40 2/2

"Stop!" She yelled out to her teammates, but it was too late. Zaku let out a yell as he felt something invisible wrap around his leg and yank him into the air, while Dosu's eye widened as a massive log came swinging down towards him, seemingly as if by magic. He was barely able to duck under it, as Zaku, up above, swung his hands towards the log, revealing two holes in his palms. From said holes concentrated blasts of air shot out, slamming into the log and obliterating it. This also had the side effect of making whatever was holding him in the air slacken, causing him to fall to the ground.

The Oto kunoichi growled as she clapped her hands together, channeling her chakra and flaring it. Suddenly several traps and wires appeared as if out of thin air, including a wire that was looped around Zaku's leg. "She's using genjutsu to hide her traps!" She shouted.

Dosu nodded as he rushed forward towards Sakura, avoiding the traps. "Good work Kin!" He shouted, only to smirk as he dodged to one side, the kunai Sakura threw at him easily missing. However, when she didn't look upset, he felt a danger sense kick in as he turned, seeing the kunai hit another invisible wire, and sending several shuriken streaking down towards the clearing. Sakura suddenly disappeared, replaced by a log, as Dosu brought up his right arm, the sleeve sliding down to reveal his right arm was protected by a metal bracer perforated with holes. Using the bracer to shield himself from the shuriken, he turned, searching for the pink haired kunoichi, who was currently hiding.

Zaku quickly got to his feet, already having a plan, one that worked well with his current anger. He pointed his hands towards the hollow. "Better come out before I kill your friends, bitch!" He shouted.

He received no verbal response, but he did receive a physical one. The sudden feeling of sharp teeth digging into his crotch, as he let out a high pitched squeal of pain, dropping to the ground as Akamaru, who had slipped out of the hollow in the confusion, rushed to his human partner's defense, attacking the man who dared to threaten his injured partner. Seeing the target down, he leapt away, only to let out a shrill howl of pain as Dosu swung his bracer at Akamaru. When he had done so, a distortion had emerged, one that apparently was causing Akamaru great pain, as he dropped to the floor, paws over his ears.

Dosu however found himself distracted by Sakura appearing behind him, swinging her kunai down at him. He ducked out of the way, as Sakura spun, kicking at his crouched form. He managed to block the kick, but was driven back by the blow. However, he was saved by Kin launching several senbon on Sakura, who blocked a couple while dodging the rest. She readied herself for the next attack, only to suddenly drop to her knees, gasping as her entire world became disoriented.

Kin smirked, tugging on a nearly invisible wire attached to one of her senbon, causing a small bell attached to it to ring, the sound affecting Sakura. Now, instead of one Kin, she knew the girl was seeing multiple versions of her, while her balance was thrown off. "Heh, look at you. You've got a few moves, I'll give you that, but I can tell you're nothing. Just a princess pretending to be a hero," she sneered, stalking over and grabbing Sakura's hair, delivering a punch to her stomach.

Sakura let out a gasp for air, doubled over on the fist, as Kin continued to hold onto her head. "What made you think you could be a kunoichi? Huh? Did you have to suffer for it? Did you have to train your ass off just to survive every day of your life? You don't deserve the right to even breathe the same air as someone like me," Kin growled out.

Dosu turned, intending to finish their mission, only to have to again dodge as another ranged weapon shot past him. Kiba was growling as he stood there, leaning against the side of the hollow, moving to grab another kunai. Dosu narrowed his eyes and swung his gauntlet again, and like Akamaru, Kiba went down, crying out in agony as he gripped his ears. Dosu just slowly stalked forward now, intent on completing his mission.

Kin smirked as she lifted Sakura up. 'Watch now, as your precious teammate gets killed," she said darkly.

Sakura panted for air, eyes blurry with tears, as she watched Dosu about to enter the hollow. She barely was able to stand, being held up more by the painful grip Kin had on her head then her own strength. Kiba was down at the moment, as was Akamaru. Sasuke, still catatonic, needed help. He needed someone to save him. He needed…her.

The thought hit Sakura like a thunderbolt. Sasuke needed her. Her teammate needed her. In that moment, the fear, the hesitation, it disappeared. She was a Konoha kunoichi, and her teammate needed her.

