Chapter 11: The Forest of Death


June 1st, 64 AFL

2:10 p.m.

In less than an hour Anko along with the twenty-seven genin teams reached the gates to the forest of death, "Alright kiddies welcome to training ground 44 also known as the forest of death," Anko said with a smile but when no one spoke up, she continued,

"Alright everyone take these consent forms, I can't be liable for you brats if you end up dead," she grinned sadistically. Still no one said a word and Anko just sighed, 'these brats are no fun,' she thought as she began to hand out consent forms but one grass ninja caught her eye as she spoke to her.

Anko could feel the blood lust emanating from her, "Thank you Anko sensei," the unknown grass nin said with a smile while licking her lips with her unnaturally long tongue. "Your welcome grass ninja," was Anko's only reply. Once that was done, she explained the rules of the second exam, every team had a scroll marked either heaven or earth. The goal was to obtain a set of scrolls and reach the tower at the center of the forest before the five day time limit was reached. As Anko finished her explanation she gave one final piece of advice, "Alright the exam starts in fifteen minutes, do yourselves a favor and try not to die, I'd hate to have to clean up your entrails off the forest floor," the kunochi said adding a wink.

2:20 p.m.

"Ino, Shikamaru, Choji," Sasuke said causing the attention of Team 10 to turn to the last of the Uchiha, "What scroll did you get?" he asked them. Shikamaru sighed but Ino replied happily,

"Heaven," Sauske smirked, "It's the same as ours, that works," he replied. "Why, what do you have in mind Sasuke?" the Nara asked his old classmate. Sasuke smirked and explained his plan to Team 10. Meanwhile Naruto and Sakura were speaking with Team 8,

"You sure you guys don't want to team up, we have the same scroll and we'll be stronger in a six man squad, believe it!" the blonde asked his Hyuga princess. Hinata shook her head, "No it's ok Naruto-kun, this type of mission we'll be perfect for us to handle, I promise I'll be okay," she said sweetly. "Alright if your sure Hinata-hime, you know Sakura-chan and I believe in you and the teme too even if he's too much of an ass to admit it," Naruto said causing both the pinkette and raven haired girl to giggle.

"You better watch out for her dog breath and you too bug boy," Naruto warned his friends. "No need to worry Naruto-san, why because I understand exactly how you feel," Shino replied as he glanced over to the blue haired girl he had come to know in the last month. "Yeah, Naruto trust us we'll watch her back, you just worry about yourselves ok," Kiba said with a smile.

"The exam will begin in five minutes, please make your way to your assigned starting gate with your teammates!" the loudspeaker suddenly announced. Naruto and Sakura shared a farewell hug with Hinata before meeting up with Sasuke and getting into position. Suddenly the clock struck 2:30 and all twenty-seven teams entered the forest of death unaware of the dangers they would soon face.


3:10 p.m.

"What the fuck is that thing on your back?" a leaf genin said to his partner but before he could help his comrade dozens of the unknown creatures began swarming him along with his teammates. The team of genin quickly collapsed to the ground as Team 8 walked up casually wearing a smirk Kiba leading the charge, "That would be the flying leeches of Konoha, if they stay on your body for then five minutes, well,"

Kiba moved his hand to his neck and swiped his pointer finger across his throat as he said, "Rip." Kiba and Shino admired their handiwork while Hinata checked the enemies belongings, "Kiba-kun, Shino-kun, they had an earth scroll, let's head for the tower right away," she explained to her two comrades. Kiba chuckled, "Haha too easy, I told Naruto we wouldn't need any help, alright let's head for the tower," he barked and so Team 8 quickly made their way to the center of the forest.

Meanwhile Team 7 had heard Team 8's unfortunate victim's screams of terror. "What the hell was that guys?" Sakura asked Sasuke and her baka. "Umm I have no idea Sakura-hime but we have another problem," Naruto said snapping the pinkette's attention to him. "I have to go to the bathroom," he admitted causing Sakura to sigh and Sasuke to scowl, "Go dobe, I'm going to scout the area and look for Ino's team," Sasuke stated.

"Wait Sasuke you can't just run off on your own!" Sakura said in frustration. Sasuke huffed and reached into his bag, "Here take the scroll and you two guard it if that's what you're worried about, I'm going to find Team 10 so we can team up and eliminate the other team's one by one. Your the dobes who keep begging Ino and I to hangout and now I'm offering, so please Sakura just worry about Naruto and the scroll for now," he finished and handed the heaven scroll over to Sakura.

Before she could say a word the last Uchiha jumped into the trees and leaving his two teammates alone. Sakura could only sigh as she sat down at the bass of a tree, while Naruto walked off a few feet and relieved himself. The blonde left his face exposed so Sakura didn't lose complete sight of him while the rest of his body hid behind a tree,

'Go take a peak!,' Inner Sakura giggled, "No!" Sakura replied, 'Prude!' inner stated, "Perv," Sakura answered back. Inner Sakura smirked, 'It's ok to be pervy with your soulmate,' "Shut the fuck up we are thirteen and do not return you demon!" Sakura screamed aloud slamming her connection to inner Sakura shut, similar to how a tailed beast gets sucked into its cage.

