Early the following morning around five o'clock, Sakura was the first to wake "Sak..Sakura-chan i..is something the matter" Hinata sat up when she felt the bed shifting beneath her, proving to be a very light sleeper.
"Nope all's good I was just going to head down and get started on breakfast for everyone then wake up the ones that don't come down at the smell of food" Sakura admitted stuffing her feet into her house slippers and padding for her dresser.
Hinata watched for a couple of minutes then stood to get ready as well, in a manner of minutes both girls were dressed and ready for the day "Is e..everything okay" the blue haired heiress frowned watching Sakura fidget with her long hair.
It was all the way past her waist now "Was wondering if you'd help me Hinata-chan twist it into a braided bun" the pinkette requested shyly not use to really dealing with her hair, she mostly just left it down, but she got the feeling that leaving it down for the survival round would not be a good idea.
The pale eyed girl was quick to nod and start messing with the silky pink tresses, to top it off when she was done she even weaved spikes into the bun, after that the two girls crept quietly down the stairs to the kitchen.
Where Sakura got started on breakfast, nearing six o'clock Sasuke padded into the kitchen, yawning but sporting his pack "Morning" Sasuke greeted slumping into a chair at the table with Hinata who gave him a nod while Sakura echoed his morning greeting.
Plating up the food as it got finished "Uh-oh I know that look and I'm sure glad I woke up on time" the raven haired preteen winced when Sakura rolled up her sleeves and marched back up the stairs, four minutes later she came trailing back down sporting an accomplished smile.
And eight minutes after that Shino, Kiba and Naruto entered the kitchen trepidation in Naruto and Kiba's gazes "Well I know who you got that creepy factor from, your mom can be pretty creepy to" Kiba shuddered sitting down warily.
Sakura smiled innocently "Thankfully I was already awake, but what did she do to you two" Shino focused his attention on the other genin at the table with them, curious as to how his girlfriend had woken up the two most stubborn guys in their age group.
"Not like she really did anything but stand over us smiling just like that" Naruto pointed at the innocent smile on Sakura's face, Hinata covered her mouth to stifle her giggles while Sasuke's shoulders shook in silent laughter.
Kiba shivered "Believe me that smile is anything but innocent to" the Inuzuka heir grimaced accepting the plate and glass of green tea that was set before him with a grateful smile that they wouldn't have to go hungry that morning.
"But still did you have to wake us up so early Sakura-chan" the blonde sulked lightly not quite fully awake yet, he was just to scared to fall back to sleep especially with Sakura at the table, who knows what she'd do.
Shino shook his head "It's better this way, we'll be wide awake and ready for the survival round, plus we'll be able to go early and scope out the competition again, choose targets and such" the Aburame heir said seriously.
Like the idea had never occurred to the others, he knew his girlfriend well though "Hey Shino yesterday you reeked of jealousy when Nara stood next to her, why is that" Kiba questioned suddenly remembering the scent that had wafted from Shino.
"Ca..Cause th..their dating Ki..Kiba-kun, Sh..Shikamaru-kun didn't pick up o..on that though" Hinata piped in, having noticed rather easily the change in dynamics between two best friends, they'd been close during the academy but now they were closer.
Her teammate blinked in shock as they all cleaned up after themselves, doing up the dishes and preparing themselves to head to the site that had been designated for their second round "Right before I forget" Sakura pulled them all to a halt in the next moment.
Just as they were getting ready to go out the door, flying through a set of hand signs and summoning four little spiders "Great idea Sakura-chan, Irome you can come with me Kiba and Hinata-chan" Naruto grinned.
Excited that Sakura was lending one of her summons to him again, while Shiruki, Kafu and Ashi perched themselves on their usual partners, Kiba looked intrigued but didn't ask as Sakura wrote a quick note to her parents then ushered the lot of them out the front door, locking it behind her.
Then they were marching down the streets to the Forest of Death "So how do you think it's going to be" Sasuke asked when they were stood before that imposing and creepy looking forest, Team Eight splitting off from them and now it was just the three of them in Team Seven again.
"No idea, be prepared for anything, why because anything could happen" Shino commented, still not liking how foreboding the forest looked and standing as close to Sakura as he could get, keeping an eye out for trouble as well.
Because he didn't want to be caught off guard it was to that thought, that he turned and held out a scent pouch to Sasuke "You want me to have one to" the Uchiha frowned taking the little bag and tucking it carefully into his storage pouch.
