Sakura felt her rage waning as her fight was interrupted, "Ino? Why?" she wondered, barely able to stand now and with her lucidity returning she wondered where that strength had come from.
"Did you think I'd let you hog all the glory in front of Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked rhetorically, although truthfully Sakura flying off the handle like that had alarmed her greatly she was glad the girl had enough sense not to attack her rescuers.
Dosu scowled, "More of those little bugs from Konoha, swarming around." he snarled, he'd applied the tourniquet but he could tell his left arm was out of the fight so was more concerned than he'd like to admit.
Choji gulped, "Hey, why are we doing this?" he asked, "Those three creeps are dangerous, they'll eat us alive!" he whispered frantically, ruining Ino's attempt at intimidating the Otonin unintentionally.
"Sorry buddy," Shikamaru responded, "we're the men here, we can't let Ino run in on her own." he pointed out, showing more chivalry and courage than he truly felt.
"Sorry I dragged you boys into this," Ino apologized, "but we are a three man cell, all for one and one for all!" she added, smiling nervously since she was happy the two had followed her.
Zaku chuckled, "We'll let you off the hook if you really want to run, fatty." he mocked, now that Sakura wasn't radiating such unnatural blood lust he was back in his element.
Choji flinched at the words but his expression hardened, "What did that guy just say?" he asked, "I must have misheard." he added, Shikamaru and Ino decided not to warn their opponent about that word.
Zaku raised an eyebrow, "You got lard in your ears? I said you're welcome to run away, if you can find a big enough hiding spot you fat fuck." he insulted bluntly, staring down the genin of team ten.
"I'm not fat! I'm pleasingly plump!" Choji snapped, gaining his own furious expression. For a moment Zaku flinched, then he realized that this fury didn't come with the same blood lust as before, "Alright! It's decided, Konoha and Oto are at war!" he declared as he pointed angrily at Zaku.
Ino and Shikamaru smirked, glad their opponent had triggered their teammates rage, "This is turning into a complete mess." Shikamaru said with a chuckle as he braced himself for a fight.
"...It certainly is." Zaku agreed, for completely different reasons. As sadistic as he was by the point they'd reached he just wanted to kill Sasuke Uchiha and get out of there.
"Sakura," Ino spoke up to get the attention of the pink haired girl, "you stay here and look after your team." she ordered, her tone causing the injured kunoichi to feel the anger bubbling beneath the surface.
Sakura frowned, lacking the energy to muster the rage from before, "Right." she agreed, swallowing her pride for now.
"Alright," Ino declared, "this is it, Team Ino, up and at 'em!" she announced, ready to fight.
"Yes ma'am!" Shikamaru and Choji agreed, one smirking and the other glaring angrily at Zaku.
"Ino-Shika-Cho Formation!" Ino announced, "On you, Choji!" she ordered, the chubby genin making a hand seal as he charged, using the hiden Baika no Jutsu of his Akamichi clan to expand before spinning towards Zaku like a human wrecking ball with his Nikudan Sensha.
Zaku was startled by the jutsu, "What the hell kind of ninpo is that!? You just got fatter to roll around!" he snapped, "This is a real ninpo; Zankuha!" he announced as he raised both hand to try knocking the rolling human juggernaut away. Instead, the spinning form of Choji rode the air waves to bounce up and come crashing down.
Dosu was surprised but moved to assist, intending on using the gauntlet on his right arm to deal with the Akamichi only to find himself suddenly paralyzed, "Kagemane no Jutsu," Shikamaru intoned, "success!" he declared, striking a pose and forcing Dosu to mimic it with the hijutsu of his own Nara clan.
Zaku narrowly dodged Choji's attack, the spinning ball that was the chubby genin still knocking up rocks that caught the Oto genin. The boy with holes in his hands cried out in pain as the blast of rocks knocked him to the ground.
"Dosu! What the hell are you doing at a time like this!?" Kin asked angrily, unaware of why her teammate was copying the poses the Nara genin was doing.
"Ino!" Shikamaru called out, "Only the girl left, all yours." he said, focusing on keeping Dosu under control.
"Good job, Shikamaru!" Ino praised as she made a hand seal, "Take care of my body while I'm gone!" she ordered before using the hijutsu of the Yamanaka clan, Shintenshin no Jutsu, to project her consciousness and take over Kin's body.
Choji stumbled out of the crater he made looking nauseous, "Urp, made my head spin..." he complained, looking ready to throw up.
Kin pulled out a kunai, "Alright you two!" she said and the other two Otonin looked at her in confusion, "I've got the body of your friend hostage," she began as she put the kunai to her own throat, "now get out of here and leave your scrolls behind, I'll let your teammate go once I can no longer feel your chakra." she threatened, revealing that Ino had some sensory ability.
To the surprise of Ino and her team, Zaku just smirked as he got to his knees and raised his left palm towards Kin, "What!?" Sakura cried out in surprise as she realized he would attack right before he launched the body of his own teammate flying with another Zankuha.
Ino's body started drooling blood as Kin cried out in pain, Shikamaru cursed as he reached the limit of his ability with Kagemane no Jutsu, "So you can't hold it forever." Dosu mused with a smirk of his own under his bandages, "You brats miscalculated, we don't care about each other or this exam." he revealed, "We're just here to kill Sasuke Uchiha." he explained.
