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Last Time: Gohan goes toe-to-toe with Orochimaru!
This time: Sakura gets into trouble.
Sakura worked thought the night to get the area around her tree secured and locked down, then she settled in to keep watch, knowing that she would be up all night since there was no one to swap out with.
She never noticed the three pairs of eyes watching her from the shadows of a nearby copse of bushes.
"Well well, I didn't think we'd run in to Sasuke like this," Dosu commented softly to his companions as they watched Sakura's eyes flick from side to side, even passing over their hiding spot more than once, though there was no sign she'd spotted them, both in her eyes and in her posture. There was also the possibility that she had made them and was just a good actor, but somehow Dosu doubted it. Maybe he was sexist or maybe he was biased against Konoha-nin, but either way, Dosu didn't think they'd been spotted.
"You think that Son Gohan bastard is with them?" Zaku asked, sounding almost eager. The rough-looking shinobi had been raring to attack the black-haired kid almost from the moment they'd entered the forest and Dosu had had to remind him more than once that their primary objective was Uchiha Sasuke and not the other kid.
Kin snorted derisively. "How many times do we have to tell you?" She asked, knowing full well that she would get under Zaku's skin. "Our target is Sasuke, or are you in love with that other kid?" She smirked. "Gee, Zaku, I didn't know you swung that way."
"You bitch," Zaku snarled, at a volume that was probably louder than was prudent. "You trying to start something!?" Kin just snorted but neither of her 'teammates' missed her hand dipping into her leg holster where her belled senbon were.
Zaku's hands cracked in warning, like a rattlesnake wiggling its tail.
"Enough!" Dosu commanded sharply. "Are the two of you trying to give away our position? The girl there will find us and something tells me that we don't need to face all four of them."
That got their attention and the two calmed down, settling into the crouches they'd been in before, leaving a simmering feeling between the two and a hint of killing intent. Dosu tensed when he saw Sakura stare at them for almost a full minute, even rising from her sitting position in front of the tree, but then she settled back down and, to the glee of the sound trio, she was asleep within half an hour of Zaku and Kin's altercation.
Smirking to each other, the trio set watch and fell asleep.
All around the forest, the Exam drew to an almost universal halt as the genin found bolt-holes and settled in for the night, falling asleep with the exception of one. Some industrious genin ambushed the other team as they slept, but most the endeavors were in vain as they fell prey to traps set by their adversaries or other hazards in the forest.
Gaara sat up, his face harshly illuminated by the moonlight that managed to filter through the trees of the forest, contemplating his existence and trying to ignore the shrieking of Shukaku inside his head, who was demanding that the insomniac shinobi head out into the forest and kill every shinobi he came across. Gaara was almost tempted into doing just that, but then a face would swim into focus.
A face with a black mop of hair, eyes of equal color and a purple gi that did almost nothing to hide his strength, prominently displayed in the form of his cut muscles. That kid had gotten under Gaara's skin in the worst way, simply because he'd gawked at the sandy-haired genin like no one else. The violent Jinchuuriki would've been more than happy to crush that teen in a swirl of demonic sand, but Baki had specifically said that he was not permitted any killings that might warrant investigation.
Gaara's teal eyes narrowed and there was a noise like a snake slithering over dried leaves came from the gourd on his back as the sand inside sloshed around in response to his anger and bloodlust, his demon's voice howling like a hurricane, demanding the blood of the brat.
A vicious grin graced the Jinchuuriki's features. He would die, his mother would see to that!
The hours passed quickly, and before anyone knew it, the sun was rising, dying the leaves of the forest a bloody red hue. Sakura blinked awake, a kunai clutched slackly in her grip, then she started as the bushes rustled, three ominous shadows moving from their concealment.
"Well, you're not a very good watch, are you?" The middle nin asked her, his voice sneering, totally confident. He was a fearsome looking teen with gray camouflage pants, a fur shawl of some kind and a weird-looking device on his arm that looked like a mix between a shield and a slice of Swiss cheese. A hirai-ate with a musical note etched into it was tied proudly around his forehead, really the only defining on his mummified features.
