A/N: This chapter took longer than I planned, and I hope that you guys are okay with it. It's longer than I planned on it being, sorry about that. I didn't want to make two separate chapters for the end of the second exam.
It had taken Sakura almost an hour of nonstop traveling to find somewhere to set up camp. Transporting both Sasuke and Naruto to the tree they now lay under had sapped all of her chakra and energy, and all she could hope for was one of them waking up soon.
Her hope diminished slowly with every glance in their direction.
Naruto was running a fever and might possibly have a concussion from the amount of times he had been slammed against those trees by Orochimaru's snake, plus she still had no idea what he went through prior to showing up late to their battle.
The mark on Sasuke's neck was giving off a terrifying aura, and Sakura was certain he was beginning to develop a fever as well. The rise of his chest was practically non existent, his breathing having slowed dramatically since he received the bite.
Sakura wasn't prepared for this.
When they discussed their plans prior to the exams, none of them included the boys passing out and leaving her alone. For all her training, she knew she wasn't ready for a battle like the one they had just faced. The earth jutsu she learned wasn't like Sasuke and Narutos, she couldn't just use it whenever. Her reserves weren't meant for heavy ninjutsu battles, and the genjutsu she knew was meant to be used as a distraction.
I can't do this. Please wake up.
She had always been able to count on her boys to be there for her to lean on, to save the day. Sakura wasn't at their level, two weeks just wasn't enough time to increase her skills to be on par with the rest of her team.
If she made it out of this alive-
When she made it out of this alive, she would work even harder to make sure she never ended up in this situation again.
During Sasuke's battle against Orochimaru, she had been frozen. Paralyzed with fear, the image of her own death replaying in her mind every time she laid her eyes on the dangerous shinobi.
Sakura had thought Zabuza was terrifying, this Orochimaru was on a completely different level. Zabuza's killing intent hadn't frightened her the way the sound ninja's did, hadn't caused a searing pain to rip through her skin.
Even the sound of the wind brushing through the trees was enough to put her on edge, the fear from before ready to creep back in and restrict her movements. Her grip on her kunai was shaky, and her hand was beginning to cramp from how tightly she was holding onto the metal.
I have to keep them safe. I can't fall asleep.
Before she knew it, night had turned into day.
She hadn't slept a wink, unable to with the knowledge that she was the only barrier between the enemy and her teammates. The lousy traps she had set up probably wouldn't fool a genin, let alone an academy student, but she didn't have much choice.
It was her job to protect them.
Thankfully, her chakra had slowly come back to her during the night, though she was nowhere near full. It was something at least, and that was better than nothing.
As time went on though, Sakura felt exhaustion catching up to her, and was beginning to struggle to keep her eyes open.
You have to...you have to stay awake. Don't-
"Some lookout. You're half asleep."
Her eyes snapped open at the unknown voice, a cold chill running through her body.
Please be a dream.
"At least you don't have to keep watch anymore." The unknown voice chuckled as Sakura's head snapped around to see who was speaking.
Three sound genin were standing before, confidence oozing off of them. The boy on the left had dark spiky hair and a grin on his face. His forehead protector had a happuri attached to the cloth. The one in the middle, the unknown voice, had most of his face wrapped in bandages, besides a singular eye. The female of the group had long, dark hair that almost reached the ground.
Even in her sleep deprived brain, she knew they carried the same headband Orochimaru did.
If they are anything like him, I won't make it through this alive.
"Wake Sasuke up. We have business with him." The one in the middle ordered, his one eye narrowed at her as he took in her every move.
Shakily standing up, Sakura slid a kunai out of her holster before sliding into a battle stance,
"I know you guys are working for Orochimaru, so tell me what you really want, and what the mark on Sasuke's neck is!"
Sakura watched as they all glanced at each other, they seemed to be speaking but she was unable to hear their words from where she stood. Tightening her grip on her kunai, Sakura prepared herself for the battle she was about to face.
"I'll just kill her, and then we can take care of Sasuke ourselves." The one on the right spoke loud enough for her to hear, glancing in her direction with a smirk. "Let me handle her, it'll be over quick."
