sorry its taken so long, this chapters has been re-written about five times and to be honest... I;m still that 100% happy with it.

But I knew I had to put out something and here it is.

Again Sorry, the next chapter will be a little better... hopefully.

"The roots on this tree are uprooted slightly, this would provide great cover for us."

I glanced over at Sakura, who was holding Naruto's arm around her shoulder. I was doing the same, only with Sasuke.

We both managed, although I'm not quite sure how, to drag both our unconscious male teammates out of the tree branches, and onto the ground. Naruto was fairly easy to carry, due to him being shorter than all of us. However, there was no way Sakura's skinny little arms could carry Sasuke's large frame.

So lucky me, I had to carry him, and damn was he heavy!

We hadn't gotten very far from where we saw and fought Orochimaru, and I could tell Sakura was getting tired.

"No matter where we go, we're an open target" I stated with a sigh. "But we don't have a choice, we can't complete the exam until these two wake up."

I scanned the area, "okay you go first."

"What about Naruto?"

I exhaled loudly "put him down, gently! And I'll pass him and Sasuke to you, so get in."

Sakura did as I instructed, and as carefully as I could, I passed Naruto first to her. After getting Sasuke in, she laid them both side by side on their backs.

Standing up straight, I looked towards the sky, I only now noticed that it was night fall.

"Tomoko!"

Snapped out of my thoughts and turned to face Sakura.

"He's getting a fever!"

I crawled into the roots to see what she meant, sure enough Sasuke was flinching uncontrollably.

Kneeling by his side, I asked her kindly to move her hand away so I could do the same.

"The headband needs to come off, give me a hand will ya?" I told her. Sakura carefully lifted his head so I could untie it. Once done, she gently laid him back down.

I carefully placed my hand over his forehead, true enough, he was burning like a fresh fire. Removing my hand, I placed two fingers against the pulse on his wrist.

"His pulse is fast, but nothing to fret over I guess."

"Then... what should we do?" she asked unsure.

I massaged my temple "for now, we can only try and make things more comfortable for him..."

"Oh course! I have some towels in my ninja pouch, and I'm sure there's a river or pond nearby" she chirped.

"Hey wait a sec-" But I didn't finish as she crawled out of our shelter and stood up straight.

"Stay here and keep watch, I'll be right back."

"I said wait!" I snapped as I made my way out.

Immediately she stopped and faced me, pulling a confused expression.

"You can't just barge off on your own so blindly!"

She scoffed "do you have any better ideas?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Yes it was risky, but it was the only chance Sasuke had.

Begrudgingly I reached into my own weapons pouch.

"Here take this..." I said throwing it to her.

She caught it with ease, "when did you-"

"The Grass Ninja, the first one I mean, dropped it. I figured it'd be useful." I answered simply.

"You stole his drink carton?" she quizzed holding it in the air.

"Nope, he dropped it, I did what any ninja would've done."

"hm, I suppose you have a point" she breathed "I won't be long."

"Don't stray to far! There could still be enemies about" I told her.

She waved at me to let me know she heard me and disappeared within the greenery. I looked at our little shelter, and at my sleeping teammates.

This was quite the situation we managed to get ourselves into. The sight of Sasuke being bit by... I wasn't even sure if I could call Orochimaru a man. It all happened so fast, and I couldn't do anything.

"I'm scared..."

I inhaled sharply, what's going on!? I wasn't even trying to use my power... or remember my past!

"Someone help me, the scary men are going to kill me..."

"No..." I whimpered, I desperately searched the area. Hoping Sakura was coming back... But I couldn't see her any where.

The greenery withered around me, the trees became twisted and rotten.

I released a small cry, I hastily crawled back under the tree roots. Sitting right at the back of the tree, I tucked my knees to my chest and rested my chin on top.

"Okay, just calm down... its not real" I told myself...

"I'm scared... there's blood everywhere!"

"Stop it!"

"I don't want to die!"

"Sakura hurry up... please!" I whimpered as I saw a bloody figure standing over me.

"That carton came in handy" Sakura mused as she made her way back to the shelter. She managed to find a small river need by, that was more than enough to treat Sasuke's fever.

As Sakura reached the shelter, she couldn't help but notice how unusually quiet it was.

"Tomoko?" she called gently "did you fall asleep?"

She made her way into the tree roots.

"Tomoko? Did you hear me?"

But what she saw confused her.

Tomoko was tucked in the corner shaking uncontrollably, her eyes as wide as saucers. But what Sakura found disturbing, was the fact that she was just staring off into space... or that she was watching something.

"Hey Tomoko?" she called "what are you looking at?"

But her female teammate didn't answer her, she just continued to gawk at the same spot.

Sakura didn't hesitate, she kneeled in front of her and grabbed a hold of her hands.

