Hello everyone, hope you have all been keeping well since last time. Just a quick note that I still don't own Naruto, Kishimoto-Sensei remains supreme. I've been doing a lot of running around lately that's why this took me so long to get out, what with Christmas shopping and what not. For that, I would like to thank you for your patience. Without further ado…

Chapter 10: I want out of this nightmare…

"How much longer do you think we have to wait, Sasuke-Kun?" it was the third time Sakura asked that question and if it was annoying Naruto, it most definitely was annoying Sasuke. The latter of the two still not answering the question.

"I see you showed up, I thought for sure you would chicken out billboard brow" team seven turned to see Ino, followed by her own two teammates, Shikamaru and Choji, who was busy digging around in what was clearly an empty chip bag.

"You're one to talk, Ino-pig" Sakura shot back. What ensued was an exchange of insults that Naruto didn't care to listen to. He stood from his spot on the ground and made his way towards someone familiar.

"Hey, Hinata" he called out as he approached the Hyuga Heiress and her teammates. The bluenette froze in her spot, refusing to turn around.

"Hey, Naruto, how can you stand the arguing between those two? Seems to me like they get louder and louder every time" Kiba nodded towards the still arguing Sakura and Ino. Naruto turned back to see the two of them were up in the other's face.

"Honestly, I do my best to tune them out. Sakura does a pretty good job of tuning me out, so only fair I do the same" Naruto turned to face the three of them again with a grin. "Besides, it's better than having some lovesick girl chasing after you all the time. If I think it's annoying, I'm sure Sasuke hates it" he added. Kiba eyed Hinata with a comical smile that Naruto hadn't paid much mind to. The Hyuga however finally managed to face the blond.

"H-hi Naruto-Kun" she mumbled out. Much to Naruto's surprise, she turned back to Kiba and Shino.

Kiba shrugged while Shino remained his stoic self. "Alright, well…good luck then you guys" Naruto waved them off awkwardly before returning to his team. Sakura and Ino finally stopped insulting one another and were instead listening to what was being said by the purple haired woman, Anko Mitarashi, from the day before.

"What did I miss?" Naruto asked the moment he was close enough to Sakura.

"Shut up stupid Naruto, I'm trying to listen" Sakura all but shouted, getting the attention of the instructor. Several things happened in quick succession; a kunai flew between Sakura and Naruto, Naruto sensing it coming towards them knocked it away with his own kunai causing it to land behind them, all the while, Anko appeared to vanish and reappear standing behind Naruto.

"A kid like you dies at the very beginning" she whispered into his ear. He turned to smirk at her, making the smirk fade from her own face. "What's the menacing look for?" she asked, but before Naruto could answer, she pulled another kunai from her sleeve and went to swing behind her before stopped at the sight of a long tongue extended over her shoulder, wrapped in it was the kunai she originally threw.

"I'm returning your kunai knife" the long-tongued woman said. Her words slithered out of her mouth with a hiss that Naruto felt was something this woman couldn't control. She was a snake in human form and something about her reminded Naruto of pure darkness.

"Thank you for going to the trouble, but don't stand behind me thirsty for blood unless you want to die" Anko replied as she took the kunai back. The two of them eyed each other for a moment while Naruto, as well as the rest of the examinee's watched on. Naruto wanted to say something but something about this stare down felt personal. Something about it felt familiar even.

"Well, it's in my nature to act up at the sight of red blood" the snake woman hissed, and it was only then that Naruto realized the back of his hand was bleeding. He thought about it for a second and figured the kunai must have cut him as he blocked it. So used to being cut, he hadn't even felt it or noticed it until it was pointed out. The snake woman walked towards the crowd before disappearing into it. Sakura eyed this woman cautiously before turning to face Anko again. Whatever she was thinking, Naruto was sure it had to do with the two psycho, blood thirsty women.

"We've clearly got a lot of hot-blooded kids this time around" Anko commented, turning to look at Naruto again. "And a surprise little mystery to boot" she said, looking Naruto up and down.

Naruto stepped away from her and walked towards Sakura.