"Wait Zaku," The middle one spoke, "Try not to be too loud, we don't need anyone coming to her rescue."
With that, Zaku dashed towards her without a hint of hesitation, easily maneuvering through the traps she had set.
I can't do this.
Sakura shoved her hand into her pouch and pulled out a handful of shuriken, flinging them in Zaku's direction as she began to form the hand signs for the clone technique. She was forced to pause as Zaku easily lifted his hands and blasted the shuriken back towards her, a few slicing into her skin on impact.
On Zaku's palms sat a hollow tube, which Sakura could assume was chakra controlled. Cursing, Sakura took up a kunai again and decided to let Zaku make the first move. She could hear her own heartbeat, the thumping loud in her ears.
The sound genin scoffed at her lack of initiative and rushed towards her again, intent on taking her down quickly so they could finish up Sasuke.
When Zaku closed in on Sakura, she narrowly avoided his fist as she ducked down into a crouch, sweeping a leg out in hopes of knocking him down. Jumping up, Zaku kicked out with a leg aimed for her face, one that Sakura barely managed to shove away with a slash of her kunai. Having just barely nicked his ankle, Zaku twisted and placed his hands on the ground as he flipped away from the girl.
"So the little girl does know how to use the kunai." Zaku spoke, eyes hardening as he slipped into a basic taijutsu stance. In one hand lay a kunai, his grip tight around the handle. "You won't be so lucky this time."
Bracing herself for another taijutsu battle, Sakura slid into her own stance. Once again, Zaku ran towards her, though this time he moved faster than before. Her lack of sleep had affected her movements, slowing down her reflexes. Just barely blocking the fist aimed for her stomach, Sakura didn't have enough time to move away quickly enough from the kunai.
The metal sliced open her skin, a deep cut from spanning from the middle of her forehead and curving just below her left eye.
Crying out in pain at the searing pain, similar to what she had felt when subjected to Orochimaru's killing intent, she was unable to block Zaku's next attack. With her mind focused on the pain, Sakura had been unable to avoid the blast from the device in Zaku's hand. The force of the air sent her body tumbling to the side, hands scraping against the ground as she tried to catch herself.
Shaking, Sakura began to lift herself off the ground, only to be shoved back down by a sharp kick to her jaw, blood welling from where she bit into her tongue. Wincing when her head made contact with the hard ground, she was unable to move away in time as Zaku straddled her.
With blood dripping down her face and the taste of iron in her mouth, Sakura was only able to stare up at Zaku in terror as he loomed over her.
"Hurry up Zaku, I'm getting bored." The bandaged covered genin called out from his spot near the trees, and Sakura was only given a moment to breathe before Zaku's hands wrapped around her throat.
She could feel the tubes on his palms digging into the skin of her neck, his grip tightening-
I can't breathe.
Her chest tightened up, vision swimming in black as his hands tightened around her neck. Sakura's own hands tugged at his, nails digging into his wrists as she tried to pull them away from her neck.
The scratches she left behind didn't cause him to budge, the slight sting not even showing on his face. Instead, there was glee in his eyes as he had successfully taken her down.
An image of Naruto and Sasuke sprung into her mind, both of them smiling and waving at her to follow them.
I'm sorry. I failed you, please forgive me.
Her boys faded away as Kakashi took their place, his words from just before the first exam ringing in her ears. His eyes betrayed his smile, arms open wide for a hug.
I'm proud of you.
Using the last of her strength, Sakura's hand reached blindly for the kunai lying next to her, that she had dropped when Zaku had sent her flying moments before. With no hesitation, as soon as her hand wrapped around the metal she dug the kunai up to the hilt into his shoulder.
Having been caught off guard by the sudden pain, Zaku's hands loosened around her throat, giving her just enough time to form the hand signs for Iwa no Yoroi.
Feeling the earth chakra flowing through her skin, forming a hard barrier between his hands and her throat, Sakura's hand wrapped around the kunai once more as she jerked it out of his skin, a spray of blood spurting onto her from the wound.
"Wha-" Zaku was given no time to react as Sakura took advantage of the situation and gripped his wrists tightly, tugging them away from her throat just before she flipped them over using her new strength from the jutsu.
