Chapter 8
The Forest of Death: Day 1
"All right, you maggots," the second exam prompter exclaimed, "It's now time to start explaining the rules to the second exam. Now, this area is a training ground called 'The Forest of Death.' It's called that because most of you who go in there, most likely won't come out."
Everyone's ora went from interested to worry and scared, except for Gaara's and mine.
"Well this should be challenging and fun, right Kei?" I asked, looking in Kei's direction.
"You bet," he replied, ready to start the exam so he could find a shadow to control.
"Anyway, here are some forms you have to fill out in order to enter the forest. Once you do that, go over to that tent, go in on the right get a scroll, and come out on the left. And finally, once that's done, go pick a gate and stand in front of it till they open. That's when the exam will begin."
"Why do we need scrolls?" Ino asked curiously.
"Oh! That's right! I forgot to mention what the scrolls are for," the female exam prompter claimed, "There are two types of scrolls, an Earth scroll and a Heaven scroll. Your goal is to have one of each scroll and be at the tower in the middle of the forest by the end of the third day. Each one of you will either have an Earth scroll or a Heaven scroll. They will be given out randomly and you won't know who has what scroll either, so pick your fights carefully. Now you maggots, the gates will open in ten minutes. Be in front of a gate in that time or you're not participating. Now, I'll leave you alone to get prepared."
As soon as she was done, I got up and walked over to the tent. They handed me a Heaven scroll, or so Kei told me (turns out later on that he was wrong, but that I'll explain later). I walked up to a random gate. Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto walked up to the gate on my right and to my left, were Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari. I could tell that Gaara was glaring at me again, trying to observe me and how tough I may be. I knew he would try to attack me in the forest. I just knew it. But I wasn't worried at all. Gaara may be evil on the outside, but I know another side of him even his older brother and sister, Kankuro and Temari, don't know…
"Ok then, Time to open the gates!" The exam prompter called out as the gates opened, "The second exam… has BEGUN!"
And as I ran in, I could feel the vibrations of three people pursuing me and I knew who my pursuers were …
"Gaara, " I mumbled to myself.
I stopped dead in my tracks. I leapt down to the ground. And standing in front of me was, as I suspected, my pursuers Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari. I knew what Gaara was thinking. He thought I was an easy kill, but he was wrong and I was ready to prove it.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the sand siblings," I said in a sarcastic/welcoming tone, "This'll be interesting, right Nerugui? Kei?"
"Squeak," Nerugui replied with ready-to-fight ora around him.
"Right," Kei replied with the same ora.
"It'll be a trip down a dark, twisted path of crisis-crossing memories," I said chuckling psychotically.
"Asami?" Kei asked worried, "Are you alright? Is that Shadowcrawler thing taking over again?"
I fell to my knees and clinched my head in between my hands. I moaned and screamed in pain.
"Nerugui!" I managed to cry out, "Go… get… Sasuke!"
"Squeak!" Nerugui replied as he ran off.
"Kei!" I called to him, "Go with Nerugui and help him track down Sasuke! Hurry!"
"But…" Kei objected.
"NOW!" I yelled at him.
I screamed in pain again. Kei ran off to help Nerugui find Sasuke. While all this was happening, Temari and Kankuro's ora changed from neutral to afraid. Gaara's ora went from evil to a little confused, but evil was mixed in.
"What the heck is wrong with her?!" Kankuro said in fear.
"It's like…she's possessed by a demon," Temari finished.
"That's because she is," Gaara said in his deep, dark voice, "The Shadowcrawler demon Takes a hold of it's host at random times and takes control of the host. Then it destroys anyone who decides to destroy it. Kankuro, her name was Asami, right?"
"Yea. Why does it matter?" he replied.
"That's the girl…"Gaara trailed off but then came back to finish what he had started to say, but he had a worried and kind ora around, "That's the girl who I was friends with when everyone else thought that I was a monster. She believed that I wasn't a monster and even when other people tried to convince her that I was a monster, she never believed them. She was the one person who still believed that I had a meaning, that I was here for a good reason, and that I still had a purpose in life other than to kill. But when she was taken from me, I was heart broken and the only way to get her back was to train as hard as I could till I got to the chuunin exams and destroy anyone who got in my way."
"Gaara…" I managed to say with tears in my eyes, "I've…missed… you…best…buddy."
And with that I blacked out from exostion. I didn't wake up till the next day…