Without thinking, Sakura grabbed for one of her remaining kunai, and drove it into Kin's leg, making the kunoichi scream in pain, as Sakura shot forward. Dosu was barely able to turn before Sakura barreled into him, yelling as she managed to drive him to the ground, and tried to punch him in the face. Dosu grabbed her arm, and launched his own punch, striking Sakura in the face. Her head shot back, but she scrabbled blindly with her left hand, grabbing his free arm and pinning that one like he had pinned her right arm. And then in an act of desperation, she slammed her head into his, head butting him.

Stars burst in her vision, and her head felt like it had exploded on the inside. She felt warm blood flow down her face from where she had broken the skin on her forehead. But Dosu below her was not entirely better, as she struggled to bring a knee up, to start kneeing him in the ribs.

That was when Zaku and Kin, both still somewhat reeling from their own injuries, grabbed Sakura and yanked her off Dosu, barely holding her arms as she struggled. Dosu stood, glaring at her with hatred. "That's it, you little bitch. You want to die for your teammate, fine. You can die!" He shouted, as he approached her, drawing out a kunai.

Sakura trembled a bit, but stared at him as defiantly as she could, while on the ground, Kiba struggled to crawl over, to try and stop them. Thankfully, help arrived at that moment in the form of a green blur that spun in the air, kicking all three of the Oto genin away.

Sakura fell to her hands and knees, and quickly looked up to find Rock Lee standing there in front of her, facing the Oto trio, at the ready. "You will not harm my comrades," Lee said, standing with one hand held out, the other behind his back.

Zaku growled as he stared at the boy. "Jeez, look at this freak now! What's with those eyebrows!?"

Lee merely smiled at him. "I find taunting to be beneath me, and the work of those without strength. Come and see the power of my youth," he said.

Zaku thrust his hands forward. "Hah, we'll see how well you do against me!" He shouted, preparing to fire from his palms. However, Lee quickly ran to the side, Zaku following him as he fired. "Zankūha!" He shouted, as the blasts of air shout out of his hands.

Lee easily dodged the blasts of air, now rushing straight at Zaku, using his high speed to easily get into the boy's guard before he knew what hit him. He quickly delivered a pair of powerful punches to the boy's stomach and chest before spinning and driving a rising kick into Zaku's chin, sending him flying. Sensing danger he easily back flipped away and over the senbon Kin launched at him, rushing in and driving an elbow into her stomach, making her keel over and gasping for air, before he punched her away.

Turning, he found Dosu punching at him, which he quickly blocked with his forearms. Dosu however was smirking, as his bracer activated, the distortions it created targeting Lee's eardrums. Lee let out a gasp, wobbling, and was barely able to lean back from Dosu's follow up blow.

"You're pretty fast and strong there, but nobody can fight when their disoriented and suffering from vertigo," he said with a smirk, as he tapped his bracer. "With this little beauty, I can change the air pressure in your ear, causing all sorts of nasty things to happen. Like this," he said, sending a different distortion, and this time Rock Lee screamed in pain. "Oohh, that sounded painful," he said, grinning as he advanced, only to be shocked as Lee, in a last ditch attempt, launched a powerful punch that smashed into Dosu's chin, throwing him back.

"You're right…that was painful," Lee panted as he tried to stand, still suffering from the pain and the disorientation. "But I…have trained…through worse," he said, as he did his best to settle into his stance, and keep fighting.

The three Oto genin, at this point, regrouped. Dosu was quite angry and frustrated. This should have been a simple task, and yet it was quickly turning into a disaster. All three of them were injured, though Kin was the worst with the stab wound in her leg, while he and Zaku were suffering bruises and some bleeding. Yet their opponents were in worse shape. He could see the girl was mostly out of the fight now, the dog boy was still recovering from his own attack, and the newcomer was disoriented and off balance. If they moved quickly enough, they could get victory here. Dosu was about to direct them when he felt the blade of a kunai pressed against his throat. "I really wouldn't, if I were you," spoke a male voice behind him.

Lee, Sakura, and Kiba could only blink as the hooded forms of Team Eight seemed to materialize out of nowhere right behind the trio of Oto genin. Naruto had a kunai to Dosu's throat, Ino's kusarigama chain was wrapped around Zaku, and Hinata's sword was at Kin's back.

Naruto glanced over Dosu's shoulder at Lee and Team Seven. "Are you all okay?" He asked, wincing slightly at the sight of Sakura. Next to him, Ino growled, yanking her chain a bit and making Zaku groan slightly in pain.