Zaku chuckled darkly as he stood up, "I didn't actually expect damage dealt to Kin to transfer to your teammate possessing her, lucky me." he announced, "So I just have to kill Kin and your little teammate dies too!" he laughed, finding the situation hilarious.
"You're despicable." A new voice called out, drawing attention to Neji standing on a nearby branch with Tenten besides him, "You rural nonentities are getting such big heads over the fact that your sonic powers let you bully a group of weaklings." he scolded, insulting the younger Konoha genin and his own teammate.
"More vermin crawling from the woodwork?" Zaku snarled once he as well as the other present and conscious shinobi got over their surprise at more newcomers.
Neji ignored him and looked at Lee, "Looks like he blew it." he muttered to Tenten who frowned in concern for the other member of their team, "That one with the bowl haircut is on our team, since you hurt him you answer to us!" he announced as he activated his Byakugan.
"If you think we're so despicable, do something about it!" Dosu taunted, finding the Byakugan freaky to look at doing little to intimidate him.
Neji noticed a pair of strange chakra and smirked, "It seems I don't have to." he decided with a smirk.
Sasuke was having a nightmare, reliving the night his clan was slaughtered. At the end of the nightmare he found himself face to face with a younger version of himself, "Who are you?" he asked, something felt horribly wrong.
"Father and mother needn't have died." Sasuke answered himself, but something was wrong with the voice coming out of his younger doppelganger, "Ultimately, without strength there's nothing you can do. I wasn't strong enough." he continued, switching between talking to himself and talking of himself, "Our clan was destroyed, everyone was killed, because of you! You weren't strong enough!" he snapped, the younger Sasuke ripping away his face to reveal Orochimaru's gold and serpentine eye.
"You were too weak!" Sasuke's younger form scolded in Orochimaru's voice.
Sasuke shivered, remembering vividly the fear and despair, feeling it blending with rage. He halted, closing his eyes to try and take a breath, trying to think of a way to crush his despair. He felt it, deep down, the spark of hope that he would one day be strong enough to do it.
"What?" Sasuke, the younger one with Orochimaru's eye, seemed to be confused before blue flames ignited in his skull, "Ah, I see!" he said in a new voice, "Such Hope for Change, you want to Change for the better, don't you?" he asked, his form shifting, revealing the head of a cyclopes form of Sasuke, with a single golden eye completely different to Orochimaru's, "How would you like to be a champion? I can give you even more amazing powers than your blonde teammate." he offered, extending a clawed right hand, dark blue and black feathers bursting along the arm, "I just need your permission, to alter this paltry Juinjutsu, and make a contract!"
Sasuke was confused, but tempted, ultimately this new entity had a different presence than Orochimaru. The Uchiha suspected a trap, but after reliving the worst night of his life and being tormented, he was desperate, "Deal." he said resolutely, taking the clawed hand of his younger self.
The blue fire leaped from Sasuke to Sasuke, and the Uchiha screamed.
Dosu wondered what the Hyuga boy was talking about, "Sasuke-kun? You're awake!" Sakura cried, alerting everyone to the rising Uchiha, bright blue and purple chakra swirling around him, "Sasuke-kun?" the kunoichi repeated, confused and concerned by the strange glowing markings moving along his skin.
The markings were iridescent, they shifted between multiple different colors and resembled a strange eye inside the head of a stylized flaming bird, "Sakura," Sasuke greeted, "point out the ones who put you in that bloody state." he demanded.
Sakura stared in shock, wondering if this was the result of what Orochimaru had done, "It was us!" Zaku declared proudly and arrogantly, intending on angering the Uchiha.
"Sasuke-kun," Sakura repeated herself, "what happened to your body?" she asked in confusion as the markings slowly settling in place and stopped glowing.
Sasuke glanced down at the symbols, remembering the strange entity that had made a contract with him. He felt information flooding his mind, the Juinjutsu Orochimaru had placed on him had apparently contained a piece, or a copy, of Orochimaru's soul, and it had been drawing in natural energies to grant him power at a deadly cost. The entity, a Fearling according to the knowledge flooding his brain, an Imp of a god of change and hope called Tzeentch, a deity of the same pantheon as the god Naruto worshiped.
"It's nothing to worry about," Sasuke said calmly, "I've subverted the Juin." he added, his words startling the Otonin. As far as the foreign knowledge entering his brain told the Uchiha, the Fearling now lived in the Juin as something called a Conjoined Familiar, it would regulate the natural and unnatural energies, enhancing his chakra and granting him new power.
"Ino! Get out of there!" Shikamaru warned, dragging her body to take cover with Choji, the Yamanaka girl released Kin's body and returned to her own. Although Ino was confused, Sasuke's chakra felt completely different to her.
Dosu considered what he heard, frowning as he considered what he should do in the current situation, "Dosu quit acting like a baby!" Zaku snapped as he made some hand seals to help focus his chakra.
"Zaku no! Don't you get it!?" Dosu responded, trying to warn the other Otonin as Kin groggily pulled herself to her feet.
Zaku wasn't listening, "Zankukyokuha!" the boy shouted, unleashing a massive air wave that tore up the ground between him and his target. To his alarm when the dust cleared the torn up ground halted at Sasuke who stood there with his right hand outstretched, the fingernails on his hand blackened and lengthened into talons.
