help by throwing a kunai, but Orochimaru just used two fingers to stop as he extended his neck towards the Uchiha, before biting him as well. Sasuke screamed in agony, as the poison ran through his veins as the cursed seal appeared behind his neck as well. Orochimaru started laughing silently as he pondered on how much his odds improved.

"You monster, who are you and what did you do to Sasuke and Naruto?" Sakura had tears in her eyes and she was trembling, which further increased Orochimaru's mood as he laughed at Sakura.

"My name is Orochimaru and I only gave the two of them a nice little present. In time, both of them will seek me for power and I'll be waiting. Till we meet again" While laughing, Orochimaru sunk below the tree, using a earth evasion technique, leaving poor little Sakura to help both her teammates.

With Orochimaru

Racing through the tree-tops of Training area 44 aka the "Forest of Death" was Anko. Right now she was supposed to be overseeing the second test of the Chunin Exam. That is until evidence was discovered that one of the most dangerous missing-nin's to ever come from Konoha was interfering with it.

Many would consider going after the S-ranked missing-nin Orochimaru of the Legendary Sannin to be suicidal, but for Anko this was personal because she was Orochimaru's apprentice before his betrayal. 'Why is he here? Why now? What is his purpose?' Were the thoughts that were continually running through the purple headed kunoichi's mind? 'It doesn't matter, if you are here then it's time to settle this once and for all, even if it costs me my life.' "Isn't that right Orochimaru?" She said coming to stop upon a tree branch.

"Anko, I see your skills haven't dulled since our little falling out." Chuckled Orochimaru, emerging from the same branch of said tree.

Trying to use any advantage she has Anko immediately leaps into the air preparing to throw the kunai she had hidden in the sleeve of her trench coat. Unfortunately the snake Sannin was prepared and countered by extending his tongue to grab hold of his former pupil's wrist, forcing her to drop the kunai. In response Anko extends her left hand and with a cry of "Striking Shadow Snake" extends three snakes from her sleeve that latch onto Orochimaru and drag him towards her. Once close enough Anko spins on her heels to pin Orochimaru to the tree trunk, whips out another kunai that she rams through the her left hand and his right hand, in an attempt to keep him from escaping and from using jutsu. Giving the sadistic grin she learned from her former sensei, Anko uses her free hand to grab and manipulate Orochimaru's other hand to make a seal. "I'm just going to borrow your hand for a sec."

"That seal!" Orochimaru gasps upon recognizing the seal.

"That's right; I am taking you down even if I have to go with you, Ninja Art: Twin Snake Sacrifice Jutsu" Said a grinning Anko believing that she had won against the man who caused her great pain with his betrayal.

"Planning to commit suicide Anko? As a Elite Jonin you really shouldn't be using those Kinjutsu I taught you." came the voice of the Sannin from behind Anko.

"WHAT?" Cried the Jonin as she whips her head around as the Earth Clone she had been battling dispersed, only to see the form of her opponent leaning against another tree.

"Come now, you didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" Questioned Orochimaru as he ripped away the melted face of the Kusa Shinobi he was impersonating revealing his true serpent like features, and formed a one-handed seal to activate the Curse Seal on Anko to render her helpless.

"Why are you here?" Anko asked dropping to her knees from the pain emanating from the seal on her shoulder.

"Aw, why so cold, I thought that you would have been happy to see me again after all these years." mocked the former sensei.

Despite the pain the kunoichi was still trying to do her duty to obtain information in case she came out of this confrontation alive, Anko asked one of the most logical questions. "Have you come to assassinate Lord Hokage?"

"No, I simply don't have enough men to attempt that yet. So I decided that first I would recruit some of the more outstanding shinobi that are currently in this village." calmly replied Orochimaru. "In fact, I just gave some of the more promising children in this exam one of my Curse Seals. Originally there was only one that I wanted, but then I found another intriguing specimen."

"How selfish, those kids are going to die." Anko struggled to say through the continual pain of the seal on her neck.

"Hmmm…Don't be so sure. There is a 1 in 10 chance of survival. So he could live through the process like you did." Orochimaru replied, brushing off his student's last statement. "As for the other one that caught my eye, well considering what he is, I am sure he'll survive."

