Avenger's Destiny: Chapter 31

Chapter 31- The Second Test.

三十一 – 第二个测验

"You will follow your assigned Jounin to your bases. Don't try to escape on the way because you will only be given the information your team needs at the base," Morino Ibiki looked around sternly as he conveyed their instructions. "If you do so, and manage to meet your team without the required information, you will not be able to glean details from other teams because every team has a specific set of instructions. We will know if you did no acquire what you were supposed to find,"

Sakura listened carefully, making note of every point. Her brow furrowed in concentration, as it always did when Tsunade gave her instructions – it had become a habit.

'So they expect us to try and escape… after having been given the information needed, at the bases – which will make it difficult since close watch will be kept on us then…' Sakura mused, calculating possibilities.

She could feel the stare of a blonde-haired kunoichi boring through her back from some distance away. Sakura had noticed that when they had been led into the forest, that girl was keeping an unnaturally close watch on her, even though she had not displayed any sign of potential strengths to warrant herself enemies so early in the exam. However… that girl was from the Rain Village. The same team as that white-haired man Sakura had seen earlier. The girl's features were distinct, beautiful, even. Eerily golden eyes matched her hair, a straight nose adorned her high cheekboned, fair-skinned face. Her looks accentuated her perfect hourglass figure, flaunted in a short, tight black spaghetti-strapped dress with shorts underneath. Her golden hair was left untied, cascading down her back. An image of a goddess.

A perfect partner, in a way, for that similarly handsome white-haired man. Sakura wryly doubted that this particular kunoichi ever had to fight, her looks alone would have guaranteed helplessly enchanted men obeying her every command.

Little did she know how close her guess was, to the truth.

Their eyes were the same. Maybe not in colour, silver matched with gold, but they were cold, glassy. As if they belonged to the dead. Both looked practically too flawless to be human, even.

Sakura shuddered involuntarily. They seemed to be targeting her team, but why?

"You are required to retrieve certain items using the information you will be given at the base. After obtaining those items, you can attack other teams for their treasures to get bonus points and fail their exam. Your team is given four days to complete this mission by reaching the tower in the center of the forest with all items and teammates intact," Ibiki's voice rang out clearly, sharply. No one dared interrupt or contradict; Ibiki had a certain air that instantly made people wary of him, unlike Anko.

Sakura observed the rest of the 'hostages'. The girl Sasuke had mentioned, from the Sound, Karin, was here. Also glaring at her. The cherry blossom sighed, wondering why she had suddenly become everyone's target to kill.

Shino had been chosen from the Leaf's other team. Sakura cast him a slight smile to wish him luck, but couldn't see his expression due to the high collar of his uniform.

"Once you reach base, you will be allowed to give out a signal to indicate your location, but don't be an idiot and yell your head off because you will be bound and gagged," Ibiki held up ropes and duct tape to illustrate his meaning. "Jounins," he indicated to the group of shinobi gathered behind the hostages in the clearing. "Take up your posts,"

In a flurry of movement, each 'hostage' found himself or herself flanked by two Konoha Jounins. Sakura was secretly pleased to find Kotetsu and Izumo next to her – having people she knew around her made things seem slightly better.

"Ah… the Godaime's apprentice," Kotetsu grinned, speaking discreetly. "We'll have to careful, or we'll find ourselves flying to the other end of the world, eh, Izumo?"

Sakura covered up her laugh with a cough as Izumo took his cue.

"Shame she's grown so much… though that revelation of our genjutsu during your first Chunin Exam wasn't all that bad…"

The pink-haired kunoichi smiled at the memory. Izumo and Kotetsu had cast a genjutsu over the second floor and tricked plenty of Genins into believing that it was the third floor, where they were supposed to be. And Sasuke had poked right through it.

"Move out!" Ibiki's command interrupted the thought. She quickly followed Kotetsu towards the trees, Izumo guarding her from behind.

"Well, don't expect us to show any mercy, Haruno," Izumo was now speaking in a business-like tone. "Even if you are the Hokage's apprentice,"

Sakura rolled her eyes, recalling Tsunade's harsh training tactics before speaking.

"Do you think Tsunade-sama has ever cut me any slack?"

Izumo pretended to frown as Kotetsu laughed.

"Well… I haven't exactly seen her training you yet, but knowing her…. fair enough, you win,"

Sakura couldn't help but grin.

N

As the trio moved deeper and deeper into the forbidding forest, however, Sakura's mood became somber once again, old fears of the Amegakure team as well as the contents of the glass vial in her pouch resurfacing, dominating her emotions.

What, exactly, did those two shinobi from the Rain Village want with her, until they could attempt to kill her whole team with an explosive note?