I only have a moment. Make it count.
Her throat felt like it was on fire with every breath she took, a drop of blood slipping from her lips and landing on Zaku's cheek just before her fist connected with his jaw.
Sakura was only able to get a few hits in, because one moment she was straddling Zaku and the next there was a hand grabbing onto her braid and dragging her off of him.
Her hands scrambled to grab at the hand tugging at her hair, until she felt the familiar flicker of the earth jutsu ending. Her chakra levels were getting dangerously low now, and a sob caught on her throat as she realized that this might be the end.
Please wake up. I need you.
"Damn it Zaku." The voice above her snarled, shaking Sakura's head hard with the grip she had on her hair. It was the female teammate, the one that hadn't spoken yet. "Can't even trust you to take care of some lousy genin."
Zaku heaved himself up with a grunt of pain, rubbing his jaw in anger. The blood dripping from his shoulder had slowed down to a trickle, though he paid no attention to the wound.
"Just kill her, Kin."
Kin only laughed, very obviously having no plans on following his orders.
"You had your fun, it's my turn."
Braid wrapped around Kin's hand, the girl tugged harshly at her hair once again, smirking at the small inhale of pain she heard from her victim. "I bet you're proud of this hair. Maybe if you spent more time training, as opposed to taking care of this, you wouldn't be stuck here."
Sakura dug her fingers into her thigh, not taking her eyes off her teammates underneath the tree. Her cheeks were damp, fresh tears welled up in her eyes as she resigned to her fate.
I'm-
"Go ahead and wake Sasuke up. I want her to watch her friends die before we kill her."
Kin's words forced something in her brain to snap, eyes narrowing as her resolve hardened.
She didn't care if she died here, it didn't matter. Sakura wasn't going to watch them die first though, not here.
Slipping a hand to her kunai holster, Sakura pulled her last kunai out, the other having been used to put up traps, and prepared herself for what was going to happen next.
"You really think that will work on me? You got lucky with Zaku." Kin laughed as she saw the kunai in Sakura's hand, causing the girl to tilt her head slightly to glance up her.
"It's not meant for you."
Bringing the kunai up, Sakura gripped Kin's wrist tightly as the other used the weapon to forcefully slice through the top half of her braid. Before the hair even hit the ground, and Kin could react, Sakura had tugged hard on her wrist and sent her falling forward, leaning over her shoulder. With adrenaline fueling her movements, Sakura let go of her wrist and rolled out of the way as Kin hit the ground, hands catching herself before her face smashed into the dirt.
In one swift move, Sakura placed one knee on Kin's back and grabbed ahold of her hair, shoving her face into the dirt as the kunai in her hand pressed against the back of her neck.
"Come near me or my teammates and I won't hesitate to slide this kunai straight through her throat." Sakura rasped, eyes wide as her eyes flickered between the two sound genins. "Leave."
The bandaged boy sighed in disappointment, head tilting as he took in Sakura's state.
"Kill her then." The sound genin spoke as he started walking towards them, not an ounce of hesitation in his words. "Do it."
Sakura looked warily at him, digging the kunai further into her neck without piercing the skin. Her hands were trembling, though she kept her grip on Kin's hair tight.
"Kill her, or I kill you."
Sakura finally looked down at Kin, hesitating to follow through with her threat.
That hesitation gave Zaku the opportunity to knock her away from Kin, the girl letting go of the sound genin as soon as Zaku's body hit hers. Once again pressed to the ground with Zaku looming over her, Sakura felt her throat tighten at the thought of his hands pressing around her neck again.
"You bitch." Zaku snarled, "I'm-"
"Zaku watch out!"
While Sakura had been focused on holding Kin down and threatening her teammates, Sasuke had woken up.
With dark purple chakra swirling around him, and black flame like markings staining his skin, Sasuke stood above Zaku and Sakura, red eyes wide in anger.
"You're going to what?" Sasuke questioned, tone rough as his anger bled through into his words. "Touch her again, I dare you."
"Get out of there!" Kin shouted, having pulled herself up and back over to her other teammate the moment they had realized Sasuke was up and emitting dark chakra.
