Sorry for the delay. Life and work got in the way. After this arc, I'm going on hiatus.

Chapter 81 Screams of the Ice maze.

The sun fell below the horizon, casting the land of iron in an orange glow.

Anko could already smell the stench of death flowing from the caverns within. She licked her lips; these kinds of things always excited her.

"How's it going?" Ibiki asked, walking up to her. She bit into her dango before answering between chews.

"It's a bloody massacre," Anko confessed. "I've been hearing screams for some time now.

"No! Please! Stop! Argh."

The two jonins looked at the cave as the scream suddenly cut off.

"Where is the Hyuga?" Ibiki asked, intrigued by what he heard.

Anko pointed to the young Hyuga, currently losing his lunch.

"What happened?"

"Apparently, he saw a group of genins being tortured," Anko shrugged, eating another dango while piercing the wall with the wooden stick. Ibiki was unimpressed that the boy belonged to the Torture and Interrogation Force division. How could he have such a weak stomach?

"What did he see," Ibiki demanded.

"Let's see, what did he say," Anko paused to remember. "Oh, right!" she smiled excitedly. "The demon was cutting them open and feeding their organs to them." Anko saw nothing wrong with this as Orochimaru did worse, and it seems even Ibiki found the action mild.

"I should try that?" Ibiki muttered in thought. "But it would need a medical ninja to keep them alive. Hmm, perhaps I could feed the organs to someone else?"

Footsteps brought him out of his musings as his team of cleaners gathered.

"We're ready to collect the bodies, Sir!" They stood with sealing scrolls and gloves.

It had only been a day, yet, there was a need to 'clean up.' Ibiki shook his head in amusement. He should have known this year's exams would be interesting with those rookies participating.

"Hyuga!" Ibiki called, getting the puking boy's attention. "Where are they now?" Hyuga grimaced as his eyes changed, his byakugan activating.

"No one is around the entrance," he reported. 'Everyone has already passed the first two thresholds." his face turned green as he looked into the caverns.

"And the bodies?"

"How cruel," Anko muttered.

"There's enough to warrant a clean-up, ugh." Hyuga went back to hurling, and Ibiki resolved to train the boy more.

"You heard the man!" Ibiki called the paling clean-up crew. "Let's get going." he turned and moved towards the closest entrance, his squad following suit. Much like the genins had, the clean-up crew went through the various caverns, following in the genin's footsteps.

The exam wasn't to kill as many genins as possible but to gauge their ability in a "Safe" environment. Since they didn't want to kill the Genins, it was imperative to not only collect their corpses but also to save anyone at death's door.

"Kyaaa!" The girly scream rang through his headset, and Ibiki wondered just volunteered for a training session. What was with his team today?

"Report," he gritted out.

"I- It's alive," replied a trembling voice. "Oh, Sage, it's alive! Kyaaa!" chaos erupted over the intercom as more people began to mutter 'it's alive' or 'It's moving' Ibiki was getting annoyed with the unprofessionalism his team was showing. They would all need to be retrained.

He was thinking of ways to punish them when he rounded the corner and came across his own phenomenon.

"Ahhh!" the scream came from behind him. His brow twitched as he stared at the monstrosity. They were piles of corpses. Ah, it twitched.

"It's alive!" he looked down at Anko, who grabbed his arm in disgust. "How is that thing alive!"

Ibiki looked at the small hill made of Stone Genin's body and sighed. He could understand why everyone was screaming now; it did look grotesque.

There was no other way to describe the scene than grotesque. It looked like a child broke their dolls and disgraded them on a heap of red and pink goo. Blood and flesh painted the walls, and the putrid smell of death polluted the air. If these were all Hyuga saw when he looked at the caverns, Ibiki could understand the man's weakness.

"Don't just stand there," Ibiki said sternly. "If they're alive, it is our duty to save them!"

"Can anyone even fix something like this?" Anko asked, pointing at the broken body, their limbs broken in several places to the point they didn't look human. If not for the occasional twitch, Ibiki would think them dead.

"Are you forgetting that Lady Tsunade is here?" Ibiki said but doubted even the legendary sannin could fix this.

"Isn't she retired?" Anko countered as Ibiki's team finally moved.

"He looks healthy enough, not a wrinkle in sight," Ibiki recalled Tsunade's youthful features as he touched his second earpiece.

