A Song for Them Chapter 32: Dark Forest Arc, Wake Up, a naruto fanfic

Naruto Fan Fiction!

Adventure! SI-OC!

(Title)

"A Song for Them"

A/N: 'Bout time, huh guys? Oh wow~ what's this!? 700 review milestone!? *Blows whistle* Woo!

The responses to the last chapter were SO AWE-mazing! Over 60 in just two days, stopping at over 100 new reviews by the time I posted this. That's coo-coo train insane. You guys are so supportive! And just like that, I feel so many insecurities about my story wash away! I will continue to give this my all!

Now without further ado, let's see what's happened to our dear Team Seven. Enjoy~

DISCLAIMER: I do not own 'Naruto' or any of the cannon characters! Nor do I own any trauma that may occur to them during the writing of this Fanfiction.

WARNING! RATED M! For language, blood and LOTS of violence-Hey! I'm finally getting to really use these!

Exam I Arc,

Chapter Twenty-Nine: "Wake Up"

"Love is the most powerful emotion, and that makes it the most dangerous." -Anon E. Muss

I jerked awake with a gasp, something hot and crazy running through my whole body it made my skin feel like it was on fire and I couldn't feel my toes or fingers and my tongue and... what was wrong with my tongue!?

"Whuts wrun with wy tounth!?" I shout. I can't speak! What's wrong with my tongue!? Why did it feel so-so fuzzy!? My tongue isn't supposed to feel like that! "Whuts huppunging!?"

"Calm down idiot." a familiar voice said beside me. My head whipped around to see Sasuke sitting right next to me with an annoyed frown on his face. I think so, at least. It was really dark so I couldn't really see. The sun must've went down while I was out, it was totally dark now.

"Wuth huppened 'thebatho? How lung wath I outh?" I asked. My tongue still felt really weird and my head kinda hurt. So did everything else. I was really sore.

Sasuke frowned, "A half hour, I think? You wouldn't wake up until I used that tag on you."

"Tagh? Whut tagh?" I asked.

"Sora's tag. The one she wanted us to use when she electrocuted herself. I had to do it twice when it didn't work over your jacket." He reached over and pulled something off my mesh shirt. "...I almost thought you wouldn't wake up either."

"Either? Whuth did that mean? Und why are you wakthing me up inthead of So-ch'n? Tha lass thing I remember ith-"

My head was spinning and I was seeing double when I looked back up I see the Half-Snake bastard corner Sora-chan on a branch, she was shaking so badly and the bastard raised a hand and all I saw was RED.

-"So-ch'n! Wherth's So-ch'n, is she othay!?" Sasuke's eyes glanced towards the other side of me, I turned around and saw Sora-chan under the roots of a tree. I scrambled closer to her side, she looked like she was sleeping but I couldn't see her good so I reached into my pocket and pulled out Sora-chan's night light tag. I pushed chakra into the paper and something felt weird when I did, I ignored it and pushed chakra until it lit up.

I swallowed hard when I saw Sora-chan's face. I knew something was wrong. She was sweating and her eyebrows were pinched together like she was in a lot of pain, her breaths were short and her skin was cold and wet because of the sweat. She looked like she was sick.

"Wake up..." I shook her a little, she didn't move. I shook her harder. She still didn't open her eyes. My chest started squeezing and my stomach was flip-flopping around. "Sora-chan, wake up!" I started shaking her a lot until a hand grabbed my wrist, stopping me.

"Stop it, Naruto, it's no use!" Sasuke snapped.

He pulled my hand away but I couldn't stop looking at Sora-chan, waiting for her eyes to open and for her to smile that half smile that she uses whenever we come up with pranks to pull on the bullies. Waiting for her to laugh and say that the look on my face was sooo funny. Ha-ha... anytime now she'll tease us both for worrying over nothing and complain about lying on the ground so long.

I waited.

And waited.

...she didn't open her eyes.

My throat was really dry when I spoke, I sounded like a frog. "Why won't she wake up?"

"That guy we were fighting, he..." The half-snake guy? He did this to Sora-chan? I looked over at Sasuke when he stopped, his face was scrunched up as he looked down at Sora-chan.

"What happened, Sasuke?"

"He..." he stopped again and I was getting irritated. Why wouldn't he just spit it out- "I think he poisoned her with something but I can't be sure."

My eyes widened and the night light flickered out and I had to push in more chakra. "Poison?! That's bad. Like, really, really bad! What can we do? How do we help her 'ttebayo? Wait! Don't we have to open the wound like when I got poisoned!?" I asked, moving closer.

"Ugh. Don't get in my face, idiot!" He put his hand on my face and pushed me back. Bastard. "No. It's already been a half hour and it's probably already in her system. There's no point in cutting her open."

"So... what do we do?" I asked, looking back down at her.

Sasuke sat up straight and his face was hard as he spoke. "I've thought about it and the way I see it, we have two options. We can either travel to the nearest exit gate and get medical help or... we can wait until she wakes up on her own and continue with the exam."

"Continue!? Are you nuts, Sasuke? Who cares about some damn exam!? Sora-chan need help! Now!"

"I know that." he growled, glaring at me. I glared at him right back. We weren't gonna risk Sora-chan's life. "But if we move her around too much then the poison might spread. The nearest gate is over two kilometers away and we might end up making things worse before she get the help she needs."

I felt my stomach drop. Was he really saying...?

If we go... we might kill her.

But if we stay she might die.

That's...

It was quiet for awhile.

Sasuke shifted beside me, "...I can't decide this on my own, Naruto. You know Sora better than I do, so... what would she want to do?"

What would Sora do?

"She..."

I looked down at her face. She looked like she does when she's having a bad nightmare. If it was just a nightmare then she'd wake up, right? I reached out my hand and grabbed hers, letting her know that I was here. That always worked when we were little so why shouldn't it work now.

I noticed her hand was cold.

My stomach flipped again and I wrapped both of my hands around hers.

Sora-chan's hands are never cold.

...what would she want us to do?

I sighed. It's easy to know what she would want. But still, I looked back up at Sasuke as I took off my jacket and folded it before lifting her head and placing it under, like a pillow. "Can't one of us go and get help and come back? It couldn't take that long, right? I'll just go and be right back!"