Shino nodded seriously "Why just in case we get separated somehow not that I doubt Shiruki, Kafu and Ashi in any way but it's always good to have a back up on hand" the brunet stated simply pushing his sunglasses back into place.
Sakura blew out a breath, allowing her gaze to roam for a couple of seconds, subtly eyeing other genin in her peripheral before focusing her attention on her teammates again "Looks like it's starting" the pinkette said.
Noting the time to be just a minute past zero eight hundred hours, right on time as their crazy proctor Anko Mitarashi appeared in a plume of smoke and launch into a tirade of explanations and rules that made their heads spin.
Halfway through Team Eight noticed Naruto sassing the woman "Knucklehead just had to provoke her" Sasuke shook his head when Anko threw a kunai at the blonde, cutting his cheek only to body flicker behind the boy and lick his cheek creepily.
What happened next was way more unnerving than that "Disturbing why because having a tongue that long is unnatural" Shino cringed as the genin from Grass returned the kunai Anko had thrown before heading back to her teammates.
"Make a note to stay the hell away from that one, Shino, Sasuke cause that was freaking creepy, hey Shiruki-chan, add some of your venom to the spikes in my hair" Sakura shuddered feeling as if all the warmth in her body had been stolen, then commanded her summons as an afterthought.
Just in case really, then they were told to sign consent forms so that their proctor wasn't responsible if they died in the forest before lining up to get their starting scroll and a gate number to go along with it.
Before they stood waiting around even more for their second round to begin right as they were starting to think it would never begin a buzzer sounded and the gate in front of them swung open with an eerie creak "Well Shino, Sasuke let's go" the rosette took charge.
Emerald orbs narrowed in determination "Roger that Sakura lead the way to victory" the ebony haired preteen said, knowing they could rely on her slightly more advanced chakra sensory skills to pick out a weaker team for them to steal their scroll from.
She took a deep breath then led the way forward, teammates on her heels "How do you suppose we should take them out" the brunet on the team questioned when they came upon another team, suppressing their chakra to the best of their abilities in the meantime.
"Clones for a diversion tactic, then you Shino can use the poisonous bugs in the tree there to drop down on them while their busy with our clones, and Sakura can whip up an antidote for them once their down and we have their scroll secured" Sasuke rattled off.
A plan they were all satisfied with to be precise as clones were made from each of them and sent in as their stand-in's to cause as much chaos as they could "Here Sakura" Shino passed a vial of murky yellow liquid to Sakura.
Who took it while poisonous bugs dropped from the tree's onto the genin below, screams echoed in their ears of terror and fright until all was silent "Give me a few minutes, Sasuke use a tempered flame to heat this up for me, Shino you go see what scroll they have" Sakura instructed.
Focusing intently on her work, then when she was done, dripped the antidote over the poison to see if her concoction would work, Shino returned, shaking his head "Earth scroll same as us" the Aburame Heir frowned pocketing the scroll as he did so.
"That's okay Shino-kun, there are other teams to choose from, right Sasuke you go tie them up and administer to the antidote" the pinkette pat his arm gently before turning to Sasuke with three syringes, hypodermic needles attached.
He took them and leaped to the ground again, tying up the other genin first before giving them the antidote, five minutes later he was back and they were off on the search for another team to snag a scroll from hopefully it would be the matching one to their earth scroll next time.
Jumping from tree branch to tree branch at a break-neck pace as they were Team Seven was completely unprepared and unaware of the danger that was about to befall them as a blast of wind swept them off their feet.
Instantly separating the three of them, Sakura wasn't sure how long she was out when she came to after slamming face first into a tree but she was on her feet in three seconds flat "Situation report Shiruki-chan, what's the status on Shino and Sasuke" Sakura demanded to know.
Shiruki was quick to relay the information her summoner wanted to know "As of right now Shino-san is unconscious that way, Sasuke-san is in the most danger though, that Grass Genin from earlier is fighting him" Shiruki piped in, in a small voice.
"Damn this is not looking good and it's only been a couple of hours that we've been let loose in the forest…first order of business, go find Shino-kun and pull him to safety until he wakes, then come find me, I'm heading for Sasuke" the rosette instructed.
Creating a clone to send off and defend Shino while spinning her heel and concentrating on Sasuke's chakra body flickered knowing the Uchiha was probably in need of more assistance than Shino currently was being unconscious as he was.
