Chapter 11

"Wait, WHAT!?" shouted the class of Genin, except for a few, Sasuke being one of them. He had already figured out the purpose of the test, and of question 10. As for the rest of them, Ibiki had to explain it.

"As a Chunin, you will be forced to make difficult decisions, often concerning many people's lives, including your own. This test was designed to see if you understand the ninja philosophy and how to make decisions that may have repercussions. All of you who chose to risk your future careers in order to progress have shown an understanding of these principles, and for that, you may all continue on to the next phase of the Chunin Exams." The Genin didn't even have time to celebrate when a cloaked figure shot through the window, landing in front of Ibiki.

"Say no more, I'll take it from here. Hello everybody, my name is Anko, and I'm your next instructor! Follow me as I will direct you to the battlefield for the second part of the Chunin Exams!" yelled the loud purple-haired Jonin. She actually reminded Sasuke of his teacher, and Naruto. All three of them were insane, or 'eccentric' as nice people say. Sasuke was not a particularly nice person, which is why his recent acts of compassion towards his teammates scared him. Everyone followed Anko to the 44th Battle Training Zone, also known as the Forest of Death, as Ibiki collected the tests. Anko explained the rules when they arrived. They would each be given a scroll and a starting location in secret. They would then be released into the forest, with the objective of collecting the opposite scroll from another team and arriving at the tower in the middle of the forest. Noone was allowed to open the scrolls until they reached the tower. The participants would be allowed 3 days to finish. All three Genin had to be present at the tower in order to finish. Team 7 was given a Scroll of Heaven, which meant they had to find a Scroll of Earth. The second exam started, and everybody was rushing to find a scroll.

"Hinata, use your Byakugan to find someone nearby." said Sasuke. She obliged, activating it and pointing towards a tree a few meters ahead.

"Over there!" she whispered loudly. Sasuke swung around to the front of the tree, where Kabuto was checking somekind of reference book. Before he could notice him, Sasuke kicked him in the stomach, sending his Earth Scroll flying out of his pocket and into Naruto's hands.

"Thank you!" shouted back Sasuke, rushing to catch up to his team. They wanted to get to the tower first. To their great delight and surprise, they made it to the tower in an hour and 37 minutes, not only being the first ones there but also breaking the previous record by 4 hours. While doing their victory dance, they were told they could wait outside. Unfortunately, someone was waiting for them outside.

"Hello Sssasssuke...it'sss great to finally meet you, hehehe." hissed an ominous, and very feminine, voice. Team 7 turned around, being greeted by a tall, creepy looking man...woman...thing. Naruto and Hinata were locked in some kind of fear jutsu when they looked at him, and Sasuke felt himself get sucked into a strange jutsu when he made eye contact. He felt as if his soul was being pulled out of his body and trying to be replaced with something else. His friends were petrified, unable to help. Luckily, Sasuke had one other 'friend' he could count on.

"ROOAR!! What are you doing in here, Orochimaru!? OUT!! GET OUT OF HERE!!" shrieked the other side of Sasuke. In an instant, the intruder's soul was cast back out, freeing the 3 Genin and launching him into a monstrous tree trunk. Recovering quickly, the freaky ninja began cackling madly.

"Sssso, you are itsss hossst, huh? Hehehe. That putsss quite a thorn in my ssscalesss. But no matter. Consssider thisss my gift to you, Sssasssuke, hehehe." Orochimaru hissed. Suddenly his neck elongated, thrusting his fanged head towards Sasuke.

"Sasuke, look out!" shouted Naruto, lunging to push Sasuke out of the way. He succeeded, at a cost. Orochimaru's teeth were deeply sunk into the base of Naruto's neck!

"GGAAAAHHH!!" screeched Naruto, falling unconscious as Orochimaru pulled back. He looked surprised, but also amused.

"That didn't go asss expected, but maybe thisss will work in my favor. Until next time, Sssasssuke-kun, hehehe." With that, Orochimaru disappeared, leaving 2 confused ninja and 1 unconscious, possibly dying Genin. Not exactly how they envisioned their break. Sasuke ran up to Naruto's body, trying to wake him up.

"Naruto? Naruto!? Wake up! Hinata, go get help inside, quick! Naruto!" shouted Sasuke. Hinata ran inside to call Anko, who got their in a hurry. She saw the mark on his shoulder and knew immediately what had happened. She swooped him into her arms and ran inside to perform a jutsu that would help with the Curse Mark.

'Damn it,' she thought, 'its happening again. And this can only mean one thing...he's back...'

The next contestant to arrive was Gaara and his teammates, only an hour behind Team 7. Sasuke and Gaara's eyes met again, killing intent permeating the atmosphere. Something about him rubbed Sasuke the wrong way...no, not that way, perverts!

"How did you make it here before I did? I am trained to do this kind of stuff as fast as possible." inquired Gaara. Sasuke shrugged.

"I guess your village's standards are lower than ours."

"What did you say!?" yelled Temari. She stepped towards Sasuke, but a small wall of sand rose in front of her, and she stopped on a dime, figuratively. Seeing the sand react to Gaara's chakra, the Kyubi figured out who's host he was.

"I'd never mistake that signature. It is my youngest brother, Tanuki, who is trapped in that meat shell. He is a dangerous one. I manifest my powers in areas where corruption and malice are abundant. Tanuki simply attacks those around him for amusement. He is powerful, but we can beat him." stated Kyubi. Sasuke internally quirked an eyebrow.

'So, you consider us working together now? I thought you were evil and resented me.'

"Mortal, don't get arrogant. I would withhold all my chakra from you, but I won't allow Tanuki the satisfaction of defeating me, so I will help you this time, though don't expect me to always be this generous! You are my bitch, not the other way around, human!" explained Kyubi. Sasuke internally shrugged his shoulders again.

'Sure, whatever.' Sasuke walked up to Gaara until his face was a few inches away, glaring into his tired, blood-thirsty eyes.

"I hear you're quite strong, Sandy. I'm interested in finding out how strong for myself." He mocked. Gaara's sand began lightly twisting around them, as if a breeze was disrupting it.

"As am I, Uchiha." replied Gaara. Sasuke went back into the tower, followed by Hinata.

"Hey, where have you guys been!?" asked a particularly loud and obnoxious blonde.