"You must think pretty highly of these two." Said Anko, knowing she was drawing close to collapse.

"Jealous are we? Are you still upset that I threw you away?" asked Orochimaru noting the pain on his former student's face. "The first boy is, unlike you, talented. He's a kid who carries Uchiha blood after all. He's also very beautiful, a perfect vessel to be my successor. As for the other boy, he contains a rather powerful demon that already grants him some special gifts. He'll provide me an abundance of research material that I can use to improve the power of future Curse Seals." Orochimaru continues seeing that Anko was at the threshold of unconsciousness. "If they survive, things could get very interesting. So please don't end the exam prematurely. I am going to enjoy seeing those boys going against the Genin from my village. If you try to end my fun, I will use all my power and destroy Konoha." finished the Sannin as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke from his Shunshin. As he leaves all Anko can do is fall upon the branch she is on as the pain of the Curse Seal finally recedes.

Back with Team 7 – Day two of the exam

Sakura had managed to drag her two unconscious teammates to a small cave formed from the roots of one of the massive trees of the forest. She had stayed up all night only getting about five minutes of sleep every hour, and using a solider pill from her first aid kit to keep her energy up. Once morning had come around she noticed that the tremors of their bodies had decreased and that Sasuke's fever had gone down as well. Despite her best efforts Sakura just couldn't figure out what the grass-nin that attacked them did to cause this reaction. Unbeknownst to her was the fact that she was under observation by the sound Genin.

"There he is." remarked the team leader Dosu, the mummy wearing a throw rug. "Our target is Uchiha Sasuke. Our orders from Orochimaru state that we are to kill him at the first opportunity. We'll attack at dawn."

"Can we kill the other two if they get in our way?" asked Zaku, a boy with spiky black hair with some sort of helmet that protected the sides of his face.

"I don't think it will matter. From the looks of it, that blond boy is out cold from an injury, and the girl appears to have been up all night. Even if they try to stop us they won't be able to do anything." replied Kin, the only female of the group and obviously the brains of the team.

"Regardless, our orders also say to get rid of any threats to our mission. If they attempt to fight, kill them." Dosu responded. "Here's what we'll do." He said as he began to outline the plan.

Sakura was beginning to nod off again when she detected movement from the bushes. She immediately gripped her kunai and prepared for whatever was coming. She relaxed when she saw that it was only a squirrel, but after a moment of observation, threw the kunai scaring it off. 'That was close.' Sakura thought has she watched the squirrel scamper off.

"Huh. She's pretty observant. I didn't think that pink haired girl would notice the explosive note we put on the squirrel." Muttered Zaku

"No, that's not it." Said Dosu
"What do you mean Dosu?" asked a now confused Zaku.

"We'll find out when we get closer, and probably not until then. That means we're going in to attack directly." came the team leader's reply.

Sakura was coming down from the small adrenaline rush she got from when she was startled by the squirrel. She was beginning to drift off for another few minutes of sleep, and would have if not for the intrusion of a rival team of Genin.

"Heh, have you been up all night?" asked a mocking voice from behind Sakura's position.

Adrenaline pumping through her system again, Sakura whipped around towards the speaker and recognized the three Oto shinobi from the tussle right before the first exam. 'Oh no. Why did another team have to find us now?'

"Don't worry; you can go to sleep in a moment, but first wake up Sasuke so we can fight him." Dosu said as he took another step towards the only conscious member of team 7.

"You might as well go find some other team, because our scroll as already taken by some grass-nin!" Sakura shouted at the sound-nin's in hopes that they would leave if they believed that she no longer had a scroll to give, while at the same time reaching for another kunai in case they decided to attack anyway, which was a more likely outcome.

"Heh, we don't care if you have a scroll or not. We're not here for the exam; we're here to kill Uchiha Sasuke." stated the loud mouth of the Oto team, Zaku, who had no qualms about telling others details of the mission since he figured that they would be killed anyway. "But before we do that, I think I'll shut you up for good." He said as he started to advance towards Sakura.