Sasuke shook his head, "It's too risky to split up. It'd be different if we were all at fighting condition but we haven't had time to recover from the fight. If you were to go, you'd more than likely get lost or captured before getting help-" I was about to tell how that definitely wouldn't happen, but he held up a hand to stop me. I only stopped because that's how Sora-chan does it.

"-don't bother denying it, Naruto. You know you'd get lost too. And I..." he scowled as he looked down at his arm, "...I think-I'm sure that my shoulder is dislocated."

I blinked in surprise when I noticed he was holding his right arm to his chest and... it looked weird. I rubbed my right shoulder, remembering how it felt when I got one. "Ehh... that sucks. I got one of those when we were in the Academy, Sora-chan got so-" I felt my stomach turn again.

I remember how Sora-chan hovered over me for a week until I got my arm out of the sling. She wouldn't let me do anything fun and jumped up every time I tried to do anything myself. Even when I bathed she made me sit on the stool in my underwear as she tried to scrub my skin off. It really sucked. I smiled a little as I rubbed my arm, remembering the stinging feeling left behind after she was done.

"How about you? Are you hurt?" Sasuke asked, his eyes looking over me.

"I..." I frowned, putting a hand over my stomach. The light flickered again and I had to concentrate to keep it on. There was something wrong with my chakra. Maybe I was just tired? "My chakra feels kinda weird."

"Your chakra feels 'weird'?" he repeated. I nodded, slipping my hand back in Sora-chan's. "See? We can't afford to split up. We either go or stay, together."

I scowled at him. I didn't like it. Sora-chan needs help now and if she were here making the decision then she'd-She'd...

"Aww man..." I groaned. I know what she'd do if she was awake. I squeezed her cold hand tighter. I know what she'd want. "I think that Sora-chan would be really pissed if she found out we tried to move her like this 'ttebayo."

I don't like it, but it's completely dark out now and we don't know what's out there and we could end up fighting people or a giant spider or something just as bad and then what would happen to Sora-chan? No. Like Sasuke said, -Ugh. I can't believe I'm agreeing with bastard- we can't split up so, we just have to...

We have to wait.

"At least for tonight!" I add quickly, "If she doesn't wake up soon then we have to go back, no matter what, got it?"

Sasuke nodded, "Fine. We can decide again in the morning. First thing we need to do now is move Sora further into that cave. It's not the best cover but it will have to do for now. It'll be better once we set up traps around the perimeter in case someone shows up. We can't afford to be caught unaware. We need every advantage we can get."

I pushed more chakra into the night light until it stayed on by itself and moved over to grab Sora-chan's but stopped. Sasuke said if we moved her too much then it could get worse, right? So I shouldn't do it by myself. I turned my head to the side and spoke.

"C'mon Sasuke, I need your help to move her 'ttebayo." When Sasuke didn't move I looked back up and saw him just sitting there with a frown. "Sasuke."

His face twisted into a scowl and I wondered what the hell was his problem until I saw he was holding onto his arm tightly. Ohh, that must really hurt still. I cried a lot when I fell out of that tree-but I was like, six, so it doesn't count!

I took a step closer, stuffing my hands into my pockets. "Do you... uh, need help?"

He looked up at me and stared for a minute before he jerked his head yes. Okay, so, uh... I scratched my head. How can I help? We need like a first-aid and-

"Oh! I know!" I squatted down and lifted the side of Sora-chan's shirt and-there it is! I pulled out her black book, opening it up to look for the right page. Sora-chan always makes sure to have first-aid stuff ready, 'cause she's always getting hur-

I stiffened.

Sora-chan is always getting hurt, isn't she? Even when I try to protect her, I can't and she always ends up getting hurt somehow. But... even though she gets hurt, she always smiles warmly at me and says that it's going to be okay so...

…it's still going to be okay, right?

I shook my head wildly.

Of course it was going to be okay! Sora-chan made a promise that she wouldn't ever leave me, and Sora-chan never lies. So... she was going to sleep for a little while and I was going to be the one doing the protecting this time.

I found the page and put my hand on it, pushing chakra and in a 'poof!' there was a big white box with a red cross over it. I opened it up and I saw a lot of bandages and band-aids an-

"IS THAT A SAW!?" I squawked. Why does Sora-chan keep a saw with band-aids!? What would she even need that for!?

"What are you doing?!-No. Never mind! Just come here already, I know what to do. Just do exactly as I say." He laid down on his back and gestured me to come closer, I frowned but did anyway. He took a deep breath. "Okay, lift up my arm."

I did as he said and his eyes squeezed shut while his face twisted up in pain. I winced in sympathy. This was going to hurt. Him. Not me.

"Now, hold up my arm-Hnngh!" he hissed though his teeth and I almost dropped his arm in surprise, "Mmm... a little higher. A litt-There! Now grab my hand and my wrist. Hold them firmly. Now... I want you to pull slowly. Slowly Naru-"

Something popped.

後悔 Regret

"ANBU Wildcat, report."

"At 1830, Squad Ro entered Training Grounds Forty-Four in with the purpose of investigating Yakushi Kabuto movements and intentions regarding his entrance to the Chuunin Selection Exams. After hearing signs of multiple high-yield explosions in short consecutive bursts, the decision was made by me as Squad leader to investigate the disturbance further."

"And why did you make that decision, operative Uzuki?" Nara-dono's voice was lax but his expression was grim and his eyes sharp, "It could have been a fight between the Chuunin applicants."

My tone remained neutral. The question was standard to find out the events that led up to the encounter. It wasn't about my judgment as Squad Capitan.

…but maybe it should have been.

"The initial explosion was created in combination of several explosive tags, the explosive yield of which were not the standard issued to genin or even chuunin. It resembled more of a demolitions range than an altercation between genin."

Nara-dono nodded and Hokage-sama lifted his hand, signaling me to continue the report.

"On route towards the disturbance we encounter Mitarashi-san also headed towards the site. It was then that we learned of the deaths of a genin team from Kusagakure and possibility that Former leaf Shinobi; Orochimaru had infiltrated the Chuunin Selection Exam." A breath. "In light of the new information, the priorities of our mission changed accordingly to the capture and detainment of the S-Ranked intruder."

