Insanity rise: WOWY! I have never gotten this far on a story before! All the way to chapter 14! Anyway, I do believe I will finish this story over the course of the next few days as I'm putting as much time as possible into it! I really want to get this done even no one reads it! I still want to write on it though! Anyway, this chapter was oddly fun for me to write. I figured out that I like writing on this kind of thing much better than angst, which was almost all I wrote in this story. I kind of regret that. This chapter might be a bit boring but I find the part in the end rather funny, and I really like writing this story better now that I have Kin and Zaku to write about too! Please review peeps, if you've been reading a 14-chapter story the least you can do is tell me if you even like it! I know this is a rather stupid idea but still….

Chapter 14

Training challenge, Race to the village!

"LET'S GET HIM," Kin smirked as she and Dosu dashed through the forest, running at peak speed. Dose looked over at her, dodging out of the way, as they whirled by a group of trees. He could tell she was planning something from the look in her eyes, but he couldn't quite grasp it. Sighing, he concentrated on the path ahead of him, knowing they were bound to catch up with their lazy teammate sooner or later…

"Isn't this exciting," Zaku, grumbled as he plucked a twig from his bushy black hair. He'd hated this training exercise since it had firs begun and now he only felt worse. All he wanted to do was get back to the village and take a good long rest, that was if he beat the other two there. However, what were the odds of them catching up to him anyway? He was completely confident that he was the best in the squad, after all, how could those others imagine they could compete. He was the only one with any brains and he'd had the worst life growing up. He knew all there was to know about pain, and hatred, and all that had grown into an overcoming lust for power. Orochimaru had given him the chance to obtain some of that power, and now he knew he'd have to do well on this little "exercise" if he ever wanted to be anything to the world. Of course, he surely would be those were his thoughts as he slunk silently through the underbrush, edging carefully towards the village as to not be tracked easily. He smirked when he spotted the village gates ahead; telling himself this had been much too easy. A more alert ninja would have been suspicious, but all of Zaku's thoughts were centered on his sure victory as he crept up to the village entrance. He could care less on how simple this all seemed, he really didn't care at the moment whether this was the stupidest or smartest action to take, he just darted out of the woods, heading for the village he called home.

"GOTCHA!" A voice exclaimed as Zaku came only steps from entering the village. Zaku squealed with surprise as Kin and Dosu appeared before him, a dark smirk on Kin's face, her cold eyes blazing. Dosu only stood in his usual hunched over way, Zaku unable to read his expression due to the bandages. With a quick laugh, Kin tossed a kunai knife at Zaku who jumped out of the way as quickly as possible.

"Is that all you can do," Zaku smirked, realizing this would be easier than he'd thought.

"I wouldn't be so confident if I were you," Kin pointed out, revealing a handful of senbon, a cold smirk creeping over her face. Zaku only shrugged, clenching his fists as though he would strike at any moment, keeping his eyes on Kin as he took a few tentative steps to the side, looking for an opportunity to lash out. Kin's eyes followed his every move, waiting for the perfect moment to toss a handful of the viscous needles at him, searching for a perfect mark.

Dosu only stared at them, watching their every movement and making mental notes as best he could. It was clear these people had had a bit of ninja training before, or at least knew how to fight. The way they monitored their opponent's movements while pinpointing their target was pure genius, something Dosu knew would take him quite a while to execute. Kin hadn't given him any precise orders, she'd simply said to wait until he say and opening and attack, but at the moment he was too engrossed in watching the other two nin face off. Secretly, he was dreading the journey ahead, for he knew he would have to work hard if he ever expected to surpass or even level with his peers. Then, Zaku lunged forward, shattering Dosu's thoughts and bringing him back to the fight before him as both ninja braced themselves.

With a quick movement, Zaku brought the feet between himself and Kin to a face-to-face battle, lashing out and attempting to punch her in the face. Kin dodged out of the way and, with carefully thought out accuracy, tossed the handful of needles at her opponent. However, Zaku saw them coming. In no more than an instant, he jumped aside, the needles zipping by until they found themselves in the bark of a nearby tree. Without a second thought, he rushed at Kin and before she could recover from her missed shot, slammed his fist into her face. Kin cried out in pain and fell back slightly, but regained her senses before hitting the ground. With an unsteady side step, she kept to her feet, wiping the blood from her face and slipping a kunai knife from her pocket. Zaku threw another punch her way, but Kin jumped to the side, sliding a bit before lunging back with a quick hop. She sliced the knife across Zaku's shoulder, causing him to cry out in surprise as she smirked with a dark pleasure. She told herself she had this fight won as she swung her knife back at Zaku. Nevertheless, even though her thoughts had only spent an instant, it had been enough for Zaku to clutch a kunai knife in his hand. The sound of metal clashing filled the air as Kin and Zaku's knives struck one another, the nin locked in a deadly struggle. Kin felt herself being overpowered, as she was pushed back, holding on with all her strength as she attempted to keep her opponent at bay. With a cruel laugh, Zaku ripped the knife from her hands, tossing it in the dirt and cackling vilely. Kin could only cringe as he prepared to strike her, wondering why Orochimaru would have them fight their own teammates…

