A/N: I managed to squeeze this out before my birthday even though I'm on work experience. Thank you for the wonderful reviews, they really cheered me up and sped me along! Keep it up! :D
Disclaimer: No, one doesn't own Naruto, becausehe would have dragged Sasuke ass back to Konoha by now and Itachi would be in a nunnery or something because he is a saint. No, I'm still not over Uchiha Itachi's premature death :(
Claimer: Check the dog tags, Kari and Kita are mine.
Jap: Chotto matte - Wait a minute, Uso - Lie.
Womoji no
Out of Character
He held her tightly as he tried to stay strong,
Each crimson tear like a needle tearing straight through his heart.
With a cry, she turned in Neji's arms and threw herself on him, her face hidden in his chest. "Onegai… yamete, for Kari-chan…" Sakura begged her arms tightening round Sasuke's stomach. His marks receded as he stilled in Sakura's arms and he fell to his behind, bringing Sakura to her knees beside him. Neji slowly slid until his knees hit the ground, holding Kari's violently trembling body close to him, trying to stay calm in spite of what he had just seen.
"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura said as she supported him in a sitting position. He was panting with exhaustion, his body feeling like lead. He looked round, his obsidian eyes tired and lost, until his eyes fell upon Kari. He couldn't see her face, but the way her body was curled up to Neji's her face pressed into his chest as he held her body on his lap, she was obviously terribly shaken and upset. He wanted to go and take her out of the Hyuuga's arms and into his own, so he could be the one to comfort and protect her, but a stranger was in his place, and he knew without being told, that he was one of the last people she needed right now and would only make things worse.
"You're strong" Dosu said, speaking up. Sasuke, Sakura and Neji looked round as Kita limped over to Kari and pawed at her knee. "Sasuke-kun, we cannot defeat you or Kari-chan." Dosu said, holding out his earth scroll. He then placed it on the ground. "Let's make a deal… Please let us leave for now." He walked over to Zaku, slinging his broken arm over his shoulders. "We may be asking for too much, but we have something to confirm." With his other arm, he picked up Kin's limp body. "In return I promise you this, if we are to fight each other in this exam for the second time, we will not run or hide…"
"Matte!" Sakura cried. "Who is Orochimaru? What does he want with Sasuke-kun and Kari-chan? Why them?!"
"I do not know. We were just ordered to kill them." Dosu replied, with that, he turned with his team-mates, and left.
"Ne, Okaasan! I'll go see if Naruto-kun's ok!" Kita cried, deciding that Naruto would be a good person to cheer her poor Momma up.
"Hey are you okay?!" Chouji called from the bushes.
"It's troublesome, Ino, you take care of that guy" Shikamaru said, motioning towards Lee. She nodded and ran towards him as Shikamaru and Chouji followed Kita and headed towards Naruto. TenTen dropped down beside Neji and Kari, startling the wolf girl and making her tighten her hold on Neji.
"Kari-chan…?" TenTen asked, reaching her hand out to brush Kari's hair out of her face so she could see her, but a violent flinch stopped her in her tracks. "Kari-chan doushita?" she asked worriedly. Kari turned her wide eyes onto TenTen making the girl gasp and look at Neji with worry.
"What is it?" he asked, his brows furrowing.
"She's crying..." Tenten whispered in surprise. "She's crying blood Neji."
"Impossible" Neji said, dismissing it immediately.
"Look though" TenTen said, motioning towards their friend. With surprising gentleness and care, Neji's hands cupped her cheeks and slowly eased her away from his chest. His breath was lost in his lungs as his keen eyes took in her bloodshot eyes and her crimson stained face. "See?" TenTen said anxiously, biting her bottom lip. "What does it mean?"
"I don't know" Neji said quietly, observing her face. Her wet eyes were locked on his face, wide with a sort of fear the Hyuuga had never seen before, she was horribly pale, almost like a corpse, her cheeks and lips lacking the flushed rose colour that gave her an angelic, healthy innocence.
"N-Neji!" TenTen cried in alarm, immediately catching his attention. "Neji's she bleeding!" out the corner of his eye, Neji noticed blossoming crimson stains across his beige shirt that wasn't coming from him. His hands trailed down her sides, his right meeting a large amount of thick blood. "Her arm! No—both her arms!" TenTen cried, grabbing her left arm, next to her bleeding side.
