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"Sasuke?" Naruto frowned. "Is that you?"
"Shut up, Naruto!" Sasuke snapped. "Let me kill this fucker alone! Haahahahahaha!" He lunged towards Dosu.
What is wrong with him? Naruto got up, still aching from the fall. He then noticed the black marks on his teammate's arm and leg. What are those?
Dosu backed away. What is this evil chakra?
"Take..." Sasuke kicked out. "... this!"
A foot connected with Dosu's face, and soon after, the bandaged boy was sent flying a meter back into a tree. Naruto's jaw dropped at the strength.
"Urgh..."
Dosu got back up on his feet, stumbling forward. However, a punch to the face from Sasuke sent him crashing back into the tree. A flurry of punches was delivered to his chest.
Naruto's eyes widened as Dosu started coughing out blood. "Sasuke! That's enough!"
Sasuke ignored his friend, grabbing Dosu's face and tossing him away like a rag doll.
"P-Please..." Dosu was barely able to get up, but he mustered just enough strength to. Revealing a Heaven Scroll from his pocket, Dosu continued. "... let us go. We will give you our scr-!"
He wasn't allowed to finish, as Sasuke kicked him straight in the chest, sending him flying again. "Thanks," the Uchiha's crazed eyes glinted, picking up the scroll and pocketing it.
Clink-clank sounds alerted the two Leaf nin, and they turned to see Kin and Sakura landing on the ground. Sakura had a kunai in one hand, while Kin held senbon.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled, ready to jump in, but Sasuke was quicker. In an instant, he was right in front of Kin, kicking her in the face to send her sprawling to the ground.
"S-Sasuke-kun?" Sakura stared at the marks on his body.
Naruto's eyes flashed towards Sakura, and realized she now had short hair. Where did Sakura-chan's hair go? Before he could ask, Sasuke grabbed Kin by the hair roughly, restraining her.
"Take this, you bitch."
Kin was swung around wildly, with Sasuke grabbing tightly onto her hair. Finally, she was flung into a large rock.
Still dissatisfied, Sasuke charged and grabbed Kin by the face. With a roar, he slammed the girl's body into the ground, roaring with delight as blood flew up to his face.
Groaning, Kin put her hands in front of her desperately.
"Please stop," she begged.
Her response was a punch to her face, knocking her out and drawing more blood.
"You want to kill me, huh? HUH?"
There was a flurry of punches on her face and stomach.
"Who's killing who, now? HUH?"
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura ran up to her teammate. "Please, stop!"
She latched onto Sasuke, pushing him away from Kin, and crushed him into a hug.
Something in Naruto's chest tightened, but he shook it off.
The various marks on Sasuke's arm and leg vanished, and all that was left was the original mark on Sasuke's neck. Collapsing onto his knees, he let out a loud gasp as Sakura released her grip on him.
Turning, Sasuke spotted the unconscious Genin he'd beaten up, now half-dead.
"S-Sorry!" He felt the need to apologize.
Naruto started yelling at his friend. "What came onto you?! If Sakura-chan and I weren't around, you would have..."
"I know," Sasuke sighed.
Naruto released his teammate, looking away. "Hmph."
Sakura took in the scene with a weak smile. "At least Sasuke-kun is back. The real Sasuke-kun."
Then, Naruto turned to face Sasuke again. "Sasuke. You haven't answered my question. What came onto you? You... were suddenly so strong... and..."
"I don't know," Sasuke answered genuinely, nervously staring at his feet. "I just felt this power... then I started doing crazy stuff. I think it was the mark."
What has Orochimaru done to me?
"We'd better get to the tower fast, and find Itachi-sensei." Sakura suggested.
"Oh yeah. What happened to your hair, Sakura-chan?"
Sakura shrugged. "I... um, that girl was grabbing onto my hair to prevent me from moving. I had to cut it off with a kunai."
"Well, you still look great!" Naruto grinned broadly. Sakura smiled back. If two months ago, someone told her she would be accepting a compliment from Naruto, Sakura would have laughed and punched that someone in the face.