"Harainokeru," Sasuke intoned, inspecting the talons curiously, "huh? How interesting, so with this chakra I can counter ninjutsu." he mused, the other genin all watching curiously, "Alright then," he continued, weaving hand seals, "let's see how much stronger this Daemon chakra makes my jutsu!" he decided and Sakura's eyes widened at the words.
Zaku scowled as a Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu came at him, "You think you're the only one who can blast things away!" he shouted, using his Zankuha to blow away the flames only to see Sasuke rushing through the remnants of his own fireball, somehow plucking the errant sparks of dying flames in his right hand, the markings going down in his right arm glowing red as dark blue feathers burst from his right wrist.
"Aka-en!" Sasuke declared, throwing his arm forward to propel the gathered sparks in a bolt of dark red fire that slammed into Zaku's torso like it had physical weight, knocking the other genin off his feet and igniting his shirt.
The struck Otonin rolled on the ground to extinguish the flames in a panic, "Wait a moment, we're outmatched." Dosu spoke, surprising his teammates, "Zaku, hand over our scroll, we need to figure some things out." he warned.
"Like hell!" Zaku snapped in response, "So what if he's got some freaky chakra? These Konoha shinobi are a bunch of soft-" he began only to startle as a kunai nearly lodged itself in his throat, grazing past his neck.
"Damn, I missed." Naruto grumbled, pulling himself to his feet and picking up his hitai-ate again, using his sheathed katana as a support to help him get up.
"Why does Naruto have horns?" Ino asked, only just having noticed that, Shikamaru shrugged as he didn't have an answer.
"What the hell is with this team?" Kin wondered, taking a step back, "Screw this, I'm with Dosu, you want to get yourself killed Zaku? Then they can take our scroll off your stinking corpse." she spat, having a vague idea that her throbbing aches and pains were a result of her own teammate.
"Aw don't be like that," Naruto pouted, draping the straps of his hitai-ate over his new horns, "you're cute so I wouldn't cut you up too much." he added, giving a tired smile that only served to intimidate the Oto kunoichi further, "Eh?" he stopped suddenly, noticing Sakura, "Who cut your beautiful hair!?" he asked suddenly.
Sakura's eye twitched, feeling her anger return and the split skin on her forehead throb, "I cut it myself you idiot! Get your priorities in order!" she snapped angrily, finding new strength in her anger as she shakily got to her own feet.
Zaku trembled with a mix of fear and rage, "I'm not scared of you three, you damn Oni." he snarled, raising his arms again, "Zankukyokuha!" he declared, only for Sasuke to dispel the ninjutsu again.
Naruto looped both sides of his hitai-ate around his new horns, "Your bandaged teammate is right," Sasuke spoke coldly, "you are outmatched." he said as he began walking towards the one Otonin still trying to put up a fight, "But I accept your challenge, and I'll be taking that scroll." he said, leaping at the boy and thrusting his right hand forward as a knife hand, his blackened talons cutting open Zaku's right cheek as the Oto genin tried to dodge.
"Eh?" Naruto questioned, "Challenge? Wait he attacked me too! I accept his challenge not you!" he said suddenly, trying to get up and charge but the after effects of the drugs made his steps shaky and he stumbled before using his scabbard to keep himself up, "Oh, ow, nevermind, he's all yours." he groaned.
"Idiot." Sakura snarled, probably with more venom than was necessary as Kin and Dosu backed away to leave Zaku to his fate. Neji watched curiously, noticing that Naruto and Sasuke had oddly similar chakra now, and that something he couldn't identify with a similar feeling was trying to touch Sakura's chakra.
Sasuke ignored his teammates for the moments, ducking under a retaliatory right hook from Zaku and spinning into a crouch as his right leg shot out to sweep the boy before he grabbed his arms and pulled them behind him, then he planted his right foot on the back of the other genin and got a curious idea.
The Uchiha attributed the idea to the Fearling now living inside of his Juin, and truthfully he thought it was distasteful but testing if it worked would be worthwhile for future fights and the voice of the Fearling egged him on, insisting the boy deserved it for hurting his teammates.
The fact Zaku had bragged about hurting Sakura almost had Sasuke follow through with the idea, but he paused, "Sakura, you want revenge?" he asked, wondering why the Fearling grumbled at that idea.
Sakura was surprised by that but looked at Zaku's face, his complete lack of fear and the defiant look he gave her just serving to stoke the flames of her anger, "Thank you, Sasuke-kun," she said gratefully before glaring at Zaku, "I'll take his skull!" she snarled suddenly, her expression turning furious as she pulled out a kunai and charged.
Dosu and Kin exchanged a glance, the two turning to run away and report what they'd seen and heard to Orochimaru. Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji watched in stunned horror as Sakura grabbed the helpless Zaku by his hair and hacked at his neck viciously with her kunai.
Naruto grimaced at the display, "I could have let you use my katana." he pointed out, oddly more concerned with how gruesome the death was than that his teammates had killed. Sakura just rounded a bloody glare on the blonde, but didn't respond as she finished cutting through the spine and tore the head of Zaku Abumi from his shoulders, a stunned expression frozen on his dead face.
"What-?" Ino spoke up, flinching as the three genin of team seven turned to look at her, noticing Sasuke still had his Sharingan active she gulped, "uh, I mean, what happened to you guys?" she asked nervously.
Naruto frowned in confusion, "What? Better question! Why are you guys here? Those guys too!?" he responded, gesturing to team ten, then gesturing to Neji and Tenten.
Tenten hopped down, "We came to get Lee." she answered, pointing to the unconscious genin in green.