"What the hell happened?!" Neji hissed as TenTen pulled out her supply of bandages and began hurriedly wrapping her wounds. "Kari what happened to you?"
"Neji, she's upset" TenTen scolded, lifting up Kari's shirt and motioning for Neji to hold it for her. He looked away out of manners, even though her torso was already bandaged, letting TenTen wrap her up, trying to ignore TenTen's curses and words of comfort for Kari. "Neji, can you do her other arm? I'm going to go help with Lee." TenTen said, handing him the linen. He nodded as she walked off and took Kari's hand in his. The ninja hadn't cut the vein, much to Neji's relief, but had left a nasty cut all the way down Kari's arm. She was dainty so the wound was quite deep on her. With as much care as he could muster, starting at her shoulder he wrapped her arm down to her palm, trying his best not to cause her any unintentional pain. She watched him with those big bloodshot eyes, yet didn't make a sound.
"Daijobu ka?" Neji asked as he reached into his pouch and grabbed his canteen. He soaked a spare, clean piece of bandage and gently wiped the blood off her face. He finally finished at her jaw, wiping the blood from her lips and put the bandage and canteen in his pouch. "You had me really worried for a while there." He admitted awkwardly, he wasn't good at this… Her breath hitched as her eyes became bloodshot again. "Iie, iie, no more crying Kari-chan" he said, wiping her fresh red tear away with his thumb. She buried her face in his chest again, her arms locking round him. He sighed, one arm supporting her back while the other stroked her golden hair, his cheek resting against the top of her head.
"Ne… Sakura-chan watch out. No, I'll save you Kari-chaaaaan..." Naruto mumbled in his sleep, a gushy smile on his face.
"What should we do with him?" Shikamaru asked as Kita pressed her paw into Naruto's cheek, causing drool to spill out the other side. "...Let's kick him awake."
"Can I do it?" Chouji asked hopefully.
"What was I…?" Sasuke asked, gripping his shaking hand and staring at it in horror. "Kari…?" he asked, looking round at her again.
"They're bandaging her injuries Sasuke-kun, she-she'll be fine" Sakura said, trying to reassure him.
"GYAAAANANANAAAA!!" Naruto shrieked holding his head in pain. Kita wagged her tail happy the stick she found ended up useful; after all it was her stick that Chouji used to smack Naruto on the head and wake him up. Kita had been praised by the larger boy for her intelligence and she was feeling very proud indeed.
Now awake, Naruto looked around suspiciously, he noticed Sakura and Sasuke sitting to one side, Ino supporting Lee, Neji comforting his Kari-chan (the nerve!) and then it hit our little knucklehead ninja why he had been out cold in the first place. "AAAH!! MINNA! Hide—NO! Get down!" Naruto shrieked, performing the fastest belly flop ever seen as he dived to the ground. "Where is he shimatta, dattebayooo?!" Naruto whined crawling along the floor and looking around for any sign of that mean, nasty, snakey grass-nin while Kita watched in amazement, standing between ShikaCho of InoShikaCho, whom she was rather fond of.
"Naruto?" Sakura asked as she and Sasuke looked round. Sasuke was instantly drawn out of his terror, so not to be mocked by Naruto. His fist clenched as he looked over at Kari. "Daijobu Sasuke-kun?"
"She's not laughing…" Sasuke said, more to himself than her. "Kari always laughs and smiles at whatever Naruto does…"
"You're right…" Sakura said sadly, looking over at Kari who was holding tight to Lee's team-mate. She hadn't let go of him yet, and the pink kunoichi was worried that she'd been crying. Kari never cries, she hates it when she cries…
"You're pretty dumb aren't you?" Shikamaru asked as Chouji poked Naruto's sore head with the offending stick. "Actually, watching you pisses me off…" Naruto suddenly gasped.
"SAKURA-CHAN!!" he cried, scrambling to his feet and rushing towards her. "T-that!! Sakura-chan!! What happened to your hair?!"
