Sakura
We were able to smart (and cheat) our way through the written test.
Phase one: complete.
I looked at the large chain link fence in front of us and gulped. The Forest of Death where -as Anko, the Second Exam proctor, said- no one can hear you scream. Infested with blood-sucking bugs, super sized animals, over grown plants, and countless other things that she was not allowed to tell us because it'd ruin all her fun. (She was crazy but I was feeling a lot of respect.) Also it was every team for themselves -even better, not.
"This is the arena for the Second Exam: Traing Ground 44. Or...the Forest of Death." Anko smiled and chills ran up out spines.
Phase Two: In Progress...
She continued with her speech and I noticed Hinata shaking wildly, her pearl colored eyes filled with tears and Kiba slung an arm around her shoulder and smiled at her, saying everything was gonna be okay. "Pretty cocky, huh?"
I turned just in time to see Anko's kunai slice Naruto's left cheek slipping blazing red blood from the wound. Anko's tongue drew across it and I felt the need to retch. While she was preoccupied with Naruto, another man -with a bamboo hat covering his face- walked up behind her and inhaled the smell, all the while holding Anko's kunai in his long tongue.
Saku! Tell me that can't be! I screamed mentally and my eyes widened.
His appearance may be different but that bloodlust and chakra are the same. The man tipped his hand up a little and said something I didn't hear. His skin was too tan to be Orochimaru's and the eyes were a soul-less black. Anko took the kunai and smiled briefly before 'politely' telling him to back off.
"Sakura..." I felt Sasuke's hand on my forearm and I broke out of my daze. "It's just a scratch Naruto'll be fine."
I glanced back at the man to see him face me before he retreated into the crowd. His long tongue lulled out of his mouth and ran over his lips.
Shit! He saw me!
"Sakura," I faced Sasuke and for a moment worry flickered in his features. "What's wrong?"
"He-...ah...nothing. I'm just getting b-bad vibes from him that all." I forced a smile but I knew Sasuke wouldn't be easily fooled. "Really I'm fine...just stay away from him, promise me that." I urged and Sasuke gave me a weird look.
"Hn, whatever."
Translation: Alright, but your acting weird.
I sighed in relief and glanced around once more. Where the hell is Itachi!
I haven't seen him all day...
Oh, ha-ha, nice pun Saku.
Stop asking me those questions! I see what you see! Take a joke.
Not the time!
"You all signed the wavers right?" Anko asked. "In the Forest of Death, deaths have been known to occur, so I want you all to sign these," she waved a stack of papers in the air. "So we won't be held liable. Now you wouldn't want me getting in trouble would you?"
Other Chuunin explained the rules of the games and I walked up to Anko tentatively. "Um, Anko...-sensei?" She glanced at me.
"Ah, the foreigner is partaking this year." She smiled, almost cat-like, and I rolled my eyes. When were they gonna stop calling me that? "You should be paying attention, Ms. Goody-Two-Shoes, I know you try to excel at everything."
My hands clenched into fist. "Yes, I do and it's because of that that I know that that man with the dark hair," I gabbed a finger in Orochimaru's direction. "Is wearing a disguise." Her eyes narrowed.
"How do you know that, foreigner?" I glared too.
"With a tongue like that and an aura of bloodlust it's hard not to know." Anko stepped forward, sizing me up.
"I'm handling it," she growled. "Now don't get everyone else all railed up by telling them what you told me. Go back to your team."
"Gladly." I stomped away back to my cell and went over the rules for the Exam. We had to collect two scrolls -Heaven and Earth, we were given Heaven- over the course of five days, fending for ourselves and taking what we needed from nature. In over words, a more advanced verison of 'capture the flag' -one of my father's many training technique's for me.
"We'll be expecting thirteen teams to get through this exam..." Anko said, her eyes landing on my breifly. "And we won't be sending out any ANBU to waste their time to scavange up your remains, so I have one final piece of advice for all of you...JUST DON'T DIE!"
And without further ado we were sent out.
~X~
Naruto grinned evilly and then disappeared in smoke. "Well done," A snake-like voice seethed from Naruto's lips and my blood ran cold.
It was snake-man. Orochimaru.
