Santoryu's Successor

AN: Hey guys, been a while and as always, I begin by saying that despite me taking forever to put these out, I do write and think about my stories quite often. So, enjoy, distractions are needed during this time we find ourselves in.

The Forest of Death, a fresh genin's worst nightmare. A dark, vast and unknown terrain where a slew of great beasts could easily make the unaware an evening meal and this death trap just so happened to be the location of the 2nd part of the Chunin Exams.

All the genin were currently in a life-or-death struggle for survival inside with enemies surrounding them. From the predators to the other examinees, nowhere was truly safe for these young shinobi and unfortunately the unprepared were weeded out first as we close in on our protagonist.

"Please! We're sorry for coming after your scroll! Just leave me alone, I give up!" an unnamed genin ran for his life from a fierce animal as it chased him through the forest. Too bad for him that it was the strongest and most violent animal inside of the mass of trees known for its ruthlessness and pleasure in the hunt, and that animal's name is…

"Don't chicken out! If you had the balls to attack me, then you should have been ready!" …Naruto Uzumaki the Santoryu practitioner. The blond was quickly in front of the frightened boy and cut him down without a second thought but made sure it wasn't lethal. Naruto sheathed his swords and sighed to himself in disappointment, "Is that it? That was hardly even a warmup."

"'Is that it… Is that it!?' You just wiped out dozens of teams within the first five minutes and you still want more. I feel bad for worrying about you when I should've been worried about everyone else!" Sakura cried in shock and a tinge of remorse even if they were their opponents in the exam.

Naruto had given out which scroll they had at the beginning of the exam, and of course, the opposing teams couldn't let a freebie such as that pass them by. Upon entering Team 7 was ambushed by quite a few genin that were either looking to take their Heaven scroll, wanted to rid themselves of competition, or the rare group looking for the fame of defeating the genin that beat Zabuza. It was an eventful beginning to the test and the sheer number of downed competitors was awe-inspiring.

"What? They came after us, and they knew what this test was getting them into. These guys chose to take the bait and come after us, I'm just helping them learn to think before they enter a battle that they can't possibly win." Naruto justified with twisted logic.

"Even so! I can't help but feel bad when they show up just to lose to a monster like you. Plus, if you want to teach them a lesson, do you have to look so pleased with yourself when you slice them?" Sakura asked, getting into his face. "That smile of yours is scary enough that a lot of them gave up once they saw it!"

"You're making it sound like I'm some kind of slasher or something! I don't enjoy cutting people!" Naruto comically blew his top, arguing back with the girl and pressing his forehead against hers.

Sasuke simply stood off to the side as he picked up an Earth scroll from one of the many unconscious bodies littering the ground. Scowling to himself because the dobe had gotten all the attention from the enemy while he, an Uchiha, was ignored like chattel. It was simply infuriating, and he would not stand for such disrespect moving forward.

"If you two are finished, I want to move ahead to the tower now," Sasuke growled in annoyance and moved forward, only to be stopped by his blond teammate.

"Don't go that way, it's littered with quicksand and tree leeches. I know the shortest way to the tower." Naruto halted the Uchiha, his knowledge of the forest shining through.

"It sure is eerie having you know your way around for once. The same guy that has gotten lost in his own village." Sakura smiled at the sudden stint of reliability the blond showed.

"Shut up! I know my way around…everything just somehow flips every day." Naruto defended with a slight blush of embarrassment. "Putting that insult aside, it's a straight shot to the tower and that should only take until tomorrow morning unless we book it the whole way, or we run into anyone else." Naruto reasoned.

"Well, since we've…" Sakura started and looked back at all of the poor genin before resuming, "…um, acquired our Earth scroll already the best thing to do is save energy and get to the tower as quickly as possible." Sakura added her two cents in.

"Hn, fine then. It is better than mingling around here for the entire week." Sasuke added shortly.