The girl, a plain-looking kunoichi if Sakura was one to judge, snorted in amusement along with the other shinobi on the team who looked as if he'd grown up on the streets all his life, with a tuft of spiky black hair poking up above his hirai-ate, two protrusions coming down to cover his cheeks and cover his jawbone.
Street Punk, as Sakura dubbed him, stepped forward with an arrogant swagger that reminded Sakura of Naruto Sasuke and Gohan, that walk that implied that they could handle any situation. "Tell us where Son Gohan and Uchiha Sasuke are," he said, cracking the fingers on one hand, "and maybe I'll let you live."
The fear in the girl's eyes shimmered as if she was about to cry, but at the demand to show them Sasuke and Gohan, the look in her eyes steeled and the grip on her kunai tightened dangerously.
Zaku smirked. "That's alright. I know that they're in that tree behind you." His tone was conversational as he raised his hands, palm out, and leveled them at the tree. Sakura caught a glimpse of two holes in his hands. Sakura didn't wait to find out what they could do.
Her hand flashed and the kunai sped from it in flash of metal, speeding between Kin and Dosu to streak into the bushes.
Sakura flung her body to the side as a crunching and crashing noise sounded from above. Zaku looked up and fear dawned in his eyes as a huge section of tree came tumbling down at him, bouncing off limbs and the trunk of the tree in which it had been strung up, making predicting where it was going to land almost impossible.
The kunoichi saw him thrust up his hands, shout something, and the tree just shattered. Sakura didn't know what was going on, nor did she care. Two shuriken flew from her hands, spinning at Zaku, tearing small gashes in his arms before streaking on to home in on Dosu and Kin.
They leapt out of the way, but were forced to dodge again when two new shuriken blossomed from the first's shadows. Now the trio was split wide open and Zaku was the first to feel Sakura's attack. Before he could get his arms up, she was on him, kicking and punching. Zaku was able to knock her back and he whipped a kunai at her. The kunoichi's eyes narrowed, her hands flying.
The kunai struck.
Sakura erupted into a puff of smoke, a log thudding down in her place.
"Kawarimi," Dosu noted. "How…Elementary."
A blur shot from the bushes and let loose with a volley of shuriken that he allowed to bounce off his metal bracer in tiny bursts of sparks and clinking noise. He was forced to keep his arm up to stop the kunai that stabbed down viciously.
"There's something to be said for the basics," Sakura growled as she jumped back.
"Don't get cocky you little bitch!" Zaku shouted as he leveled his hands. "DIE!"
Kin noticed that Sakura didn't have a shadow. "No! Wait you dumbass that's not…"
A raging wall of wind spewed forth from Zaku's outstretched hands. Sakura flickered then winked from existence like a bad hologram. Just before the attack, she'd used the Bunshin jutsu to slip away. Dosu shouted in pain as his body was ripped in several places from the wind itself and some of the debris caught up the typhoon.
Zaku looked horrified, but more at the fact that he'd missed. "What!?"
Dosu got to his feet, looking a little mad as his bandages turned red with blood. "Zaku, you idiot. Watch where you aim next time."
A kunai zipped past Kin's nose, missing by a bare inch, then there was the faint twang of a wire being cut. More weapons launched from the shadows. The Sound Trio realized too late that Sakura had rigged the entire area with traps.
The next thought the team had was that they'd been played.
First she'd used the traps to separate them and split the defense, then they'd been turned on each other through clever attack timings and split second Kawarimis. Curiously though, she hadn't finished off the attack with a big finishing-type jutsu. There were several possibilities, ranging from holding back to the simple fact that she was too weak to use one.
Dosu leaned toward the latter. The girl hadn't looked impressive or like she'd possessed a Kekkei Genkai.
"Come out, little girl," he called in a mock singsong voice. "Just tell us where Sasuke is and we'll let you go. We'll even make the Uchiha's death painless."
Sakura's answer came as a distance, echoing "Like hell!" came at them.
"She's moved out pretty far to get her reply to echo like that," Kin said. "She's abandoned her friends. Let's kill them now, huh?"
"Good idea. I wanna get back at that little whore for these cuts!" Zaku grumbled, the gashes on his arms giving a particularly harsh surge of pain as if in response to his hatred. "Zankuu…"
More shuriken rained from above, stopping Zaku's attack cold. Sakura dropped from above and stood ready to defend her team from the attack.
