The Turning Point
Naruto was barely inches away from the snake as it threw its huge body onto the forest floor, almost crushing him in the process. The grass ninja turned creepy snake lady grinned in satisfaction as she watched Naruto pant heavily.
In and out and in and out and in and out, his blood pumps the oxygen around his body. I can smell it! He will make a delicious meal.
The snake quickly flicked its tail into the air, hitting the branch Naruto had moved to and sending the blond ninja into the air. He broke through three other branches before hitting a fourth. Sakura and Sasuke watched as he hit the forth branch with a sickening crunch and fell lifelessly towards the ground.
Neither of the other two ninja could do much at all. Sakura debated jumping across to catch her fallen teammate but there was no way they would make it past the snakes jaw in time. But suddenly Naruto came to and reversed the fall to kick the snake on the mouth.
Bouncing back into the air, Sakura could clearly see the whisker markings forming on the sides of his face and his pupils turn a light red. The grass ninja too, seemed momentarily stunned. Naruto floated through the air slowly before re-positioning himself and charged for the snake.
From the fox's chakra seeping through the seal, Naruto threw multiple punches at the snake with inhuman speed. It had little effect and the snake tossed the boy back with a flick of its tongue. But Naruto was unperturbed and shot forward again. It was only when the grass ninja blew a stream of fire towards him that Naruto fell, breaking through another three tree branches and landed face up.
"Well that was interesting! Now let's see how you fair!" The snake lady shouted and directed the snake towards Sasuke who was staring at Naruto's fallen body.
Damn! He's not going to be quick enough! Sakura thought as she lept from her branch. Pushing Sasuke out of the way she began to collect the chakra in her fist.
The grass ninja smirked as she watched. "That chakra control, it's very similar to Tsunade. Has she been trained by her? It is very amusing"
Her fist made contact with the snake and to her credit; Sakura did manage to send it back. But it wasn't enough. The snake was too quick and her chakra punches took some time to gather. The grass ninja laughed sadistically as the snake made to strike again.
However as chance would have it, Naruto had awoken and saw the scene before him. At the thought of his teammates incurring the slightest injury, the Nine Tailed fox's chakra propelled him forward. Before Sakura knew what she would do about her predicament, Naruto had stopped the snake's next attack.
He had his arms outstretched, preventing it from going any further. Two kunai knives plunged into the beast, just below its eyes. Breathing heavily, the blond boy turned his attention to Sasuke who was standing again.
"You're not hurt are you? Scaredy cat?" Naruto asked, shoving the words Sasuke had said to him back in his face. Sasuke looked at his teammate in disbelief.
"Well? How can you stand there like a frozen rabbit!? Leaving Sakura and I to take on this guy ourselves!? That's not the Sasuke I know!" Naruto spat angrily.
"Naruto look out!" Sakura shouted as the grass ninja's impossibly long tongue wrapped around her teammate, hoisting him into the air.
The blond boy struggled but it was in vain as the grass ninja gazed upon him.
"So the Nine Tails lives, sealed inside this boy. Whenever his anger boils over, its chakra seeps out through the seal! Interesting childhood he must have had" The grass ninja thought.
Lifting up Naruto's shirt with its tongue, the snake like ninja exposed the seal which kept the Nine Tails inside. Spreading one hand, five purple flames appeared covering each fingertip. The grass ninja then raised the hand and held it near the markings on Naruto's stomach.
"Five Pronged Seal!" the ninja yelled and slammed the flaming hand against the Nine Tails seal.
The blood curdling scream that Naruto let out shook Sakura to the bone. He was in pain! They had to do something!
"SASUKE! SNAP OUT OF IT! THAT NINJA IS HURTING NARUTO! HE'S IN PAIN!" Sakura screamed at her teammate.
Naruto's seal now had five new markings around it, Sakura couldn't see whether they had damaged her teammate or not. But it was more than likely that nothing this snake lady was going to do would be beneficial to them.
All the previous fight had completely gone from Naruto, his eyes shifted back to their normal blue. His body sagged, completely exhausted.
"Hmm. One day this boy will merge with the demons power. He may harness it and become formidable or the demon will kill him. Either way he is of no use to me now" the grass ninja decided and flung Naruto into the air behind him.
There's no way he'll make that fall. The jump is dangerous, right past that snake thing but I can't just let him fall! Sakura thought as she jumped from her branch to catch Naruto.
