"You've all passed the first hurdle." Ibiki told the twenty-six genin cells who had passed his test, "Part one of the Chunin Selection Exams is now concluded. I'll pray you all fight the good fight!" he finished with a proud smile.
"Oh yeah! Pray to the Kajo no Kami y'know!" Naruto laughed boisterously, lifting up Maemi to sit on his shoulders with a wide grin on his face. The small Daemon had a smirk of her own, proud of herself for her part to play in assisting her blonde master.
Suddenly the window was shattered, startling the genin who has passed the first phase of the Chunin Exams. The source of the damage was a blur of movement and cloth, a pair of kunai embedding in the ceiling to hang a banner that stated, 'Newly Arrived Second Chief Examining Officer Anko Mitarashi'.
Standing in front of this banner was a slender woman with light brown eyes, violet hair styled in a short spiky fanned out ponytail with bangs framing her face, wearing a practically indecently form fitting metal mesh armor that went from neck to thigh under a dark orange miniskirt with a blue belt, hitai-ate on her forehead, a necklace with a charm that resembled a snake fang, a tan overcoat with purple in-seam, and grey shin guards.
Ibiki sighed from behind the banner at the antics as the woman started speaking, "None of you are in any position to celebrate. I am the second chief examining officer, Anko Mitarashi!" she introduced, "Time's a-wastin' people. Let's go! Follow me!" she declared loudly, throwing her right arm up in the way. When everyone just stared at her in shock she blushed a bit in embarrassment, the fact that one genin, Naruto, was staring at her in awe didn't help blunt this embarrassment.
The banner rustled as Ibiki moved it aside to give her an exasperated look, "Can't you sense the mood in here?" he scolded in a flat tone.
"This new proctor," Sakura muttered to herself with an annoyed expression, "she almost reminds me of Naruto..."
Anko seemed to suddenly realize just how many people were still in the room, "Seventy-eight?" she said in surprise, "You let twenty-six teams pass!?" she questioned as she rounded on Ibiki, "Obviously you went too easy on them." she scolded.
Ibiki sighed as only Anko would think he ever went easy on anyone, "We've got some exceptional applicants this time around." he answered with a smirk.
"Yeah right." Anko shot back with a sarcastic and disbelieving tone, "I'll cut the number down by half before the next test is done." she announced, concerning a few of the younger genin, "Ooh I get charged up just thinking about it!" she continued with a sadistic grin and a tremble to her body, "I'll explain things in detail once we move to our next location, so follow me!" she ordered.
Once the seventy-eight genin were gone Ibiki started clearing up the papers, when he got to the seat Naruto had been in he couldn't help but chuckle. The sheet was completely blank, the man wondered if he was losing his touch but couldn't deny that the feminine blonde boy was interesting.
Anko lead the twenty-six teams of genin who aspired to become chunin to a large fenced off forest, the fence was covered in signs warning of danger and not to trespass while the visible gate was locked up with multiple padlocked chains. There were even Fuin tags slapped into the gate.
"This is the arena for the second phase of the exams," Anko began with a cruel smirk, "training ground fourty-four. Also known as, the Forest of Death!" she explained in a sadistic but oddly giddy tone of voice.
"It looks like a pretty creepy place." Sakura murmured nervously, intimidated by the attitude of the woman and the look of the forest. She couldn't even see very far into it for how thick the massive trees were.
Anko chuckled, "You're about to find out first hand why we call this the Forest of Death!" she said with a cruel smirk.
Naruto just huffed air out of his nostrils, Maemi standing behind him again, "For such a pretty lady you talk a big game," the blonde said before smirking himself, "you can't psych me out so don't even try y'know!" he finished with a laugh.
Anko grinned, "Oh really?" she asked, "You're a cocky one, huh?" she added, then she swiftly palmed a kunai in her right hand and threw it. The blade flew past Naruto's cheek to cut it open, startling the blonde as it went. The next instant the violet haired proctor was behind the blonde with a shunshin, "Your kind are always the first to go." she said with a chuckle as she leaned over his shoulder, left hand on his shoulder as her right hand caressed his other cheek to hold him in place, "Spilling all that rich, red, lovely, luscious blood..." the woman practically crooned as she licked up some of the blood dripping from the cut.
"I love you." Naruto declared in a dreamy tone and a smile before his eyes widened as he seemed to realize what he said, "I mean-" he began to try and excuse the slip of his tongue as the surrounding genin looked at him like he was a freak. Sasuke and Sakura just looked exasperated, used to their teammates bizarre tastes.
Even Anko was startled by the sudden declaration, but something else caught her attention and she let go of his shoulder to palm another kunai in her left hand, "Your kunai," a genin from Kusagakure said, holding said knife in their tongue, "I believe you dropped it." they said as the long tongue offered the weapon. The androgynous shinobi had long smooth black hair, dark eyes, a straw hat on their head, wearing plain grey garbs with a black polo and pants underneath, a thick purple rope belt tied around their waist in a knot behind their back.
"Gee, thanks." Anko said as she accepted the kunai to hold two in her left hand, "Don't just stand behind me radiating blood lust, unless you're in a hurry to die." she warned with a grin.
The genin of Kusa pulled their obscenely long tongue back into their mouth, "I'll try to keep it under control," they agreed, "but the sight of warm, fresh blood really makes me crazy, and I was already revved up from losing a strand of my precious hair." they explained.
"Sorry about that." Anko apologized, recognizing that her kunai had been what caused the loss of the strand of hair.
"You're hair is still really pretty." Naruto assured the Kusa ninja as they returned to their team, drawing attention back on him, "What?" he asked at the look the violet haired examining officer was giving him.
"Did you already forget your little declaration?" Anko asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, "Don't tell me you say that to all the women who cut you up?" she added in a teasing tone.
Naruto blushed in embarrassment, "Uh," his mind blanked on what he should say, struggling to think of the words to excuse his outburst, "you startled me y'know." he decided bashfully.
Anko scoffed, "Cute," she said with a shake of her head and a grin as she put her two kunai away, "maybe Ibiki was telling the truth, we got some crazy ones this year." she mused, her words causing the unanimous thought that she was the craziest one among many of the other genin.
Hinata was blushing, she'd been worried about Naruto but his reaction to getting cut was so unexpected she wasn't sure what to think. The other rookies were mostly just looking at Naruto like there was something wrong with him, which was completely fair. Maemi was mostly amused, partially by her master, but also by the conflicting emotions she noticed from the Hyuga girl.
The Muse also found it interesting that the violet haired woman was surprisingly flattered by the declaration, "Before we begin the second exam, there's something that needs to be handed out." Anko said as she reached into her overcoat, Naruto's eyes widening as his proximity gave him a peak at her mesh covered chest before she pulled out a stack of papers, "They're consent forms. Everyone has to sign one." she explained to the confused genin.
"I consent to everything." Naruto said before he could stop himself, blushing when the violet haired woman turned on him. Maemi struggled to contain her laughter, covering her wide grin with both hands.
