Darksider82
Winged Seer Wolf and anyone else

I only own this idea

VII

Arashi no Sunagakure= Storm of the Village Hidden in the Sand

Raiden jumped and landed expertly in the sand, according to his body clock it wasn't midnight yet. It was around Half Eleven at evening and Raiden smirked, the Hyuuga and their teams were following at a sedate pace and he utilised that to his advantage.

Raiden channelled chakra to his feet and he charged out onto the sand, unwrapping the puppet on his back. The puppet jumped off his, sprung open as Mikashi and Matsuri took up the slack. "Puppeteer art: Exit centre stage."

Raiden jumped backwards, slamming into the back of the puppet sticking to the back he fell asleep. Kiba snarled in outrage "LET'S GO!" With that he bounded into the desert.

Hinata paled "Shino-kun…"

Shino sighed "This is a classic Kiba attitude, charging after a native in the hopes they'll lead us to their destination."

Neji snorted "I suspect that Raiden intentionally led us this way. I overheard 'shortcut but its suicidal'…It is a shortcut but a perilous one, Hinata-sama you must follow him because none of you will be able to proceed…Fear not, my team shall accompany you."

The five pursuing genin charged out tracking down their errant team mate. Matsuri shook her head as the Inuzuka charged after them "Sand release: Cloud Gathering!" The sand around their feet rose up and with a serpent seal it was sent spiralling towards the Inuzuka.

Not checking to see if the person was all right, Matsuri and Mikashi carried on hauling the puppet and team mate across the desert. Of all the times to cross the desert, at night was the possibly the most dangerous and yet safest. Dangerous because all the predators were nocturnal but Matsuri knew where they were.

Raiden jumped out the puppet a few hours later and pulled Matsuri back from a scorpion pit. "Watch your step!" Matsuri nodded and they headed into the night.

A massive Sand snake entered their path as they headed towards suicide gorge, Raiden smirked dropped to his knees and slid and easily reverse beheaded it before sliding to his feet "Easy as pie."

Matsuri shook her head "Come on...We still have to make it through the gorge." She instructed calmly.

Meanwhile Hinata and her group had caught up with Kiba. There was no point in admonishing the Inuzuka heir for following the Suna team but charging out alone was and now they were completely and utterly lost in the dark. "Kiba-kun can you smell them?" Asked Hinata without stuttering, Kurenai had suggested to her to think of flowers before speaking.

"Hinata-sama, let's go." Called Neji, apparently Tenten was a raiton affinity and was able to track other people by the static electricity they gave off and with that they headed into the night at a much more sedate pace.

Mikashi stumbled and kicked a lump in the sand. It wasn't a lump in the sand but a Sand Scorpion Nesting Mother. "Raiden, I accidently kicked a nesting mother."

Raiden stopped, stiffened and slowly turned around "No-body move…" He whispered out of his mouth, his face turned white as the massive tail speared itself into the ground inches from his feet, the scorpion must have been at least eighteen foot long and thirteen feet high.

"Got a better plan?" Matsuri asked, her hair standing on end due to the pincer that was right behind her.

"Yeah…RUN! STRAIGHT FOR SUICIDE GORGE AND START CLIMBING!" Raiden called as he used a chakra infused leap to clear the gap between him and Matsuri, swipe the girl forwards, roll and kept on running.

Mikashi and Matsuri took off, long days of sprinting and long distance running allowed them to keep up the lung bursting tempo Raiden was dictating.

The scorpion snarled and charged after them, it rushed after them like rustling leaves in the wind. However it took after them just slightly too late, as it chased them down over the six mile stretch of desert the pathway began to narrow.

Raiden stopped at a boulder blocking their path by running up it and backflipping over it. He grabbed Matsuri and bundled her over it and scrabbled up himself. "HELP!"

Raiden looked behind to see Mikashi struggling to get into the bottom of the gorge. Raiden rushed back, he placed his hands under Mikashi's armpits and heaved upwards. A sickening snap was heard, Mikashi had trapped his foot. The chunin exam would be over for him but he wasn't allowed to quit until three days had passed.

The sun had already risen "Let's climb. Mikashi get on my back."

Temari and Shikamaru were observing all of the contestants when Temari shook her head "Those talented genin."

"What do you mean?"

"We said they had three days to get to Suna. Suna-nin know of shortcuts to shave off days or even hours in the treks through the desert but no-one uses them because they are so dangerous…My apprentice has directed his team through one of those secret paths and should be in the village momentarily.

Tenten and the Konoha five who were following her were completely surprised. They hadn't lost the trail of the Suna nin but they had been caught in a sand storm and had burrowed down. Little did they know that where they had dug in was right next to Desert Scorpions.

Meanwhile Matsuri and made it to the top of the gorge, followed by Raiden who was carrying Mikashi on his back. "Let's go! We're out of water and another fifty miles and we have two hours tops before Kazekage-sama's three hour curfew." Snapped Raiden as he picked up Mikashi and they began to run in the direction of the village.

The sun burnt away the morning dew and its intense rays beat down upon the sand. Suna-nin were accustomed to the extreme heat but it hadn't been this bad in years and one result of enduring the heat was a distinct lack of modesty between comrades. Raiden had pulled off his armour and ragged trench coat leaving him in just a pair of shorts that clung to his thighs. Matsuri had stripped down to a training bra and sports tank, she was wearing a pair of form fitting shorts that were Raiden's pants but she needed a pair. Mikashi for all of this was out for the count in shorts and a tank top.

The group hurtled towards the village as it appeared to climb out of the sand and to their surprise a group of chunin were rushing out to meet them, Raiden could tell that three of the chunin had a white band around their sleeves "Medical-nin."

"What's your need?"

"Nothing apart from rest, water, bandages and a pair of crutches." Snapped Raiden, since their canteens had been shredded by the scorpion or by fighting other teams, he had been pushing his chakra out to keep them going whilst trying to pull water out of the desert.

They were rushed into the village and to the tower. "You have one and a half days to regroup."

Raiden smirked as did Matsuri…They could now patch up their team mate and make sure he didn't die on them. It would be a shame. Above them Temari and Shikamaru stared, Shikamaru at the time and Temari at her apprentice's toned, tanned and scarred form.

"Congratulations you have completed the second stage."