"We're here," Kotetsu suddenly leapt upwards, propelling himself into a cleverly hidden treehouse sandwiched between the boughs of a tall tree. "Get in, hostage,"

Sighing, Sakura realized no one was going to help her get in even if her hands had been bound. She nimbly channeled chakra into her feet and ran up the tree trunk, using her upper body as a weight to counter gravity by throwing herself forwards and rolling into the treehouse. It was a painful stunt, but it didn't look like she had much choice about that.

"Nice trick," Izumo observed, impressed, as he followed her into the treehouse.

"Lay off on the praise, Izumo… she's supposed to be our hostage, not your best friend," Kotetsu sighed, rummaging through a box that seemed to be the sole piece of furniture in the room. After several moments, he held a long scroll aloft triumphantly, turning to Sakura. "Now, before we gag you, instructions,"

The cherry blossom nodded, prepared to listen.

"Well, your teammates' first objective would be to rescue you from us, so here's your second objective. I'm going to give you a key and a basic map that will lead you to find two scrolls, and then a box that requires two keys to open."

"Two keys…? I have only one… oh," the truth dawned on Sakura. "So we'll have to attack someone else to get the other,"

Izumo nodded, picking up where Kotetsu had left off. "But the one rule for this test is that you are not to open the boxes until you're told to, same as the first Chunin Exam before,"

"And again, these are your instructions. Other teams will have different sets even if you will have to compete with them for certain items… still, you don't have to bother with stealing other treasures if you don't have your own," Kotetsu added as a warning as he put the map and the key into her pack.

Sakura's mind was already elsewhere. Her team had not decided on a signal, so how was she going to contact them? She could very well try her signature cherry blossom genjutsu, but without a designated target and with her being the only one with the name 'Sakura' in the entire exam, it would be entirely too conspicuous. Perhaps that wasn't worth the risk, especially not with the Rain and Sound teams around. She would just have to wait until their second base-change and attempt a genjutsu to trap her exam proctors and escape, if her team had not found her by then.

Izumo was already approaching her, a long piece of black fabric in hand ready to gag her with. "Ibiki-san did say to use duct tape, but I suppose cloth is kinder of the face, huh?" he grinned mischievously.

The pink-haired kunoichi rolled her eyes, before suddenly remembering something urgent. "Wait." She spoke sharply. "Before that gag goes on I need you guys to do me a favour after my team has rescued me,"

"As long as it doesn't involve helping you cheat, we're all ears," Kotetsu agreed.

"No, it's got nothing much to do with this exam," Sakura shook her head. "Just go straightaway to Tsunade-sama and tell her to keep an eye on the teams from Amegakure – especially the white-haired man and the blonde kunoichi on his team,"

"These two?" Kotetsu drew a small book out of his pocket, flipping through it until he found the page he wanted, and showed it to Sakura. Two photos of the two shinobi Sakura had mentioned, as well as some basic information, stared up at her from the page.

"Kouru Shiroi," Sakura muttered, memorizing the name. "Ice-white, huh? Suitable name… and the girl – " Sakura's voice choked when she read the letters printed under the photo. Kin Tsume. Tsume was her mother's name, and anything connected to it still hurt Sakura. She knew that she wouldn't have the heart to touch the girl now

"Well, what about them?" Izumo asked curiously, snapping her out of her reverie. "Why d'you need Tsunade-sama herself to keep an eye on them?"

"I think they're tracking and targeting me… or the scr – or something that I have," Sakura corrected herself quickly before she finished the word 'scrolls', remembering that their mission and the retrieved contents were classified.

"Is it just exam jitters? I assure you, everyone will be trying to scare you witless during this exam," Izumo was still skeptical.

"Not to the extent of trying to blast my team into oblivion with an explosive tag," Sakura said wryly. "He tried, that guy, when we were hiding in the trees during Anko's little trick exam,"

"We're in on the scroll business, if that's what you mean," Kotetsu suddenly spoke, glancing outside to ensure that they weren't being eavesdropped on. He pocketed the information book. "You think the Rain team wants either that or you and Naruto, right?"

Sakura nodded hesitantly.

"Consider it done. We'll warn the Godaime," Kotetsu told her calmly, stiding towards the box in the center or the one-roomed, dimly lit tree house.

"What's in there, anyway?" Sakura asked as Izumo was about to gag her. "Don't tell me there was only a map and a key in that huge box,"

"Nope," Kotetsu fished something out happily. Sakura raised an eyebrow as she saw that it was a cup of instant ramen and a flask of what was probably hot water.

"You've got to be kidding me," Sakura glanced at him. "Naruto will be able to smell that from a mile away,"

"Exactly," Izumo grinned, tying the gag. "A little cheating never hurts… and besides, we don't intend to sit here waiting for four days waiting for your teammates,"

Sakura sighed inwardly. 'And that coming from those two who were so adamant about not helping me cheat, eh?'