"Oh, bushy brows-" Naruto said idly only to be hit in the head with the thrown skull of Zaku Abumi, the other genin flinching at the gruesome display. Even Neji thought that was nasty to watch.
"Be nice to Lee-kun!" Sakura snapped, startling her two teammates, "He helped protect us while you and Sasuke-kun were asleep!" she informed.
"Huh?" Naruto was surprised by that, "Really? That's nice of him!" he said with a laugh, "Despite his appearances he has a really beautiful personality y'know!" he praised and Sakura's eye twitched, the girl wasn't happy with Naruto's continued obsession with appearances but at least it was progress.
Sasuke sighed, "Take your teammate and go," he said to Tenten and Neji, "we're all Konoha shinobi here, I appreciate you all helping while I recovered but this is a survival test for the genin cells. I'm sure you guys either need to gather scrolls or get to the tower." he pointed out, as much as the Fearling wanted him to keep killing he was still a Konoha ninja.
Naruto nodded, "Oh yeah, they said we could have their scroll on Zaku's corpse." he mused idly, reaching up and tenderly touching the raw flesh where his new horns emerged.
Neji narrowed his eyes but nodded to Tenten, it would stain his own honor if he went and attacked genin younger than him who had just finished their own fight, especially since his teammate had tried to help them. Even without all that, something about the chakra of team seven was strange.
Ino relaxed a little, "Alright, see you guys later." she said, turning to leave. On the one hand she was tempted to offer to even out Sakura's hair, on the other hand the other kunoichi seemed to be on an even shorter fuse than usual. Shikamaru was just glad they were getting out of there, he was pretty sure they didn't stand a chance against team seven.
Soon the genin of team seven were alone with the corpse of Zaku, "What even happened to you, Naruto?" Sakura asked now that she calmed down, Sasuke checking Zaku's pockets for the scroll, deciding if he found no scroll he'd hunt the other Otonin down.
"Huh?" Naruto asked, having begun tying his hitai-ate properly, "Oh right! The teammates of that Kusanin, the one with the freaky long tongue that interrupted me and the cute proctor lady, they attacked me when I got separated from you guys y'know!" he answered excitedly.
Sakura's eyes widened in surprise before they narrowed, "That explains the state you were in, that Kusanin was actually Orochimaru in disguise." she explained.
"Who?" Naruto asked obliviously, raising an eyebrow.
"How many classes did you skip!?" Sakura snapped, reaching for a kunai.
"The Sannin were only mentioned in history class briefly," Sasuke spoke up as he pulled out the Chi no Sho, the markings on his body retreating to his neck slowly, "Orochimaru is an S class nukenin, we only survived because he let us." the boy added as he deactivated his Sharingan.
Naruto gawked in surprise, "That's why those two were so dangerous." he murmured, remembering how close he'd come to dying.
"How'd you beat two of his underlings?" Sakura asked suspiciously, glaring at the blonde, "Ah, wait! What's your password!?" she realized.
"Eh?" Naruto asked, frowning in confusion before he remembered, "Oh! Slaanesh-kaasama!" he declared with a proud grin and Sakura sighed in relief.
"Ironically," Sasuke spoke up, dropping Zaku's corpse and brandishing the Chi no Sho, "that answers both Sakura's questions." he said, noting the confused look on Sakura's face, "You're not the only champion of a Konton no Kami." he added with a smirk.
"What's a Konton no Kami?" Naruto asked, staring at Sasuke as if he'd said something weird, "Slaanesh-kaasama is Kajo no Kami, did you hit your head?" he added, Sakura wanted to hit him on the head but she was confused too.
Sasuke sighed, "So you know even less than me now? Here I was hoping you were hiding things intentionally so we could compare notes now." he groused, "Oi! Come out and talk to my teammates." he ordered, confusing his team until the flesh on Sasuke neck bulged and flushed pink, an eye and a mouth opening up to look at the two.
Naruto and Sakura stared at Sasuke as if he had grown a second head, because technically he had, "Well, I didn't want to," the strange growth said in a high pitched whining tone, "but since Sasuke-sama insists, I'll greet you brats. I already know your names, call me Aoki I suppose." the thing continued to speak, "You've already met one creature similar to me, but I'm an entirely different kind of Imp, although I'm still Sasuke-sama's Familiar!" it said with a grin.
Sakura wanted to faint right there, but also she had the intense urge to just kill it, "I'll save Sasuke-kun!" she decided, brandishing her kunai.
Sasuke grabbed her wrist, "No, this thing saved me from Orochimaru's Juinjutsu, and I made a deal with it." he explained.
Naruto blinked owlishly, "So you made a contract with a different god?" he asked, frowning as he struggled to follow.
"Tzeentch-sama is the Henka no Kami of the Konton no Kami." Aoki spoke up, "Sasuke-sama's contract isn't quite the same as yours, but he's a champion like you now." the pink growth explained with a smirk.
Naruto nodded sagely as if he understood, "I see, well at least we got that Chi no Sho now, so we can go to the tower right?" he asked with a grin, frowning at the downcast looks of his teammates.
"Orochimaru burned our Ten no Sho." Sakura revealed contritely, the memory of it filling her with rage. Sasuke frowned too as he remembered that.
"Oh, well damn." Naruto said with a frown, "Oh well!" he continued with a smile, "We just need another Ten no Sho, how long were we out?" he asked.