"You don't scare me." Zaku scoffed, turning to the Uchiha in annoyance, "I can take you down in one-"
Sasuke hadn't waited for the sound genin to finish, foot connecting with his jaw and sending him flying backwards. Not even giving Zaku the time to get up, Sasuke appeared at his side with another kick, this time aimed straight for his back as he tried to get up.
Digging his foot into Zaku's back, Sasuke leaned down to wrap his hands around the genin's wrists as he pulled his arms up at an awkward angle.
"You're pretty proud of yourself, aren't you?" A sadistic grin was on Sasuke's face as he tugged further on his arms, the angle now moving into painful territory. A few sharp tugs drew a cry of pain from the boy below him, which only spurred him on. "It would be a shame if something happened to you."
The sickening cracking sound of Zaku's arms being pulled out of their sockets, the scream of agony, was enough for Sakura to squeeze her eyes shut as panic began to course through her system. Tears were already slipping down her cheeks, breathing laboured as she tried to pretend this wasn't happening.
This isn't Sasuke. It can't be. I can't watch.
"It looks like it's your turn." Sasuke's words were feral, bloodthirsty. He's never acted like this before, so hungry for blood.
Sasuke had never hurt others just for the fun of it.
"I hope you make things more interesting."
The sound of Sasuke's footsteps were loud in her head, her brain supplying a multitude of images of what might happen when her teammate reached the other two genin. She could already imagine the screaming, the sound of the blood splattering as Sasuke found his prey.
I can't let him do this. This isn't him.
Sakura's eyes snapped open as she made her decision, body trembling as she made it to her feet. Stumbling towards Sasuke, she reached out to grab his sleeve tightly, tripping over her own feet as she fell into his back.
"Don't do it!"
Please.
Sasuke stopped in his tracks when she fell into his back, eyes glazing over as her shout reached his ears. Like a switch had been clicked, his sharingan faded to black as the curse mark receded. The sudden loss of chakra and power felt like a weight had been pulled off his chest, legs collapsing underneath him.
Both Sakura and Sasuke went down when he collapsed, with the girl scrambling onto her knees once she hit the ground. Wiping at her eyes, Sakura could see Sasuke was breathing heavily but seemed to be relatively okay. His eyes were still glazed over, seemingly lost in thought, hands trembling as he struggled to keep himself upright.
"You're strong Sasuke, too strong. We can't hope to defeat you the way you are now."
Sakura's head whipped around as the bandaged boy spoke, having forgotten about him in her desire to stop Sasuke. He was placing an Earth scroll on the ground before them, eyes never leaving Sasuke's shaking form.
"In return for giving you this scroll, you let us go." The boy said as he and Kin back away towards their fallen teammate. "We underestimated you...It won't happen again."
Sasuke stared blankly at his hands, unable to quell the trembling as he sat there in shock. Now that the bloodlust had faded, there was nothing but fear and anxiety in its place, feelings that were at least familiar. He's never felt such power coursing through his veins before, a tantalizing glimpse of what he could be.
He had dislocated that genin's arms, and he had enjoyed it.
What's happening to me?
He could only vaguely remember the nightmare he had been stuck in before he woke up to the sight of a bruised and wounded Sakura underneath that sound genin. Walking through the Uchiha compound and seeing the slain bodies of family members wasn't new to him, that nightmare had been stuck on replay since he was seven. This one however, had been different. The only image Sasuke was able to conjure up about the nightmare was his younger self, standing in front of his parent's bodies.
Then he had woken up with a frightening power flowing through him and the urge to kill whoever had laid their hands on Sakura.
Everything after that was clear as day, he had made the decision to hurt that genin, to give in to the rush of feelings. He didn't think he would forget the sound of his bones popping painfully as he pulled and pulled, the sharp cry of pain that fell from his lips afterwards.
He wasn't a killer. Sasuke had told himself that he wouldn't be like Itachi, and wouldn't find joy in injuring others. Why did he enjoy it? It didn't make sense.
Was I really in control?
He had felt in control, had consciously moved his legs and arms. Was that who he really was? Or was it the mark that had been placed on him?
