After a little bit of good-natured sniping between Ibiki and Anko, all the candidates made their way to Training Ground 44. None of them elected to follow Anko out the window.

The entrance to Training Ground 44 was gated. They found Anko standing prominently next to an ominous sign that declared:

Training Ground 44

The Forest of Death

Keep Out

Sakura managed to position them next to Team 7. Naruto took the opportunity to exam the other candidates, since there were not as many distractions as there were in the First Exam. Nothing stood out to her, as she really did not know anyone other than her old classmates. She did notice again one girl who had hair almost the same color as she did. However, she was had not been able to get a good view of her shinobi badge in order to tell which village she came from. She was pretty sure, however, that it was not Konoha.

Kiba made a big production of scoffing loudly about how easily he would lead his team through the "so-called Forest of Death."

Anko threw a kunai at the boy, which grazed his cheek and cause Akamaru to fall off his head when he flinched. The proctor quickly caught the boy in a headlock and licked the blood off his cheek.

"It's the loud ones that always die first and provide the blood that I love so much," she said.

An androgynous Kusa nin used his tongue to hand the knife back to Anko.

"Eww," said Sakura.

Hinata shrank into herself at the display.

Frankly Tsunami did not blamed them, but she kept a neutral expression in order to avoid attracting attention. "Don't react," she said quietly.

Anko explained the rules of the Second Exam. Each team would be given one of two kinds of scrolls: a heaven or an earth. They would need both scrolls to be admitted to a tower on the far side of the forest within 120 hours (five days). They were to capture the other type of scroll from another team by any means necessary and all of their team had to survive. To heighten the tension, Anko made them each sign waivers that absolved Konoha and the proctors of blame if they died or were crippled during the test.

With a last admonish of "Don't die!" Anko had her assistants lead each team to a different gate into the training ground. They had received a Heaven Scroll. Tsunami sealed it into a special storage seal that did not interfere with other seals.

Tsu, Tsunami tapped. Nata. Byakugan. Tell which teams near Earth Scroll. Over.

Hinata flashed on her Doujutsu and then tapped, Hi. Only see 2 teams. Both Heaven. Over.

Tsu. Drat. Out.

After about ten minutes a bell was heard and the assistant proctor let them into the forest. As soon as they were out of sight of the gate, Tsunami formed six Shadow Clones with the idea that they would each run the Mind's Eye Technique and spread out on all sides of them several hundred meters. Tsunami herself also ran the Mind's Eye Technique, just in case. While her sensory technique was not as detailed as Hinata's Byakugan, they had about the same range—500 meters—and she had the chakra to run it continuously, even with multiple clones out, while Hinata did not. They ran for about ten more minutes, before stopping to talk.

"We have a pretty big advantage," Tsunami said, "in that Nata-chan can tell what kind of scroll our competitors have at about half a kilometer away."

Hinata blushed at the praise.

"I can send out scouting Shadow Clones," Tsunami continued, "to find people and then once I find them, we can bring Nata-chan in to see if they have what we need."

"That sounds like a good plan," Sakura said. "We don't want to fight anyone we don't have to, right?"

Naruto nodded. "Even if we win, which I expect we would most of the time, we could give away information that we don't want to."

"What about Neji-nisan?" Hinata asked. "His range is bigger than either of ours."
Tsunami shook her head. "I know his chakra signature. Even if he chases after us, I'll know it before he gets close, especially with my scouting clones. Do you really think he would chase us down?"

"He would take our scroll given the opportunity," Hinata said sadly, "but he would probably think it was beneath him to chase us down if there were other opportunities within reach."

"Do you think we should run from them?" Sakura asked. "We need to get a scroll from someone, don't we?"

"I would rather not fight any other Konoha teams at this point," Tsunami said. "Not even Nata-chan's jerk of a cousin. Plus, we want to keep a low profile, remember? You said that your cousin is good. Do you know anything about his teammates?"

Hinata said, "Just generalities. The boy in green is another taijutsu specialist. I know that Neji-niisan looks down on him, but. . ."

"He looks down on everyone, so we don't really know his skill level," Naruto finished.

Hinata nodded, looking embarrassed for her cousin. "The girl is weapon specialist. She must be good at it, because Neji-niisan doesn't insult her beyond her not being a Hyuuga."

Tsunami snorted and Sakura shook her head.

Tsunami stretched and said, "Any preference in which direction we head?"

Both of the other girls shook their heads.

"How about South?" Tsunami offered.

"Sounds good to me," Sakura said.

Tsunami summoned a clone and then dispelled it in order to tell her scouts which direction they were headed.

Unfortunately the first two teams they encountered to the South each had Heaven Scrolls.

"How could we end up in a group of four teams that all had Heaven Scrolls?" Naruto complained.

"Maybe they knew Nata-chan could tell which ones they had and didn't want to make it too easy for us?" Sakura suggested. "If they're competent at all, they'd have to know that the Byakugan can identify the scrolls at a distance."

"They better have done the same to Nata-chan's jerk of a cousin," Tsunami groused.

Hinata giggled. "He would hate that."

"Do you think it would teach him some humility, Nata-chan?" Tsunami asked.