With that plan in mind, the two started moving but were again stopped by the blond. Turning toward him they both wondered what would make him stop their forward motion again and noted the smirk on his face. Different from the one that is normally shown when he is ready to fight.

"I've got an even faster way to get there. You'll want to stand back a bit." Naruto walked forward and stuck his index finger and thumb in his mouth before letting out a sharp whistle.

"You tamed an animal in the forest while training?" Sakura asked in curiosity.

"Not technically an animal," Naruto said back as a rustling noise was heard approaching them.

From the sound, it wasn't anything small, but at the same time, it sounded like more than one thing was making its way toward them from all the noise. Trees were pushed aside without toppling over, lending to the size that creature must be and as the noise drew closer a bright red could be seen in the darkness.

"No…nonononononono. No way! I am not riding that!" Sakura squealed in fright upon seeing the creature.

"Why not? He won't bite, and he is nice and loyal." Naruto rose an eyebrow as he pets the steed they'd be using.

A giant centipede laid before Team 7, using its feelers to caress the blond's face in affection. It was massive as its body stretched into the forest until it could not be seen anymore, and its legs were plentiful which explained why it had sounded like more than one creature.

"Does it have to be a bug? Don't you have anything less gross~." Sakura wailed. Then she practically fainted as it moved toward her and placed its feelers onto the girl to commit her to memory.

"He's the fastest and largest thing in the forest, Sakura. Oh yeah, this is Sakura and the other one is Sasuke. Don't worry about them too much, chances are they won't be coming in here again." Naruto explained to the insect as it also went over to Sasuke.

"Disgusting," Sasuke mumbled with a straight face, not paying attention to the lumbering arthropod hissing at him.

The blond hastily jumped onto the centipede, sitting down cross-legged atop its head before looking down at his teammates. "Hurry up. The faster we finish this part of the exam, the faster I get to take a nap."

Sakura made her way on top of the insect begrudgingly and with slight fear, releasing an involuntary shudder upon touching the sleek exoskeleton it had and its wriggling legs. Sasuke also dropped onto the back of their ride and made it a point to remove himself from his team to the best of his ability. Once they were all situated Naruto knocked his knuckles against the centipede's head and it shot forward at speeds so fast that Sakura and Sasuke had to use chakra to stay in place.

"We should get there in about 45 minutes to an hour. It depends on if anyone in here is still alive and willing to go toe-to-toe with one of the largest creatures in the forest just for the slight chance in getting a scroll." Naruto turned his head to address his teammates with a sideways glance.

"No way anyone would run headfirst into something like this," Sakura assured, from her perspective the genin would have to be especially desperate to try and attack the creature that they were riding to get to them, but her bubble was burst by the Santoryu practitioner.

"They wouldn't be very good ninja if they didn't and desperation can be a great motivator for people backed into a corner." Naruto looked out of the corner of his eye to the girl, "Don't underestimate anyone in here just because they're supposed to be equal to us. Deception is a shinobi's greatest weapon." Naruto looked ahead, specifically thinking about Kabuto.

The blond was knocked out of his thoughts abruptly when an odd howling sound was picked up by his ears that seemed to be heading towards their position. He was stood up, placing a hand onto his blades to ready himself for the attack that he was sure was coming and alerting his team.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"Get down!" the swordsman shouted just as the large gust reached them, the centipede ducking low to the ground in an effort to prevent getting blown away an action that the genin repeated.

"What's going on, dobe!" Sasuke yelled over the roaring hurricane-force winds around them.

"I have no idea! Someone in the forest must be doing this!" Naruto winced, shielding Sakura from the debris that was kicked up around them. Naruto investigated the gale, unsuccessfully looking for any indication of the ninja attacking them but was met with a shadow larger than their steed.

The creature's slit eyes bore into the vulnerable team before charging toward them with a hiss. In an instant, Naruto left Sakura's side, Kitetsu and Shusui drawn, and leaped at the creature's maw. A loud clang was heard as the blades met the fangs of the large snake.