"We continued to follow the sounds of explosions until we observed the Intruder engaging in combat with a genin team, Hatake Kakashi's Team Seven. The order was then given to remove the genin from the area and to confront the Intruder." I then gave the details of the battle and how I removed the scene and returned to the battle until additional ANBU squads arrived and he escaped.

i'd never fought so desperately before in my life and I was still no match for that monster. He evaded the capture of three ANBU squads and escaped the forest without consequence.

Nara-dono sighed and rubbed his temple. "In the end we have two casualties and three severely wounded as he made his escape... this is a mess."

"Thank you for the report. Have you seen to your injuries yet, Yūgao-chan?" The Sandaime Hokage inquired. I gave a short nod, not raising my head yet. I hadn't gotten any serious injuries compared to the others. Whatever I had could be taken care of after Hokage-sama has been informed of all the details. Speaking of...

"Hokage-sama. There's something else that happened during the altercation that was... unusual."

"'Unusual' how?"

"There were multiple times throughout the encounter where the Intruder spontaneously exploded without any apparent cause. The first explosion is what killed operative Antelope, we became warier when engaging after that. Also, with each explosion operative Boar sensed that the Intruder's chakra became further drained. We suspect that it was not entirely intentional as the Intruder showed signs of frustration with each detonation."

The Sandaime's eyes narrowed and his mouth opened-all attention was drawn to the door swinging open with Mitarashi-san stumbling in from the hall, still heavily bandaged with her arm in a sling. She stood up as straight as she could as she addressed the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama, I'm here to give my report." she stated without any preamble. I did not frown in disapproval as I noticed her bandages slowly turning from white to red.

The Hokage's personal guard stood down after the signal was given to let her pass. Hokage-sama then waved the tokubetsu jonin over to sit on a chair, coming to stand by her. "I've already received the report from the ANBU on-scene, Anko-chan. I can take your report after you've had time to recover."

"This couldn't wait, sir. During our fight, that man claimed that he had men placed in the Exams and that he was targeting one of the other applicants. He wasn't clear about who or for what reason, only that if we were to cancel the Exams now then he would retaliate against the Village."

The Sandaime frowned heavily. "Do we have any idea who his target could be?"

One of the genin... the girl on Kakashi-senpai's team.

"Hokage-sama." I murmured, he nodded and gave me permission to speak. "The kunoichi of Team Seven had been unconscious and unresponsive when I left the genin to return to the encounter. Before I left however, I noticed that on her bicep she had a marking similar to the one on Mitarashi-san's neck."

Mitarashi-san's face twisted into a scowl and her hand went up to her neck in a seemingly unconscious movement, "If he's marked her, then that kid is already dead."

I froze.

What? But Kakashi-senpai... he trusted me to-

Should I have stayed?

Hokage-sama was quiet for a full minute and his eyes were hard when he finally spoke. "Regardless of Orochimaru's ambitions, the Chuunin Selection Exams will continue. That being said... I want an increase in the number of Shinobi stationed around the Training Grounds and a Sensor in every squad. I do not want my former student to interfere again." Nara-dono nodded curtly and swiftly left the room to carry out his new orders.

"What should I do Hokage-sama?" Mitarashi-san asked eagerly, trying and failing to stand again.

The Hokage arched a brow at the tokubetsu jonin. "It's my understanding that you should still be in bed, isn't that right Anko-chan?" he reprimanded lightly.

Mitarashi-san's face hardened. "I can't lie in that bed while he's out there doing Kami knows what! That man-" she stopped when the Sandaime raised his hand.

"I understand your frustrations, Anko-chan." he murmured. "But there's not much that you can do in your current state. Do you disagree?"

Mitarashi-san grimaced but calmed down significantly. "No. I don't."

"Good. Now come her and let me see that seal. Afterwards you will return your bed. Hayate-kun will take over the rest of your responsibilities as proctor." he waved his hand in dismissal to the rest of us. I took my leave after that.

Hayate. He was here in the Tower wasn't he? Shit. I need to finish getting patched up before he sees me like this or else he might freak out like after that ambush in the Land of Tea. I don't even know how I'm going to deal with that pouty look he gives me whenever I get hurt. He'll definitely be informed of the encounter soon and he'll link my injuries to it. I'll have to buy his favorite for dinner to ease the blow of the news.

In a spare room of the Tower as I was mending the gash on my calf my thoughts turned to the genin team I left in the Forest. Should I have stayed with them? The Uzumaki boy looked to be in bad shape and if what Mitarashi-san said was true then it sounds like the girl is in dire need of medical attention. And Sasuke, the way he looked at me as I was leaving...

He looked just as lost as that night when I left him in the care of the Medic Corps after witnessing-

Maybe I should have stayed.

I wonder what Kakashi-senpai would've done in my stead?

…

Shit! Kakashi-senpai!

静か Quiet

I leaned back from tending the fire hole and shifted my arm to a more comfortable position in the sling. There was a lot less pain than earlier to the point it's just an ache unless I move it so the good news is that it won't be too much of a hinderance in a couple days. If Sora wakes up soon then we might even be able to finish this exam.

Unconsciously my eyes slid to the other side of the fire.

The fire didn't give off much light and her pale face was cast in shadows but I could see the minute trembling in her arms and legs. She started running a fever not long ago, her body is rejecting whatever that Orochimaru guy did to her. So that should be good, right? Maybe it really was poison and she's getting over it now.

My mind drifted to the image of that strange mark that appeared over the puncture wounds on her arm. I'd bandaged it before Naruto could question me about it. Tch. I have no idea why I didn't just tell him that she got in the way of an attack meant for me.

Because I was too slow.

Because I wasn't strong enough.

I clenched my fist, my nails digging into my palm.

Because I needed saving.

"I'm back!" a voice called obnoxiously loud. I quickly turned to Naruto and hushed him. He ducked his head sheepishly as he entered the cave but my eyes went to the bundle of weeds in his arms.

"What's all that for?" I asked, my voice low.

He lifted his head with a grin and quickly made his way to the fire. "I'm gonna make a get-better soup for Sora-chan 'ttebayo!"

