Forgotten

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Naruto (Shippuden). This is a story inspired by the original made up for entertainment purposes only. - Krystal

Chapter 2: The Second Exam

The second exam had started for 30 minutes now. Yuki's team was out and about in the forest in attempt to find another team who would be carrying an Earth scroll. The rules of this exam was simple: Within 5 days, make it to the tower in the center of the forest with all your teammates and the two scrolls unopened. There was a total of 28 teams. Half of them had a Earth scroll, other half had a Heaven scroll.

Yuki wanted to find the scroll quickly, get her teammates close to the tower quickly and then head off to complete her other mission which was to find out more about the mysterious Sound ninja. So far, she knew very little: they were short-tempered characters who did have some talent when it came to fighting.

As she pondered about the next few days, she suddenly caught the scent of fresh blood.

"Careful, fresh blood has been spilled, quite a lot actually."

"What? Don't say that! I'm getting goosebumps..." said Kenji.

"Should we head another direction then?" asked Kunio, seemingly worried.

"No. I think we should try to gather information on who we are dealing with." replied Yuki calmly. And save lives, if we can. She then thought to herself.

She closed her eyes for a second and focused to detect the chakras that were ahead of them. There was no doubt about it. It was Gaara and his team. She could sense it, his murderous aura. It was just like when he tried to kill her before the exam. As they got closer, Yuki and her teammates remained hidden in the high trees. She saw three Amegakure headbands lying on the rocky grounds. There was a large pool of blood and three immobile bodies drowning in it. There was nothing left to save. It wasn't over for Gaara. He wasn't satisfied yet.

"More..." he murmured.

"Gaara! That's enough. Let's just head to the tower, now." said the oldest of the team.

"More..." Gaara kept on saying.

His teammates were seemingly scared as well. The girl courageously grabbed on to his arm and gently said:

"There will be more later on. Please, let's stop now."

He calmed down after glaring at her. He shook her hand off and headed towards the tower. His two teammates followed. Yuki, Kenji and Kunio decided to descend from the tree they were hiding in. Kenji and Kunio stayed back as Yuki got closer to the pool of blood to examine the state of the three bodies. Their bones were crushed into fine powder and their blood vessels were perforated from the strong pressure. There really was no vital sign left. As she was sadly looking upon those three ninjas, she heard movement from the bushes around her.

"Come out, I heard you." she said.

Someone faked the sound of a rabbit.

"I've heard rabbits all my life, they sound nothing like that. Just come out."

"Ha, you caught us." said a nasal voice. "Let's fight for that scroll then!"

"Do you even have the scroll that we need? Let's avoid needless fighting. I have a heaven scroll."

"So do we." said a deeper voice.

"We don't... ummm... have to fight then." said a small timid voice.

It was Hyuuga Hinata's team. They were all out of the bushes. There was also a dog with them. It was seemingly shaken.

"I take it that you've witnessed what happened to those three?" Yuki asked.

"Yes..." Hinata replied. "It was... awful."

"There was no fear in his eyes. There was actually pleasure gained in his actions." said the owner of the dog who was now patting it.

"I see..." said Yuki as she took one more glance at the dead bodies.

"It's part of the exam. That's why we had to sign those papers before entering the forest." said the third member.

Yuki looked at him. She remembered him very clearly from her childhood.

"We've met before, on a rainy day." he then said.

He remembered too. She nodded then turned around towards her teammates.

"Good luck." she wished them before disappearing with her team into the forest.

It's been 3 hours now. They still haven't encountered any other team since Hinata's team. Kenji and Kunio were already tired. Yuki clearly noticed it. They weren't too far away from the tower.

"Hold on to this scroll and go hide near the tower." she said as she handed them the Heaven scroll.

"What about you?" asked Kunio as he took it.

"I'll try to find an Earth scroll."

She took another scroll that contained important items such as food, water and sleeping bags.

"Take this one as well."

"What if we get attacked?" asked Kenji as he took that one.

"I've placed a seal on the Heaven scroll. If any other chakra come into contact with it, I'll be summoned." she replied calmly as she was making sure there were some military ration pills left on her. They would be sufficient for her to survive the next 5 days. "I'll come to you within these 5 days. Don't show yourselves, don't do anything before thinking it thoroughly. I promise I'll bring back an Earth scroll."

"Thanks Yuki..." said Kunio apologetically.

She turned her back and left in the opposite direction of the tower.