"Are you okay?" she asked the moment he was standing next to her. She reached for his hand and was unable to hide her surprise when there was no cut present. "W-what…" she was about to ask, but Naruto pulled his hand free.

"It's nothing Sakura. It wasn't my blood" he lied. It wasn't the first time he experienced something like this, but he wasn't about to tell her how it happened. Especially since he didn't know either. He looked over his shoulder to see Sasuke watching them with curiosity, but the sound of Anko's voice pulled their attention to her.

"Well, before we start the second exam, I have to pass this out to you" she reached into her coat and pulled out a stack of forms. "It's a consent form. Before you can take part in the test you have to sign this."

"Why?" somebody next to Kiba asked. Kiba looked like he was about to ask the same thing but was relieved someone else did before him.

"Because from here on out, corpses are going to come out, I have to get your consent before then or it'll be my responsibility" Anko answered with a wide smile and laugh. No one else seemed to think this was a laughing matter but that didn't seem to slow Anko down one bit.

"Now, I'm going to explain the second exam" she extended the forms to Sakura, who took one and passed them along to Naruto. He also took one before handing them off. "In a nutshell, the limits of your survival will be challenged. First, I'll give you step-by-step instruction of this training field. Training field forty-four is surrounded by forty-four locked entrance gates, there are rivers in the forest and a tower in the middle. It's about ten kilometers from the towers to the gate. The purpose of this confined area is to put you through a certain survival program…the program being an anything goes scroll battle!" Anko seemed to pause for a moment, whether for dramatic effect or simply to pull out whatever she had in her coat was unclear. After a moment however, she revealed two different colored scrolls, a white one and a blue one.

"Scroll?" Kabuto asked. He took a spot next to Naruto, two other ninja Naruto didn't recognize stood beside him.

"Yes. I want you to fight for two scrolls, the heaven scroll and the earth scroll" she held the scrolls out for everyone to see. One did in fact read heaven on its tag, the other read earth.

"All together twenty-six teams got through the first test. Half of those teams will receive the heaven scroll; the other half will receive the earth scroll. That's what you're vying for" Anko explained, holding the scrolls up one more time.

"And the conditions to pass?" Sasuke asked, Naruto turned to look at him and realized that Anko hadn't specified on that yet.

"Three of you bring both the heaven and earth scroll to the tower in the center of the training field" Anko answered simply. It was too easy of an answer, something Sakura was quick to jump on with another observation.

"That means that of the thirteen teams, half of them will fail for sure…that's why we're fighting over the scrolls?" Sakura asked, making Anko laugh.

"Yes, and no. You're fighting for the scrolls yes, but if you don't make it to the tower with both scrolls within the one hundred-twenty-hour time limit, you fail" Anko stated, a silence fell over the group. Some of them looked worried about being in a place called the forest of death for five days, while others seemed to be thinking about what they would do for food and water. For shelter, or how they would manage to defend themselves. There were murmurings of how it would be difficult due to the types of animals, poisonous bugs and plants and the fact that everyone not your team would be an enemy. Naruto noted that as people grew more desperate to find both scrolls, it would become harder to rest and recover as the time limit drew closer. No sooner had he thought that, that those same words were voiced by the bushy browed kid that beat Sasuke up the day before. Naruto watched as the boy with the same eyes as Hinata and the boy in green seemed to be coming up with a game plan.

"Moving on, conditions of disqualification. One, if all three members of the team can't make it to the tower with both scrolls within the time limit. Two, if a team loses a member or if a member becomes incapacitated. And finally, do not open the scrolls until you have reached the tower."

"There are times when a Chunin must deal with super-secret text. That last condition is to test your reliability. With that, the explanations are done. I will exchange your three consent forms for a scroll in that hut over there. After that, you will pick your entrance and all the gates will open simultaneously" Anko sighed as her shoulders dropped. "A word of advice for you bunch…don't die!" she shouted. Some people seemed to snap into focus at her final words, others seemed to just shrug that they had already knew that.