Sakura could only blink in surprise, before nodding a bit happily. "Y-Yes! Yes we are! Thank you!" She said, as Naruto nodded. The blonde haired genin turned his gaze back to Dosu.

"Now…this is how this is going to work mummy boy. We're going to let you leave here with your lives, but you're going to drop your scroll, so that any one of us who needs it can use it. If you don't like that…well you can stay and fight. But I warn you, you and your teammates will most likely be dead before you get the chance to move," Naruto said quietly.

Dosu felt a shiver go up his back. The boy's voice was different from the other genin. He could sense it, that this one had killed, and killed a lot. He would carry out his threat. And that likely meant his teammates would as well. He cursed quietly at the misfortune that had befallen them on a supposedly easy mission for their master, before answering. "Fine…fine," he said.

"Dosu, don't be a coward! We can take them!" Zaku yelled, only to grow quiet as Ino leaned in, the blade of her weapon resting on his shoulder.

"Yes, please do resist. Because I want to pay you all back for what you did to my friend," Ino said in a dangerous tone.

Hinata grinned a bit at Naruto. "I think sensei is rubbing off on her," she commented.

"I think we are too," he added, as Dosu slowly reached into his pocket, and produced the scroll his team had, a heaven one. However, before he could set it down, the entire area was blasted by a foul presence, and an aura of chakra erupted out of the hollow where Team Seven had made camp.

Everyone's eyes swept over to the hollow, where a hunched over figure could be seen emerging, passing a downed Kiba. The figure was surrounded by a purple aura, as what looked like flame markings covered the left side of his face. The aura died away, revealing Sasuke standing there, his Sharingan blazing as he looked at everyone present.

Dosu's visible eye widened in horror as he realized the truth. He now knew why Orochimaru had sent them here…they were cannon fodder. Guinea pigs to test if the Uchiha was capable of surviving and utilizing the Curse Seal, which he had apparently given to Sasuke. They were nothing but sacrificial pawns.

Sasuke looked down at the wounded Sakura and his eyes narrowed, before he spoke, his voice laced with anger and power. "Sakura…who did this to you?" He demanded.

Sakura could only gape at him, as he stared at her, then looked around the clearing again. His eyes settled on the Oto genin, and he slowly clenched and unclenched his hands. "It was them, wasn't it? They did this to you, didn't they?" He asked, starting to get a mad grin, as he slowly took a step forward.

Dosu quickly turned his head towards Naruto. 'Please, we surrendered, we agreed to your terms. Just please let us go, now!"

Naruto, staring at Sasuke, nodded as he grabbed the scroll from Dosu. "Hinata, Ino, let them go!" He shouted, as the two kunoichi quickly did so.

Zaku, feeling angry though and seeing their quarry, quickly brought his hands up. "Fuck you Uchiha!" He shouted, about to fire air blasts from his palms, only for Sasuke to practically appear in front of him, driving his fist into Zaku's face. Zaku reeled back, only for Sasuke to grab his arms, yanking him back towards him while kneeing Zaku in the chest, before leaping up and over Zaku while still gripping his arms. Zaku screamed in pain as the maneuver wrenched his arms out of his shoulder sockets, and Sasuke let him drop to the ground, crippled.

Sasuke grinned as he glanced at his hands. 'This power…it's incredible! Is this what Orochimaru is capable of? Is that what I can be capable of?' He thought, as he turned his gaze to Dosu and Kin. He grinned, taking another step forward, only to stop as Naruto moved between him and the Oto genin. "Move, Uzumaki," he growled out.

"That's enough Sasuke. They surrendered," Naruto said. "There's no need to fight them anymore."

"There's plenty of need. They attacked my team. They hurt my teammates. They are the enemy," Sasuke said, staring right into Naruto's eyes.

Naruto stared back, not budging, yet feeling tense. He could see the look in Sasuke's eyes. He knew that Sasuke would attack him too, if he didn't get what he wanted.

Sasuke was about to step forward again, when a pair of arms wrapped around him from behind. "Sasuke-kun, stop! Stop this!" Sakura shouted, as she held onto him.

Sasuke froze, as Sakura held onto him. "Please stop Sasuke-kun…whatever this seal is, it's affecting you! Please, fight it! Don't let it control you!"

The Uchiha grimaced, his body shivering and trembling. "Sakura…this power," he whispered. "It's so much. I can use it."