"Ibiki," Inoichi answered, his voice soft and welcoming.

"I'm gonna need you to arrange a few therapy sessions for the clean-up crew," Ibiki got to the point.

There was a pause on the other end, where Ibiki heard Inoichi gulp. What was with his team today?

"D-did something happen with the exam?" Inoichi asked, unsure. Ibiki looked at the earpiece as though it were a bug.

"Yes," Ibiki smiled cruelly as he spoke. "Someone thought it was a good idea to leave nothing but mangled bodies behind. I'm sure the blood stains won't come out from the walls anytime after this."

Silence.

"I see," Inoichi said after a long pause. "I'll arrange everything. I suppose you will also need a session." Ibiki was almost offended but after seeing the body let out a weak whimper as the crew tried to touch them, he reconsidered.

"Only if I can bring Osake," Ibiki compromised.

"Please bring enough for two," Inoichi said in a gentle tone.

"Yeah," Ibiki sighed. "Will do, doc."

Kabuto was horrid.

They said she was dangerous, but no one said she was crazy. He tried to approach her many times but always seemed to arrive at the worst time. He could still hear her breaking their bones. He'd thought Orochimaru was cruel in his search for Immortality, but he sees now that some do the same for less. He expected this from the Sand Jinchuriki, not a leaf ninja.

"Augh!" the agonizing cry made Kabuto flinch. Once again, he arrived at a bad time. Sakura was torturing someone.

"I wonder if I should mail her head back to that old fart," Sakura said, seriously considering it.

"Don't," the Nara warned. "They might take that as a declaration of war." Kabuto nodded at the boy's words. Everyone expects a loss of lives in the chunin exam, but if you kill someone and mail their body parts to their family member, well. What was that if not a taunt?

"Well, if I don't mail the body to him, how will he be able to bury her?" The cruel words didn't match the sweet voice.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto stepped forward. "Do we have to kill her?"

"Showing sympathy to the enemy that wants your life, Naruto?" She asked.

"It's not that," Naruto looked at the girl their age, covered in blood but no wounds. Sakura had been particularly cruel when she received the girl from her clones.

Sakura broke Kurotsuchi's body, shattering her mind with pain. Over and over again, Sakura made her feel unimaginable pain that made her pray for death only to heal her wounds, the memories of pain the only proof it was ever there. With cuts and broken bones, Kurotsuchi was starting to go crazy from the torture, which was no doubt Sakura's plan.

Kurotsuki, the Granddaughter of the Tsuchikage, was a feisty kunoichi with great potential. A Leaf ninja with no significant background was torturing that great Kunoichi.

"Don't you think that's enough?" Naruto looked at her with sad eyes that made even
Kabuto waver.

Sakura looked from his blue eyes to the kunoichi on the floor and back again.

CrAcK

"Ahhhh!" Kurotsuchi screamed at the new pain radiating up her arm, her bones shattering under Sakura's heel. She whimpered pitifully as the bones mended, leaving the pain in her mind.

"She wanted to kill you," Sakura said flatly.

"But that doesn't mean I want her to suffer like this!" Naruto objected. Sakura grabbed her hair in frustration. She stepped away from them, muttering to herself.

"This is why those village bastards are still alive after everything." she paced back and forth before stopping as though concluding.

"I was going to break her mind and return her to her grandfather a broken doll, but I suppose that would be wasteful," Sakura turned back to them, her tone cold. With the visor over her eyes, he wouldn't see them, but he could imagine they were frosty.

Kurotsuchi must have picked up on the danger to her life since she looked horrified. She tried to scurry away, but there was nowhere to run.

Naruto stepped in front of the girl protectively.

"T- That's enough, Sakura-chan!" He stood definitely. "I won't let you hurt her anymore!"

"I fixed her right after," she pointed out.

Naruto glared, his eyes turning red with the? Nine tails chakra. Kabuto's eyes widened; the boy was serious.

"You're seriously protecting the enemy!" Sakura yelled at him.

"Please, Nee-chan," Naruto pleaded. "She's not a threat." The boy looked on the verge of tears.

Kurotsuchi was still, staring at Narurto's back in shock. Considering she tried to kill him, It made no sense for him to protect her.

"Do you not care about what she did to Hinata?" Sakura spoke coldly. Naruto flinched. "This woman teamed up with the cloud scum and hurt her. Are you still going to protect her?"