"Are you ok Sakura-chan? Why did you scream?" Naruto asked her getting right into her face forcing her already distinctive blush to deepen, "Baka!" she screamed throwing a hard right out of the embarrassment of her situation. Naruto flew into a tree and slumped to the ground with a loud thud and Sakura rushed to his aid to check what she would define as a self-inflicted baka wound.

Naruto opened his eyes and suddenly threw Sakura to the right as he dove to the left avoiding the half a dozen kunai that had suddenly been impaled into the side of the tree. Naruto go to his feet quickly and stood in front of the cherry blossom, "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he shouted causing at least a hundred Naruto clones to appear around the pair of genin. Suddenly their attackers came into view but instead of three enemies there were at least three hundred surrounding them.

Naruto's clones tried their best but whatever attack they tried to land be it fist, foot, or kunai nothing would work, "Damn it, my punches and kicks are going right through them and weapons don't seem to work either, believe it!" the original Naruto stated annoyance clear in his voice. One of the enemy ninjas laughed coldly, "You like that, it's our Fog Clone Jutsu try as hard as you want your attacks do less than nothing," the nin said. "He's right Naruto-kun what are we going to do?" Sakura questioned while holding her bag tightly to her chest, keeping their scroll as secure as she possibly could.

Before Naruto could answer he sensed something underneath the pair and quickly grabbed Sakura before trying to retreat. As he did the ground beneath them gave way and the three original bodies of the enemy nin appeared launching dozens of kunai at the couple but before the deadly weapons could find their mark all of them heard someone shout,

"Wind Style - Great Breakthrough!" The kunai as well as the shinobi scattered in different directions as they were propelled through the air. Naruto and Sakura were holding each other as tightly as they could when Naruto suddenly looked ahead, "Uh, Sakura-chan what's that?" Sakura tilted her head forward and saw the body of a giant monster with scales and fangs pop out from behind the brush, "My baka that would be a giant snake," Sakura replied instinctively. The pair looked at each other before letting out a deafening, "AAAAHHHHHHH!" The snake opened his mouth and quickly swallowed the pair in one gulp devouring the Uzumaki's alive.


3:30 p.m.

Team 8 made its way to the tower at a quick pace but stopped when Kiba and Akamaru picked up an unfriendly scent. Hinata used her Byakugan to identify the source and found two teams engaged in battle. Team 8 approached the situation with caution and were disgusted by the scene they witnessed. Gaara had single handedly massacred the opposing team with minimal effort using the sand that was stored in the gourd on his back, his chakra reeking of blood lust. Temari barely managed to convince Gaara that enough was enough and their team moved on with both a heaven and an earth scroll in possession.

Afterward Team 8 were making their own way to the tower staying a great distance from the sand nin, "There's only one thing I know that can have that much chakra and grant special abilities like those," Hinata stated aloud before she could catch herself and looked around worriedly at her teammates. They both continued moving forward but Shino was the first to reply,

"I agree Hinata-san and that means that only Naruto-san and Fu-chan stand any true chance against him, why because he's just like them," Kiba began chuckling, "So Naruto's a fox, Fu's a bug and that freak's a raccoon dog, what an odd bunch but who am I to talk," Kiba said with a grin causing Hinata's eyes to widen. "But how do you know?" she asked her teammates,

"How, I saw Fu-chan's memories, it wasn't hard to tell what her village hated about her, why they said it right to her face, as for Naruto-san my bug that was attached to you the day of your kidnapping informed me," Shino explained. Hinata smiled fondly at him before looking to Kiba, "And you Kiba-kun?" she wondered. Kiba just let out a long laugh,

"I probably knew before that idiot did, he smells just like a damn fox but when I met Fu-san and she smelled like Shino, I thought it was really strange but I thought maybe Shino already tied the knot," Kiba said while winking at his friend. Shino launched a good sized horde of insects into his comrade knocking him off the branch but he quickly regained his footing and responded with a scowl.

Eventually though the Inuzuka continued, "But after finding a third person that smells like an animal, I know somethings up so why don't you two fill me in?" he asked his comrades. Hinata and Shino looked at each other before nodding and explaining Naruto and Fu's stories to their teammate, as the dog boy looked at the pair with an understanding expression and just said, "Well whatever as long as we don't get paired with that freak we should be fine, Naruto and Fu are more than normal but that sadistic bastard will kill us without hesitation," Kiba replied. Shino and Hinata nodded and proceeded to finish their journey to the tower.

Around the same time Gaara was massacring his opponents Sasuke Uchiha was making his way through the trees looking for any sign of Team 10. 'Damn, where are they? Their starting gate wasn't that far apart from ours they have to be close,' he thought in annoyance.

Suddenly Sasuke spotted someone standing on a branch, he moved in slowly trying to take the unknown nin by surprise but just as his kunai was inches from the person's back he spun around and grabbed Sasuke by the throat. Sasuke reacted quickly dropping his kunai and formed several quick hand signs,

"Fire Style - Fireball Jutsu!" he shouted launching an extreme amount of flame into the man's face so intense it was slowly melting his skin. Too Sasuke's displeasure the man kept his hold and started laughing uncontrollably, "Yes this is the power of a true Uchiha!" he shouted suddenly, releasing his grip and allowing Sasuke to step back to another branch. Sasuke recognized the man at once, "Orochimaru!" he shouted,

"You like my flames well have more, Fire Style - Fireball Jutsu!" he said again releasing another ball of fire towards the sanin, "Burn you son of a bitch!" he screamed. Orochimaru continued to laugh sadistically through the flames his vision blurred but he didn't care, 'this kid has power and the sharingan, a dream come true,' he thought happily about his new vessel.

