Chapter 19: The Chuunin Exams – Part 2

Kakashi sighed. He didn't appreciate that the Hokage liked assigning him to Jinchuuriki cases. Sure, he had the Sharingan, but there was no way to tell if he would actually know how to use it in case of an emergency. After all, he'd been fortunate enough that he'd never had to try it out. But now he was stuck with three Sunagakure Genin, one of which was the son of the Kazekage and the Jinchuuriki of the onetail.

He carefully observed the three. Temari, Kankuro, Gaara. All three were the Kazekage's children, but only Gaara was the son of Hanako, Rasa's deceased wife. It showed in their team dynamic. Gaara was their leader. His word was law. But Kakashi wasn't quite sure if it was out of respect. His half-siblings looked almost scared of him.

They moved awfully slow, but there was also plenty of time. It bored Kakashi more than anything, walking through the forest with a bunch of Genin. The Hokage had told them that other activities such as reading books was not allowed during the exams, throwing a special look at Kakashi. The identity of the hostages was supposed to stay hidden; the role of the hostages was no more than a passive observer.

Kankuro snorted. "The Chuunin exams of Konoha sure are easy. Our Academy students could pass this."

Kakashi felt like his statement was directed at him, but he ignored it. They kept on walking on the forest floor like they were taking a stroll in the park.

They heard the crackling of wood, and the sudden groaning of the forest as somehow, somewhere, it sounded like a whole tree had fallen over.

"It looks like there is a fight ahead. Should we have a look?" Temari looked at Gaara, who quietly nodded. "I can stay here and watch over our hostage if you like."

Gaare shook his head. "He can come too. He'll make a good bait."

Kakashi quietly followed his team. Maybe he would at least get to watch a somewhat interesting fight between the Genin, maybe even get some information on Gaara and his abilities, his usage of the onetail.

The fight had stopped by the time they arrived. There were two dead bodies lying on the ground.

"Is that a dead hostage?" Temari asked, looking at one of the dead bodies.

A shiver ran down Kakashi's spine. This was Sasuke and Naho's team.

He looked at Rei. Her neck was broken. Then walked over to Hayate. Dead as well. It was obvious there had been a fight, a fight Hayate participated in. Kakashi wondered what had driven him to abandon his role as passive observer, what had killed him.

Kankuro laughed. "Who's that, a Konoha Chuunin? I expected more of the shinobi here. How can one of them die during a Chuunin exam?"

Kakashi ignored his mockery. He inspected Hayate's body instead. There was something written on his lower arm, a last message from Hayate, written in blood. Snake. He quickly brushed the message away. The blood was still fresh.

The three Genin from Sunagakure were not supposed to see it.

He stood up again, observed their behaviour. Hayate's message only confirmed what Jiraiya had already warned them of. Orochimaru and Sunagakure were somehow affiliated. And whatever they were plotting, it led to the death of a Jounin. But it was hard to tell if the three kids knew anything about this. Them being the children of the Kazekage sure made them suspicious. But they looked clueless as to what had happened to Hayate's team.

"I'm sorry, I will have to report this back to the Hokage. This is a death that needs investigation." Kakashi broke his silence. His eyes scanned the surroundings, hoping to find a clue on Naho and Sasuke's whereabouts. And especially, a clue telling him they were alive.

Temari's eyes widened. "But the exam is still continuing, right?"

He nodded. Kakashi was in no position to cancel the exams over this death. All he could do was to report back and continue his job as a hostage. He summoned Pakkun and sent him to the Hokage.

Kakashi kept his eyes open for Sasuke and Naho as they continued their journey towards the tower. They eventually entered the inner ring, in which traps became more and more common. Gaara hardly cared about any traps, and Kakashi soon had one of his abilities figured out. Sand protected him. Gaara walked in front of them, carelessly stepping into any trap that was on their way, triggering them all. But no matter if there was an explosion or kunai flying at him. He never dodged. A shield of sand formed around him, instantly, on its own. It was like the sand had its own mission, to protect Gaara at all cost.

There'd been no sign of his own Genin. Instead, they met another team of Sunagakure Genin. They ran as soon as they saw that it was Gaara who'd set their traps off.

They met a team from Konohagakure next. Naturally, they told the Sand shinobi to hand Kakashi and his tag over.

