FOREST OF DEATH: 94 HOURS LEFT
At the Hokage's office, Hatake Kakashi leaned on the wall beside the jonin commander. Two participants dead. The Grass genin had been found near the Forest of Death's outskirts, their faces melted until they were unrecognizable. The chunin had told Mitarashi Anko, who'd sent them to inform T&I and the Hokage. She had requested an Anbu squad, but she hadn't waited for them to go in. T&I had requested Kakashi's presence.
One of the Anbu arrived first, whispering something to the Hokage. The Sandaime dismissed everyone but Kakashi and Shikaku.
The door opened. Kakashi didn't straighten, but his eyes sharpened. Anko was clutching her neck and wincing in pain as she was escorted through by two Anbu. The Hokage sealed it with quick and deft hand signs and dismissed the Anbu.
"Does it still bother you?" the Sandaime asked her around his pipe when she continued to cover the area with her hands.
"Not a lot, thanks to you, Hokage-sama. It's better than it was."
"It is Orochimaru who got into the forest, then."
Anko nodded.
"Did he say why he is here?" Shikaku asked, going straight to the point.
"That boy..." Anko recollected.
"He's after Sasuke, isn't he?" the Hokage asked.
Anko nodded.
Kakashi's muscles tensed. What could Orochimaru want with his student? Why didn't the Hokage seem surprised?
Anko relayed that Orochimaru had declared Sasuke promising, that he had potential as an heir to the Uchihas, that Orochimaru had threatened the whole village if the exams were stopped.
"It is yet the second day inside the forest. For the moment, we'll continue the exams as planned," the Sandaime declared. Next to him, Shikaku went even more lax, cunning eyes hidden beneath a lazy composure.
"Lord Hokage," Anko interrupted. "He cursed the boy. We should take him out of the exams and give him over to an Anbu squad. " Kakashi straightened, allowing his alertness to be witnessed. None of his students were going to be given to Anbu. Anko didn't notice, but the Sandaime eyed him from the corner of his eye. Good. He was Sasuke's sensei. His team was his responsibility. It was him who'd nominated them for the exam.
Anko continued addressing the Hokage, "If he even survives the mark, that is." Kakashi's head blanked for a moment. If he even survives. Out of the ten Orochimaru had cursed, only Anko had survived. He gritted his teeth at her callousness. She was still speaking "- should be locked up to keep the mark under control."
That was too much. He gave a brief chuckle, bringing the kunoichi's attention to him. "Have you forgotten he's the last loyal Uchiha?" Sasuke's body was built for life as shinobi, to withstand stress. It gave him a chance. Kakashi would bet on his genin, and he'd make sure he wouldn't be caged after he made it through the ordeal. More than anything, Sasuke's last name gave him clout. Kakashi would ensure there was public outcry at locking up the heir to one of the founding clans. Anko clearly caught on.
"I don't care who he is! If he stays on the exams, he's a danger to everyone! Every time he gets stronger, so does the cursed mark. That thing feeds his chakra. It devours the carrier."
"Hokage-sama, Anko-san. You're assuming he'll survive the mark. He should be taken to a hospital. If he is going to remain in the Forest, a medical team should go in to assist," Shikaku declared, and Kakashi breathed out in relief.
"Young Sasuke is strong," the Hokage dismissed. Kakashi tensed again. A ninety percent chance of death wasn't something to brush off. "I'm intrigued by what Orochimaru said. Let the boy continue." The Sandaime turned towards him. "Kakashi, keep an eye on your team, see if they get within a camera's range again."
He nodded stiffly, not able to disobey a direct order. He'd make sure his three genin were still alive, and then he'd start reviewing fuinjutsu. Jiraiya wasn't yet in Konoha. Kakashi - and Sasuke - couldn't wait for him. And he wanted a seal that wasn't as easy for Orochimaru to manipulate as Anko's, so asking the Sandaime was out.
"What is being done about Kenta?" he asked.