N

Naruto, Sasuke and Tenten slipped quietly through the forest, senses heightened, alert for any signal that Sakura might have devised to catch their attention.

But after an hour of unsuccessful searching, the trio stopped to cook up a plan. So far they'd found three hideouts, two still occupied but neither hostage was Sakura, one with no sign of a hostage by had two Konoha Jounins, standing outside, still as ice with an expression of shock etched into their faces. Tenten had cautiously approached them and touched the arm of the nearest Jounin, drawing back quickly as cold shock jolted her body.

"They're frozen. Literally," the weapons mistress had reported grimly, grabbing a radio transmitter sticking out from one of their pockets. The other transmitter lay in pieces, shattered on the ground. "If they're not unfrozen soon, they'll die from their low body temperature,"

"Try Katon?" Sasuke suggested.

"You could, but I'm not sure if it'll actually work," Tenten was already tuning the transmitter, speaking to the operator. "Konoha Team 7 here in hideout Three, Forest of Death," Tenten read the crudely painted number on the door of the shack. "We have found two Jounins totally frozen with no sign of the hostage. You need to send a good medic-team here at once. Over,"

The transmitter buzzed for a few moments as Sasuke attempted a fireball to unfreeze the Jounins. A cackly voice spoke from the other end. "Roger. Team on the way. Over,"

"Thank you. We have to commence with our exam now, over and out," Tenten spoke clearly, then turned to Naruto and Sasuke.

"It's working, I think," Sasuke said as he drew a deep breath after the last small fireball. Naruto had gathered some firewood to make a small fire. "They seem to be stirring."

"Still very cold, though. I think Sakura-chan would say that they need medics," Naruto touched one of them after arranging the firewood on the ground, near them. He frowned. "Who could've done this? I doubt it was Haku, his jutsu would have left a clear layer of ice over them. And besides, he wouldn't have left them like this,"

"No, not him," Sasuke confirmed, setting the firewood alight, then placed the Jounins on a sleeping position on the ground next to it with some help from Tenten and Naruto. "This should hold up until the medics get here, we'll have to risk the smoke attracting attention,"

"We should go, our mission," Tenten reminded them, placing the transmitter in one of the Jounins' hands before turning to leave.

With a nod, the two boys swiftly followed, continuing their search for Sakura.

N

"No good. I don't see anything that Sakura might've left as a signal," Tenten sighed, leaning against a tree, racking her brains. Surely Sakura left some sign? It'd been an hour and a half since the exam started.

"Well, we could follow that way," Naruto said hopefully, pointing to the northwest.

"Why?" Sasuke asked, eyes narrowed. He had a feeling that whatever the answer was, it had nothing to do with Sakura.

"I smell ramen. Beef ramen,"

Tenten and Sasuke must have looked pretty murderous, because Naruto instantly held up his hands and backed away in horror.

"Don't kill me yet!"

"Well, I'm this close-" Sasuke growled, his hand on his sword. Tenten blocked him with a warning glance.

"Are you sure it's not just your stomach talking, Naruto?" the weapons mistress sighed. "And what does smelling beef ramen have to do with finding Sakura?"

"Weeellll…" Naruto trailed off, looking sheepish and guilty. "Kotetsu passed by me yesterday and told me to use my nose to find what I'm looking for,"

"So we're cheating?" Sasuke asked.

"We're going to head that way sooner or later, won't we?" Naruto whined, protesting his innocence.

"Make up your minds, they're gonna change bases soon," Tenten warned, checking her watch.

Sasuke and Naruto glanced at each other.

"Lead the way, dobe,"

N

They'd changed bases by teleporting, and there was still no sign of her team. Sakura knew that she would have to escape soon, she doubted that either scroll or the box would be easy to find in this vast, dangerous forest.

But first, the signal. She couldn't risk having to search for her team instead. Sakura cleared her mind and focused on her problem, as Tsunade had taught her so long ago…

Perhaps her summoning slugs could find her team first and take them to her location. Yes, that would be a good idea.

Her summoning scroll was fastened above her shuriken pouch. She was pretty sure she'd be able to do the summon without opening the scroll, just a touch of blood at the edge of the outer flap would do. Her wrists were bound, but if she wriggled a little… Nawanuke no Jutsu (1) would get the ropes off.

Using her own nails, Sakura cut her thumb, feeling warm blood trickling out slowly. Forming her handseals with some difficulty as it was hard to move her hands properly behind her back, she drew her blood across the outer edge of the opening flap of the scroll.

'Kuchiyose no Jutsu!' (2)

With a small 'poof', a small white slug appeared behind her, looking up at her expectantly.