Gaara's sand broke the arm of the girl on their team. When her teammate attacked, he broke both his arm and leg. The sand smashed their limbs until cracking sounds filled the air and blood splashed in all directions. They tried to run, but Gaara's sand caught them, smashed more limbs. Screams echoed through the forest.

"Stop it," Kakashi finally broke his silence for a second time. He'd seen enough. "Mindlessly tormenting the other teams is no different from killing them without reason. One more and I'll disqualify you on the spot."

Gaara grinned at him, but dropped his hand and continued walking as if nothing ever happened. Temari and Kankuro quietly followed after him, their eyes fixed on the ground. Kakashi finally understood why they were scared of their half-brother.

And while part of him hoped to find his two Genin in the forest, the other part prayed Naho and Sasuke would stay away from the Kazekage's son.

.

Sasuke and Naho were still speeding through the Forest of Death, jumping from branch to branch, further and further into the depths of the forest. They couldn't be sure if they were still being followed. There was no time to look backwards. But they could feel that the mad woman was still on their track. They were the prey, and they were being hunted.

Something suddenly snapped beneath their feet, and the branch they'd stepped on exploded into flames. Naho and Sasuke both dodged into different directions. Nets rained down at them from above. Sasuke, having his Sharingan activated, managed to be fast enough to use a Fire Jutsu and burn them down. Naho got caught in them.

Three shinobi stepped out from their hiding spots, happy someone had stepped into their trap. They wore the Konoha headbands, but neither Naho nor Sasuke knew their names.

"Give us your hostage," one of them demanded.

"We don't have one," Sasuke replied.

"Don't bullshit us. You are clearly coming from the entrance, a lot later than us. Where is your third teammate with the hostage?" He looked around, somewhat nervous. "If you don't tell us, we'll cut her ear off." He grabbed Naho, threatening her with a kunai.

"I told you, we don't have one. We lost our hostage to another team. You guys better run before they come here." Sasuke wondered if there was safety in numbers, and if these other Konoha Genin could somehow help them. But then he remembered the woman's immense speed, and how she could easily keep up with one of their Jounin. They had to keep running. Soon.

But before Sasuke could think of any plan to free Naho, the giant snake reappeared. It was so fast that Sasuke barely realised it was there. In one bite, it swallowed one of the Konoha Genin alive. The other two instantly panicked and let go of Naho.

Naho managed to stumble away from them, the net still wrapped around her. Sasuke came to cut her free, and instantly dragged her away.

"This is our chance. We need to run."

"But…" Naho stared at the giant snake. It had caught another Genin, gulping him down while he desperately tried to get a hold of anything that would save him from getting swallowed.

She could barely breath. The air she sucked it didn't seem to reach her lungs.

"Naho!" Sasuke was yelling at her.

"We can't just leave him," she said, but her voice was no more than a whisper. She couldn't move. She wanted to help. She wanted to run. But she could do neither.

"If that Suna woman catches up, we are done. Do you understand that?" He was still yelling, shaking her.

She looked into his eyes. He was scared too.

Finally she moved to come with him, but it was too late. The snake came rushing into their direction. It crashed into the branch Sasuke and Naho stood on.

Sasuke jumped up the tree further and spit a fireball at the snake. "Run!" he yelled at Naho while throwing kunai at the snake.

"No, I want to help. Tell me what to do."

He jumped next to her. "Just run. I'll have a better time fighting when I don't have to worry about you."

His words pained her. She didn't want to be a hindrance. "I'm not running." She pressed her lips together, giving him to most decisive look she could manage.

Sasuke's eyes studied her face for just a moment. "Fine, just give me a moment… to think."

They both dodged another attack. The snake was barely tickled by kunai and shuriken, but at least it was slow as well.

Sasuke looked around. "Can you distract it for a moment? I want to check something out." He waited for Naho to nod, then jumped up the trees and was gone.

Naho hadn't imagined that distracting the big animal meant being left alone. She dodged attack after attack from the snake, jumped from tree to tree. And with time, her motions seemed to come more naturally again. Her heart stopped beating in fear. She started to get used to being chased by a giant snake.

"Lure it this way," she eventually heard Sasuke call. "On the forest floor."

Naho did as he said and ran into his direction. He met her to show her the way. The snake not once lost interest in them. It seemed it was still hungry.

It took a while until Sasuke finally signalled Naho to jump up a tree and wait there. "Once I give the signal, burn it."