"Tomoko..." she whispered softly.

Tomoko blinked a couple of times, as if she'd forgotten where she was.

"You okay?" the pink haired female asked.

Tomoko shook her head slightly, "Where'd she go?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow "who are you talking about?"

Tomoko looked around before sighing, telling her teammate to forget she said anything.

"Tomoko..." Sakura began "what happened to you? What did Orochimaru do to you?"

Tomoko gazed into the ground, not uttering a word.

"Tomoko?"

"Orochimaru said something about me being asleep, I have no idea what he meant by that. But he said he was going to awaken me... and give me back my memories."

"And do you remember anything?" Sakura quizzed.

Tomoko shook her head.

"Orochimaru said something about a seal, but I can't remember for the life of me what it was called" Sakura recollected.

Tomoko raised her eyebrow, and asked what she meant.

"Well, the name itself was in Yamakurism... I think..." she answered "Sasuke-kun seemed to understand it."

"Did he?"

"Either way, I think the justu backfired, because he retreated his hand and seemed to be in pain."

"And then?"

"Well..." Sakura said "you passed out... To be honest I couldn't really see much due to Sasuke-kun blocking my vision."

Tomoko looked down at her hands, at her vanbrace.

"I saw the woman covered in blood, she said that she was going to rip my mind to shreds."

"You mean the one from your nightmares?" she confirmed.

Tomoko nodded, "only now, she's delved even deeper into my mind... and I can't promise what will happen if I let her take me."

"I don't understand..." Saskura confessed.

Tomoko paused for second... "Neither do I, that's why I'm not taking any chances. You should focus on them two" she suddenly replied, nodding her head towards the boys.

"Tomoko..."

"I'm fine, I just... don't let me get caught up in my head" she ordered.

Sakura hesitantly nodded.

Daybreak fell upon us, the boys still hadn't woken up and even though she meant well, Sakura was getting on my last nerve.

She's been watching me like a hawk, and taking on most of the responsibilities. And by responsibilities I mean caring for the boys, setting up traps and keeping watch.

And its not like I haven't offered to help. In fact, I was begging to do something! But she wouldn't budge. I did however use this time to recover of some sorts... I'd done a lot of meditation and praying, you just to get my head back in the game.

I watched as she changed the damp cloth on Sasuke's forehead, a tired expression on her face. Speaking of the devil, he was still flinching and gasping, but it wasn't as bad now... thank god.

I couldn't tell you how painful it was to see him so helpless, and knowing that there was nothing I couldn't do for him made it even harder.

Naruto, well... he just seemed to be in a peaceful sleep. The only thing wrong with him was that he wouldn't wake up. We both tried, hell I even resulted to my 'knock-you-back-to-sense' punch (Sakura's words, not mine). But... it didn't work.

"You know Sakura, if they don't wake up soon... we're screwed" I told her.

No reply.

"Sakura?"

I looked up at her to see she had nodded off, I did a little cheer inside my head. Leaning my head back against the tree I was under, I released a heavy sigh.

"Ah!"

my attention was caught by Sasuke's cry, his flinching was becoming ten times worse. He was also mumbling something I couldn't understand.

"What?"

I pulled my ear closer to his mouth, and gasped.

"Tomoko... T-Tomoko..."

"Sssh" I cooed gently, "its alright... I'm here..."

This seemed to calm him down a little bit.

"Blood seal..."

I blinked, what did he just mumble?

"Blood seal... Orochimaru..."

"Blood Seal?" I repeated, what was he talking about. I wondered if this was the seal Sakura mentioned earlier?

I can't say that I've ever heard of such justu before.

Suddenly, I heard a gasp of fear.

Removing my hand, I looked up to see a frantic Sakura looking around.

"You okay?" I asked.

She stared at me, then at the boys.

"You fell asleep" I answered the silent question.

She looked at me horrified, so I had to reassure her it was only for like what? Ten minutes? Time wasn't exactly easy to keep on top of here.

"It's dawn already?" she questioned.

I nodded, it was the second day and we had barely moved.

Then, out of the blue. The bushes outside started rustling violently. Both me and Sakura prepared for the worse, and got our weapons ready.

We waited for the person to show themselves, only to find... well...

A squirrel.

"Eh?" I breathed out.

"Geez, don't scare us like that" Sakura exhaled to it.

The squirrel twitched its curious gaze at me and gave out a happy squeak. Immediately it started running towards me.

I heard Sakura intake a breath loudly and threw her kunai at the creature. The squirrel, jumped back in terror and ran off.

"Phew..." she wheezed "that was close."

I stared at where the squirrel was before, and the knife stabbed into the ground. Something didn't seem right about that squirrel. I mean granted, we are in the middle of a forest. However, I remembered something that happened before the first exam.

