"Help?" Sakura asked with a hardened, but confused expression, "Do you really expect me to believe that? What possible reason could you have for wanting to help us?"

Yugito placed her hands on her hips, "Oh, I'm sorry. If you think you can handle both of your teammates being incapacitated while there are seventy-something shinobi out there ready to end your life if they see you, then I can just keep it moving."

Sakura sneered at the other girl's sarcasm, "That's not how I meant it. I'm sure you can understand my skepticism when you're technically included in those seventy-something shinobi."

Yugito admitted to herself that she had a point, "Yeah, well... you guys got your butts kicked pretty bad. And Naruto and your teammate seem like strong people that I'd like to keep around for the next part of the exams." She fronted, hoping that Sakura would buy it. She technically wasn't lying, after all. Naruto and Sasuke both seemed like strong individuals that would offer her enough of a challenge.

Sakura openly showcased her lingering skepticism, "You just said that we got our butts kicked. And you're not even from our village. Why would helping us because you want a good fight be more of a priority over ensuring victory for your team and village? Our villages aren't even allied, and last I checked, you're a part of the only Kumo squad here."

Yugito took a deep breath, "God, she seems like such a know-it-all."

"I can still leave, y'know. If you think rejecting my help and tending to your teammates by yourself would be smarter than trusting that I'm not trying to harm you guys, then by all means, do what you feel is best."

Sakura looked at both of her teammates again, clearly struggling with what to do. This random Kumogakure kunoichi comes out of nowhere after Naruto and Sasuke become incapacitated, and offers to help her at no cost? That sounded an awful lot like a trap, in Sakura's opinion.

However... could she really count on herself to defend her teammates alone? If any shinobi were to find her, it likely would mean death for everyone on her team. Sakura just wasn't the 'go in and fight' kind of kunoichi. She, by all means, could muster up a few tricks up her sleeves, but would it be enough to defend her precious teammates? Against dozens of other shinobi who would want their blood?

Yugito did seem sincere, after all. And if her memory could serve correct, this was the same kunoichi Naruto was chatting with at the beginning of Anko's explanation of this part of the exams. Could she be an ally? Or was it all just a facade?

Sakura Haruno decided to roll the dice and go against her doubtful instincts, "O-Okay. But don't think that I'm just going to hand over my scroll for helping me or anything! You'll have to kill me first!" Sakura boldly stated, not without a hint of reluctancy.

"If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead. If I wanted your scroll, I'd already have it." The Kumo nin stated with an eye roll, not to be condescending, but to give her the hard truth, "You're the only one left on your squad, and no offense, I'm pretty sure I could take you in a fight. So trust me when I say that I'm just trying to help."

Though slightly offended by Yugito pointing out that she didn't think she'd pose a real threat, Sakura finally understood the practicality of the situation. One should never completely trust a stranger, yes, but there are times when shinobi must play with the cards dealt to them and hope for the best.

"Alright, fine."

Yugito and Sakura both hauled Naruto and Sasuke away to a desolate area, one with a large and hollowed out tree casing that provided adequate shelter. Sakura laid her teammates down on their backs side by side, with cold and wet towelettes placed on their foreheads. Sasuke in particular was burning up with a high fever, sweating profusedly and gritting his teeth despite how he was barely conscious.

Yugito sat down and looked at the poor girl who was looking at her teammates with worry. She felt bad for the girl. Granted, Yugito herself was without her teammates as well, but at least she was a skilled ninja with a special trump card. Sakura... didn't seem like she had much going for her.

"I think they'll be alright." Said Yugito, "Well, I don't know about him. I'm unsure of what's going on with him." She added, pointing at Sasuke.

"That's what worries me..." Sakura admitted, "I don't know what that Grass ninja did to him, but... I have to do what I can to help."

"You certainly have guts. Like I said, you don't seem like you'd be very skilled when it comes to fighting, but I respect your determination to help your teammates. I know shinobi that would have just abandoned them." Said Yugito with a small shrug.

"I'd never abandon Sasuke or Naruto." Sakura said firmly, still looking at them, "We're a team. And they're my friends. They've had my back a quite a few times now, so I can at least try to do the same for them."

Yugito nodded, feeling better about her decision in helping them. If nothing else, it made her feel good to help out shinobi who wouldn't turn their backs on their comrades.

"What's your name?" Yugito asked.

The pinkette turned her head to look at her, "Oh, um, Sakura Haruno. What's yours?"

"Yugito Nii."

"That's a pretty name." Complimented Sakura with a small but friendly smile.