After waiting in line to hand in their forms and receive their scroll, team seven was standing at gate twelve waiting for the moment it would open. Sakura seemed to be excited for some reason, and despite her best efforts, she kept glancing at Sasuke. Something that he and Naruto were both aware of—and ignoring.

"I think once we're inside, we should head for the center. This way we'll be close to the goal on day one and can worry about getting the other scroll without having to worry about other things. If one of us gets hurt, it'll be easier to carry them to the tower if we're closer to it" Sasuke's words came to an end right as the gate swung open. He looked at both Naruto and Sakura, both of which seemed to agree that was a solid plan. They would just need to move quickly to avoid any of the more threatening groups.

"If we move without stopping, we should be able to get there in a few hours. Of course, that's if we don't get attacked, hurt, or lost" Sakura called out as the three of them took to the trees.

"I can make shadow clones to scout around us" Naruto offered, and was about to do so before Sasuke told him to stop.

"If one of your clones gets spotted, the other teams will know we're either nearby and start searching for us, or might accidently lead someone back with them. It's too much of a gamble" he explained. Naruto was about to say that he didn't need the clones to come back, but Sakura's praise of the Uchiha didn't allow Naruto to say anything that they would be able to hear. Instead, the blond took to just following behind the others, all the while keeping his eyes and ears sharp. Detecting someone trying to sneak up on him was something that he was really good at. He got good at that sort of thing having to live his life in complete solitude and darkness—and had the scars to prove it.

After about an hour or so, Sasuke came to stop on a branch ahead of his team, both of them stopped as well. Naruto on his left, Sakura on his right. "I think we can rest here for a bit. See what you can find in the area that we can store for later. Naruto" he turned to look at the blond, and it looked to be as if he was contemplating how to say whatever it was that was on his mind.

"I…we can really use your help with that sealing ability of yours. It'll be easier to carry things if they're sealed away in a scroll" he finally managed to say. Naruto nodded almost smugly.

"All you gotta do is ask" Naruto replied, and though he meant it as a sincere offer, Sasuke didn't seem to appreciate that way he had said it. Despite that, Sasuke didn't dwell on it and instead looked skyward.

"It looks like it's almost noon. If we get separated or lose contact for too long, we'll meet over there in that clearing when the sun reaches its highest point" he said, pointing to his left.

"Sure, sure. I'll be right back" Naruto spoke loudly, walking towards a thick brush of bushes. "I gotta use the bathroom."

"Naruto, you're such an idiot!" Sakura yelled after him, but Naruto didn't seem to care.

After a moment, Naruto reappeared with a big smile on his face. "I feel much better now."

"I swear sometimes Naruto, you're absolutely—" whatever it was that Sakura swore Naruto was, got cut off when Sasuke dashed towards Naruto and kicked him in the gut. "Sasuke-Kun, what are you doing?!" Sakura yelled, watching as Sasuke pulled a kunai from his pouch and took a defensive stance.

"That's not Naruto. Look, his pouch is on the wrong leg" Sasuke pointed out, nodding towards Naruto's left leg. "Naruto's right-handed" he added.

"Here I thought this would be easy enough. I guess now I'll have to do it by force" the fake Naruto exploded in a puff of smoke before being replaced by someone in a crème white onesie. His spiky brown hair sticking up in odd angles, his face covered by a white cloth over his eyes and a respirator type device in his mouth.

The imposter charged towards Sasuke; the latter jumped into the air performing hand seals as he flew overhead; "Fire style: Phoenix flower jutsu!" he yelled out, a barrage of fireballs erupted from him. The imposter had just enough time to dodge each one before having to retreat a bit.

"OY! SASUKE, THERE'S ANOTHER ONE HERE!"

Sasuke looked towards Naruto's voice, who was indeed battling with the same ninja that he himself was fighting. He landed near the two of them as Naruto delivered a swift uppercut that caused his opponent to vanish in a puff of smoke. "A clone?" Naruto looked surprised as he looked around to find the real one. Sasuke was caught off guard as the real one showed up behind him.