"A what?" I narrowed my eyes at him as he set the bundle to the side and pulled Sora's book from his pocket, rifling through the pages. He soon pressed his hand against the page and after the smoke cleared a kettle along with cups were there instead.

"A soup to help Sora-chan get better faster! Well, actually it's more like a tea because I don't have any chicken or vegetables but that doesn't really matter."

"Chicken." I repeated.

"For, y'know, chicken noodle soup. Sora-chan always makes that for me when I feel sick so I thought I should do something like that too. I don't know about poisons and stuff but I know about fevers and stomach aches." he held up a yellow flower, "Y'see, this is good for lots of stuff like open wounds, you just put it on and it keeps it clean. At least, I think so. It's been a long time since I learned this." he scratched the back of his head with a frown before shrugging. He then filled the kettle with water from a bottle and set it on top of the fire hole, beginning to sort through his pile of weeds-or, herbs? "It was pretty hard to see out there when I was setting up the traps but then I got lucky and found some raspberries and got the idea dattebayo! I think the leaves are good for fevers when you make them into tea."

I stared at the dead last of our class. Wait. Was this really Naruto?

I prepared myself and lifted my uninjured arm and signed. 'Password.'

He blinked blankly at me before looking somewhat offended. "Ehhh!? You think I'm a fake!? After everything that we went through today you can't recognize when it's me, you Bastard!? You recognized Sora-chan when that half-snake bastard was pretending to be her!"

I swallowed hard.

There are only two people that could know that. If this was really Naruto then... I narrowed my eyes at him and gingerly raised my injured arm to use the sign language. 'If you are the real Naruto then tell me something only he would know.'

His face scrunched up and he squinted at me. "Only something I would know... uhmmm. My favorite food is a large serving of miso ramen with roasted pork fillet at Ichiraku, I like pulling pranks and when Sora-chan plays songs, I also li-"

"-Stop, I believe you, Naruto." I relaxed again and set my arm back into the make-shift sling, relaxing my muscles. He stared at me another moment until the water began to boil and he went back to making his tea. I watched as he began pulling off the leaves of the raspberry and briefly clean them off before dropping them into the kettle. "...where did you even learn all of this?" I asked.

He glanced up from his hands, "Oh, Sora-chan taught me a lot of this when we were little. Sometimes when we didn't have enough money for ramen we'd go out into the forest and play and find dinner, that's when she taught me a lot of things. Sora-chan also taught me what kinds of mushrooms were good to eat and what kinda plants made good soup when you boiled'em. What not to eat, what's poisonous and other stuff. Like with the flowers." he rubbed the back of his head with a grimace, "She made sure that I remembered all this just in case I ever needed it."

We didn't cover any of that in the Academy. The most wilderness survival training we got was a yearly camping trip in the outer edges of the Village. I leaned back against the wall of our dirt cave and narrowed my eyes at him. "And who taught her all of that?"

"Uhmm..." he bit his bottom lip and squinted over my shoulder, it looked like he was trying hard to remember. "She said once that her Grandpa had a garden when she was little and he taught her about all the plants and stuff but it was her Kaa-chan that taught her how to fish and cook and make fires."

This is a first I'm hearing about Sora having a Grandfather. I remember Naruto saying that her Mother was dead, but...

Did she used to have a big family too?

There was a sound of a poof and I blinked at the stack of bento sitting in front of Naruto. There had to be at least ten.

"What are those?" I ask.

"It's food, duh." I scowled at him for that stupid answer. "Sora-chan made sure to pack a lot of meals after we got our applications the other day, she went and bought a bunch of stuff and ended up making a weeks worth of lunches 'ttebayo." he took one off the top and leaned to the side so he could see me, "You want one?"

I blinked in surprise before remembering myself and shaking my head. "I've got my own."

Feeling the tightness in my stomach I also reached into my tools bag and pulled out the storage seals that... Sora, gave me the other day. I'd filled them with shuriken, kunai, high-grade wire and a change of clothes. And... food. A couple days ago I found a few bentos stacked outside my door with a note saying how the Woman was going to be out of Village for awhile and she wanted me to remember to eat at least once a day.

Tch. Ridiculous woman.

"Thank you for the food." Naruto mumbled, eyes lingering and Sora's still form. I unsealed a lunch and we ate in silence, the only sounds in the air were of cicada of questionable size. When I finished, I put the empty box back into the storage seal and felt how heavy my eyelids suddenly became. I forced myself to sit up straight and opened my eyes wider. I can't fall asleep here. We weren't safe yet.

I watched wordlessly as Naruto filled a cup with his tea and almost drop it when he realized it was hot, he blew on it until it was cool and brought it to Sora. I watched in idle curiosity as my same obnoxious, loud and rude klutz of a teammate carefully lifted Sora's head into his lap and brought the cup to her lips with a gentleness that was out of place in the prankster.

Not for the first time I found myself wondering how their simple 'friendship' could seem like something more, something deeper. The lengths those two seemed to go for the other is unreasonable. They didn't owe anything to each other. It's not like they were bound by blood ties, they weren't actually family.

Images of a gentle, smiling stranger I used to call family came forward in my mind and I tightened my jaw. An old ache rose in my chest and I pushed it away, smashing the unpleasant feelings that sprung up with it.

Being blood doesn't mean a damn thing either.

I lowered my eyes to the faint glow of the fire hole and watched the embers fly out from under the tea kettle. My eyelids became heavier with each blink and I found my breaths evening out against my will. I snapped them open once more and forced myself forward from my seat, ignoring the constant stinging feeling in my shoulder. I needed to be alert. I needed to be awake in case someone comes. I nee-

"You can sleep if you wanna." My eyes snapped towards Naruto's voice. In the time I briefly closed my eyes the fire had gone out and the only light was the faint glow from that light tag he held at his side. At some point he moved Sora's head to rest on his leg and laid his jacket over her torso. It wasn't cold at all, did that mean her fever was getting worse?

"Can't." I said shortly. I didn't have the energy for any more conversation. "Someone needs to keep watch."

"I'll keep watch. I won't fall asleep!" he said immediately. I didn't ever have the energy to roll my eyes at him. Instead I shifted my eyes to the dark opening of the cave and made a vaguely dismissive sound. "Hey! I won't fall asleep." he repeated firmly.

