In the forest, Team 7 stopped and decided to pitch a tent for the night. They made sure it was an obvious spot; the lure was obvious. However, Sasuke then suggested camping in the trees, so they used it as a fake spot. Everywhere they could, they put ninja wire that was so thin it was barely visible.
The first night came and went without any trouble. It was on the second day, as they were moving again, that Naruto was suddenly hit by a large snake. Flying a long way away, Naruto righted himself before landing in front of the snake.
Hunger was apparent in its eyes. It hadn't had a snack like Naruto in years, and Naruto had been waiting for a fight. Naruto stared the snake down with no fear, exerting his own killing intent. The snake actually gave pause, as if considering if it should attack Naruto after all.
Meanwhile, Sasuke was dealing with the true enemy. Sakura had retreated behind a tree, to prepare a genjutsu. A man with black hair and wearing a Kusagakure headband appeared from nowhere. Sasuke was not going to be overconfident, especially since he could feel bad intentions. As the long haired ninja flew towards Sasuke, he stayed planted and danced away at the last second.
Sasuke immediately flew through hand signs, only taking him six hand signs to do the jutsu.
[Fire release: Phoenix Fire Flame]
The Ninja moved, dodging each and every single fireball. Sasuke realized this shinobi was not a genin. The man appeared in front of Sasuke, throwing a punch straight into Sasuke's face.
Sasuke flew away and smacked into a tree before righting himself on a branch. He looked into the eyes of the Kusa ninja, and as he did saw Sakura in the man's hand. Her body battered, Sasuke gritted his teeth. He began to form hand signs, and then realized he'd not seen Sakura before that moment.
Sasuke dispelled the genjutsu and narrowly dodged being stabbed by the ninja. The ninja paused as Sasuke jumped away and began to speak.
"Sasssuke-kun, where's your Sharingan? Are you that confident in your ability?"
Sakura grinned as she finished her genjutsu.
[Genjutsu: Flowers on the Wind]
It was the most subtle genjutsu that Kakashi managed to teach her. It was a prank genjutsu meant to annoy people, relying on smell. The genjutsu made it so there was a terrible smell right near the nose of the subject. Not obvious enough to be clearly a genjutsu but enough to distract an opponent in their mind.
Sasuke noticed the change in his enemy, and ran. However before he could escape, Naruto appeared in mid air with both of his gauntlets. Naruto punched the enemy ninja, and broke his neck with a sickening crack. He jumped back away from the enemy ninja, before approaching Sasuke.
"What's going on, Sasuke?"
"This ninja isn't a genin. Somehow, a dangerous threat arrived at the exams without any of the proctors knowing of it."
Naruto understood what this meant. He and Sasuke were going to need to buy time for Sakura to leave and get back up.
He said this in a rather great manner, "I guess we've gotta show this guy what we've got then! Wherever Sakura is, she'll come to our aid."
Sakura heard this while hidden, and began to jump away towards the tower to communicate the problem at hand.
Elsewhere Anko Mitarashi looked at three dead Kusagakure ninja.
"This…can only be the result of one technique…"
The three chunin proctors who'd brought her there looked concerned.
"What technique is it Anko-san?"
"It's Orochimaru, he's here. You need to let the Hokage know! Tell him to bring two groups of Anbu immediately. I'll go after the team."
Naruto and Sasuke stood across from the enemy ninja. Naruto knew he still had a full tank of chakra and was already in perfect stance. Sasuke had used some chakra, but from his measurements he could still make an entire shadow clone.
The two teammates rocketed towards the Kusagakure ninja and split around him. Sasuke aimed a kick at the man's leg from behind, and Naruto aimed at his head from the front. Neither of the shots landed; somehow, the Kusagakure ninja slunk away from the attack and grinned as his long tongue escaped his mouth.
Naruto made four bunshin along with four kage bunshin to pad the ranks. Sasuke, on the other hand, began weaving more hand signs; this time putting his hand to his mouth. A massive fireball escaped his mouth. Naruto took that time to jump behind the fireball, hiding his fast approach.
As the enemy ninja dodged the fireball. Naruto appeared right next to him, and hit a perfectly executed Windmill, knocking the enemy towards the ground. The ninja slunk around a branch and used the energy of the kick to punch Naruto extremely hard in the face. However, this one had already been substituted with a bunshin.
The enemy ninja was surprised that the last of the rookies executed such flawless technique and so decided to finish the fight. He could feel that this fight might not go in his favor if prolonged. Dispelling the bunshin illusions, he narrowed in on Naruto's real form. He flew towards Naruto, his fingers ablaze with purple chakra.
"So you are the JINCHURIKI! Naruto Uzumaki!"
Naruto was extremely confused, making him forget he was in the middle of a battle. It did not make Sasuke forget; instead, Sasuke felt his eyesight get clear. In a moment of perfect clarity, Sasuke tossed three shuriken, all of which had ninja wire attached to them. As the enemy ninja slammed into Naruto, revealing a weird spell on Naruto's stomach, the kunai passed in front of him. The ninja barely managed to smack the seal onto Naruto's own seal, just in time, and was almost sliced in half by the thin wires.
