Introverted
Chapter Twenty-One
There was a moment of silence as the man, Ibiki Morino, snapped off with the rules of his test. Naruto found himself seated next to a Hyuga girl with raven hair and the usual white eyes of the clan, who seemed to be sheepishly fidgeting with her fingers.
"You will answer ten questions, of which the tenth will be revealed at the end. Each of them will grant two points, just as two points will be removed if you are discovered cheating. Once you are discovered five times you will be expelled. These rules will change with the passing of time, and they might become either laxer or stricter as the time goes by." Ibiki smiled savagely, widening his arms.
"You have one hour! Begin!" and with that, Naruto turned to his test. He briefly glanced at the questions and then nearly gurgled in pain. There was no way he could answer any of those. He skimmed to the last one, which simply stated.
The last question will be available at the forty-fifth minute of the test.
Closing his eyes, he began to quietly drum his right fingers on the wood board, while his left hand went behind his back, fingers crossed and moving as he faked scratching his head.
"S-O-S?" he used the Aoba-code, before returning his gaze to the paper once more. Really, how was he supposed to know what the velocity of a kunai falling from a fourth floor was meant to be? And why did it matter together with the migratory path of ducks?
Five minutes had passed by in silence, before a meek voice whispered next to him.
"N-Naru…Naruto, you c-can…copy from me," the Hyuga stammered out. Did he know her? He supposed he did, wasn't she Hinaba…Hinata! He shook his head. He didn't doubt for a second her whispered words had been heard already by the Chuunin proctors, and he wasn't going to cost his team points. He was sure Sai was going to provide support for this.
Ibiki Morino watched calmly and coldly the Genin who were trying to cheat. He frowned in disgust as he realized many were simply trying to write down whatever they could think of, rather than actually copy. The pink-haired Genin of Konoha, one of Aoba's Genin, was among them. He doubted even for a second that someone could have the answers to those tests. The raven haired boy had instead been drawing on his test with a paint brush.
Really, the only one who had barely done anything had been the raven haired Jinchuuriki. He had used the right hand to mock a Morse code, forcing attention on that hand and the rhythm rather than on his left hand, that had gone behind his back to relay something to his teammates. He didn't take points. The method was sound and difficult to catch.
Aoba had been a colleague. He had a mild way of getting into your head by just talking, and he didn't doubt for a second that his team was going to pass without casualties, at least the first part of the exam. He was actually barely holding himself from erupting with glee. His 'Death Test' had finally been approved for usage. Sure, there were some limitations…but mostly? He was free to have fun.
Ten minutes later, and one of his kunai struck one of the Chuunin he had ordered to disguise as Genin.
It apparently struck the shinobi straight in the jugular, as the Chuunin actually replaced himself with a prepared corpse. A seal array prepared beforehand dropped the body on the ground as blood sprayed out in its place. The red tinted mist of blood shocked those nearby, eliciting a few wide eyed stares of fright and. Many suddenly found themselves on their feet.
"SIT DOWN!" Ibiki barked out immediately.
Sakura had both her hands covering her mouth, while Sai remained unfazed and one of the few still seated. Naruto had gone up, kunai in hand. The Jinchuuriki held onto the weapon for a moment more, before begrudgingly taking the seat again.
The rest of the Genin followed with hesitation. It had been one of Konoha's team to be killed, so they didn't know what to expect.
"Team twenty-one, out!" Ibiki then barked the command, as the rest of the Genin assembled simply shuddered, their eyes filled with fear. Team Twenty-One, composed of the fake Genin, actually stood up slowly while doing their best 'scared out of their wits' imitation.
"I was nearly forgetting," Ibiki smirked as he licked his lips. "You all signed a form before entering the exam. If you haven't read it before taking this test, then know this: you are imbeciles. It grants all proctors the ability to make their tests lethal. In this case, I have deemed it necessary that once you are discovered cheating I will also attack you once. Should you fail to dodge and should you die…that is not my concern."
Naruto ground his teeth as he tried to recall the paper he had given back to his sensei. Yes, there had been a clause about 'potential deaths at the hand of the shinobi participating in the exam', but it hadn't pointed out specifically that the proctors themselves were enabled to kill.