Eventually the flames died down and he noticed several wires scattered around the tree's and Sasuke standing there with a sadistic grin on his face and his sharingan fully active, 'Yes you're only one tomoe away from a completed sharingan, now how can I force it out of you?' Orochimaru thought. Sasuke pulled the wires as tight as he could trapping the sanin securely to the tree he was standing on,

"I said burn you fuck, Fire Style - Dragon Flame Jutsu!" he shouted. As soon as he did Sasuke erupted an even greater and more focused blast of fire from his mouth directly into the sanin's body. As Sasuke watched the body burn into nothing but ash he cursed himself, 'Shit I forgot to get any information out of him, oh well at least he can't hurt Karin anymore and I bet that prick with the glasses has the information I need,' Sasuke thought as he turned to resume his search for Team 10.

Sauske suddenly felt something close to his face and turned his head and nearly shit himself at what was inches away from his neck. Orochimaru had somehow survived and had elongated his neck to land one last attack on the Uchiha. Sasuke tried to dodge but Orochimaru was too skilled and too fast as he sunk his snake like fangs deep into Sasuke's throat.

Sasuke screamed in agony as Orochimaru's heaven curse mark set nicely onto Sasuke's body, "I could just take you with me now," the sanin grinned evilly, as his neck shrunk back to normal length "But I'd like to have my order complete when I get it so I'll make a deal with you Sasuke-kun,"

Sasuke managed to suppress the immense pain that was coursing through his body enough to glare daggers at the disgusting snake. "When I call for you, you will come to me and hand over your body without any complaints, do that and I'll fulfill your dream of killing Itachi for you and I'll even release Karin Uzumaki to you," Sasuke was in too much agony to reply but he continued to scowl at the bastard before his vision began to fail.

Orochimaru turned to leave but faced him one last time as he smiled uncomfortably, "I'll be seeing you and that beautiful body of yours soon Sasuke-kun or else... well I'm sure you've seen first hand what I'm capable of doing and not just to Karin-chan… but Ino-chan, Sakura-chan and Naruto-kun as well!" were his final words to the last Uchiha as he disappeared into the forest. Sasuke tried staying conscious but whatever the snake had done to him was making his world spin, he finally let out a loud, "Fuck you Orochimar…" was all the boy got out and the last thing he heard were two girls he knew all too well scream, "Sasuke!"


Several minutes before as Sasuke attempted to roast a snake alive Sakura and Naruto found themselves in the belly of one, "Um Sakura-chan you have the beautiful brain, how do we get out of this?" Naruto asked her. Sakura looked around but all she could see was darkness and failed to come up with anything,

'Multi-Shadow Clone Snake Explosion Jutsu!' inner Sakura piped in causing regular Sakura to glare and ask, "How did you get out?" Inner Sakura smiled devilishly as she held something up, 'I have the key baka' she replied, 'Just tell our Naru-kun my plan' "I am never calling him that," Sakura replied, 'We'll see,' Inner Sakura giggled and vanished.

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan! Can you hear me?" Naruto asked her as she came back to earth. She gave him a quick kiss on the lips before stating calmly, Multi-Shadow Clone Snake Explosion Jutsu," Naruto looked at her oddly before smiling, "That is just one of the reasons I love you Sakura-chan without you I wouldn't even be here right now," he replied. "Just use the damn jutsu baka!" she shouted a bit louder than she intended but he had embarrassed her, his fault while inner sakura threw her fist in the air in delight, 'Yes my Naru harem dream is finally fulfilled, Cha!'

"Alright let's try this, "Multi-Shadow Clone Snake Explosion Jutsu!" he shouted, as soon as he did Naruto clones kept appearing one after the other with no clear sign of stopping until finally the pressure was too much for the snake's body as it exploded into bits and pieces and the two genin flew through the air Sakura landing on her feet and her baka neatly on his face.

Sakura helped him to his feet and they shared a smile before heading off to find their runaway teammate. As Naruto and Sakura made their way through the trees they soon noticed smoke in the air, "Let's head that way Naruto, Sasuke may be in combat if that's from one of his fire jutsu's," Sakura pointed out. Naruto nodded and the two headed toward the direction of the smoke.

At the exact same time Team 10 had spotted the smoke themselves and were proceeding but with a slightly more caution, "That smoke could be anyone Ino be patient and stay in formation," Shikamaru said with solemn look. Ino just glared at him before increasing her pace,

'Kami why do women have to be so troublesome, speaking of which what am I going to do about mine, she's stronger and as smart if not smarter than me,' the Nara thought and then sighed, 'And if that's not enough her brother's a complete sadist if her memories are anything to go by, what a drag,' he thought.

The boy's thoughts were quickly interrupted when he heard Ino shout, "Sasuke!" Team 10's attention immediately shifted as they appeared in front of the injured Uchiha, Sakura and Naruto following seconds after. Ino rushed to Sasuke's side who was groaning in pain, "What happened?" she screamed to the remaining members of Team 7.