"Chiisai," Sakura strained to whisper through her gag, trying to pronounce the words while carefully watching Kotetsu and Izumo's backs. They were talking, not watching her. Perfect. "Find Naruto and get my team here," again, her voice was painfully muffled, but hearing the word 'Naruto' and seeing Sakura's tied-up condition, Chiisai understood, nodding before darting towards the cracks of the wooden walls and squeezing itself out.

Satisfied, Sakura concentrated on her next task. Nemuri Genjutsu (3) ought to work nicely if she didn't attract their attention while doing her handseals. Then those two Jounins would fall asleep and there wouldn't be any need to fight.

Carefully, quietly, Sakura placed her hands together behind her back, forming one seal after another to complete the combination required for the illusion.

Done. 'Nemuri Genjutsu!' she formed her final seal, concentrating on making her targets fall asleep, picture vivid scenes of pleasant dreams. Sakura had to make sure it happened gradually, or one of them might realize what she was doing and reverse the genjutsu.

The cherry blossom watched, holding her breath, as Kotetsu and Izumo's chatting slowly ceased, they were nodding off and slumping to the ground. Pretty soon they were out cold. Smiling at her handiwork, Sakura stood quietly, freeing her hands of the already loosened ropes, then quickly untying her gag. Her mouth was beginning to feel sore.

Stepping carefully over Izumo and Kotetsu's sleeping forms, Sakura exited the small shack that was their second hideout.

Stretching, Sakura paused as she heard a small noise behind her. Before she could even turn, a gloved hand gripped her right arm, vice-like.

Whirling around quickly, her heart racing, Sakura's eyes widened. How could she not have sensed him? The dangerous aura radiating off him in waves like they used to with Gaara – how could she have missed that?

The white hair – those silver eyes – the Rain headband…

"You…" she whispered.

N

Sakura's initial shock gave way to fury as she remembered how this guy had tried to obliterate her entire team, and her eyes narrowed as Shiroi's grip on her arm tightened into a stronghold, numbing it entirely. His clothes were entirely black, long sleeved shirt, long pants, black shoes.

"What do you want with me." She hissed at him. It was a simple, dangerous statement, not a question. She already knew what these people were after – it was not too difficult to guess, there could only be two possibilities. And if he had tried to kill her, as well as Naruto, then he didn't know what dormant power lay within them. Which meant he wanted –

"The scrolls," Shiroi said simply, his silver eyes unnervingly blank. She hated those eyes, they were so… inhuman.

"I don't have them," was the cherry blossom's curt reply. It was true, anyhow. The remaining Bijuu-sealing scroll constantly changed hands amongst Sakura's friends to avoid being easily taken. If she remembered correctly, it had been last given to Neji for safekeeping.

Shiroi, however, evidently did not believe her. He took a step closer, staring into her eyes. "You have no idea what I can do, do you?" his voice was level. He removed the glove on his free hand and stuffed it into his pocket, still observing her.

"Is that a threat?" Sakura asked lightly, not flinching. She was used to threats, shinobis got them regularly from petty thieves and robbers during missions. Even if this man wasn't an ordinary run-off-the-mill criminal, she wouldn't let him win this battle of wits.

"Hand them over," Shiroi gripped her collar with his free hand and removed his other glove.

"I said, I don't have them," Sakura spoke through clenched teeth. "Now let – go!" with an angry exclamation, the girl twisted out of his grasp, swinging around with a full-force right hook followed by a roundhouse kick, both which he dodged.

Her next punch was caught, her gloved fist in his bare palm. Sakura seethed. No one could block her this perfectly. Who was this guy?

"I see you've made a choice," Shiroi said flatly, his larger hand closing in on her fist, attempting to crush it. Sakura withheld.

"There was no choice in the first place," the cherry blossom spat at him. "I am a shinobi and so are you. We have a code of honour. Do the math," Her vivid green eyes glared fiercely at him. She couldn't move away, his grip was too strong, she couldn't risk punching the ground and revealing her strengths to the enemy either.

"There are many things a guy can do to a weaker girl out here, you know," the white-haired man looked at her coolly. "One dead body, and no one would be any the wiser," he remained infuriatingly calm.

"I've faced worse," Sakura muttered, remembering the genjutsu Itachi had trapped her in, what the Sound nins had done to her dead body. That illusion… she had absolutely no intention to let it become a reality.

She tugged her fist back forcefully. Unfortunately, his grip only tightened, and his other hand closed in around the bare skin of her other arm. She was really trapped now.

"I'm quite sure you've faced worse," this time, his voice was mocking, goading her to lose her temper. "But I think you've never experienced this,"

Sakura was confused for a moment, but as his grip on her right fist shifted to make contact with the skin above her wrist, she suddenly understood, a wave of terror enveloping her.