Reaching up to lightly brush his fingers over the mark, Sasuke decided that he would just wait it out. There wasn't a point in worrying about the mark, they couldn't do anything about it at the moment.
I need to focus on my team and getting out of this forest.
Standing up, Sasuke began to step over to the earth scroll lying on the ground, vaguely aware of Sakura's eyes on him. Once the scroll was pocketed, he turned back to her and said,
"Are you all right, Sakura?"
The girl looked at him in surprise before her expression melted into one of discomfort, her hand rubbing at the dark red skin of her neck. From the looks of it, her skin was going to bruise badly, and he could see two sharp indents from what he assumed had been the tubes on Zaku's hands. On her face lay a deep cut, one that was bleeding profusely. Sakura didn't even seem to notice, or aware of the state she was in.
Moving over to his stuff, Sasuke bent down to grab his stuff, attaching his sword and scabbard back to his side. Once finished, he dug into one of his pouches to pull out the small med kit he had brought along.
"We need to clean your wound, get a bandage on it." Sasuke said gruffly, sitting down next to her and holding out his supplies. "Do you need my help?"
Sasuke's words seemed to have an effect on her, as if him bringing up the cut had caused her brain to register the pain again. Her face distorted slightly in pain as she brought a shaking hand up to touch the edge of the cut, flinching as she felt the blood seeping from it.
"Please. I can't see myself, it'll be easier if you do it."
Nodding, Sasuke got to work on patching her up, ignoring the way she shied away from his touch, her sharp inhale as he poked at the wound. Once he was finished, he finally took notice of her hair.
It was cut close to her scalp, the length varying from the way she had cut the braid. It was messy and covered in dirt and blood, and it seemed that Sakura had no interest in fixing that.
Shrugging it off, Sasuke stood up and stepped over to Naruto. The boy was snoring slightly, seemingly asleep rather than unconscious like earlier. A quick kick to his side sent him to his feet, now wide awake.
"Is that snake lady gone? How long was I out?" Naruto looked battle ready as he looked around the clearing, though he relaxed when he realized it was only his teammates in the clearing.
"We're safe Naruto." Sakura said, a tired grin on her face, "You've been out since yesterday, how's your head?"
Naruto felt around his head with one hand, a contemplating look on his face. After a moment of feeling around his head he shrugged and said,
"Seems good to me." Sakura rolled her eyes and pulled herself off the ground, dusting herself as she did so.
Sasuke decided he had seen enough and headed for the tree line, sitting down once he found a clear spot in the shade.
"Let me know when you guys are ready to go. I want to leave as soon as possible in case the sound genin changes their mind." He called out to his team before leaning back against a tree and closing his eyes.
He was only given a few minutes of relaxation before Naruto was bounding towards him with a shout,
"Lets go Sasuke! Sakura said the faster we go, the sooner she can sleep."
Huffing out a quiet laugh, Sasuke stood up and motioned for his team to follow.
Before they knew it, there were only twenty four hours left of the exam. After the incident with the sound genin, they had started making their way to the tower but had been slowed down by the various creatures and insects they managed to come across. It hadn't helped that Sakura was barely able to sleep when they did stop, the girl constantly on the verge of exhaustion, yet unwilling to let herself rest.
She wouldn't talk about the nightmares plaguing her, but Sasuke knew it dealt with the bruises that Zaku left on her neck, the cut on her face. When Naruto had asked about the sound genin, Sakura was vague about the parts where she had been alone. He let it slide, knowing just how hard it was to talk about his own haunting memories.
There were still things he left unsaid, that would never be spoken out loud for another to hear.
Naruto typically would have poked and prodded at her story, trying to get her to walk, but Sasuke was glad he was able to understand the severity of the situation. That Sakura would tell them when she was ready.
They had made camp by a small stream, and Sasuke chose not to worry about the fact that they didn't have a scroll yet. They would make it out of this forest alive, with or without a scroll. That was all that mattered.
Sasuke left Sakura and Naruto by the fire as he walked down the stream and behind a rock. Crouching down to fill up the water container he had brought along, Sasuke let himself relax for just a moment.