Naruto and Sakura looked at the pair in shock at horrible condition Sasuke was in but Naruto somehow found his voice, "He… He… went looking for you three alone, I had to piss and he refused to wait, we… we were going to follow him right after we swear Ino, we swear but…" the blonde started. "But what!" she shouted angrily but this time it was Sakura to respond,

"We got attacked and we got blown away by some sort of jutsu and we ended up in the belly of a snake…" Ino went wide eyed at that but kept her face toward Sasuke while trying to sooth him to the best of her ability. "Then what!" she yelled out in tears finally breaking down, "We managed to escape and we showed up here at the same time you did, believe it Ino, we would never let this happen, I'd give my own life for his if meant saving him," the blonde admitted truthfully.

Ino turned to Naruto shocked but slowly smiled at him brightly as she replied, "I know Naruto and thank you," she said simply and returned her attention to her soulmate. "I hate to break this up but we have to find somewhere to lay low while Sasuke recovers, it's a drag, I know but Sasuke's a comrade and helping him recover comes first," Shikamaru announced to the group effectively getting an uncomfortable smile from three people that care way too much for the raven haired sharingan wielder.

Teams 7 and 10 found a well hidden spot under a few fallen trees to lay Sasuke down comfortably while Ino and Sakura did their best to treat his wounds and help him get through his unbearable pain.

The three male genin took turns keeping watch and setting traps to ensure their safety from any unforeseen attacks. Later that night the boys managed to catch and kill a wild boar so the trio along with Sakura reminisced about their academy days over a small fire but in the back of her mind she couldn't help but worry about Ino and Sasuke and how long it would take for him to recover. Little did the leaf genin know that they were being watched,

"What's the plan Dosu?" Kin asked the gray haired man, "We'll take the guys out first once the toxin Kabuto gave us takes effect, then we'll deal with those little girls and after that Sasuke will be all ours," he replied calmly while his two teammates shared an evil grin.

4:07 p.m.

"Look those sand nin are entering the tower," Kiba whispered to his teammates, "We'll wait about ten minutes and then head in ourselves, we don't want to cross that bastards path again especially while killing is still legal," he finished explaining. His friends nodded and true to their word at 4:17 p.m. Team 8 entered the tower marking them as well as Team Garaa the first teams to pass the second exam.


June 2nd, 64 AFL

"Sakura, Sakura!" Ino said while shaking her best friend awake early the next morning. Sakura rubbed her eyes and tried to take in her surroundings when she remembered where they where, "Shit, sorry Ino I fell asleep what's up, where are Naruto-kun and the others?" Sakura asked curiously but when she saw the serious expression on Ino's face her eyes lit up,

"Where are they Ino?" she asked again. "I don't know Sakura, I woke up and they were gone," Ino said calmly but Sakura could tell she was shaken by their absence, "Well what do we do kno…" Sakura failed to finish her sentence as several explosions erupted shaking the ground beneath the two kunoichi.

Sakura and Ino quickly rushed out of their hiding place to find their attackers and what they saw shook them. All of their traps had been sprung and three enemy nin were standing in front of them, "Would you two be so kind as to hand over Sasuke to us?" Dosu asked the two girls. Both kunochi scowled at him as Sakura asked,

"Where the fuck are Naruto-kun and the others?" she growled out. Zaku laughed, "Don't worry they're alive for now, you should really watch what you eat, that pig you all chewed on last night had a knockout drug in it's system," Zaku laughed before finishing, "They've all probably become bug food by now though," he explained. Sakura growled,

"Then we'll just have to kick your asses and find them ourselves, believe it, Shadow Clone Jutsu!" she said as two solid clones appeared. Sakura and her clones charged the nin and threw several shuriken toward the enemy but Zaku stood in front of his comrades, while holding out his hand he shouted, Slicing Sound Wave!"

Sakura, her clones and the shuriken were blown back with force, her shuriken impaling her clones and dispelling them while Sakura took one to her leg and another to her left arm forcing her down to one knee. "Sakura!" Ino shouted, suddenly she heard a dinging sound coming from her right and the blonde quickly dove to the ground, she managed to see two senbon fly past her, one she noticed had a bell tied to it.

'There using sound to confuse us,' Ino thought, Dosu suddenly appeared behind Ino and held a kunai to her throat, "Where is Sasuke?" he said to her coldly causing her to scowl at him. "Ino!" Sakura squealed but as she turned Kin took her by surprise hitting her with a sharp kick, sending her into the air while the sound teams other member jumped just above the wounded pinkette. Sakura moved her arms to her face to cover the blow as Zaku cried out once again, "Slicing Sound Wave!" he shouted sending Sakura back to the ground with a devastating blast created by a mix of sound and air.

The poor cherry blossom slammed into the ground hard, she was still alive and conscious but could barely move and was completely out of chakra. "I'll kill you all for what you've done!" Ino cried as Dosu went for the killing blow all four of the shinobi were stopped dead in their tracks from a cold, cruel, and malevolent chakra.

A few minutes before a boy a green spandex saw the beginning of the kunochi's desperate battle and thought, 'I should help them but Tenten-chan will kill me if I'm late but I'm sure as soon as I meet up with her and Neji they'll agree to come help, as long as I don't mention Naruto-san or Sakura-san to Neji' Lee groaned as he turned to return to his teammates at a breakneck pace in order to gather his team and provide adequate reinforcements for his fellow leaf genin.

