After promptly passing out at a ridiculously early time I woke briskly to the realisation that I was truly going into the Chunin exams for a second time. With no real time to improve my physical strength or chakra I spent hours running chakra exercises into the early morning, finally stopping exhausted at seven.

Deciding to opt for something more sturdy than my bright pink dress, I grabbed my bike shorts, my black chest binding with a sheer mesh top followed by the oversized black T-shirt I had acquired the day prior. Finishing the look off with a thick dark grey bomber jacket that offered more protection against the elements, I felt ready to leave after I moved quick to pack a bag with supplies and weaponry.
Stealing a quick look in the downstairs mirror I was happy with my choices, the dark cloths were much more subtle but brought all the attention back to my long pale pink hair. 'Well shit.'

When I made it to the building where the first exam was to be held I saw Naruto and Sasuke already waiting. I joined them with a wave but let their banter and Naruto's chatting fly over my head as I felt some reservations still and decided to observe rather then partake in the conversation. I noticed the odd stares I got from both of them as they took in my new attire but thankfully didn't seem to care enough to ask why I'd changed. Maybe my spiel about 'being at that age' the day prior left them filling in the gaps for themselves.

Everything seemed to be playing out in a familiar way as far as I could remember. When we finally made it to the proper room where all the candidates were waiting a grey haired man came to offer some help, I felt physically ill at the sight of him. Unable to hide my glare and distaste as Kabuto showed his little cards to my teammates I decided to inspect the crowed.
We were openly being glared at by most the Shinobi but one pair of eyes in particular found mine.

Gaara was staring at me intently and I wasn't surprised exactly given I'd thrown myself at him the day prior but it was still slightly unnerving to have his attention focused on me.

'How embarrassing.. How in the world did he fall into a SAFE category?!' I scolded myself harshly, ashamed by how bad my deductive skills had been when approaching this situation after waking up here.
Sure his future was bright once Naruto got into that head of his but at this point, safe and Gaara shouldn't be used in the same sentence.
Feeling a tad bit guilty remembering what Naruto had told me of Gaara's past and the isolation, betrayal and lack of genuine human connection he'd had through-out his life made me rethink my position briefly. Maybe being nice and actually treating him like a person would be beneficial to the process of change that was coming.

With a small smile I gave Gaara a friendly but small wave hello.
His siblings either side of him looked around, certain I couldn't be waving in their direction. The red head just stared back unfazed and unresponsive.
'Typical.' I thought with a huff, moving back to my team I was surprised to see Sasuke already watching me with a look I couldn't quite place. I raised an eyebrow in question.

"Now's not the time for you to be flirting. If you're not going to take this seriously then leave. I don't need the extra dead weight." He's tone was condescending and harsh and though said quietly, in a room of ninja he may have well yelled it in my face. Pissed by his immaturity, I decided to ignore him and hoped the test would start soon and was thankful when I got my wish.

The first test had been a breeze, everything went smoothly and without a hitch. Leaving us to the second test. Shivering as thoughts of Orochimaru and Sound ninja came to mind I hoped that this time we could avoid the battle all together. I had to be smart with how and when I used my chakra, I had enough for a decent hit and maybe a few less demanding medical ninjutsu but it would only work if I caught my opponent off guard. I didn't have enough strength to withstand an ongoing battle, it just wasn't going to happen. I had to let them get close enough to land a hit or I'd be the one coming out in a body bag.

Standing in front of gate twenty eight our Earth scroll in hand the sound of the buzzer rang as the gates opened to the forrest of death. We shot through fast, moving in formation as we got deeper into the forrest, stopping only to come up with a plan of attack. I started to feel the hairs on my body stand on end us a shiver ran down my spine when Naruto left to go to the bathroom. We were being watched and in that moment I realised by who.

Naruto had came back moments later, laughing casually making some dense remark when Sasuke stopped him.

"What's the password Naruto?" He spoke authoritatively taking charge of the situation but before the blonde had the opportunity to tell him anything I stepped over casually.