This exam suddenly reached a new level, especially with the fact that rules could change at a whim of the proctor.
If the man wanted, he could attack those who swore, or spoke, or breathed too heavily. It wasn't a system fair to the one being tested, and yet…he looked to where the Hyuga girl was sitting, her face completely pale and her entire body shuddering. She was scared.
Had she never seen death before taking the exam? He recalled hearing that being a Chuunin didn't actually require having killed before. Still, this test was probably meant to shake out the too-scared-to-think shinobi. They routinely lived with death and fear, and unless they could withstand this pressure…
"This wasn't said before!" a Suna kunoichi exclaimed then. The girl had her blond hair tied in four short pig-tails, and she was nervously holding a small fan with her free left hand. "You said you would take points! You should warn us when you change the rules!"
"The battlefield does not warn you when it changes!" Ibiki snarled back. "Do you think battles are fought with laws strictly placed? In fifteen minutes or fifteen seconds, I might change the rules again! You two, take the body of your comrade and get out of here! The rest…if you want to leave, then say so now! Maybe next year, you will find someone who makes a test with boring and easy-to-follow rules!"
Many teams just upped and left after that, the ones closest to the fake body were especially traumatized, and quite a few who didn't have the guts to go through with cheating soon followed afterwards. Those who had actually managed to get some answers remained however, since they could just stop cheating and simply wait there for the end of the lesson.
Ibiki smiled. He began to twirl a kunai in his right hand as the Suna kunoichi sat back down and began to sweat. He kept his eyes trained on her for a moment more, before deftly throwing the kunai at a Kirigakure Genin who was trying to hastily copy from his neighbor since there was a big enough distraction with people leaving.
The boy's throat was actually slashed with precision by the passing steel projectile. Blood oozed out as he barely held on the wound with his hands pressed against it, before falling on the ground with a dull thud.
"No-one's exempted. I hope you know how to dodge," Ibiki smiled as he gestured for the exit. The two surviving Kiri shinobi actually left without giving a glance back to their teammate. Kiri shinobi weren't known of the 'Bloody Mist' for no reason, and this was pretty tame compared to what they usually went through.
A couple more cracked in the following minutes, as the scent of blood began to fill the air —nobody made a move to remove the corpses after all, be they real or fake.
Naruto watched with fascination as the Hyuga near him seemed to be breathing erratically, actually scared both of bringing her hand up and at the same time of remaining in the room. She was apparently torn and fighting herself over what to do. He didn't know much about the Hyugas, but considering they might be a pretty big clan in Konoha, it was probable she didn't want to look weak.
He shook his head slowly. The girl should have left when the time had come. Never mind the fact he still had to receive any answers back from one of his teammates.
A small slithering of black caught Ibiki's attention, and as he deftly threw one kunai at the strange ink snake, he narrowed his eyes.
He began to look towards the paint-brush wielding Genin. He knew it had been him, but he hadn't caught him on the act yet. So, he waited. Time kept on slowly passing by. He turned to gaze at the Jinchuuriki, who was now writing furiously on his exam paper. He smirked. The snake had been a decoy.
"Very well," he finally said as the teams had dwindled down enough, smirking as he watched all look at him like rabbits caught in a trap. "Now the explosive tags beneath your seats will activate. If you try and move from your seat, in an effort to dodge while I attack you, they will explode. They are directional, so they will only —hopefully— take out you. Of course they are also linked to those of your teammates. So should yours explode, theirs would soon follow."
Kankuro began to sweat. He couldn't leave for the bathroom then. He couldn't copy. Gaara was going to kill him.
He began to mutter prayers as he watched a few of the students raise their hands to surrender again. A shinobi of grass was the first to stand after the proctor nodded to him. The next instant, a twin explosion set off, turning to a bunch of gore and blood his two teammates. The shinobi looked with wide and disbelieving eyes at the pieces of flesh and muscle that once were his friends.
The rest of the class watched with fear, as those who had also raised their hands to surrender quickly brought them down.