Sasuke looked to Sakura since he'd been out too, "Just one night, thankfully." she answered, "We should probably go get cleaned up and find some food though." she added.
Sasuke nodded, "The river will help us get to the tower too," he added, "so we've got four hours and no Aoki we're not eating the Otonin that's disgusting." he said, his topic shifting suddenly to answer an internal question that disturbed Sakura.
Naruto however just frowned, "I mean," he began, "it's meat?" he said it as a question, idly touching the flesh where his horns emerged again, the action swiftly becoming a nervous habit.
"Naruto that's disgusting!" Sakura snapped, "Furthermore cannibalism can cause all sorts of health problems!" she lectured angrily.
Sasuke rubbed his chin as foreign information flooded his mind, he wasn't sure how well he could trust it but, "It's just the brain and certain organs that contain prions and other unsafe things, isn't it?" he asked, surprising Sakura, "I agree it's pretty gross, but this is a no-holds barred survival test, right?" he added, surprised he was even considering it.
Sakura frowned, with Sasuke considering it she was quick to change her stance, "I mean," she began, "I guess the muscles and fat are fine." she agreed hesitantly, the bit about the brain and organs specifically being unsafe ringing true.
Naruto felt like he was forgetting something, "Ah! Maemi-chan!" he exclaimed suddenly, partially unsheathing his katana to cut open his thumb then weaving hand seals, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" he declared, and in a puff of smoke a familiar Muse appeared.
"Naruto-sama!" Maemi cried out in relief as she leaped into the arms of the blonde genin, "Oh you got horns now? That's great!" she said happily.
"Why are horns good?" Sakura asked, wanting to distract from the idea of cannibalism.
Sasuke felt the answer enter his brain, but wanted to see if Maemi would be truthful, "Horns are a sign from Slaanesh-sama that Naruto-sama is fit to rule over other Daemons, so as well as being a natural weapon they're something of a bone crown." she explained honestly, seeing no reason to lie and wanting the blonde himself to understand.
"That matches the information Aoki gave me." Sasuke confirmed with a nod, and Maemi frowned until she felt the presence of the Fearling within Sasuke which made her eyes widen.
"Maemi-chan, is it safe to eat that?" Naruto asked, pointing to Zaku's corpse.
Maemi looked at the corpse for a moment, "Naruto-sama," she began, "I am so proud of you, of course it is. You're built different." she said with a grin, "You teammates may want to avoid any organs or the brain though." she added with a shrug, "More importantly, I was dispelled, we need to renew our bond." she said, leaning into him and craning her neck back to purse her lips.
Sakura watched in surprise as Naruto shamelessly kissed the little Daemon full on the lips before putting her down, "Alright, so it's safe to eat this guy, but uh, I've never done butchery." he said, seeing nothing weird about what he just did. Maemi's hair shifted to resemble Anko's after the kiss, something both teammates noticed although Sakura wondered where the tie for the ponytail came from.
Sasuke had the information supplied to him and decided to explain, "That's how they form the bond between their chakra." he told Sakura idly before turning to the situation at hand, "Did you seriously skip all the survival lessons? How in the world did you even pass?" he asked as he crouched next to the corpse and pulled out a kunai, although he wasn't certain what to do with a human body either. Survival lessons covered mostly wild pigs, deer, and smaller game like birds and rodents.
"I learned Kuchiyose no Jutsu and I think I might have killed Mizuki-sensei y'know." Naruto answered with a shrug.
Sakura couldn't believe she was about to do this but, "We need to skin the carcass first." she explained, reaching into her tool pouch and pulling out a skinning knife, far sharper than a kunai but also much more fragile and not fit for combat.
With the help of two Daemons the genin of team seven carved up Zaku Abumi's corpse into edible portions, Sasuke gathering up sticks to set up a fire while Maemi helped Naruto gather up herbs and spices to flavor the meat. Sakura was disturbed at how similar the taste was to pork.
By the time team seven found the fiver the sun was setting again, "Sakura, you get some sleep, Naruto and I will take turns on watch." Sasuke said, realizing that the girl was exhausted from watching over them, "I'll take first watch." he added before Naruto could volunteer in case the blonde needed extra time to recover from the combat drugs.
"I'll help with both shifts," Maemi said, "I don't need to sleep and I have more acute senses than a human." she explained.
The next morning team seven caught fish for breakfast, roasting them over an open fire. Sakura was glad to be eating less morally taboo food, Naruto was just happy to be eating, and Sasuke focused on getting used to the mental link with his new Familiar.
Aoki was useful, that much was certain. The Fearling filled his brain with knowledge that the Uchiha was pretty sure he was not supposed to have, giving him ideas for new ways to use his jutsu being just the beginning. For one he learned that Daemons were actually completely immaterial beings, they were just forced to be partially physical in order to exist in material worlds. The fact the Imp of Tzeentch used the word worlds as a plural was another concern, Sasuke decided he'd unpack that later.
The Uchiha noticed that when he wasn't using the new chakra his Familiar gave him access to his talons returned to fingernails and the feathers fell out, he was glad they weren't fully permanent but he knew from the foreign information in his brain that he could mutate just as drastically if not more so than Naruto had. The blonde had cleaned up his horns to reveal they were a rather shining white color when not covered in gore, he'd tried to clean up his sash too but a dark stain remained in the light purple fabric from the blood.