What she found upon body flickering to the aide of her teammate terrified her, Sasuke was backed in a corner fending off his attacker with his new tantou "Oh what's this one of the mice came to your rescue Sasuke-kun" the grass kunoichi laughed in spine shuddering way.
"How's Shino and what's the plan to get away Sakura" Sasuke was glad that she was there, he was still in a sticky situation for sure, but at least he wasn't alone, Sakura glared at his attacker for a moment then nodded.
Kafu whispered in his ears the plan that was decided on "Such a feisty little kunoichi aren't you" the grass kunoichi hissed when Sakura made her move, drawing the woman's gaze from him, he was quick to pull out ninja wire.
Glad he had it in abundance "Don't forget me you crazy ass woman" the Uchiha snarled manipulating the wire with chakra and deadly precision to wrap around the woman, then speed through a set of hand signs for one of his lightning based jutsu's.
"Water Style: Raging Waves" Sakura yelled distracting the woman yet again, soaking the opponent with a powerful wave of water just as a stream of lightning was conducted through the wire, Sasuke released his grip and body flickered safely out of the way.
"Totally awesome Sakura, let's go find Shino" Sasuke panted not sparing a glance back as they ran trying to find the other member of their team a crazy lunatic hot on their heels, they ran hard until they nearly slammed into Shino.
Who looked the most frantic they'd ever seen him "Do either of you want to tell me what the hell is going on why because a snake tried to eat me earlier" Shino snapped scowling thunderously before realizing that his teammates had a problem all their own.
In the form of the grass kunoichi they'd vowed to stay away from before the start of their second round "Three point violet sealing barrier now Shino-kun" the rosette on the team ordered harshly whipping out the tag with the formula to Shino's barrier on it.
Before throwing it down "Good idea, might slow her down enough, we can use the chakra suppression and sound proofing tags to escape underground" the raven panted doing the same, chancing a glance to see how much time they had.
Tree's were falling over indicating that they were running low just as they flashed through a set of hand signs in sync "Three Point Violet Sealing Barrier" the brunet of Team Seven murmured as a violet dome surrounded them.
Sakura tossed down a smoke bomb obscuring the grass kunoichi's vision of them when she arrived seconds after the barrier went up chakra suppression/scent/sound proofing tags were activated and the three of them escaped safely underground.
Just as a large explosion ricocheted the area above them, telling them the barrier had been destroyed cursing sounded right over their heads "Maybe it would have been more prudent to body flicker instead of hide underground, why because this is risky" Shino grimaced.
"Perhaps Shino-kun but this was a split second plan remember, we didn't have much time to really concentrate on an area away from here to body flicker" Sakura reminded gently squeezing their hands tightly and heart pounding against her ribs in fear they would be found anyway.
Eventually the three of them felt the chakra of the grass kunoichi moving away from them slowly before all together vanishing in the opposite direction until they couldn't feel it anymore "I vote to keep these tags activated" Sasuke said.
When they were stood on solid ground again a couple minutes later, covered in dirt and sweat, the other members on his team nodded solemnly in agreement "We should move just in case that crazy decides to come back" the pinkette pointed out.
Ushering the three of them in the opposite direction the older kunoichi had headed, Shino paused briefly though to collect his mostly unscathed barrier tags "Come to think of it, why was she after you in the first place Sasuke" the brunet frowned as they carefully took to the tree's again.
Sasuke paled "No idea but she mentioned something about my sharingan and if I'm not mistaken the crazy tried to bite me on the neck to" the raven shuddered seriously freaked out by what had happened not to long ago.
Thankful that Sakura had come along when she had to help him out of that sticky situation "I for one am glad we had a whole month to establish superb teamwork with each other and come up with a working communication system between us without communicators" Shino added.
Looking to Ashi who waved one of his legs at him in greeting, the tiny spiders were easy to forget about and go nearly unnoticed by someone unless they already knew about them, Shisui had chosen the right summons for Sakura it seemed.
"Of course Shino-kun we're glad to, anyway we should make a pit stop and eat something or go if we have to, then try to seek out another team to snag a heaven scroll hopefully" Sakura announced considering them far enough away from that freaky grass kunoichi.
It brought attention to their suddenly rumbling guts "Right, so what did you bring besides food pills Sakura" Sasuke asked as they leaped to the ground and set up traps, even raising Shino's barrier for a little bit of extra protection.