As Team 7 moved through the forest, keeping an eye out for anymore enemy ninja, Sasuke thought back toward the incident.
The mark was giving him power, a lot of power. But it also influenced his consciousness somehow. Sasuke tried to remember his thoughts while under the influence of the mark, and could vaguely recall the intense urge to kill.
Itachi needed to check him out. Fast.
"You failed."
Kabuto frowned, adjusting his glasses.
"Y-Yeah, we did," Zaku answered shakily. Kabuto had healed his arms as much as he could, but they were still wrapped in a cast. The other two had also been healed with his medical expertise.
Despite expecting this outcome, Kabuto didn't show it. He looked away. "You lost to a bunch of Konoha Genin. Dosu, Zaku, Kin. You three are pathetic."
"We're Genin too!" Zaku yelled defensively.
"Only officially," Kabuto scoffed. Zaku quieted down. He knew the spy was right.
"They didn't seem like Genin though," Dosu spoke up. "The blonde kid and Sasuke Uchiha, at least. They all seemed to be at least Chunin level..." He started coughing violently.
The blonde kid? Kabuto raised an eyebrow. The one called Naruto Uzumaki? Is he that powerful?
"It seems you have not recovered from the fight. What exactly did Sasuke-kun, I mean... Sasuke. What exactly did he do to you?"
Dosu eyed his superior suspiciously. Sasuke-kun? "He beat us all up."
Hehe... Orochimaru-sama's Cursed Seal works like a charm. The bespectacled man smirked. "That's interesting."
"Interesting?" Kin glared at Kabuto in disbelief.
Kabuto ignored her. "How many scrolls do you all have now?"
"Zero."
"Zero?" Kabuto laughed.
Zaku growled.
"I have thirteen here." Kabuto laid out thirteen scrolls. The trio of Oto Genin stared at the collection in awe. Six of them were Heaven Scrolls, while the other seven were Earth Scrolls. "It's amazing how many weak Genin they have running around here."
"Are you trying to reduce the number of people that'll get through to the third exam?"
Kabuto didn't answer, and simply picked out one Heaven Scroll and one Earth Scroll. Dosu took both of them.
"Plan B will be to infiltrate the third exam, and do your best to advance as far as possible. Kill Sasuke Uchiha if you have the chance."
"Pardon me for asking, but why exactly do you want us to kill this Uchiha?" Dosu asked.
"Do not question Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto replied sharply.
Dosu nodded curtly. "One last question."
"What is it?"
"Are you going to be taking part in the third exam?"
Kabuto seemed to contemplate the question for a moment, before shrugging. "We will see. Misumi and Yoroi aren't very interested in this Chunin Exam anyway, and we've gathered all the information we need. Orochimaru-sama will be there personally at the third exam, in disguise obviously, so I don't see any need for the rest of us to be there at all."
"We should get to the tower now," Kin informed her team. Kabuto shook his head.
"Rest for a bit. I won't be giving you scrolls again if you lose those two." He gestured towards the items in Dosu's pocket. When Zaku snorted, Kabuto waved his hand dismissively. "I'll see you all later."
He then disappeared with a Teleportation Jutsu.
"I swear, that bastard gets on my nerves." Zaku growled. "Why is he Orochimaru-sama's right-hand man? He looks as weak as a feather, and he's an asshole too."
"Kabuto is a lot stronger than you think he is," Dosu commented, leaning against a tree. "He's probably at least as strong as a Jonin-level shinobi."
"And how do you know?"
"Orochimaru-sama told me so." Dosu said simply.
Kin spoke from her resting spot. "You know... about Sasuke Uchiha? What do you think were those black marks all over his body?" She could already guess, but wanted to know if her teammates thought the same.
"It's the Cursed Seal. The Cursed Seal of Heaven."
"Cursed Seal?" Zaku spluttered. "Are you sure?"
"Positive," Dosu frowned, annoyed that his ability for close observation was being questioned.