"Damn kid, puberty is hitting you hard right now." Anko said with an amused smirk, "Not that kind of consent form though brat, sorry to burst your bubble." she continued with a chuckle before turning to the rest of the crowd, "We just want to get all the details out of the way before the first deaths occur. Sign before you go in, so we can't be held liable." she continued with a laugh, "You wouldn't want me to get in trouble, would you?" she finished cheerfully.
Sakura was convinced that this woman was absolutely perfect for Naruto, a match made in hell and the pink haired girl wanted nothing to do with it.
"First, I'll explain the second exam, then you can sign these forms." Anko said as she waved the forms in her hand for emphasis, "Once they're signs take them with your other two members of your cell to that hut back there." she continued with a gesture towards a hut that looked new set up by the fence around the forest, "Got that?" she questioned as she handed the stack of papers to Naruto who nodded at the rhetorical question and took one as he handed the rest on, "Now about the exam, to put this simply it's a no-holds barred survival test." she began to explain.
The fact it would be a survival test surprised a few genin, while others became interested in the prospect of it being no-holds barred. Shikamaru just thought the whole thing sounded like a drag, a real pain in the neck as far as he could tell.
Anko pulled a scroll out of her overcoat, "Let's start with the topography of this training ground." she continued as she unfurled the scroll to reveal a very basic and bare bones map, showing the forest had a large river going through the middle with a tower in the center and four bridges spread out at different parts of the river, "Training ground number fourty-four is bordered by a circular perimeter fence, interrupted at regular intervals by fourty-four locked gates. Approximately ten kilometers from the perimeter, in the center, is a tower." she explained for those who couldn't see the map properly, "Within the confines of this area, you're all going to undergo a survival test. During the test you may use any ninja arts or tools you have at your disposal."
"Do you guys want to borrow some combat drugs?" Naruto whispered to his teammates, both just shaking their heads and glaring at him.
Anko was surprised to hear combat drugs being brought up, but decided not to bother warning against using them, "This is a fight to the death situation," she continued instead with a serious expression, "a life or death version of capture-the-flag, although in this case it's capture-the-scroll." she explained as she furled up the scroll of the map.
"Scroll?" A genin from Takigakure no Sato asked, confused by that detail.
"Exactly!" Anko continued as she put the map scroll away and pulled out two more, one scroll was white with blue lines around the kanji for heaven, while the other was blue with the kanji for earth, "There's a Ten no Sho, and a Chi no Sho." she explained as she showed the genin crowd the two scrolls, "Your objective is to acquire both scrolls and reach the center tower. Thirteen teams will have the Ten no Sho, while the other thirteen will have the Chi no Sho, the goal is to acquire both by any means necessary and reach the tower at the center within five days." she explained.
Sakura narrowed her eyes, "This is what was meant by cutting the number of teams by half." she realized, "The thirteen teams who have their scrolls stolen will fail." she added.
"Five days!?" Choji had a different concern, "What do we do for food!?" he asked desperately.
"The food situation is your problem, it's a survival test. The forest is full of nature's bounty if you aren't hopeless." Anko responded to the chubby genin coldly, "It's also full of man-eating animals, deadly insects, and poisonous plants." she continued, her words actually making Kiba smirk as Choji slumped with a sigh, "There's no way as many as thirteen teams will pass this." she added, "I imagine not only will a bunch of you die fighting over scrolls, but some will likely die of exhaustion, exposure, starvation, or dehydration." she continued with a cruel grin.
Naruto was checking his tool pouch, "Damn, only a couple of instant cup ramen and the metal teapot." he muttered under his breath. Those who overheard that wondered what kind of moron used such bulky travel rations, Sasuke and Sakura on the other hand knew that wasn't travel rations but just what Naruto carried around.
Anko ignored the plight of the genin, "Now, let's talk about rules and what you can be disqualified for." she continued with a grin to get attention back on her, "Obviously, the teams that fail to reach the tower with all three members of their cell as well as both a Ten no Sho and Chi no Sho, are out." she continued, "So is any team that loses a member, whether to death or serious injury." she added just in case that wasn't obvious from the first rule, no telling who would try to insist they technically passed by dragging the corpses of their team to the tower, "Also, under no circumstances can you leave the forest before the time is up, no recesses or time outs. Finally, you're forbidden to look at the contents of the scroll until you're inside the tower!"
"What happens if we sneak a peak?" Naruto asked curiously, hearing Maemi's voice in his head say something about it likely being booby trapped somehow.
"That's for those who look to know!" Anko said mysteriously with a wink to the blonde, "If any of you make it to chunin, there are times you'll be trusted with top secret documents. So consider this a test of your trustworthiness." she explained more seriously and Maemi frowned, trustworthy was not a defining trait of chaos champions but she understood why ninja villages would want their operatives to be trustworthy, "That's all the explanation you get. We'll trade one scroll for every three forms. Once you've got your scroll pick a gate you want to start from. Everyone will begin at the same time."
With the explanation done the genin all began filling out the forms, going into the hut one at a time to retrieve their scrolls. The hut had a tarp to hide what scroll each team was given, as well as who was carrying it. Sasuke considered letting Naruto carry the scroll due to his strange abilities and the form hiding kimono, but decided to hold onto it himself. The Uchiha may acknowledge that his blonde teammate had gotten much stronger with Maemi's help, but he still thought the ramen obsessed boy was a bit too much of an honest idiot to be given the scroll.
Soon enough team seven was waiting for the test to start outside of gate twelve, Maemi quite pleased with the number of the gate. Personally she also wanted to get this test over with, being assigned to a cell number like seven disgusted the small Daemon of Slaanesh so the sooner her master became a chunin the better.
Maemi followed close to Naruto as the genin of cell seven walked through the woods, the blonde wondering if he should take the combat drugs already as the oppressive atmosphere of the forest sounded like the beginnings of his favorite song. As far as the young Uzumaki boy was concerned the Tatakainouta was a song from Slaanesh just for him, he wasn't aware that wasn't entirely accurate and Maemi didn't think correcting him was worth the conversation, mentally or verbally.
"Did you guys hear someone scream?" Sakura asked nervously, looking around for signs of danger, "This place is giving me the creeps." she added with a shiver.
"I heard a few screams," Naruto answered with a smile, "they harmonized really well with the ambience." he added cheerfully.
"You give me the creeps more than this forest." Sakura grumbled, glaring at the fearless blonde.
Naruto pouted, which quickly became a frown, "Uh," he began, turning away, "I gotta take a leak." he said shamelessly, fiddling with his kimono.
Sakura recoiled, "Not in front of me you idiot! I'm a lady!" she snapped, punching him in the back of the head as her temper flared. Secretly she wouldn't mind if it was Sasuke though. Maemi wanted to point out that they shouldn't split up like that, but instead just followed the contrite Naruto since she could tell the pink haired girl would just argue and probably draw more attention anyway.
Naruto trudged into the bushes, going around the tree when he heard something new in the Tatakainouta. With a twist of his hips the blonde turned, delivering a side kick with his right foot into the chest of a ninja trying to sneak up on him and Maemi with some rope.