She smiled and dug through her pack for her food and water supply scrolls, unsealing the contents from within when she found the necessary scrolls "Beans, sardines, crackers, some nuts, beef jerky, and a few fruit cups" the rosette listed.
Pouring water into some canteens and passing out the food "Guess I'll take some crackers and sardines, along with a fruit cup, why to replenish my chakra some after fighting that snake" the brunet on the team made his selections.
Those were quickly handed over to him "I'll take the can of beans so I'll need the can opener, plus a couple pieces of beef jerky" the raven decided leaving the rest to Sakura as they ate quickly until they felt moderately full.
All their trash was sealed in a scroll to leave no evidence of them being their behind, the barrier was deactivated and then they took to the tree's again on the hunt for a team of weaker genin now that they felt it safe enough to do so.
No one would want to go tromping about in the forest of death at night after all as what little sunlight that filtered through the tree's faded leaving all consuming darkness in their wakes as they stumbled upon an already knocked out team, snoozing the evening away.
Sakura shook her head disgusted at their lack of traps "Shibi-sensei would strangle us if we were that lax on our protection" Sakura scoffed horrified at other genin's idiocy, however she did also consider that it might be a trap to lure them into a false sense of security.
That's why she sent Shiruki ahead to bite them, screams echoed around them as the all male genin team woke up at the venom suddenly coursing through their veins before passing out for real this time "Heaven scroll" Sasuke returned in the next moment.
Brandishing their earth scroll's pair before it was placed in Sakura's storage pouch "Now we head for the tower" Shino breathed a little easier all that was left was to reach the tower and they'd be home free from this creepy ass forest.
He got the feeling though that things wouldn't be that easy for them, because two of his teammates were magnets for trouble after all, it was hours later with no understanding of what time it was that Team Seven made another stop and set up camp.
Raising the violet barrier and placing many traps or illusion genjutsu's to hide the barrier from sight as they found a little niche under some gigantic tree roots, eating a cold meal or cleaning up in the stream that was a short distance away from them before going to bed, setting alarms in case.
When they woke up the following morning, their second day in the forest and ate, Shino, Sasuke and Sakura were unaware of the trouble they were about to face as they cleaned up making sure no evidence was left behind and started taking down their traps.
Crawling out the niche they slept in and came face to face with the genin from the Hidden Sound Village as they'd learned from their first proctor Ibiki "Be good little brats and hand Sasuke Uchiha over to us, we're under orders to kill him from Orochimaru" the one wrapped up like a mummy ordered.
"Orochimaru as in the Sannin Orochimaru, why would he want Sasuke dead" the rosette frowned edging into a defensive stance glad that she'd had Shiruki add her venom to the spikes in her hair again that morning.
It would make for one nasty surprise if the Sound Genin were stupid enough to grab her hair "Can't tell you just hand him over before we get angry" the spiky haired genin demanded snapping his fingers in order to make them hurry up.
"Yeah I don't think so, why because we have no intention of handing Sasuke over even at your say so" the Aburame Heir shifted prepared to defend his teammates to the death like they would do the same for him no doubt.
The lone girl grit her teeth "Your funeral then, we were going to let you other one's go but not now we'll just have to kill all of you" the kunoichi from sound announced in a flippant tone of voice and the clearing was wrought with chaos.
Kikaichu swarmed from Shino, blocking their vision in a simple diversion tactic, siphoning off some of their chakra as well "Any good idea's Sakura, cause I don't fancy dying today or any other day actually" the raven of Team Seven questioned.
As they body flickered to safety leaving behind some clones for another diversion tactic still under the chakra/scent suppression/sound proofing tags, if they wanted they could just run without the Sound Genin ever figuring out where they'd gone but that wasn't appealing.
"Lock them up in Shino's three point violet sealing barrier, then we'll turn tail and run" Sakura smirked feeling vindictive towards the other genin who'd threatened Sasuke's life on another person's say so it was something they'd have to tell Shibi whenever they could.
Orochimaru running around was not good especially with his background of kidnapping people and experimenting on them "Perfect should they manage to break the barrier the explosion will rebound on them" Sasuke smirked unworried.
With that as they'd practiced for two solid weeks once the clones had been taken out, they dropped from the tree's in a triangle formation and lay down the actual scrolls with the barrier's formula on them, flashing through a set of hand signs in sync.