"Oh this?" Sakura asked, touching her roughly cut, messy hair. "Just changing my image" she softly lied. "I like long hair, but you know it gets in the way when I move around in a forest like this."
"But Kari-chan won't cut her hair because she'll look too much like me!" Naruto said with a chuckle, making Sakura smile and Sasuke snort. He looked round to see Kari with Neji. "EHH?! KARI-CHAN? DOUSHITA?!" Naruto cried, noticing Neji holding her. "ARE YOU HURT?!"
"She doesn't feel well" Sakura cut in, knowing if Naruto got worried it would stress Kari out even more. "She's asleep and uh… using him for a pillow, you know what she's like" Sakura lied again.
"Pshhh I'm so much more comfortable" Naruto complained, completely buying it. He looked round at Shikamaru and Chouji. "And why are you guys here anyway?" Naruto asked.
"Explaining to you is too troublesome for me…" Shikamaru sighed.
"Everyone helped us" Sakura said, playing with her hair. Ino watched with a smirk, seeing through Sakura's tough-guy act.
"I'll take him now" TenTen said appearing beside Ino. The younger kunoichi nodded and handed Lee to his team-mate. TenTen grabbed Lee's shoulders and violently shook him back and forth his limp head waving around so much it threatened to fall off. "LEEEEEEEEE!!" she shrieked, with much experience. "WAKE UP!!" She dropped him with a heavy thud and he opened an eye.
"TenTen?" he asked surprised. "Why are you here?"
"We came to help you" she said, crouching down so she was level with him.
"Where did the Oto-nin go?" Lee asked confused, looking around dopily.
"Kari-chan and that Sasuke boy drove them away."
"I see…" Lee said, looking round at Sasuke.
"Why did you take action on your own?" TenTen scolded. "On top of that you're hurt badly! You really are a baka!"
"I can't argue with that…" Lee said sadly, drawing his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them, looking like a small child.
"AHA!" Naruto cried suddenly, rushing over to them. He pointed a finger at Lee. "I know you bushy-brow!"
"NARUTO!! DON'T TALK LIKE THAT TO LEE-SAN!!" Sakura shrieked, delivering the mother of all punches straight to Naruto's jaw and sending him flying a good few feet.
"Naruto's totally out of it…" Shikamaru said irritated.
"He's the type of person who can't become a main character in a story…" Chouji agreed.
"Lee-san" Sakura said, turning to him. "Arigatou. Thanks to you, my eyes are wide open now." She said with a soft smile. "I think I've become a little stronger."
"S-Sakura-san! I-it looks like I need more training." Lee cried, his eyes watering, he quickly wiped them on his bandaged arm. "Sasuke-kun." He turned to Sasuke instead. "You live up to the reputation of the Uchiha-clan. You and Kari-chan drove the Oto-nin away; she couldn't have done it all alone. You show great power and potential. While I lost terribly" Lee said sadly, his eyes dropping to the ground in shame.
He lost? Were they really that strong? Sasuke thought shocked.
"Sakura-san, the lotus of Konoha blooms twice. The next time we meet, I promise I will be a stronger ninja." Lee said with a smile. Sakura returned it, feeling content.
"Kari-chan" Neji whispered gently. She made an incomprehensible mumble, so Neji assumed she was listening. "I'm going to take you over to the others. I and my team must leave soon." At once her grip on him tightened and her breath choked, she shook her head, her tears smudging on his shirt.
"Iie, iie don't leave me!" she begged in a terrified whisper.
"I taught you to be strong, you have to be strong now" Neji said gently, his heart being torn seeing her in such a state.
"Don't leave me here…" she said, her voice breaking and dying in her chest.
"You have to be strong Kari-chan, gomen, but there's no other way. You're a shinobi." Neji said, his left arm sliding under her legs as he stood up, his right arm cradling her to him, her hands tightly gripping the front of his shirt, her face buried in the crook of his neck.
"Neji-kun…" she whispered broken, and he could feel her tears slide down his neck as he carried her towards the others.