This made Yugito smile a bit as well, "Thanks. So is yours."

The two girls with two unconscious boys in between them both became silent for a while before Sakura's curiosity broke the silence.

"Not to sound rude or ungrateful, but... you already helped me out. Why are you still here?"

Yugito gave a short chuckle, "Not enjoying the company?" She asked sarcastically before putting her hand up to silence whatever defensive reply Sakura was going to give, "Just kidding. I'm still here because I don't know where my squad is. And I don't think it'd be wise to go out looking for them in broad daylight alone when I could possibly run into a squad of three by myself."

"Good point." Sakura admitted, "By the way, how do you know Naruto?"

"Who said that I knew him?" Asked Yugito.

"Well, you did when you offered to help. You knew Naruto's name. And I remember you talking to him when we were outside this forest." She recalled.

Yugito nodded, "I understand how it can seem like I know him, but I just met him prior to this part of the exams." She stated, intentionally withholding the fact that she tried to hold Naruto captive about an hour ago.

"What would make you want to talk to Naruto?" Sakura asked with a quizzical expression, "Naruto is annoying and has way too much energy."

"Well, I certainly agree there." Yugito said with a small laugh, "I don't know. When I heard Naruto give his speech during the written exam about him wanting to be Hokage and how he wouldn't let anything stop him from that, I have to admit that I respected that. Mainly because I want to become Raikage myself someday."

Sakura looked at Yugito and nodded slowly, "Yeah... Despite Naruto being a baka more times than not, he does have something about him that inspires those around him. Me included." Sakura admitted.

"Yeah. I'm sure he's the reason why that proctor was saying that more of us passed than expected. I don't think the exam was too easy, I think that he helped everyone remaining in that classroom keep their nerve, even people that weren't from your village." Yugito responded. Sakura was forced to agree, "Besides, between you and me, I think he's kinda cute."

The Cherry Blossom's head snapped toward the other girl and looked at her as if she blurted out complete gibberish, "Naruto? Cute?"

Yugito smiled and shrugged her shoulders, "There's just something about him. I think it might be his little whisker marks. Or maybe his eyes."

Sakura was unsure of how to respond to that. All she knew was that she couldn't find it in herself to necessarily agree. At least not while Sasuke was right next to him as a comparison, "Well... you're on your own with that one. My eyes will always fall onto Sasuke-kun." She claimed, looking at the dark haired boy with loving but concerned eyes.

"Yeah, I could tell by how you've been looking at him for about seventy percent of our conversation." Said Yugito with a small teasing grin. The pinkette blushed slightly in response, but continued staring at the boy, "And no offense, but I wasn't impressed with how he tried to give up your scroll to the enemy because he was cornered. I can't say that I wouldn't have punched my teammate like Naruto did to him if I saw my teammate just giving up like that."

Sakura wanted to retaliate against what she said, or at least provide an excuse for Sasuke, but she found couldn't do either of these things. Even Sakura herself was unimpressed with Sasuke's behavior. At least up until Naruto almost literally smacked some sense into him.

"I've never seen Sasuke act like that..." Mumbled Sakura, "Usually he's so cool and confident... And to see him so frazzled and shaken up like that was something that just isn't like him..."

Yugito shrugged, "Well, that's just my first impression of him. He seemed to be pretty talented toward then end, though. Even if he still ended up getting his butt kicked."

Sakura didn't respond, as she got too caught up in her own head. She began to wonder who this Orochimaru character was... and what he wanted with Sasuke. She remember what that "Grass nin" told her prior to leaving them alone. And obviously this Orochimaru person had something to due with that mark on the back of Sasuke's neck. Something was amiss, and Sakura did not like it one bit.

*Ten Hours Later*

Sakura and Yugito had spent their time recovering and waiting for either Sasuke or Naruto to wake up. However, after a couple of hours, Yugito noticed Sakura nodding in and out of sleep. Yugito had recommended that Sakura get some rest, since she wouldn't be a very useful kunoichi if she was sleep deprived. Sakura initially argued against this, claiming that she still did not trust Yugito to watch over her and her teammates. Yugito countered by repeating the fact that if she truly had any ill intention, she would have done it by now, instead of wasting not only their time by holding up a facade, but wasting her own. Sakura reluctantly found the logic sound and ended up dozing off.