'Did Anko let one of these things loose?!...No, even she isn't that crazy. So, who?' Naruto grunted in exertion as the snake forced him further into the forest. He looked at his team and decided, "Keep going! Get them to the tower and forget about me! I'll be fine…" Naruto yelled to the centipede specifically as it heeded the order and pushed against the winds…or rather it would have if it didn't stop as a mysterious figure emerged from the darkness of the forest.

"Wonderful, it seems that my plan worked. Now that the nuisance is removed, we can finally talk, Sasuke-kun."

(With Naruto)

Currently, the blond swordsman was leaping from tree to tree to avoid the giant serpent's poisonous fangs as it continually lunged at him. He looked behind him once again, narrowly dodging a bite that would have bifurcated him but was taken by surprise as the tail sideswiped him into the trunk of a tree.

"Ngh, alright then. This is kinda poetic, Zoro came face to face with a giant snake in a forest, too. I get to test myself against you now, pal and I'll show you why I'm the boss of this forest!" Naruto smirked and went on the offensive by running up the tree trunk to get above his opponent. Once at the top he dove down, placing Wado into his mouth and bringing his other blades left shoulder to cross them with an aura of a tiger overtaking his form as he picked up speed.

"Tora Gari (Tiger Hunting)!" Naruto shouted bringing his sword down onto the snake's head with such incredible strength that its head was forced into the ground with a mighty thud that reverberated in the forest.

Unfortunately, it did little more than daze the monster for a few seconds. It shook its head to clear it of the shock before it lunged at the surprised blond who was forced to defend himself from the header the serpent gave him, pushing him painfully against the ground. The beast's assault didn't end there as it then dragged Naruto through the ground leaving a trench trailing behind him and launched the swordsman upward so he could fall into its waiting mouth.

"Hyakuhachi Pondo Hō (108 Pound Phoenix/Cannon)!" Naruto used one of his more powerful techniques in hopes of damaging the snake but grit his teeth against Wado's handle when he saw his attack hit its mark but did little more than pushing the snake backward. "Those scales are tough. I can't cut through them…" Naruto reprimanded himself for still being unable to cut through steel before once again being manhandled by the snake and hitting a tree.

The snake opted to use its natural defense for this lunge as it brought it fangs toward the blond's downed form, intending to poison the teen and kill him slowly. Bringing himself to a standing position, Naruto took his blades and propped them onto his shoulders before bulking his arms up in preparation to deflect the snake bite.

"Nigori-Zake (Two-Strong Strength Slash)!" He was successful in forcing the snake to bite into the tree next to him and was able to see the poison corrode the bark, allowing the snake to easily remove itself. "Dammit, I don't have time to waste on you!" Naruto gave the snake little time to recover before going to attack again and being met with its tail.

Blocking the swordsman's attack, the snake coiled around him and intended to swallow the blond whole. Naruto struggled in pain as his bones were pushed close to their breaking point, watching as the monster clearly enjoyed having him helpless after he'd impeded it at every turn…savoring its victory.

'Like hell. I can't cut him…his scales are too strong and even when I do hit him it barely stops for more than a second.' Naruto thought to himself, the snake finally opening its mouth to eat him but also giving the blond his plan as he noticed that a piece of the tree bark had embedded itself into the snake's mouth.

'Even I think this is a bit crazy, but what the hell!' Naruto smirked, allowing himself to be swallowed.

The snake seemed a little disappointed that its prey hadn't put up much of a fight in his final moments but was content that the nuisance had finally been killed, that is until it had a sharp pain in its stomach that seemed to get worse. The snake hissed in pain, blood leaking out of its mouth as it began to hack up chunks of meat from its stomach. Before long the snake met its end as is head was removed from the inside by its most recent meal who was clawing his way out of the remains and looked his decapitated opponent in the eye.