"I was forgetting…if you surrender now, then your teammates will still die. Giving up halfway on a battlefield usually means the death of your teammates after all," the grass shinobi screamed incoherently, as he tried to charge ahead at the Chuunin only to be beheaded by the two closest proctors with a swift blow.
There was now blood everywhere, thick and coppery scented. Naruto felt himself becoming incredibly queasier as time passed. If they couldn't surrender, then…
Sakura was in agony. She couldn't believe they were doing this as an examination. She had told her parents it was going to be something easy! She had even dusted off her books and had crammed a few hours of studying in her program too! This…she felt the need to retch, but she couldn't stand…not without making her teammates die.
She clenched her fists and breathed deeply. Steeling her gaze, she watched both Naruto's and Sai's gaze move to her and then to the other. They smiled for a moment, and then nodded. She nodded back with a small smile. There was no way they were going to die here, in an exam.
"The rules will change again and again before the end of the exam, but know this: the last question will either see your entire team leave alive…or fail. Unless you surrender, in which case you walk away, but your teammates die. This is the true face of the shinobi mission Chuunins will have to take! Feel the tension in the air, smell the blood of your fellow Genin! You are no longer children from this moment hence!"
Ibiki then waited. Soon, he watched as teammates turned against teammates in an effort to decide whether they would stay or not. Time passed by with an increasing panic and tension, as a few more, especially from Kirigakure, choose to surrender and let their teammates die. Finally, for the last question, Ibiki took a step forward.
Naruto watched as the Hyuga seemed to tense, before suddenly relaxing.
"Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered with bated breath. "If I die…know that I—"
"Silence!" Ibiki yelled to the room, freezing the girl on her spot. Naruto raised an eyebrow perplexed, before turning to look at what the proctor had to say.
"This last question, it is an all or nothing. If a member of your team does not want to take this question, he or she may be able to leave with her teammates. If you answer correctly, you will pass no matter what your total score was. If you answer wrongly, you will die." He licked his lips. "The last time I did this test, not a single Genin who took the question survived."
"I…I giv…urk!" Ami's voice had barely been heard, but was soon muted by Shikamaru's quiet usage of his clan's technique. The Nara wasn't going to risk it. Konoha was based on teammates. It had always been. The way the man had worded the sentence furthermore gave him credit —being able to leave and 'leaving' were different.
A few more Genin decided to leave. He watched as group after group left the room, nothing strange happening to them as they walked through the doors… until in the end they remained considerably less than when they had started…
From the Twenty-Nine teams of Konoha, only Team Five, Eight, Nine, Ten and Thirteen remained. From Suna, there was only one team made of the red-haired guy. From Iwagakure, two teams were currently standing confidently on their seats. From Amegakure, Takigakure, Otogakure and Kusagakure one team each had survived. The majority had either died earlier or was currently being herded off.
From one hundred fifty-three Genin, they were now reduced to barely thirty-six —only twelve teams out of fifty-one.
Thankfully they had not gone to Mist. It had been years since an exam in Mist ended with more than three survivors, out of the one hundred that usually went to take their exams there.
He wondered why his sensei had forced him to accept this, or if he knew of the dangers of the Exams from the very beginning. Death seemed counterproductive, especially when it came to their forces, but maybe it was the examiner himself?
Maybe the ones 'killed' of Konoha hadn't actually been killed. The array might have had some sort of transportation thing inked on it, and that placed the Genin elsewhere. Or maybe they were all false Genin, and in truth his team was the only one truly participating in the exam. Shikamaru sighed as Ibiki clapped his hands together.
"Those of you who have remained! Congratulation!" Ibiki laughed. The man laughed heartily as he began to clap stronger, soon followed by the rest of the proctors. "You have passed the first exam, the Death Test! To test your resolve in face of certain doom, to be a true shinobi! To acquire information, to battle against your fears and your fright! Well done, Shinobi and Kunoichi! Well done!"
Sakura sat there numbly. Next to her, a corpse cleanly dissected in half was still bleeding all over her right shoulder. She hadn't surrendered because she had been frozen in her position, with her eyes wide. What had she done? What were they doing? This was madness. This was utter madness. They were in a room filled with blood and corpses, and people were clapping their hands at them! They were clapping and the one in the middle was laughing!