It was just a moment too long however, when Sasuke suddenly heard an unfamiliar voice speaking in the direction he had left Naruto and Sakura.
The container fell from his hands and splashed onto the ground as he ran around the rock and towards the fire. Sakura and Naruto were sitting there in shock, earth scroll in Naruto's hands. The unknown voice belonged to the gray haired genin standing in front of them, his back to Sasuke.
"Sasuke wait!" Naruto called out when he noticed Sasuke running towards them, "He's not an enemy!"
"What?" A puzzled expression flickered across his face before he calmed himself down, coming to a stop a few feet away. "Who are you?"
"The name Kabuto. I'm glad I showed up when I did, your teammates here almost opened the scroll."
Seriously?
"I can't believe you guys!" Sasuke groaned, knowing that Kabuto was telling the truth based on the guilty looks that both genin were sporting.
"Sorry Sasuke." Sakura mumbled, head down to hide her flushed cheeks. Naruto was in the same position, his apology coming mumbled and unintelligible.
After a brief explanation of why they shouldn't open the scroll, Sasuke realized something was off about the whole situation.
"Kabuto right?" Without waiting for confirmation, Sasuke continued on, "What are you doing out here by yourself? Where's your team?"
"Don't worry, I'm not after your earth scroll." Kabuto chuckled as he reached into the pouch on his side and pulled out both a heaven and an earth scroll. Sasuke's eyes widened when he saw them before narrowing as his hand inched towards his kunai holster.
"I was just on my way to the tower to wait for my teammates...I really did get lucky on this exam."
"I'll fight you for it." Sasuke's words caused his team to look over at him in shock, though Kabuto only laughed,
"Are you serious?" Kabuto had already placed the scrolls back in his pouch, and he looked interested to see where this conversation would lead. Sasuke noticed that there wasn't even a hint of fear on his face, that meant he was confident in his abilities.
"Out here it's all about surviving and winning. It's either him or us."
Sasuke didn't believe that in the slightest, he didn't care about passing this exam anymore. He just wanted to get out of the forest, out of danger. His team had been through enough.
He wanted his team to pass, that was a given. He just also understood that the events of the past few days had put things into a new perspective. Sakura wasn't in any state to be doing more fighting, and Sasuke had no clue what had been put on his neck.
"You're lying."
That wasn't the response he was expecting. Blinking in surprise, Sasuke opened his mouth to respond but Kabuto cut him off.
"For all your tough talk, your hearts not really in it. If it was, you wouldn't have openly challenged me to a fight. Why would you announce and put me on guard? Why wouldn't you just jump me when my back was turned? That's what a ninja would do after all." Kabuto seemed almost mocking, the small grin on his face made it seem like he was holding back a laugh.
Fixing his glasses with one hand, Kabuto continued on without waiting for a rebuttal from Sasuke. "Honestly, I admire you for it. So here's what I'll do. I'll take you to the tower, and maybe even help you get your hands on a heaven scroll. How's that sound?"
"Sounds good to me!" Naruto agreed, shooting Sasuke a glare when he went to argue. "We need to get that scroll and get to the tower, it doesn't hurt to have some help."
The walk to the tower was rather slow, Kabuto had told them that they needed to move quietly and make sure they weren't heard. If someone knew where they were, they could easily ambush them and take their scroll, instead of the other way around. Their breaks were rare and quick, and they used that time to discuss their plans for when they did come across an enemy.
It was only when Sakura realized they had passed the same fallen tree three times that she realized something was off.
"Genjutsu." She whispered just loud enough for her group to hear, "Keep moving."
Without nodding to let her know they heard, the group continued moving.
Channeling her chakra just like Kakashi had taught her, in one quick movement Sakura dispelled the genjutsu on herself, as well as her companions. Knowing that this would alert the caster, as soon as they all felt Sakura's chakra they halted.
"Come out, we know you're there!" Sasuke called out, eyes darting around the dark forest as they moved into a formation that put them back to back. "You can't fool us!"
On all sides, dark shapes started wiggling around on the branches and dirt before slowing forming into several rain genin. Clad in a dark jumpsuit and rebreather, they looked similar to the ninja they had found on the first day of the exam.