"I told you…I'm the boss of this forest." Naruto sheathed his swords while the light faded from the beast's eye. Scratching his head, the blond tried to figure out where he was and how to get back to his team. He suddenly winced in slight pain and noticed that the large reptile's fang tip had become lodged in his shoulder from his daring leap into its mouth. He simply pulled it from his skin and moved on to find his team, not realizing that the fang had injected its venom into him as a final act of retribution from the scaly foe.

(Elsewhere-about 5 minutes later)

"WHY DOES THIS STUFF HAPPEN TO ME!" a feminine shout was heard in the dark forest while followed by the sounds of growling and destruction.

Karin was having the worst possible day and hadn't even wanted to enter this stupid shinobi contest in the first place, but her village insisted that she enter with this team to heal any of their injuries to keep Kusagakure from appearing weak in the eyes of the other villages. Unfortunately, Karin isn't what you would call a 'combat' expert and her 'team', if you could call it that, had a single C-rank under their belt and it hadn't suffered any altercations. It didn't help that they treated her like dead weight once they entered the forest and didn't hesitate to ditch her the first chance they got which bit them all in the ass as the fools got themselves killed by Karin's pursuer, a giant brown bear with its teeth still bloodied from her team.

The girl had been running for her life for a good bit, but the exertion was beginning to take its toll on her, resulting in her tripping over a tree's root and stumbling into its trunk with her predator capitalizing on the opening in a second.

Karin stared her death in the face, watching the bear's fangs approach her and lifting a hand in a futile defense while closing her eyes as tightly as possible to protect herself from witnessing her demise. With no other way that she could find, Karin chose to give away her position to the other examinees if it meant a chance at living.

"HELP!"

*CLANG*

"Hn, I'm already in a bad mood, bear, so don't tell me that you're going to volunteer to help calm me down." Naruto grinned when he saw the bear recognize him and begin to cry before running off, "Didn't think so."

The blond sheathed his blades and looked over the girl before helping her up, "You alright?"

"Y-yes, thank you." Karin stuttered but grew a tic mark when the blond turned away from her to leave, "Hey! Is that it?! Don't you know how to treat a lady?!"

"Last I saw, that lady was about to get eaten! You said your thanks and all so that's it." Naruto went to walk away but was stopped again.

"You don't want my scroll or something? This could've all been a trick to get you into a trap-ahh!" Karin tried to reason why the blond would help her without receiving anything in return but had to take a sudden step back when he brought up his sword to her neck.

"That's how I know you didn't plan anything. Besides my team already has the scroll we need…and you lost the will to fight as well, I don't attack people that don't want to defend themselves." Naruto answered her and removed his blade from her neck.

"What?" Karin asked incredulously.

"I was a lot like you before and there is no way I'd ever harm someone like that." Naruto looked at her softly before, seemingly, realizing what he'd said and regained his hard, impassive look. The blond then handed the girl his goggles and dropped them into her hands.

"What are these for?" Karin asked the swordsman in confusion.

"They've got my scent on them. The animals'll leave you alone if you've got those, they know not to cross me. Normally, I'd want to escort you to the tower myself, but I have to get back to my team." Naruto explained and made to leave but halted when a sense of vertigo struck him. 'The hell?!' he thought, leaning against a tree trunk to steady himself.

"Hey, are you alright." Karin ran to his side and helped sit him down onto the ground and realized that he was burning up from their contact and was sweating profusely. "What the hell happened to you in the couple of hours we've been in this place? You're burning up." She told him worriedly.

"The only thing…that damn snake fang. Check my shoulder." Naruto told her, watching as her eyes widened in shock. The area where the fang had penetrated had the venom spread into the blond's bloodstream causing a sickly purple coloring to become visible as it flowed through his veins.

"That snake's venom is spreading fast, you probably won't be able to make it the day like that!" Karin panicked at the sight.