Anko stiffened at the mention of her teammate. "He's a boring idiot. You don't think..."
Kakashi ignored her, waiting the Hokage's response. If he couldn't pull his team out of the exams, if he couldn't get Sasuke immediate medical attention, at least he wouldn't leave them with a threat. Another threat, his mind whispered, you've already failed them. The exams were a good place to capture Kabuto's team. Without cameras in that region, they could make it seem like the animals, or a foreign team, had gotten to them. Unless they had a way to contact their leader, there'd be a lag until they started a search.
"Anko," Shikaku interrupted her. "You've been cleared. Kenta and his team haven't."
She visibly recollected herself.
"Despite the cameras in the Forest, we have no evidence of Kenta's team being in league with Orochimaru," the Sandaime said.
"Orochimaru has infiltrated Konoha. We've tagged Yakushi Kabuto as a spy, and his jonin leader was Orochimaru's student," Shikaku disagreed. "It's enough to question the entire team."
Kakashi and Anko kept quiet. She probably didn't want to get between their commander and the Hokage. Kakashi was busy reminding himself he was a jonin sensei. Demanding to be in charge of an Anbu squad tasked with retrieving the suspects would take him away from the three genin he'd put in danger. He was no longer an Anbu Captain. His place was looking over his genin. They'd be better off with someone else. He shook the thought off. They had him.
"Alright. Anbu can handle a discrete extraction and move to T&I," the Hokage acquiesced before dismissing them.
Kakashi nodded his head to Shikaku in gratitude before dashing to his apartment. He needed to research how to destroy, diminish, suppress, or disrupt a cursed mark.
FOREST OF DEATH: 93 HOURS LEFT
"Hatake-san!"
Hatake Kakashi left his notes and made his way to the Akimichi chunin he'd left monitoring every camera for a glimpse of his team. "I've got two out of three on this screen."
Kakashi thanked him and took in the view. Hikari was almost stumbling, tiredness making her steps clumsy and heavy. She was carrying a limp Naruto. Sasuke was nowhere in sight. He clenched his teeth and reminded himself it didn't mean his student was dead. As he watched, she put Naruto down and checked him over. Hikari wasn't surprised, and that was worrying. Naruto healed within seconds. What could keep him down?
Hikari took a moment to collapse next to Naruto, torso heaving up and down. The chunin eyed her with pity. Kakashi with razor sharp focus.
Hikari didn't seem injured. And she had proved great at keeping her composure and assessing situations. Out of the three of them, she was under no delusions as to their skill level. Zabuza had told her to stop helping her teammates if she wanted to live, and she'd ignored him. She was clever. She'd know how much of a threat they were under, and she didn't balk at playing dirty. As long as Sasuke held on, his whole team had a chance.
She stood up, leaning against the trunk before dashing off. The chunin followed her until there were no more cameras.
"Should I wait for her to resurface, Hatake-san?"
"Yes. Tell me when she does, or when you see Uchiha Sasuke." He thought they would be one and the same, but he wasn't willing to risk it. "And keep an eye on Uzumaki Naruto. Alert me if anyone comes close to him."
"Understood."
Kakashi went back to his notes. He had limited understanding of fuinjutsu. With the war and his sensei not wanting to exclude Rin and Obito, he hadn't learned much of it from Minato. After the war, Team 7 had shattered... drifted apart... even without taking into account Minato's new responsibilities. He'd picked up some since then, but he'd never ventured into juinjutsu. If he wanted to use fuinjutsu against a cursed mark, he'd had to play to their similarities. Cursed marks sealed the caster's chakra into the victim's body.
'Every time he gets stronger, so does the cursed mark.' It wasn't destroying Sasuke's own chakra, then. It left room for the victim to strengthen. What else had Anko said?
'That thing feeds his chakra.' There was a link between Sasuke's chakra and the mark's. Breaking the connection without knowing what exactly the mark contained was above his abilities. But containing it? He narrowed his eyes. Maybe.