"Don't move or you're dead. Hand over the scroll" he demanded. Immediately he was forced to jump away as Naruto tossed a kunai at the two of them. Sasuke caught the knife with is chakra underneath his foot. Naruto watched, impressed as Sasuke wheeled around and launched the kunai after the ninja. He dodged it but was unable to dodge Sasuke as he plunged a kunai into his shoulder.

"Sasuke-Kun!" Sakura cried, finally making her way to the clearing that they were fighting in.

"Don't just stand there Sakura, there's no guarantee this guy is alone. There might be more clones. Stay on your guard or you'll really die!" Sasuke shouted back, his Sharingan eyes glowing even in the sunny morning.

"Damnit, I thought by sneaking up on you I could get the drop on you. You haven't seen the last of me" the ninja warned, jumping away from Sasuke. He retreated before Sasuke even landed next to Naruto.

"Not bad Naruto, you managed to not get killed" Sasuke jokingly praised.

"I could say the same to you, Sasuke" Naruto replied, the same joking awe in his voice.

"Are you okay, Sasuke-Kun?" Sakura asked the moment she closed the distance between her and them.

"Yeah, luckily that guy was alone. Though, his use of a clone to keep you occupied means he knows that he couldn't take us together" Sasuke explained, looking towards Naruto.

"I'm fine too, by the way. Not like it matters" Naruto off-handedly commented.

"No one asked you" Sakura snapped, which only proved Naruto's point.

"I think we should have a code of some sort. You know, to make sure it really is us. Naruto was gone for a minute and we don't want that to keep happening. Here's what you ask 'Ninja song, Ninja chance' and the answer will be 'the chance to sneak up when a large number of enemies is making a scene. The quiet place has no secret hideout. It is important for a shinobi to know the right time. The time when an enemy is tired and drops his guard.' That's it, that'll be the code" Sasuke finished. Sakura and Naruto nodded.

Naruto wasn't sure he would remember such a long and tedious password and reached into his pouch. He didn't say anything and instead extended his hands to both of them. His teammates both took the scroll hesitantly.

"Don't ask" Naruto said, insisting they take the scrolls and not say anything about it. The two of them stored the scrolls and though they both looked like they wanted to press the issue, they both chose to remain silent. Naruto turned to his right, and leveled his gaze down a path in the forest. Sasuke did the same.

"You sense it, right Sasuke?" Naruto nodded towards the path.

"Yeah, but what is it?" he asked, squinting in the direction they were both watching intently.

"What's what?" Sakura took a moment to realize that there was something coming towards them, but the moment she did, she too was on the defensive. No sooner had they closed the gap between them did a massive gust of wind collide with them, tearing the forest apart as it sent the three of them flying in different directions.

Once the smoke settled, Sasuke dove under a bush to hide from whatever threat might come his way. When he heard footsteps approaching, he quickly sprung to his feet to see Sakura standing behind him.

"Sasuke-Kun!" she exclaimed taking a hurried step forward.

"Don't come any closer" he ordered, readying his kunai. "First the password. 'Ninja song, Ninja chance'" he said. Sakura stopped in her tracks and nodded.

"The chance to sneak up when a large number of enemies is making a scene. The quiet place has no secret hideout. It is important for a shinobi to know the right time. The time when an enemy is tired and drops his guard" she recited perfectly.

"Good" Sasuke nodded, more footsteps cut their reunion short as they both watched as Naruto came bounding towards them.

"Ow. Hey everyone, are you okay?" he asked happily, as he rubbed his shoulder.

"Wait, Naruto" the sound of Sakura's voice caused Naruto to slide to a stop; "The password—" Sakura wasn't able to even ask the question before Naruto broke into a perfect recital of the answer. Sakura was relieved but Sasuke on the other hand grew more defensive, tossing a kunai at Naruto for the second time that day.

"What are you doing?" Naruto demanded, diving to the side to dodge the kunai.

"Sasuke-Kun, Naruto recited the whole thing perfectly. Why are you attacking him?" Sakura asked, confused as to the reasoning this time her crush was attacking their teammate again.