Sasuke stopped on the forest floor. All around them, a yellow moss grew. Naho thought she'd seen it before, but she couldn't quite figure out where.

The giant snake soon came dashing at him. Sasuke waited until the very last moment before jumping up, yelling, "Now!" at Naho. He formed signs for a jutsu, and a whole storm of fire left his mouth. Naho joined in with her own fire jutsu.

The moss around the snake caught fire with the first spark that fell on it, turning the forest floor beneath Naho and Sasuke into an inferno.

The snake wriggled left and right. It was burning, getting cooked alive. Until eventually, it stopped moving.

"The moss that was in Sakura's guide," Naho noted when Sasuke jumped over to her. He quietly nodded.

The snake's skin opened, like it got cut up from inside. Flames were still burning all around the snake when a person emerged from within its body.

"What's happening?" Naho instinctively grabbed Sasuke's hand. Her eyes were locked on the snake woman from earlier that now stood on top the dead snake, surrounded by flames.

Her face looked like it was melting in the heat. Slowly, it started dripping. Slowly, they realised it was nothing more but a mask. A new face showed, one that was more masculine.

"My I introduce myself? I'm Orochimaru." The voice was much deeper now as well. She was a man.

Orochimaru jumped up, away from the flames and landed next to Sasuke and Naho on the tree branch with ease. "You really killed my poor snake," he said, but there was no hint of sadness visible in his face.

Naho could feel her muscles tensing again. The fear she'd thought she'd overcome was back. And it grew bigger and bigger the longer she looked into Orochimaru's eyes.

The worst part was, she could feel that Sasuke experienced the same.

"Run!" he called at her again.

They both jumped up the big trees. Until suddenly, Sasuke stopped and pulled Naho to him. They stood on top of a branch, their bodies pressed closely against the trunk of the tree. Some leaves from branches around them offered them cover.

Naho covered her mouth, scared her own breathing could give them away.

They could hear the footsteps of Orochimaru. Slowly, he walked up the long branch they were on.

"Playing hide and seek," he smirked. "I have to admit, this has always been one of my favourite games. But you can come out."

Suddenly, Orochimaru had vanished again, was no longer where they'd just seen him through the leaves.

"I found you." He appeared right next to them out of thin air.

Naho dug as Sasuke swung a kunai at him, his eyes glowing red. Another fight between the two ensued.

Naho watched, right until Orochimaru had Sasuke pinned up against another tree trunk. He licked his lips. Naho took out her kunai and threw herself at the weird man from behind.

He turned around to her in less than a second, grabbed her throat. His other hand was going for her neck, just like he'd done with Rei.

Sasuke realised and grabbed his hand before it could reach Naho. Orochimaru smirked.

"You don't want me to kill her too, do you?" His other hand squeezed harder. He couldn't break her neck with only one hand. But he could still strangle her.

Naho gasped for air. Whenever Orochimaru increased the pressure on her throat and neck, the world around her went black for a second.

"But I'm afraid she's in the way. I need to have a moment with Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru calmly said, and flung Naho towards the forest floor.

Naho crashed down all the way to the ground. Trees creaked and branches broke on her way as she crashed right through them.

The world around her went black for a moment.

She brushed some leaves off her face as her vision slowly came back, winced. Her whole body hurt. She wanted to get up, but something stopped her, held her back.

"Are you alright?" Sasuke appeared next to her.

She tried moving again. Groans left her throat. A branch was stuck in her shoulder, pierced right through.

"I think I'm stuck…"

Sasuke kneeled next to her to inspect the wound. The branch in her shoulder was still attached to the trunk of a fallen tree.

"We'll have to pull it out. Or rather pull you up. Quick!"

Naho's vision was still blurry. Sasuke grabbed her shoulders, readying himself to pull.

The silhouette of the snake man suddenly appeared behind Sasuke.

"Look out!" she tried to warn him, but it was too late.

The man bit Sasuke in the neck. Naho tried to get up herself, but a sharp pain spread through her shoulder and body.

Sasuke started screaming, the man's teeth still stuck in his skin.

"This is a taste of my power." Orochimaru whispered into Sasuke's ear as he was slowly letting go of him again. "Of the power I can give you, Sasuke. Should you ever choose to follow my path, then there is more of it."

Naho tried to push herself up again, stopping halfway through because the pain was too much. She bit her lips so hard she drew blood. Another push. The wooden stick got torn out of her shoulder. She was sitting. Warm blood ran down her arm.