Sakura had also cleaned herself up and bandaged her head, actually wearing her hitai-ate over her forehead for once. Sasuke wasn't sure what exactly had happened while he was unconscious, but as guilty as he felt for thinking it he was glad his kunoichi teammate was finally taking being a shinobi seriously. That Sakura had needed a near death experience that shortened her temper to a hair trigger to get to this point wasn't great, but at least she could fight now.
Aoki also pointed out that the smoke of the fire and the smell of cooked fish likely got the attention of any nearby teams and wild animals, funneling the knowledge directly into Sasuke's brain. So Sasuke repeated this point out loud for the benefit of his team.
Sakura frowned in worry, wondering how she hadn't considered that. The girl figured she must be more frazzled than she thought, "Should we take some time to rest?" she asked, she'd gotten a good nights sleep but she was still worried about her teammates.
"I'm full of energy!" Naruto answered with a grin, "I did lose my tanto though y'know..." he added with a pout, it seemed the boy had actually forgotten to pick it up and left it in the corpse of one of Orochimaru's underlings. Sasuke was pretty sure their name wasn't actually Mob.
"You're always full of energy, and we're not going looking for a two day old corpse because you're a scatterbrain!" Sakura snapped, annoyed with the seemingly bipolar blonde.
"I feel fine too." Sasuke spoke up, flexing the fingers on his right hand, "I've got access to a whole new source of energy, and Naruto is-" he considered how he should word it for a moment, "Naruto is just built different." he decided, Daemon contract or not there was something completely different about Naruto, "We should make our way to the tower, look for teams that have the Ten no Sho on the way." he decided, assuming there would be more teams closer to the actual destination.
"We could always go straight to the tower and pick a fight with someone who already has both scrolls." Maemi spoke up, the Muse busying herself with brushing Naruto's hair while they spoke. Sasuke still didn't trust the Muse, but he was more relaxed about what she was now that he had a Daemon of his own living inside him and he nodded since that was a decent idea.
Sakura was still frowning but she nodded in agreement with Sasuke, "Alright, I'll extinguish this flame and we can move." she said, getting up to grab some water.
Sasuke frowned, "Don't," he ordered, halting the kunoichi, "the smoke has already been seen, if it stops potential enemies will know we're on the move. We already set this fire up so there's no chance of it spreading, so I say we leave it burning until it goes out naturally to throw off any pursuers." he suggested.
"If they're after us for our scroll, shouldn't we take their scroll?" Naruto asked, seeing no reason to limit their number of opponents.
"Not if they already lost their scroll." Sasuke retorted calmly, having considered that already. Also he knew Sakura didn't have the same stamina as Naruto or himself, according to Aoki the blonde member of the team likely had even more raw chakra and stamina than him even with the Juin.
Decision made, team seven went on the move and started making their way to the tower. Sasuke split up briefly when he heard something, returning to tell them he'd seen a lone kunoichi with the same scroll as them but that she couldn't even handle a bear. Eventually night began to fall and Maemi suddenly leaped on Naruto's back, the blonde snapping to attention suddenly, "Genjutsu?" the blonde asked, looking around in confusion.
Sasuke's eyes widened and he fluttered his own chakra as Sakura did the same, "I noticed we weren't getting any closer to the tower," Maemi explained, "it was a pretty subtle genjutsu but my heightened senses can pick out minute details that they were getting wrong." she added to help explain how she'd noticed.
Sasuke thought that was oddly similar to how the Sharingan saw through genjutsu, but decided not to comment as he activated his dojutsu and looked around to see if he could spot the enemy hiding somewhere. Sakura went on guard, pulling out a kunai and looking around with an agitated.
Now that the genin were free of the genjutsu the enemy who used it seemed to change tactics, surrounding them with bunshin, "Hey, this is the guy that tried to attack me while I was taking a leak on the first day!" Naruto realized, recognizing one of the three types of bunshin. They were all dressed similarly, although the ones with no eye holes in the sash around their faces had shorter spiky brown hair while the ones with a single eye hole in said sashes covered the top of their heads with their hitai-ate.
"Amegakure shinobi, huh?" Sasuke mused, not pulling on the chakra in the Juin yet in case he needed to conserve stamina, "They're all bunshin," he informed, his Sharingan able to tell that much, "so the real ninja must be hiding nearby." he pointed out.
"Cowards." Sakura spat, momentarily forgetting that fighting like this was what shinobi were supposed to do. Sasuke couldn't blame her really, they were probably the least stealthy team, thanks to Naruto mostly, but plenty of Sasuke's jutsu were flashy as well.
Sasuke decided to ignore Aoki's suggestion of simply smoking them out by setting the forest on fire, he decided Daemons were absolutely insane. That probably meant having one in his head would be bad for his long term mental health, but the benefits outweighed the costs for now and he'd made a deal with it.
Naruto reached up to his horns and pricked the thumb of his right finger on the left horn before weaving hand seals, "Kuchiyose!" he announced, calling out the strange saddled serpent he'd summoned to drag him to his teammates. Aoki mentally informed Sasuke that his own contract wasn't quite ready, and asked which arm he would like it to appear on.
Sasuke wondered which one would be easier to deal with as his teammate got up in the saddle and unsheathed his katana, the Uchiha remembered Orochimaru's was on the left arm so he decided on the right arm. Naruto laughed happily as his mount darted into the undergrowth with alarming speed, slithering towards the targets at the demand of the blonde.