"Stop crying, Kita will worry" Neji said with forced firmness, noticing her grip weaken as she slowly gave in, saying no more. Sasuke's eyes watched their every move; he hardly noticed when Sakura went off with Ino to fix her hair. They stopped in front of him, Neji setting her down carefully, his arm wrapped around her back, her head resting on his chest. She was concentrating solely on the rhythm of his heart, her dull, unfocused eyes gazing at nothingness. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he reached to touch her hair, noticing there were patches of red staining it, she flinched horribly, her muscles tensed for flight, but the Hyuuga held her still and whispered hushed words until she calmed. "Uchiha." Neji said sternly suddenly turning to Sasuke, his lavender eyes strong. Sasuke looked at him with his Uchiha arrogance and emotional barriers, regarding the Hyuuga with immediate dislike. "Look after her. She needs it."
"You sneaky little troll, hugging him back there…" Ino muttered, cutting Sakura's hair with a kunai.
"In public, the one who takes the initiative, wins. Ino-pig" Sakura said with a smirk, a spark lighting in her eyes.
"Neji, let's go!" TenTen called, Lee's arm over her shoulders. Kari's grip tightened again, as a last desperate attempt to persuade him not to leave. Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he looked away, secretly hurt that she didn't want his protection instead.
"I have to go now Kari-chan" Neji said with the soft tone he saved solely for her, he took her cold hand off his shirt and held it in one of his, his thumb brushing across the back of her hand. With his other hand, he brushed away a tear that escaped from the dam that was threatening to break at any moment. "I said no more tears" he said, her other hand holding his to her face, not wanting him to leave. "You'll see me when you pass the exam" he said surely, and in a swift, thoughtless moment, his pale eyes closed and his lips touched her forehead.
"He really does care" TenTen whispered with a soft girly giggle. She couldn't deny that she rather liked Neji for a while, but he was such a teme she just wouldn't be able to stand him. But to see him like that, it was heart-warming to say the least.
"Care about what?" Lee questioned.
"Nothing!" TenTen quickly said, starting off into the forest before Lee saw and spurted a speech by Gai-sensei, ruined the moment, or cried and whined that he loved Kari too.
Mortified by what he had just done, Neji turned without another word and prepared to dash off, not wanting to see her expression.
"Neji-kun…!" she cried, stopping him. He half turned, so he could just see her, but could sprint off quickly. A soft smile spread across her face "You're right, as always… Arigatou." Neji allowed her a small smirk, before rushing after his team, a light brush across his face, but a lighter heart and an almost visible smile.
"What's that guy to you?" Sasuke muttered, glaring at the trunk of a tree. Kari looked round at him, she was calmer now and was finally coming out of her sudden depression, but was still wary of him.
"Sempai." She said, also looking away. "Close friend."
"Tch." Sasuke said grumpily.
"Sasuke" Kari said, her voice soft, but once again warm. He looked round with a moody sulky expression and reluctantly turned to face her. "I meant what I said."
"What?" he asked, looking her hard in the eyes. They were lighter now, but still dull, her face marble white. She took his hand, making him slightly uncomfortable.
"I'll…" her eyes half closed. "Never leave you…" her voice softened as her eyes fluttered closed "alone…"
"K-Kari!" Sasuke cried as she slumped forward, falling into his arms. "Sakura! Sakura something's wrong with her!" Sasuke cried in alarm.
"Kari-chan!!" Naruto shrieked rushing over.
"Baka! You're the last person we need!" Sasuke snapped as Sakura rushed over.
"I care about her a hell of a lot more than you do!" Naruto retorted.
"It's her fever" Sakura said worriedly. "Just hold her for a while Sasuke-kun, I'll get rid of Ino and the others" Sakura said, walking back over to Ino, knowing she wouldn't be satisfied until Sakura's hair was presentable. Sasuke shifted her into a more comfortable position, so her side was leaning against him, her backside between his legs. Grumbling, Naruto walked off and grabbed Kita and talked to her, most probably ranting and teaching her words Kari would absolutely murder him for in the future. Sasuke pressed his palm against her forehead, but quickly retracted his hand, it wasn't enough to burn him, but it was uncomfortable to touch. He rested his head against hers wearily and at some point, fell asleep.
"Well we're off" Shikamaru said as he and Chouji gratefully turned to leave. Ino nudged Sakura and whispered her thoughts.