"You may now stand, the arrays have been deactivated," as soon as the man said that practically everyone stood on their feet, looking at each other and leaving to near his or her teammates. A few of the proctors began to clean away the bodies, while Sakura just stood there, frozen, until a hand settled on her shoulder.
"Cherry," Sai spoke calmly. "Come with me."
"Ah! Ha…Hai," she muttered back half-dazed, gently gripping Sai's arm to get up on her feet. She moved out behind him, reaching for a corner of the room devoid of proctors or other Genin.
Naruto watched with interest as they seemed to be opening a window, probably to let the air change itself. He didn't understand why —he was starting to like the smell. He felt the gaze of Gaara on him, and turned to look once more at the red haired Suna shinobi. They locked eyes.
"Shukaku, the youngest. The last to be born and the one-tail of the desert. Where he goes, misery follows. Be it pain or suffering, the harsh winds and the scorching sand of the desert will provide it." The Kyuubi was gleeful as he spoke. "We turned to glass a village filled with sins once. His sand covered the amoral humans, my fire burned their wicked flesh, and our winds nurtured the flames of purification. It was a pretty thing to watch, and it made the most delicious noise when it broke to pieces."
"Excuse me," a voice unfamiliar with Naruto spoke near him, forcing him to turn his gaze towards…a blushing short red haired girl from Kusagakure with crimson eyes. She was wearing a pair of black rimmed glasses, and a brown jacket that didn't at all hide her underlining black shirt. "I wondered…could you help me?"
He watched as the Kusa kunoichi seemed to fidget for a moment, before extending a hand. "I'm Karin, Karin Uzumaki! Do you know where I can find a cheap blacksmith that sells Shinobi supplies?"
She smiled at him. His heart stopped.
This looked too good to be true.
"I'm…I'm Naruto," he replied with a slight smile. "What a coincidence, I'm…an Uzumaki too."
"Really?" Karin's eyes widened. "What was your father's name? Maybe we're three times removed cousins or something!"
"Ah, I…It's my mother," he stammered out. "Kushina, she was called Kushina."
Karin scrunched her face for a moment, before shaking her head. "Nope, haven't heard of her! Well! I didn't know there were any Uzumaki left in Konoha, not after the destruction of Uzushio…many were quite bitter with…"
"Ahem," Sakura coughed, her eyes suddenly getting her sharpness back. "Naruto? Why are you talking with a foreign Kunoichi?"
Sai's ears perked up. He actually was more surprised it was the 'kunoichi' part that was a problem to Sakura, and not the 'foreign'…at least, if body language was of any indication.
"Kusa and Konoha are allies," Karin remarked. "And if this first exam is like this, it's better to have allies than enemies, no?"
"Is this the diplomatic attitude of your country?" Sakura smiled sweetly, venom dripping down her words. She closed her eyes and cocked her head to the side, while within her a raging voice was starting to scream about murdering the bitch.
"Sakura?" Naruto asked perplexed. "She's an Uzumaki like me!" he exclaimed then. "She's family!" Naruto schooled his features a second later. The Kyuubi hadn't been whispering anything about her being filled with evil intentions, but then again it was also the fox's choice on what to tell him or not so…maybe she was lying. Still…
Sakura's eyes softened at those words, only for Karin's face to morph into a light grin. Never before had the crimson-eyed girl thought about it…but she could read their chakra emissions, and since every little bit helped on the long run…
"We're probably, at the very least, cousins thrice-removed," she pointed out. "We could," she blushed, "restart the c—"
"SHANNARO!" Sakura screamed, nearly jumping on the red haired girl who faked trembling and hiding behind Naruto's back.
"Sakura?" Naruto asked once more, this time worried. "Are you all right?"
"Th…That! Stop hiding behind him!" the pink-haired girl snarled —a tick mark clearly visible on her forehead.
"He has such a strong back," Karin cooed. Her hands gently touching Naruto's shoulders. "So…stiff, maybe you would need…"
Naruto fidgeted and slightly blushed at such a display of affection, before schooling his features once more. It wouldn't do to lower one's guard around a flirt. It was a common technique used by kunoichi after all, wasn't it?