"What the fuck is up with this team!?" One of the Amenin shouted in horror as they scattered, their bunshin useless against the serpentine Daemon's senses. Naruto just laughed as he swung his sword, ending up using it to parry shuriken out of the air more than attacking since the three enemy genin were trying to get away.
"We should keep up, they might lead him into a trap." Sasuke pointed out, noticing the Amenin were running away. Sakura groaned but didn't argue, and the two followed their teammate. Sasuke and Sakura remained at least partially stealthy as they trailed their teammate, figuring they'd at least use him as bait if he got noticed by another team. They wondered if any remaining teams would even have the guts to attack the horned genin riding the monstrous serpent, Sasuke still wasn't sure why it had the face of an anteater or breasts but Aoki informed him that Daemons of Slaanesh tended to blend sensuality with horror to throw enemies off guard.
The serpent proved too fast for the group of genin from Amegakure and soon the three had cuts or puncture wounds on their legs from it's venomous whipping tongue, "Naruto, why didn't you just use your Shifuku no Kurushimi?" Sasuke asked as he and Sakura caught up.
Naruto blinked owlishly at the question, "Oh right," he said with a laugh, "I guess I forgot y'know." he confessed with a grin as he sheathed his sword and dismounted the serpent, "Sorry, but this Daemon I summoned is really fun to ride, it goes super fast!" he excused himself.
Sakura sighed at the antics of the blonde and approached the disabled Amenin, "Whatever, which one of you has your scroll?" she asked, wanting to get the second phase of the exam over with.
"Fuck you." One of the ninja responded, Sakura's eye twitched and she tried to take a deep breath to calm herself. It didn't work and she slammed her foot into his head with a furious expression, stomping on him hard enough to bury his face partially in the dirt and knock him unconscious.
"Let's just kill them and loot their bodies." Sasuke said lazily, "I could use a resupply of shuriken anyway." he added as the two conscious Amenin shivered with fear. Sakura hadn't intended to go that far, but they were in a no-holds barred survival test.
"Ah, Oboro-san has it." One of the wounded Amenin said with an audible gulp, pointing a shaky finger at the one Sakura stomped into the dirt, "Please, by all means, take whatever you need." he added fearfully, offering his shuriken holster and tool pouch as his conscious teammate did the same while nodding frantically in agreement.
Sakura and Sasuke took their weapons and the scroll, luckily for them a Ten no Sho. With that done the three genin continued towards the tower, Naruto hopping back up to ride the saddle of his serpentine Daemon mount sidesaddle style with his left hand keeping his sheathed sword in his sash and his right on the pommel of the saddle itself.
The sun finished setting as they arrived at the tower, going in one of the entrance doors to find an empty room with a parchment that seemed to be missing some words. Unable to decipher the meaning they took out the scrolls, remembering that they were told not to open them until they reached the tower.
As soon as they were open Sasuke recognized what they were with his Sharingan, "Toss them! It's a Kuchiyose!" he warned, Sakura and Naruto swiftly tossed the two scrolls. Chakra smoke burst forth from the the open scrolls, and when it cleared a familiar face was standing there with a smile.
"Hey, kids!" Iruka greeted, standing there with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, although his smile dropped when his eyes opened, "It's-wait, what? Why does Naruto-kun have bull horns?" he asked, whatever he'd planned to say taking sideline to that.
"He's built different." Sasuke and Sakura answered in unison, their tones bored despite the situation.
"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto cried out, jumping to hug the man.
"Oh shi-!" Iruka narrowly avoided being gored by the excitable blonde, "Careful with those things!" he scolded, allowing the young blonde to hug him for a moment, "Seriously though, what happened?" he asked in concern.
"I killed some really strong ninja so Slaanesh-kaasama gave me horns!" Naruto answered happily, his answer just confusing the scarred chunin more.
Iruka looked to the other two genin of team seven with a raised eyebrow, "Don't ask me, I was unconscious after barely survivng an encounter with Orochimaru." Sasuke answered, startling the chunin more, "We got separated before that." he added.
"He had the horns by the time this serpent thing dragged him to a hiding spot I set up, he was unconscious by then." Sakura added, wondering if she should bring up the new information about Konton no Kami and that Sasuke had become a champion of one as well.
Iruka looked alarmed, "You survived against Orochimaru?" he asked, horrified.
Sasuke shrugged, "Barely, the freak was toying with me. He tried to put some Juinjutsu on me but I managed to subvert it." he explained, not sure if he should mention Aoki or not. Aoki's information told him that in most worlds, those who associated with Daemons were burned at the stake or similarly executed. That was concerning information, it implied the Daemons were dangerous but the Fearling insisted that most people just feared what they didn't understand.
"You subverted it?" Iruka asked, tone horrified, "How in the world did you manage that?" he questioned.
"I had help. Aoki, say hello to my old sensei." Sasuke ordered, figuring that if Naruto had his Muse then he should be fine. Besides which hiding the Imp and Juin forever would be downright impossible.
Aoki emerged, using Sasuke's flesh to manifest, "Nice to meet ya, Iruka." the Fearling greeted, "Don't freak out, I just need to stay in this Juin to keep it stable. This thing is pretty dangerous I tell you me." the Imp explained, "I'm from a different Daemon clan than the ones blondie is contracted with, and by a chance of fate I happened to be in the area."