Before the Sound Genin could stop them the hand signs were completed "Three Point Violet Sealing Barrier Jutsu" Shino called out and a glowing violet barrier raised over their heads trapping them in close proximity of each other.
"Damn little brats when we get out of here your dead do you hear me, all of you are dead" the spiky haired one started screaming profanity and threats at them banging on the barrier with brutal force though it wasn't enough to break it yet.
Not that they were going to stick around and watch anyway, well maybe "Use your jutsu Zaku that will take care of this pathetic barrier easily" the bandage wrapped genin suggested and the one named Zaku started smiling crazily as he flashed through hand signs.
It was then that Team Seven decided to skedaddle "Cowards when we….huh…ahhhhhhhhhh" the sound kunoichi noticed the crack her teammate had made in the barrier, smirking briefly only to start screaming as they were blasted off their feet.
Slamming into tree's with enough force to knock all of them out, the members of Team Seven grinned in triumph at each other having watched the explosion from high in the tree's before taking off at a break-neck speed.
Eventually though they couldn't ignore their rumbling stomachs any longer hours later when they thought it was noon or probably past noon and so made a quick pit stop to eat "Oh I think I hear nature calling" the Uchiha grimaced.
Vanishing into the brush to take care of business "Guess that's better than saying he has to go" the pinkette giggled pulling out her food and water supply scrolls to start rationing out the food again so they could eat lunch.
Shino shook his head in light amusement reaching for the soft tortilla shells, shredded cheese and can of beans to make a couple of burrito's only to pause as someone burst out of the brush that wasn't Sasuke and leap to his feet brandishing a kunai.
Ready to defend and Sakura joined him in the next moment "Whoa, whoa, whoa hold up there it's me Kabuto remember, I got separated from my teammates then I heard you talking" the gray haired teenager held up his hands giving them an easy going smile.
The sound of his stomach rumbling loudly filled their ears "You should never approach another team even if your hungry right now we are suppose to be enemies remember fighting to collect a pair of scrolls" the brunet pointed out shifting into a more solid stance.
Just then Sasuke decided to return only to go rigid and take up a defensive stance like his teammates, things going swiftly downhill for him "Relax I'm not after your scrolls, I already have both of mine after all, I'm just a little lost truthfully" Kabuto laughed sheepishly.
Playing the innocent act and hoping the genin were gullible, the members of Team Seven shared looks with one another "Fine you can eat with us, any funny business though and we'll blow you to bits or worse, then we'll go our separate ways" Sakura warned.
Flopping down and pulling out even more food to ration around completely on edge as Kabuto joined them keeping up that fake easy going smile, did he think they were stupid or something, she could spot a lie from a mile away now.
But she was unable to stop herself from being kind and allowing the older teenager into their group for lunch "So how did you get separated from your teammates anyway" Sasuke questioned onyx orbs narrowed on Kabuto.
Who was taking a sip of water that Sakura handed to him "Ah had a run-in with a crazy grass kunoichi by the time I realized it we had been separated, I'm sure their fine but still she was one crazy kunoichi I'll tell ya" he laughed awkwardly again.
Keeping up the appearance what he didn't expect was for the kids to go rigid and edge away from him "And do tell how you managed to get away from her, why because we also had a run-in with a kunoichi from grass, whether it's the same one you encountered we don't know" Shino asked.
Now he understood Orochimaru had already made his move and these Leaf Genin had managed to give his master the slip somehow "Hmm I think we were just lucky is all, how did you get away from her" Kabuto inquired.
Wanting to get some information from the genin on their abilities "Not going there Kabuto-san, we're allowing you to eat with us but if you think we're giving away any information about us pertaining our abilities then think again" the second to last remaining Uchiha snorted.
Becoming tight-lipped "Sasuke's right, a ninja must always have the upper hand after all" the rosette on the team nodded siding with her teammates in the next moment as even Shino agreed with not giving away information on their skills.
"Understandable I suppose, no one wants anyone to know what they can do in a fight after all" the gray haired teenager forced himself to smile, while wanting to scowl in frustration at how secretive the brats were.
They were also highly wary of him to which put a major damper in his plans to get them to trust him "Indeed why because one must have the element of surprise" the Aburame Heir commented making his third burrito.
Eventually the genin got done eating and cleaned up after themselves, putting things away and shouldering their packs again when they were finished "Here's where we part ways Kabuto-san" Sakura narrowed her eyes on the older teenager.