"Hold it Zaku." cautioned Dosu as he pulled back his teammate. "WHAT? Why?" questioned the now irritated Zaku.

"Don't tell me you didn't notice. The ground around here is all wrong. There's a recently turned over stone, spots of darker dirt indicating digging, and patches of ground where it appears that grass doesn't grow. You know, traps don't work very well if their noticed." said Dosu, directing that last comment at Sakura.

"Man, what a stupid mistake for a ninja to make." remarked Zaku.

"So when she threw that kunai earlier, it was to stop the squirrel from setting off the traps. Not because she noticed the exploding note." observed Kin, who caught on to the significance of the action before Zaku.

"So can I kill her now?" asked Zaku
"We have no use for her. Go ahead and kill her." commanded Dosu.

With that the three Genin leapt into the air to jump over the poorly hidden traps on the ground. However because they were feeling pride in detecting and easily avoiding the leaf-nin's traps they failed to look "underneath the underneath". Thus they failed to notice Sakura's smirk as she cut a wire anchored to the ground next to her that led into the treetops. However the sound Genin did not fail to notice the rather large log that suddenly came swinging down from the canopy.

"A second trap from above!" shouted Dosu. "You'll need more than that." He said as he braced his right hand against the log while making a half Tora seal with his left hand to more easily focus the chakra going to his Melody Arm. The chakra was moulded to create sound waves that the unusual weapon than amplified to a point that the waves were able to shatter the log into splinters. Of course Dosu and his teammates were the only ones in the Chunin exam that knew of this unusual property.

'Oh no.' were the horrified thoughts running through Sakura's head as she watched her trump card break into useless firewood.

"Nice try, but a weakling like you has to work a lot harder before you could hurt someone on our level." leered Dosu as he descended to attack Sakura.

"Leaf Hurricane" Was the only sound that marked the entrance, of the incredibly fast, spinning mass of destruction that came rushing into the clearing and sent all three Sound Genin flying away from their target. "If that is the case, then I must give the same advice." Said the spinning mass as it came to stop in a defensive Taijutsu stance in front of Sakura, revealing one of Konoha's strongest, bravest, and freakiest Genin's, Rock Lee. He was one of the strongest due to his intense Taijutsu training that would break lesser ninja. He was one of the bravest for never backing down from a challenge that could possible kill him (refer back to why he is strong). And he is one of the freakiest because he wore a green spandex jumpsuit, had a bowl style haircut, buggy eyes, had the thickest, bushiest eyebrows you had ever seen, constantly screamed about the power of youth, and for some reason there was a squirrel riding on his shoulder.

"Who the heck are you?" asked Dosu as he pushed himself off the ground to face the new arrival.

"I am the Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha…Rock Lee!" exclaimed the green clad shinobi.
"Lee? Why are you here?" asked the highly surprised Sakura.

"As I told you before, I will always appear when you are in trouble, and I will protect you with my life." proclaimed Lee as he set down the squirrel and continued to stare down the Oto shinobi. This was without a doubt the coolest he has ever looked and it is in front of the girl he has a crush on no less.

"Nice speech, but you weak leaf-nin's are going to have to do better than that if you want to stop us." said Dosu as he charged forward with his right arm cocked and ready to use his Melody Arm weapon.

Sakura immediately recognized the danger of facing someone who had an unknown ability and threw a third kunai to disrupt Dosu's attack. It worked in the sense that it delayed him has he dodged once again into the air and descended to strike Lee, that extra few seconds were all Lee needed as he thrust his arm into the ground and used his incredible strength to pull out a giant portion of the root of the giant tree that Sakura had chosen as a hideaway while her teammates were knocked out. Using the root as a shield he blocked the punch Dosu had directed at him. Upon impact of fist and wood, the root exploded in a similar manner to the log form earlier. Using the bursting splinters as a distraction, Lee then maneuverer out from beneath the broken root and delivered a punch to Dosu's stomach, sending him back several yards.