"No Sasuke-kun…let it go. That snake gave you this power to benefit him, not you. Please Sasuke-kun, fight it!" Sakura begged him.

Sasuke closed his eyes, shuddering, as the flame marks began to recede, retreating back to the seal on his neck. When they finally disappeared, Sasuke dropped to the ground, panting heavily, as Sakura held onto him.

Dosu, having dropped the scroll, chose this moment to grab Zaku and flee with Kin following as quickly as she could on her injured leg. The Konoha genin didn't follow however, instead remaining in the clearing.

Sasuke was panting heavily, still trembling, as Sakura kept holding onto him, until Ino came over. "Sakura…I think he's okay now. We need to get you taken care of," she said softly.

Sasuke looked over his shoulder a bit. "I-I'm fine Sakura…get yourself looked at, please," he said softly.

The pink haired kunoichi nodded quietly as she let go of Sasuke, and Sakura gently pulled her away, to treat her over in an empty part of the clearing. At the same time, Karin came out from where she had been hiding, and moved to join the two girls, as Naruto held out a hand to Sasuke, helping him up. "So I'm guessing Orochimaru did something to you after my last clone was dispelled," Naruto said as he looked at Sasuke's neck.

"I…I think so," Sasuke said, still panting and shuddering. "Last thing I remember is…him biting me…and then I kept…having these horrible visions…," he said, not wanting to say that said visions were him being trapped on the ground, helpless as he watched Itachi return and slaughter what was left of their family, slaughter the clan, and even slaughtering his teammates. Shaking his head, he reached up and touched his neck, wincing a bit. "What is this?" He asked.

"Orochimaru's Curse Seal," Hinata said quietly as she came over. "Anko sensei told me about a couple years after I moved in with her. It's some type of seal he infects or brands people with to give them immense power, but usually it also corrupts them, making them more malleable to his suggestions and whims. Looks like he wants you for some reason."

Sasuke looked down a bit, nodding at Hinata's words, not wanting to let them know how good the power felt. Trying to change topics, he looked to Naruto. "I guess me and my team owe you our lives, dobe. First for those two clones, and now for coming to our rescue," he said.

Naruto shrugged. "You're my allies. It's the least I could. Besides, Ino would skin us alive if we didn't help Sakura," he said with a slight chuckle.

Sasuke just nodded, a ghost of a smile on his lips, before moving over to the trio of girls. Kiba had also joined them, to help get his and Akamaru's ears checked out. "Is everyone okay?" Sasuke asked.

Ino glanced up at him. "Nothing serious or crippling. Their wounds will heal. Though it'd definitely be a good thing to get you all medical attention as soon as possible. By the way, this is Karin, Karin Uzumaki. We ran into her while moving to save you all."

Karin nodded a bit shyly to them, as Kiba blinked. "Uzumaki. Wait, are you related to Naruto?" He asked.

"I'm from the same clan. Not sure how much more related we are then that," Karin answered, while mentally debating with herself. She could easily heal all the wounded here, but that would mean exposing her…secret. But at the same time…Team Eight had helped her; the least she could do was help some of their friends. Biting her lip, she moved forward. "I can…I can heal you both up, if you want," she said, as she slowly rolled up her left sleeve, slowly revealing the bite marks.

Everyone blinked at that, as Karin quietly spoke. "If you bite into me while I'm channeling chakra…it'll heal you," she said softly, not looking at them. "So…go ahead," she said, as she started to channel her chakra.

"Uuhhhhh…what?" Kiba asked, confused. Ino, however slowly nodded in understanding.

"This is what Kusa used your mom for. And plan to use you for, isn't it?" She asked, as Karin sadly nodded. "You don't have to do this. We can probably get them to the Tower soon."

"No I…I want to help," Karin said, looking up. "You and your team saved me, so the least I can do is heal your friends. So please," she said.

Ino sighed and nodded to Sakura, who blinked. Hesitantly, the pinkette leaned in, and bit into Karin's arm. Surprisingly, she felt the chakra flow into her, and felt the pains and aches start to fade. After a few seconds, she let go, and found herself to be fully healed. But the part of Karin's arm she had bitten into was now marred by her teeth marks. Gasping, she looked at Karin. "I-I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to-!"