Yugito, on the other hand, was able to regulate her chakra and energy well enough to be able to put her body into a form of 'energy-saving mode' through meditation, where all she had to do was sit completely still with closed eyes and partially disconnect her mind from the outside world while still being aware of her immediate surroundings. This allowed her to be alert if someone was approaching, without feeling the debilitation of having to shift out of her sleep cycles. This also allowed her to simultaneously conserve not only her physical energy, but her mental energy, too. Performing this was no easy task for ordinary shinobi. In fact, for some, it's just downright impossible. But as container of the Two-Tailed Demon Cat, she was able to perfect the art of meditation and chakra control to a level that most would never be able to, no matter how hard they may try.

However, just as the early morning birds began to chirp as the sun rose, she heard three figures approaching her location. Yugito opened one eye with a scowl, placing a hand on her kunai.

"Come on out. We know you're in there." A male voice called from beyond the hollowed tree casing she was in. The blonde Jinchuuriki looked at the three unconscious Leaf-nin around her, and made a decision to at least drive off whoever it was outside. Yugito herself was at least still at full energy. Naruto and his team? They were hanging on by a thread. If something were to happen to them that was outside of her control, she wouldn't necessarily feel bad. But her curiosity in Naruto and his possibility of being a Jinchuuriki like her made her want to do what she could so that she could learn more about him, without endangering her own life in the process.

Yugito stepped out of the tree casing, approaching the three Sound Village shinobi approximately ten meters away. The one in the middle looked a lot like a wrapped up mummy, with one eye exposed, and the rest of his face and head hidden by bandages. The one to his left was another male with tall spiky hair, holding a smirk that made Yugito immediately want to smack it off his face. And the last one was a kunoichi with straight black hair that was long enough to reach down to the back of her knees. She held a scowl that let Yugito know that her and the rest of her squad was not here for shits and giggles.

"Okay, you got me." Yugito said, playing it aloof by playfully raising her hands, "If you want my scroll, then I guess I have to take all three of you on, huh?"

"Wrong." Said the boy with bandages on his face, "You can keep your scroll and your life. It's not you we want. Wake up the boy with black hair in there so we can fight him."

Yugito raised an eyebrow. What could they want from Sasuke that would be more important than taking her scroll?

"Well, he's out of commission right now. He's not exactly in the best position to fight." Yugito said.

"Maybe you didn't hear Dosu the first time, so I'll say it this time." Grunted the female ninja, crossing her arms, "Wake Sasuke up. Don't make us do it ourselves."

"You guys are being awful rude." Said Yugito with a frown, "Care to explain why you want to fight him so bad?"

"Care to shut the hell up and do as we say?" Barked the Sound-nin with long spiky hair, giving her an aggressive scowl, "We're not repeating ourselves again, so take your chance to leave now. Unless you want to be a dumb bitch and get yourself killed."

Yugito narrowed her eyes. She didn't appreciate the namecalling.

"Why are you even defending Leaf-nin anyway?" Asked the kunoichi, "You're from Kumo. What could you possibly gain from helping out three twerps that aren't even allied to your village?"

"I truly don't enjoy how rude you all are being." Stated Yugito, tensing her body some to get ready for battle, "I get that we're technically enemies, but there's no need for the verbal hostility."

Zaku grit his teeth due to how annoying Yugito was being before chuckling darkly, "Looks like the bitch doesn't listen and wants to die. Kin, you'd better teach her a lesson before I do, because I don't care for going easy on girls."

Kin gave the girl a challenging grin, "My pleasure. I'd love to rip that ponytail out her head."

Kin Tsuchi began approaching the other girl, and Yugito scoffed, shaking her head.

"You're gonna let her fight me one-on-one in a cat fight?" Yugito then flexed her hands and focused her chakra into them. Her nails grew in length and thickness, turning them into razor sharp claws, "Wrong move. I excel at cat fights."

Kin made the first move and drew three senbon between her fingers from her pouch and tossed them at Yugito at high speeds. Yugito easily dodged the pointed weapons, as they bore into the tree behind her. Yugito noticed how there were bells attached to the senbon, making a mental note that there was probably something to it that she should watch out for.

Yugito went in for a counter attack and lunged at Kin at speeds that would make one question if she was at a rank higher than genin. The Jinchuuriki appeared to dart right for her, before appearing directly above the other kunoichi with her claws ready to rip into her attacker. Kin was shocked at her speed and barely had enough time to avoid her attack, stepping back to gain some distance between each other.

"You're fast." Complimented Kin, drawing more senbon, "Too bad your speed isn't going to be effective against my jutsu."

Then, as Yugito heard the ringing of the bells attached to the senbon earlier, she fell to her knees as the ringing of the bells distressed her ear drum, even though the noise was not loud at all. Yugito clenched her teeth, as she struggled to keep an eye on her opponent, and was even more surprised when she began to see copies of the grinning Sound-nin.