Sasuke fell to his knees next to her. His hand was grasping his neck where he'd been bitten. He was still groaning in pain.

Naho formed signs, and send a fire ball flying towards Orochimaru. She didn't think she hit, but when the fireball was gone, so was he.

"What happened?" she asked Sasuke, one hand pressed on her own shoulder.

Sasuke didn't answer. His body was trembling.

Another sharp pain spread through Naho, this time, it was in her lungs. She coughed. It felt like needles pierced her ribs.

"Sasuke, get up, please." She tried to pull him up with her as soon as her own body allowed it, but he wouldn't stand. Naho sank down next to him. Waves of pain flooded her body. "What are we going to do?" she asked, but he didn't answer.

The forest around them was silent. It seemed that Orochimaru was gone. Or maybe he was watching them from somewhere, she didn't know.

"Sasuke, we have to go," she tried again.

His body was still trembling, his throat still produced deep groans. It pained Naho to see him like that. It scared her. Eventually, he fell over and collapsed on the forest floor.

Naho leaned over him. Panic spread in her.

"Sasuke, please. Talk to me," she begged. "Please." Three black dots showed on Sasuke's skin, close to where Orochimaru had bitten him. It looked like a seal, but Naho didn't know what it meant. She didn't know what was wrong with him.

"Please, tell me what to do." Slowly, the hope in her died that Sasuke would get better any time soon. If anything, he seemed to get worse.

She looked around again, but there was nothing more than trees. A tiger roared in the distance. Naho sniffed. Her eyes filled with tears.

"Please, Sasuke. I'm begging you, get up!" she cried at him, shook him. Nothing. "What should I do?" she asked herself. "What should I do?" She had no answer to her own question. All she knew was that they couldn't stay there.

.

The Chuunin exams drove Naruto to do something he hadn't done in months. It felt wrong and unjust to him that everyone was now talking and fawning over Sasuke again, only because he participated in the exams. Naruto had accomplished the same missions as Sasuke, had gone through the same training. The only difference was that he had been given a monster, while Sasuke was given better eyes. He understood that was a fact neither him, nor Sasuke, nor Kakashi could change. But he was there too. He wanted to be seen. So he ended up being on his way to the Hokage building, with buckets full of paint.

Naruto wasn't proud of playing pranks. He'd never been. But it got the job done. It got him attention. And in all this boredom he now experienced, a boredom without training and friends and missions, he wanted someone's attention. Whoever that someone would be.

Naruto sneaked up all the way to the windows of the Hokage's office. When he saw the office was empty, he started painting the windows.

He stopped when he heard someone on the roof and decided to have a look. He didn't want to be caught before finishing his masterpiece. The voices turned out to be the Hokage and one of their Jounin, one he'd seen every now and then with Kakashi, Genma. Naruto was hanging at the wall of the building using chakra and carefully glanced at them over the edge of the roof.

Another shinobi suddenly appeared next to the two, and Naruto quickly duck his head. He already thought he'd been caught, but apparently the man hadn't paid attention.

"Lord Hokage!" He was almost yelling, and the tone of urgency in his voice caught Naruto's attention. "We've been reported serious problems with team 17. Their Jounin guardian, Hayate Gekkou, apparently he's been killed. Another team found –"

The Hokage silenced him. "This is not the right place to discuss such matters. Follow me."

Naruto could hear them leave together, but he was eager to know where they were going. He had to know. Team 17 was Sasuke and Naho's team.

"Watcha doing there, brat?"

The voice appeared behind him so suddenly that Naruto unintentionally stopped the chakra flow to his hands and feet and fell all the way down to the roof beneath him. He looked up into the Jounin's face, who was now hanging at the wall himself.

"Eavesdropping on the Hokage." He wanted to keep scolding Naruto for it, until he noticed the paint brush in Naruto's hand and the paint in his hair. He grabbed the brush from him, sighing. "I can't picture Kakashi putting up with kids like you. I'd have gone crazy."

Naruto ignored what he was saying. "What happened to team 17? That shinobi right now said something bad happened. Are they okay?"

"Eh? I don't know what you are talking about. I didn't hear anything. And neither did you." He was casually chewing on a needle while talking.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about! They are my friends, tell me!"