"Y-You…You…" Sakura's breath began to grow shorter as she seemed to be panting in order to keep her rage in check. "Get your hands away from my teammate, you whore!"
"Sakura!" just as Naruto exclaimed that, a figure entered through the window.
A purple haired kunoichi with a fishnet shirt and a brown trench coat smiled, waving her right hand as she held in her mouth a Dango stick. Her scandalous miniskirt was dark brown, and as she boringly began to twirl a kunai, she exclaimed.
"Well then, you the brats who survived?" she smiled as she licked her lips. "My name is Anko Mitarashi! I'll be your proctor for the next part of the exams…I'll cut your numbers down to nine; just you wait and see…"
She turned towards Ibiki, a feral smile on her lips. "You went ballistic, huh?"
"It was fun, I admit," the head of the Torture and Interrogation unit replied. "They were squirming in their seats and a few pissed in their pants too."
"Ah!" Anko sighed melodramatically. "I knew I should have taken the first bout rather than the second!"
The woman gave one more look around, taking in the Genin faces. Suddenly, her eyes glinted dangerously as she licked her lips and began to slowly walk forward. She stopped a few steps away from Sakura, eying her appraisingly up and down.
"Look who's here! My budding apprentice!"
"Uh?" the fact Sakura was the one to actually answer that told volumes about whether the girl knew or not about this.
"I watched the security videos! You're wicked! Didn't think you'd have it in you with your curriculum, but don't worry! The moment you're out of the Genin corps I'll take good care of you!" Anko coyly spoke, blowing a light amount of air on Sakura's ear and turning the girl scarlet.
"Anyway!" the purple haired woman said once more, moving away from the stammering Sakura who was mumbling apologies for some reason to her teammates, "All off to training ground Forty-Four! Follow the leader!"
And she was off. Before Sakura could stammer out anything more than half-stuttered apologies, the rest of the Genin had already begun to run out of the window behind the crazy instructor. Sai just pushed Sakura, and that was the thing the girl needed to start running. Naruto was behind them as they left the room, the proctors grinning like mad the moment the last of the Genin left.
"Anyone found out?" Ibiki remarked, as the Konohagakure Genin teams he had 'killed' suddenly dropped down from their spots on the walls or on the ceiling.
"No," one of them remarked. "We'll be moving to the Training Area Forty-Four then sir, to shadow the teams."
"Do that," Ibiki nodded, watching as the group of Chuunin left once more. The corpses of the enemy's village Genin were all sacked; their blood and bodies would help the research department. "I suppose the Hokage will be happy. "
"It was a nice catch this year, sir," another of the proctors remarked with a small smile. "I remember my own exam. We lost a few too didn't we?"
"Quite a bit," his colleague remarked. "All randomly drawn from the Genin corps. Then again…give so that they may give back in turn, right?"
"Yeah," the first Chuunin shook his head. "Yeah," he added then bitterly.
The forest of Death loomed over the horizon as a giant mixture of plants, venomous creatures and flesh-eating monsters. No Genin could step inside and hope to survive the night. No-one was so mad to try.
Shikamaru hoped against all odds that there was the distinctive chance to renounce the exam before starting the second part. He wanted to stop. He wanted to go in a corner and remain there. The fact the civilian girl, Ami, was completely different from the other old man and was shivering in fright didn't bode well at all.
Chouji had to carry her all the way to the training ground in question, while the girl was screaming in fright every step of the way.
"I don't want to!" she pleaded, as she was finally released on the ground, in the midst of the other Genin who had dutifully followed the proctor.
"Very well! Gather round!" Anko widened her arms as she smirked. "The forest of Death is in front of you! In here, you will spend five days and five nights, you and your teammates, trying to fight for your continued survival! Here are the rules!" she brought up a single purple-colored scroll from her leather jacket. "There are a total of ten scrolls within the forest," she smiled then, looking like some sort of crazy-maniac with a thirst for blood. "To pass, you must gather one of the scrolls per person. You will not be disqualified should one of your teammates die, but you will be disqualified should five day elapse without you obtaining a scroll. You must present yourself to the tower at the center of the training ground at the end of the fifth day, and not before! You will scavenge, survive and fight within this forest filled with dangerous beasts, and since there are ten scrolls you will either ally yourself with others or be mercilessly slaughtered!" the woman cackled.