"Naruto wouldn't have memorized the whole thing. He'd show up and tell us it was dumb to even suggest it. I said it out in the open because anyone could hear it and memorize it. And I was right. Whether Naruto knew anyone could hear us or not, I can't say for sure, but I'm certain he has his own way of knowing it's really us. Don't you think, Sakura?" Sasuke's words alluded to the scrolls that Naruto had given them, and Sakura was quick to pick up on that.

"R-right" she answered, pulling a kunai out of her pouch as well. "Where's Naruto?" she demanded, taking a spot next to Sasuke.

"Show your true self, fake one" Sasuke ordered, earning a slithery snicker from the fake Naruto. Slowly, Naruto's skin began to fall off, much like how a snake would shed its skin, and before the two members of team seven stood the woman that had the freakishly long tongue.

"Why not make the password shorter if that other brat wouldn't bother to remember?" she asked, removing her hat with a predatory gaze on the two of them.

"I knew you were underground listening. Just had to be sure that you would hear me clearly enough. Naruto probably knew too, but he's an idiot so who knows" Sasuke smugly said, proud that he was able to outwit this person before they even came into contact.

"Oh really. So, you're not tired or letting your guard down. This will be more fun that I thought" she smiled. Her long tongue slithered out of mouth and slid along the rim of her straw hat. She tossed the hat aside and pulled out the navy-blue scroll from her pouch.

"You want our earth scroll, don't you?" she asked, before lifting the scroll to her mouth and wrapping her tongue around it. She slowly shoved it into her mouth before swallowing it whole.

"Well, let's begin the battle for the scrolls. Life or death!" she exclaimed. Simultaneously, a murderous intent so grand washed over Sasuke and Sakura that they both fell to their knees, panting and looking terrified.

"S-Sakura…we h-have to r-run" Sasuke managed to pant out, but it was no use. Sakura was frozen in fear, tears fell in her lap as she stared off into nothingness. This woman was on a completely different level of evil. She laughed as she watched them struggle.

"Can't move already? Don't worry I'll end this in a second" she promised as she drew two kunai from her pouch, she started walking towards them. "It really is a shame that it's over this quickly. I was hoping to play with you a little more" the sadness in her voice was genuine, even if it was also a complete lie that she thought it was a shame.

She tossed the kunai at the two of them; "Oh well, perhaps it's for the best" she laughed again but abruptly stopped when Sasuke managed to break out of his fear by stabbing himself in the thigh. He then jumped over to Sakura, picked her up, and jumped away.

Sasuke stared at the still embedded kunai in his thigh as he realized just how close to death the two of them came. "S-Sasuke-Kun?" Sakura whispered, her concern for Sasuke overriding her fear. "Are you okay?" she practically shouted and it was only when Sasuke put his hand over her mouth did she notice him trembling. She didn't know how desperately he was trying to think of a way out of their situation. She only knew that she had never seen the stoic, sneering boy as hard as stone. He never showed much of any emotion, but right now he was one hundred percent terrified. And if he was terrified, then she should be too.

He held his hand to her face so tightly that she struggled to free herself from it to warn him of the giant snake staring at them hungrily behind them.

"Sasuke-Kun, it's a snake!" she finally managed to get free from his grasp and warn Sasuke just in time. The two of them jumped away from the now splintered branch as they jumped away separately. As the snake chased after Sasuke he couldn't help but see the eyes of that horrifying woman staring back at him.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" he screamed in panic. He launched a barrage of shuriken at the snake and managed to catch it in various vital weak spots. Sasuke huffed as he landed on another branch and watched in terror as the dead snake began to crack open at the neck. Out from within the carcass of the behemoth came the same woman, slimy and smiling as she looked upon Sasuke like he was a mouse that knew it was about to die.

"Don't lower your guard, not even for a moment. A prey must always remain tense and try to flee desperately in the presence of a predator" she giggled, her long tongue wagging at them as if she herself became the snake. She lunged at Sasuke, coiling around the tree branch that he was standing on. Sasuke, still shaken to his core by the murderous intent of this woman could only scream as he fell back—waiting for the killing blow.