"Hey Naruto, you've got some weird bug on your back. Let me get it for you." I mumbled moving as non threateningly as possible, the Naruto in front of us laughed rubbing his head trying to look over his shoulder to see the supposed bug. Finally getting behind him I had to work quickly as I pretended to brush something off his back, Sasuke glaring arms crossed at the very nerve of us ignoring his request.

My hand was positioned right behind Naruto's neck when I moulded my chakra fast into a scalpel, bringing it down hard toward his spine missing at the last second as he shifted to the side and it instead stabbed between his neck and shoulder. I pulled down hard as my scalpel went from neck to back severing muscles and anything else in its way.
The imposter turned fast grabbing my throat almost crushing it between strong fingers. Next thing I was flying through the forrest, thrown with such force and speed that when I finally hit a large tree coming to a crashing stop, everything went instantly black.

I could hear yelling and vibrations as the ground shook around me, disorientated I kept falling back into unconsciousness before I could figure out why. When I came around everything was quiet again, the once lush landscape was burnt and broken leaving familiar bodies laying limp and motionless in the clearing, 'FUCK'

I felt tears threaten to spill as I rolled onto my back and stared straight into the cold ruthless gaze of Orochimaru.

Shocked I stared back, unwavering and unwilling to give him the pleasure of seeing my fear. Monsters like him lived off fear so I held his gaze even as he pulled a kunai out with strong killing intent. I kept my gaze strong, if this was my time to go so be it but I sure as hell wasn't going to give this man the satisfaction or the reaction he was waiting for.

"how interesting" he rasped, smirking as he turned with a dark humourless chuckle. He left without saying anything more, disappearing into the thick foliage of the forrest.

Easing myself up slowly, vision blurring and head thumping with pain I pushed myself forward towards my unmoving teammates. Gathering them up and sending the smallest amount of chakra to my limbs to help I darted fast but awkwardly through the tree tops.

Finding an uprooted tree I quickly went to work setting up traps and wires before I headed into the makeshift camp to start checking on their wounds. Both were fine but needed rest, Sasuke's newly acquired curse mark brought on a high fever which was about the worst of it thankfully.
Feeling out of immediate danger I allowed the smallest amount of healing chakra to my head, helping with the concussion. I tried to rest my body noticing how my throat felt raw from being squeezed so tight I decide to leave it knowing I'd need every last ounce a chakra I could spare.

It felt like days had passed when the three Sound Shinobi finally showed up.
Intentionally setting off one of my traps to let me know they were here, I put on a brave face for the oncoming battle that was sure to be as violent as the first.
'I may be outclassed but I wont be outwitted.. If I played my cards right I believe I can take one down at close range but the fact that they are mostly long range fighters will not play into my strengths.'

Stepping out to face the three enemy shinobi I felt an immediate chill run over my skin. The lone female looked at me like I was a piece of dirt stuck to her shoe while the other two looked at me differently, darker.
I could feel my heart race when I heard them speak to each other not concerned if I could hear.

"So this is the one Lord Orochimaru mentioned." The leader spoke deeply, his face wrapped with bandages leaving one eye glaring out at me with unconcealed judgment.

"Kin, why don't you go scout the area while we take care of this. It shouldn't take us long" It wasn't a question but a command. The only female member couldn't hide the look of disgust that washed over her features making my brain freeze for a moment trying to work out why. It hit me like a tun of bricks when I realised they didn't just want to fight.

"We heard you don't scare easy so don't disappoint us now... We were so looking forward to breaking the spirit of yours slowly." The other Shinobi spoke almost gleefully excited by the idea.

Taking a deep breath I had to face the realty of the situation I'd found myself in. The stakes were high but no higher than what I was used too.
Readying myself to fight tooth and nail if necessary I sprinting forward fast, moving smoothly dancing, ducking and dodging as I went. It didn't feel like I was at a disadvantage yet, though they hadn't used any of their 'sound' techniques and I hoped to Kami they wouldn't start now.

