key:

"talking"

'jutsu'

thinking

"flashback"

nonhuman

The Second Test Begins

"The 78 who remain, congratulations on passing!" Ibiki voice purposely sounded stoic, but if you knew him well enough you could tell he was very happy with the genin in front of him.

"What about the tenth question?" Temari's blunt question slipped out of her mouth.

"There never was such a thing." A huge grin spread across Morino's face and he forced himself not to laugh.

"Then the first nine questions were pointless?" Temari shouted, she was not amused by the strange turn of events.

"They weren't pointless, they served their intended purpose." The interrogator explained and continued, "To test your individual information gathering ability, that was the purpose."

"Information gathering…?" Temari raised her eyebrow and tilted her head in confusion.

"Basically, the premise of this test is to cheat." Ibiki paused and then continued, "Those who cheat poorly, fail of course." Ibiki lifted his hands up towards his head and untied the bandana that cover the top of his head to reveal the large messy, ugly scar tissue that consumed a large area of his cranium. It was clear to everyone that the large man in front of them had been brutally tortured at some point in his life.

"Because… In times, information is more important than life. And on the battlefield, people will risk their lives to get their hands on it." He spoke darkly with a knowing look in his eyes. "I want you to remember this. Important information in your hands can be a powerful weapon for your comrades and village."

Sakura agreed with him completely, if her knowledge of the future fell into the wrong hands it would be disastrous.

"You have made it past the entrance, first exam is now finished. I wish you guys luck." Ibiki smiled and bowed his head slightly to the remaining genin.

"Hell yeah! Wish us luck!" Naruto cheered with the knowledge that he passed the first test of the chunin exam.

His excitement was short-lived due to the sudden, dramatic arrival of none other than Mitarashi, Anko.

The jounin flipped in to the room like a gymnast and posed dramatically.

"I am the Examiner for the second test! Let's go! Follow me!" She bellowed at the top of her lungs, like a drill sergeant.

The occupants of the room just stared at her in silence.

"… 78? Ibiki! You left 26 teams? The test was too easy this time!" The small woman reprimanded her larger associate.

"This time there are a lot of outstanding ones." Ibiki reassured her with a half grin.

"Bah, whatever! I'll at least cut them in half in the second test." She smiled and led the concerned genin out of the exam room.

Anko directed the children to a very intimidating, fenced in, forest shrouded by overgrow trees. "Welcome to the stage for the second test, Arena 44 as known as… "The Forest of Death"!"

"You'll soon found out how it got that little nickname…" She grinned darkly.

"Forest of Death? You think that scares me? That's nothing! I'm not afraid!" Naruto yelled and pointed an accusing figure at the examiner.

It only took a kunai, and a good lick to put the blonde back in his place.

Meanwhile, Sakura kept close tabs on the genin disguised, Orchimaru.

"Now before I start the second test. There is something I have to pass out." Anko smiled and held up the test agreement forms for all to see. "You must sign these agreement forms. I won't be responsible for any of the deaths on this test." She explained, making the young ninja's blood run cold.

She explained the survival test, as the forms were being passed out. When the forms reach Sakura she took one for herself then turned to pass them off to the Sand Siblings.

"Here." She smiled and handed the papers to Gaara. The Sand Trio were all equally shocked by the girl's blatant lack of fear, and steady, calm composure. Gaara was dumbstruck by the pink haired girl. The way she looked at him, like they were comrades, like they were… friends. He quickly shook the preposterous idea out of his head as the kunoichi finished her task, and strolled nonchalantly back to her teammates.

Temari smirked upon noticing her brother's lingering stare that followed the female leaf ninja's every movement.

Anko finished explaining the scrolls and rules for the second exam, and soon enough each team received their scroll and was moved to a different gate circling the Forest of Death.

The test began, and the genin moved into the dark forest with determined minds. "Okay! Let's go!" Naruto roared.

It wasn't long before Team 7 could hear screaming in the distance.

It also wasn't long before a certain someone had to use the bathroom.

"… I gotta take a piss." Naruto turned around and started unzipping his pants.