Dosu's head cocked like a homicidal puppy. "How'd you do that?"
Sakura smirked. "Ventriloquism. Don't they teach that at the Sound academy?" Zaku stepped up again, anger flaming in his eyes.
"You think you're so clever?" he snarled. "We'll show you why Orochimaru-sama will level this pathetic village!"
"Wait! Orochimaru? You're with him!?"
Kin outright laughed. "Of course. You know, that hair of yours is the wrong color. You should be a blond. What did you think Orochimaru was?"
Sakura flushed at the other girl's scathing remarks, lowering herself into a crouch to charge the enemy shinobi.
Zaku grinned viciously. "I don't think so. Time to kill Sasuke, and I'm gonna start with you!" He thrust his hands forward and there was a roar like a freight train, the hurricane that spewed from his palms bending the scruffy grass and kicking up a massive cloud of dust that obscured Sakura from view.
An explosion rattled the forest and Zaku straightened up with a self-serving smirk. "Keh, so much for Miss Konoha." He turned his hands on the tree. "Now for the Pretty-Boy and Son Gohan."
"Whatever, Zaku," Kin grumped. "Whenever you're done blabbing."
"Shut up. Zankuu…"
"Dynamic ENTRY!"
"Wha-ARRRRRGHHHHHH!!" Zaku only had a moment to see the orange shin erupt form the smoke screen to nail him right in the face, sending him bouncing over the ground to land ass in the air against a tree.
Dosu and Kin sweatdropped before turning on their 'assailant'. He was something to behold, a lanky boy with bandaged forearms, green spandex, orange legwarmers, shiny bowl cut and, probably most intimidating, dark eyebrows that looked like they could be passed off as caterpillars.
"Who are you?" Dosu asked, mentally looking for a way to take out this latest annoyance.
The new arrival struck a pose that ended with a grin so shiny that the wan light actually glinted off of it. "I am the Beautiful Green Beast of Konohagakure! I am Defender of Light and Peace and the Springtime of Youth! I am Rock Lee!"
The excited speech left the Sound shinobi wondering if their ears were ever going to stop ringing and Sakura was contemplating hearing aids, since she was hanging like a piece of baggage under Lee's arm. He set her down and settled into his stance.
Dosu smirked beneath his bandages. The kid was obviously a protégé of some taijutsu master. He would make an excellent form of amusement. "I'll handle this," he said smugly as he stepped up, making sure his special bracer was exposed.
Zaku huffed, obviously pissed, but he held his tongue for once and allowed the mummy of the group to fight the strange Leaf-nin.
'Three on one, not good odds.' Lee thought. He almost wished that Neji was there to watch his back, both literally and metaphorically. Few could contest that a Byakugan user was an asset to any team. 'I will have to take them out one by one. Maybe I'll even have to use that technique.'
Dosu charged, drawing back with the hand that had the metallic shield on it. Lee dropped to his knees and slammed his hand through the hard soil, grasped the first big object he felt and yanked it up. The object turned out to be a root the size of a small house.
The top of the root exploded as Dosu's attack hit.
"Your attacks are illusions," Lee said, speculating out loud. "So it'd pointless to dodge as if your attacks are real."
"Believe what you want," Dosu answered as he touched down. "It won't change the fact that you're dead."
"We will see." Lee's foot twisted and he vanished. Dosu only got a glimpse of a foot right before it slammed into his temple making stars dance and his whole body go numb. The mummy tumbled head over heels much like Zaku had done, but he got his feet under him and vaulted onto all fours, trying to stop the backwards skid he found himself in.
"Too slow."
Dosu again tried to turn, but he was grabbed, spun around, then launched through the air to bounce off the exposed root like a rubber ball before Lee was in the air behind him, spiking him into the ground in burst of dirt and debris.
Kunai shot from the direction of the girl, who seemed to have picked up a second wind. Dosu allowed the weapons to bounce off his bracer then sprinted at Lee again, who copied the move, the two colliding with a sound like two mountain goats slamming their skulls together.
The two warring shinobi sprang apart before rushing back together and beginning to trade blows. The whole time, Lee could feel his balance slipping. Something the enemy was using was messing with his inner ear. The bowl-cut shinobi was willing to bet that it was that crazy bracer the guy had too. Lee had to end this before it got any worse.