"Hatake-san!"
He was beside the chunin a moment later. "Show me."
It was Hikari, this time carrying Sasuke. Kakashi closed his eye for a moment. Alive. He was unconscious but alive. There. On the screen. Where Kakashi could see him. Not too late. I'm not too late. As they continued to follow her journey to the outer rings, he realized she was heading towards Naruto through a different path. Trying to minimize a trail while returning to familiar territory. His lips quirked up. Smart little genin.
"Naruto?"
"No one has come near him." Still, the chunin obligingly flipped cameras, showing Naruto. He hadn't moved from where Hikari had sat him.
"Can you - "
"Kakashi!" Asuma waved him over.
He hesitated.
"I'll keep an eye on them, Hatake-san," the Akimichi chunin gave him an easy-going smile.
"Thank you."
As soon as he took a seat, Asuma shoved a screen at him. Team 10 was talking among themselves.
"-Hikari's!" Ino was saying.
"It looks like regular smoke to me," Chouji said, but he looked anxious as he pulled out a packet of chips.
"It's not! Look! It shimmers, and it matches mine."
She took off a color smoke pill from her pouch, showing it to her teammates. It was mottled grey and it did, indeed, shimmer. The three turned to look at the sky. From the camera's angle, it was impossible to see what they did.
"And Hikari carries another like this?" Shikamaru asked, brows furrowed.
"Yes. We made them together."
At Kakashi's confusion, Asuma explained. "Kunoichi get a lot of units on infiltration. And what do when it goes wrong." How to get out, they were both thinking. Ways to ask for reinforcements or extraction, whether it was through a flower arrangement or smoke.
"We need to go!" Ino exclaimed.
Chouji shoved the chips into his pockets.
Shikamaru twitched forward, towards the smoke, before controlling himself.
"We need to be cautious. If it's not Hikari, it can be toxic gas or an attempt to draw someone in - or out." Kakashi's eyebrow rose. It was a valid concern with both teams from Sand and Rain. "If it is Hikari, and she's asking for help, then Team 7 is not likely to still be there."
"So, what, we don't help?" Ino was getting frustrated.
"No, we do. Give me a second." Shikamaru closed his eyes. "Ino, Mind Transfer into a bird and recon the area that stretches out opposite to the tower. Look for Hikari, and check if Team 7 is being hunted."
As soon as Ino's body went limp, Chouji maneuvered her across his shoulders, torso hanging on one side and legs on the other. "Where to?"
Shikamaru pointed.
Kakashi was relieved to see it was only slightly off. It was a good start until Ino could tell them an exact location.
"Your team ran into trouble, Kakashi?"
He nodded but didn't offer information. Asking a chunin to monitor his team could be blamed on his laziness. Anyone looking would see an elite jonin too immersed with his own stuff to care for three genin. But any mentions of an S-rank missing nin would attract attention.
"Right. I think I'll take a small break now," he said, standing up and making a show of stretching.
"Maa, I guess I'll take over your screen, then," he said, crinkling his eye. I'll keep watch over Team 10 while you get debriefed.
He took the device Asuma handed him and regained his place at the chunin's side.
"They're all together," they explained unnecessarily, as Kakashi was already cataloging everything. Hikari had chosen a spot on the treetops. She had ripped of some cloth - a raincoat? - and tied each corner to a different tree with ninja wire. The result was a make-shift hammock. It was too small with the three of them on it, even with Hikari straddling Sasuke's chest. A pair of ribbons laid between Naruto and Sasuke, and she held another.
As he watched, she put one end on Sasuke's curse mark and scrunched up her face in concentration. Chakra flowed sluggishly through the material towards Sasuke. Kakashi didn't understand. Even if Hikari had expended too much chakra, she wouldn't need to concentrate to put what was left in a ribbon. When it touched the mark, the band started filling the other way around, from Sasuke to Hikari, with a substance more viscous than ink. The sort of black honey was overtaking Hikari's chakra. Hikari flung it to the side, letting it drift to the trunks below. Kakashi squinted his eyes. It was so corroded it didn't resemble fabric anymore. It resembled soot, if soot was glutinous. No wonder Hikari wasn't worried it would stick out. It looked more like the trail a gigantic mutant snail would leave behind than strip of cloth. Which... wasn't out of place in the Forest of Death.