I looked back at him and paused. It might have been the way the light was casting shadows over his face, but at that moment, Naruto looked more serious than I'd ever seen before.

"She's going to wake up." I tell him suddenly.

"I know she will." he responded immediately without a hint of doubt.

I...

"How can you do that?" I hear myself ask. Why do I bother asking? I know that the answer doesn't matter to me.

He tilted his head at me. "Do what?"

"How can you be so... sure."

"Because Sora-chan promised."

I frowned, "What?"

"She promised she wouldn't leave so that means she's going to wake up. Because Sora-chan doesn't lie. Ever."

A rebuttal was on the tip of my tongue about how everyone lies but I thought better of it when I saw the warning look he gave me. Instead of starting anything I laid down with my back to them and closed my eyes.

The last thing I saw in my mind before drifting off was Sora's pale, sweaty face screwed up in pain. A strange marking on her arm and a twisted grinning face with yellow eyes.

Wasn't strong enough.

Wasn't fast enough.

I almost didn't hear what Naruto whispered under his breath.

"...you have to wake up. You promised."

...it should have been me lying there instead.

A pressure covered my mouth and I pulled the kunai from out of my sling to hold it up against the flesh of the person above me. I opened my eyes to see the Idiot looking like he just pissed his pants. I lowered the weapon with an annoyed look and he raised a finger to his lips before pointing outside, past the mouth of the cave. Getting up without a sound, I looked towards the entrance to see that it was morning now. I'd slept through the night. After my eyes adjusted to the light I saw what had Naruto wake me up.

There were two men were standing outside.

One was tall and the other one wide. The tall, thin one had on a wooden mask and all black clothing. The wide, short one had a nasty grin on his face and was wearing similar clothing. Both were wearing straw hats and large ropes belts with Kusagakure headbands on them.

I had a sinking feeling I know who their third member is. You had to have a team of three to enter, right? So these two are his. He said that he had men in the Exams. He told me that he wanted me to defeat them before finishing.

"We know you're in there so why don't you just come out?" one of them called out.

Damn.

They couldn't actually see us from outside, it was too bright out there and dark in here, so before leaving the cover of the cave I crawled over to Sora's side and reached into the bag on her back, glancing at her still pale face, and grabbing a scroll out. Maybe I was just being paranoid and these two only wanted a scroll. Maybe we didn't have to get into a fight.

I bit my tongue to stifle a grunt as I pulled my arm out of the sling, throwing the bandages to the side. I rotated my shoulder to test my range of movement, it wasn't great. My arm felt better than last night but it still wasn't optimal for a fight and we didn't have the element of surprise. If I engage in Taijutsu then I'll need to protect my right, it's a good thing my left is my dominant side.

And Naruto... will do whatever it is Naruto does.

A glance towards him told me that he was tense, I could see it in his shoulders. I reached into my tools bag and pulled out a capsule, opening it I poured out two soldier pills. I tossed one at Naruto and bit into the other one. It wouldn't instantly refill our chakra reserves but it'll give us the boost we need for now. We'll deal with the side-effects of it after we get through this.

As Naruto swallowed the pill, I signed, ignoring the dull ache in my arm. 'I'm going to try something but get ready to trigger the traps.'

He nodded without protest and stayed low as I stood and walked towards the mouth of the cave, stuffing the dark scroll in my pocket. I kept my expression indifferent and my hands ready. I'd start with Fire style and signal Naruto to set off the traps. We couldn't afford a drawn out battle here, we still haven't recovered from yesterday.

"You're... the Uchiha." the tall one asked/observed as I stood in front of the cave. There goes the idea that they came across us by chance.

I kept my voice firm as I spoke, "What do you want."

"Is the girl still alive or did she die from her wounds during the night?" the wide one asked, his grin widening. So they were here for-

-there was a sound of wire snapping and the men jumped back from the volley of kunai raining from above. "Damn it, Naruto!" I snapped, Sharingan activating and hands flying into seals. Building and mixing my chakra and shooting a fireball at their feet before they found their footing again. They separated and the wide one landed in another trap involving a net, he was quickly wrapped up and elevated far above our heads.

Why did Naruto and Sora both carry nets?

Naruto leapt out from the cave towards the masked one with his hands in a seal and went high, I pulled out a kunai and went low. We needed to make this quick. Only five clones appeared out of thin air and by the time I arrived to sweep the nin's legs out, three were already dispersed by swipes of a-masked man had a Tantō out now.

He jumped over my sweeping kick and blocked another kick from a Naruto before dispersing it. I threw my kunai up towards him as he was distracted and his body twisted, it barely grazed his arm and drew blood. This guy wasn't genin level. As he was in the air his hands weaved into seals, his chakra flaring in his chest as he raised his mask. My eyes widened and I shouted.

"Naruto! Move!"

I jumped away as a rush of water blasted into the ground, I didn't stop moving as long as he continued to blast the water from his mouth, soaking the ground around us and turning it to mud. He soon landed and I was already on him again with another kunai, he parried my attack with his Tantō and spun around, getting the fifth clone that launched at him. Naruto swore when his last clone disappeared and ran at the man's other side, I grit my teeth and swung my kunai again to keep his attention as Naruto came up to attack. I saw Naruto's eyes widen as he looked behind me, his mouth opened and I was already twisting on my heel-

-"SASUKE-BEHIND YOU!"-

-White-HOT-pain shot across my back-

-The other one had gotten down from the net.

I spun away, placing my back towards the mouth of the cave, keeping both of our opponents in my line of sight. I fell to my knee and Naruto broke off his attack and jumped over their heads, landing by my side. I screwed up. I should've been paying more attention to the other one. I grabbed over my shoulder to clutch the wound. It didn't feel too deep but I knew that I currently had adrenaline pumping through me so it might be worse than I think.

If I hadn't moved at that exact moment then I would've lost my head.

They're aiming to kill us.

Great. Just what we needed.

"We're here for the girl." the masked one stated, his voice was deep. "She's had all night to recover, just bring her out already."

Naruto snarled beside me and I half-expected to see red eyes when I glanced at him, but no. They were still blue. "You're not gettin' anywhere near Sora-chan you bastards!"