The enemy ninja had a hitai-ate indicative of Amegakure, spiky brown hair, and dark eyes with a sash over his face that had eye holes cut out. He wore a yellow jumpsuit that was stitched up the middle, his shuriken holster on his left leg, and a rebreather on his lower face.
"Well, well, I guess you weren't all talk." The Amenin said, coiling the rope back up to hold it in his right hand as Maemi stepped behind her master again.
"I almost didn't even notice you, if it makes you feel better." Naruto responded with a grin, he'd only noticed the other boy right at the moment he'd moved to attack thanks to the Tatakainouta.
"Almost doesn't win prizes." The genin responded calmly, swiftly weaving hand seals. Naruto frowned in confusion since he didn't hear an attack coming, allowing his opponent to escape by sinking into the dirt beneath him.
Naruto blinked owlishly, he hadn't considered his opponent would just run away like that, "Naruto? What the hell is taking so long back there?" Sakura asked in an annoyed tone.
"Oh! Sorry, haven't gone yet, some weirdo from Ame tried to attack me y'know!" Naruto responded, turning to the tree to do his business.
After finishing his business and adjusting his kimono, Naruto returned to his team, "Someone tried to attack you?" Sasuke asked for clarification with a raised eyebrow and the blonde nodded, Sakura didn't look like she believed it, "That makes sense, attempting to pick us off when we split like that. Good job not getting taken out." the Uchiha said, he wasn't going to be caught off guard by not taking anything seriously just because Naruto was usually a goofball.
"Why didn't the rest of his team attack us while he was sneaking up on Naruto then?" Sakura questioned with a frown, figuring that would be the best course of action.
"He had a ninjutsu to treat the earth like water," Maemi spoke up, "that's how he got away, probably figured he could take out Naruto-sama quietly." she assumed from the emotions she'd felt from the genin, "I'd call him a fool, but he almost succeeded." she added, even she hadn't heard him until the moment he'd been about to strike.
Sasuke nodded, "Just in case, we should have some kind of password if we get separated. If he'd taken Naruto out and impersonated him well enough with Henge no Jutsu we might have been in trouble." he pointed out.
Maemi wanted to point out they could just not separate, but there were many ways an enemy shinobi could force it to happen anyway. Also Sakura was liable to freak out over not having any privacy from two boys in a five day period, the Muse sort of hoped the pink haired girl got attacked while going to the bathroom to hammer home that privacy was a luxury that didn't always exist.
Despite coming up with the idea for a password, Sasuke wasn't sure what it should be. His first thought was to come up with a complex poem that Naruto would never remember without his combat drugs, but Naruto had combat drugs and Maemi. The Muse did give the Uchiha his next idea for a password however, a smirk playing across his lips.
"We'll need different passwords," Sasuke began, "you two should ask me to recite the poem Ninki, a ninja poem. I'll respond with 'We thrive in the chaos of the enemy tide. Quiet shinobi don't need dens to hide. Our only concern is to watch and wait. Until the enemy opens the gate.'" he recited.
"Why different passwords?" Sakura asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You expect Naruto to remember that?" Sasuke asked and the girl gave the blonde a blank look, Naruto just pouted, "Sakura, we'll ask you the name of the worst jutsu Naruto has." he said and the girl scowled, wondering why that had to be her password, "Finally, Naruto, we'll ask you to state the true name of your god." he finished, the blonde gave a thumbs up and a grin.
Maemi frowned, she could tell that Sasuke's was the easiest for an enemy to recite if they overheard it but she understood immediately the purpose behind Naruto's password. No one else in this world seemed capable of saying the name of Slaanesh, Sakura's password was at least based on knowledge of each other.
As the three genin got ready to move again Maemi's eyes widened in alarm as a kunai went straight through her, Naruto snapped his head in the direction the attack came from as he heard a discordant screeching in the song he loved. A wind that had started to blow from that direction suddenly picked up, the gale forces heavy enough to damage the landscape.
Sasuke took a moment to collect himself, having managed to take cover but having lost sight of his team already. As he slowly left the cover of the bush he'd dived under he noticed Sakura, "Sasuke-kun!" the girl noticed him as well.
"Hold it!" Sasuke said sternly, palming a kunai in his right hand, "Your password, what is Naruto's worst jutsu." he asked, not dropping his guard until he could be certain.
Sakura groaned, "I really want to say bunshin," she confessed and the Uchiha tensed up, "but that Oiroke no Jutsu is just damn nasty!" she practically snarled.
Sasuke relaxed a bit, anyone could steal academy records and learn Naruto had been terrible at bunshin. Sakura just hated his more perverted jutsu, even if the blonde was good at it technically. The genuine anger of the pink haired girl at saying the name would be hard to fake too, so he was pretty sure he'd selected a good password for the girl.
"Yow, you guys alright?" Naruto asked as he came around from behind a tree rubbing his head.
"Not so fast, Naruto," Sasuke halted him, "the true name of your god?" he questioned, hoping he calculated this correctly.
"Suraaneshu-sama!" 'Naruto' responded and Sasuke threw his kunai at the fake blonde, the boy acting alarmed as he dived away from the attack.
"Nice disguise," Sasuke praised sarcastically, "but that's not how it's pronounced at all!" he informed, staying on guard.
In a puff of smoke Naruto was replaced by the androgynous Kusanin with the long tongue, "Can you even pronounce it correctly?" they asked with a sardonic smirk.
"Not a chance, it's the perfect password for that blonde idiot." Sasuke answered with a smirk.
The Kusanin chuckled, "Perhaps I should have impersonated the pink haired girl, but she managed to take cover faster than your blonde friend." they mused, "He seemed quite distracted by his little pet being hurt, strange that it didn't dispel right away though. There is something quite interesting about those Daemons." they pondered as they pulled out a Chi no Sho, "That aside, I suppose you kids, who have the Ten no Sho would like this?" they asked, revealing they already knew which scroll the two genin of cell seven had.
If the Kusanin knowing what scroll team seven had wasn't alarming enough, they swallowed the Chi no Sho whole, their throat bulging obscenely as they did. Sasuke felt all the blood rush from his face and a lump form in his own throat at the sight, he got the feeling whatever was about to happen was going to suck for him and Sakura.
Sakura just mentally cursed Naruto for being tossed aside like he had been, normally she'd love being alone with Sasuke but the Kusagakure genin with the long tongue seemed terrifying. The pink haired kunoichi never thought she'd find someone who disturbs her more than Naruto does, so the girl made a mental note to be grateful for having scary teammates in future.
Naruto groaned as he sat up, "Maemi-chan?" he asked, looking around in concern. The blonde wasn't sure how far he'd been thrown by that blast, he'd frozen up at the sound in the song right before it had happened because he had no idea how to dance to whatever that had been.
No answer came from his Familiar at first and he felt concern, he wondered if she'd been dispelled and he should use Kuchiyose no Jutsu to get her back, "Naruto-sama?" Maemi called out, "There you are, I knew I could feel your chakra over here." the Muse said, sounding as relieved as the blonde genin felt.