"You should have left when you had the chance." Kin stated, cocking her hand back to throw more senbon at the Kumo-nin's vitals, "Weaklings like you have no place in getting involved in matters that don't pertain to you. Now die!"

Kin threw the senbon, and Yugito found it difficult to move with Kin's technique still in effect. The senbon were about to hit its target, until the sharp needle-like weapons got deflected by a kunai mid-air.

"What?!" Kin grunted, before her reflexes commanded her to move out of the way by a barrage of kunai thrown at her from the air. Kin found the source of these kunai, to see a pink-haired kunoichi in the air coming at her with an aerial attack.

The black haired girl was about to mention something about more weaklings joining the fray, until a clawed hand ripping three gashes into the skin of her face was brought to her attention. Kin flew back in response, scowling at Yugito who effectively landed the first blow.

Kin had not forgotten about Sakura's aerial attack, as she tossed more senbon at the Leaf-nin mid-air, effectively hitting her target. She grinned as her weapons bore into the flesh of the other girl, only to frown when she saw the girl poof into a tree log via a substitution jutsu.

By the time that Kin realized that Sakura had distracted her enough with a basic shinobi technique to throw another kunai at her, it was already too late to dodge it. Kin took the metal blades to her arm, as blood began to not only drip from that wound, but from her face due to Yugito's attack as well.

As Sakura landed next to Yugito, Kin clenched her teeth at the two girls before glaring at her teammates, "You two can clearly see that I'm getting double teamed here! Why don't at least one of you help me out?!"

Zaku only chuckled in response, "What's wrong, Kin? Can't bite off more than you can chew?" Teased the other Sound-nin.

"Seems like it." Commented Yugito, grinning, "If you think that this girl and her low-level genjutsu is all it'll take to do me in, you're awfully mistaken." She then looked at Sakura, "I appreciate the backup, by the way."

Sakura nodded, grinning herself, "Hey, you're doing right by us, so I can at least try to return the favor."

Dosu looked on at the events taking place and shook his head, "Seems to me like they're going to be more trouble than we thought. We should end this fast to conserve our chakra and energy for our fight with Sasuke. Come on, Zaku."

Zaku nodded and just as the two boys stepped in beside their injured teammate, Sakura scowled at their opponents, "What do you want with Sasuke?! I know you guys have something to do with Orochimaru and the mark on his neck!"

The three Oto-nin looked shocked at how much this girl knew of the plan, "How could she possibly know about that?" Dosu asked his two teammates.

Kin growled, yanking the kunai out of her arm, "Don't know, don't care. All I know is we better just kill them before they get too problematic! They know too much, anyway!"

"Agreed." Nodded Zaku, getting his sound wave jutsu ready, "Let's make this quick then!"

The trio were then about to charge at the kunoichi duo, until a large poof of smoke appeared in front of both Sakura and Yugito.

"Not so fast."

Sakura's eyes widened as she saw who it was that appeared in between her and her opponents.

Yugito grinned, "About time you both showed up. I was beginning to wonder if you guys were ever going to find me."

In front of both Yugito and Sakura stood two individuals that had their arms crossed, facing the enemy. The one on the left was a young, dark-skinned shinobi with short white hair, holding a lollipop in his mouth. His dark-colored eyes were prominent, but held somewhat of a bored expression as he analyzed the competition in front of him. He wore a dark outfit consisting of a long-sleeved shirt with a hood with a Kumogakure flak jacket and black pants, along with standard shinobi sandals. He was equipped with red hand guards, metallic shin guards, and a black Kumogakure hitai-ate. A long thin sword was also equipped to his back, the sheath to his sword matching the color of his red hand guards.

The shinobi on the right was a dark-skinned kunoichi, one with bright red hair and dazzling honey-colored eyes. She wore a long but short-sleeved battle dress with frilled edges that matched the color of her teammate's attire. She was equipped with a Kumogakure flak jacket as well, and wore thigh high combat boots with fishnet stockings, that was only fully exposed when the partition of the front of her battle dress allowed it. She had a sword equipped behind her as well, holding the hilt of it loosely in a manner that showed she was ready for combat at any moment. She was analyzing the Sound-nin in front of her with a self-assured expression, as if she thought her opponents were no more of a threat to her than a child in the academy.

"Hey, you're the one who disappeared out of nowhere." Said the male Kumo-nin, still seeming slightly bored, "You're lucky Karui was able to pick up after your trail."