Three more jumped down from the trees.

I spoke too fucking soon.

"The Sound-nin Trio." The masked man regarded the new group. They knew each other? "We have a directive to engage with the kunoichi of the squad. These two are in our way."

One of the newcomers, the guy in front with bandages around his face spoke, eyeing them carefully. "...so he sent you as well. Then does that mean there has been a change in plans?"

"Fuck that!" one of the newcomers shouted angrily, the one with black hair and the shirt with 'death' written on the front. "We got our orders from the master himself! I don't give a damn who these guys are-I'm going to be the one to kill the Uchiha!"

"Calm down, Zaku." Bandages raised his arm when the loud one took a step towards the other ones. "Don't lose your temper."

Kill me, he said? They were here for me and not Sora. The sound ninja? I suppose their headbands make it obvious enough. Then these guys were the ones he was talking about.

"-if you want to claim true power and see me again then survive and pass this exam with the best score of all. Before that of course, you'll need to defeat my men of the Hidden Sound."

I grit my teeth.

We were outnumbered now. I was bleeding heavily, my right arm was throbbing with pain and I could barely keep my breath steady. Naruto was shaking slightly as he stood, with anger or exhaustion, I didn't know. He hadn't gotten any rest last night and was probably at the end of his rope if I had to guess. Sora was still unconscious and completely defenseless behind us. These guys weren't here for scrolls so there was no bargaining with them. They were here to kill us. There was no escaping this. We only had one option.

I pushed off the ground and stood back up.

We had to win.

"I don't see any girl here. Is she hiding?" the black-haired kunoichi sneered, looking towards the cave entrance. "She in there, cowering? Heh, I'll go get her."

She took a step forward and Naruto growled and threw kunai at her feet, the paper on the end sparked to life and all three of them jumped away as the ground exploded under their feet.

The fight was back on.

My Sharingan captured their movements, loud mouth landed on another of Naruto's traps -a buried explosive tag- and had to deal with all the other ones buried in that area, the girl jumped away from the fight and out of reach. The first two began moving forward again and I pulled out wired shuriken and began aiming. I'll restrict their movements and then incapacitate them before moving onto the next target.

I threw the shuriken in precise locations around them and pulled.

The masked one's leg was caught and he flew backward as the wires constricted around his leg and chest, pinning him to a tree. I reached into my tools bag and pulled out a tag, wrapping it around the wire and tied off my end on a kunai and pushed chakra into the tag. Electricity sprung from the ink and traveled down the very conductive wire, lighting up the masked guy. The fat one was still running at me, bloody Tantō in his hand. My hands weaved into seals and I built up chakra, changing it and pushing it out from my lungs and blasting it towards him in a blaze. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the one with bandages over his face was in front of Naruto now and he swiped, chakra swirling around his arms.

Naruto dropped low and dodged the attack, sweeping his leg out and standing again when Bandages jumped. Naruto reared back his fist and-"Hrrngh!"-suddenly lurched to the ground and threw up.

What just happened. Did the attack get him? But he avoided it! I saw it myself, it never connected!

Wait, the chakra just before the other guy's attack. It had been around his arm.

I narrowed my eyes at the metal gauntlet on his arm, did it channel his chakra? Naruto lifted a hand to his head and groaned, trying to stand up again. The nin pulled his leg back kicked him in the head. Naruto went down and his body rolled across the mud. He didn't get up again.

"Heh. A weakling like you shouldn't mess with guys like us." he sneered. That bast-

-the Fat one jumped over the fire and was in the air above me now-

-his arm was raised with his sword and he swung down-

-my breath sputtered out, jutsu fading-

-my arms instinctively raised to block the attack-

-I wouldn't be able to-

-"DYNAMIC ENTRY!"

I watched as a sandal slammed into my opponent's face and his body unceremoniously skid away, leaving a trench in his wake. I numbly lowered my arms and was shocked to see the jumpsuit-wearing weirdo from yesterday standing in front of me.

無謀 Reckless

Five Minutes Earlier...

I returned to our meet-up point with empty hands. I didn't even encounter one team while I was out. We'll have to move further into the forest to find more teams. I may have not found anyone but during my scout I had come across an area that looked to house a massive battle. If I had to hazard a guess then I would assume that the explosions we'd heard yesterday were the cause of all that destruction. Against whom? I have no idea as there were no signs left behind of who was responsible, but the sheer scale of destruction was unsettling.

I can only assume that it was a battle between multiple groups, perhaps four or more separate teams. That would probably be the reason why everyone has cleared out from this section of the forest. It wasn't long until Tenten and Lee both showed up. I told them I had found nothing and Lee reported the same. Tenten grinned smugly at us.

"Well I found a group not far from here! It was kinda weird because they were trying to get one of their guys down from this net?" she shrugged, "But they didn't really look all that close-combat orientated so it should be easy, huh?"

"Which direction?" I asked.

"Ahh, to the northeast a bit? They've probably gotten that guy out of that net by now though."

I nodded in acknowledgement and activated my Byakugan. My sight shifted effortlessly and I began to scan to the northeast, I found the net but no other shinobi. My eyes turned further east and at the edge of my vision I could see the signs of a battle. A fire jutsu being used.

"There's a skirmish going on not far from here."

"Huh? The guys I found were from Amegakure, is it them?"

I narrowed my sight and held in a sigh when I recognized two faces. "It's Kakashi-sensei's team. They seem to be engaging with two others from Kusagakure."

"It's Sora-san?" Lee asked quickly, his face lighting up like a child. "How is she doing? Is she fighting with a passionate spirit? Yosh! It is only fitting that someone of her determination could be giving no less than her absolute best!"

I felt a rising disgust in my stomach at the reminder of my empty-headed teammate's distasteful choice of affection. Of all the girls he could have developed ridiculous feelings-it had to be for the most irritating pest in all the Elemental Nations! I'm convinced that Lee is simply pining after the idea of her. It's not as if he actually knows her unpleasant personality from the single conversation they shared. If he was aware of how she is a spiteful, rude and undisciplined wretch then I'm sure that he would quickly change his mind about promising himself to someone like that.