Kakashi watched her repeat the same thing with the rest. He filed it away to think about when he was working on Sasuke's seal. Then, she climbed all the way up the tree before untying her hitaiate. She put it up against the setting sun, made a V with her free hand, and signaled. The mirror-like surface let out quick, small, and pattern-less bursts of light.
"Why didn't she use Konoha code?" the chunin asked, voice low enough that it wouldn't carry.
Kakashi shrugged. He wasn't going to explain that Konoha had spies. He glanced at Team 10. Ino was still scouting, and there was no way a bird would miss the flashes of light.
Hikari returned to her teammate's side, took a kunai, and carved out a message, stretching the four trees the structure was tied to.
I call on you to pay your dues.
Two of us helped two of you.
Protect them until they come to,
and the ledger will be wiped true.
Gai's team. As long as the Hyuga activated his Byakugan, they would answer Hikari's demand. Perhaps the signaling would catch the weapon enthusiast's attention since she'd used mirrors in the First Task. If not, then the Hyuga would have no reason to look. Would Gai's student look? Was carrying mirrors around something they taught to kunoichi? He didn't think so, since Hikari didn't carry any. He turned to the Akimichi.
"Did you take kunoichi classes?"
"Uhm... No, Hatake-san. Sorry. They're only offered to... well... kunoichi."
"Maa, it's fine," he waved it off. He'd thought they were an elective for male shinobi.
She finished writing the message and reached for Naruto. With gentle movements and steady hands, she took off his jacket. The back was ripped, and Kakashi wondered how it had happened since the shirt seemed intact. She divested Sasuke of some of his shurikens and explosive tags. Then, she made her way down the tree.
The chunin turned to him. "There's no camera below."
Kakashi's jaw clenched in frustration even as he nodded his understanding. He checked Asuma's screen. Ino was back on her own body, and they had adjusted their course.
"- smoke?"
"That was a lot easier to see. The trees had been torn off."
"Blast zone?" Shikamaru asked.
"No, like they'd been hit from one direction hard enough that they fell, roots and all."
They all took a moment to digest that.
"Ino, did you see anyone close to the smoke or to Team 7?"
"Yes. From the direction opposite to us, three teams are heading there: Sound, Sand, and Konoha. A Rain team is heading away from the zone. Then ahead of us and to the right, there's another team from Sound. The ones who attacked the cards guy. They're sweeping the area. Behind us and to the left, there's a Konoha team. The one with the green-everything-genin."
"It'll be dark soon," Chouji remarked.
Shikamaru nodded. "Do you think they'll travel through the night?"
"Maybe Sand and Rain. Rain was going fast."
Shikamaru's brows furrowed. "Their chances of running into one another are higher in the dark." And even if they didn't, it would still take a while to travel from the smoke to where Hikari had taken them. His genin had covered an admirable distance. "What about the Sound team to our right?"
Ino shrugged. "They don't seem to be in a hurry."
Kakashi sighed behind his mask. He knew where this was going. Without an immediate threat, Team 10 couldn't rush to Hikari. Not only would arriving exhausted help no one. Shikamaru's jutsu also didn't work without shadows. Without one of the pieces of the puzzle, the trio's dynamic was thrown off.
"Did she seem alright?" Shikamaru asked, tone almost pleading. Chouji put a hand on his shoulder.
"I didn't see any injuries... on any of them, actually."
Shikamaru nodded. "We'll approach until it's dark and then Chouji and I will take shifts. Are you up to scouting with birds when shifts change?"
"Yes."
Kakashi turned away. It was good to know where the other teams where in relation to Hikari. For now, he thought the only danger out of the four teams was the second Sound team.