Hinata giggled some more. "Doubtful, Nami-chan. He's completely hung up on Fate and thinks that the world is out to get him. He'd see it as validation."

"Makes me want to pity him as well as hate him for. . ." Tsunami said before cutting off as she got memories from a dispelled clone.

"What is it, Nami-chan?" Sakura asked.

"Found another group," she said. "Their chakra signatures are weak, so if they have the right scroll, I say we go for it."

They approached the group and stopped when they were about 400 meters away.

"They're from Suna," Hinata said. "There formation is sloppy and they do have an Earth Scroll. The bigger of the boys is carrying it."

"Can you tell if they're specialized?" Sakura asked. "The most famous tactics Suna uses revolve around Wind manipulation using fans, puppets, and cloth manipulation."

"They each have non-folding tessen [iron war fan] on their backs, but they don't have the chakra reserves to be able to pull off many elemental manipulation techniques, if any," Hinata answered.

"So they're beginner, or wannabe, Wind users," Naruto said.

"I'd watch out for Wind chakra coating their tessen, but probably not too many long-range techniques," Sakura said. She hesitated. "Suna is our closest ally. We should refrain from killing them, right?"

Hinata coughed delicately. "The alliance exists only because Suna hasn't figured out a way to gracefully exit it. But I agree, I see no reason to kill them."

The fight could not even really be called a fight. Hinata and Tsunami each ambushed one of the boys while three of Tsunami's clones took on the girl and Sakura and more of Tsunami's clones stood overwatch to make sure none of them would escape. All three Suna nin went down with barely any sound. Tsunami's extra clones were not even needed.

"These guys were chumps," Naruto said as she rooted through the bigger boy's pack to collect their scroll. She found it and put it in the same storage seal as the Heaven Scroll.

"That would have been much harder if we weren't in such a dense forest, Nami-chan," Sakura mentioned. "We do have a pretty substantial home field advantage, even without ever having set foot in this particular forest."

"They were still chumps," Tsunami said.

Sakura snorted and said, "I don't really disagree."

Hinata giggled.

"Let's head toward the tower," Tsunami said. "The sooner we're done, the better."

The other two agreed and Naruto sent out her scouts again and they took off at a good pace.

"Hold up," Tsunami said as she received memories from a scout Shadow Clone that had dispelled herself. "A single shinobi is heading toward us, being chased by a large animal. I recognize their chakra from earlier in the tests, but there were too many people for me to have nailed down which candidate they are. They have a lot for a genin—almost as much as Kurenai-sensei—but it's untrained and passive-feeling."

"Are they going to miss us?" Sakura asked.

Tsunami shook her head. "No they were headed right for us."

"Should we move a little and see if they are really headed for us?" Hinata asked.

"Good idea," Sakura said.

Tsunami made more clones that headed off in the direction of the unknown shinobi. The three of them switched directions and kept moving. A minute later, Tsunami said, "They've switched directions to follow us. Their chakra is starting to feel panicked and desperate. You should be able to see them now, Nata-chan."

Hinata activated her eyes. "It's the redheaded kunoichi from Kusa," she said. "She's being chased by a large bear. She doesn't have a scroll on her."

"She's from Kusa?" Tsunami muttered. "I could never get a glimpse of her Shinobi Badge."

"You think she's a relative, Nami-chan?" Hinata asked. "Her hair color is almost the same as yours and there are some similarities in your chakra."

"I don't know," she replied. "It's possible that there were refugees from Uzushio other than Mom. I think we should help her."

The other two agreed and they ran toward the other girl.

Sakura and several Tsunami clones peppered the bear with kunai in order to snag its attention, while Tsunami approached the other redhead. The boar roared in anger and charged Sakura. Before it had covered half the distance, Hinata dropped out of the trees and fried its brain with a Gentle Fist palm strike. The bear collapsed with a thud.

"Umm, thanks for the save," the redheaded Kusa nin said. Her messy red hair mostly covered her Grass Badge. She wore glasses and had red eyes. "I'm Karin."

"I'm Tsunami and these are Hinata-chan and Sakura-chan." She gestured to the others. "Why were you coming towards us?"

"I was just running from the bear," the other redhead protested.

"I could tell that you changed direction when we did," Tsunami pointed out sternly.

"You're a sensor too?" Karin said fingering her hair.

Tsunami nodded—figuring she could give away a little if it helped to confirm the girl was an Uzumaki. "Hinata-chan too, but you knew that already if you know anything about the clans of Konoha."

"You have the warmest chakra out of anyone in the forest—it reminds me a little bit of my mother's," Karin said, flushing a little. "I was just glad that you were close."

"What happened to your teammates?" Sakura asked.

"We stumbled into a small group of bears," she said. "I don't know what happened to them."

"Do you need help finding them again?" Hinata asked.

Karin adjusted her glasses and looked again at Tsunami. "I don't really get along with them—or anyone in Kusa really. Kusa took us in when I was small, but they never really accepted us and they pretty much worked my mom to death. I was hoping to use the Exams to slip out of their grasp."

"Where did you come from before Kusa?" Tsunami asked intently.

"My mom came from Uzushio," she whispered.