"This will be fun." Kabuto chuckled, hand slipping into his holster to wrap around a kunai.
"Here's the fight you wanted, Naruto." Sakura sighed, her own kunai held in front of her. "Do you have enough chakra for a few clones? Wouldn't hurt to even the odds."
Naruto didn't even hesitate to summon a handful of clones, a wide smirk on his face as each clone popped into existence.
One of the clones rushed forward to punch one of the rain copies, only for his fist to push through as the skin seemed to splash apart, like water. It reformed only a moment later, striking out at the clone that had attacked it.
"I take my previous statement back." Kabuto said, tilting his head in curiosity as he studied the clones before them. "I think it's safe to assume the actual rain ninja aren't among them."
"I'll check." Sasuke murmured, activating his sharingan with a blink.
When Sakura didn't receive confirmation, she glanced over at him in confusion. Sasuke was standing there with wide, red eyes, and Sakura could see the mark on his neck glowing as it expanded slightly. Moving closer, Sakura laid her hand against his arm to draw his attention. Jolted out of whatever had been plaguing him, Sasuke gave her a nod and confirmed Kabuto's thoughts.
Sakura, nodding, reached out to grip the back of Naruto's collar, dragging him towards her.
"We need to fall back, get the real ones to come out. Summon more clones, and transform into us. We are going to hide, while you and the clones keep these busy." She murmured into his ear, watching as Naruto's few clones slowly continued to attack the rain ninja.
Naruto didn't waste any time, summoning enough clones that he was able to give his team and Kabuto the opening they needed to slip into the forest while three of his clones transformed. Sakura positioned herself in the trees in a place that gave her a good view of the fight and the surrounding trees.
Naruto paid close attention to detail...He even got my-
Don't think about it.
Forcing herself to focus on the battle ahead, she settled down to wait for the real rain ninja to step out and reveal themselves.
It only took several minutes of the rain illusions tiring their fake clones out before they dispersed and the real genin stood in their place.
"Lucky us." The one on the left said, his voice rough and slightly muffled by the rebreather. "Wait...I know you." He was looking right at the Naruto clone, eyes narrowed. "You're the one that cut my arm."
There was a white bandage wrapped around his upper arm, from where he had been attacked by Naruto on day one of the exams.
"At least now I can finally pay you back, with interest."
Stalking forward with his kunai held up, it was obvious he was going for Naruto first, who was currently breathing heavily on the ground.
"You guys really don't pay any attention to your surroundings do you?" The real Sasuke had stepped out from the trees and took his place behind the rain ninja, with Kabuto joining him a second later. Sakura stayed hidden for just a moment longer before breathing in deeply and joining them.
Naruto released the transformation jutsu he had been holding on his three clones, the exhaustion on his face melting away into a grin.
"Looks like I got the upperhand on you again, not so smart huh?" Naruto snickered when he saw the rain ninja looking between him and his team in confusion. "I'm kinda disappointed that this was so easy!"
"Now to finish you off." Sasuke said as he went to incapacitate the closest one with a strike to the back of the neck.
"Let me have one." Naruto said as he stumbled forward at first before finding his balance and rushing towards the middle one. The rain ninja lashed out with a kunai, though he turned his head in panic as he realized Kabuto had taken his only other teammate down. Naruto, slipping under the kunai, tackled him to the ground.
"Search for the scroll." Sakura reminded them, having decided to let them finish the rather easy battle. She knew her team had no issues taking matters into their own hands and leaving her to rest, as much as it pained her to sit back and do nothing.
"Let's hope it's heaven." Sasuke murmured as he began to search through the pouches and pockets of the one he had taken down.
It only took a few moments of them searching before Naruto had the scroll in his hands, having already knocked the one he had tackled out.
"Got it! It's our lucky day!"
Sakura breathed out a sigh of relief before looking towards the sky in the direction of the tower. They needed to get moving quickly, time was running out.
"Let's get going then. They'll wake up soon, we want to be long gone by then." Kabuto finally spoke up, just before he his eyes caught sight of the mark on Sasuke's neck. "Wait, That mark on your neck. What is it?"