At the exact same time Naruto Uzumaki was meeting an old friend, "Where am I?" he asked himself as he took in his surroundings, "Kami damn it, I'm back in this crappy seal, believe it!" he said aloud in agitation as he turned to the cage he knew the fox was sitting in.

"Wake up you stupid fox, I want my body back!" he said shouted. This caused the nine-tail's to roar in rage but Naruto kept his ground is scowl ever prevalent, "You ungrateful fucking brat, I work overtime to get that toxin out of your system and even wake your ass up before you can you can become some insect's meal and this is how you thank me, fine screw you kit!" the nine-tails barked and suddenly Naruto was ejected from the seal with the blonde baka only replying with a, "What?"

His thought process was interrupted as he opened his eyes and realized that he was surrounded by no less than seven giant centipedes, "Crap, Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he shouted and as quickly a dozen Naruto clones appeared quickly slicing up the disgusting creatures one by one with his trusty kunai.

The original Naruto looked around frantically trying to find his friends and he spotted a centipede that was sucking on choji's head like it was a popsicle. Naruto almost laughed but sprung into action quickly saving his comrade and quickly finding Shikamaru who was simply laying in the middle of the forest peacefully asleep, the bugs apparently thinking his skinny ass wasn't worth the effort.

Naruto created two more clones and picked up the members of Team 10 and tried sniffing the air in an attempt to find Sakura or Sasuke's scent. He got a small wave and quickly made his way through the forest in an attempt to regroup with his team.


As Naruto was stuck in his mind talking to his inner demon Sasuke Uchiha was facing his own. Sasuke had awoken in a white clear room it almost appeared to be a void but as he looked around he saw a younger version of himself crying while sitting down, his knees to his face. Sasuke walked over and put a hand on the boy's shoulder but when the boy looked up Sasuke was spooked. His face was there but it had been fused together with that bastard, Orochimaru,

"You let them die," the boy said to the original, "I wasn't there!" Sasuke responded, "You should of been, you're weak, pathetic!" the boy responded. "Fuck you, I'm getting stronger everyday and my sharingan will be complete soon enough," Sasuke responded.

The younger of the pair began laughing sadistically, "Those eyes are a joke compared to big brothers you know what we need, you know what you have to do," the boy said. "No, I refuse to be like him, I'll unlock the Mangekyou my own way without killing Naruto!" Sasuke stated sternly.

The boy's laughing suddenly stopped, "The dobe huh, funny how he keeps getting everything we lost, a full family, parents that loved him, skills that are increasing with little signs of stopping, and friends while we're stuck treating everyone else like shit because we're too afraid that if anyone gets too close Itachi will come and take them away, you're nothing more than a coward!" the boy said.

Sasuke sunk to his knees and started pounding at the non-existent ground with his fist, "Shut up, your wrong, your wrong!" he repeated again and again trying to convince himself rather than his younger projection. The younger snickered he knew he had won but Sasuke just needed one more push, he snapped his fingers and suddenly Sasuke could see the battle that Ino and Sakura were fighting.

They were suffering and there was nothing he could do, "Just like he said you don't have enough hate but I can amend that flaw," he said grinning cynically. Sasuke just looked at his younger and gritted his teeth, "Show me," was all he said before the younger's smile grew twice as wide and his voice deepened considerably,

"Very well take my power and kill all those who stand in our way," he said while offering Sasuke his hand. Sasuke hesitated for a moment but once he heard Ino's scream all resolve crumbled and he grabbed the younger's as tightly as he could, "Now show me!" he repeated again in anger. Without saying a word the younger version of Sasuke dissolved into shadows and the white void transformed into nothing but darkness.

As Ino prepared for Dosu's lethal attack she suddenly felt a malevolent chakra and suddenly the sound nin released her in a fright. She looked around frantically and saw Sasuke but it wasn't the Sasuke Ino knew, his body was covered in some sort of odd pattern and his chakra was flaring uncontrollably in mix of black and purple. Nevertheless he asked her,

"Ino who hurt you and Sakura?" Sasuke questioned in an unnaturally deep voice. Ino gaze shifted over to Sakura who was still lying on the ground injured due to Zaku's previous attacks. Ino's fear turned to hatred as she saw Zaku pick up Sakura by her hair and state proudly to Sasuke, "That would be me," he bragged and then threw her back to the ground with force,

"Sasuke, that scumbag was the one who hurt Sakura and that freak with the bandages threatened to kill me if I didn't tell him where you were!" Ino stated with malice as she pointed to Zaku followed by Dosu. Ino turned back to Sasuke but instead of feeling relieved or happy, instead she felt completely distressed, his eyes they were dead, it was like there was nothing left but his body.

She blinked and he was gone, Sasuke suddenly appeared behind Zaku and kicked his head into dirt. He grabbed Zaku's hands and placed his foot directly on the sound nin's back, "Die," was all Sauske said calmly as he ripped Zaku arms off in one pull severing them at this shoulders. Zaku screamed out in pain before running into the woods blood gushing from his wounds but before he could escape Sasuke appeared and sliced the boys throat with a kunai killing him instantly and ending his suffering.

Sasuke's head immediately snapped to Dosu, "Die," he repeated again calmly. Ino was busy trying to treat Sakura's wounds but both girls were stiff from shock and fear as well as the display of raw power and violence Sasuke displayed. "Sasuke Uchiha!" Dosu began frantically while Sasuke walked up to the nin calmly, "Here you've more than proven your superior strength please take our earth scroll and let us leave in peace," the sound nin begged.