Oddly enough, the grass ninja did nothing but her eyes remained trained on Sasuke. Sakura caught Naruto and carefully lay him down on the nearest branch.
What is with this lady/thing? It's been after Sasuke ever since this fight started? Why is she so interested in him? She didn't move a muscle to try and stop me! Sakura wondered.
Sasuke was vaguely conscious of the fact that he was facing off alone against the snake ninja. But all he could hear was that voice in his head. Him, the one he longed to kill. Telling him he wasn't strong enough and to run and save his own life. He couldn't take it!
"NO!" Sasuke yelled loudly, finally snapping out of his frozen trance. His Sharingan activated automatically as he made eye contact with the grass ninja.
"Finally, his Uchiha blood has come to the boil. I can almost taste it!" the grass ninja thought.
"Sasuke! You okay?" Sakura asked, relieved he seemed to be back to normal.
"Yeah I'm fine. Stay there and take care of Naruto!" Sasuke called back.
"But are you-"
"I can handle this! Just stay with him and keep him safe!" Sasuke cut her off and whipped out a kunai.
Sakura conceded, of course someone had to stay with Naruto. But she couldn't deny the awful feeling she had in the pit of her stomach. This snake woman wanted something from Sasuke, she had an interest in him and that couldn't be good.
"Of course. How could I have been so foolish? If I can't face this demon how can I face my brother!? I have to protect my teammates!" Sasuke thought to himself and ran forward.
The grass ninja had made the snake disappear and wore an amused smile as Sasuke came running. He jumped into the air and threw the kunai that he had drawn as well as a few others; the grass ninja easily dodged them. Sasuke wasn't done.
Using the nearest tree as a spring board, he decided to go into close range combat. Aiming several kicks in the air, Sasuke attempted to land one on the ninja's face. But the snake lady was quick and blocked it. The Uchiha boy flipped backwards and both ninja ran at each other again quickly.
The combat moves were so quick Sakura could barely see it all, but Sasuke's sharingan allowed him to read the moves coming. Neither the grass ninja nor Sasuke himself had taken a hit yet.
The snake lady jumped into the air and began to travel around the enclosed space of forest at a dizzying speed. Twisting and turning in and out of the branches. Sakura felt dizzy trying to watch but Sasuke could see the moves and moved before the ninja could strike.
He then turned and quickly blew a fireball towards the demon, taking in a huge breath of air he quickly followed up with a second one. Churning up the bark on the branch, the grass ninja slithered forward to take a hidden swipe at Sasuke who jumped to avoid it.
Both stood at a brief impasse, sizing each other up.
He's good. He can read my moves and his aim is true, the grass ninja thought as she studied Sasuke.
Quickly the snake lady let out an almighty scream and sent a huge torrent of wind towards Sasuke who once again managed to avoid it. Sakura watched completely shocked as the wind torrent sliced a tree clean in half. For a moment she couldn't see Sasuke at all.
Then he fell from a branch above the snake ninja, and twisting her upside down held her tightly and made for the ground. Hitting the ground head-first the enemy ninja showed no signs of movement. Sasuke disentangled himself and jumped back a few leaps just in case.
Both he and Sakura watched distraught as the once crushed grass ninja began to melt into a pile of brown sludge. Sakura's eyes scanned the area anxious, it was a substitution jutsu. Where the hell was this thing?
A barrage of kunai rained down upon Sasuke as he quickly ducked for cover, drawing out his ninja wire he wrapped it around the nearest branch and swung around the tree he had hid behind. Landing on another tree branch, Sasuke thought he would be quick enough.
But he wasn't.
The grass ninja landed the first punch to his face, then to his stomach. A knee to his head and yet another punch to the face. Sasuke flipped into the air and fell face down. Then Sakura saw it, the small bombs attached to the back of the grass ninja. Exploding, she fell forward and Sasuke quickly got up and put his plan into action.
He threw his Shuriken with the ninja wire attached around the closest tree and managed to trap the snake lady against it. With the wires attached at his end, Sasuke performed some quick hand signs.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
The heat erupted from Sasuke and travelled straight down the wires to where the grass ninja was trapped. The instant the flames hit her, she screamed in agony. When the flames finally receded, the grass ninja's body was limp. Held up only by the ninja wire.
Sasuke dropped to his knees, immediately exhausted from the chakra he used. Sakura decided no harm could come to Naruto and jumped down from her branch to assist Sasuke. She had barely begun to feed chakra back into his system when both genin heard the ninja wires snap.