The cavern was silent as they all watched Naruto.

"Hinata will decide what she wants to do," Naruto said after a long pause.

"Not getting involved?" Sakura mocked him. "Don't want to pick sides, is that it?"

"I'll always protect my friends," Naruto stated. " But I won't stand by and watch you torment a helpless girl!"

"Helpless girl," bounced off the wall. Kurotsuchi's pride was surely damaged after this.

Sasuke sighed and stepped into the light. He walked over to Sakura and held her from behind, covering her eyes as he removed her Visors.

"I think that's enough for today," He whispered in her ear. "Get some rest; we'll keep watch."

Sakura must have had a lot of trust in him as she collapsed his arms. He hooked a hand under her kneed and held her to his chest.

"Get some rest," he said to the other Genins. "Naruto put up a barrier seal and get the others some sleeping bags. We're camping here today." he turned and walked over to the corner, summoning a sleeping bag and tucking Sakura into it.

Realizing this wouldn't be the best time once more, Kabuto made his escape, not realizing that the Nara's dark eyes watched him leave.

Team 8 and Ino lay unconscious as Choji monitored their recovery. He didn't need to do anything, and Sakura only put him here to calm his nerves. He heard stories of her brutality, but seeing her hurt someone was too much for him. It was odd how someone so nice could be so cruel.

"You okay, Choji?" Shikamaru entered the 'room' Choji made for the injured. It was literally a hole in the wall. Shikamaru walked over and examined Ino. She fainted after all the excitement with Sakura's clone. As happy as he was, they were all together, Chouji wished it was under better circumstances.

"Did the plan work?" Choji asked hesitantly, looking out into the cavern to see Naruto giving the Stone girl food with a huge smile.

"Yeah," Shikamaru sighed and sat down beside him. "She made Naruto play the hero, and now the chick thinks he's the greatest person in the world."

"He kind of is, though," Choji stated.

"I can't believe it took him so long to act," Shikamaru toyed with his earring. "Any more, and the girl's mind would've been lost."

The plan was risky. Sakura wanted to hurt the Tsuchikage psychologically. It took a lot of convincing to stop her from mailing his Granddaughter's fingers to the man. That would just cause a war. The other option was to break her mind and send her back broken. It was Choji that suggested they befriend her. He thought if the old man hated Naruto so much, they could have the girl become friends with him, which would hurt the Kage.

Sakura liked the idea, torturing the poor girl to make Naruto's protective instincts kick in. Choji didn't think she would play the villain so well.

"It's kind of sad she had to make Nauro mad at her to get what she wanted," Choji hugged his knee. He knew how much Sakura loved Naruto. No one could deny her affection for the blond. "What if he stops trusting her."

"As if that could ever happen," Shikamaru drawled, his head against the wall, eyes closed. "We all know how she gets when Naruto is in danger. He'll probably think she was overreacting and try harder to protect her."

Choji chuckled. "You know them quite well, huh?"

Shikamaru's eyes opened, Looking at Choji from the corners. His eyes were lifeless, the same as in the land of waves. It was a massacre; Sakura completely whipped out Gato and his men. Shikamaru was witness to it, and it changed him. His lazy attitude seems more like an act than his actual intention.

"Naruto is simple-minded," Shikamaru closed his eyes again. "He's clingy and won't let this separate him from his beloved Sakura." He scoffed. "He's willing to turn a blind eye to many things if it means keeping on his rose-tinted glasses."

"You," Choji tried to find the right word. "Sound jaded."

Shikamruto gave a tired laugh. The Nara looked at the sleeping Sakura and lay down on his side, away from Choji.

"This exam is a drag," Shikamaru muttered before falling asleep.

Choji reached into his pocket and pulled out two scrolls. 'Heaven' and 'Earth.' They all had a pair of scrolls. All that was left was going to the stronghold. Choji sighed. He was going to need his mother's cooking after this.

Ino opened her eyes as the space became quiet. Choji fell asleep when he was sup[pose to be on watch. Ino sighed, wondering not for the first time how she became friends with that monster. She was gonna need therapy after this.

I'm late I know, currently working on an Online store and stuff, so I've been preoccupied. I think I might change the update schedule to every 15 and 30 and just make the chapters longer, but we'll see.

Next Chapter

May 15.