"Did you hear all that?" he asked his helper.
"Yes. I'll keep an eye for the team heading to yours, Hatake-san, but there are no cameras in that area since it's closer to the Tower."
Kakashi nodded. It seemed to be the theme this day. Not enough surveillance, not enough security, not enough knowledge.
"Here's your genin again."
He glanced over. Hikari was done doing whatever she was doing, and Naruto's and her own jacket was nowhere in sight. She was walking up an opposite tree to where her teammates were, settling on a lower branch. It'd let her see some of the hammock without bringing attention to it. Kakashi's eyebrow raised. He'd have thought she'd stay with them to keep close guard.
It wasn't yet fully dark, but Hikari leaned her head on the trunk and closed her eyes. Kakashi went back to his notes.
FOREST OF DEATH: 82 HOURS LEFT
Despite having kept watch through the night, Hatake Kakashi was wide awake at four o' clock in the morning. Asuma had rejoined him, bringing Kurenai with him. Between the three of them and the Akimichi chunin who'd refused to leave, they had a full set up of cameras between them. Kurenai had gallantly offered her own screen for checking the scarce cameras nearby. After midnight, they had started glimpsing a team drawing closer. From the direction they were coming from, it had to be the Sound team.
Kakashi's notes had been abandoned an hour before, when Hikari had woken. After checking a perimeter, she'd gone down to the lower part of the tree and hidden among the foliage. He turned the volume all the way up. If they couldn't see, perhaps they could hear more. Kakashi narrowed his eyes as the next glimpse he got from the bottom end of the camera showed blue instead of Hikari's green shirt.
"Hiding is pointless when we've already found you," a voice rang out.
"Hn. What do you want?" Kakashi had to do a double take towards the boys. Sasuke was, indeed, still unconscious. The one coming out of the foliage was Hikari, henged as her teammate.
"We want a fight, Sasuke," another voice called.
Hikari-as-Sasuke crossed her arms, letting out a disdainful noise. She didn't leap down to meet them.
"Wait, Zaku," the first voice cautioned. The second one, Zaku, had to have moved forwards.
"Scared?" Hikari-as-Sasuke sneered.
That seemed to be too much for Zaku, for the next thing Kakashi heard was a shout of rage.
Hikari-as-Sasuke threw a couple of shurikens even as she moved to the next tree over.
"Slicing Sound Wave!" The shurikens rebounded and struck where Hikari had just been.
The dance repeated, Hikari throwing a couple of shurikens and dancing out of the way when they returned to her. Kakashi narrowed his eyes. Yes, she was buying time, but she was also only moving in a rough semicircle.
"Your team?" he asked Asuma.
"Moving towards yours. It won't be long."
"Gai's is also approaching from the trees," Kurenai informed them. "They're further behind, though."
"Alright."
The Sound team was back to taunting Hikari-as-Sasuke, daring her to come closer. Kakashi tensed. Sooner or later, Hikari would run out of ammunition. Taijutsu required close distance. The way Hikari's had honed hers, using her opponent's body and movements against them, even more so. But the Hunched-Back-nin hadn't needed to land a blow to harm Kabuto. Hikari had left her ribbon to impersonate Sasuke, and Kakashi wasn't even sure it would have been able to block out sound waves. If the Sound-nin managed to disturb Hikari's balance, it was over.
The dance sped up, the other two Sound nin not willing to stand around waiting. Hikari moved faster, still confining herself to the semi-circle, but the Sound nin were crafty. They managed to herd her out of the trees and to the forest floor, behind the center she'd been circling. He clenched his fists. He was blind.
"Did you think we wouldn't notice? As if the orange and green didn't give it away. Such a noble thing, to protect your teammates," the kunoichi laughed.
Kakashi couldn't see what the Sound nin communicated among themselves, but they must have targeted that center.
"Stop, Kim! Zaku! It's a trap!"