Naruto looked at her with a determined look in his eye and simply told her, "That isn't an option. I can't give up over something as small as this, I have to make it to the end of this exam." Naruto grunted, forcing himself to trudge forward and swaying with every step.

"I'd rather die doing everything I can than from some stupid venom trying its best to do it."

Karin was so shocked at the teen's determination that she had to take a step back and started to see that the blond wasn't the crazy bloodthirsty monster that he appeared to be when she had first laid eyes on him. She had come to see that he was just exceptionally driven and despite his seriousness, he was kind enough to save her when he didn't need to.

"Here." She called to him; arm held up to his face with the sleeve rolled up showing the many deep bite marks that marred the skin. The blond paused as his eyes widened, seeing the scars and looked to her expecting an answer. "This is the main reason I'm part of this stupid exam. My chakra can heal people when they bite me, so my village sent me with their best genin to keep them alive." She looked down at her arm with sadness.

Naruto looked into her eyes before smirking and moved her arm from his face, shocking the girl. He placed his hand on her shoulder, smiled at her, and said "Thanks." The blond picked himself back up once more and strode forward, deciding not to accept the girl's help.

"Stop being so tough! You could die if you aren't treated and then you won't be able to save anyone!" Karin pleaded to the smiling blond.

"I was wrong about you." Naruto turned to look her in the eye, "It turns out that you're a lot stronger than I gave you credit for. Taking on a test you didn't feel ready for, mainly because of duty, not to mention all those bites. You have to be strong to take all this on in light of your fear. I need to be sharper; I should notice things like this so as a punishment I won't accept your chakra. I'll find my teammates and press with this exam…and I won't die. I want to meet you again when we've both grown up a bit, and you can give me my goggles back." Naruto smirked, disappearing into the forest.

Karin sat on the ground, staring at the swordsman's retreating back in disbelief. She was unable to comprehend how the blond could be so prideful yet humble at the same time…any regular genin would have wrung her as a resource for all she was worth, but he helped her and took nothing.

"He's a special kind of idiot." Karin smiled, gripping the goggles and thinking to herself, 'He better survive this.'

(Back with Team 7)

The team was absolutely terrified as the snake-like genin stood before them with their arthropod ride lying behind her cleanly cut in two. It had tried its hardest to simply escape the malevolent force that stood between it and the destination that its master had ordered it to get to despite instinct telling it to flee, it had to accomplish its mission. The genin didn't hesitate to give chase when the centipede made a mad dash from the enemy only for another snake summon to erupt from the ground and hold it in place, forcing Team 7 to leap off lest they be captured and watch the woman brandish a sword before slicing the arthropod in two which lead to their current situation.

"Annoying insect! Now then, Sasuke Uchiha, I assume that you have the scroll on your person?" she calmly turned to the frozen genin and slowly strode toward them.

Her killing intent bore itself onto the Team 7 members, making them visualize their demise as if it was happening in real-time and what this woman was truly capable of. Once the wave of oppressive presence had ceased the two targets were sweating bullets with Sakura collapsing onto the ground, unable to stand after the intense experience. The sensation had only lasted for a few seconds, but its job had been completed; to instill a deep-seated fear of this…monster that they had no chance of stopping if she decided to kill them right now.

Sasuke worked up the courage to speak, hoping that it would buy himself a few more precious seconds, "I-I don't have it. Neither of us has the scroll."

"Oh, so your swordsman friend has it then? I must say that I'm quite surprised that the Uchiha doesn't have the all-important scroll for this exam. Tell me does your team trust you? Or is that you simply aren't strong enough to protect it?" the woman taunted the genin and smiled when she saw the boy tense. 'Jealousy, the perfect motivator. Mmm, Sasuke you really are the perfect target.' The woman thought to herself.