As this snake woman approached her prey a flurry of shuriken and kunai landed between her and Sasuke, stopping her in her tracks. "Oy, Sasuke…" everyone looked up to see Naruto with his arms crossed and a disapproving look on his face.

"Naruto!" Sakura sounded genuinely happy that her other teammate finally showed up.

"I should have told you that your password was a mouthful and stupid. Fitting since you're sitting there looking absolutely pathetic" he added, unable to hide the sneer.

"Naruto, I know you're trying to be cool and rescue us, but don't get involved. Run away while you can, she's on a completely different level than us" Sasuke warned, but Naruto was more focused on the snake woman.

"It seems you managed to survive your encounter with my other pet" she hissed, looking Naruto up and down.

"Other pet?" Sakura asked, eyeing Naruto more closely. It was then she noticed he had some slimy residue on his clothes.

"So, that giant snake I killed was your pet? Should have gone after me yourself, might have stood a better chance" Naruto snarled, his eyes never left the woman.

"Naruto run away while you can. Didn't you hear me?" Sasuke repeated, this time with more urgency. "You can still—" "SHUT UP!" Naruto roared, cutting Sasuke off.

"Run away, she's too strong, she's out of our league. Just shut up. When did you turn into such a coward?" Naruto demanded, annoyed that he was even having to have this conversation.

"Wait, wait…here. Take the scroll and go" Sasuke offered. He reached into his pouch and held out the heaven scroll to the snake woman.

"If you give her that scroll, I'll end you" Naruto threatened.

"Shut up, Naruto" Sasuke snapped back. His eyes looked terrified, even if he tried to hide it behind bravado.

"Well, this is interesting. It seems you understand your situation. Prey understand that by presenting other food for a predator they may be spared. You're pretty reasonable, Sasuke-Kun" the snake woman teased. "Very well, I accept your bargain" she added, uncoiling herself from the tree and standing straight. She extended her hand to the Uchiha. Sasuke tossed it towards her but before the snake woman could grab it, Naruto intercepted it, landing in front of Sasuke.

"You idiot, don't interfere. Don't you understand this situation?!" Sasuke yelled, his voice cracking as he took a step towards Naruto. The blond placed the scroll in his pouch and rounded on Sasuke with a right hook that sent the Uchiha stumbling back before he hit the tree and slid down on it.

"What the hell are you doing all of a sudden?!" he demanded glaring at Naruto.

"Hurry up and dispel your transformation…there's no way the stupid coward in front of me is Sasuke Uchiha. She may be strong, but how can you be sure she'll even let us go if we give her the scroll, huh?! How could you be so naïve to think we'd be able to just walk away?" Naruto turned towards the snake woman.

"I don't care who it is standing in front of me, no one will stop me from becoming Hokage" Naruto shouted, jumping towards his opponent.

"Naruto!" Sasuke and Sakura shouted, but it didn't matter now. Naruto was busy trying to pummel the snake woman into the dirt. They traded punches, Naruto would take a hit and return a hit with just as much accuracy.

"It seems I may have underestimated you, Naruto-Kun" the snake woman giggled as she kicked Naruto in the chest. "But you're no stronger—what?" the Naruto that went sliding back vanished in a puff of smoke and the real Naruto came rocketing out of the sky with his fist cocked back. He landed a solid left to the woman's jaw as he went sailing past her.

"You talk too much lady" Naruto rolled to his feet. He turned back to look at the woman and scoffed; "You may have scared that idiot, but we're nothing alike" he added. He reached into his pouch and pulled out a scroll. He tossed it at the woman; "Release" he called out forming a hand seal. There was a puff of smoke as dozens of kunai and shuriken erupted from the scroll.

"Naruto that was great!" Sakura exclaimed as the snake woman was forced to retreat for the moment.

"Stay on your guard Sakura, that definitely wasn't enough to beat her" Naruto warned. Sakura agreed and quickly began to survey the area.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled out trying to warn her teammate, he turned too late as he saw what she was warning him off. A massive snake's head was hurtling towards him and he had just a split second to jump. However, the impact was enough to send him flying back where he collided with a tree—the wind knocked out of him.