"Well, he's not usually 'that' friendly with new people" I heard Kiba say.

I scratched behind the dogs ears "I have a certain nack with animals."

"Yeah" Naruto cut in "they all seem to love her straight away..."

"Man what is it with you and animals" Sakura complained "you're like a magnet!"

'Shit...'

I am a freaking idiot! I should've realised that enemy ninja were listening to our conversation... and I blurt that out.

And now the second exam is set in a remote forest, surrounded by wildlife.

I tucked my knees to my chest and hugged them. As much as I know I should tell Sakura about my little theory, I didn't want to spook her.

"Hey!" she called "snap out of it!"

I blinked and looked at her stern expression, she must have thought I was getting trapped in my thoughts again.

Sakura shifted slightly, her legs must be aching from sitting down for so long.

"Maybe you should continue sleeping..."

"No!" Sakura cut in, "Don't be offended by this... but you're almost in as worse condition as Naruto and Sasuke-kun. I don't understand what happened to you, but regardless you need to rest... Now shut up! And leave it to me!"

I stared at her, a little wide-eyed at her outburst.

"Did you just stick up for yourself? Without sounding like a penchant child?" I asked.

She didn't answer.

"Who are you and what have you done with Haruno Sakura?"

I was amazed, and slightly scared. Sakura was actually taking charge for once.

Letting go of my legs, I leaned back onto a root and sighed heavily. As much as I wanted to get some shut eye, with the way my mind was working at the moment... I didn't want to risk it.

"I'm not going to sleep, I don't think I can..." I told her. I stared at my vambrace, clenching my fists I contemplated slightly.

Sakura, as determined as she was, couldn't hide the fact that she was exhausted. Her head was bobbing up and down, and her eyes kept closing.

I had to think on my feet, I needed to regain my strength quickly... and I did know one technique... but I had yet to completely master it. It was taught to me a while back, but it wasn't until my training sessions with Sasuke that I had only gotten to grips with it.

But, I had yet to fully use it...

"I don't have a choice..."

"Did you say something?" Sakura asked me.

I glanced at her "its nothing, I'm going to continue praying for a little while" I lied slightly.

"Go for it..." she replied dryly.

I crossed my legs and intwined my hands together.

'The Flow of Chakra is like a river...'

Once I got the feel of my Chakra flow, I placed my index fingers on the tips of my thumbs, creating a diamond shape. I then positioned the hand seal against my right collarbone, and focused on that part of the body.

'Lets hope I don't have to use this...'

I few more hours past, both me and Sakura fell into a silence and the boys were still in a slumber. I was only now I'd finished my 'technique' and relaxed a bit more. I felt much more alert and awake from it, much to Sakura's pleasure.

"How the heck do you do it?"

I glanced at her, and asked her what she was talking about.

"I'm practically fighting to stay awake" she hissed slightly, "but you haven't batted an eyelid."

"Yes... do tell."

We both became alert at the sound of an unfamiliar voice.

"Not sleeping and taking watch for the entire time, is quite impressive. But there's no need to do so."

We both stared out to see three people, two boys and a girl.

"It's those sound ninja" I mumbled.

"Could you wake Sasuke-kun?" the voice, which belongs to the heavily bandaged guy, asked gleefully "We want to fight him."

I stood up slowly and grabbed a kunai. Sakura demanded them to explain their purpose, and stated that we knew someone named Orochimaru was behind all of this.

The three of them stared at her in surprise.

"What's that weird bruise on Sasuke-kun's neck?" she challenged "You want to fight Sasuke-kun, after you did this to him?"

I glanced back at Sasuke, then back to our new guests. From the looks on their faces, this was the first they'd heard about Sasuke's bruise.

"I wonder, too..." said the bandaged guy "what is that person thinking?"

The other guy, who was sat on a rock smirked. "But now that we heard that, we can't ignore it" he mused "I'll kill this girl, too. I'll even kill the Sasuke guy." He slowly stood up, which made me react.

I slowly stepped out of the shelter and stood next to Sakura. "I am not in a great mood right now" I told him crossly, "if you even take one step... we will fight back."

The sound guy stared at me for a while, then laughed slightly. "So that's her huh? She doesn't look all that special."

"Wait Zaku" the bandaged one commanded, so that's the cocky jerk's name.

Zaku, let out a questioning what. His teammate approached us slowly, I silently prayed Sakura set a decent trap.

"How unoriginal" he commented kneeling down "The colour of the dirt indicates that it has just been dug up, this grass doesn't grow here."

'Damn it Sakura!' I hissed in my head, 'you couldn't have made a more obvious trap!'

"How Dumb" Zaku sneered "So she threw that knife so that the squirrel wouldn't get caught in the trap."