"Do you think there's anything between them two" she asked looking pointedly at Sasuke and Kari, who were asleep together, much to Naruto's displeasure. Sakura looked round, but ignored the doubt her eyes gave her and turned to Ino with confidence.
"Nah" she said. "They've got a love-hate relationship as friends." Ino raised an eyebrow.
"Sasuke-kun has a friend?" Ino said sceptically. "No offence to Kari, she's a great kid, but Sasuke-kun doesn't do friends."
"Well Kari-chan likes that Neji guy" Sakua said defensively. Ino immediately brightened up.
"Oh yeah!" she cried her light blue eyes gleaming. "They were so sweet together! The way she held on to him, him carrying her…" she sighed dreamily.
"Oi Ino, you coming or what?" Shikamaru questioned. Ino grumbled and shouted at him and finally they left. Sakura sighed tiredly and looked back at Sasuke, whose eyes had half opened. He didn't seem bothered by Kari being in his lap; in fact he seemed strangely content.
Just friends.
Maybe best friends.
How Sakura wished she could be where Kari was now…
"Kage bunshin; fish catching version! Kyaaaa!" the Naruto clones (and Naruto) cried as they dived off the ledge and into the stream. Kari was absentmindedly drawing circles in the water with her fingers; she was lazily laying on her front with her legs bent slightly over her back. Frightened by Naruto's swarming the water, four fish jumped into the air to escape, only to be pierced one by one by Sasuke's kunai.
"Kyaaa! Don't kill the fishies!" Kari shrieked, pushing her body up with her right palm, swinging her leg into the front of Sasuke's ankles before speedily changing hands, spinning round and kicking him in the back of the knees, sending him flying into the river. Naruto cracked up with laughter, accidentally swallowing some water and choking. Sasuke surfaced, with the grandmother of all glares, and in one quick movement, he grabbed her wrist and dragged her in too. Amazed, Kita flew in after Kari.
"Nyaa?! It's wet!" Kita cried as she splashed about. Delighted, Kari steadied her and began teaching her how to swim.
"Move around more, I want some more for preservation purposes" Sasuke snapped at the laughing/choking Naruto. "That isn't enough. I need more usuratonkashi."
"KAH! This is really tiring!! Why don't you do it, you're in the freaking water now! And Kari-chan's sick and you pulled her in! You should have to do it!" Naruto shrieked.
"Kari-chan I need to check your temperature!" Sakura called. "And Sasuke-kun I could use one of your fireballs!"
"Must I do everything myself?" Sasuke sighed pulling himself out the water. "Oi Kari-baka, come on" he said, watching impatiently as Kita swam in circles round her, her wagging tail helping to speed her along. Kari ignored him, clapping with glee and congratulating her clever little wolf. "Kari now." Sasuke growled, pointing at the bank next to him as he sat and watched her. She swam over, crossed her arms on top of his knees and rested her head on them as she looked up at him.
"What's up with you?" she asked. Without giving an answer, Sasuke lifted her out the water and plopped her on the ground. He then stood up, flung her over his shoulder and walked towards Sakura, ignoring Naruto's frustrated shriek of;
"CHOTTO MATTE!!"
"It's been four days since the second exam begun…" Sasuke said as they watched the fire (Naruto looking more at the cooking fish). "The second exam began at around 7am. We only have 25 to 26 hours left."
"A lot of teams might have already finished." Sakura added. Naruto grinned as he waited impatiently for the fish to finish cooking, not paying the slightest bit of attention.
"On top of that, Kari's in poor health. That gives us a big disadvantage. Kakashi wasn't kidding when he said it would be more difficult with four people." Sasuke said.
"Oi!" Kari cried offended, pausing in teaching Kita how to count, honestly, she was being made out as a 'disadvantage' when Sasuke was hurt too! Sakura sighed and decided the fish were done and Naruto immediately snatched the biggest. Kari immediately gave hers to Kita, noticing there wasn't enough to feed her cub.
"Baka, you need to keep your strength up." Sasuke said in a scolding tone. "You've barely been awake until today, and you haven't eaten anything the whole time we've been in here."