I took a step back and tried to take Sasuke with me, but he shook my hand off. The smoke cleared and the snake-man himself stood before us. Long black hair and unkind yellow cat-like eyes, his gray-white skin looked sickly and he smiled wickedly.
"Sakura-hime, what a coincidence running into you here...I see my kunai left a scar on that pretty little face of yours." Sasuke looked back at me, particularly my scar, but I kept my eyes trained on Orochimaru, trying not to look as scared as I felt. "But I'm not here for you this time; I've come for an Uchiha." He licked his colorless lips and turned to a pale Sasuke.
"Like hell!" I shouted and charged forward, wracking my brain for any possible thing I could do. I already charged at him, now I was going to have to fight and, for Sasuke's sake, win.
Try your Push and Pull. Saku reminded me. Be careful it's more powerful than you know. And Orochimaru's left side isn't well guarded.
I made the hand sign that Pein had shown me once and then thrusted my hands out in front of me. Push. Orochimaru went flying backwards, though when he slammed into a tree opposite of me he disappeared in to a puff of smoke again. I could hear his musing laugh echo off the trees around us in the clearing.
I knew it was too easy. Sasuke pulled out a kunai and called on his Sharingan.
"Ahh! Where are you!" I punched the ground in anger, foolishly letting my Pushflow with it. The ground parted underneath me and snake-man jumped out of the cracking earth to safety. I got ready to attack again -I needed ten seconds at the most, to use the Push and Pull again, my father only need five seconds- but Sasuke ran up the tree towards him.
Orochimaru grinned evilly and in doing so, revealing his lengthening snake fangs, ready to sink into flesh and curse someone with their deadly mark.
I gasped.
"Sasuke! Don't go near him!" But my attempt was vain. Orochimaru lengthened his neck and latched his jaw onto Sasuke's neck.
Everything seemed to happen so fast.
Orochimaru bit harder and then ripped his fangs from Sasuke's throat. Venom and blood gushed out the moment the two parted and Orochimaru laughed with glee. Sasuke's eyes went wide and he grabbed on to his neck, screaming. Sasuke's scream and Orochimaru's laugh seemed to mix.
Like a song of death.
As I stared wide eyed not believe what was happening.
Sasuke fell from the tree and I ran to catch him sliding in the dirt and hugged him close to me. Tears stared to flow when I caught sight of the newly made curse mark on his neck.
"Haha," I looked up at him. "Be a good girl and tell me if he lives. He one of few Sharingan holders left in this world." My glare turned feirce and Orochimaur's eyes narrowed out of spite. "You can always join him girl! Remember who I am!"
"I know who you are...you snake! Your evil!" Orochimaru grunted and took a step forward, meaning to jump down and bite me himself, but was hit by something: a kunai. We both turned to the owner.
It was Anko.
"Get outta here! NOW!" She yelled at me, seeming too inraged to be shocked to see me. I obeyed and threw Sasuke's arm over my shoulder, then ran.
~X~
I found Naruto I while later; darted to a tree, out cold. I dragged them both into a tree/cave I'd found. They were both out of it and falling in and out of cautiousness, so I was left to keep watch.
After healing them both I could barely stay awake.
My head started to droop again, signifying that I was tired. I shuffled around my pouch for a moment and pulled out a small bottle of pills and popped a few in my mouth. Momentarily I thought about making some coffee, but starting a fire would be too risky, I'd have to settle for the medicine that made me stay awake.
I glanced over at my unconscious teammates and crawled over to Sasuke's side.
The curse mark stared tauntingly back at me and I clenched my jaw digging my fingers into the soil beneath me.
"S-sakura..." Sasuke said his voice cracking; his dark eyes were barely open. I almost jumped in surprise and I grabbed his hand. "Everything hurts...what's happening? Can you heal the bite?" I shook my head and Sasuke grabbed his shoulder as pain wracked his body.
My friend was cursed; cursed with a mark that will always be controlling his life. "You idiot, why did you go near him! I told you not to...Oh, Sasuke, I'm sorry I could stop him." I bit my lip to prevent everything I wanted to say from coming out.
"What did he do...?"
I took a deep breath and tried to stop my tears. "You're cursed now. That mark on your neck will be there forever. It's a special jutsu, that only Orochimaru can do, and to gain the power he has you literally have to sell your soul in return. He chooses to mark certain people, people with rare power."