A cold, ticklish sensation was running up her arms from the point of contact between Shiroi's hands and her bare skin, like fluid, curling, snaking its way under her flesh. The weather felt unusually warm, the air eerily still, but Sakura was suddenly aware of the fact that she felt cold… and light-headed. Her arms were so cold they were numb, and involuntarily, she began shivering, the cold, freezing sensation contracting her chest, making every breath difficult and painful.

Sakura realized that Shiroi's grip had been the only thing holding her up when he released her and she crumpled to her knees, her arms wrapped around her form in a desperate attempt to keep warm, trembling all over.

The white-haired man pulled his gloves back on, observing her keeling over, now seized by a bout of hacking coughs between ragged, gasping breaths, no doubt caused by the cold constricting her lungs.

"You might want to hand the scrolls over now," Shiroi said aloofly, observing her like he was reading the dinner menu – with complete indifference. "Any contact with my skin will freeze your chakra system and the cold, in turn, will shut down your body,"

"I – don't – have them-" Sakura found the strength to lift her head, glaring at him with murderous contempt. Her skin was deathly pale and she was growing dizzier by the second – her heart was slowing down. Another hour without help and she would be just a frozen corpse. She tried not to imagine the look on Sasuke's and Naruto's faces when they found her like that.

Sakura moaned and keeled over again, her head felt like it was being pounded into mush. It was so very painful…

'Where the heck are they?' Sakura thought desperately through the haze in her mind, about her teammates. She had no control over her chakra flow, everything was going haywire with her body system.

Shiroi looked like he was going to say something more, but then his head jerked up as he heard quick footsteps approaching. He didn't want to deal with anyone else right now.

"We'll finish this later," the white-haired man spoke quietly, disappearing into the shadow of the trees.

Sakura could only register the dropping temperature and the pounding of her head, accompanied by strangely loud footsteps that followed its rhythm, distorted voices and images that seemed so much larger, louder than life, and how cold she felt. So cold…

And then she passed out.

N

"No more ramen scent," Naruto said gloomily as they reached the base of a huge tree. Sasuke spotted what looked like wooden plants between the upper boughs of the trees and leapt up nimbly to check. A tree house. It was empty, but he knew that Sakura had been here, traces of her chakra signature were present around the place.

"They must've teleporte," Naruto said as Sasuke leapt down again. Tenten was examining the ground for footprints, but she might as well have been looking at concrete for all the good it did. Leaves covered the whole ground, no one could've left any tracks.

"A tree house up there. She's definitely been here, her chakra signature was all over the place," Sasuke reported quietly.

Tenten rubbed her temples, thinking. "What now? They've already changed bases and we can't waste any more time…"

"Eh… Chiisai?" Naruto suddenly perked up, darting to the left. Tenten whirled around, quickly joining him.

Sasuke saw nothing, he frowned at his teammates' antics. Then he spotted it, a small white slug on the ground in front of Naruto, who bent down to talk to it. "Did Sakura-chan send you?"

"Yes, hurry up and follow!" Chiisai turned, scrambling away. Sasuke vaguely thought that this was going to take all day, but his notion proved wrong – that little slug sure moved fast. Probably why Sakura sent it.

Chiisai led them further into the forest, past a strange entwining of vines overhead that seemed to form a bridge; a huge mushroom in the middle of a clearing with a duck sitting on it; and a rather large earthworm, probably the size of a normal snake, curled up around a branch, sleeping, among many other queer sights. Sasuke could've sworn that this forest seemed to get weirder every time he entered it.

"Quiet. Someone up front," Chiisai chided, as if they had been making any noise in the first place, before stopping in its tracks. They edged forward cautiously, not wanting to pick any unnecessary fights – not without their medic around.

Then there was a loud crackle of dry leaves, as if someone had fallen, heavily. All of them paused, contemplating whether or not to proceed. Making a quick decision, they shuffled forward, prepared to fight if necessary.

That was when they saw Sakura, right ahead of them, her unmistakable mop of pink hair keeled over, forehead pressed to the ground. She was shivering, they could tell even from this distance. All of a sudden, it clicked. The Jounins before, and now her…

"Oh Kami… Sakura!" Tenten and Naruto darted forward, but Sasuke beat them all to it, skidding to a halt on his knees, pulling her upper body towards him so that she now lay on her back against him, and cradled her cold form tightly. Why did he suddenly feel so possessive of her, so angry towards whoever had done this?

"She's bloody frozen!" Sasuke hissed as Tenten and Naruto touched their teammate hesitantly.

Sakura was stirring, she curled up tightly in Sasuke's embrace, completely shut off from the world as only two words escaped her pale, almost blue lips in a pitiful whimper.

"So… cold…"

"Teme, Katon!" Naruto snapped urgently. Tenten was already gathering firewood, piling them up near Sakura.