"Yeah, but I'll just throw it up again. Besides I've drunk a hell of a lot." Kari argued. Silence swept over them for a while, only the sounds of munching could be heard.
"It may be possible that there are no more Heaven scrolls…" Sakura said sadly, half-heartedly taking a bite out of her fish.
"What do you mean Sakura?" Sasuke asked.
"Four out of the allotted five days for the exam have already passed. That means we used eighty percent of the time for the exam already. Total participants 82; or 27 teams. There are only 13 heaven scrolls and only 13 earth scrolls and one extra and I overheard an examiner say it was an earth scroll, so only 13 teams can pass. On top of that, you remember right, Sasuke-kun? That Orochimaru guy burnt our Scroll of Heaven. When he did that, only 12 teams could pass. Also, there's no guarantee that the other scrolls are safe." Sakura said.
"After we split up from the other Konoha guys, we used two days to recuperate. We'll need to increase the distance we make today, the next enemy we meet could be our last chance…" Sasuke said, he paused for a moment, then sighed aggravated looking back at Kari. "Eat the rest of mine, you'll just pass out while we're running, you've hardly been able to move." He shoved his almost finished fish in her face. Just the smell made her stomach churn into knots.
"I'm gonna puke…" Kari said, placing Kita onto Naruto before walking off into the foliage.
"I'll make sure she doesn't get into trouble, and then I'll get some more water." Sasuke said, picking up his canteen as he stood up. "I'll be back soon."
"Uhnn, stupid Sasuke, stupid fish" Kari mumbled as she walked through the bushes, the ground swaying beneath her. She stopped unsteadily before leaning over and chucking up bile. Having been right behind her (without her realising), Sasuke pulled her hair away from her face, looking rather disgusted. She coughed when she was completely empty then began to sink to her knees. Sasuke managed to catch her before she fell into her own sick. "Stupid everything…" she mumbled hoarsely.
"Oi daijobu ka?" Sasuke said as he hoisted her onto her unsteady feet. "Can you walk?" Kari huffed, her unfocused eyes looking straight ahead.
"Course I can, I'm not an invalid…" she said before her eyes closed as she fell backwards. Sasuke caught her with difficulty, almost dropping his canteen. "Let go I'm fine…" she mumbled, putting up a weak struggle.
"Like hell you are baka" Sasuke grumbled, lifting up her legs and holding her like a baby, deciding not to go through the trouble of putting her onto his back just so she could throw up down his shirt. "Come on, let's get you some water."
"But I'm fine" she insisted.
"Don't lie to me Kari" Sasuke said as his brows furrowed. "Just hang on a little longer, just one more day and we can get you to a doctor."
"I hate doctors and hospitals and medicines and all that stuff." She said stubbornly, her eyes half opening. Sasuke smirked, almost accidentally making a smile.
"Yeah. So do I."
"Ano sa, ano sa!" Naruto whispered, picking up the scroll, Kita jumped on top of his head for a better view. "I have a good idea and it doesn't require us to fight, dattebayo!"
"Eh?" Sakura said in surprise as Naruto emptied his pouch, letting three scrolls clatter to the ground. "Are you going to…?"
"Yep, I have a lot of scrolls with me; a ninja techniques manual, a poison manual and a note-taking one. I figured Kari-chan might need them too. If we edit these to make them look like the Scroll of Heaven…"
"Wait!" Sakura cried. "Even if you do that, we don't know what's written inside. If the examiner takes a look inside, she'll find out right away! Baka!" Sakura said as Kita nodded.
"These probably have some sort of passwords on them and you won't know what the password is unless you get both scrolls. In other words, we need the password to pass, something like that! So…?" Naruto cried.
"But it's naughty!" Kita scolded.
"We don't know what's inside, so there's no point in making a fake!" Sakura pointed out. "Geez, I thought you were going to say something better as you were so confident. You didn't think enough" Sakura said.
"But what if we can predict the contents? This Scroll of Earth…" Naruto began.
"Are you planning to…?!"
"We'll try opening this scroll dattebayo—!"
"NO!" Sakura shrieked, Kita jumping up as she went to smack Naruto in the head. The wolf landed on his bump, safe and unharmed. "Did you forget the rule, baka?! She told us not look inside the scroll until we get to the tower!"