Before anyone could react, the grass ninja had performed two quick hand signs and had both Sakura and Sasuke trapped on the spot.
"Well, such mastery of the Sharingan for one so young. You're truly an Uchiha and you will do nicely. You're just like your brother, except your eyes are even keener than Itachi" The grass ninja spoke in a masculine voice.
Sakura looked up in horror to see the face of the grass ninja melting, and behind it was a snake like eye with grey skin surrounding it.
Itachi? Sasuke's brother? Sakura thought as Sasuke bent his body forward in pain.
"What do you want!? Who are you!?" Sasuke yelled.
"My name is Orochimaru but the rest will have to wait until we meet again Sasuke. First you must pass this test and defeat the Sound Ninja who serve me" Orochimaru said.
"If you haven't noticed we need to defeat whoever we come across so those Sound Ninja make no difference to us. Furthermore, you won't cross us again unless you want to suffer badly" Sakura spat, shakily trying to unfreeze herself from his jutsu.
"Ah Sakura, jealously is such an ugly trait on a woman. Don't think for a second I've forgotten about you or what resides within you. And who knows, I may see you when I see Sasuke. But for now, only Sasuke gets my special present!" Orochimaru replied.
Making a hand-sign, Orochimaru's neck shot up to an impossible length before it stretch out and headed speedily for Sasuke. Both ninja were still frozen by the jutsu but Sakura could almost reach her kunai knife.
I have to do something, he's going to get to Sasuke and give him some freaky present! Sakura thought as she threw her kunai at Orochimaru's neck.
But it was too late. The snake like male ninja had sunk his teeth into Sasuke's neck, biting him hard. Sakura felt sick as she watched Sasuke fall to his knees, clutching where Orochimaru bit in pain. But she was also satisfied to hear the angry hiss of pain when her kunai found her target.
It was literally her left; Sasuke and Naruto were both incapable of fighting anymore. "THAT'S IT! KILL THE FREAKY SNAKE MAN! KILL HIM!" Inner screamed.
"What the hell did you do to him!?" Sakura asked angrily, getting to her feet and drawing her kunai.
"Interesting, the jutsu is still in full effect and she is able to stand and draw a weapon. Her bloodlust is strong; the being within her thirsts also. Similar to the Nine Tailed boy, she possesses great power. But does not realise. It will be interesting to see if she survives without those two, especially against my servants" Orochimaru thought and licked his lips in anticipation.
"Like I said, I left him a parting gift. He will seek me out eventually, craving power. You too have untold powers Sakura Haruno. More than you know. The being within you grows stronger. When Sasuke leaves you may follow and I welcome you with open arms. It will be interesting to see if you survive. But you and your Nine Tailed friend are not important to me now, so I leave you" The snake man finished and literally sank into the tree branch he was standing on.
Sasuke let out the most gut wrenching scream Sakura had ever heard in her life and she was at his side in an instant. Pulling his collar back Sakura could see where Orochimaru had bitten him and along with the bite mark three black comma marks in a circle.
"I-I've seen this before. In the medical book Tsunade gave me. It's a seal, like the Nine Tail Fox seal Naruto has. Only this one is different somehow. I remember now, a Cursed Seal!" Sakura thought and Sasuke screamed again.
Sakura tried to rub his back as some sort of comfort but she was powerless.
"I don't know how to treat it, I don't know the jutsu. I haven't got that far yet!" Sakura yelled to no one in particular but quickly slapped her hand over her mouth.
Orochimaru had gone and left her alone with one teammate knocked out cold and the other in excruciating pain. Not to mention the exams themselves were still going and they were sitting ducks out here in the open.
Sasuke squeezed Sakura's hand tightly and screamed again; eyes completely closed with no idea what was going on around him. Vaguely he could hear Sakura's reassurances that it would be alright, but he was losing that and fast. The pain was a white hot fire running through him. Finally he lost consciousness completely.
Sakura sighed, her eyes filled with worry. She quickly remembered Naruto lying on the tree branch, still unconscious. Retrieving her hand from Sasuke's iron grip, Sakura jumped up through the trees and picked up her blond teammate. She struggled a little under his weight but managed to bring him down next to Sasuke.