"It's nothing." Sasuke reached up to tug the collar of his shirt to cover it back up, only glancing up at Kabuto when the older genin had turned to converse with Naruto.
Sakura saw the look in Sasuke's eyes, it was filled with mistrust.
So he gets the same feeling I do about him. I'm glad i'm not the only one.
It only took an hour longer to reach the tower, and Naruto had never been more glad. With both scrolls safely in Sasuke's pouch, they had passed the second exam.
Sakura and Sasuke were walking together, both of them making sure the other stayed upright. Sasuke seemed to be still injured from the battle against Orochimaru, and Sakura had suffered greatly at the hands of the sound genin.
Naruto was really pleased that they had made it out relatively safe, and had even passed on top of that.
Though he had noticed Sasuke had been hiding something from him since he woke up after Sakura's battle against the sound genin. Kabuto had asked him about a mark earlier, one that Naruto had no clue existed. Sakura seemed to be aware of it, and it was causing Sasuke enough discomfort that he had been quieter than normal.
Why hadn't they told him anything?
Then there was the issue of Sakura. The bruises that wrapped around her neck were obvious, though a bandage hid what he figured was a wound on her face. Her hair was roughly cut short, and she hadn't spoken a truthful word about it to him.
He had questioned her shortly after he woke up in that clearing, after the sound genin had left. She had just claimed it was just her wanting change.
Shrugging off his sudden displeasure over the situation, he said his goodbyes and thanked Kabuto before they pushed open one of the doors to the tower and stepped inside.
"What's this?" Naruto groaned as they stopped in the middle of the large, empty room. There was a picture on the wall with words, which he immediately wrote off as insignificant as he continued to glance around. "What do we do now?"
"Wait! Look at that." Sakura was pointing at the picture, and Naruto reluctantly turned his attention to the words.
"If qualities of heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom to take your mind higher. If earthly qualities are what you lack, train your body and prepare to attack. When heaven and Earth are opened together, the perilous path will become righteous forever. This something is the secret way that guides us from this place today."
Sakura read the words aloud, brain already whirling through the different possibilities of what it could mean. The only one that made sense and could be applied here however, was opening both scrolls up and reading them.
"This something? What?" Naruto was squinting as he reread the picture, having failed to understand the words the first time.
This might as well be gibberish to me.
"Doesn't matter, We need to read the scrolls together now." Sasuke had already pulled them both out of his pouch and held them up for his team to take. They both took a deep breath before unraveling their scroll.
Naruto stared at the now open scroll in confusion, the contents not matching the words in the picture.
"Man? Person?" Sakura mumbled just before Sasuke groaned and shouted, just as the scroll started to hiss and steam,
"Quick! It's a summoning jutsu!"
Tossing the scroll far in front of him, Naruto watched as Sakura followed suit and they all fell into a defensive formation in case there was actually more to the test than they thought.
Once the smoke cleared however, all three relaxed.
"Iruka-Sensei!"
Sakura breathed out a sigh of relief as Naruto bounded forward to throw himself into Iruka's arms. Falling to her knees, she allowed her guard to drop as Naruto began to shout about how glad he was to see Iruka.
Although she relaxed, her eyes never left the Chunin. Sakura saw the way his eyes had passed over her at first before darting back. The way his eyes narrowed as the dark bruises on her neck and bandage on her face registered. Their eyes met for a brief moment before he nodded in her direction and focused back on Naruto, a smile tugging at his lips.
After a quick explanation of the real focus of the second exam, and what the writing on the wall meant, Iruka led them further into the tower. Bringing them to a small lounge area, they were told to rest up for the last few hours of the exam.
After that, it would be time for the third, and hopefully final, exam.
Iwa no Yoroi - Rock Armor
A/N: I was hesitant with Sakura's battle. I felt it was lacking, but I needed her battle to be another turning point for her. In my mind, ninja's are trained to kill. While genin like Naruto and Sakura might be hesitant to kill, not everyone is going to share that way of thinking. I hope it was a realistic enough battle, I'm still getting the hang of writing fighting scenes. Criticism is welcome, Thank you.