"Demo! We're in trouble at this rate!" Naruto whined, his eyes watering, trying to put his hands over his sore head, but only succeeding in pressing Kita down onto his head. Sakura went to reply, but couldn't think of a good answer. Both their eyes travelled to the scroll as Kita watched them both, hoping her Okaasan and Sasuke would get back before something bad happened. Naruto picked up the scroll, Sakura watching, but not stopping him.
"No, no, no! Bad Naruto-kun!" Kita cried, jumping off his head. Sakura grabbed her and held her firmly and despite Kita's wriggling, she couldn't break free. "No, no! People will be mad!" Naruto looked back at Sakura, who only nodded. He held the scroll with trembling hands, a drop of sweat hitting the 'Earth' kanji. Naruto's thumb slid under the end and slowly began to lift it up; suddenly a hand shot out and grabbed the scroll.
"You shouldn't do that…" Kabuto said sternly.
"Do you feel better now" Sasuke asked, as he watched Kari drink from the canteen. She sighed and nodded, allowing him to take it from her and fill it up again. "Do you need anymore?" she shook her head, declining the freshly filled canteen offered to her. "If you're not going to be sick again, get on my back." Sasuke said, standing up.
"I can walk fine" Kari said wearily, giving him a half-hearted glare. Sasuke returned it, and in the end he won, Kari being too tired to argue. "All right, all right, you break your back, I don't care." She said, standing up as best she could and placing her hands on his shoulders. She lifted her legs up and he adjusted her, her legs over his forearms. Once he felt she was secure, he set off, the canteen in hand.
"For the record, you're pretty light. Its one of the reasons you're so fast." Sasuke said, trudging at a steady pace.
"I know, Neji-kun told me." Sasuke huffed and scowled at the mention of the Hyuuga, not liking him at all.
"Is that Hyuuga guy strong?" Sasuke asked, trying not to sound too irritated.
"Yeah, Neji-kun's really good. I haven't beaten him yet." Kari said, her eyes fluttering closed, but she was still awake and listening.
"I want to train with you when we're done with this exam, that Rock Lee guy and Hyuuga are pretty strong, you must have picked things up from them." Sasuke said, planning in his head which training ground would be best.
"Guess, but I'm not as good as them yet."
"That's because you don't have the experience they do" Sasuke said "But even so, you've progressed a lot more than you should have."
"Gee thanks." Kari said sarcastically. Her eyes flew open and her muscles tensed.
"What is it?" Sasuke asked stopping, feeling her go rigid. She pushed her self up, pressing down on his shoulders and flipped over his head, she landed off, but sprinted ahead, back towards Naruto, Kita and Sakura.
"Oi baka! Kari chotto matte!"
"That was clo—!" Kabuto was cut off with a blow to his gut; he flew back into the river, coming up coughing and spluttering.
"Kari-chan!" Naruto cried. "It's ok, he was here to help—Kari-chan!" he jumped to his feet and caught her as she swayed backwards, breathing uneasily. Kabuto walked onto the bank dripping wet, but didn't seem any worse for wear. Sasuke ran up mistaking Kabuto for an enemy, but Kabuto caught his punch.
"I've already been hit by Kari-chan for coming unannounced, you don't have to too" Kabuto said with an airy smile. "Naruto-kun here was going to take a peek at the contents of your Scroll of Earth, so I stepped in and stopped him." Kabuto explained while Naruto sat down with Kari in his lap, explaining what Kabuto said but in a more Naruto-like dialogue. Sasuke towered over his team-mates (he was standing, they were sitting) and was looked at them with anger and disappointment, this cut Sakura deep and rather offended Naruto, though he was struck with guilt and lowered his head too.
"Kita told them no!" Kita added, not wanting to be told off too, being completely innocent and all.
"I can't believe you guys" Sasuke scolded.
"Those who break the rules will be forced into a situation where they must retire. In the previous exam, the scrolls were made so that those who opened the scroll would see a sleep-inducing inscription. So they'll remain in this forest until the exam ends." Kabuto explained.
"By the way, you're Kabuto right? What are you doing here alone?" Sasuke questioned as Sakura and Naruto stood up, Naruto supporting Kari. Kita was on Naruto's other side, watching her Momma worriedly.