Genma brushed over Naruto's cheek, leaving a big brushstroke of red paint. "Go home, Naruto. Even if there was something going on in the Forest of Death, there's nothing you could to about it." He kept the brush and jumped off the roof.

Shortly after, Naruto was knocking on Sakura's window. He didn't really want to talk to her parents again, nor did he want them to know of his plans, so he chose the ninja way through the window. It was something Sakura not quite appreciated though, and she greeted him with one of her punches.

"What are you doing in front of my window, you idiot? What if I had been changing or something?" she yelled at him as Naruto entered without invitation. "What are you doing?" She pushed him right back out. "Only Sasuke-kun is allowed in my room!"

"Actually, I'm here to talk about Sasuke. And Naho too," Naruto said in one of his more serious tones, so Sakura allowed him inside after all.

She wondered why there was paint all over his face, but then listened as Naruto told her what he'd overheard at the Hokage building. Sakura had a concerned look on her face, but still didn't agree with Naruto's suggestion.

"You can't be serious," she said. "We can't go into the Forest of Death. It's forbidden. Haven't you seen all the signs telling you to keep out?"

"Well, obviously it's dangerous in there for most people. But we are shinobi! It can't be too bad if the Chuunin exams take place in there."

"But Naruto, we are not part of the exams. We aren't allowed to go there. What if Sasuke and Naho get into problems because of us?"

"But what if they already are having problems? A Jounin doesn't just get killed. If you and I were on a mission with Kakashi-sensei and someone or something was strong enough to kill him, wouldn't you be scared? We have to find them! And if they are alright after all, we can still leave."

Sakura was considering his words, but still wasn't convinced.

"Just think of this as a little training trip. We can defeat some giant tigers or something in there and search for Sasuke and Naho. If they are doing alright, we'll leave again. If not, I'm sure they'll be glad to see us."

"But even if they are in trouble, if a Jounin got killed then… there isn't anything we could do either. We should let the Hokage handle it."

"We don't even know if the Hokage is doing anything! They warned them that people could die during the exams. We are a team, Sakura! We have to make sure they are alright. I'm going, whether you join me or not."

Sakura sighed. "Alright, fine. It's not like I could let you go alone."

A smile formed on Naruto's lips. "Let's go!"

.

"Come on, Sasuke. Please, walk!" Naho was supporting Sasuke, dragging him along the forest floor. He was groaning, obviously in much pain. But Naho didn't care. She couldn't. They had to get away from that crazy person.

Sasuke stumbled and fell to the ground. Naho did her best to catch him, but she almost fell over with him. "Stand up," she said, her voice almost a whisper. She was terrified of that Suna shinobi coming back. She didn't know what she would do if he did.

But Sasuke didn't get up. He was too weak, barely conscious.

Naho somehow managed to pull him onto her back. Her shoulder ached as his weight pressed onto the fresh wound. He was too heavy for her. She could barely move forward. She felt dizzy, like she herself was going to break down soon.

There was a hollow tree trunk. She carried Sasuke in there, hoping it would hide them from any possible pursuers. She laid him down on the ground. Sasuke's eyes were closed, but his muscles still twitched uncontrollably while he took heavy breaths.

"What should I do?" she asked again, hoping Sasuke would answer. But of course, he did not. She looked at her own shoulder next. There was blood everywhere. But maybe the blood made it look worse than it really was, she told herself. The wound wasn't necessarily big, but it kept bleeding, and Naho knew she'd had to stop it somehow.

More and more cold sweat formed on her forehead.

They'd lost their backpacks and most of their proviant during the fight. But Naho and Sasuke still wore some essentials on their bodies, hidden in small bags or pockets. So she took one of the bandages and did her best to wrap it around her own shoulder as tightly as possible. It didn't take long until the bandage was stained red. She took the second one that was Sasuke's and pressed it onto her shoulder.

Naho still felt the cold sweat on her forehead. It was a weird feeling. One she'd never experienced before, and she could only guess that this was what blood loss must feel like. She felt sick, dizzy, weak. Tears filled her eyes again. She wanted this feeling gone. It scared her.

She lay down next to Sasuke, putting her feet up against the tree, while still pressing onto the wound. Her other hand found the chocolate bar Naruto had given her in her pockets. She ripped it open with her mouth. Breathe. Just breathe. She told herself over again, taking deep breaths in between bites. ShShe told

Naho didn't know for how long they lay there. The sun was not visible through the thick canopy of leaves, but there was still daylight. She checked her shoulder, feeling that the bleeding had mostly stopped.