Iruka's eyes had widened in horror at the display of body horror from the young Uchiha, but the explanation had his eyes narrow, "So you just decided to help my former student out of the kindness of your heart?" he asked, his suspicion arising from concern.
The Fearling chuckled, "Not as such, we Daemons don't normally have physical forms, so I'm getting something out of this, even if ony temporary for now." Aoki answered with a grin, "You know how these contracts work, both of us are getting something out of it. Besides I couldn't let such a hopeful young ninja give into despair and rage caused by this Juin, it goes against my beliefs."
Iruka got the impression he was being lied to, he also noticed Maemi didn't seem to like the creature, "So your clan has a different lord?" he assumed, deciding he'd let the Hokage know about this development, Sasuke seemed fine for now at least.
"Ah, yes, Tzeentch-sama." Aoki answered, "Henka no Kami, Maho no Kami, Chishiki no Kami, Nozomu no Kami, Hoho no Chenja, Unmei-sama." the Fearling listed some translated titles for the chunin.
Iruka frowned, "Well, this is certainly an odd development." he muttered, "Well, regardless, the three of you passed the second phase." he congratulated, "With a couple of days to spare too, excellent work you three." he praised with a smile, setting aside his worry for now, "I wish I could take you all out for ramen at Ichiraku to celebrate, but you'll have to stay in this tower until the test concludes. I'm sure Teuchi-san wouldn't mind doing a take away order I can deliver though."
Aoki retreated back into the Juin, "What would you have done if we opened the scroll early?" Sasuke asked with a knowing smirk, having guessed already.
Iruka smirked back, "Exactly what you're thinking, we had strict orders that if anyone looked at the scrolls before reaching this tower, we were to knock them unconscious until the end of the exam." he answered, "Part of it was indeed to test how well you can follow specific orders." he added as an explanation.
"Iruka-sensei," Sakura spoke up, pointing to the wall scroll, "what's up with that? Did moths get at it?" she questioned, still confused about that.
"Who cares? We passed!" Naruto laughed, earning a sharp glare from the pink haired girl.
"Well, part of why I'm here is to make sure you guys understand it." Iruka said, exasperated by the energetic blonde genin's attitude, "It's a directive set down by Sandaime Hokage-sama for all chunin." he began to explain, "Heaven and Earth in the context of the words means the Mind and Body respectively, therefore; 'If qualities of heaven are what you desire, acquire wisdom and knowledge to take your mind higher.'" he quoted, "In other words, if Naruto's weakest quality is his brain and knowledge, he should study hard to remove that weakness." he explained.
Sasuke could practically feel Aoki radiating approval at the idea of acquiring knowledge, given one of Tzeentch's titles that made sense. Naruto just pouted at being used as an example for that as Sakura giggled at his expense, her mood finally lightening up.
"Also;" Iruka continued, "'If earthly qualities are what you lack, train yourself in the field and prepare to attack.'" he quoted, "So, if Sakura-chan's weak point is her lack of strength and power, then she needs to train hard to find the riches of physical stamina and skill." he explained, the pink haired girl taking her turn to pout at being the example, "Once you master the qualities of heaven and earth, no mission will be too dangerous for you."
Sakura frowned, "What about the blank word?" she asked, pointing that part out.
Iruka chuckled, "The word that goes there is the description of what a chunin should be, the kanji that fits into that blank space is the same that was on the interior of these scrolls, meaning one person or all people depending on how you read it." he explained in his lecturing teacher tone, "The challenge of surviving the forest was to test who has the actual abilities to be a chunin, and considering the hurdles you three faced you far exceeded expectations." he praised, "Chunin are unit commanders, responsible for leading teams of fellow chunin or even reserve genin. They can only do so by a combination of intelligence and strength. I can't emphasize it enough, learn it, live it, believe it with all your heart. Keep the chunin directive foremost in mind as you move on to the next phase of the exam." he lectured in a serious tone, "Well that's it, that's the entire message!" he finished.
"Yes sir!" Naruto said with a grin and a salute, Sasuke and Sakura nodded in agreement.
Iruka frowned suddenly, "That all said, don't overdo things in the third phase of the exam." he tried to warn, "Especially you, Naruto-kun, I worry about you." he said honestly.
Naruto laughed happily, "Aw, that's sweet Iruka-sensei, but I'm not your student anymore." he said seriously despite his grin, "I'm a full fledged shinobi now, remember? This hitai-ate means I'm an adult!" he pointed out, "I may be impulsive, and full of energy, but I'm not a kid anymore." he continued, his expression suddenly turning hard, "I'll take the directive to heart, and study the arts I'm no good at yet until I am Shinobi no Kanzen!" he declared proudly.
Iruka stared at Naruto in surprise for a moment before he smiled proudly, "Alright, I'll take you guys to one of the rooms in the tower, it's pretty bare bones but it has an ensuit bathroom so Sakura-chan can at least shower in privacy." he explained now that the business talk was out of the way, "Now what do you guys want to eat?" he asked as he began leading them to one of the rooms.
"Pork ramen!" Naruto announced happily and Iruka wondered why Sakura turned so pale at that declaration.
Translations: Konton - Chaos
Kanzen - Perfect
Henka - Change
Harakainokeru - Dispel
Aka-en - Red Flame
Maho - Magic
Chishiki - Knowledge
Unmei - Fate
Nozomu - Hope
Hoho no Chenja - honestly this one is a mess, but roughly means Changer of Ways