"Don't worry, I'll do it," the weapons' mistress spoke calmly. "Naruto, take all our blankets and put them on her, we'll camp here for awhile," she added, creating a small fireball blown towards the pile of dry leaves. It caught the flames instantly, crackling sharply as she piled larger twigs and branches on it.

Sasuke felt strangely relieved when the cherry blossom's cold, rigid body slowly warmed up and relaxed. The heat was working.

"Hey, there's another base here," Naruto called out as he walked around the tree they were next to.

"Yes, and two Jounins were inside," Chiisai confirmed. "If there's nothing else, I better go now,"

"Thank you very much, Chiisai," Tenten added, smiling at the small slug.

With a small jerk of what might have been a nod, the summoned creature disappeared.

"Eh…! Izumo, Kotetsu!" Naruto's surprised voice rang out rather loudly from behind the tree.

"Quiet, you idiot, do you want the entire forest hunting our team?" Sasuke said sharply, annoyed. They were already taking a big risk with the fire, like Kabuto had said during their first Chunin Exam – the smoke was a clear signal to their team's location.

"But I mean seriously! They're here!" Naruto protested, kneeling down on the wooden floor of the shack base to touch Izumo's hand. It was warm. "It's like they're sleeping… they're not cold at all…"

Tenten frowned, working it out. "Then it must've been Sakura's doing. Nemuri Genjutsu, I presume. You better release them, Sasuke, Sakura's sleep-inducing genjutsus are pretty strong and I'm no good with illusions,"

Sighing, Sasuke carefully put Sakura's head down to lie on the ground, before moving around the tree and entering the shack Naruto was in.

One glance at the two sleeping figures told him all he needed to know. Sakura had probably trapped them with her genjutsu to escape, only to be attacked outside, herself.

But by whom?

Sasuke had a grim feeling that he knew the answer. Kneeling next to Naruto, he placed two fingers on Izumo's forehead and formed his seal.

"Kai!"

A the Jounin began to stir, the Uchiha turned to Kotetsu and did the same. Within moments, both exam proctors were blinking at Naruto and Sasuke.

"Damn," Kotetsu cursed with a half-smile. "She got us,"

"You meant to let her escape all this while, didn't you?" Naruto said accusingly. "The ramen tip and all…"

"Are you complaining, you ungrateful little brat?" Kotetsu grinned, ruffling Naruto's hair. Never mind the fact that the boy was already seventeen.

"Hey, where's Haruno?" Izumo frowned, standing up.

"Outside. Frozen," Sasuke told them rather grimly.

It took several moments for the words to sink in. "Frozen – what the hell – " Kotetsu said in disbelieving amazement, darting out to see for himself with Izumo right behind him. The two remaining boys glanced at each other, before following them out.

The Jounins knelt beside Sakura's still form, cautiously touching her arms. They wouldn't describe her as frozen, her body must've been warmed up from the fire, but she was still dangerously cold, her temperature was way below normal.

"We found her keeled over here, barely conscious and incoherent. Someone had left rather hurriedly when we got here, but we couldn't trace whoever it was," Tenten narrated, feeling Sakura's forehead.

"How did you guys know where to find her? Ramen scent was gone by then, we teleported here," Izumo asked.

"Sakura sent a summoned slug," Naruto answered, his brow furrowed. "But it didn't know who attacked her. So she should've sent it before she escaped."

"Should've guessed," Kotetsu mumbled, not believing that they could have missed their 'hostage' summoning an animal.

"We found two Jounins in similar condition in another base," Sasuke said casually, observing Sakura's face. "Radioed for medic nins, they should be fine,"

"Three similar attacks? In barely four hours into the exam?" Izumo exclaimed. "All of them could've died, what kind of psycho-"

He was cut off by a sudden blur of pink bolting upright, her breath in constricting gasps, eyes wide and expression panicked.

"Hey, hey, calm down you freakin' idiot!" Tenten held Sakura firmly to keep her still, worried. When the cherry blossom saw that it was just her friends, she nearly collapsed with relief. Clutching her chest, Sakura attempted to regain her breathing, her lungs had been constricted by the cold and nearly cut off her oxygen supply.

"Damn… guy…" she breathed, shivering, She was still very cold, three layers of blankets and a fire did nothing to help that.

"Who was it, Sakura-chan?" Naruto demanded, grasping her shoulders and shaking her a little. "Come on, tell us!"

"Quit it, dobe, you'll kill her," Sasuke growled, yanking Naruto off. Sakura was in no condition to speak.

Yet she was already tugging at Kotetsu's sleeve. "Warn Tsunade-sama… Koru Shiroi… wants the scrolls," Sakura jolted as another spasm of shivers seized her body. She felt like she was standing stark naked in the Snow Country.

