The Forest of Death - 6

Gaara hadn't removed much of the snake's bodily fluids from his clothing before a blonde blur came hurtling down through a storm of leaves. He could tell immediately Naruto was unconscious and took it as a very bad sign. Naruto was not the kind of person to allow himself to be defeated.

With a strained leap Gaara caught the latter by his jacket as he fell. His jump was ungraceful and they fell in a heap. He landed on an upraised tree root with a crack which Gaara assumed was the sound of the vertebrae in his neck realigning.

After a long, dizzying moment the red haired boy rose slowly to his knees, rolling the blonde onto his back with a short tug.

"Naruto." He spoke his teammate's name automatically in a weak effort to revive him. Naruto lay silently, unmoving. He did not respond in any fashion. Not even a snore. His breathing was shallow, but there appeared to be no wounds on him from what Gaara could decipher.

Before he could further examine the Kyuubi container's state, a chilling wail shook through the canopy above him, scattering birds more quickly than when the exploding tag had gone off earlier.

Haku.

It was Haku's cry and Gaara was moving fast, trusting that Naruto wasn't going anywhere. Haku was not well. He was aware of it long before he discovered his other teammate hunched over on the limb of an old oak, screaming so loud Gaara believed it would attract the attention of all the genin in the forest.

He landed behind the dark haired boy, placing a steadying hand on his shuddering shoulder. At the touch Haku fell quiet and motionless, as if Gaara had turned him into some sort of statue.

It had a similar effect.

Haku swooned and fell back into Gaara's arms, knocking him over. There was blood on Haku's neck and Gaara hastily wiped it away, trying to discern the area where he had been injured. It was difficult to tell.

"Haku, sit up," Haku was completely out. His full weight was pressed on the redhead, who wriggled out from beneath him in aggravation and tried to right the boy with little success. Gaara gave up on speaking to his dark haired teammate.

There was no wound, which frustrated him even more. How had the Grass ninja (whose whereabouts were currently unknown to him) rendered both Haku and Naruto incapacitated without even injuring them?

It was then, upon dragging the limp form of his second teammate upward, that Gaara did notice a peculiar blot on Haku's neck. He made note of it but was truthfully grateful that no one on his team had been critically wounded.

Was this the price they paid for obtaining both of their scrolls so quickly? Giant serpents? Killing intent? Utter mayhem?

Gaara muttered something unintelligible, yet clearly infuriated as he returned to Naruto's resting place with Haku draped over his shoulder. It was a moment when Gaara would've appreciated the absence of his gourd, despite the protection it offered. Haku was not heavy, but he was precariously tall.

'I need more arms,' Was his first thought as he grabbed Naruto, as gently as possible, by the scruff of his fluorescent orange jacket. When had he suddenly become the pack-mule for wounded ninja? It was humiliating for someone of his talent and he was unsure of what to do after managing to tug along his unconscious teammates.

'I need to find a place where they can recover with no further interruption.' Gaara thought, his head throbbing, trying not to become frantic. By his very nature he was calm and collected, but neither Haku or Naruto were showing any signs of good health, wounded or not. It was that fact that had him moving surprisingly quick down on the gloomy forest floor, while carrying the full weight of his companions.

The next time he saw that Grass ninja Gaara would make certain that his face was the last thing the fool would ever see.

He picked the wrong one to leave conscious.

*

Anko sat atop the registration tent while munching on her favorite snack. She hummed to herself pleasantly, savoring the sweat flavor of the bean paste as she devoured skewer after skewer of dango.

Once she had finished the last bite of her lunch, Anko tossed the skewer to her right, where it joined countless other sticks that impaled the side of a cedar tree. She approved of the shape she had created with them, "There! A perfect Leaf Village symbol!"

"Anko-san." A voice came from down below, and she glanced down to the three chunin waiting below the registration tent.

"What? I'm on my lunch break you know." Anko responded sourly, being that she would have much preferred to enjoy another snack before going back to tending the second stage of the exam.

"Do excuse us," A second of the ninja spoke up, more urgently, "But there is something we believe you should see."

The alarmed look on the chunin's face sold her and she hopped down, her long coat flapping behind her, "Let's see it then, if it's that bad."

Anko followed them a short ways off to a memorial in silence, curious about what was troubling them. Once there, they gestured to the three bodies at the foot of the stone, laying askew and overlapping each other.

She walked over to get a closer look as one of the chunin filled in a few details, "These three are Grass ninja. It looks like they were killed after they had registered. Watch out though, it's pretty nasty..."

Anko flinched away after seeing what had been so revolting about the genins' death, "Their faces are...completely gone."

A young chunin with a scarred face spoke up, "Yeah, it's really bad. We're not sure how it was done. There doesn't seem to be any motive for their murder either and no signs of struggle. It looks like an ambush."

'The last time I saw something like this was...' Anko's eyes were wide when the truth dawned on her, horrifyingly, 'There's no mistaking it! This is his work alright...but what is he doing here of all places? And why now?'

"Go notify Hokage-sama of this immediately," Anko barked, startling her subordinates, "Go now! I have to get to area 44."

The chunin gave her a questioning look before submitting and taking off together to the Hokage's tower, uncertain about her cause for panic. Anko quickly abandoned the murder scene, rushing in terror back to the Forest of Death, 'What are you doing here, Orochimaru? What can you gain from this exam?'

Thus began her agonizing search through area 44 for the one she once called her mentor.