A simple look behind her two teammates showed that the street-rat was unconscious further into a cave at their backs. "Her teammates are handling the situation." I informed him curtly.

Lee's smile fell away as his eyebrows creased, "Then... she is hurt? Is it severe? Does she need medical aid? Tenten! You still have the first-aid kit, yes?!" I scowled at his worried babbling.

"It's not our problem." I told him firmly. "We are in the middle of an exam were everyone is an enemy, Lee. Including them. They have to fight their own-" I stopped as I spotted three more signatures arrive at the scene.

"Neji, is there something wrong? Something happened-what's happened!" Lee demanded.

I grimaced. It was one thing when they were fighting against even odds but if those three enter the fight then-

-the loud blonde from before threw a kunai with a paper bomb attached and the echo of the explosion traveled through the air.

Before I could react, Lee ran off at top speed towards the sound.

絶望 Desperation

Present Time

-"DYNAMIC ENTRY!"

"You?" I breathed in disbelief. "But why-"

"Although I see you as my rival, Sasuke-kun, you are also a comrade of the Leaf. " he lowered his hand and gave me a thumbs-up. "And as such, I will never fail to come to your aid should you require it!"

I stared at this strange guy that showed up out of nowhere.

He's... an idiot.

Why am I surrounded by so many idiots. Involving themselves where they aren't wanted. I clenched my fists in anger, ignoring the protest my body made as I stepped out from behind him.

"Um, might I ask if Sora-san is alright?" he asked, -he called himself Rock Lee, right?- his voice taking on a more nervous tone as he glanced toward the dark entrance of the cave. Right. He was the one who confessed to her. That's why he's here.

"She's unconscious, but she won't be alright if these guys get to her." I told him honestly. His already large eyes widened before his expression hardened and he took an aggressive fighting stance.

"Sasuke-kun, I will ask you to allow me to handle this." I was about to snap at him but he continued. "You are injured and bleeding profusely, Naruto-kun is also incapacitated at the moment. Please, provide ranged assistance from here while I engage in close-quarters."

A glance towards Naruto told me that he was still suffering the effects from that guy's attack. I bit my tongue to stop from arguing as my Sharingan spun in my skull. I noticed all three of the Sound ninja were observing us carefully now. Loud mouth managed to get out of Naruto's minefield with only a couple burns on his legs and the girl jumped back down from where she was watching until now. The fat one was unmoving in his ditch and the masked one was charred and still pinned to the tree. It was three against two.

Fine. I'll stay back and keep the other two from gaining up on him while he focuses on taking down one. I nodded to him in agreement.

Bandages stepped forward and spoke to Rock Lee. "Another Leaf? So who are you, thickbrow?"

Rock Lee's chest puffed up and his voice was confident. "I am the Beautiful Green Beast of the Hidden Leaf, Rock Lee!"

Bandages scoffed before pulling out a dark scroll and throwing it towards the girl. "Zaku, Sasuke-kun is all yours. Kin, kill the rest of them. I'll handle this one."

"Don't get near his arm." I told him lowly, "There's a trick to his attack, something to do with that gauntlet on his arm, just dodging won't work. That's what happened to Naruto."

"I see. Thank you for the tip." Lee said, then he began to untie the bandages from around his arms. "Then this needs to be resolved as quickly as possible."

They started moving, Rock Lee vanished and the girl took steps towards Naruto, I weaved my hands into seals, launching rapid fireballs at her, herding her back towards-"Ah!"-She stumbled into the wires and I activated the seal at my feet again, shocking her and the masked guy who had started moving around again, they both went limp, limbs convulsing with electricity. Good. In the edge of my vision I watched as Rock Lee crouched below Bandages and kicked his leg straight up, hitting the Sound nin in the jaw and sending him flying into the air.

Rock Lee pushed off the ground and appeared again parallel underneath the nin and with a flick of his wrists he wrapped the Sound nin's arms and legs in bandages and grabbed on. "Primary Lotus!" he shouted. They started spinning into a headfirst dive towards the ground. What kind of ninjutsu is that? I could barely see him move. That speed was...

…incredible.

Just as Rock Lee jumped away, the ground filled with chakra and expanded upwards, catching the nin. My head snapped to the side to see the Loud mouth with his hands on the ground. Was that Earth style? No. He lifted his hands with a grimace and I could see something in the center of his palms. So he has a tool like the other guy, something that could manipulate his chakra. The Sound nin slowly began pulling himself out of the hole his head was lodged in while the Loud mouth chuckled, "A close one."

"What...? No way!" Rock Lee shouted in disbelief as the Sound nin stood up again.

"Haah... this much damage even on softened ground... what a terrifying technique." he lifted he arm and his sleeve fell away to show his gauntlet. "But now it's my turn."

He charged at Lee who wasn't moving and I jumped upwards. I reached into my pouch, pulling out the last of my shuriken and weaved my hands. Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu! I shot the fireballs and hid the shuriken in them, aiming the attack at Bandages so Lee could get out of the way and-

-the Loud mouth jumped in front and his hands formed a seal, aiming upwards, chakra shot out of his arms and a blast of air extinguished the fire and blew the shuriken back at me. I twisted my body, still in the air-not fast enough-pain spread out from my calf. I clumsily landed on the ground and stumbled on my left leg, falling to my knees. Looking down I could see my own shuriken sticking out of it. Shit.

"AHH!" Lee shouted in pain and I looked just in time to see him collapse to his knees, the Sound nin standing above him with his arm raise. Idiot! I told him not to get near that! Lee clutched his ear and I could see it was bleeding.

His ear.

Ninja from the Village of Sound. That was the trick. Those tools allowed them to channel their chakra and manipulate the sound somehow. Loud mouth set his eyes on me again and started walking towards me.

My arm ached, my back stung and I felt the blood slowly trickling down my leg. My head felt light and my Sharingan faded from my burning eyes. My chakra has hit the bottom. I dug my nails into the dirt as I tried to push myself back up. I needed to stand.

"Hey, Dosu." the other one called out as walked towards me. "How 'bout we kill the others in front of this half-dead bastard before killing him?"

My heart thudded painfully in my chest.

No.