Skidding apart again, Lee partially unbound some of the bandages on his arms. 'Gai-sensei, please forgive me,' he said to his mentor then he made a single hand seal. The green shinobi crouched low then simply vanished.
Everyone started but none more than Dosu.
A sandal flew from nowhere and caught him beneath the chin, lifting him off he feet and flinging him high into the sky. He tried to twist for his landing but found he couldn't move.
"Don't bother," Lee's voice said in the mummy's ears. "It is useless to fight this technique." Bandages, seeming to have a life of their own, encircled Dosu and bound him tight, followed hotly by Lee's arms which encircled the mummy like a vice. Then they flipped over and began spinning faster and faster until Dosu wasn't able to make out any details in the world that had become nothing but a hurricane of color.
"Ura Renge!"
There was a massive explosion that shook the entire forest, sending a massive pillar of soil skyward and a blast of wind tearing at everyone in the area. Lee, who'd hopped clear at the last minute, slid to a stop in front of Sakura, who looked amazed.
"Wow, Lee-san, that was great!" She gushed, not believing that the creepy, outlandish genin was capable of that kind of power.
Dosu sat up.
"How did he…?" Sakura asked.
"Impossible!" Lee shouted. Then he saw the small bulge of soft looking soil, which had twin trails that led right back to the rough looking shinobi that'd used that weird blast attack earlier.
Dosu shook his head as if to clear some cobwebs. "No, not impossible. The attack used sound waves to pulverize the soil and turn it into the softest of pillows." He staggered slightly. "Still, even with the cushion, I was almost killed by that. Congratulations." He hefted his bracer a little higher. "Now, it's my turn."
Lee took a straight blow to the face, throwing him off his feet, even though he'd seen and predicted how it would land. Still, the use of the first gate had utterly wiped him out, so he was totally immobile. His balance was getting worse too. There wasn't too much he could do now.
"What?" Kin asked Sakura when she'd flinched at the sight of Lee's plight. "Are you scared, Hime-chan? Too scared to help? You did pretty good earlier…Or could it be that you've run out of traps?" Sakura tried not to flinch, because that was exactly the case. All her tricks were used up. Lee took another vicious blow and Sakura flinched again, not looking at the genin getting beat up.
A rough hand grabbed the back of her hair, forcing her head around to watch. "You're gonna watch, Hime-chan, I'm gonna make sure of that. Dosu!" The mummy stopped for a moment. "Make it slow!"
"Sure. I'm gonna enjoy this." He started beating Lee to a pulp. Sakura thought that she could hear the shinobi's ribs cracking all the way over where she was.
"Lee-san!" A hard yank on the back of her head shut her up.
"Quiet. Little cowards like you don't get to talk. As a matter of fact, Zaku, why don't we rough her up a bit too?"
Zaku grinned viciously. "Sure. I owe her for my arms." He stopped in front of her and Sakura couldn't keep the fear off her face or the shake from her limbs. Zaku's fist drew back and Sakura's world became a lump of pain as hard blows rained down on her time and again. She could here Zaku and Kin laughing, Lee screaming and her own shouts and yelps as she called for everyone from the Kami to Gohan-kun to come save her.
Suddenly, Zaku was gone. Simply gone.
"What the hell!?" Kin shouted. One moment her teammate had been beating up Hime-chan and the next he'd simply vanished. "What happened?"
There was a ripple in the air as some kind of force passed behind her, making Kin turn to look.. Sakura took advantage of her captor's distraction to pull a kunai from her holster and slice her hair to get free, pulling out of the other kunoichi's grip.
There was a crunching noise and Kin flew past to slam into a tree and slump, either dead or out cold, the Leaf girl couldn't tell from where she was. When Sakura looked behind her, she almost screamed with joy.
Gohan was awake, his features stern and he looked pissed, his hair alternating from gold to black as he tried to control his anger. That stopped though when Sakura threw her arms around his neck in relief.
"Thanks, Gohan-kun! I thought I was dead!" She continued thanking him, slowly dissolving into tears as the gravity of the situation caught up with her. She really could've died. That thought terrified her, and she had been shown in a most brutal way that she was powerless without Gohan, Naruto and Sasuke to stand in front of her.