"Who's that?" the Uchiha asked sharply. Kotetsu took out the information booklet again, showing Sakura the page they had previously seen.

"This guy? The one you warned us about earlier?" Izumo asked. Sakura could only nod.

"He… can't touch people. Contact with his skin… f-freezes your chakra system… a-and then – the c-cold shuts down your body…" she had some difficulty speaking clearly, her teeth still chattered, but she was starting to feel a little warmer. "He found me when… when I got out here, and said he wanted the scrolls… when I fought him… he dodged everything… took off his gloves. He touched me and I just – started to freeze," Sakura shuddered at the memory.

"That white-haired guy… I'll kill him," Naruto growled, fists clenching. Sasuke was a step further, already envisioning the demise of this Shiroi guy by his, Uchiha Sasuke's hand, complete with blood gore, and a soundtrack.

"Well… we better get a report to Tsunade-sama now. You think you can hold on for the exam, Sakura?" Kotetsu stood.

"I'll be okay… I think," Sakura said uncertainly, still feeling rather numb. "But I'm going to finish this exam… and bash that Shiroi bloody and raw at first chance," she growled, before calming herself down and taking measured breaths, testing her current physical state.

"That's the spirit," Izumo smiled, then sombered. "But be careful. Konoha needs all its shinobis now,"

Team 7 nodded silently.

"Warn Kiba's team about this guy if you see them, will you?" Naruto asked just as the two Jounin were about to leave.

Both turned back slightly and saluted, before disappearing into the forest.

N

"Dammit," Sakura cursed under her breath as she failed another tree-climbing attempt. Her chakra control was still rather off, Shiroi's attack had really slowed down its circulation and her reflexes. She was finding it difficult to perform even the simplest jutsus and tasks.

"Sakura, just take a break," Tenten warned. Seven hours into the exam, Sakura's body temperature had returned to normal with their constant movement, and they were looking for the first scroll they were supposed to find. The map was proving difficult to read, it was sketchy and had big gaps missing.

"I think this will last for a day at least," the cherry blossom sighed ruefully, plopping down next to her friend. Sasuke was sitting, some distance away, bent over the map on the floor with his hands locked together just below his chin in that ever so familiar gesture, an obvious sign that he was thinking. Naruto, meanwhile, had gone scouting around to see if there was any stream they could get water from.

"Hey, Sasuke," Sakura asked quietly after a few minutes of bereaving her loss of chakra control.

"Aa," the raven-haired boy did not look up. His brow furrowed in concentration, his mind was probably aeons away.

"What are you staring at the map for? Found anything?"

He did not speak for a long while. Finally glancing up, he motioned to the two girls. "Come see this."

Curiously, they crawled over to take a look.

"Tell me what you see," he said simply.

"Well, we're supposed to find two scrolls ad a box, so the indicators are here, here and-" Sakura paused, searching for the third mark. "-but there's no third mark on the map,"

"Exactly. Two are marked clearly with these crosses, and we're headed here-" Sasuke traced a finger across the parchment, marking their path, "-but I've been staring at that thing for half an hour, and I still can't find any sign of a third marked location."

"Unless two items are hidden in the same place?" Tenten suggested, but Sakura shook her head.

"Too easy," the cherry blossom said. "There may be clues at those two places to lead us to a third, though,"

"Possible," Sasuke said thoughtfully, before spotting Naruto returning. Rolling up the map, he stood and stashed it next to his sword. "Let's get going, we should be there in another half an hour."

Both kunoichi nodded and stood as Naruto rejoined them. At least in Sakura's case, tried to stand. She ended up with a wave of nausea washing over her senses and nearly collapsed if not for Tenten reaching out to steady her.

"you sure you're okay?" Sasuke asked automatically, with a hint of worry in his eyes. Naruto had the same concerned expression on, and Sakura sighed inwardly. Some things, she thought, really never change.

"I'm okay," she told an obvious lie. She had been feeling these bouots of dizziness every time she moved fast ever since Shiroi's attack. Her reactions were worryingly slow. "I just don't think we should get into any fights yet, I can't heal anyone and I'll just be a liability."

There was a moment of silence, her teammates seemed to be contemplating whether or not they should reprimand her.

Finally they turned away, to continue searching for the scroll.

"There's a stream to the northwest, roughly where we're headed. We should camp there tonight," Nnrauto supplied the results of his scouting. Everyone nodded.

"Let's go," Sasuke spoke quietly, and the four shinobis slipped through the forest once more, each absorbed in their own thoughts and unspoken fears.

N

"Left here," Sasuke said, swerving as he spotted what looked like the clump of palm trees as indicated upon the map. He grumbled under his breath, the map looked like it had been scribbled by a kid with a crayon, it looked so crude.