"How did you even manage to get eaten by a snake, anyway?" Asked the women who identified as Karui, "It's not like you to get caught off guard, Yugito."

Yugito smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head, "Aha, well... the snake crept up on me while I was using the bathroom, so..."

Karui shook her head, "This is why I told you to go before coming in here."

"You tell me a lot of things that I probably should do, but don't." Yugito admitted with a small smile and shrug, making both her teammates shake their heads at her, "Try not to sound so disappointed in me, guys."

"Sometimes that's easier said than done." Sighed Omoi. Team Dosu, who was caught off-guard by the sudden appearance of Yugito's teammates, began to talk amongst themselves as to what their next move should be. However, before any more battling continued, everyone was interrupted when they felt a sudden wave of... evil chakra.

Team Dosu, Yugito's squad, and Sakura all looked back at the tree casing where Sasuke and Naruto were resting. That was the source of the ominous chakra. All seven genin saw Sasuke walking out of the tree, his eyes locked on Team Dosu.

"Sakura." Sasuke called without looking at her. He had black markings all over half of his body, holding a dangerous and eerie aura to his demeanor, "Are these guys trying to pick a fight with us?"

Sakura could only look at him in shock. Even the Kumo-nin were surprised to see that he wasn't even acknowledging them.

"Finally, he's woken up." Said Dosu.

Zaku started laughing condescendingly, "Yeah, I guess you can say we are. And it's you in particular we want to fight."

Sasuke grinned darkly, something that sent a chill up Sakura's spine.

"You want to fight me?" Sasuke opened his eyes wider, revealing his two-tomoe Sharingan eyes to his opposers, "Well then, lets fight!"

Zaku grinned, while Kin and Dosu began to worry. Sasuke's chakra felt... intense. They haven't felt anything like it before.

Sasuke charged at him, and Zaku readied himself.

"Zaku, don't!" Dosu tried to warn his partner, though it were too late. Sasuke closed the distance between them fairly fast, and Zaku aimed the center of his palms out toward his enemy.

"Supersonic Air-Slice!" Shouted Zaku before manipulating sound waves and the air pressure to form a massive explosion aimed for Sasuke. Sand and dirt flew about the premises, blinding everyone in the area.

"Sasuke!" Sakura shouted as the dust settled, unable to find her teammate after the explosion. Zaku grinned victoriously before hearing:

"Over here." Sasuke called from behind him before bashing his forearm into the side of Zaku's skull. Due to Sasuke's increased strength, Zaku was sent rolling meters away. The boy from The Hidden Sound Village managed to recover and catch his footing and prepared for a counter attack, until he was met with fire blasts coming his way. Hastily, Zaku used his sound wave technique to blast the flames away, only to find that there were well over a dozen shuriken hidden within the flames. Zaku gasped as he only had enough time for one option; brace himself and take the attack.

As the barrage of shuriken began to tear away at Zaku's flesh, Sasuke used his enhanced speed to grab Zaku from behind, holding his wrists behind his back while pushing his foot against his spine.

"You seem pretty... attached to these arms of yours." Sasuke stated in a tone that gave many people in the area a bad feeling in the pit of their stomachs, "I don't think you'll be as attached to them after I get done with you."

"N-No...!" Zaku pleaded, realizing exactly what it was that Sasuke intended on doing to him, "P-Please don- AAAGHH!"

The only thing in the area that was as loud as Zaku's screams of pain was the ripping and crackling noises of his shoulders being torn from its sockets. The sound made many of the shinobi wince, and the others were left bug-eyed at how ruthless Sasuke treated his opponent.

Sakura, on the other hand, felt as though she were having a nightmare. This Sasuke with markings all over him... it wasn't anything like the Sasuke she knew. This one seemed ruthless, almost bloodthirsty.

Zaku fell to the floor, screaming and groaning in agony, while Sasuke's eyes fell onto Dosu and Kin. The pair jumped as his leer landed on them.

"Now it's your turn."

Kin and Dosu both began to backstep as Sasuke marched over to them, fearing for their lives. This kid was fast, powerful, and deadly. They did not want to end up like Zaku by any means necessary.

As Dosu and Kin both began to plead for their lives, Sakura watched the events transpire until a cold tear left her eye. She had to do something. This Sasuke was not the one she knew, and definitely not the one that she loved.

"Sasuke, stop!"

Sakura charged for Sasuke and enveloped him in a hug from behind. Everything fell quiet as Sakura could only plead for him to stop what he was doing.

This seemed to stop Sasuke in his tracks.

Then, to everyone's surprise, Sasuke's markings slowly began to receed back into the mark on his neck.