Daring him to complain about being lost, if he even mentioned sticking around to follow them she was going to have Shiruki bite him and for a second there she swore his obsidian orbs glinted with frustration before they closed and he pasted an easy going fake smile on his face again.
Nodding in understanding "Right hopefully we'll meet again at the tower" Kabuto turned and leapt away expression growing thunderous at how hard it was to acquire trust from the genin, it was absolutely ridiculous how wary they'd been of him.
While they turned and headed in the opposite direction of him "Glad he's gone that smile was so fake" Sasuke scowled glaring angrily over his shoulder as they sped off in hopes of getting far, far away from the older genin.
There was something he didn't like about the guy without any explanation as to what that reason was "Agreed why because it seemed like he had ulterior motives for approaching us initially" Shino announced having felt that way from the beginning.
Especially with Kabuto's repeated attempts at getting them to talk about what they could do ability or skill wise that had been a big red flag in his mind at least, Sakura shook her head and with that they allowed silence to settle around them.
For awhile they concentrated on jumping from tree to tree at high speeds in hopes of reaching the tower in the center of this forest when Shiruki spoke up in alarm "Sakura-sama, Naruto-san is in danger of that kunoichi from grass, his teammates are unconscious" Shiruki announced.
Informing her summoner of what Irome had relayed to her, Team Seven came to a jarring halt at that Sasuke nearly falling from the branch he stopped on in horror "Which way Shiruki" the raven haired preteen inquired.
"That way" the pinkette pointed, even if that meant diving head first into danger or having another scuffle with that crazy kunoichi, she would rescue Naruto, Kiba and Hinata at the cost of her own life, Sasuke and Shino seemed to get that.
As they turned and flashed in the direction she'd pointed going at a break-neck speed "I feel them now" the brunet felt Naruto's chakra flickering in distress as they grew closer, while Hinata and Kiba's chakra indicating they were unconscious.
It was a dangerous situation they were heading into but he knew that they couldn't leave Team Eight to fend for themselves against that crazy grass kunoichi from yesterday and a couple minutes later they arrived on scene.
"OI YOU CRAZY BITCH LEAVE NARUTO ALONE" Sakura yelled charging and leaping into a high kick, the older girl turned and got a foot in the face, as Sakura body flickered at the last second mid-air so that her attack couldn't be read fully.
Naruto fell on his ass when Sakura appeared in front of him, sending his attacker flying off into the tree's with her chakra enhanced kick "My what a kick the little mouse has" not that it kept the woman down very long a couple seconds really.
Just long enough to pull Naruto out of the way "You okay Dope" Sasuke asked hands glowing green healing the injuries the knucklehead Uzumaki had sustained while Shino used his kikaichu to bring the unconscious Kiba and Hinata to safety as well.
So that he could heal them to "Fine I'm more worried about those two, a huge snake ate Kiba, he passed out from the smell and that crazy lady hurt Hinata-chan" Naruto sniffled emotional, but glad that they were there to help him out.
"Take care of them Sasuke, I'm going off to help Sakura" Shino said finished with his task of getting the other members of Team Eight out of the way, vanishing in a swirl of kikaichu in the next moment brandishing two tags attached to kunai in his hands.
A wave of kikaichu distracted their attacker for a second as he tossed the tags "Two point cyan barrier wall jutsu" the Aburame Heir flashed through a set of hand signs to a new barrier formula that he'd come up with while working on the three point violet barrier.
Kikaichu dispersed as the grass kunoichi ran face first into the barrier, sporting a very irritated expression "Ground yourself with chakra Shino" the pinkette ordered in the next moment as the cyan barrier was cracked.
Followed by an explosion they didn't come out completely unscathed as the duo body flickered before the blast died down feeling Kiba, Naruto and Hinata's chakra disappear that signaled their departure from the clearing.
Tracking the retreating Sasuke and Naruto who were dragging the unconscious Kiba and Hinata along with them at the same time until they met up half a mile away, the grass kunoichi was no doubt hot on their tail.
So that's why Shino pulled out the scrolls for his violet sealing barrier once they found a niche to hide in under some giant tree roots, hiding that behind an illusion genjutsu "Holy crap you guys are crazy" the blonde whispered.
Latching on to Sakura as the grass kunoichi's chakra flew by unaware of their location "Not as crazy as that person, but still I'm glad we got away mostly unscathed this time" the Uchiha commented plopping down.