"I don't know what kind of trick you use, but I do remember your demonstration from before the exam, so I know that simply dodging won't do me any good." Stated Lee as he brought up the incident where Dosu had decided to show the strength of Oto, the hidden sound village. This meant that he showed some of his abilities in front of other Chunin hopefuls who had two days to devise a strategy to counter it. 'But I am at a disadvantage of 3 to 1. I will have to risk revealing the full power of my own technique.' thought Lee as he partially undid the wrappings on his arms.

"Bah…don't think that I'll give you a chance to do that again!" exclaimed Dosu as he rushed forward yet again. He was only able to get to within a few feet when Lee made his move. "What? He vanished!"

Lee had moved at a speed where he was able to cross those few feet in the span of an eye blink. He had completely bypassed Dosu's guard and delivered a powerful kick to his chin, launching the sound-nin into the air. Lee immediately jumped into the air, appearing behind Dosu, whom he tied up with his arm wrappings before flipping each other so that their heads were pointing to the ground. Once that was part was prepared, Lee started spinning both of them at a speed that made them look like a mini-tornado. "PRIMARY LOTUS" And just as Dosu had made contact with the ground Lee had unwrapped himself from Dosu and leapt away.

"Phew…looks like I made it in time." Muttered Zaku who had his hands stuck in the ground after using a jutsu to soften the landing.

"Ah" breathed Dosu as he extracted himself from the soft dirt.

"NO WAY!" exclaimed Lee as he saw someone actually get up after getting hit by one of his most powerful techniques.

"What a terrifying technique, to do this much damage even on a sponge of dirt" Stated Dosu as he shook off loose dirt on his person, and turned to Lee while prepping his arm once again. "But now it's my turn." With that he rushed at Lee once again.

'Damn. My body still isn't ready.' Thought Lee as he knew his body was still drained after using one of his most tiring attacks. So this time he could not dodge Dosu's punch which hit him square on the jaw. The punch itself was nothing a person of Lee's calibre couldn't handle, but the jutsu was. Once the strike connected Lee's vision blurred and it felt has if the world was spinning underneath his feet.

"If your moves are at high speed" Said Dosu as he started gloating, "Then ours are at the speed of sound. And that is a wall no amount of hard work can surpass." As these words were spoken, Lee spewed vomit. It was then that he felt something warm and wet in his ear. Touching it with his fingers and bringing it into his field of vision he saw that it was blood, meaning that his ears were bleeding.

"Have you figured out why you can't simply dodge my attacks?" stated Dosu, "The trick is sound. Even if you dodge the fist, the sound will still attack you. Sound is comprised of vibrations in the air that the ear drum catches. And if the sound waves are at the proper pitch and frequency, they'll break the ear drum. Not only that, but they can damage the membrane of the inner ear, which controls balance in the body." explained Dosu. "Heh …you won't be able to properly move your body for a while."

Now Zaku decided to add in his own gloats. "Your lame old Taijutsu won't work against us. You did well. You even forced me to use my jutsu. Of course you still failed." Zaku said, both complementing and insulting the leaf-nin. "With my jutsu I can control supersonic sound and air pressure to such a degree that I can even destroy rocks with it. So blasting air into the earth making a cushion is nothing." He said explaining how his technique works, which for a ninja is a rather stupid thing to do. Lee just glared at him as Zaku insulted the moves that his sensei and mentor had taught him.

"Now it's your turn!" said Dosu as he charged at Sakura. Fortunately for Sakura, Dosu had forgotten that you should never underestimate or disregard another ninja unless they are dead. This is why he was taken completely by surprise when Lee suddenly moved in front of him and prepared another kick. Unfortunately his balance was still off, so Dosu was able to use his leg as a hand board to dodge.

"Whew…You scared me there for a moment, but it looks like my jutsu is affecting you. So now you've lost the ability to use repeated Taijutsu in a flash. Which leaves you open." Dosu says, punctuating his point by punching Lee again. Lee managed to block with his arms this time but was immediately assaulted by the sound waves. "This melody arm of mine is capable of amplifying even the smallest of sounds to the highest levels. You can think of it like a speaker. Except the sound doesn't follow my arm, I use my chakra to make it go wherever I want it to go." explained the sound user.

"AH" screamed Lee as he collapsed under the pressure in his ear.
"Lee!" Shouted Sakura seeing her rescuer brought to his knees.