Gohan slowly lowered her to the ground, feeling awkward. A sobbing kunoichi wasn't something that he was used to. His mother had never cried except when his dad had died. "Uh, it's okay now Sakura," he said. "I'm feeling a lot better and Sasuke's up too."
"Sasuke-kun!? Really!?" That did it, she quit crying and looked around, then her expression turned to one of horror. Sasuke was half covered in black marks that looked like flames and he had Dosu in a submissive position, the arms held back and his foot buried in the teen's shoulder blades, pushing. "Sasuke-kun! Stop!"
Gohan looked over and also looked like he wasn't too pleased at Sasuke's condition. When the two of them had woken up, all of Sasuke's side had been hidden in shadow. Sasuke had simply said that Sakura was in danger and they had to move fast to save her.
The young saiyan hadn't hesitated and had moved as fast as he could, anger lighting his system like lava when he saw what was happening to Sakura. The rage had been so intense that it'd surprised him a little. Since when had he become this attached to the kunoichi? Well, either way, he'd moved as fast as he could to save her. Thankfully, all she'd gotten away with were maybe some broken bones and a haircut. Actually, since Zaku had mostly pummeled her face, she might only get off with a concussion and some contusions. She certainly would be bruised and battered.
Now though, Sasuke was the bigger matter. He was increasing the tension on Dosu's arms and the nin was howling in pain as his shoulder joints were stretched to the breaking point.
"WAIT YOU CRAZY BASTARD, WAIT!!" Dosu screamed.
Sasuke grinned, one that reminded Gohan of Orochimaru's grin. That was all the Saiyan hybrid needed to rush at the possessed genin. Even if that mummy-nin was the enemy, that was no reason to torture him.
Gohan fazed out.
He was a microsecond too late. Dosu's arms snapped with a sound like a gunshot right as Gohan's fist connected with Sasuke's cheek, knocking the dark shinobi loose and slamming him into a tree with enough force to crack the thick bark straight up into the high leafy canopy.
Sasuke's eyes, blazing with an activated Sharingan, glared hard at Gohan, who by then was in the Uchiha's face and had his shirt gathered into a fist, pinning the genin to the tree.
"Let go."
"No."
Sasuke's hand gripped Gohan's wrist. "Let go," the Uchiha growled, tightening his grip on the other teen's arm.
The warrior shook his head. "I'm not letting go. Why should I? You'll just try to kill that shinobi again."
"We're ninja, Gohan. Get over it, it's what we do." Sasuke said in a velvety voice. Gohan was feeling more and more uneasy by the second. The silent boy was acting odd, a little too close to Orochimaru for Gohan's liking. If it came down to a fight, well, the Super Saiyan was going to do what he had to do to stop Sasuke at any cost.
"Wrong. I'm not a shinobi."
"Then get out of the way."
"I'm not going to let you kill him in cold blood."
Sasuke relaxed, eyes falling shut as if he was contemplating something. "Well," he said finally, "I guess that means I have to go through you doesn't it?" Sasuke's fist flashed and Gohan, reacting on instinct, released the avenger, twisting away from the blow.
Sasuke lunged, but the other teen was following through, his heel slicing up for the Uchiha's temple. Sharingan whirling, the possessed genin grabbed Gohan's ankle, using it as a bar to vault himself into the air. For a moment, he contemplated attacking the fourth member of his team, but he spotted Dosu trying to crawl away like the vermin he was.
"Katon!" Gohan blinked in with surprise when he suddenly realized what the Uchiha genius was planning. "Housenka no Jutsu!" A swarm of mini fireballs poured forth from Sasuke's lips, speeding toward Dosu, who twisted around, single unbandaged eye widening with fear, reflecting the burning fireballs getting closer and closer.
Gohan appeared out of thin air and thrust both hands forward. "HAAAAAAA!" A wind blasted out, extinguishing the fireballs, blowing the shuriken hidden in them away, and catching Sasuke in the air, throwing him into the tree under which they'd been hiding hard enough to cause a pillar of sawdust to shoot sideways from it and rattle the ground like a thousand-person marching band all playing a bass drum.