Naruto stood up, checking his clothes as he did. The kimono was a little ruffled and torn in some places but still wearable, the tears were mostly all small with the biggest still only being a few centimeters across above the Uzushio spiral patch on his left arm.
Maemi froze, "Naruto-sama, behind you!" she warned frantically right as the boy heard a change in the song as something directed lust for blood towards him. Naruto leaped up and over the head of a striking snake, far larger than any snake had any right to be.
Naruto lifted his right hand, two fingers out, and flared his chakra before whipping the hand down. The snake hissed in pain as the purple cable of Naruto's daemonic chakra sliced into it before it disappeared in a puff of smoke, startling the blonde who landed in a crouch.
"That snake, it wasn't a natural denizen of the forest." Maemi realized with concern, swiftly moving to Naruto's side as the genin stood and looked around for the source of the snake. The Muse was concerned, Naruto may have gotten much better but there was no Eiyu no Mizu in these woods, and whoever had sent them flying had ridiculous chakra, they'd even almost dispelled her.
Naruto seemed to realize that was odd as he turned on his Familiar, he relaxed only because he could feel their bond, "I'm glad you're still here, but how?" he asked.
"It's thanks to you chakra," Maemi began, not entirely lying, "mostly because of our bond, but your Yang chakra is so potent I can ignore some damage." she simplified, truthfully her nature as a Daemon, an immaterial being, allowed her to ignore certain physical harm easily enough, but it was accurate that Naruto's chakra was the reason she hadn't been dispelled.
"How interesting..." A new voice said, alarming Maemi that she hadn't detected him. Naruto turned to the voice as he felt the killing intent from two newcomers, vaguely recognizing them as the two genin that freaky Kusagakure shinobi with the long tongue had been with.
One was so skinny Naruto could see the bones of his arms, dressed fairly normally, with basic black gi with white trim over a mesh shirt, fingerless black gloves, a thick light colored lavender rope tied around his waist, and a very creepy looking mask that looked like it was supposed to evoke the idea of a zombie. The other had a more normal face, with dark purple lipstick, wearing a dark grey tattered cloak over a black jumpsuit, and his own thick white rope hanging around his shoulders. Both were bald, and both were giving cruel smirks to the blonde genin of team seven.
Naruto wondered what happened to the straw hats they'd been wearing, "Identify yourselves!" he demanded, his left hand gripping the scabbard of his sword, still held in his own purple sash.
The one with the freaky mask cocked his head to the side, "Now why would we do that?" he asked, his voice indicating he had been the one to speak a moment ago. His partner chuckled darkly as he pulled a scroll out of his tattered coat, "Our boss told us we could play with you while he played with your team, so I'm glad you seem like you'll at least be fun." the masked shinobi said, "We noticed stealth doesn't seem to work on you, an interesting ability, care to explain how it works?" he asked.
Naruto could feel the malicious intent of the two singing to him, "If you won't give me your names," he said, shifting his glance between the two, "then I'll call you Mook," he said with a gesture towards the skinnier one with the mask who had been speaking, "and I'll call you Mob." he added with a grin, pointing at the one who had pulled out a scroll while chuckling, "I challenge you both in the name of Slaanesh-kaasama!" he finished cheerfully.
The two shinobi halted to stare incredulously at the blond, "Don't go deciding that kind of shit on your own!" Mob snapped with a furious expression, unfurling the scroll he pulled out to reveal a storage fuin. Maemi stepped back to assist if needed, she was really more of a support or a Spell Familiar than a Combat Familiar though so she hoped Naruto would be fine.
Mook moved first, weaving hand seals as he went. Naruto raised his right hand and flared his chakra to strike with another Shifuku no Kurushimi, but this time the cable carved up a log when it struck. Mob pulled a pair of wakizashi connected by a length of chain at their pommels as Mook avoided Naruto's attack with a Kawarimi no Jutsu, grabbing each weapon in a reverse grip before tossing the one in his right hand spinning through the air at the blonde genin.
Naruto grinned widely, already loving the sound of the Tatakainouta caused by two dangerous opponents. He didn't fully understand the ability, but he'd gathered that the sound of the song was affected by the malicious intent and skills of his enemies. These two enemy shinobi sounded amazing, even if he did think they looked stupid.
With his left hand the purple eyed genin reached into his kimono and swiftly unsheathed his tanto, parrying the airborne wakizashi before he dived to the side to avoid a hail of kunai from behind and above. Mob tugged the chain of his weapon to pull the wakizashi he'd thrown back to his right hand as he charged, Naruto pulled a quartet of shuriken from his kimono to toss them at the older shinobi as he leaped up and over a fuma shuriken that came flying at him from some bushes.
"So he really can dodge attacks without needing to see them, interesting skill." Mook's voice came from the forest around Naruto as Mob deflected the shuriken thrown at him with the chain connecting his blades, and although the blonde couldn't precisely pin down the location of his enemy he couldn't help but smile as he enjoyed the thrill. The knowledge that Slaanesh was watching his fights drove Naruto to fight harder, he flipped his tanto to a reverse grip as he ducked under yet another attempt by Mob to toss his right hand wakizashi and leaped towards the older ninja.
Mob suddenly flicked his wrist as he leaped to spin through the air, his actions aiding his length of chain in wrapping around the younger genin. Naruto was startled by this but jerked his body roughly to bring the thrown wakizashi to a reverse grip in his own right hand as Mob leaped down to try finishing him off, twisting his body to bring the blade up at an angle.
The two wakizashi clashed in a shower of sparks and a spray of blood, "Hasty fool..." Mook said from the trees around Naruto as the chains loosened around the blonde, Mob hit the ground with a thud and a large gash going from his right shoulder and down his chest while the blonde had been cut on the back of his own right shoulder.
"How-?" Mob wondered as he moved to get up but found his own chain wrapped around his right leg, Naruto pulled the chain to throw the older ninja off balance so he could throw his tanto hard and fast into the skull of the bald shinobi.
"It seems you're more dangerous than I heard." Mook acknowledged, sounding alarmed by this realization. Naruto just grinned as he finished unwrapping the chains from around himself, keeping hold of the wakizashi in case something hard to dodge and metal came flying at him.
"Your friend was a lot more fun than you, now that it's just you I don't feel as much malicious intent." Naruto said, looking around to see if he could pinpoint the source of the blood lust.
"You'll find I'm the far more dangerous shinobi." Mook answered calmly, then Maemi narrowly evaded a single senbon trying to hit her from behind.
The Muse could smell something on the senbon, "Naruto-sama, he has poison weapons!" she warned quickly, leaping to take cover as a hail of shuriken chased her. Naruto focused on their flight path but realized they were coming from multiple directions, indicating the skinny ninja was either using bunshin or arcing his throws from cover, "Call a serpent or a steed!" Maemi cried out, "They can sniff him out!" she added before the enemy ninja suddenly burst from behind a tree and struck the Imp with a knife hand to the back of the neck.