"So cute…you're such cute prey" the snake woman cackled as she watched Naruto falling towards her pet. "Eat him" she ordered. The snake opened its mouth wide, ready for its meal.

Naruto kicked the snake straight on the nose, the impact sending a shockwave throughout the trees. "N-Naruto?" Sakura watched in shock as Naruto flipped away from the snake and landed sideways on a tree. The snake instead charged towards Sasuke, who had yet to move.

"You're all going to be my prey!" the woman shouted. Sasuke, watched in desperation as the snake barreled towards him.

"Sealing technique: Soul detachment technique!" Naruto slapped a tag on the snake's nose before grabbing Sasuke and jumping out of the way. The woman watched in awe as the snake slammed into the tree and went careening to the ground with an earth-shaking crash.

"Snap out of it" Naruto ordered, as he landed next to Sakura with Sasuke's arm over his shoulder.

"N-Naruto…your eyes" Sakura pointed towards Naruto's face. He quickly turned away but not before the image of those slitted eyes were burned into her memory. Sasuke saw them too, but was too concerned with what was going on to make a comment about it.

"Don't worry about it. If you're not going to help, the least you can do is get the hell out of my way. I don't want to have to protect you if you're being useless" Naruto growled, Sasuke looked shocked by those words.

"I'll take care of this myself" with that, Naruto jumped back towards his opponent, who now looked absolutely enthralled with Naruto.

"That was quite the sealing technique you used, Naruto-Kun" she praised, not a single note of bitterness in her voice.

"If you're lucky I'll show you first hand how it works" Naruto promised, but it was more bark than bite.

"Don't be so sure about that" the woman shrugged. As Naruto jumped at her again, she ducked under his first two punches and blocked the knee that would have broken her nose. "You're rather skilled for a kid. It's rather surprising honestly" the woman commented, but Naruto was too busy trying to land an actual hit that he didn't reply.

"It's a shame that there's something holding you back though. Oh well, I guess this is as far as you go" she sighed, causing Naruto to scuff.

"If you think it'll be that—" Naruto didn't get to finish his sentence as the woman plunged her palm into his gut. He retched violently before slumping over.

"Naruto!" Sakura called out, but the blond was unresponsive.

"He was quite the entertainment" she said, tossing Naruto aside. He fell into the abyss of the forest, a loud thud signaled he landed on another tree branch rather sickeningly. "But it's time for the main course."

"Sasuke-Kun, what happened to you? Naruto may be weird and sometimes he's rude. But he's nothing like you. He's not a coward. Isn't that right, Sasuke-Kun!?" Sakura yelled. It seemed to do the trick as Sasuke shut his eyes in concentration. When he reopened them, his Sharingan flared to life, a look in his eyes that screamed defiance.

"Just what I would expect from the Uchiha clan once their blood starts to stir" the snake woman smiled as Sasuke clenched a kunai in his mouth. He took off running towards her before tossing shuriken at her. She dodged them easily but the moment Sasuke was in range he swung, the woman blocked and the two exchanged punches before Sasuke jumped over her head and tried to kick her. She blocked this too before slithering away from Sasuke at speeds that Sakura couldn't keep up with.

"I can see you!" Sasuke yelled, before a fireball erupted from his mouth. It collided with the tree and once the smoke cleared there stood the snake woman smiling.

"You're just as entertaining as the other kid, Sasuke-Kun" she praised, watching as Sasuke continued to keep his Sharingan eyes fixed on her. She sent a shockwave at him that he jumped out of the way to dodge. Before the snake woman knew what was going on, Sasuke had lunged at her and wrapped himself around her upside down. He pulled her off the tree and spun her around so that she was now upside down.

"I've got you now!" Sasuke cried out as the woman's head slammed with a sickening crack into a different tree. The cracks that the impact made splintered out and it was only when her legs went limp that Sasuke pushed himself away from her. Before he could celebrate his victory however, the woman's body turned into mud. If that wasn't enough, Sasuke was forced to jump out of the way of a barrage of kunai. Once he landed safely though he was sent stumbling back from a right punch to the nose. He tried to block but the next two punches landed as well, and before he could regain his composure the woman kneed him in the face and kicked him away from her. He landed hard, out of breath, and bleeding.