"Mine too," Naruto said, smiling. "Uzumaki?"

She nodded, grinning slightly.

"If it's true that you're an Uzumaki, I'm sure Hokage-sama will let you stay," Tsunami said. "You'll probably have to take a medical exam to make sure, but it shouldn't be to onerous."

"That would be great," Karin said.

"We can talk more when we get to the tower," Tsunami said. "We've got what we need, so we can go straight there."

Tsunami knew she was taking a risk by admitting that. But she desperately wanted to believe that Karin was not only a relative, but a friendly one that would be able to come live with her. Her teammates looked wary, but were willing to follow her lead on this.

They moved out again with Tsunami and Karin in the lead and Hinata and Sakura behind them. Tsunami also kept a pair of Shadow Clones close at hand, just in case.

Twenty minutes later, Tsunami stopped as her scout clones detected someone ahead of them and one of them dispelled.

"There's a single shinobi up ahead of us," Naruto reported.

"It's the Konoha shinobi that was showing cards to those rookies before the first test," Karin said.

"You can tell?" Tsunami asked, surprised.

"I'm a very good sensor," Karin commented smugly. "My range covers the entire training ground and all of Konoha. He distinguished himself enough for me to remember what he felt like."

"Can you tell anything else about him, Karin-san?" Sakura asked.

"His chakra feels cold and patient. It's also tightly wound too—which is odd," Karin said.

"What could cause that?" Tsunami asked curiously.

"It could be any number of things—he could be suppressing his chakra or he could naturally have dense chakra," she said. "It's not anything I've encountered before, so I really couldn't say."

"Let's get closer so that Nata-chan can see what he's doing," Tsunami said.

When they got close enough for Hinata to see with her Byakugan, she said, "He's just sitting there. His leg is in a splint."

"He is a Konoha shinobi. . ." Sakura said.

Karin grimaced. "I don't want to say that you shouldn't help your comrade, but something feels off about this. He doesn't feel pained or worried, like someone with a broken bone should."

"I think he's a medic," Hinata said. "Maybe he deadened his pain?"

"He's still hobbled by an injury in the middle of 'The Forest of Death' with hostile shinobi and animals around," said Karin. "He's way too calm for that."

"I think we should go see if he needs help," Tsunami said. "We can be careful about it. As a precaution I'll have Shadow Clones standing by to swap us out if there's a problem." She looked at her apparent relative. "I think you should stay here, Karin-chan while we approach him since you're not a Konoha shinobi yet. I'll leave some clones to protect you and tell you when to approach or to direct you on the way to go to meet up with us."

The other three kunoichi agreed and Tsunami made three Shadow Clones to stay with Karin.

When they approached the older Konoha nin, he called to them gratefully, "I'm glad to see some fellow Konoha shinobi. My name is Kabuto and I got separated from my team."

"I'm Sakura and these are Hinata-chan and Tsunami-chan," the pink-haired kunoichi said. "What happened to your leg?"

Kabuto laughed ruefully. "I was running and stepped into a gopher hole and twisted my knee pretty badly. It's nothing I can't recover from in a day or so—especially since I'm a medic—but this is a really bad place to get injured, so I'm very happy to see you."

"Do you need help finding your team?" Tsunami asked.

"That would be best, but I can't ask that of you," Kabuto said. "How about you help me get to the tower. I don't think it's far and I can wait for my team by the entrance. I should be safe from animals there at least."

"I think we can manage that," Tsunami said. "I can make some Shadow. . ." She was cut off as she felt something slap her twice on the back. Her chakra oscillated erratically and the memories of all her current Shadow Clones came rushing into her mind as they all dispelled. She toppled to the ground and saw another Kabuto standing over her, smirking. Her peripheral vision saw other Kabutos standing where Hinata and Sakura had been. They must have been tagged by whatever technique or seal Kabuto's Shadow Clones had used too.

The original Kabuto came and stood over her—his splint having been removed from his leg. "You've caused me quite a bit of trouble, Tsunami-chan," he chided. "I was watching you when the Oto team got called out during the first exam and I saw your lips moving in time with the voice. Because they got kicked out, Orochimaru-sama required my teammates to test Sasuke-kun and my cover will be blown, but I'll have my kilo of flesh in return. Orochimaru-sama and I have been curious as to whether you're really Namikaze's daughter, so my kilo of flesh will be literal flesh."

His smirk became devilish. "However, it's your teammate who has determined which kilo of flesh will be taken. I've always wanted a Byakugan eye to play with, so I suppose it won't be a full kilo.

"I'll only take one eye each. You can be a matching set of crippled kunoichi, assuming you don't die of blood loss or shock. You might even be able to keep being shinobi—Kakashi-kun managed."

Kabuto leaned over and a green chakra blade flashed in front of her face. Her left eye erupted in pain and she heard and felt her eye removed with a slurp. The last thing she heard was cruel laughter before darkness took her.

Author's Note: Dun dun dun!

I'm also removing the "No pairings planned" tag, because I've got one planned. However, I'm not going to spoil it. I don't believe in 12 or 13 year olds getting serious, so it won't come into play much for a while in-story.