Naruto leaped at the revealed opponent as his Familiar stumbled from the blow, dropping the wakizashi as it was tangled to Mob's corpse by the chain and swiftly palming a single shuriken to throw at the man in order to halt the attack on his Muse. Mook palmed a kunai with his right hand and took the shuriken on his left forearm to plunge his kunai into the skull of the Muse, Maemi narrowly avoiding being dispelled by diving to the ground and rolling away.
The skinny shinobi tossed the kunai after the rolling Imp to embed in her leg before he suddenly tore off his right glove to reveal a storage fuin tattooed to his palm, unveiling a wakizashi of his own as Naruto unsheathed his katana to bring the blade down as he landed. The blade of the blonde genin's sword dug into the scabbard of the wakizashi before Mook swiftly spun, unsheathing his weapon and abandoning the scabbard to slice at Naruto who leaned backwards to avoid it.
The blonde heard a sharp whistle coming at his shoulder in the song and twisted on his heel to avoid another senbon, Mook leaped away after flicking the senbon at his shoulder with his left hand and tossed a trio of shuriken with the same hand that Naruto rolled to avoid. The masked shinobi had to admit silently that the young genin being able to react to attacks before they happened was impressive, even if it was annoying for someone weaker than himself to be constantly ahead of his attacks.
Naruto came up in a crouch and leaped to avoid a kunai, eyes widening as he braced himself for the explosion of the kibaku fuda tied to the pommel. The blast knocked him off balance in mid air and he swung his sword at another sound, knocking another senbon out of the air only for a second directly behind the first to land in his right shoulder.
Maemi was growing concerned as she took the kunai out of her leg to use for herself, whoever this ninja was they were above the chunin level Naruto had become capable of keeping up with and by staying on the offensive they'd stopped the blonde from following her advice. She cursed herself for not giving him the warnings mentally but the distance forced on them had made that impossible with her power, the Muse doubted that had been intentional on the part of the shinobi her master had nicknamed Mook.
Naruto tore the senbon from his right shoulder with his left hand and saw shuriken coming at him but narrowed his eyes as the song in his head indicated a different attack coming from behind, so he ignored the shuriken that weren't part of the song and turned to swing his right arm at the other sound. He saw nothing but he could feel his katana collide with something in the air and swipe whatever it was aside as the visible shuriken embed themselves in his body.
Mook watched from a distance as he continued to toss shuriken, noticing that while Naruto's eyes reacted to the genjutsu his body ignored it except for wincing occasionally in phantom pain. The masked shinobi chuckled darkly, "My oh my oh my, you are an interesting one. So while you aren't immune to genjutsu you have some way of telling apart fake danger from real even under the effects of a genjutsu." he mused out loud, allowing his voice to carry, "While I admit you're an impressive fighter for your age, you're a subpar shinobi. You're highly visible, easy to track, you don't even seem to care about erasing your presence." he scolded.
Naruto frowned as his vision was going dark at the edges, his heartbeat slowing down was most concerning. It wasn't slowing down to a dangerous speed, merely a relaxed one but he'd come to associate his racing heartbeat with the rhythm of the Tatakainouta, "A shinobi is a master of deception who crosses the boundaries of the living and the dead." the blonde responded as he pulled an airtight container from his tool pouch, "Everyone has this idea we're supposed to be stealthy assassins, but I deceived your friend into underestimating me and killed him y'know." he added with a smirk as he got a small white pill out of the container.
Mook just laughed, the sound coming from all around the blonde, "My friend? Please, just because we work under the same leadership doesn't mean I liked him." he said cruelly, "That fool allowed himself to be tilted by your obnoxious nicknames, he deserved to die by your hand just as you will die by mine." he explained calmly, biding his time while his poison worked its magic.
Naruto popped the combat drug in his mouth, swallowing it with the aid of his saliva, "If you're so sure of that, then come get me, Mook." he mocked, gripping his katana with both hands again. Instead of obeying, the masked ninja leaped at Maemi as she moved to break Naruto from the genjutsu, grabbing her hands with his left hand and driving his wakizashi into her skull with his right to finally dispel the Familiar, "Maemi-chan?" Naruto called out in alarm, not able to see it happen but he felt the bond sever.
"Your pet is gone," Mook responded as he circled the blonde slowly and carefully, "now I can take my time with you." he said, trying to psych the blonde out. He was confident it was working as the young genin started respiring harder, unaware of the side effects of the combat drug.
"If you're trying to make me angry, it won't work." Naruto told his opponent, surprising the skinny man with his calm, "Slaanesh-kaasama told me to abandon my wrath and despair," he began, "so I'll kill you with a smile on my face and a song in my heart." he finished with a grin, knowing he could call Maemi back with Kuchiyose no Jutsu once the fight was done definitely helped though.
Mook watched carefully, deciding to set a trap just in case. He wasn't sure how the blonde was still up and about, but the vacant look in the purple eyes of the young genin told the older shinobi that the poison was indeed working. The skinny man assumed that the boy must just have some tolerance to toxins, perhaps a hardier constitution. He was aware the boy was Jinchuriki, so he pondered if maybe that had something to do with it.
After he finished setting up what he had planned, watching the blonde endure more of the genjutsu shurikens without complaint as he did, the masked shinobi readied his wakizashi. He didn't want to admit it, but his caution was caused at least partially by fear. Being afraid of a genin years younger than him was downright disgraceful, but he had to admit that the young blonde had some unnatural abilities.
Naruto was breathing hard, his heartbeat was irregular and his chest hurt. His vision swam in front of him, he couldn't even see the genjutsu anymore but he could feel it. The pain of the phantom shurikens was a minor issue, they didn't actually affect his muscle movements so much as they caused his muscles to protest to any movement with pain. They weren't part of the song though, so he focused, waiting for the man to attack again.
The sound of a blade cutting into the song alerted Naruto to the real attack and the boy ducked and twisted, thrusting his katana past the attack as it sounded bigger than a throwing weapon unless the masked man had thrown a wakizashi or fuma shuriken. Mook coughed up blood in surprise, looking down at the sword that had gone through his heart as his genjutsu over the blonde faded.
The masked ninja scowled under his freaky mask as the eyes of the blonde who killed him remained vacant, to be defeated by an opponent who was under the effects of his poison was shameful. He wondered about the pill the boy had taken, wondering what manner of combat drug it was and if it had somehow fought the effects of his poison.
Mook had no time to concern himself with that, his heart had been pierced and he would die shortly. The edge of his vision darkened as he pulled away, his blood splattering on the blonde who watched him go with those vacant purple eyes. The man had set the trap as a contingency, but now he was glad he had done it. He'd prove he was the better shinobi and complete his mission, even death wouldn't stop him.
Naruto watched the man stumble away from him, pulling his scabbard from his sash and taking the purple cloth from his waist to clean the blade before sheathing it. He remembered Maemi saying that sheathing it while it was bloody could cause it to become damaged, as he finished sheathing it Mook fell to the ground and reached for something in the bushes.
Naruto's vacant eyes widened in alarm, he still heard the song but he was exhausted. He couldn't move and he wondered what the dying shinobi could possibly be doing, then Mook tugged on a rope to activate the kibaku fuda rigged to the back of a nearby tree.