She sat up. The world around her was spinning for just a moment after the sudden movement, but her vision soon got clear again. At least she didn't feel like throwing up anymore.

She looked at Sasuke. He was still sleeping, or rather, unconscious. A big frown was on his forehead. His head occasionally twitched left or right.

Naho put her palm on his forehead. He was hot, feverish. She looked outside into the woods. Everything was quiet. She couldn't be sure if there was still someone after them, but it seemed like they were safe for now. Though Naho knew they were going nowhere if Sasuke wouldn't wake up. And they had to get out of the forest. They couldn't continue this exam.

"Nao-chan." Sasuke's voice surprised her. It also surprised her that he would suddenly use -chan. He never used any honorifics.

"Yes?" She looked at him with great expectations, but his eyes were still closed.

He grabbed her hand, tightly held onto her. "Please, don't go." He was still feverish, and Naho wasn't quite sure if he was awake or not. "Don't die."

"I'm not dying. And I'm not going anywhere either." She put her other hand on his to reassure him, but Sasuke was already lost in another nightmare.

More time passed and eventually, Naho realised that maybe she did have to leave him. She had to get help, best before night came. Because Sasuke didn't seem to wake up, and she still had a hole in her shoulder.

Naho collected grass and leaves to cover him with. Once she thought he was well hidden, she left him to return to the entrance.

.

It wasn't really hard to break into the Forest of Death. A big wall and barb wire surrounded it, but that was mostly to keep any monstrously large animals inside, not to keep nosy Genin outside. It was easy enough for Sakura and Naruto to walk up the wall like Kakashi had taught them and jump down again on the other side.

The harder part started when they were inside, and had no idea how to track down their two teammates. But since they knew which entrance Naho and Sasuke had started at, and that the goal was to reach the tower in the middle, they figured the best idea was to focus on that line between entrance and tower.

They ran for a short while, until they suddenly heard someone calling out to them.

"N-Naruto!" It was a girl's voice, but it wasn't Naho.

They looked around, and soon found Hinata and her team, sitting at a little camp together with their hostage.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked them.

"We should ask you that question," Kiba said, narrowing his eyes at them. "You don't even participate in the Chuunin exams."

"Well, we uh…" Sakura and Naruto both stared at the hostage, worried that he would step up, reveal his identity, and throw them out of the forest again. But he kept quiet. "We are on a mission, but, ya know, it's secret," Naruto explained.

Sakura suddenly realised how lucky they had been to meet Team 8. They were trackers, all of them. If someone could help them find Sasuke and Naho, it had to be them. But that also meant revealing what they came for, and the worry remained that the shinobi watching them would intervene, stop them. Still, she asked if they could talk to one of them in private, and both Hinata and Kiba walked a few steps with them.

Sakura and Naruto could feel the hostage's eyes on them, but he still kept quiet.

"Please!" Naruto begged once Sakura had explained their situation and Kiba looked at them with the biggest 'we-are-not-getting-involved-in-this'-face he could make.

"I guess I could look around a bit," Hinata said.

"I'm sure Shino would want to search for them too. After all, his cousin is on their team," Sakura noted.

Kiba sighed. "I swear, if we get into trouble because of you or lose our hostage…"

"Thank you!" Naruto yelled at both of them before Kiba was even done talking.

They let Shino in on their plans. Their hostage still didn't know what was going on, but Shino sending his bugs on a mission and Hinata activating her Byakugan surely gave him some hints.

Together they moved further towards the entrance that Sasuke's team had started at.

"By the way, why were you guys sitting around so close to the entrance?" Naruto asked on the way.

"Our plan is to wait until tomorrow morning when most of the fighting is done already, and then sneak to the tower before the first sunrays," Kiba said.

"Huh, taking the coward approach, I see," Naruto teased him.

"It's not cowardice, it's called having a plan!" Kiba threw back at him.

"Guys, quiet," Hinata said. "I spotted something ahead."

"Naho and Sasuke?" Naruto excitedly exclaimed. They all came to a stop.

Hinata put a finger in front of her lips and shook her head. "Konoha Anbu."

"Anbu? Why would they be here?" Sakura asked, but the others were interested as well. They decided to go and check it out.

Hinata's Byakugan saw something else, and she immediately froze. She reached for Kiba's hand to hold him back. "Wait! Let's not go."