Dodging one particular close kick aimed at my head I ducked fast moving in closer as I did. Pushing a concentrated amount of chakra into my fist and lunging up from the ground with as much speed as I cloud muster. I was certain I was about to put this spiky haired prick down for good when mid lunge I felt strong hard arms wrap around my body trapping my arms to my sides and throwing me off balance.

Landing hard on my chest, a heavy weight on top of me.
I felt my hands quickly pulled up high on my back in restraint as I thrashed hard in panic.

"Grab the chakra rope Zaku." I heard a deep voice say above me. I felt a lump rise in my still raw throat as they bound my arms tightly behind my back, roughly rolling me back over to face them.

"We are done playing games with you Kunoichi." The leader deadpanned. "We're ready to hear you scream so don't be too brave." He said as he chuckled darkly.

I was out of options and at their mercy.

A strong grip wrapped around my long hair this time forcing my head to stay on the ground as another pair of hands lifted to my jacket, tearing it swiftly open. Light headed I laid there uncertain what to do, hands kept reaching and ripping each piece of clothing they caught till I was left with nothing but my bindings and bike shorts intact.

When I felt their hands start moving over my skin, rubbing and squeezing my body roughly I couldn't help but franticly thrash in response trying to get them off.
Attempting to scream for help realising I urgently needed it nothing would come out. My throat more badly injured then I'd realised, tears finally started to prick the corners of my eyes when I felt the edge of a blade on my throat-holding me still and forcing me to lookup at the shadowed face above me smiling cruelly down.

I started disassociating when I felt my shorts being tugged slowly down exposing my hips bones. It didn't feel like it was really happening to me anymore, like I was watching from a distance a scene play out. My body went limp to their touch as my mind vacated to somewhere else faraway. A hard slap crossed my face brought me back into the moment with a jolt.

"Don't think we'll let you check out that easily" Zaku growled pulling harder on my hair exposing my throat while opening up may body to their aggressive touch. "Remember we want to hear you scream Kunoichi." He whispered into my ear, licking the side of my face with a deep growl.

There was a moment of stillness that followed, I couldn't quite figure out why but the energy suddenly felt thick with malice and killing intent. It had the two frozen, forgetting all about me when instantaneously I felt the weight holding me down disappear.
I could hear screams of pain and the gurgling of blood but wondered if it was real or imagined while I laid frozen among my torn cloths. Hearing slow foot steps coming I couldn't bring myself to look, fearing what monster I would see.
None ever came.

Sasuke stood above me looking down with wide spinning red eyes, curse mark retracting slowly from his flesh breathing deeply through his mouth. The relief I felt at the sight of him was quickly followed by the sudden shame of being found like I was.

"Sakura." Sasuke spoke gently, fists squeezing more tightly at his side. His mouth become a hard line the longer he looked, taking in the scene around around me with his perceptive gaze. Unable to find the right words he crouched down looking me in the eyes with a small nod as he rolled me to the side, releasing the rope binding my arms with a swift thrust of a kunai.

I laid there a long while uncertain what to do or say anymore, I thought I felt a small gentle caress ghost across my cheek.

"Sorry." Sasuke said lowly and earnestly, no more the a whisper.

Grabbing each side of my broken jacket I wrapped myself up tightly and shamefully pulled my shorts above my sharp hip bones, I wished the earth would swallow me whole at having someone witness me in this state.

Getting up slowly on shaky feet I felt a hand on my arm steadying me softly, I didn't shake him off this time but couldn't look him in the eyes. Letting him gently lead me back to or camp I wondered if I could trust him.

"We can't stay here any longer it's not safe." Sasuke said a matter of fact. "I'll wake Naruto up and we'll leave to make camp somewhere else tonight. Will you be alright being carried?"

Hoping that wouldn't be necessary, I nodded in affirmation anyway.