The light of the blast filled Naruto's vision, he didn't have time to mold his chakra for a kawarimi and simply covered what he could of his upper body and head with his arms. Whether it was luck or the divine will of his god, the blonde survived the blast. His kimono had been torn a little bit more, stakes of wood from the destroyed tree had grazed his flesh and the blast had singed him even at the distance he'd been as it knocked him onto his back.
Naruto panted breathlessly, wincing as his entire body protested to him getting up, his head felt even heavier than the rest of his body but he managed to get up to his knees. His hitai-ate fell down, having come loose in the blast and he caught his reflection with some surprise and alarm. His whisker marks on his cheeks were thicker, wilder even, and his pupils had lengthened into vertical slits. The most alarming was the forward curving horns, like those of a bovine, that had emerged from his temples, dripping with blood from breaking out of the flesh of his head.
The horns weren't particularly big, but with how tired he was their added weight was a nuisance. Naruto wondered if this was another blessing from Slaanesh, it must be because it was something new after having killed his opponents in a challenge. He wiped up some of the blood trickling down the right side of his face, he wanted Maemi back but he could feel his energy fading.
Not knowing how long he'd remain conscious and knowing that the Muse wouldn't be able to carry him far he thought about what his Familiar had told him to summon, a serpent or a steed the Imp of Slaanesh had told the purple eyed genin.
"Kuchiyose..." Naruto intoned noticing his throat was sore, probably from breathing in some dust kicked up by the explosion, and in a puff of smoke a large serpent with mammalian features was coiled around him, he noticed it even had a saddle but he doubted he could handle riding in it properly right now. He'd get Maemi back once he recovered his strength but first, "Can you-?" he began, voice catching in his throat before he coughed, "get me to my team." he ordered, looping his bloody purple sash around his left arm that was gripping his scabbard before grabbing his hitai-ate with his right hand, resolving to tie it to his head later.
The serpent had no mane like the smaller one he'd first summoned against Mizuki what felt like so long ago, the scales were almost like rainbows when they caught light but were violet otherwise, it seemed more armored, and part of it's saddle was barding that covered it's six mammary glands with armor similar to a breastplate that contoured to its breasts. Naruto looped his right arm up and over the saddle as the serpentine Daemon leaned down to allow him on, hooking his right elbow around the pommel of the saddle.
Naruto continued to breath heavily as the creature he'd called with Kuchiyose no Jutsu carefully slithered through the undergrowth, dragging him towards where he hoped his teammates would be. He did not remain conscious for long.
Sakura Haruno was not having a good day. The second phase of the Chunin Exams was far more intense than she'd expected, although to be fair she was pretty sure that an S rank nukenin like Orochimaru of all people was not supposed to be a part of the survival test.
Sasuke had fought well, but in the end they were just genin. Sakura wasn't even sure why they'd been spared, he'd burnt their scroll and afflicted Sasuke with some strange jutsu by biting his neck. The Uchiha had a fever and without Naruto around the pink haired kunoichi had barely managed to find somewhere to hide among the roots of a giant tree, trapping the area as best she could.
Despite not being fond of her other teammate she was worried about him, she may not like him but he was still on their team. Sakura didn't want the blonde to actually die, and that had little to do with concerns about passing the test. Passing or failing was the furthest thing from her mind, the young kunoichi just wanted to survive.
A slithering sound sent shivers down her spine, she remembered the snakes Orochimaru had used. The man seemed like a snake in human form as well, although the man had said he'd come find them if they passed so it was still early but he'd mentioned the Otonin being his subordinates so maybe it was them or maybe he'd changed his mind or lied.
Sakura snapped her attention to the sound as those thoughts ran through her head, only to see what appeared to be the face of an anteater, then she saw the rest of it's serpentine body and it took her a moment to register Naruto clinging to a saddle the thing had.
"Naruto?" Sakura asked, concerned when he didn't move in response, she got up to try halting the creature, "Wait-!" she began to stop it from triggering her traps, to her surprise it did halt, it's tongue lashing out and she noticed it was gesturing its whipping tongue towards the traps she'd laid. The fact this thing could notice the placement of her traps was concerning, it meant they weren't as well hidden as she thought, "I'll come get him to bring him over here, just don't move." she said, hoping the creature could understand her.
Thankfully it seemed to, as it waited as she carefully approached. The sight of the creature was freaky, but she'd seen far scarier things that day. Soon Sakura was carrying Naruto to the same hiding spot she'd secured Sasuke, noticing with concern that he had a fever.
The new horns gave the kunoichi pause, but she noticed he was gripping tightly to his hitai-ate and sword even while unconscious, "Where's Maemi?" she wondered, then she felt stupid for asking out loud since the only thing that could hear her was the strange saddled serpent. It didn't answer of course, merely followed her to the hiding spot.
Sakura realized this may be a trick, but she was confident no one could mimic how unsettling the Daemons that her blonde teammate could command truly were. The girl put Naruto down next to Sasuke as she checked his wounds, noticing with some surprise that she could actually watch them visibly healing.
The kunoichi frowned as she had no idea about Naruto having a healing factor, then she realized with shame that there was a lot she didn't know about her teammates. Orochimaru had mentioned someone named Itachi and Sasuke had completely lost his cool, she didn't have her own bingo book so she couldn't go checking to confirm who that was and she only knew the name of Orochimaru due to the fame of the Sannin.
That a Sannin of all things, and worse the criminal of the three, was in the Forest of Death was strange. Sakura had no idea what was going on and she was terrified, she noticed the serpent that had brought Naruto was curling up outside the entrance to help her keep guard.
Sakura was grateful for the help, and realized idly that even unconscious the blonde member of team seven was rescuing them. The girl hated to admit it, but she really was the weakest link. She felt despair but swallowed it, remembering what Naruto always said about despair she carefully cleaned the dust from the blonde's wounds, picking his clothes from the healing wounds to stop the injuries scabbing over the kimono, doing her best to make sure his cuts and scrapes wouldn't get infected before she rinsed the warm water from the cloth she placed on Sasuke's head with more cold water to help keep his fever down.
Sakura couldn't help but feel useless, but she refused to despair. The girl got no sleep that night, too worried about her unconscious teammates who it seemed were not resting easy despite being unconscious.
The night went on, Sakura growing more agitated and tired. The girl was wound up tight, a bundle of nerves when dawn finally came. Still Naruto and Sasuke remained unconscious, Sakura took some comfort that the now horned blonde genin didn't have a fever for her to try and manage like Sasuke did.
A noise set the hair on the back of Sakura's neck on edge and she turned as she palmed a kunai, only to see a squirrel. She almost sighed in relief until it started coming closer, alarmed she quickly threw her kunai to scare it off so it wouldn't set off any of her traps.
Sakura shivered with relief, the strange serpent with the mammalian features that brought Naruto to her still hadn't dispelled so she at least had some kind of back up. A cruel chuckle made her jolt in surprise, "You've been up all night on guard?" the voice of Dosu Kinuta had the girl turn to see the three Oto genin at the edge of where she laid traps, "I don't get what's with that freaky guardian you've got, but as of now you're off duty." the bandaged member of the Otonin continued, "Just wake Sasuke for us. The three of us want to take him on." he demanded.