He was quickly joined by Naruto and the scorched duo with burnt clothes and first degree burns "Gonna murder whoever thought it was a great idea to have a snake eat me" Kiba was the first to wake from his impromptu nap.
Sitting up slowly trying to get his bearings only to tense as he realized more than his teammates surrounded him "Relax Kiba, Sasuke-teme, Shino and Sakura-chan came to rescue us from that crazy snake lady" Naruto explained.
Kiba blinked in confusion before his brain caught up with his body "Oh I see well thanks I guess we can call a temporary truce for now" the Inuzuka heir frowned adding the second part as an after thought seeing as how they were supposed to be enemies right now.
And not friends, this whole Chunin Exams was turning out to be quite different than they'd all imagined it to be, but for the next hour and a half they were quiet contemplating the situation until Hinata let out a soft groan.
Waking up finally after being unconscious for two hours "N..Naruto-kun look out" Hinata sat up with a jerk, pale lavender eyes flying around in fright only to rapidly calm down as she spotted her crush unharmed and the members of Team Seven next to him.
"W..What ha..happened" the blue haired heiress frowned in confusion the last to wake up so she didn't know the full scope of the situation but she did note that her injuries were healed from her fight with that older kunoichi.
Naruto blew out a sigh of relief "These guys came to help us and that crazy snake lady ran off in that direction I think" the blonde said for Hinata's sake, pointing where he last felt the grass kunoichi's chakra going.
"Th..Thank you f..for helping us S..Sakura-chan, Sh..Shino-kun, S..Sasuke-kun I..I'm sure if you hadn't c..come along th..that person w..would have killed us" Hinata stuttered out a thanks just glad that she wasn't dead.
Also relieved that her teammates were okay to after that horrible person had attacked them for no reason, she hadn't even wanted their scroll "I'm going to go change and scope out our surroundings" Sakura stood, eager to get out of her ruined clothes.
Maybe she should have summoned Mibojin to increase their clothing's durability again that settled it when she got back she was summoning the leader of her summons to upgrade their clothes "And I'll go with her why because four eyes are better than two" Shino announced.
Rising to his feet, while opening a small hole in his barrier for them to escape through temporarily, they had to really struggle and he knew he would have to work on manipulating his barrier once it had been brought up.
"Can you tell us what exactly you guys did to get us away from that woman" Kiba set his gaze on Sasuke, who was rifling through his pack, though at the question Sasuke looked up, sporting a very disgruntled frown on his face.
Before abandoning his search for a moment "Sakura kicked her in the face, then Shino set up a barrier that exploded allowing us to escape" Sasuke admitted, only that much sure because he didn't want to give away all their tricks after all.
Kiba nodded in acceptance "Yeah it was totally awesome when that snake lady went flying" Naruto sniggered thinking back to that moment and fought to keep himself from bursting into obnoxious laughter as he imagined it all over again.
Five minutes later Shino and Sakura entered the barrier again, wearing clean clothes "How did you get burned" Hinata remembered the burns she'd seen on their skin which was now missing from their flesh.
"Oh that, we were caught up in the blast from Shino's barrier, no worries though it was first degree and easily healed, anyway I think it's best we camp out here for the night then set out in the morning" the rosette assured before turning serious.
The members of Team Eight frowned "It's a good idea and all Sakura-chan but we still have to get an earth scroll there's only three and a half days left now as well" the blonde of the team sighed wishing the survival round was over already probably.
Sakura immediately turned to Sasuke who nodded then they looked to Shino, who pulled out the extra earth scroll they had "There that solves that issue and I don't feel guilty giving it to you three" the Aburame heir handed the earth scroll over to Team Eight.
Who stared at it in surprise "Guess we're all set then, want to tell me how you came by that or is it actually yours and you guys are being way to nice" the Inuzuka heir questioned stuffing the scroll in his storage pouch while Hinata carried their heaven scroll.
"Nope it's definitely not ours believe me, we snagged it from the first team we targeted, before we ran into that crazy lady from earlier on our first day, Shino decided to keep it and I'm glad he did" the next to last Uchiha shrugged.
Seeing no harm in admitting that much again "E..Either way th..thank you very much Shino-kun, S..Sakura-chan, Sasuke-kun" the blue haired heiress piped in relaxing now that she could knowing they were safe for the time being.