Sasuke was finally in striking distance of Dosu as he took the scroll from him before looking at it oddly. Sasuke turned his gaze back to the sound nin and he had no time to react as Sasuke's other hand grabbed his throat, "Die," he repeated again and within seconds Dosu's neck was crushed with such force that blood splatter hit all three of the kunoichi, Kin who was crying under a tree as well as Sakura and Ino who were still in a state of utter shock.

Sasuke released Dosu whose head and body had become borderline separate pieces and stared unemotionally at the last member of the sound trio. "You die," he said again as he slowly made his way over to the terrified girl. Ino was terrified, yes she was terrified of this Sasuke but she knew he was still in there somewhere but her body was frozen in place.

She grabbed a medical scalpel out of the first aid kit she had been using to treat Sakura and stabbed herself in the leg using the pain to overcome the terror as she lunged in front of Sasuke wrapping her arms around him her head buried deep into his chest as she cried, "That's enough please, this isn't you, this isn't the Sasuke I love!" she screamed and suddenly Sakura saw both Ino and Sasuke's hands flash different colors before the Uchiha's collapsed to the ground Sasuke still in Ino's arms.

As Sasuke regained his awareness he realized where he was and the first thing he saw filled him with relief, the platinum blonde smiling at him but just behind her he could see Sakura eyeing him with a sense of fear in her eyes that made him feel sick. Sauske looked into Ino's eyes as he asked her incoherently, "What am I?" Ino looked at him oddly and while Sasuke spotted Naruto, Shikamaru, and Choji heading their way, "What Sasuke-kun?" Ino questioned him. Sasuke turned to face her again as he asked, "What…" was all the last Uchiha was able to get out before he collapsed from exhaustion.

As Teams 7 and 10 regrouped and recounted their experiences Team Gai arrived with Neji sensing Sasuke's chakra with his Byakugan but failing to get to the source before it suddenly vanished. "I told you Lee, they don't need our help now let's head to the tower, we already have both scrolls," Tenten said adding a wink for effect. Lee sighed but gave a nice guy poise as he replied,

"Right Tenten-chan let us finish the exam by the end of the day and if we fail we'll do one thousand push ups," the bushy browed genin said with flames in his eyes. Both Neji and Tenten sighed as she took Lee's hand and lead him to the tower marking Team Gai as the third team to pass the second exam.

Meanwhile the last living member of the sound nin was trying to escape wondering what the fuck she was going to do now, 'Fucking Orochimaru knew that was a sucide mission especcialy after he gave the Uchiha a fucking curse mark,' she thought and then began to sob again, 'And now the only friends I'v ever known are dead, why Kami?' she thought through tears. Suddenly she heard someone shout a jutsu she knew and screamed loudly thinking she was about to die but when she opened her eyes she recognized her attacker. The person smirked at her before asking, "So wanna talk?"


June 4th, 64 AFL

It took two days before Sasuke and Sakura recovered enough to move and both teams could focus on getting their final earth scroll. Sakura and Naruto were busy gathering firewood, while Sasuke and Ino went to gather water and Shikamaru and Choji were busy looking for something for their group to eat. Meanwhile a blue haired jinchuuriki and her team were finding an easy scroll among some dead grass ninja. As she picked up their scroll she sighed,

"It's a shame we didn't get here sooner, we could have saved them and taken their scroll without killing them if a few bears did them in," she said aloud. "Come on Fu-san we have both scrolls now let's head to the tower," "Ok," she replied and so Team Fu was marked as the fourth team to pass the second exam.

Meanwhile Sasuke was coming clean to Ino about what had happened in the woods at the start of the exam, if she knew the secret of the Mangekyou and still loved him enough to keep it a secret even from Sakura. Then he could trust her with anything he figured but he did purposely leave out the threat that Orochimaru issued her personally as well as what the snake truly wanted from him.

"So what do we do now Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked him in concern. Sasuke sighed, "My only lead now is that gray haired prick but who knows if he's even still here," Sasuke stated with agitation. Ino just put a hand on his shoulder as she replied, "Your right he's probably gone but if by some miracle he's still around I'll torture the information out of the dirt bag myself Sasuke-kun," Ino said sweetly with a smile.

Sasuke laughed at that, "Your becoming a little dark Ino, tone it back a bit ok," his grin slowly matched hers as he continued, "We'll torture him as a clan," he said calmly. As the two made their way through the forest they met up with Shikamaru and Choji, the pair unfortunately failing to capture anything tasty so the four genin slowly made their way back to the campsite looking for any sign of anything edible on the way.

While Sasuke's group made their way back Naruto and Sakura were waiting for their teammates worried about the fact they were still missing a scroll, "We could open the earth scroll and copy it so Ino's team has a scroll," Sakura said quietly, she knew that was wrong but they had no idea how many teams were left and they had been so much help and so kind to Sasuke and herself while they were injured.

"I don't know Sakura-hime somethings telling me that's a bad idea, I mean we can't have been the first ones to come up with that trick, hell I could come up with that in my sleep, believe it!" he said aloud causing Sakura to huff in annoyance. "Well screw it I'm trying it anyway," she said as she took the earth scroll and prepared to open it but was stopped by an unknown hand causing the pinkette to scream.