"Am...Am I going to die...?" Sasuke's voice fell weak.
"If anything you'll get stronger, but if you don't use the mark correctly it can, and will, kill you. Just going through the process could kill you…You were chosen and there's nothing I can do to stop or help it...I'm sorry Sasuke." I said again.
"Why…?"
"I don't know. Orochimaru probably saw your cause and wanted to help. He thinks of himself a generous man."
"How do...you know all this?" He asked in pain. His back came to an arch and he gripped my hand tighter. To be honest I didn't mind.
"Go to sleep, Sasuke." I soothed, smoothing over his raven hair like the nurse had done, though he didn't push me away. "You'll need your rest."
"No…how do you know all this?" He wheezed in a breath and I reached in my kunai pack and immediately found what I was looking for: the sedative needle. "Sakura tell...me."
"Sasuke you leave me no choice." With lightning speed I gave him the shot and he was out like a light. I put the empty shot back in my pouch, smiling at the label that read 'For Sasuke' that I had put on it.
I leaned back against the tree/cave wall and looked out into the forest. When Naruto wakes up I'll have him help get to a more secure location. If Sasuke is going through the change then he'll need some sleep and some serious medical attention. I reviewed the possible remedies I could make with the plants found in this forest...Well, then again most of them were poisonous and, if they weren't mixed right, I could accidentally kill someone I was trying to help...Or I could give it to the enemy, oh I like that plan.
I heard a tree branch snap and I jumped.
Three ninja. Saku's voice was dull but I could sense the lingering waryness.
Could I take 'em? Saku's answer was a sudden gush of unknown chakra running through my veins, giving me more power. Doing a quick hand sign and a few foreign language words, everything outside of the cave started to fog over, but I could very lightly see them. A little something I learned on my last mission.
All I had to do was stay quite.
"We know your here girlie." I heard someone whisper. "Of course, there here I can sense her chakra." They sounded close but I couldn't give my cover away. "We want Uchiha. You and little Blondie can go."
Well, Sasuke's just so popular with the villains.
You could say that again.
"Come out, come out, were ever you are!" A girl cooed. I rolled my eyes.
Suddenly kunai knifes and a million other weapons came flying at us. I frowned and thrusted both my hands out in front of me. Push. The weapons recoiled and went back to their owners.
"OW! My leg!" One of the ninja yelled.
I started count to ten.
1…2…3…4…
"It came from there!" The girl yelled running towards us and I braced myself.
5…6…7
She was about to reach where the mist cleared and she could see us.
8…9…10…Push! She flew backwards, crashing into a tree, coughing up blood when she landed.
"KIN!" Two boys yelled.
Kin? Oh, it was the Sound ninja.
Oops.
"You're dead kid!" One with black spiked hair yelled. I stepped out from the tree/cave, but kept the barrier up. I charged forward. The one with the bandaged face and hunched back looked directly at me.
"There!" Spike-head turned towards me and mimicked my former stance and blew me backwards. Only he had holes in his palms. I tucked and rolled out of the winds path and jumped into the tree above them
"Did you get her?" Hunchback asked. Spike-head shrugged.
"I think. She posses the same power as me. Is this a genjutsu?"
"No, this is a Hidden Mist trick. She can see us, but we can't see her. Although I'm sure the hime comes from the Rain Village, as Lord Orochimaru tells us, her headband had the Leaf symbol instead of the Rain one." I moved my foot the slightest bit and the hunchback looked up, throwing a kunai. I leaped forward and climbed into another tree. "Just missed her..."
"She's around here somewhere…I can hear her breathing…"
"Impressive," I whisper so low it was barely auto-able.
Then everything went black.
I was hit from behind.
~X~
"Sakura...?" I heard another voice call to me through the darkness.
My eyes shot open.
Sasuke was hovering over me, looking almost worried. Fire-like marks moved across his olive skin back to his neck.
The curse mark had awakened.
Tears sprung to my eyes and I threw my arms around his neck. Sasuke went limb then pushed me back grabbing my shoulders and shook me.
"Sakura are you alright?" I nodded and glanced over his shoulder.
"Yeah I'm fine. What happened?" Sasuke smiled and then explained.
"Naruto says you got whacked on the back of the head by a Sound ninja and then you were falling from the tree, when Lee caught you, he got his ass kicked. Then Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji stepped in."