"That was too easy. The Uchiha name is crying out from their grave" she teased. "I'll kill you slowly so that I can enjoy this." Her laugh was cut short though as an explosion from right behind her sent her flying forward. Sasuke jumped to his feet and tossed shuriken at her. She watched in surprise as the shuriken whipped around the tree with wire attached to them.

"T-this is…the Sharingan triple attack?" she said in surprise as Sasuke pulled the wire abruptly. The woman was pinned to the tree, as it cut into flesh, she could only watch as Sasuke made three hand seals.

"Fire style: Dragon flame jutsu" she barely heard him muttered. A trail of fire creeped along the wires before they collided with the woman. She screamed, but Sasuke didn't let up. He kept the fire going until her screams stopped and only then, did he feel satisfied.

"Sasuke-Kun, you did it" Sakura said excitedly as she jumped down to meet him. "Are you okay?" she asked. Sasuke huffed, but nodded.

"You truly are a member of the Uchiha clan. To think your Sharingan would hold more protentional than your brother Itachi" a chilling voice, different than the previous one spoke out. Sasuke and Sakura tried to move but found themselves frozen by some unseen force.

"Who are you?" Sasuke demanded, looking upon the half melted off face of the snake woman. Underneath her once unblemished face was a soulless yellow eye and pale face peering back at him.

"My name is Orochimaru. If you think you want to meet me again, desperately run to the top of this test. Defeat the three sound village ninjas under my control."

"You're out of your mind if you think we ever want to see your face again" Sakura replied, much to Orochimaru's disappointment.

"Well, that won't do then" he stated. He formed a singular hand seal before his neck elongated. Unable to block or get out of the way, Sasuke and Sakura could only watch as Orochimaru bit down on Sasuke's neck. Finally able to move, the first thing Sasuke did was clutch at his neck.

"What did you do to him?" Sakura demanded, watching as Sasuke writhed in pain in front of her.

"I gave him a parting gift. Sasuke absolutely would come look for me…looking for power" Orochimaru explained. He slowly started to descend into the tree he was standing on, fading out of sight. "I enjoyed seeing your various powers" he said, his head disappeared into the tree, leaving Sakura with a screaming Sasuke.

"Sasuke-Kun" she cried as the boy collapsed into her arms. His screaming stopped but that did nothing to comfort the girl. "Naruto!" she called out, hoping that the other boy on her team had recovered enough to come and help her, but no answer. She was alone. She lifted Sasuke onto her shoulder and jumped down to where she thought Naruto might have fallen.

"I want out of this nightmare" she whimpered before bursting into tears at the sight of the blond. When she found Naruto, he too was unconscious; his arm lie bent at an awkward angle as blood pooled under his head. "Don't die, Naruto" she begged. She jumped to the ground below and placed Sasuke inside of a hollowed-out trunk before she jumped back up and carefully carried Naruto back down with her. Of the two, Naruto seemed to be the more seriously injured, but that was solely because Sakura didn't know what was wrong with Sasuke.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Sakura asked the two unconscious boys. She sobbed at the idea that she was completely alone, but that was just to mask what she was really afraid of.

That both boys may never wake up.

AN: Woo, that was rough for me figuring out how I wanted this to be different than the source. In the end I went with a mix of classic and my own version of Naruto. Instead of losing control he just straight up stole the soul of a giant ass snake. Before anyone says why he didn't just do that to Orochimaru, the answer is simple really, Naruto may be strong, but he's not Sannin strong yet. Let's not forget Orochimaru is a massive obstacle that not only Sasuke but Naruto as well need to overcome in the source material. Lastly, this part of the Chunin exams will more than likely be the last part in the second exam that's similar to the Manga. I thought the whole clone vs clone thing was meh and I'm not eager to repeat that.

Anyway, thank you guys for being so patient. Happy Holidays and I will see you guys in the next chapter.

Until then.