The remaining members of their group rushed out of the woods but when Sasuke saw who it was he stopped them. Sasuke decided he had no choice and told Shikamaru and Choji the truth about his second soulmate leaving out the parts about Orochimaru and making it seem like Kabuto was the evil mastermind torturing Karin. Shikamaru was skeptical at first but when Sasuke showed him the seals on his left hand the Nara had no choice but to accept, that like Naruto, Sasuke too had another soulmate and they needed to take this bastard in for questioning, "Ok here's the best plan I can come up with…" Shikamaru started to explain.

At the exact same Kabuto was informing Naruto and Sakura of what had happened to the other team's that had tried to open their scrolls, "Wow thanks Kabuto-san I almost messed up big time," Sakura said in disappointment, "Yeah Kabuto we really owe you one, believe it!" Naruto said with a smile at his new friend. Suddenly the trio was interrupted when they heard someone shout, "Human Boulder!"

Naruto and Saukra turned around quickly to see a huge ball of flesh heading toward the trio at high speed. Naruto and Sakura quickly jumped out of the way but Kabuto discovered he was unable to move, then he heard someone snicker, "My Shadow Possession Jutsu, it keeps you stuck till I let you go," the Nara stated calmly. Kabuto scowled at him but before he could do anything Shikamaru released his jutsu and Choji slammed hard into Kabuto knocking him against a tree.

Kabuto looked up and saw Ino and Sasuke standing in the branches, they both jumped down kunai at the ready to try and disable the undercover sound nin but Kabuto managed to get out of the way just in time missing Ino's kunai by inches and Sasuke's slicing off his bag. Kabuto sneered at the two Uchiha, "I'll make sure to send Karin your love Sasuke-kun," he said as he flew through several fluid hand signs, "Your not getting away!" Sasuke replied as he threw his kunai at enemy impaling him in the chest but he just smirked at Sasuke before disappearing in a puff of smoke his body replaced by a log, "Fuck!" Sasuke cried, "Where is he? Where is he?" he looked around frantically trying to locate the snake's apprentice with his sharingan but it was too late he was long gone.

Ino walked up to him slowly and placed a hand on his shoulder as she said calmly, "I'm sorry Sasuke-kun but he's gone we'll just have to get him and that other bastard another time," Sasuke turned to her and softly sunk his head into her chest trying to calm down as his two completely oblivious teammates walked up to him and Shikamaru began searching Kabuto's bag.

"Why did you guys attack him Sasuke, he helped us believe it!" Naruto tried to explain but this caused Ino to glare at the two Uzumaki's, "You wanted to know who Karin Uzumaki is, well you're not the only one here with a second soulmate Naruto and unlike your's who sit comfortably in the Leaf going on cute little dates Karin sits in a shit hole cell several miles away being tortured daily by that gray haired scumbag and there's not a single fucking thing we can do about it!" Ino screeched but before she could say anymore Ino felt Sasuke's hand grip hers firmly, she looked at him and he shook his head as the two other members of Team 7 stood their in shock. Shikamaru broke the awkward silence by announcing,

"Kabuto had a set of scrolls we have more than enough now, let's head to the tower," he said. The rest of the genin nodded silently and Teams 7 and 10 made their way to the tower marking them as the fifth and sixth team's to pass the second exam. When the six-man squad finally reached the tower they broke off into their respective teams dividing one heaven and one earth scroll between the two before they entered the giant structure.

When Team 7 walked in they found themselves in a room when they suddenly realized they needed to open their set of scrolls. Naruto and Sakura opened them up and suddenly smoke began pouring out of them. Sasuke realizing it was a summoning jutsu had his teammates throw the scrolls to the center of the room as man the three of them knew all too well appeared,

"Iruka sensei!" Naruto and Sakura said with a smile and even Sasuke had a small grin on at the site of their former teacher. Iruka looked at his former nin in training fondly and just smiled, he truly couldn't believe their progress. He explained to them the point of the heaven and earth scrolls as well as the purpose of the second exam. As he finished he looked at them fondly before saying,

"Well done you three and do your best in the third exam, meet me at Ichiraku's after this and I'll get you ramen," he said with a smile as he disappeared in another puff of smoke. Team 7 shared a grin as they proceeded through the next door ready and willing for the final exam.


June 6th, 64 AFL

Two days later Team 7 found themselves standing in a giant indoor arena, while the other remaining genin were lined up in front of the Hokage. Team 7 walked up to their fellow genin and listened to the old man as he explained the true nature and history of the chunin exams.

After he was finished the proctor for the third exam, a man holding a cigarette and a terrible cough, named Hayate Gekko appeared before the young ninjas. "Alright since there are too many of you we'll be holding a preliminary round before the start of the third exam," he explained through multiple coughs. Temari scowled at him as she asked,

"And why is that it sounds like a drag, damn it," the kunoichi from the sand covered her mouth in frustration. Hayate just looked at her with a bored expression as he explained, "There are to many of you, the truth is we didn't expect eighteen of you to make it this far, so we have to thin the herd so to speak," he replied dryly.

"Wait does that mean only one person gets to become a chunin, that's troublesome," the sand kunoichi replied with a thoughtful expression as the other genin quickly nodded in agreement causing Hyatae to sigh, "No the truth is you may all become chunin or none of you might, it all depends on how well you perform right here and right now, the reality is the more matches you get the more chances you get to demonstrate your talents and the likelihood of becoming a chunin increases, now if your done with your questions go up to the balcony and join your respective sensei's and come down when your name is called," Hayate finished through more coughs.