The female ninja and only conscious member of Team 7 wanted to scream and cry. She was alone in a forest where ninja like Orochimaru were lurking. She had not forgotten about the Sound Ninja who were sure to track them down as well. Not to mention the horrific prospect that she could one day be joined to Orochimaru, he knew something about her that she did not. Something to do with Inner, and try as she might Sakura was desperate to find out what.
It seemed too much. But then she remembered Tsunade-sama.
Now is my chance to prove I can do this. I can take of Naruto and Sasuke and defend our scroll from the other ninja out there. I might try herbal remedies for them both, to see if I can get them awake. Even just Naruto. I don't know what to do about Sasuke, Sakura thought.
Looking around she spied a space at the bottom of a tree. It was secluded enough that they wouldn't be out in the open but not so hidden that she couldn't see what was going on. Listening to the forest around her, Sakura heard they were not too far away from a stream. She would set traps to protect her teammates while she could collect water and food.
Picking Sasuke up first, Sakura walked towards the tree slowly.
"So this is where you've been hiding huh?" Anko said to Orochimaru who had morphed himself into a thick tree trunk, a little over an hour after his battle with Team 7.
"Anko, you've come. How nice to see you, it has been a while has it not" Orochimaru spoke cheerfully.
"Skip the pleasantries, you're an S-Class Criminal and it's high time someone took you down. Who better than me, isn't that right sensei?" Anko spat back.
Springing into action immediately, she made to throw a handful of sharp needles at her former sensei. But Orochimaru was too fast and shot his tongue forward, grabbing her hand and forcing the needles out.
Anko was pulled back to the ground by the tongue but before Orochimaru could do anymore she had thrust her arm out in front of herself.
"Striking Shadow Snake!" Anko called out loudly and three snakes shot from her arm and hooked into the tree where Orochimaru was.
"Come out!" Anko yelled and pulled her arm back sharply.
Orochimaru flew out of the tree trunk, thinking quickly the female proctor whip lashed him into a second tree directly behind her.
The snakes quickly withdrew back up into the sleeves of her shirt and Anko turned to Orochimaru. Grabbing his right hand in hers, she took her kunai knife and stuck it in the tree.
"Now I'll just borrow your left hand" Anko said, grabbing Orochimaru's remaining hand and put their hands in a familiar position.
"That hand sign!" Orochimaru said, eyes widening.
"That's right. I can't let you just walk away, so you and I are going to die here right now!" Anko replied.
Closing her eyes the female ninja quickly thought the jutsu "Ninja Art: Twin Snake Sacrifice!" and waited for death to come.
"I'm afraid you will die alone Anko" Orochimaru said from behind her, peeling off the rest of his melted face mask.
It was immediately clear to Anko that the snake ninja in front of her was a substitution as it melted into mush.
"I thought you were one of the elite ninja now? It is awfully naughty of you to be using the forbidden jutsu I taught you" Orochimaru smirked and began advancing towards her.
Frustrated, Anko reached for her kunai in the tree trunk and threw it, but the snake ninja caught it easily between his two fingers. He froze Anko in place like he had done to Sasuke and Sakura.
"Why are you here? Don't tell me you've come to assassinate Lord Hokage!" Anko asked shakily.
"Hmph that old fool? No, not yet. I don't have enough followers for that anyway. But this village is nice, I thought I might take it for myself" Orochimaru declared sadistically.
Without warning Anko collapsed to her knees, clutching painfully at the back of her neck.
"Ah yes, the mark. I put a lovely curse mark like that on a young man just before. Very promising" Orochimaru mused.
"He'll die before he serves you!" Anko shot back, still in pain.
"May be so, odds are 1 in 10. But he may survive, like you did" Orochimaru said indifferently.
"You want him bad huh?" The female proctor glared at her former sensei.
"Ah Anko, jealously is so unbecoming. I told a young lady that just before. She too shows great promise" Orochimaru chuckled.
"So what? Are you using these exams as a poaching ground! Recruiting new followers is that it?" Anko demanded angrily.
"Hmph, I choose not to answer you. I have three candidates in this exam as well; I want to see how they do. Be warned Anko, anything that disrupts my fun the Leaf Village will pay the price" Orochimaru finished before disappearing in a purple flame.
Sakura placed her hand on Sasuke's forehead only to quickly withdraw it. He had been thrashing about for the last half hour and had finally settled down, but his fever was raging.
Putting her hands to his temples, Sakura felt her chakra flowing into the Uchiha boy and hoped it would quell the fever. After a few minutes of this, she drew her hands away. It had some effect but the fever was still very strong.