"I don't want to participate!" Ami screeched. There were tears running down her cheeks, "Please, I don't—"
Shikamaru saw it coming, but could only widen his eyes as he saw the kunai strike through the girl's right eye, slam in her brain and kill her on the spot as blood oozed out from the wound copiously. He froze and opened his mouth slightly, in shock. Chouji actually let his pack of chips fall on the ground at such a display.
"To give up halfway is death; didn't Ibiki teach you so in the previous exam?" Anko laughed, before letting the Kunai twirl. "Seems like your team will start with only two persons inside," she remarked towards Shikamaru, who nodded numbly. There went his decision to leave…
As well as Ami. The civilian girl had always been a sort-of second rate kunoichi. She was similar to Ino, because she screamed just like her or expected them to do things just like her…yet at the same time she wasn't at all like the Yamanaka. She didn't have any clan jutsu to help her, and in this…battle royal, she would have been a weight.
But to kill her? That was…harsh.
"Oh right! I was nearly forgetting this little rule!" Anko exclaimed, catching everyone's attention once more. "You must present yourself in a three man team when you deliver the scrolls, unless you are the last and the tenth one, or you can present yourself in a four man team. So, to recap: ten of you, either three teams of three members and one extra or two teams of three members and one of four. There is a difference. No 'five members' or 'eight members' things. There will be Three, Four, Seven, Nine or Ten. Understood!?"
There was silence. Not even the wind could do something against the tension that was now thick in the air.
Naruto and Sai had instinctively moved near Sakura, their hands already on their weapons. The girl too was subconsciously moving her left hand to one of the explosive tags her sensei had gifted her. She had a feeling she was going to use them sooner than later.
"You will be moved to a random gate now —good luck, and hope you die quickly!"
Naruto gave one last look at the Hyuga girl, who seemed to be trying to say something to him but couldn't, before gazing for just a second to another Hyuga boy, who seemed to be pointing his finger at the girl and receiving frowns and shaking heads from the rest of his teammates —a girl with a pair of buns on her head and the guy who had talked with them before and was a Taijutsu expert.
"We must find three scrolls, then wait and move to the tower," Sakura muttered as they stood in front of their gates.
"That is the strategy everyone else is going to adopt," Naruto whispered back.
"Some might prefer to lower the enemies, killing the rest of the teams to look for the scrolls with more ease," Sakura frowned. "We must be careful. They could try and create a double four team…and that would actually stop two other shinobi from participating in the end exam…"
"Meaning that we would have to kill a shinobi from one of the four-man teams," Naruto said. "Chouji and Shikamaru could ally themselves with Kiba's team and one more."
"Team five, or team nine," Sakura stated. "It's pretty clear-cut that way. They are both from Konoha. The only way to fight that would be a nine-man team plus one."
"It's more in depth than what I thought it was," Naruto winced. "It forces you to ally, and at the same time it obliges you to choose who to let pass and who not to: it's not like they can expect to find all ten scrolls after all, and smaller teams cover more area quickly."
"Mobility versus safety versus objective completeness," Sakura retorted. "We should begin by finding three scrolls, hiding them and feigning indifference…but the Hyuga are going to be a bitch."
"Pale eyes can see through walls," Sai quipped in. "Pre-emptive attack or alliance would work."
"So it would depend on which side they are on," Sakura retorted. "They could both go with Shikamaru —he's a Nara, and they're renowned for being smart."
"No," Naruto shook his head. "I read the Hyuga boy's lips. He asked his teammates to attack and kill Hinata's team. They are never going to be allies."
"The older team is a more decisive viability for Shikamaru, if he can get them to work with him and one more team," Sakura mumbled. "We need to find allies."
"Not with Suna," Naruto shook his head. "Whatever happens, we avoid Suna like the plague."