"I suppose it makes sense; he is the one that defeated Zabuza Momochi after all. It won't be too long until he carves his name in history as his sort is the kind that can accomplish great things coming from nothing." The woman smiled even more, threatening to have her face split from the manic grin seeing that Sasuke didn't like hearing of his teammate's rise in fame. "I guess I should go and find him then. No need to deal with rabble…you both get to live."

When the woman turned away from them Sakura couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that she'd get to continue living. She wasn't too worried about Naruto going off the amazing things that she had seen him do and believed that if anyone in the forest could take out this monster it would be the monster on her team. Sasuke, on the other hand, was livid that this gutter-trash would dare say that that dobe was a bigger threat than him, an Uchiha and that he was worthy of more attention.

This could not stand.

Sasuke, against any rational thought, charged at the woman to prove her wrong and overcome his moment of weakness. Unable to see the woman's twisted grin, Sasuke leaped to stab her and left himself open when she suddenly extended her neck, moving to bite the Uchiha.

"Sasuke!" Sakura screamed in warning while still trying to regain the use of her legs to assist.

"Nanajūni Pondo Hō (72 Pound Phoenix/Cannon)!"

A large gust of slicing wind rushed through the forest that interrupted the scuffle before it could truly begin, being well-timed enough that it had safely pushed Sasuke away from his opponent and cutting into her face to force a retreat.

The origin of this attack was, of course, the blond Santoryu practitioner.

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted happily, overjoyed that the teen had made his way back just in time. Her joy died a little when she saw how haggard he looked and the purple veins that were running across his skin, leaving him leaning against a tree before making his way to stand in between the enemy and his team. Sparing a glance to the centipede and gritting his teeth upon seeing its fallen bifurcated carcass.

"I don't know what happened, but I'm not letting you mess with my team anymore," Naruto said, clearly keeping himself standing on sheer willpower.

"Oh? It seems to me that you don't have the strength to stop me let alone stand, Naruto-kun." The woman's voice changed to a male one, facing the genin with her face peeling off as if it were simply pasted on. The disguised ninja removed the fleshy mask to reveal a pale face with snakelike eyes that sent a chill down Sakura and Sasuke's spine.

This was Orochimaru of the Sannin.

"I don't have the time to play with you, boy. My business is with Sasuke-kun only." Orochimaru smiled while approaching the genin.

Naruto decided to stop him there, rushing to stop the enemy's approach with his remaining strength and ignored his body screaming in protest of the movement. The blond jumped at the sannin, pointing his swords downward not unlike teeth, and announced his attack, "Nigiri: Maguma (Two-Cutter: Demon Bear)!"

Orochimaru simply jumped backward and avoided the attack while summoning his own sword, Kusanagi from a snake in his mouth to block the blond who went for a double slash to the man's stomach.

"You aren't getting to them while I'm still alive!"

"Hm, that won't be for too much longer if you keep getting in my way." Orochimaru smiled cruelly which was mirrored by the blond swordsman.

"Then I guess that means I'm doing my job right. You'll have to kill me to get me to stop!" Naruto smiled right back at the sannin, pushing Kusanagi away with Kitetsu in his right hand Naruto used Shusui in a backhand grip to decapitate the man.

Surprisingly, the blond cut through the man easily but rather than blood spewing from his neck Orochimaru's body melted and turned into mud. Naruto didn't get the chance to truly realize the trick since Orochimaru burst from the ground and ran Kusanagi through the blond's shoulder.

"I must say that I'm rather disappointed at how simple you are. To hear that a genin had defeated Zabuza Momochi was quite a shock to all of the nations but I can't see how that could be possible from what I've seen of you." Orochimaru mocked the genin as he collapsed to the ground. "Now, Sasuke-kun, it's time for our unfinished business."

The sannin's neck extended once again, sinking his teeth into the Uchiha's neck and leaving him to fall to his knees in pain. Sakura ran to her crush in concern with her eyes nearly blinded by tears in her eyes but was able to see the strange mark that was left behind by the snake's venomous bite.

