Chapter 27 : She Knows

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While Anko for an Hour kept searching for Orochimaru there have been many events occurred for Team 7 in the Forest of Death

*1 Hour Ago*

Naruto after dealing with a [Earth Style: Shadow Clone] of Orochimaru started looking for his teammates whose location he figured in a matter of seconds and began his run towards them, Naruto was worried as the opponent his teammates might be facing right now was a Legendary Sanin, Someone who fought in The Second and Third Great Shinobi World War, He was a War Veteran and an Incredibly strong S-Rank Rogue Ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village

As Naruto got closer to the location where his teammates were resting, It relieved him as he did not sense Orochimaru nearby them so he went straight towards them, There was a big Tree and under its Trunk which looked like a Cave, In that Cave Sakura was sitting with Sasuke as she was putting wet bandages on his forehead

Naruto saw that Sakura had set Traps on the way to reach the Trunk, He avoided those traps from triggering, She made only one trap on the ground which was quite easy to spot but since it had been around 10 Min since she was alone here with Sasuke, That much preparation is still enough

"Sakura" As soon as Naruto spoke she turned around with her Kunai, She was trembling, This day was too much for her, She had been chased by a Guy who could summon Giant Snakes, and Wanted to kill them, Can stretch his head as if his Neck is Snake, It was just too much for her and now her teammate was sick due to a Bite given by that Snake Freak

She was scared that he would return and attack them but seeing Naruto standing at the entrance made her nearly cry with joy, She became hopeful about this situation, She was not sure about Naruto coming back to them since she saw how strong that Orochimaru guy was but she wanted nothing more than to be proved wrong

"Naruto!, Sasuke is..." 

"Don't Worry, He must be exhausted from all the fighting, Let's go complete this Exam" Naruto saw the fear in Sakura's eyes and tried to be cheerful

"Wha..? Naruto do you think the Exam would continue? The Proctor got involved means something terrible must've occurred" Sakura was on point and was right as the perspective of a Genin who thinks the Leaf Village is so full of nice and righteous people

"It will, Do you think the Village will take responsibility for the actions of a Rogue-Ninja who at one point belonged to Konoha, They won't, Proctor told me that Orochimaru killed a 3-Genin Squad from the Grass Village" Anko did not say anything that Exam is canceled, The Village keeps its dirty secrets hidden and if a word about Leaf Village Rogue-Ninja infiltrating the Chunin Exam and killing a bunch of Genin were to get to the other Villages they would have be facing a huge backlash for that, So they would hide this issue no matter what so Chunin Exam most likely will continue

"Then, What if Sasuke's condition gets worse" Sakura was worried about Sasuke, His body had been heating up since he got bit which made her uneasy, She told Naruto about how Orochimaru bit Sasuke and it left a mark which made Naruto flinch, he tried to sense the Curse Mark but he could not tell what it was

"We will get there, Kakashi-Sensei is also there so all we have to do is get to the tower and everything will be fine" 

"Alrig-, Wait but we need to get the scroll to pass, How ar-" Sakura was not that worried about advancing to the Final Phase of the Chunin Exam but she knew how much Naruto and Sasuke wanted that so she was concerned about him

"Here" Naruto showed her the Heaven and Earth Scroll "We will pass surely, We just need to wait till Sasuke gets better" Naruto with a closed-eye smile looked at her

"Naruto, Can you keep Sasuke in your Shadow?" 

"Yea-..., What did yo-" Naruto has not told anyone about his technique, Only Shikamaru and Choji know and they only know about a few, Most of the techniques are still a secret only he knows and the Technique about his Shadow is one of them

"Ah!, I know you did not want it to be known but when you were with Konohamaru the other day I saw you putting your hand in your Shadow, So I was just wondering if you could do that with a person as well" Naruto felt like an idiot, Sakura made a fair point, waiting around here would be bad, Naruto already thought of that but was not sure if he should reveal his strange techniques to Sakura or any official of the Leaf

"Alright, I will keep him in my Shadow, But we will have to wait for a little while since using my Shadow for a longer period puts a strain on me or the Technique stops, So for now, let's rest for a while and then we will leave" Naruto explained to her about that technique and she didn't pry much and understood that she is not supposed to talk about his technique as well

Sakura filled Naruto in about what happened from the moment they separated, Naruto sat with her next to Sasuke while keeping an eye out for trouble

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"It has not even been 3 Hours since the Exam started but it seems like he is already down, We should start by killing those Genins around him to get Sasuke" Three Ninjas from the Sound Village who were tasked to Eliminate Sasuke by Orochimaru were now spying on Team 7 from the bushes, Zaku Abumi spoke as they were planning to find them and they did quite quickly and in the most vulnerable situation at that

"So much for being a Genius, Let's Crush them, There's only two of them and the boy seems to be resting" After listening to his teammate Dosu Kinuta said to his Teammates

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"Sakura, Don't React, Keep an eye on Sasuke, We have some company" Naruto even though was resting, Did not stop focusing on his surroundings for any danger, He learned his lesson not too long ago

Naruto blamed himself for not being extra careful about his teammates, He left his Teammate's side to get the Scroll, 

"I will make up for leaving you like that"

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