As the enemy ninja turned, Sasuke used the last bit of his chakra to execute a final dragon flame technique. The flame traveled along the ninja wire, burning the face off of the enemy ninja, causing Sasuke to think he'd won the fight.
He was wrong.
"You're much more skilled than even I had expected Sasssuke. You've got the Sharingan, you could be almost as great as your brother."
"How do you know about my brother?"
"I'm Orochimaru, the snake sage. If you'd ever like real power, Sasuke, pass this exam as quickly as possible."
"As if. I don't need anything but what I've got."
Orochimaru's snake-like grin grew even wider, and he replied, "That's a good attitude, my prizeeee. Here's a gift."
Orochimaru's neck stretched and whipped out to bite Sasuke on the neck. Sasuke tried to move, but in that moment, he was stricken by the fear he'd ignored in the battle. Agonizing pain ran through him. Sasuke kept himself from screaming out loud, but it was a tall feat.
Soon, the pain overtook him, and he fell unconscious. It was to this scene that Sakura arrived with Chunin proctors. Sasuke was bent over a tree limb and Naruto was sprawled out on the forest floor, knocked out for good. The exam proctors left Sakura to report the battle information to the Hokage.
Sakura tried her best to set up a new trap for other ninja. It took her hours of hard work, but she fashioned them another tree base. Thinking they were safe, she dozed off for an hour at a time, making sure everything was okay with her teammates before returning to sleep. However, it was as the sun was rising on the third day that a ninja wire tugged at her arm.
Looking down, she saw three otonin inching towards the trap. For a moment, Sakura had a feeling that they would genuinely fall for it. However, they jumped back, recognizing it as a potential trap. At this point, Sakura tried her best to wake Naruto, slapping him in the face repeatedly.
After a punch to the gut, she gave up on the boy.
Instead, she released a log she'd lifted into the air upon the enemy as a distraction for her coming. She jumped down towards them, knowing it was not a great decision. The moment she hit the ground, she cast a genjutsu.
[Genjutsu: Whispering Shadow]
She'd yet to master the technique, meaning it would seep her chakra. However, she was prepared for that possibility.
Sakura brandished a kunai and stood in her form as three ninja appeared.
All three of them wore Otogakure headbands; it was the same team that had tried to attack Kabuto in the first exam. Sakura narrowed her eyes on this factor.
Sakura stood ready, and immediately, one of the otonin flew at her.
He wound up a punch that Sakura easily moved out of the way of.
She threw a kunai with all of her force, at this neck; she needed to kill all of them. Before she could blink again he was upon her with another punch, this time she dropped below the punch. She cut his side with a kunai. The otonin was wearing no armor of any sort, such cuts would be easy.
One of the other otonin was about to reach her, but he was unable to as a green blur slammed into him. Sakura's face lit up, it was Rock Lee. In the hallway he'd confessed to her, but Sakura's reaction was as anyone would've expected. However, having him there was great, he could fight as good as Sasuke and Naruto.
"Lee!"
Lee turned his head with an ear to ear smile upon his face.
"Sakura-chan! I told you I'd protect you with my life. Here I am!"
Sakura heard him mutter something under his breath, but she ignored it. Lee was there to help her and that was enough for her. She moved behind Lee and put her back to his, making the older boy blush. However he decided to focus on it. The two kept their backs to each other as the sound ninja surrounded them.
One of the otonin, the one with fur who'd attack Sakura spoke, "Well would you look at that. Konoha ninja trying their best to help each other. We are here for Sasuke, Orochimaru never said to leave you alive."
Sakura said, "Why are you with Orochimaru, he's a dangerous missing ninja."
One of the otonin, a girl with black hair spoke, "He's not missing, little girl. He ordered us to do this."
"Kin! You're running your mouth too much."
"Shut up Dosu. No one was talking to you."
"Quiet down you two, we are facing an enem-"
That was the first one to get hit so hard, he was knocked out. Lee moved so fast towards him, catching the boy off guard. Lee swept the boy's leg and in the same movement, raised his leg for an axe kick. The foot landed heavy. A crunch of ribs. A scream of agony, and then Rock Lee was back to back with Sakura once again.
Sakura was the one to advance next. Blitzing the girl in the group, Sakura aimed a kunai at the throat. Kin blocked. Sakura swept the girls' feet. Kin jumped over the attempt. Kin, mid-air tossed a set of senbon straight at Sakura. Sakura aimed to dodge. Instead she came face to face with Dosu, his arm aimed straight at her.
He missed. However as Sakura was about to move away to separate, blood suddenly dripped out her nose. Her eyes widened in horror, she could barely hear what has happening. She looked at the otonin and began to think.