Sakura could only look one, horrified as her two friends fought each other tooth and nail. They were really trying to kill each other! Well, maybe Gohan wasn't but Sasuke had used a tactic that was very deadly. If Gohan wasn't as strong as he was, then she would've had to bury him right here in this forest.
Somehow, that made her sad, almost to the point of sobbing hysterically. It felt like she was already mourning Gohan.
Sasuke burst from the plume, somersaulted over the other teen's head and landed in a crouch, his right hand already in his kunai pouch. He looked almost insane, eyes wide, Sharingan blazing, his free left hand clenching and unclenching.
"Why!" The messed up shinobi demanded, his voice low and rough, as if he'd been eating gravel for breakfast. "Why do you keep getting in the way!? Let me kill him, let me do it! Please, it's my greatest desire…" he trailed off into incoherent mutterings and Sakura couldn't tell if the remark was directed at Gohan or at someone only the addled Uchiha could see.
The demi-saiyan looked stunned at the lust for the kill in Sasuke's voice. Dosu was on the ground behind Gohan, looking from one to another as if he wasn't sure which Konoha-nin was going to kill him first. "Let you kill him?" Gohan repeated incredulously. "He's defenseless! You've beaten him, Sasuke, probably took away his shinobi career for the rest of his life and you still want to end it?"
The black marks on Sasuke's body flamed an angry red, spreading another inch or two. Sakura was alarmed to see them vanish into his shirt's collar.
'If that mark spreads all the way across him,' the kunoichi thought to herself, 'we'll loose Sasuke-kun forever!'
"Yessss!" Sasuke hissed, almost like a snake. Both the conscious members of Team Seven jolted when they recognized the speech pattern. It was Orochimaru's. "I want to kill him, to end his miserable life forever." Purple chakra sliced and ripped at the ground, lifting pebbles and some of the smaller rocks into the air. The marks flamed again and advanced, this time covering much more than they had before. They were starting to emerge from his sleeves and from his shorts.
Gohan's head drooped, his eyes shadowed by the fighter's long bangs. "I see," he murmured. The ground beneath his feet cracked, his cape began to float as if lifted by some divine wind. Pebbles trembled, then mimicked Sasuke and began to levitate, though they only rose to knee height before stopping. "Then there's no other way, Sasuke."
The teen's fist clenched and static electricity rippled down it. The pebbles began to rise again, like a loaf of bread in fast forward. The ground split further, going out like a spider's web before stopping.
Gohan's head snapped up, his eyes an angry and vivid jade color. "I will defeat you!" With that, he threw his head back and let a scream of power tear itself from his very feet, a blue flame blasting into being, his cape standing straight up, rippling and snapping like a flag in a hurricane. Gale force winds tore from the Saiyan's body, making ripples of dust and debris radiate outward, though Sasuke didn't seem affected by the display.
"Yessss," he hissed again, looking almost greedy. "Try whatever you want, it won't work." The purple chakra got more intense, throwing the Uchiha's body into shadow, though the black marks glowed again before beginning a creeping advance.
That sight, along with the spectacle and cacophony of Gohan's power up, spurred Sakura into action.
"No! Stop! Don't do this!" Her scream was barely audible over the racket in the clearing, but she stumbled forward and threw her arms around Gohan's neck, though she was almost blown away. The touch seemed to shock the saiyan and his light show stopped immidiatly, everything falling down with a pattering noise that was akin to rain.
"Sakura?" He seemed surprised by her actions, but she had already detached herself from him and had hugged Sasuke instead. A flame burned in Gohan's heart at that sight, but for the life of him he couldn't place it.
Might've been heartburn from the last big meal he ate.
Sasuke seemed to react as well, trembling and beginning to sweat, the purple chakra fading out of sight and the black flame design on his body receding at a much more rapid pace that it had spread before.
"Sakura?" He sounded dazed. "What just…happened?" He noted Zaku and Kin out like lights, Lee lying beaten on the ground and Sakura's bruised and beaten face. He touched his forehead with a wince. His head was pounding like a jackhammer in fast forward and he couldn't remember anything since Orochimaru. He remembered a searing pain that felt like he was being stabbed, burned and skinned alive all at once. After that was a blur, though when Sasuke reached deep into his memory, he came away with a rage that felt like he was on fire, a rush of power higher than the highest tsunami and the shadowy figure of Itachi standing before him. "I don't remember."