"Don't…it's okay," Karin said with a bit of a smile, before rolling up her right sleeve, and turning to Kiba. He slowly did the same as Sakura, and soon was healed as well. Karin turned to Lee, who had joined him, but the bowl haired spandex wearing genin shook his head.

"Do not fret, I will be perfectly fine! I merely need to fight on with the flames of youth!" He proclaimed, giving them a tooth-filled smile and a thumbs up.

At that moment, there was a rustle in the tree branches, and both Neji and Tenten landed in the clearing. Neji frowned as he saw both Hinata and Naruto, who both glared right back at him, Tenten however moved to Lee. "Lee, there you are! Where have you been?!"

"I was helping out our comrades here, Tenten-san! A trio of genin from that new village was assaulting team seven with the intent of killing Sasuke-san, so I came to their aid! Through my flames of youth, I was able to fight on and defend Team Seven, until the timely arrival of Team Eight!" He said with a grin.

"You should have allowed them to fight it out, Lee. This is a competition, and even our fellow Konoha genin are enemy. Fate decreed that Team Seven's fight against their opponents would happen," Neji stated.

Naruto just rolled his eyes before clapping his hands. "Yeah, okay then. Look, we're all here, and it's become pretty apparent that things aren't going the way they should. What with a rogue sannin infiltrating the exams and attacking a genin team and all, not to mention Kumo pulling their own shit. So I want to make an offer. My team has both the scrolls it needs thanks to a little battle we had with Kumo chuunin posing as genin. Team Seven still has their scroll I'm assuming, you've got yours, those Oto genin left theirs behind, and Karin has one she can't really use. Here's my proposal. We pool the scrolls, see if we've got enough for everyone to match up, and then head to the Tower in a group. That way we all can get out of this hell hole together. Sound good?" He asked.

Sasuke glanced at his two teammates, before slowly nodding. "I guess that sounds good. We've got a Heaven Scroll," he said.

"And we have an earth scroll. It would seem Fate wishes us to be opponents," Neji said with a smirk, only to catch the heaven scroll that was thrown at his head with quite a bit of force and speed.

Hinata, who had thrown it, nodded. "There. You get the Oto team's scroll. Now you don't need one, do you?" She asked.

Neji glared back at her, while Karin pulled her scroll out. "I actually have an Earth scroll. Team Seven can have it," she said quietly.

"Well, there we go. Everyone has what they need, don't they?" Ino said, smiling, before glancing around the forest. "It's a bit hard to tell, but I do think it's getting dark, meaning it's almost night time. I'd suggest we camp for the night, and head out in the morning."

"That actually sounds good. I haven't eaten anything since breakfast," Kiba said, rubbing his stomach.

Tenten and Lee looked to Neji, who merely scoffed. "We will decline that offer. Since we have what we need, we'll adjourn to our own camp and make our own way to the Tower. Tenten, Lee, let's go," he said, turning and leaving. Tenten and Lee both gave apologetic smiles and waves, before following him.

Naruto just let out a sigh, looking to Hinata. "No offense, but your cousin is an asshole," he said, as they moved to join the others in starting to set up camp for the night.

Unbeknownst to them, a figure quietly watched from the shadows, studying them all. "Hmmm…guess I won't need to intervene after all. Oh well, one less thing for me to do," he said with a smirk, idly pushing the glasses on his face back into place, before disappearing in a shunshin.

And there, finally done. Whew. Took me a bit to get really going on this one. Hope it's okay. Not sure why I had a hard time writing this chapter.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and will stick around for the next one, where we see the fall out of what happened in the Forest of Death.

Big thanks go out again to my betas Kyuubi123 and Bill Alain, for taking time out of their lives to beta my fanfic. Thank you so much guys!

Till next chapter, readers!

1. So yes, that's how Team Eight was able to defeat chuunin ranked shinobi relatively so quickly. These guys are rookie Kumo chuunin who underestimated their quarry. Also, remember that Naruto and Hinata not only have been training for a lot longer in fighting, they're also a lot harder than they are in canon, as both have killed multiple times, and their entire method of fighting is centered around the expedient death of their opponents. Ino meanwhile had Karin's help, which gave her an advantage over her opponent. Just wanted to clarify so it didn't seem like they were overpowered.

Translations:

Raiton: Sutatikkukēji no Jutsu =Lightning Style: Static Cage Jutsu

Shintenshin no jutsu=Mind Transfer Jutsu

Zankūha=Decapitating Airwaves