"What is this?! What did you do to Sasuke-kun!?" she shouted in desperation which soon turned to fear when slit eyes turned to regard her.

"That mark will lead Sasuke-kun down the path of power. The path that he must walk if he ever hopes to reach his goal." Orochimaru smiled, watching the boy perk up but was unsure whether it was because Sasuke wondered how the snake knew of his mission or how the mark would give him the power he needed. "And he will need me to lead him."

"Sasuke would never help you!" Sakura denied.

"How well can you say you know Sasuke-kun, girl. What do you truly know about him?" he questioned her, towering over her form with an icy glare as if he didn't acknowledge her existence.

"Sasuke is my teammate and-"

"And what is his goal? What is it he wants out of life and, as his teammate, how can you help him achieve it? You've done nothing to assist your team during this challenge. Frankly, I believe ending you now…" Orochimaru set Kusanagi onto the girl's shoulder with the blade aimed at her neck, "would be a mercy."

Orochimaru went to slice the frightened girl's throat but was shocked that the blond swordsman had managed to sneak up on him and had cut through Kusanagi, making him leap backward. Naruto's eyes were bloodshot, and he wobbled on his feet but stood tall against his enemy.

"I told you that you won't get them while I'm alive."

"Hm, well, I've accomplished what I've set out to do so I have no need to see you die. But you are quite fascinating as well, Naruto-kun. I wonder if that's because of your skill…or its chakra." Orochimaru smiled at the blond's rage.

"I don't use chakra!" Naruto went to run at him but couldn't bring himself to do it and took a knee, a glare still present in his eyes while watching the man casually walk up to him and grip his neck.

"You don't seem to understand how that tenant of yours works. The reason you've lived through so much punishment is because it heals you. How else do you think you're still standing after being poisoned?" Orochimaru taunted the weakened genin and brought up his other hand with the fingers being wreathed in flames.

"Gogyō Fūin (Five Elements Seal)!" the man jammed his fingers into the blond swordsman's gut and placed a seal on top of his jinchuriki seal, canceling out the beast's chakra. "This will show me just how tough you are, boy. Are you all talk or are you worth something?" Orochimaru tossed the blond back to his team and made to leave.

"You should have killed me. This is giving me the chance to try again, Orochimaru. I made a promise that I'd end you for Anko, and I intend to keep it."

"I'd like to see either of you try to kill me." Orochimaru then disappeared suddenly.

Team 7 was utterly defeated by this single enemy with Sasuke passed out from the pain and Naruto would soon join him, but he kept himself upright as he punched the ground in frustration. He allowed his anger to dictate him in that fight and was caught up in the sannin's pace because of it. Naruto turned to Sakura, watching her look over Sasuke, and he bowed his head onto the ground.

"I'm sorry, Sakura. I made myself the leader for this part of the exam and I wasn't there when it counted." Naruto said, showing vulnerability to the girl.

"It's fine, Naruto it isn't your fault we just need to keep going and make it to the tower to get you guys healed."

"Won't make it." The blunt answer of the blond stopped the girl cold. "I can barely move now and it's taking all I can to stay awake. I won't be able to protect you anymore."

"What? But you have to, I can't do this by myself!" Sakura panicked.

"You have to! Life isn't fair for us and we could end up dead at any time. I know that you're scared…and it's fine, but Sasuke and I need you now." Naruto placed his hand on the girl's shoulder. "You aren't built for combat, but right now you are going to be fighting to survive and take care of us. You are the only thing keeping me and Sasuke alive now." Naruto explained.

"But…"

"I trust you. You're smart enough to figure this out, stay alive, and get us back up."

"You trust me?" Sakura was shocked, the blond who liked to keep his team at arm's length was placing faith in the weakest member.

"Yeah, and I promise you that if you get into trouble, I'll be the first one up to protect you. Whether I'm healed or not." Naruto promised the pinkette with a serious look in his eye and collapsed into her arms, unable to keep himself awake anymore.