Gohan was looking like he was wary of Sasuke, as if he expected the raven-haired teen to suddenly lung at him or impale the pink-haired girl who was beside him, looking as if she was about to faint or cry in the next few seconds.
There was a whimpering sound as Dosu picked himself up, arms dangling like they were broken.
"So, that's it, huh? You survived it. Congratulations."
"Survived what?" Sasuke demanded. The boy's chakra surged at the leap of anger he felt and his neck seared, making his hand fly to it, clenching in a vain effort to relieve the pulsing heat. "Guh!"
"Sasuke-kun!" the kunoichi was at his side in a second, lowering him to the ground. For a moment, Sasuke had the weirdest urge to attack and kill her. The impulse was strong and took all of the Avenger's willpower to not give in.
Dosu's voice was grim, neither superior nor frightening. "You see?" he asked. "Already the curse mark is infecting you." There was a note of smugness in his voice. "Soon, you will join Orochimaru-sama and help us to burn his enemies to the ground. Starting," he proclaimed, "with Konohagakure."
The mummified genin walked to his teammates and kicked each one in the ribs, hard, making them both awaken with yelps.
"What the hell, Dosu!?" Zaku screamed in his teammate's face.
"We're leaving," the shinobi said simply. "Both of them are too strong for us. Much too strong. We'll cut our losses here and move away. First, though," he added, moving one arm with a strangled hiss, "a little reward for beating us here today." From his pouch he pulled his Earth scroll. It dropped from his limp hand and the mummy kicked it, sending it spinning end over end into Gohan's hands.
Kin was livid. "Are your bandages wrapped too tight mummy-brain!?" She shrieked. "That's our scroll!"
"To the victor go the spoils," Dosu said simply. "They beat us, now we give them their spoils and go lick our wounds." The other two shinobi growled and complained, but in the end, they stood and vaulted into the trees, disappearing in a matter of seconds.
"Well, that was anticlimactic," said a bored voice with an aristocratic drawl. The members of Team Seven turned, looking into the trees, where two strangers were standing. It was Hyuuga Neji and Tenten of Team Gai, most likely come to collect their teammate, who was just struggling to his feet, weaving and wobbling as if drunk.
Tenten was by his side within seconds while Neji remained in the tree. "Lee! You alright!?"
Lee looked at her for a moment like she was crazy, then she was helping him hobble to Neji's tree where the genius began berating him for his carelessness and his impulsive rush to help a rival team.
Tenten, though, paid her team no attention as she turned and bowed to Gohan and Sasuke. "Thank you. We saw the closing of the battle and how the two of you helped out Lee. We owe you one for it, so good luck with the rest of the exams."
Gohan bowed in return, but Sasuke snorted. "And how is that repaying us?"
Neji answered with an equally arrogant reply. "We're repaying you by letting you off the hook and not destroying your hopes of becoming Chuunin right now."
"Neji!" Tenten admonished, though the frigid genius simply shrugged.
"It's the truth and either way, they're destined for failure."
"Who died and made you boss!?" A loud and rough voice demanded.
"Naruto!"
Sure enough, it was the loud blond, who was climbing out of the hollow rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and glaring angrily at Neji.
"Hey!" He shouted, "Answer me you stuck up prick!"
It was all in vain though because Team Gai shot into the trees like the Sound shinobi before them and was gone.
The Jinchuuriki ground his teeth. "Bastard!" Then he noticed Sakura for the first time. "Huh!? Sakura-chan, what the hell happened to your face!?"
"Thanks Naruto," the kunoichi muttered sullenly. It was bad enough that Sasuke-kun and Gohan-kun had seen her like this without Naruto adding to the humiliation by calling even more attention to it.
Gohan explained to his friend and roommate as Team Seven also moved away from their campsite, knowing that their rising chakras and noise of the battle would draw other examinees like flies to a carcass.
"Wow! And you and Sasuke-bastard had to fight!?" Naruto close to shouted. "And I missed it!? Why do I miss all the good shit!?"