The next thing Kakashi heard was a blast of explosions.
"Good try," the hunched back called. The trap must have failed, then.
Kakashi could only hear movement and static for a moment.
"Earth Style!" Hikari-as-Sasuke cried out.
The Sound genin chuckled. "Are we playing whack-a-mole?"
He realized Hikari was using the Headhunter jutsu, not to catch her opponents but to get away from them. No, no, no. Sound travelled faster through solids than air.
"You're not Sasuke!" Zaku cried, outraged.
The henge must have fallen away as Hikari focused on moving through the earth.
"Stupid girl," Kim spat out. "We weren't after you."
"Where is Sasuke?" Dosu demanded.
"Did Orochimaru send you?" Hikari asked.
Silence. Kakashi bared his teeth behind his mask. This was an assassination unit.
"Where is he!?" Zaku screamed.
"Not here."
"Liar!"
"Your master attacked us far from here. What was I supposed to do? Carry both my teammates?"
Kakashi wondered if the Sound team would fall for the story Hikari was spinning. At face value, it was credible. She was slim, with the build of a ballerina. You wouldn't guess she could carry someone bigger than her. But then again, if she'd left them behind, how was Naruto's jacket explained?
"Almost. My team is almost there, Kakashi," Asuma said into the tense silence.
There was the sound of a scuffle and then Hikari gasped in pain. A growl built up on Kakashi's throat.
"Well, you're annoying. We'll finish this and then go after your teammate," Zaku declared.
For the first time since Hikari left the tree, Kakashi saw something through the camera. It was Team 10. There were no chips in sight, and Shikamaru was poised forward.
It was Ino who stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Give her one second," Ino's voice was tight in anger.
"Such a pretty hairstyle. Maybe if you didn't waste so much time on it, you wouldn't have had to leave your teammates be-!" A yowl of pure pain interrupted Kim's sentence. "My hand!"
"Don't touch my braids," Hikari spat.
Ino took her hand off Shikamaru's shoulder.
Team 10 leaped down.
Uchiha Sasuke looked around a blurry world. Where was he? A figure stood in front of him. He took a step back. It was him, a much younger him. Young enough to be from the time that man... he shook his head. This was wrong. He was forgetting something important.
"My parents shouldn't have died!" the boy cried out. "It's not fair!"
Sasuke's lips curled. Nothing was fair.
The place around them shifted, turning into something far more familiar. He saw this in his nightmares. His parents. His mother, laying on the wooden floor, vacant eyes staring at the ceiling. His father had fallen on top of her, as if to protect her.
"Everyone is dead!" the boy cried with tears in his eyes. "I couldn't do anything!"
'You're doing great.' A worried face peered down at him as his hand was squeezed.
Sasuke blinked. That wasn't right. He hadn't been strong enough. He was never strong enough. He couldn't save anyone.
'I'm here, and I'll do my best, Sasuke-kun. I promise. Hold on, alright? You're doing great.'
That couldn't be. There was no one here but his younger, useless, crying self. He was forgetting something.
"Everyone is dead! I couldn't save them! I wasn't powerful enough!" His younger self locked eyes with him for the first time. Misery turned into accusation. "You stood there, frozen, and watched them die!"
Small hands touching his burning neck. 'Thank you for staying still.'
He didn't understand. Wasn't he supposed to be fighting? Why was he being thanked for staying down? That didn't make sense. Nothing made sense. His stupid team didn't make sense. Naruto was always yelling, Kakashi watched them train behind his porn book, and Hikari's logic was -
'Focus. On. Me.'
Hikari.
Naruto. Naruto had called him a coward.
Hikari was yelling at him to run.
The Forest.
Orochimaru.
How had he forgotten?
He had to get up.
His younger self's face was melting. Stark white skin was revealed along with gold eyes. Orochimaru.
He had to get up.
Naruto was down. Hikari was alone.
This world was too fuzzy. He couldn't grasp at anything. He couldn't get up.
"If you had more power..."