Mr Mummy stood up and tilted his head to the side, "lets kill them straight away."

"Oh no..." I mumbled as all three of them jumped for the attack.

However, I noticed Sakura pull a knife out and smirk.

"What are you-"

The sound of a ninja wire snapping, echoed in my ears. I watched as a giant log began to tumble from the branches, aiming directly at our enemy.

"When did you..." I paused "actually, I don't think I want to know."

I'm not sure if I could handle anymore surprises.

Although it took caught the ninja a bit off guard, mummy guy managed to counter it, unfortunately, I didn't see how he did it.

However... I did hear a light tremor, it was very faint... but it was enough for me.

But I had to get back to the situation at hand, Sakura's trap failed

"To be blunt, you have no talent at all" Mr Mummy said to my teammate, "people like you need to work harder!"

Crap, I didn't have enough time to counter.

"Konoha Whirlwind!"

I must have blinked, because one minute we were getting attacked. The next, our enemy got knocked backwards.

A figure stood in front, startling us slightly.

"Then the three of you also need to work harder." Said the new voice confidently.

My eye twitched slightly, as I stared at the back of green covered jump suit, and a squirrel on his shoulder.

Mummy guy demanded who he was.

"Konoha's beautiful blue beast... Rock Lee!"

'Beautiful isn't the word I'd use...' I thought as I felt a wet drop on the back of my head.

"Why are you here?" Sakura asked him, sounding completely baffled.

"Yeah why are you here?" I repeated, feeling confused myself, "Where is your team?"

He paused for a second, "When you are in danger, I will appear at anytime" he replied, although I had a feeling he was talking to Sakura.

I threw him a very unamused look "so if it was just me in danger, you would have bothered" I stated sounding very narked "thanks a lot Lee..."

He then lowered the squirrel to the ground and thanked it for it's help, it scurried away not long after.

"But right now" I heard Sakura say "I am your enemy, too."

"I told you before" he cut in "that I will protect you to the death."

I felt like face palming myself "my goodness you actually meant that?"

"Oh... Thank you..." mumbled Sakura.

I stared at her with my jaw on the floor, she was actually being nice to him.

And Lee was practically crying with joy, to which I told him to get a grip.

I heard Mr Mummy mumble something about having no choice, as he brought out his earth scroll.

"Zaku, I'll leave Sasuke-kun to you."" he called chucking the scroll to him "I'll kill these two."

Zaku caught it with ease, and I took a power stance "you won't lay a finger on him!"

Zaku narrowed his eyes at me, "I have to fight this girl? Really Doku?"

So that's what Mummy Guy's name is.

Doku threw him a stern glance "if she is who he says she is, don't underestimate her."

But Zaku smirked and went in for the attack, so I sprang into action. I threw my knife at him which caused him to dodge it, as soon as he was distracted I went to kick him, but he dodged that to.

It was only now I realised that Lee had sprung into action and kicked Doku in the air. Lee soon caught up with him and appeared from behind. Suddenly, his bandages unravelled themselves and wrapped al around Doku's body, trapping him.

I noticed Zaku pull some hand signs, but I was to entranced by what Lee was doing. He grabbed him from behind and spang him like a drill, head first into the ground.

Zaku punched his fists into ground, and that's when I heard it. Almost like a gush of wind but it was faint.

So that was the secret to their technique, well to Zaku's anyway. Lee jumped away with the dust cleared, Doku's upper body was stuck in the ground, however, the mud was slightly raised and made softer.

"Oh, Boy..." I heard Zaku say "Looks like I made it in time."

Doku slowly pushed himself out and shook his head.

"That can't be!" Lee cried.

Zaku started snickering, making him lose focus on me.

Without him realising, I appeared behind him, and blew into his ear. He flinched at the contact which allowed me to side step around him.

"Mountain Fist! Slash of the Golden Eagle!"

I managed to land at hit, unfortunately I only hit his shoulder blade. Still, it was enough to send him backwards and deal some damage.

He landed on his feet hard and clutched his shoulder, "what the?"

"It's not wise to get distracted when I'm around" I told him harshly "Especially when you have a technique as loud as yours."

"As loud as... what are you talking about!?" he demanded.

It was my turn to smirk, "my teammate may not be able to hear anything, but I can... clear as a melody!"

I heard him hiss under his breath.

"It seems I'm you're worse kind of opponent." I commented.

His eyes widened with rage "Shut up Bitch!"

He then shot his arms towards me, immediately, I heard the gust sound again... only it was more intense and powerful. I could hear a powerful wave come towards me, slicing into the ground as if it were fabic.

"Tomoko-san!" I heard Lee call, but he was busy with Doku.

"Tomoko! No!" Sakura cried.

Zaku chuckled, "Too easy!"