"It's not like I was after your scroll or something." Kabuto said dismissively.
"Right, if you wanted the scroll you could have stolen the scroll from Naruto back there…" Sasuke said.
"Give Naru a break would ya?" Kari said through light panting.
"So, are you after the Scroll of Heaven too?" Sasuke asked.
"No, I already have both, see" Kabuto said, pulling out both a Heaven and Earth scroll. Sasuke gasped. Kari's eyes narrowed, he was too at ease, too open, too confident and on top of that, too friendly. But hey, take what's offered to you if it might benefit you, but like hell is he gonna backstab her team. "A lot happened, but I was headed for the tower to meet up with my teammates." Kabuto turned to leave.
"Matte!" Sasuke cried, Kabuto paused and looked back. "Fight me." Kari's eyes shot towards the higher trees, her ears twitching at the sound of breathing and rustling.
"Fight?" Kabuto repeated.
"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura said reproachfully.
"Baka! Do you know what you're saying?!" Naruto cried defencively.
"Are you serious?" Kabuto questioned.
"Gomen, but we don't have time" Sasuke said seriously.
"Oi Sasuke! Kabuto helped us!" Naruto cried, hardly looking threatening in his boxers (which he had been swimming in when catching the fish).
Sasuke-kun, I don't think that's appropriate either" Sakura agreed, smiling sincerely.
"Urusai!" Sasuke interrupted.
"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura said watching him worriedly.
"We don't have much choice. I told you before; this is the only way we can survive in this forest!" Sasuke said, his coal black eyes fixed on Kabuto.
"Mm, that's a lie." Kabuto said with a confident smile.
"Uso?" Naruto repeated.
"You're not as prepared as you say you are. If you wanted to be more serious about this exam, then why did you need to challenge me? You could have attacked me when I had my guard down instead of declaring a challenge." Kabuto adjusted his glasses. "That's what a ninja is supposed to do."
"This is deep…" Naruto commented. "Dontcha think Kari-chan?" he gave her a light nudge which unsteadied her, but she stood firm on her own, her eyes untrusting, her muscles tensed for movement. One slip up and that guy was going down. She was still listening to the hidden enemy in the trees, but sensed he was solo, so didn't raise the alarm.
"I don't hate you for doing so though. That's why I shall tell you which path to take. But let's talk while we walk. The bonfire's smoke was carrying the smell of grilled fish. If we stick around, wild animals and enemies will come after us." Kabuto said, turning to leave again. Kari watched as Kabuto's eyes glued themselves to the enemies whereabouts. Her eyes narrowed, this guy wasn't as pathetic as he looked. "And if that doesn't attract attention, the scent of Kari-chan's blood will. You must have had a rough battle." Kari's eyes widened to a full out glare.
"I'm watching you" she growled, "One slip up and you'll be the one who's leaving blood everywhere" her eyes slowly reddening.
"Kari-chan!" Naruto and Sakura scolded as Sasuke stared in shock. Kari ignored them and picked up Kita who was pawing at her leg worriedly.
"With such injuries it's a miracle you haven't bled to death; it's amazing that you can even move, you shouldn't be conscious." Kabuto said, a slight hint of mockery that only Kari caught. "But I don't blame you for not trusting me, it's a ninja rule to never let your guard down. I just hope I can earn your respect Kari-chan."
"Good luck with that."
"Kari, get on my back, you need to save your strength" Sasuke said, breaking the tension that was thickening the air. Her glare broken by a hacking cough that sounded like she was dragging up her own lungs. She spat out blood. Naruto went to check her, rubbing her back and worriedly questioning her health. She simply said she was fine and left it at that, getting on Sasuke's back. They set off into the trees, worry hidden in the depths of Sasuke's soul.
Kari was probably the most trusting in the whole team. She was known for being friendly, she kept her doubts mostly to herself, stewing them over in her mind for long periods of time. Sasuke had never seen her so defensive and untrusting, never heard her make serious threats (especially so violent) and the warning that hung in the air afterwards almost choked him of air.
Looks like she had undergone a drastic change in this forest…