"I still haven't asked you," Sakura said, looking at Naruto with a bit of apprehension. "What's the deal with the red-head boy?"
"Jinchuuriki," Naruto replied quickly. "He's one, just like me…so his power must be off the scales. No fighting him. He's at least on Crap-Seven to be safe."
Sakura nodded thoughtfully. "What about…your 'family'?" the girl snorted. "You agreed to help her, didn't you?"
"After this exam, I think," Naruto replied slowly. "And we could ally ourselves with the older Hyuga team and the Kusa team."
"Why? Because she says she's family? Naruto, you can't trust people like this." Sakura bitterly snarled.
"I'm…I'm not," he widened his eyes, before shaking his head. "But if she is…then I would never forgive myself. And if we can't find enough scrolls, then we might be able to win against them without bloodshed since they're apparently weak."
"Do we fight to kill?" Sai queried. "Even Konoha shinobi?"
"That's the problem, isn't it?" Naruto answered. "We need to verify if they have a scroll before, and only then do we attack. We don't have the Hyuga eyes, so we need one of their teams on our side. And the rest of the shinobi in the other teams…" his voice suddenly grew weak. "Oh shit."
"They are all going to try and get a Hyuga on their team," Sakura paled as she realized that. "They can see through walls and things. They are the apt card to play…and the only way to ensure their help…"
"Is to slaughter the rest of the Konoha teams. If you can't ally with your friends, then your enemies are your only choice…"
"Shit," Sakura cussed. "Shit! Double shit!"
The bell rang to the right of their gate, as the doors of steel slowly opened inwardly. Quickly, they began to run in formation with Sai as the point, the boy drawing a horde of mice on a parchment. With a pulse of chakra, the mice scattered from his parchment to the bushes and trees around them.
"Eyes enabled!" Sai exclaimed, moving backwards and leaving the point to Naruto.
"We move in formation. Head for the river, fill the flasks, retreat and start looking for the Hyuga team," Naruto commented fast. "If we can't find them, we begin our search for the scrolls."
"Understood!" both Sakura and Sai replied.
"Move the radio frequency to channel Nine-Nine-Four, keep communication to a minimum," Naruto ordered once more —sweat already coming down his face as the tension of the situation settled in. With a deft jump, he avoided a nest of poisonous snakes that darted out in answer to the tremor of their running.
"Keep to the undergrowth," he buzzed. "Sai, overwatch from Eyes?"
"Negative."
"We will reach the river by night if we keep up this speed," Sakura commented. "Do we have poisons?"
"Affirmative," Sai remarked. "General adrenaline pills too."
"Guys," Naruto said firmly, his eyes shining ahead with determination. "We can do this."
"Of course," Sakura replied with a small smile.
"Never said no, Dickless," Sai quipped. "But I will to your homosexual advances. Please don't make them."
Naruto groaned. Sakura held her fist clenched but steady. She'd start a tally count. By the time they were out of there, she's deliver the beating of all beatings to Sai.
But not until they were out of there. Not until then, because…
Because they were going to make it, no matter what. They weren't going to die there.
She still had to decide what to do with Naruto after all. She had kissed him on the cheek, and he hadn't said anything about it. Was it a no? A tacit 'let's fake nothing happened'? If something was there however…wouldn't that mean she would have to change teams?
She felt a pair of hands push her to the side, just in time to avoid a leech as big as a giant dog fall down on the spot she would have been a moment before.
"Concentrate now, Cherry," Sai said calmly. "Think porn of me and Naruto later."
She felt heat reach her cheeks as the image just…the images just appeared. She wasn't a pervert!
"Sai!" she hissed. She shook her head then, a smile on her face. "I'm making a tally. When this is over…prepare for the check."
This one? She'd count it triple.
Sai just quietly nodded, before resuming his duty. He would have to be careful. He had another mission within the forest after all, one that Danzo-sama had specifically given to him to prove once more his loyalty to Root.
The Hyuga Heiress…she had to die.
Author's notes
First test. Second test begins.
Blood. Love the blood. Don't you love the blood?
And Sakura-Sai banter. Love the banter.
I changed the tests…while keeping the tests. I just added death. Death and gore. Blood.