"Now, let's finish this." Dosu brought up his arm to deliver the finishing blow, not taking any more chances with the Genin that had already surprised him more times than he liked.

"I won't let you!" shouted Sakura as she whipped out three more kunai in one hand, and some shuriken in the other. She threw the kunai which went right at their target, Dosu.

In response Dosu merely brought up his right arm and blocked them with his Melody Arm. This time Sakura threw her shuriken, only for those to be intercepted by Zaku, who had been moving into position to join the fight, as he finished the seals for his jutsu. Raising his arms he let loose powerful sound waves to create enough air pressure to knock away the weapons.

'Damn it. He can use that air pressure jutsu to knock away anything I throw at them.' thought Sakura as she tried to think of plan to get past their defences. But in her attempts to think of a plan to deal with Zaku and Dosu, she didn't notice the movements of the kunoichi until she was right behind her.

"My, my, such lovely hair" commented Kin as she roughly grabbed Sakura's long hair. "No wonder you were brought down so easily. You must spend more time brushing your hair then training." Kin turned her attention to her teammates. "Hey Zaku, how about you kill Sasuke now. It ought to leave quite the impression on this pathetic excuse for a ninja."

"Heh…Good idea Kin." chuckled Zaku as he moved towards the unconscious boy. Sakura was in turmoil. In every fight she and her team had been in, she had always been useless. Kakashi had taken her out with a simple Genjutsu during her Genin exam. When team 7 was attacked by the demon brothers, she just stood there while Sasuke disabled them. In the first fight with Zabuza, it was Naruto's plan that freed Kakashi with a little help from Sasuke. In the second fight, even though she doesn't know the details because of the mist, she knew that it was Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi that took out Zabuza and his apprentice Haku while she stayed behind to guard their client Tazuna. Then there was the Kusa shinobi from yesterday who hadn't even considered her worth his notice, instead focusing on Sasuke and Naruto and he got back to them. Now here she was in a disabled position because of her desire to have beautiful hair while her teammates were out cold, and the only other genin who was probably even willing to help her had been taken out by these sound-nin that were about to kill one of her teammates.

'No more.' Sakura thought as she took out another kunai.

"Pfft…Don't make me laugh. You won't be able to use that on Me." said Kin as she continued to hold onto the Konoha kunoichi.

"What are you talking about?" Asked Sakura as she swung the kunai behind her in the most desperate move she had ever done. And it worked as she cut through her intended target. She moved away from Kin while pink locks of hair fell to the ground with her forehead protector.

"Damn it. Kin kill her!" Yelled Zaku as he was getting really annoyed with how his opponents just wouldn't quit.

Kin pulled out some senbon from her pouch and tackled into Sakura while sticking the needles into her spine. However Sakura had already used the seals for a Kawarimi and replaced herself with a log. Zaku had seen the seals and was preparing his jutsu as he searched for her position.

'Is she kidding? Using such a basic jutsu, now where is she? ...There, to the right' thought Kin

"Kin, out of the way" Zaku shouted as he swung towards his target and unleashed his technique right when Sakura threw more kunai at him. "Decapitating air waves" The air blew the kunai right back towards Sakura, striking her, only for Sakura to disappear in a puff a smoke revealing a log from yet another Kawarimi.

"You aren't fooling anyone. You're above." He said has he looked up to see Sakura using the seals for Kawarimi again. "It's useless to keep using that trick." Zaku threw some kunai, not wanting to waste anymore chakra on a log. "Now where are you?" He muttered as he turned his attention to the surrounding forest. He stopped when he felt a drop a of blood fall upon him. He looked up in growing horror to see Sakura with some kunai in her arms and legs and another in her hand.

'It's not a Kawarimi' Were his only thoughts as she fell upon him thrusting the kunai into his right arm as she bit into his left wrist. "AH! Let go of me!" shouted Zaku as he repeatedly hit Sakura on the head in an attempt to get her off. Finally after quite a few punches he threw her off. "I'll get you for that you brat." Zaku said as he raised his arms and looked into his opponent's bloodied face.