Yuki was on her own now. She was relieved to be alone once again. She worked better on her own. She was more used to it. She could go at her own speed without worrying about others. As she was jumping from tree to tree, she spotted the Second Exam proctor: Mitarashi Anko. She went after her. It was unusual for the proctor to be within the forest. They usually await the participants at the end point. Anko had a worried look on her face too. Her hand was covering one of her shoulder as if she was trying to relieve some kind of pain.

Yuki caught up eventually.

"Yuki, right?" Anko asked. "The Hokage told me about you."

"Where are you going?"

"Orochimaru killed three participants. He is probably posing as them in this forest. I'm looking for him."

"So what we feared was correct. He did infiltrate the village."

"Do you mind keeping an eye out for the Sound Village? Report to us if there's anything abnormal."

"Sure, but will you be okay facing Orochimaru alone?"

"I know him better than anybody else."

It was more than true. Most ninjas in the village now wouldn't know much about Orochimaru. Although Yuki did read a lot about that man, they are only written stories. Her knowledge about him was limited to that she didn't know him well enough to take him on. He was revered as one of the Sannin. His strength was far beyond any opponent Yuki has ever met.

"Focus on finishing this round of the exam and whatever your mission is." Anko said before frowning due to the pain around her shoulder.

"Will do." replied Yuki as she allowed Anko to move further ahead by herself.

Yuki slowed down and took a moment to think about everything. There were many things left unexplained. However, Anko was right. Yuki needed to think about the current exam and mission of information gathering. There was no need for her to engage in a battle against Orochimaru. First of all, it would reveal her purpose to Orochimaru who obviously had something to do with this exam. Second, that something has remained unknown and was in need of Yuki to uncover. Finally, Yuki needed to keep her promise to her own team. If she died or injured herself during the battle against Orochimaru, it would be devastating for the team. She then realized how important her team became to her. She truly did not like them nor did she care much, but there's been growth on her part.

The night slowly came. Yuki was still moving around. The forest was quieter at night. The genins' teams were probably resting. She kept on moving. She then stumbled across a team that were hiding underneath a large tree. That tree had formed a small hut with its roots. Yuki came closer to get a better look at who they were. It was the first team she had encountered in a while. She heard a female voice trying to console herself. There was no doubt about it. It was Sakura's voice. From the looks of it, she was the only one left standing. Sasuke and Naruto were probably injured. Just as slow as the night came, the day arrived fast. Yuki wanted to give them a hand, but part of her thought that they should learn to fend for themselves. She simply observed from the shadows. Suddenly, three shadows traveled quickly right in front of her eyes and towards Sakura's team. Yuki could identify those chakras as the three Sound Genins. It was just her luck. She no longer had to search for them.

The intent to kill was real in their eyes. They wanted to attack Sasuke's team. Sakura was left alone to fight. Yuki wanted to see what she could do and what they could do before jumping in. She remained in the shadows. Somebody else, however, did not do so.

"I am Konoha's beautiful green beast, Rock Lee! I promised Sakura-san I would protect her with my life and I will do so! Prepare to fight."

The Sound genins rolled their eyes and laughed at Lee. Yuki smirked a little. She has seen Lee grow these two years tremendously. He was definitely not one to underestimate. He charged head first towards the Sound genins. They tried to hit him. He avoided the attack, but, just like what happened before the first exam, he received damage from the sound that was produced with the sound. Lee tried to continue fighting, but his balance was off, his movements were uncoordinated and he collapsed to the ground. His own teammates, Neji and Tenten, were no where to be seen.

The three Sound began to attack Sakura. She was defenseless. The female ninja grabbed her hair, shoving her around. The two others were approaching Sasuke and Naruto. Sakura, then, as weak as everyone thought she was, grabbed her kunai and slashed through her hair to release herself from the grasp of that kunoichi. She rushed towards the others in attempt to save Naruto and Sasuke. She was pushed back and around. She bit down on one of the guy's arm only to get beaten up even further. Yuki had seen enough at this point and left the shadow where she was to help Sakura out. As she did so, three others also joined into the fight.

"More clowns trying to be heroes." said the guy who was still punching Sakura around.

The three others was none other than Shikamaru and his team. It wasn't in his nature to act like a hero, but the blonde girl from his team seemed to have dragged him into this. Shikamaru glanced over at Yuki. She also looked at him quickly. Without any more words, Yuki rushed towards the ninja who called them clowns. He barely dodged her attack. The female ninja then rushed over and tried to fight Yuki. Useless. She thought to herself. With much ease, she tripped that kunochi and kicked her away from the battle area.