"Quiet!" Gohan hissed, glancing fast at Sasuke, who appeared not to have heard the blonde's outburst. "Sasuke doesn't know and I'd like to keep it that way."
"Why?"
"A whole bunch of team conflict is not what we need right now, not in the middle of a place like the Forest of Death."
"I guess," Naruto said, though Gohan could tell he wanted to press the issue. "So, what now?"
Gohan frowned. "Well, we have both scrolls, so I would guess that we head straight for the Tower to end this."
"I like that idea," Sakura muttered. Her hair, trimmed at odd lengths from the ill-aimed slash, fluttered behind her. Gohan, who'd had to trim his own hair at a few points during his training in the wilderness, promised to make it look decent when they had a moment. "Sasuke-kun?"
"What?" The kunoichi flinched at his rough and gruff tone.
"H-How about heading for the tower?"
The brooding Uchiha shrugged and altered their course slightly after glancing at the sun to confirm the direction.
"Gohan-kun?" Sakura asked softly, glancing at Naruto to make sure the loud blond hadn't heard. One look told her he had, but the exuberant shinobi took the intelligent thing for once and kept his mouth shut.
"Yeah?"
"What do we do about Sasuke-kun?"
The Z fighter's eyes dropped shut for a moment as he thought about it. Then they opened again. "We have to tell Kakashi."
"Huh?" Naruto asked. "Why?" Thankfully, he kept his voice down. Gohan glanced at Sasuke to make sure that they weren't being monitored by Sharingan. They were fine.
"That seal is serious. What ever Orochimaru's planning it's not good and it goes beyond everyone in the village."
"So what do we do?" Naruto asked.
"Is Sarutobi-san going to be at the Tower?"
"Who?" Sakura asked.
"Old-man Hokage? What's he got to do with this?"
"He's the only one who would know how to deal with this. I've heard rumors that the Sannin, of which Orochimaru was one, were trained by the Third."
"Yeah, everyone knows that," said Sakura as if it was obvious.
"Really?" Naruto asked. "I didn't know that!"
Sakura sweatdropped. "Well," she amended, "almost everyone."
"We tell the Hokage about the problem and see what he has to say."
"But Sasuke-kun will be disqualified!" Sakura protested.
"This isn't about an Exam anymore. This is going to turn into a life and death situation," Gohan said roughly. "It already has, actually." He turned dark and serious eyes on Sakura. "If you care for Sasuke, you'll do this."
Sakura recoiled, then slumped. "Alright." Silence fell over the group for a few minutes. "Gohan-kun?"
"Hm?"
"Uh, do you think that…" Sakura trailed off, going red.
"What? You can tell me."
She swallowed hard. "Willyoutrainme?" It tumbled out in a rush, so fast that Gohan stared, making her go even redder.
"Sorry?"
The kunoichi took a deep breath and repeated. "Will you train me?"
Gohan looked unsure. "I don't know. I can't teach you jutsu or anything…"
"But you can help me with taijutsu, right? I need help there anyway."
"We can talk about it later." Not reassured, but not altogether discouraged, Sakura nodded.
"Thanks Gohan-kun!" She smiled brightly. If she wanted to protect her friends, her experience had shown her that she needed taijutsu, and who better than someone who could go toe-to-toe with some of the best?
OH CRAP!! Everyone, I am SO sorry. This is WAY late, though real life has smacked me fifty ways to hell in the last few weeks. One, I just haven't felt like writing, two I had IACE for CAP going on. For those who may not know, IACE stands for International Air Cadet Exchange and it's exactly what it sounds like. Teens from all over the world go to other countries for a few weeks and experience what it's like for us over in the States. Next year it reverses and US cadets go overseas. I was roped into helping so I was busy that week. Then I got sick since I've run myself into the ground all summer. Fun times right? Anyway, I'm sorry for the wait. I'm not gonna abandon this fic, not by a long shot. Also, once again, PLEASE if you do not have any constructive criticism, please don't review. I think that's it, so see you next time.
Glossary
Zankuuha (Air Slicing Blast): Zaku's primary technique. It's a blast of air that can slice/pulverize pretty much anything. It uses the implants in Zaku's arms to funnel the blast, which is its major weaknes (as Shino so kindly demonstrates).