The six teams made their way to the balcony as ordered and soon the first match was ready to begin as the board began to flash different names the first competitors were finally revealed,

"Sasuke Uchiha vs. Choji Akimichi!"


AN: Wow I had fun this chapter the hardest part is definitely the series of events Team Garra finished an hour and thirty seven minutes in the original exam and Team 8 was not far behind. Team 10 found Team 7 by accident literally the day after they were attacked by Orchimaru while Sakura was fighting the sound nin so if there that close I think if they were actively pursuing each other they could have easily found each other on the first day and I used Sasuke's barbecue of Orochimaru to do that lol.

Sasuke does not freeze up he knows Orchimaru's chakra and he charged Itachi no problem literally a couple of months later in the timeline so I think he would of overcame that shit by now. Naruto needing to piss in the original is genius must thank Kishi sensei he literally gives us an easy way to separate Sasuke from the other members of team 7 even if you don't have him run off like I did you can still make it work.

Naruto not getting fucked over by the five prong seal this round totally fucking over his control in the original is really going to help him a lot and considering how much better his chakra control already is from his training with Sakura and Hinata… Well you get where I'm going with that… Honestly wasn't going to make inner sakura a total perv but as I reread the chapters I sighed and realized that shits actually canon at least when it came to Sasuke and since her affection is now for Naruto it makes sense it would shift that way. That being said this story will never have a lemon or anything that's over the teen rating and trust me when I say we won't be seeing next gen for a while. I definitely do get worried about the level of violence and language but that's a discussion for another day.

If you think Sasuke charging the snake bastard full force like a psycho is out of character it kinda is but those damn Uzumaki traits he got from Karin bleed through from time to time lol. Yeah Naruto is over protective of Hinata can you blame him though he can't watch her back all the time he has to rely on Kiba and Shino. And yeah literally all of the rookie 9 know Naruto's secret know except for Choji and maybe, Shikamaru although if I remember correctly he figured it out by himself in the original, I could be wrong and I will check.

I'm sorry if your angry I had the team's team up but why would they not do that in this situation if the rookie 9 all got together and worked as a 9 man squad with their combined skills, I truly believe they could take down any team besides Orochimaru himself, Gaara's team if he releases Shikkaku and Fu's is she releases Chomei seriously everybody else is screwed. There that good especially with Team 8's tracking they can avoid anyone they want and find anyone they want. I should also mention in the original Shikamaru believed that their team was weakest second only too Naruto's so considering how Ino has been talking about how good both Naruto and Sasuke are I see no reason why he wouldn't want to team up if not for safety fuck the exam way to troublesome dying is a drag.

I took the idea for the short conversations they had before the exam from the anime where Ino and Sakura as well as Hinata and Naruto have a discussion before the test. Yes the Anko Orochimaru stuff does happen but unless the conversation is really worth repeating I won't be covering it and the same goes with certain fights. The Third Hokage vs. Orochimaru for example is one of those fights, it happens the same way as in canon but he just uses two different followers for the reanimation jutsu and don't give me the no he couldn't have he had hundreds of prisoners at this time in the story and I do honestly think he more than planned for them to be killed by Sasuke. I think he sent the sound nin after him to attack Sakura and Naruto to try and force Sasuke's eyes to awaken quicker but honestly that's a debate that's gone on for fifteen years.

My favorite scene was definitely little Sasuke and elder Sasuke's conversation loved writing that out. Sorry for beating up Sakura but needed Ino well enough and I needed to add the extra incentive for Sasuke to go on a massacre, brutal. Yeah I know hated having Lee run away but getting his team and coming back is what a real shinobi would do and his crush on Sakura is non existent and considering Neji's relationship with the Uzumaki's it's a miracle Lee's nice to them at all but really but he knows Neji can be an ass and not the best judge of character and also remember it was three on two here and nobody was hurt before Lee left to go get his team.

Yes I needed a way to remove the boys and I decided to give the centipedes their spot since we skipped the rematch with rain nin because A) they would not have the balls to attack a full six-man squad with unknown abilities and B) I had Team 7 actually finish a day earlier than in canon.

Yes Karin's team from the village hidden in the grass was there but they all get slaughtered this time because why not, Karin is safe and sound in a cell in the sound and yes if you didn't realize I had to change Karin's past a little bit to get her to Orchimaru's quicker than in canon so Sasuke's hero complex would take over, love or hate the teme he hates seeing the weak get picked on it's part of his character whether you like it or not.

So yes I eliminated two teams from the exam the sound team and Kabuto's so we are definitely getting some unique matches in the next part. I want to make it clear before anyone thinks anything super insane is gonna happen it will not. At its core this story is simply a retelling of Naruto with the events happening slightly differently because of the Soul Seal Jutsu and the mystery of what's going on with Naruto and Sasuke and why they have two soulmates. That being said, several key events have to happen in the timeline for everything to go smoothly, if I don't do this, this story may suddenly become broken because I forgot something important, for example Sasuke had to get the curse mark. I really do hope you all enjoyed and continue to enjoy this story next time the prelims

Goodbye and Thank You!