"Are you guys just here to watch the show or actually here to help?" she then asked Shikamaru's team who still did not take action.

"Do you even need help?" Shikamaru asked her as he actually sat down from where he was standing.

She rolled her eyes and moved on to the third ninja who still hasn't taken any actions against her. Before she could get close to him, a large snake launched itself between her and her opponent. She moved back a little bit, assuming it was just passing by and had no specific target. However, it darted towards her and tried to stab its fangs into her. It was fast, strong and precise. She jumped above that snake and ran on its back. Something wasn't right about this snake. It was filled with chakra, built up chakra. It was a human, not an animal as it appeared to be. Orochimaru. She thought. It meant that Anko failed in fighting him. As she grew worried and distracted, the snake shook her off and slammed its tail against her back, sending her flying a couple of meters away. Before she hit the ground, someone caught her in her flight. She closed her eyes due to the pain and spat out some blood. They finally landed on the ground. The person who saved her leaned her against a tree. She opened her eyes and took a deep breathe. It was painful. Her vision was slightly blurred for a couple of seconds but then cleared up. It was Neji who caught her in her flight.

"Thanks." she said weakly as she was trying to stand up.

"What are you trying to do? Why are you getting involved? Why is Lee over there?" he asked her with a frown on his face.

Despite the pain, she managed to stand up. She walked towards the battle scene once again without answering any of his questions. It wasn't over yet. The snake was no longer attacking, but it was causing rampage. However, before she could return to the battle area, she sensed a dark and evil chakra. The snake sneakily retreated as if it had done its job. Meanwhile, that chakra grew bigger and bigger. That chakra was colder than any chakra she has ever sensed before. It was Sasuke. His chakra was immense now. It filled the surroundings with this cold and dark aura. Everyone was shivering at the scene, including Yuki and Neji.

He rushed towards the Sound ninja who hurt Sakura the most and broke his arm. The Sound ninja yelled out of pain. He tried getting away, but Sasuke wouldn't let him. Sasuke was no longer recognizable. The look in his eyes was filled with murderous intent. He seemed to be possessed by the devil. Yuki tried to reach the scene a little faster. He really wanted to kill. He really was going a dark path. Yuki couldn't allow that, not after Itachi so hardly fought for him to have a normal life. Yuki could sense that her ribs were fractured and that some were dislocated and pushing against her lungs. She was having a hard time breathing, but she had to get there and stop him before he killed someone. Little did she know, Sakura loved Sasuke more than she feared his murderous behavior. Sakura held on to Sasuke and pulled him back from the steps to hell.

Yuki's pain, finally, got to her. Her legs gave out and she collapsed on the ground panting. She began healing her own wounds, draining her energy even further. However, the pain was eased.

Over there, they were mending themselves as well as the three Sound ninjas left. Tenten was by Lee's side, waking him up and wiping the blood away from his ears. Ino was trimming Sakura's slashed hair. Sasuke was standing away from the group seemingly confused about his own power.

Yuki was feeling better. She replaced most of her ribs in the right position, mended the fractures as best as possible and could breathe normally once again. She headed over towards Team 7, where Naruto has just awaken after all the trouble. She walked over to Sakura and offered to heal her wounds from the battle.

"Thank you for helping us out back there. It caused you to be hurt..." Sakura said as Yuki began to heal her wounds.

"You don't have to thank me. I don't just help anyone. I just help those who are worthy. You just happened to show your worth."

Sakura smiled sweetly.

"Yuki-san! Do you think you can have a look at my ear!? I can't hear anything!" yelled out Lee in attempt to hear himself.

Yuki giggled a little. Lee was still as bright as ever despite his injury. She headed over and healed him as best as she could. Neji was now there as well. She looked at him and thanked him again. He ignored her thank you. He seemed a little upset. Yuki wasn't too sure why. It was perhaps because she did not answer to his questions back there.

"Hey, are you okay? You seemed to have been hurt back there." asked a lazy voice. Shikamaru.

"Pretty much recovered. Thanks for asking." Yuki replied.

They haven't seen each other since that day on the rooftop when they were kids. However, because they were both old souls at an early age, they clearly remembered each other. They said nothing about that past, but they could both sense it in their shared looks.

"Well, we're off, then." said Shikamaru. "See you all at the tower."

"It's a promise!" said Lee.

Yuki nodded, so did Sakura. It was another promise Yuki definitely had to keep.

End of Chapter 17

Thank you for reading!

xoxox

Krystal