She thought, Sound ninja, he must have hit me with chakra with that arm of his. Blocking my hearing disorients my brain, basic biology. However I should not bleed, unless he ruptured something…
Lee on the other hand was already overhead of Dosu. Aiming another axe kick straight at the boy. Dosu turned with a smirk on his face. Lee sensed the danger and disappeared behind Dosu. A sidekick sent Dosu flying into a tree. Lee turned to the girl, Kin, placing his hand behind his back in a fight ready stance.
Sakura was too disoriented to fight anymore and Lee could recognize this with a quick look and internally reprimanded himself.
He thought, I should've stepped in. Sakura is a strong girl, but Dosu is stronger. It was also a two on one. Sensei would be disappointed! I'll have to do forty laps around Konoha for this!
Lee blitzed Kin, however, he'd paused to think for way too long. Dosu was right behind him, and right as the boy's fist was gonna collide with his face, Sakura tackled Dosu. Lee and the others in the clearing were beyond surprised.
"Lee! His arm releases chakra as sound waves, they can break your eardrums if you're not careful!"
Sakura internally thought, This is my chance, I knew the day would come when I would have to take a life. Do it Sakura!
She hesitated. On top of Dosu, restricting all of his limbs, this was the perfect time to kill. She couldn't do it. So Dosu slipped his arm around hers like a snake and blasted her with sound waves again. This time Sakura fell over, and did not get back up.
Lee's fear set in.
Not far away, Shikamaru and Ino stood as Choji layed on the ground.
Ino said, "We can't find anybody weak around here!"
Shikamaru said, "I agree, I think we could take Naruto's team, but otherwise there's no weaklings."
Ino's face changed to anger, "What do you mean by that?! Naruto maybe dumb and Sakura's forehead may be too large, but Sasuke-kun. He's stronger than anyone here."
Shikamaru thought, every single damn time. She's so easy to predict, and she's not being smart about this. I could let this go, but that Raito kid, he's clearly old friends with Naruto and Sasuke, something tells me he's near me in intellect but above in strength. I ought to scare Ino, maybe this will force her into that action that Asuma sensei's always dragging on about.
Choji grumbled, "There's no food. I ate the chips!"
Shikamaru's tone changed quickly, much more serious than anyone had ever heard, "Choji, listen up. You too Ino!"
The two teammates silenced themselves.
"There's nothing easy about this exam. The fact we're taking it is a testament to the belief Asuma-sensei has in us. However, there are those far better."
Ino was about to say something when Shikamaru shot her a look.
"The boy Naruto claims is his rival, he's an unknown. Not only that but he's easily stronger than Naruto and Sasuke. I'd say he's almost as smart as me. Let me be clear, we are the weakest of the bunch. Naruto and Sasuke are the weakest of the strongest in this exam. We are not on their level, we are quite lower. We have no choice but to be strategic. Do we understand?"
Ino's face almost twisted into annoyance before she nodded. Choji was surprised by the outward seriousness his long time friend had shown. However it was no surprise at all.
Choji then said, "Huh, Sakura's unconscious over there and Lee's fighting for her."
Lee knew of only one technique that could put the boy down. However as Lee was about to prepare himself, he heard a yell.
"Naruto Barrage!"
From on high, Naruto descended fast, with many clones at hand. The punch that hit Dosu was fatal in nature. From over fifteen meters in the sky, the energy released in Naruto's punch was like a hammer on a bone. A sickening crack resounded through the clearing, as Dosu's eyes lost their light.
Naruto's eyes looked with intense fury.
"Lee what happened?"
"Sakura tried defending against these three attackers. Otonin, they came for Sasuke-san I believe."
Naruto nodded and turned to Kin. The girl was terrified, Naruto had killed her teammate with swift ease. Her other teammate was barely hanging on. So, she grabbed him and left as the other Konoha teams arrived. However this was not before tossing her heaven scroll on the ground, granting Team 7
A milk-eyed boy spoke from a tree branch, "That was a crude attack Naruto Uzumaki but it was fatal."
Naruto looked up to see the boy alongside a girl with brown hair. This ninja was his senior by one year and he was the rookie of his year, just like Sasuke. However Sasuke was no longer as arrogant as before, Sasuke had grown into a better person. As the boy looked at him with the same eyes that Hinata had, he felt arrogance. This was the Sasuke he'd despised and seeing that in this boy, Naruto's fury almost rose higher.
"And who are you?"
Rock Lee answered, "That is Neji Hyuga and Tenten."
"I see."
Naruto then turned to Sakura, tapping the girl. After a few pokes, she was up. Sakura was surprised to see Naruto. She'd tried to wake the sleeping boy, but he'd refused to do so, here he was now.
As the Konoha ninja appeared out of the woodwork. Ino jumped in to hug Sakura.
"You're alive!"
Sakura gritted her teeth as Ino's body slammed into hers, "Yes… Of course I am."
The Konoha ninja all went their separate ways again after ensuring Naruto was fine with taking care of Sakura and Sasuke.