Lee kicked his leg out, surprising the Sound nin and knocking him off-balance, he reached out his dominant arm to steady himself before he could fall on the ground, his right palm pressing into the mud and Lee quickly raised and brought his fist down on the nins arm before he could react. There was a 'Thunk!' as Lee made a dent the gauntlet and the nins arm bent with the metal. He howled in pain as he scrambled away, clutching his broken limb to his chest.

Loud mouth spun around and I reached for a weapon to throw.

He lifted his hands towards Lee and I grasped at emptiness.

Lee pushed himself to stand and a massive amount of chakra shot towards him.

He was blown away by the pressure and slammed into a tree, cracking the bark with the impact.

Lee fell to the ground. Unmoving.

I was the only one left.

Everyone else...

Why did this keep happening?

Why aren't I strong enough?

I needed to be saved again.

First Naruto had attacked the Snake when I couldn't move, Sora had taken an attack meant for me and Lee-wherever the hell he came from-stood to defend us when I couldn't.

Why-

How am I ever going to be able to kill Itachi when I keep needing help! How can I stop anyone else from dying when I'm the one being saved by reckless idiots?!

Get up.

I tightened my jaw and pushed myself to my feet, ignoring all the pain that pulsed through my body at the movement. I stood, however unsteadily.

Don't back down.

I took in my surroundings numbly. The Sound nin-all three of them were standing now. Mask was cutting himself free and the Fat one finally crawled out from his hole.

Fight.

I distantly heard a voice call out from the trees but I couldn't focus on it. I had to focus on standing, On fighting. I steadied myself when I swayed, still standing upright.

Protect them.

More muffled voices landed against my ears. My head felt light and I'm sure already lost a lot of blood. Didn't matter. I had to keep standing. Had to fight. Had to win.

I didn't need to be saved.

My breaths were short and I lifted my foot to take a step-a wave of dizziness hit me and my vision blurred.

I swayed backwards.

I was falling.

A warm hand was pressed against my back.

My fall was stopped and I could feel a presence behind me now.

I looked over my shoulder and my eyes widened in disbelief.

Sora was holding me up.

Relief and confusion flooded my senses as I looked at her. She was awake but...

'Something was wrong' was a gross understatement.

A dark chakra twisted around her body and a strange swirling pattern of fiery dots covered her arm and shoulder, creeping their way up her neck before they turned black against her skin. Bleeding red eyes lowered from my face to my wounds, then to Naruto who was still crumpled on the ground.

"You've survived then. Good! Maybe you'll be fucking worth all the trouble." the fat one snarled with a sandal print on his face, finally standing and pointing the sword that still had my blood on it at her. "Be sure to give us more fun than the other brats."

Sora's face was apathetic as she raised her bleeding eyes towards the man and his weapon before looking back at me. At my back. The dots on her skin turned fiery again before spreading all the way up her neck and jaw. She carefully lowered me to the ground to sit. I couldn't react as I watched her.

Then she moved.

My Sharingan activated unconsciously and I watched in perfect clarity as she moved faster than I've ever seen her before. Distorted chakra washing off her skin in waves.

Now she was standing in front of the fat man and dragging her nails across his face, cutting it open, he swore and she stepped away as the blood streaming down his face turned black and his body began expand and bubble until there was a pulsing, glowing mass of-

-'BOOOM!'-

-he exploded into a blinding light.

There was silence as the sound of the explosion echoed through the air and trees, causing birds to fly out of the trees to escape. His sword flew through the air and lodged itself in the muddy ground.

There was a crater where he used to be now.

She...

Sora just killed him.

Sora lifted her hand up, looking at the blood still dripping from her fingertips. A cold feeling shot up my spine as I looked up at her face.

Sora -always smiling, cheerful idiot Sora- was grinning too wide with a look of joy on her face as she looked at her bloody hand.

Exam I Arc,

Chapter Twenty-Nine: "Wake Up"

END

A/N: Oh, smack.

This was late, yes. Well I didn't want to post this until I was completely satisfied with it and I've been quite busy in my life recently. Everyone seems to be coming down with some kind of sickness or other and I've had to be nursemaid these last few days so... and then this chapter kept getting longer and longer and I couldn't stop it.

Notice! I have made Art of Sora as of... this chapter? It's on my DeviantArt page MIssNanamiChan and is titled 'Sora Deviation' is you want a clearer picture of what she looked like in that last scene. Murder eyes and all.

Chapter review: Sasuke remembered Sora's revival seal! Yay! Orochi-teme got away from the ANBU. Boo! Sasuke and Naruto bonded. -a bit- Lee is showing off his badassness. He came to the rescue~ 'coz he's awesome like that! Neji is a jerky-jerk aaaand... Hey, remember those two guys that entered the Exam with Orochimaru but are never mentioned ever again? Say hi. Then bye, 'coz something happened to Sora? Eh? Sora dear what's what that face? Why you have murder eyes!? Ahh! First blood has been spilt and there will be trauma!

Pffft! Some of you guys have taken to calling the Snake 'Oro-dad' which I think is just fantastic! Never mind that Sora would have a freak-out if she heard that. Really you guys, I was so nervous about the last chapter so Thank You all for your support! You are the best! Look, I'm so reassured by you guys-I'm not even going to ask if my fight scenes were sucky!

-Because I can't respond to Anon reviews- The thing about Orochimaru's experi-people so far... Yamato was kidnapped and experimented on when he was a child, he's not a clone. Mitsuki from Boruto is. From over a decade before the beginning of the series to twenty years after, Orochi-teme learns a lot. I will do an 'Interlude' from Ikari's POV in the future that will hopefully explain a lot of what happened. Who she was, how she met the Snake, how Sora came about, the biological Father of Sora, ect.

Author Question!

"What is the most memorable movie you've ever seen? Something that changed the way you see the world around you?"

Mine is 'Spirited Away' from studio Ghibli. I was around five when I first watched it and never before had I watched anime before or knew of other worlds and spirits or had seen a girl -who was not a princess- be a protagonist. I discovered that day that an average girl -like myself- could have impossibly amazing adventures. It literally changed my life and I was suddenly dreaming of adventures down tunnels and riding a train on the water.

To this day my happy place is a set of train tracks resting just under a crystal blue ocean.

Wuv yew all! 'Till next time!

-Nanami