Sakura swallowed a lump in her throat, she wasn't like Naruto, she couldn't just cast away despair with a smile, so she snarled instead, "What the hell do you assholes want!?" she snapped furiously, "I know you bastards are working for Orochimaru," her words alarmed all three Otonin, "so spill it! What are you after!?" she asked as she pulled out another kunai, "What is this mark on Sasuke-kun's neck!? Why the hell do you want to fight him in this condition!?" she panted as her angry rant was finished.
Dosu narrowed his eye, "Hm, I wonder what Orochimaru-sama is up to." he pondered, the pink haired girl had revealed things the three Otonin had likely not been meant to know. His own confusion surprised Sakura, who had assumed the three would have answers.
"Whatever," Zaku spoke up with a smirk, "I can't walk away after hearing that!" he exclaimed, "I'll kill you little girl, and Sasuke too!" he threatened, his malicious intent obvious even if Sakura couldn't feel it.
"I'll kill you." Sakura growled in response, gritting her teeth. She wasn't sure where that declaration or confidence had come from, she idly wondered if she was delirious or just high on adrenaline, but she did know for certain she was angry.
"Wait a moment, Zaku." Dosu spoke up, halting his teammate from charging.
"Why?" Zaku asked incredulously, annoyed to be interrupted.
"It's obvious," Dosu began to explain, "freshly turned stones, exposed soil, grass in places it wouldn't normally grow," he pointed out the signs as he listed them, "even without watching her lead that strange bakemono through them or seeing her scare off that squirrel, it's obvious she set booby traps." he explained as he lifted some of the fake grass to reveal a rigged kibaku fuda hidden beneath, "What's the point of going to all that effort if you're going to make it obvious?" he asked.
Zaku scoffed, "What an amateur." he mocked as if he hadn't been fooled, his attitude making Sakura's eye twitch.
"Well," Dosu continued, deciding not to call his teammates bluff for now, "the girl is useless to us. Let's eliminate her first." he decided before the three Otonin, taking the decision as a cue, leaped over the minefield towards Sakura.
The pink haired kunoichi tried to remain calm, feeling her head throb in protest she cut a hidden wire behind her which set off a chain reaction. The result was a massive swinging log trap going for the mid air Otonin.
"The real trap was above!" Dosu exclaimed, feigning surprise before he made the seal of confrontation with his left hand and thrust his gauntlet clad right arm towards the log, "Very funny!" he praised sarcastically as the log shattered, "To be honest, you know you have completely no talent, right?" he asked as the three descended on Sakura with cruel smirks, "Stop dogging it and start working at it! It's an insult to be underestimated by a weakling like you!" he mocked angrily.
Sakura felt her eyes water, the despair she'd swallowed welling up as the serpentine mammal Daemon coiled up ready to strike to defend Naruto.
"Konoha Senpu!" Rock Lee declared as he leaped from cover, spinning through the air to kick the three Otonin away as he landed in front of the serpent in his taijutsu stance, "Try taking your own advice!" he mocked the three genin of Otogakure.
"Who are you?" Dosu asked, annoyed by the interruption.
"Konoha no Utsukushiki Aoi Yaju," Lee began with a title that made Sakura wonder if it was worth being rescued by him, "Rock Lee!" he finished with his actual name.
Sakura was relieved for the save, "Where did you come from?" she asked, relieved or not she was confused. Technically Lee was on a different team from her, saving her team wasn't part of the test.
"I came," Lee began, "because you needed me, and I always will!" he declared, letting a small squirrel down from his shoulder, the squirrel being the actual reason he'd known to come but that didn't need to be said.
Sakura sighed in relief, "I don't know how to thank you, you're a lifesaver!" she said gratefully, feeling the despair and anger slipping away.
"I already said when we first met," Lee answered calmly, "I promised to protect you, until death do us part!" he said, very proud of himself for that speech. Sakura remembered the promise with a surprised look before she couldn't help but give a bemused smile, she decided maybe freaky looking people were alright sometimes.
Dosu pulled out the Chi no Sho his team had, "I guess it can't be helped," he began as he tossed the scroll to his male teammate, "Zaku, little Sasuke-kun is all yours!" he declared as Zaku caught the scroll with a pleased smirk, "They're as good as dead!" he exclaimed as he charged.
Despite Lee's thoughts that Sakura didn't have much fight left the girl got a hard expression, determined not to be useless she pulled out another kunai and threw it at the charging Otonin. Dosu leaped over it, figuring that someone who specialized in taijutsu would be a fun and easy prey to kill.
To the alarm of the bandaged genin leaping at him, Lee reached into the earth and pulled up a buried tree root in a display of brute strength. Dosu's right arm gauntlet hit the interposing piece of wood, shattering a good chunk of it.
"Your attacks use some kind of ninjutsu or genjutsu, right!?" Lee asked the startled Otonin, "So it'd be a waste of time and effort to try ducking it like a normal attack." he pointed out with surprising acuity, "I saw you use this attack before." he added as explanation for how he saw through it. Zaku just scoffed in amusement and Kin watched with a frown, the two fine with letting Dosu fight the green jumpsuit wearing Konoha genin.
Lee loosened the bandages of his arms as his opponent charged, confident that now was the correct time to use the jutsu his sensei had warned him against using frivolously. Before Dosu could attack, Lee dashed at him and ducked to deliver a rising kick with enough force to send the other genin into the air before twisting and leaping under him to give chase.
"I'm not done with you yet!" Lee announced as he wrapped the bandages of his arms around the body of his opponent, tying the other genin up tight before the two started spinning down towards the ground.
Zaku's eyes widened in surprise, "He can't defend himself in that position. Oh crud!" he said, quickly flaring his chakra as he weaved some quick hand seals. Truthfully he didn't care about Dosu, but he needed the other boy if he wanted to pass the second phase of the Chunin Exams so he plunged his hands into the ground.
"Take this, Omote Renge!" Lee declared as the ground beneath them burst up and softened from whatever Zaku did, plunging Dosu into the ground head first before leaping back and taking his bandages with him.
"Looks like I made it..." Zaku said with a sigh of relief, fully intending on lording the turn of events over his teammate in future.
"No way!" Lee exclaimed in alarmed surprise as his opponent pulled himself from the dirt with a grunt of pain.
"What a terrifying jutsu." Dosu acknowledged with genuine surprise, "I landed in a pillow of softened oil and it still almost wiped me out!" he declared, turning to face the bowl cut genin who had nearly beaten him, "My turn now." he added as he pulled up the sleeve on his right arm.
Lee winced, his use of Omote Renge damaging his own body a little bit more than he'd intended. All he could do was leap back to avoid Dosu's charging swing, but his head suddenly started ringing as his vision swam.
"Your moves may be pretty fast," Dosu acknowledged the abilities of his opponent, "but ours are super-sonic! Muscles alone can't do anything against a wave of sound!" he bragged as Lee collapsed to one knee.