However, Zaku never got the chance to strike. In all his gloating, he'd forgotten they were a three-man squad. Before he could so much as raise his knife, Dosu had him. With a quick jump Dosu, seized Zaku's hand, twisted behind his back, slammed him into the ground. Zaku squeaked with shock as Dosu's foot came down on his head, feeling a sudden ringing pain. It was nearly enough to knock him out cold, but not quite. He thrashed about, Dosu jumping away as he stumbled to his feet. Dosu couldn't stifle a chuckle, staring at Zaku's soiled appearance with a stupid grin. Zaku did look rather bedraggled, various twigs and leaves sticking in his hair, his face covered in dirt along with his clothes, and a muddied trickle of blood staining his already soiled shirt. He glared at Dosu with enraged eyes, hating the humored look in his only visible eye.

"What do you think you're laughing about," he growled, preparing to strike, but then a better idea came into his mind. Without another word, he made a mad dash for the village gate. Kin gasped and jumped to her feet, rushing after him with Dosu on her heels. Zaku couldn't help but snicker as he came only feet away from the entrance, telling himself he'd won this little "test." After all, Orochimaru had simply told him to make it to the village; he hadn't said he'd have to stop Kin or Dosu just as long as he was first.

"Oh no you don't!" Kin exclaimed, jumping forward and grabbing onto Zaku's shirt collar. Zaku squeaked in alarm as he was jerked back, feeling himself slam into Kin. Kin had underestimated the result of her grabbing him, sending them both falling to the ground. Dosu's only eye widened as he realized the situation before him, but he was powerless to stop it. Without even so much as a squeak, he slammed into the other two ninja and sent them careening forward. Ina split-second three sound shinobi slammed into the dirt, falling in a confused heap. Kin rolled onto her back and groaned, feeling a sudden pain in her head, having no strength to get to her feet. Zaku spit out a mouthful of soil and Dosu whimpered to himself, more angry than anything else. And there the ninja lay, none of them having the power to jump to their feet, each one giving in to their defeat.

"I see you've completed your goal," Orochimaru stepped from the shadows, Kabuto tailing closely behind. Usually, Kin would have said something, but all she do was groan as she felt the strength and energy seeped from her weary body, exhausted from her hard day of training. Zaku and Dosu were completely silent, each one wondering what Orochimaru would do. In truth, all three of them had made it in, for they each had just barely crossed though the entrance to the sound village.

"Who won," Zaku barely managed, too eaten by curiosity to keep quiet. Orochimaru only chuckled, sending shivers down the tired boy's spine.

"The way I see it," Orochimaru chuckled, crossing his arms, "You all lost, you each crossed into the village at the exact same time, meaning none of you completed your task, meaning you with all receive punishment."

"But that's not fair," Zaku grumbled, doing his best to remove the dirt from his mouth, "I was obviously first!"

"But you only made it because Kin and Dosu pushed you," Orochimaru chuckled, "Kabuto will monitor you three while you execute shuriken and kunai training until the sun reaches the horizon tomorrow morning."

"Yep," Kabuto scoffed, looking very annoyed, "and I'm not to happy about it either so you three had better not goof off!"

"I'll see you in the morning then," Orochimaru cackled cruelly, turning his back to the nin then remembered what else he had to say, "oh and Zaku, I'll still want to speak with you tomorrow when training is over."

"But," Dosu said quietly, his voice rather shaky, "w-"

"I'll tell your mother you won't be home tonight," Orochimaru nodded, "just do as Kabuto says."

"Yes sir."

"And Kabuto," Orochimaru gave his apprentice a side glance, "do your best to see they don't slack off, this is punishment after all, work them still they bleed, and don't stop just because of that either."

"Of course Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto snickered, turning to the genin with malice burning in his eyes before quickly pushing up his glasses, hiding his emotion, "come on you little slackers!"

"Great," Kin mumbled under her breath, "just great."