Sakura just punched the boy in the back of the head, "Do that in the bushes!"

When Naruto came back three minutes later it was obvious he wasn't Naruto, and it only took Sasuke a second to throw the impostor into a near by tree.

"What'd you do that for?" The fake Naruto questioned.

"Where's the real Naruto?" Sasuke wouldn't be fooled by such a cheap trick.

"Damn, you figured it out! Oh well, which one of you has the scroll?" The enemy ninja transformed back, and charged toward Sakura.

'Fire flower Jutsu' The Uchiha shot three, blazing, fire balls towards the enemy.

He dodged, and Sasuke used the opportunity to free, a tied up Naruto he located behind a tree near by. The enemy genin used that moment to catch Sasuke off guard with an explosion tag, and it worked. Sasuke was trapped with the enemy behind him and a kunai at his throat. "Move and I'll kill you, hand over the scroll!"

"I should say the same thing to you." Sakura held her kunai to the enemy boy's jugular.

"What? When did you-" He's questions were cut off when Sakura struck him in the back of the neck with the back of her kunai. The pink hair kunoichi easily retrieved the scroll from the unconscious boy's clothes.

"Let's go." She pocketed the scroll, and lead her surprised and impressed team away from the enemy.

"Wow, Sakura that was amazing! You totally saved Sasuke's ass!" Naruto laugh and Sasuke just glared at the boy.

"Naruto, I wouldn't say that to the guy who just saved your ass if I were you." Sakura defended her teammate, and Naruto was at a loss for words. Sasuke smirked slyly at the blonde's expression.

"If we get separated next time… even if it's one of us, don't trust them. This could happen again." Sasuke warned his companions.

"We'll make a codeword just in case. If they get it wrong, assume they're the enemy no matter what the look like." Their dark haired teammate pause then continued, "Listen carefully, I'll only say it once. The question will be: when will a ninja strike. The answer will be: A ninja waits for when the time is right, when the enemy sleeps and drops his guard, when his weapons lie forgotten in the stillness of the night, that is the moment for a ninja to strike."

"Okay." Sakura nodded.

"Wait, I thought it would be a codeword, not a codespeech!" Naruto whined.

"Don't be silly, I've already memorized it." Sakura smiled at him.

"Okay, I'll hold the scroll." Sasuke sent Sakura a knowing glance, and she handed him the heaven scroll, but kept the earth scroll she just received concealed on her person.

It was only seconds before a sharp wind blew Team 7 apart, separating them once again.

Sakura was able to locate Sasuke easily, and she recited the password for him perfectly. Then Naruto arrived, and also spoke the key phrase word for word, revealing he wasn't the real Naruto, but another phony, a stronger one this time. Orochimaru.

The enemy pulled out a dark scroll from his robes. "Since you guys have the heaven scroll… you want my earth scroll right?" The creepy man lifted the scroll to his mouth, and shallowed it. "Now, let's begin the battle for each other's scrolls…" He pulled down his left, lower eye lid down slightly reveal a monstrous gaze, "with our lives on the line."

His murderous gaze caused the Uchiha to vomit, and sent a shiver up Sakura's spine. Sasuke fell to his knees, shaking from fear, but Sakura remained determined a standing.

"You're not afraid?" The disguised Orochimaru was shocked at the girl's perseverance.

"I'm not afraid of you!" She half lied and pulled out a kunai.

"Sakura…?" Sasuke stared at her with fearful eyes.

"I'm trusting you to have my back on this one, Sasuke." She smiled at him and then leaped towards the enemy.

"Sakura!" Sasuke shouted after her, urging for his body to move before his teammate was slaughtered.

"Oh, you're going to fight me?" The enemies was voice was filled with sheer amusement as he dodged her attacks.

"Yes, I am." She spoke with determination.


Author's Note:

Sorry, I had severe writer's block. Honestly, I still have writer's block when it comes to this particular fanfiction. I just don't know how to approach Sakura vs. Orchimaru or how to eventually explain the events that led Sakura time traveling in the first place. Also, this chapter really sucked, sorry… I'm starting to lose my confidence about even continuing this story.