"What about them?" I pointed to Lee's teammates.
"Ya know we were in the neighborhood and decided to stop by for tea and cookies," Tenten spat on the ground next to her. "We came to get Lee back idiot!" I smirked.
Any other time…Saku's voice raised an octave (I could mentally picture her stabbing a finger in Tenten's direction.) She would be dead
Don't forget they just saved us.
Fine...where the hell are we?
I looked at my surroundings.
Still in the Forest of Death.
Damn.
~X~
After being knocked on the head watching my team catch dinner was the only thing they'd let me do. And I hated every minute of it. I was more of a wildfire spirit and I always needed to be doing something. Training, healing or knocking someone's block off...anything would do right now except just sitting under a tree like a helpless damsel in distress.
Before we'd all limped away from our past hiding place Ino had taken the liberty of bragging that she had saved Sasuke (well, she'd said Sasuke-kuuuunn!) and Naruto with her 'awesome' bloodline limit jutsu. I had thanked her for saving my team and Sasuke gave me piggy-backed ride away from the blood stained earth before she could say anymore.
Lee was alright though. Tenten and Neji had beat some sense into him after they'd managed to wake him up and he promised he'd drag them along too, next time I needed a rescue.
"Sakura-hime," the voice was so faint I barely heard it.
Looking up at the tree I was leaning back on Zetsu became visible within a few seconds. I gasped.
"No noise. Please," I nodded and waited for the news he had come to deliver. "Your parents are in the village."
"Huh!" Sasuke and Naruto whipped around and Zetsu made himself invisible again, his darker side grumbling about how I couldn't keep quiet.
"What is it Sakura?" Naruto asked. His wet blond hair fell over his face and his blue eyes were wide. "A bug? An enemy?"
I shook my head and rubbed my temples. "Jeez, this forest is getting to me." Green chakra covered my hand and the bruise on my forehead started to disappear.
"Leader-sama and Konan, found out about Orochimaru's appearance in the exam.Did he come to you, Hime?" Zetsu whispered to me once my friends turned back around.
I watched Sasuke for a moment then turned back to Zetsu's black n' white painted face.
"Yeah, we fought and he marked Sasuke." I pointed him out for Zetsu.
"Hmm, Uchiha. Interesting. Itachi is going to have a fit."
"Where is Itachi anyway?" I asked. Whenever I wanted t know something, hereabouts wise, I always came to Zetsu -wen he was available. "I haven't seen him throughout the whole exam."
"Donno, I've ben in Suna. No one does. Hidan and Sasori are tracking him."
"They're tracking him? Itachi is usually so easy to find." I knew something was wrong when Itachi went missing a few days ago, he was supposed to see me off to the Chuunin Exams and help me get ready. "Something's up, Zetsu, and I really want to know what."
~X~
When the smoke cleared we saw Iruka-sensei standing in front of us.
"Hey kids." He said joyfully, his eyes scanned over us. "Sakura-hime I see your medical jutsu has improved, not a scratch on any of you, although your clothes have suffered quite a bit."
I paid no mind to my ruddy ninja dress. It was ripped at the hem and torn and blood strain in random places. Of course, the boy's clothes suffered less damage. A female ninja's flimsy clothing was not made for this. But of course I just had to have this dress. It's pretty and blah, blah, blah.
"Hi Iruka-sensei." I said, running my fingers idly through my hair. It was knotted and I hadn't brushed it was more than five days. "So where's the nearest shower?"
"Sorry Sakura, but the Third Exam starts now." My blue eyes widened and chakra formed in my fist.
"What?"
"There still too many of you." Iruka quickly explained laughing because he obviously rather be somewhere else right now.
"Give me a few minutes. I'll cut the competition in half!" I stomped forward towards the door, but Iruka caught my arm.
ARGH! I can't believe my MOTHER took my cell phone away! There's four-day weekend and I'm going to miss everything (because I can't go anywhere without my cell phone).
Anyway...I'm proud of this chapter and because of my new-found fondness for Anko I made her part a little longer than it originally was and Sakura's fight (from Sasuke's POV) is coming up! Ah, I'm so excited and I need more Manga books to read. Give me any suggestions (For the story, for reading material or for my dearest mother.)
~QueenVamp