"I was thinking the same," Kin admitted worriedly. "But if Orochimaru-sama wanted us to kill him, why would he give him the Cursed Seal?"
Dosu, Zaku and Kin sat in silence for awhile, until the bandaged one of the trio suddenly spoke. "Orochimaru-sama doesn't intend for us to kill him at all."
"Huh?"
"His purpose for us was to simply attack based on the orders of 'kill Sasuke Uchiha', to test his power and the influence of the Cursed Seal on him."
"What?!"
Dosu growled softly. "We were being used."
"I see the tower!"
"Shhh!" Sasuke shushed his blonde friend, who quickly quietened down. "There could be tons of enemies lying in wait. From here on, we have to be on our guard."
Team 7 had been travelling through the Forest of Death for the entire afternoon, only stopping for the occasional break.
So far, no one had bothered them. It worked out for Sasuke, who didn't want to fight anyone. He didn't want this strange mark to activate itself again.
"I'm a little hungry," Naruto complained.
"Bear with it."
"The last thing we ate was a few berries, and that was five hours ago!" He was annoyed. No ramen for two days could do massive things to him.
"Fine," Sasuke sighed. "But as soon as we eat, it's full speed to the tower."
The trio dropped from the trees onto the ground. They were in luck, as Naruto quickly spotted a river with fish. Hungrily, he dived into the water, intent on catching one.
"Naruto, you idiot!" Sakura scolded. "You can't catch a fish like that!"
"Sakura's right, Naruto," Sasuke frowned. "Come up."
"I got one, I got one!"
Naruto grabbed onto a huge fish, but it was slippery. Desperately, he flung the fish towards Sasuke just before he dropped it. Surprised, Sasuke caught the fish and set it on the ground.
"You were saying, Sakura-chan?" Naruto had a cheeky grin on his face.
Sakura stuck her tongue out at him. Naruto laughed and dived down again, ready to catch more fish.
"I'm going to get some wood," declared Sasuke, and he walked off into the forest. "If I run into an enemy, I'll rush back here immediately, so be on your guard."
"Okay," Sakura smiled, nodding.
"Awwwright!" Naruto yelled, rising up into the air from the water, before sinking down again.
Sasuke was back almost immediately. He set the wood down, and was amused to see three fish on the ground beside him now. Naruto was a natural fisherman.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu."
With his flames, the Uchiha set a fire with a small fireball. A sharp pain invaded his neck.
Sasuke's eyes widened. I forgot about that!
Fortunately, the pain died down after a few seconds. Sasuke's expression turned into one of relief.
So, the initial pain is a 'warning' kind of thing. If I persist in using the Sharingan or my chakra, the mark begins to break out, and if I continue even after that, I lose control.
Sakura hummed a happy tune as she threw the fish into the fire, unaware of what had just happened to her teammate.
Naruto arose from the water, throwing one more fish over to Sasuke.
"Good job, man."
"Thanks," Naruto grinned. "Training to perfect the Leaf Style: Crescent Moon Dance did a lot to help my speed levels."
"And it always helps," Sakura added, smiling. "Itachi-sensei always knows best, huh?" She grabbed onto the tail of a cooked fish.
After a hearty meal where the ever-benevolent Sasuke had given half of his share of the fish to Naruto, Team 7 had their stomachs filled and were ready to continue with their journey to the tower.
It didn't take them long to reach their destination. Naruto let out a yell of excitement as they neared the entrance.
"We're here!" He announced cheerfully.
An Uchiha wasn't one to yell, but Sasuke couldn't help but join his friend.
"We're hereeeee!"
Sakura giggled, putting her arms over her two teammates and leading them towards the door.
It was time for a good break.
I was getting a little bored with the Forest of Death, so I'm glad we're finally through with that. The preliminaries for the third exam and the third exam itself was my favorite part of the Chunin Exams Arc so hopefully I can do a good job of writing it down on paper. In the next chapter, Team 7 officially complete the second exam in two out of five days given, and the preliminaries begin. Until next time.