"Naruto…" Sakura's tears welled up in her eyes once again, but she wiped them away and hardened her gaze.

The girl grabbed her teammates by their collars and dragged them across the forest floor. She looked upward and noticed that the first day of their week-long exam had come to an end, and what a first day it was.

"You better stay alive, you two. I want you to see…I need you to see me get better. I want to be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with you guys and you have to live for that to happen." Sakura sniffled.

(Inside the tower)

A tattered and tired Anko had just arrived at the tower in the forest after a "reunion" with her former sensei. Shortly, after the exam had begun the corpses of the Kusa team had been found with all their faces missing. The tokubetsu jonin had recognized the handiwork of her sensei and hadn't thought twice before rushing in to finally get revenge on him. Unfortunately, the meeting did not end in her favor as the man had outpaced the woman throughout the altercation before warning Anko that the exams should continue as scheduled or there would be consequences. She hated dancing to his tune, but there wasn't much of a choice especially with the knowledge that the Uchiha had been given the same mark that haunts her.

"Anko-san, I have a report for you! The first team has arrived." A random chunin reported to her, stopping her walk up the stairs to tell the Hokage her pressing news.

"Really? How long did it take my blond stud to make it this time? I might just have to give him something special." Anko put up a front to hide her exhaustion. No sense in alerting people of anything being amiss.

"I don't know whether to be jealous or afraid."

"No reason it can't be both." Anko winked.

"Ah, definitely afraid! But that isn't the point right now, Anko-san. You have to see the video to believe it." The chunin bantered with the woman.

The video showed that Gaara's team, or more specifically Gaara himself, had completely dominated a team from Amegakure which ended with the poor souls dying rather gruesomely. Most importantly, the trio had arrived at the tower in only an hour and 37 minutes. But these details were only an afterthought to the purplette because to her the important detail was the fact that Naruto hadn't made it first.

"You haven't seen Naruto-kun's team arrive at all?"

"I'm sorry, Anko-san, but Naruto-san's team hasn't been seen even by our surveillance. You know that he knows of the camera locations because of his training, so he's most likely been avoiding them on purpose…because of your…collection of videos." The chunin ended with a sweatdrop.

"That's research material. But this is worrying, something must have happened to him if he hasn't made it here first." Anko's eyes widened at the possibility that Orochimaru could have killed him. "I have to go out there!"

"Anko-san, if you interfere with the exam the village will be accused of favoritism at best. You know that Naruto-san wouldn't forgive you for trying to help him either." The chunin gripped her arm and had to brace his foot against the doorframe to stop her.

"I hate that you're right, but…" Anko was interrupted as she saw Hiruzen in the hallway, waiting for the news that she had to give him and putting her attempted rescue mission on hold.

(?)

"Damn, that was one hell of a day…" Naruto woke up with a hand on his forehead but noticed that he was in a field that wouldn't be found in the Forest of Death.

"Where am I?"

"Nice to finally meet me jailer, I suppose." A booming voice called from across the field, getting the blond's attention.

He reached for his swords but found that they weren't with him and saw a large shadow spread across the grass. The being making this shadow was none other than the Kyuubi no Yoko, a smile on his face and a collar tied to a tree with a peculiar paper with a seal written on it.

"Seems we have some time to talk."

"Talk?" Naruto frowned with furrowed eyebrows.

AN: Another chapter down. Not much to say except…keep yourselves safe and pray that we'll return to normalcy. Also, I feel I don't express how surprised and happy that you all enjoy these stories I make. I went into this mainly as a hobby and to have fun without any real regard to popularity, but seeing Follows, Favorites, and Reviews brings a smile to my face.

A philosophy I have when it comes to writing on the site is to write what you enjoy no matter how out there it is because the odds will still be in your favor that someone will enjoy it along with you, therefore, it has a fanbase.

Peace.