"Lee!" Sakura called out in concern as the older genin vacated the contents of his stomach, the green clad boy could feel blood drip out of his left ear and lifted a shaky hand to cover it.
"See this on my arm?" Dosu asked, brandishing his right arm to show off the strange gauntlet covered in holes, "Thanks to this, dodging and blocking are useless against me." he declared confidently.
"What the hell did you do!?" Sakura snapped, feeling her fury returning. She felt like a fool for getting her hopes up, remembering what Maemi said about hope being a false god back in Nami no Kuni, Naruto had agreed and said that hopes were too easily crushed, now he was being proven right.
"It's sound!" Dosu answered, smirking under his bandages, "Even if you block my fist, the sound waves reach you." he explained, "Do you understand the fundamental nature of sound?" he asked, enjoying playing with his prey.
"Vibrations..." Sakura realized, clenching her fists as she remembered Naruto had called the sound he heard back in the first phase beautiful.
"Precisely, when you hear sound it's actually vibrations displacing the air, making your eardrums tremble." Dosu explained, "The human eardrum can only handle so much vibrations," he continued, "and if the inner ear is damaged you lose your sense of balance, it'll be a while before your equilibrium returns." he finished as he approached the trembling form of Lee.
Zaku smirked, "You did pretty well, all things considered, but crude, old fashioned taijutsu are no match for us." he added, clearly amused by the situation, "I can even use use sound waves to crush boulders, which is why I was able to soften the earth into a nice comfortable cushion." he mocked as he showed off the holes in the palms of his hands, "A far more elegant method of fighting than your brute force." he finished with a cruel grin.
"Now then," Dosu spoke up, raising his right arm as he turned on Sakura and the serpent, "your turn!" he declared as he charged. The serpent reared back to strike but Lee leaped between the two, attempting a kick despite his lack of balance, "You startled me!" Dosu scolded as he hopped over the kick to swing his arm, "I'm surprised you even managed that much, but you're too weak to be a threat now!" he declared proudly as Lee attempted to block, "This gauntlet on my arm is an amplifier that brings the sounds from within up to eleven! Not just that but my chakra can direct the sound right into my target!" he explained as he made the seal of confrontation and Lee cried out in pain.
The blast of sound caused the serpent to pull back with an alarmed wince, the creature swayed threatening behind Lee, moving to strike as Dosu lifted his arm with the intent of finishing it. The bandaged genin altered his target and swung at the darting tongue, however the speed of the serpent was beyond even Dosu and despite dispelling the creature with the sound waves he found himself stumbling back with a bleeding left bicep.
"That damned-!" Dosu snarled only to widen his visible eye in alarm, "Shit, that thing had venom on its tongue?" he realized, "Kin! Tourniquet!" he ordered, squeezing his left arm above the cut in alarm.
Sakura saw her chance and threw a hail of shuriken at the bandaged genin, only for his male teammate to leap between them and send them flying back at her with a wave of her from his palms, her own weapons cutting into her arms as she raised them to guard herself.
"Tourniquet yourself, let Zaku and I have a turn already." Kin said as she got behind Sakura to grab the girl by her hair, "You had your fun with the bushy brows, and you got rid of that weird monster, I say Zaku takes his time killing Sasuke or her other little teammate while I hold her here." the kunoichi said cruelly as she tugged on the hair, "She deserves it really, her hair has so much more bounce and shine than my own," the girl continued, "it must be the hiden ninpo of deep conditioning!" she said in a mocking and sarcastic tone, "Spending more time on her appearance than her skills, she really deserves this."
Dosu frowned under his bandage but quickly began applying first aid to himself as Zaku smirked, "Which one should I kill first I wonder? That blonde pretty boy really was talking a lot of shit in the first phase." the spiky haired boy mused, making a show of making a decision.
Sakura felt tears drip down her face as she trembled, feeling despair welling up again. The girl tried to squash it with anger, she was angry, angry at the Otonin, but angriest at herself because the enemy kunoichi was absolutely right. Kin smirked as the pink haired girl started hyperventilating while Zaku took his time approaching the still unconscious genin of team seven.
"I-" Sakura tried to speak, choking up a sob as she pulled out a kunai.
"Your tricks aren't going to work, little girl." Kin mocked, tugging on the handful of hair in her hand.
Sakura buried the despair she felt beneath a sudden wave of white hot rage, "I'll kill you!" she suddenly snarled, reaching up and cutting her own hair to free herself of the grip of her opponent, "I'll kill you I'll kill you I'll kill you!" she screeched as she twisted and the hitai-ate that had been tied up in her hair fell to the ground, delivering a right hook that Kin narrowly blocked, only for the Oto kunoichi to wince and cry out in pain from Sakura's kunai digging into her left arm.
Sakura tore her arm back, "What the fuck!?" Kin cried out in surprise, stepping back only to be forced to leap aside as Sakura threw the kunai with no grace and all power, the bloodied blade going flying into the bushes.
"I'm gonna rip out your skull and beat you with it, you bitch!" Sakura screamed as she charged, Kin flinched back in alarm from the killing intent and blood lust the pink haired girl was radiating. The Oto kunoichi hadn't expected the younger girl to snap in such an extreme way, she wondered if the girl had some kind of split personality.
Zaku raised his arms, "Move it, Kin!" he warned, ready to blast the pink haired genin. The Oto kunoichi obeyed, clutching her bleeding arm as she leaped away.
Sakura made to leap after her but was sent flying into a tree by Zaku's attack with a sickening thud, "I'll kill you..." she continued to growl as she struggled to her feet. The Otonin with the holes in the palms would deny it if ever asked, but he flinched from the glare of the pink haired girl whose eyes seemed to burn with emerald fire in that moment.
"You think you can!?" Zaku snapped, pointing his palms at the girl again, this time when he released the blast it destroyed the tree Sakura had been slammed against. However the pink haired kunoichi leaped high, brandishing another kunai without losing her furious expression.
Zaku scoffed, brandishing a kunai of his own to block the blade of the girl. To his shock Sakura pushed through his guard, allowing his kunai to dig into her left wrist so she could plunge her own kunai deeper into his right forearm. With both of her arms busy the Otonin readied a point blank blast with his left hand only for the the girl to suddenly bite down on that arm to stop him.
"Get the hell off me!" Zaku cried out, ashamed of his own panic as Sakura clenched her teeth harder in an apparent attempt to chew through his arm, "I said get the fuck off!" he shouted, slamming his head forth to deliver a headbutt, his hitai-ate splitting the skin of her large forehead, "Get off!" he repeated, his panic rising as he slammed another headbutt into the girl, jostling her loose enough that he could at least get his right foot between himself and the pink haired girl on top of him, kicking her away before scrambling to his feet to lift his bleeding arms and point the holes in his hands at the crazed kunoichi with blood dripping down her face.
Suddenly Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji leaped between Sakura and Zaku, surprising the three Otonin, "I've never seen you so angry, Sakura," Ino spoke up, "but I'm not letting you show me up." she declared, trying to look confident and hoping to scare off the wounded Oto genin.