They each nodded before Sasuke resumed his search of his pack pulling out what he'd been looking for earlier, his food and water supply scrolls, where he unsealed some nonperishable food items to ration around so they could eat a later dinner.
Before the lot of them curled up in their sleeping bags, near cuddling with one another to ward off the chilly night air in the forest they were in, the next morning when the six genin woke up Sakura summoned the largest spider Kiba and Hinata had ever seen.
And had the spider weave his silk into their clothes for extra protection and durability while they ate they also poured over the map she'd bought trying to figure out exactly how far away they were from the tower after two days of running around trying to collect a pair of scrolls.
It was decided that they had less than four miles to go as the map was put away and the six of them ate a hasty breakfast before packing up leaving behind no evidence of their presence there "Beware of that Kabuto guy from the first round" Sasuke warned.
When they were preparing to split up, who knows who was watching after all, but they would be keeping relatively close to each other just in case of another attack while they trekked the last four miles to the tower.
"Okay I'm not even going to ask why, didn't like his scent anyway innit that right Akamaru" Kiba grunted shouldering his pack, Akamaru let out a yip of agreement at his companions question as they started on their way.
To hopefully reach the tower and get out of this blasted creepy forest that was literally trying to kill them "S..See you a..at the tower" Hinata waved watching Team Seven speed ahead of them, earning a wave back.
Plus a "Be careful" over Sakura's shoulder before the trio of close friends were out of sight, Hinata sighed and gestured for them to do the same, taking off at a break-neck speed through the tree tops because that was the fastest way right now.
"Kami I can't wait for this nightmare round to be over" Naruto shuddered as they swerved around a gigantic centipede that tried to attack them but they were going so fast that they managed to evade the insect, his two teammates couldn't help but nod in agreement.
~Meanwhile~
Four miles later the lot of them met up in front of the tower again "Guess we'll see you inside, why because we've managed our goal for the second round" Shino piped in as they found doors with their team numbers on them and disappeared into the tower.
Sasuke wanted to throw something the minute they got inside only for the three of them to be faced with yet another task "What the hell I don't understand anything anymore" the Uchiha groaned completely fed up with this sham of an exam.
"Calm down Sasuke, why all we have to do is figure out the riddle hopefully" the brunet said not looking to happy himself but reigning in his frustration better than they could sometimes, proving yet again why he was the calmest between the three of them.
When even Sakura looked ready to rip her hair out itching to no doubt as her fingers twitched but they dutifully went over to the chalkboard to read the riddle "Earthen qualities, heaven, train your mind, when heaven and earth are formed together, this something shows us the path" the pinkette read.
Jumbling the riddle together where not even her teammates could understand what she was saying making them read it as well when she just muttered to herself quietly, gears in her brain going at full force.
Until it was like a light bulb went off but she waited patiently for the boys to figure it out as well "You think it's telling us to open the scrolls now, our crazy proctor did say that we weren't allowed to until we reached the tower after all" Sasuke questioned.
Pulling out the pair of scrolls they'd had to collect in the forest "Probably but I don't quite understand the reason, why because we weren't told" Shino added watching warily as the scrolls were unraveled and lay down side by side.
Nothing, absolutely nothing happened and now they were stumped yet again on what to do "Hmm" the fuscia haired preteen hummed scanning the contents of the scroll "Aha I got it" Sakura grinned realizing what they'd done wrong.
Then arranged the scrolls to form an X completing the formula to the summoning seal, in a giant poof of smoke their sensei was before them "I must say I am rather proud of you three for making it through this forest in only two days" Shibi greeted.
Eyeing his students carefully but he didn't see any reason to be alarmed until Sakura opened her mouth "Um Shibi-sensei, the Sound Genin participating in the exam is working for Orochimaru, they said so themselves not only that but Orochimaru wants Sasuke dead" the pinkette burst out.
"Well that's cause for alarm, Hokage-sama will be informed rest assured Sakura, now go on through that door okay and rest up" the Aburame Patriarch gestured his students through the door so they could rest easy the next few days.
His son nodding to him as he passed by "Indeed we will why because after the last couple of days I think we've earned it" the brunet huffed clearly unnerved by what they'd been put through in the forest for their Chunin Exams.
"See you sensei" the raven called as the door shut and the three of them met up with Team Eight on the other side, found their way to the cafeteria that was in the tower, ate a warm dinner, took showers, dressed in clean clothes and then found somewhere to sleep to catch up on some Z's.