"Why not? Just peeking a bit from afar won't hurt," Naruto said.

Kiba stared back at his teammate. She didn't manage to look into their eyes but tightly held onto his hand. "What happened?" he asked, worried. "What did you see?"

"I…" Hinata's eyes glanced at Shino for only a second before they stared back down at the ground. She couldn't get herself to tell them.

Shino stepped up to her too. The short glance she'd thrown at him didn't slip his attention. "Tell me," he said.

Hinata let go of Kiba again to nervously pull at her own fingers. "I uh… There are two corpses with the Anbu." She looked up again, in the direction she'd spotted them at. "They are taking them away."

"What?" Naruto now jumped back to her as well. "Who are they? Who died?"

Shino calmly said, "I assume one of them is my cousin."

Hinata nodded. "I'm sorry, Shino."

"Who's the other one?" Naruto grabbed Hinata's shoulders in a sense of urgency. "Who else is dead?"

"I…" It irritated her that Naruto was so close all of a sudden, but even more so did his pushiness. Kiba pulled him away from her almost immediately. "Um… I don't know who it is exactly. Their hostage, I guess."

Naruto's muscles relaxed again, at least slightly. "Then we need to find them, now. They have to be nearby."

"Calm down, Naruto," Sakura said before he could jump off again.

"Yeah, what's with you? If Shino's cousin is really dead you ought to give him a moment," Kiba complained.

"No, Naruto is right. If she's really dead there's nothing I could do about it. So let's move." Like that, Shino was the first one to continue their search.

They approached the spot Hinata had seen the Anbu at. They were gone, and so were the two dead bodies Hinata had seen. A puddle of blood was all that was left.

They searched for any hints on Sasuke and Naho's whereabouts.

Hinata slowly approached Shino, who was standing a bit further away, looking into the forest around them.

"Maybe I mistook her. Or maybe she was just wounded. I mean, I'm not really sure if…"

Shino shook his head. A swarm of beetles flew across the forest floor in search for a new home. He knew she was gone.

"Here, I found something!" Kiba excitedly exclaimed. "It's a backpack."

"That's Sasuke's!" Sakura immediately recognised it. She wanted to take it, hold onto it, but Kiba didn't give it to her.

"Akamaru can follow the scent," he explained and let his ninja dog sniff the backpack. Akamaru answered with a woof and vanished behind two bushes.

The dog let them further into the forest and eventually stopped in front of a big tree. It took everyone a moment to spot Sasuke lying in the hollow trunk, covered by leaves.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura ran to him as soon as she realised it was him. She fell to her knees next to him, took the leaves off. Flashbacks of their mission in the Land of Waves appeared in her head, of the time she thought he was dead. "Sasuke!" she called him again, but he didn't wake up.

She checked his breathing and heartbeat, relieved to find he was still alive.

"Where is Naho-chan?" Naruto looked around, but she was nowhere to be found.

"Sasuke-kun, wake up. What happened?" Sakura gently shook his shoulder. Again, there was no reaction. She spotted blood on his shirt, but it wasn't his.

Naruto jumped up some trees, calling Naho's name, which caused Kiba to go after him and pick a fight with him. Team 8 didn't want the whole forest to know their position.

"I haven't found her yet," Hinata said, still scanning the surroundings with her Byakugan. It offered vision into all directions, reaching many kilometres. But to find one specific person, one still had to actively search for that person. Otherwise the brain simply disregarded most of the information the eyes send to it.

"Akamaru seems to have found another track. We could follow it… quietly," he yelled the last word at Naruto.

"You aren't exactly quiet yourself, ya know?" Naruto said, unimpressed. But then agree that they should follow the track to find Naho.

They decided to split up. Naruto and Kiba left to search Naho, while Hinata and Shino stayed with Sakura and their hostage. Kiba could tell that Hinata had wanted to join them too, but she was too shy to ask.

Sakura put a cold, wet bandage on Sasuke's head. His face was hot. But apart from a weird seal on his neck, she couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. She sat next to him, held onto his hand. There was no regret in her that they broke the rules, broke into the forest. Naruto had been right.

.

Not far away, Tayuya's team searched the forest for Sasuke and the girl with him. Orochimaru had given them their location, and Orochimaru had given them orders: kill the girl, and strengthen the hate in Sasuke.