Taking a cloth from her ninja pouch, Sakura wet it and gently placed it on Sasuke's forehead. It was much too dark to search for herbs within the forest now. She had brought a small supply with her but they were meant for expected injuries. Cuts, bruises and some could even help with minor poisoning.
Of course nothing had prepared her for Orochimaru and the damage he had done. All she could be thankful for was that neither of her teammates were dead. Apart from Sasuke's fever, both vitals were stable. They had the scroll as well of course, but to Sakura it felt like a burden. A reminder that the exams were still going and they were vulnerable.
She had found the time after setting up a series of traps to protect Naruto and Sasuke, to go to the stream with their canteens plus her own. Filling them to the brim with water she had dashed back, deciding the herbs could wait. She felt very uncomfortable leaving her teammates alone.
They were there.
The three sound ninja.
Hiding in a clump of bushes a few metres away.
They had masked their chakra but when she had left to collect water she had registered their signals.
"Why don't they just make a move already" Sakura wondered.
But she was glad they had not yet, and hoped they wouldn't all night. Her traps were satisfactory but she had little faith in them. Her body begged for sleep, any sort of rest would be welcome. But she couldn't, she was the last one standing.
Sakura turned around, facing towards where she knew the group of Sound Ninja were hiding and drew her kunai. Forcing her eyes to stay open, she glared at them through the bushes. There was no way she was going down without a fight.
"Well, the girl knows we're here. What should we do?" Kin asked her male counterparts.
"We have orders, Orochimaru said not till attack until dawn. And the Uchiha boy is our target" Dosu replied.
"But if the other two get in our way we can still kill them, right?" Zaku wondered aloud.
"Hmph, of course. Though it only looks like we have the girl to worry about and she can't be much trouble" Dosu chuckled.
Throughout the night Sakura caught herself falling asleep but quickly awoke and tried to stay alert. By the time dawn had broken, she was completely exhausted. Rubbing her eyes tiredly, Sakura checked on her teammates for the hundredth time. Naruto was still out cold, but his vitals were stabilised. Sasuke shuddered a little in his state but his fever had reduced a little more.
The bushes rustled behind her and Sakura was on her feet in a flash, kunai in hand. Expecting to see the Sound Ninja, she wasn't the least bit ready for a fight. It had to be now or never. They weren't going to stay hidden for long.
What appeared was not an enemy ninja, but a squirrel. Sakura relaxed a little but not for long, and hurled her kunai at the squirrel. Frightened, the small animal scurried back into the forest. On its back was what Sakura thought, a paper bomb.
"These Sound Ninja are crafty, best to be on our guard" Inner said in an oddly serious voice but Sakura agreed nonetheless
The female ninja couldn't forget what Orochimaru had said, that he knew something about her Inner and that she had great power. That Inner was a demon. Zabuza had also remarked on her great potential. Did he know about Inner as well?
Being so preoccupied with her guard on Sasuke and Naruto, Sakura had not had time to contemplate this notion further. Added to that, this was the first appearance Inner had made since the dealings with Orochimaru.
"Your sight is impressive. We thought for sure you'd be blown to smithereens by that squirrel" A voice called out across the clearing.
Sakura stiffened, it was them. They'd finally decided to make a move. Sure enough the man with the bandages had called out to her, his two teammates by his side.
"Hmph, I was wondering when you cowards would get out of those bushes" Sakura smirked, twirling her kunai knife.
"Cocky, that's real cute sweetheart" Zaku said arrogantly and Sakura's eyes narrowed at the false endearment.
"Wake Sasuke Uchiha up. We wish to fight him" Dosu the ninja with the bandages instructed.
Sakura stood firm. "I'm not waking Sasuke up for you jerks to fight him when he can't defend himself. Servants of Orochimaru I'm guessing huh? What's that gutless snake weirdo want now?" she asked defiantly.
"I'm not going to let you talk to us like that. First I'll kill you, then I'll kill Sasuke" Zaku said angrily.
"Right Sakura, it's now or never. Let's take these Sound freaks down and protect this team!" Inner yelled triumphantly, back to her usual verve.
"Alright Inner! I don't know what Orochimaru thinks about you or anyone else. But you've always been there for me. Together we've got this!" Sakura thought as she gripped her kunai in front of her.
"That's big talk from someone standing all the way over there. You want to fight? Well let's go!" Sakura declared.