He'd been unanimously and wordlessly chosen to lead the team for some reason, navigating their route. His reflexes were the fastest, and besides, he had the Sharingan, Naruto had reasoned when he questioned them.

"Take that fork and turn right," the Uchiha motioned to the path before them and without a word, Team 7 followed. Sasuke swerved right, he was so concentrated on the map that he failed to see what was right before him.

"TEME! Watch out!" Naruto's voice rang out sharply as a huge, scaly mass lunged towards them. The team dived apart – Sasuke just in the nick of time – as the scaly head reared back, studying its prey thorugh black, beady eyes that glinted malevolently.

Sasuke, Naruto and Tenten had gotten safely out of range in the trees above, but Sakura wasn't so lucky. She'd lacked chakra force in her feet when she jumped, completely missed the branch she'd been aiming for, and tumbled painfully to the ground. She swore viciously under her breath.

If only she'd noticed that she was lying right in the path of the huge snake.

It's massive head was already diving towards her by the time she glanced up in horror. Maybe Kawarimi, the Replacement, jutsu, could –

Then a blur of black flashed past and Sasuke was between her and the snake, sword drawn before him in a defensive stance. The snake's head stopped abruptly, inches away from Sasuke's face. It had recognized him.

"Back," Sasuke hissed, like he was issuing an order. Behind him, Sakura sprung to her feet, flanked by Naruto and Tenten. That had been a close call.

"Uchiha Sasuke, eh…" the massive snake moved it's head back slightly, hissing. "Well. This makes things a little more complicated, doesn't it?"

"Huh?" Tenten looked quizzical. Sakura answered her unasked question.

"Sasuke signed a blood contract with snakes to summon them, and it's a rule that summoned creatures cannot attack those who are involved with the contract. But knowing snakes… I'm not quite sure if that rule would be enforced,"

"Well, unfortunately for me, the rule applies," the snake hissed, with a twitch that somewhat resembled a smirk. "And after all… I wouldn't dare to attack one who can summon Manda-sama (4) himself," its beady eyes studied Sasuke's emotionless face.

'Then you can let us pass," Sasuke spoke curtly, sword still drawn. He'd learnt not to trust any of these creatures, they changed loyalties faster than Naruto could glomp a bowl of ramen.

"I'm afraid that 'it won't be so easy', quoting Anko's words," the snake replied calmly. Naruto had a feeling that the creature couldn't wait for them to make the wrong move so that he would have an excuse for his dinner, never mind the rules. "You will have to answer my riddle. Get it right on first try, you pass. Get it wrong and you will be attacked. I may not be able to touch the Uchiha, but I have no reservations about the rest of you. There are no other choices nor any other way to your destination,"

Team 7 glanced at each other. They were completely stuck, it would be no point to run, there was no doubt in their minds that the snake would attack the moment they tried to leave. It looked perfectly hungry, anyway.

"Let's hear it, then," Sasuke said quietly, never letting his guard down, while contemplating routes of escape. Just in case.

The snake smiled slyly, beginning to speak. It's voice hissed, the words with 's' in them were slurred horribly, but the team listened intently. None of them fancied asking the snake to repeat whatever it had just said.

"What does man love more than life,

Fear more than death or mortal strife,

What the poor have, the rich require,,

And all contented men desire?

What the miser spends and the spendthrift saves,

And all men bring down to their graves?"

Silence. Naruto glanced around hopelessly. Tenten was pondering the answer, but Sasuke and Sakura had already opened their mouths to speak.

"Nothing," their voices rang out simultaneously, and both shinobi glanced at each other. Sasuke motioned for her to continue.

"The answer is nothing," the cherry blossom looked the snake square in the eye. It remained silent, and for a moment, Sakura feared that their answer was wrong, the snake was going to attack –

"Very well. You may pass,"

The last word came as a long, spiteful, vicious hiss, as if the snake was angry that they had answered correctly – it had just missed its dinner.

"Go. All of you," Sasuke motioned to his teammates to go past the snake first, and followed last, always keeping a watchful eye on the huge predator. He didn't doubt that the snake might just go back on its word of letting them go unscathed.

Its beady, glittering eyes followed them through the trees, before it slithered off with a dissatisfied hiss. Sasuke sheathed his sword.

"Man, that snake sure is scary," Naruto shuddered once they were out of sight.

"He's Katai. One of Manda's subordinates," Sasuke made an elaboration, referring to the snake leader Manda. "Manda always sent him to do all the measly jobs, but it doesn't mean that he isn't vicious… quite the opposite, in fact."

"So why's he reduced to doing these jobs? Anko summoned that snake, I suppose, but do they really consent to doing such meager stuff like acting as the obstacle in an exam?" Sakura questioned skeptically.

"Because he's the smallest of all of Manda's right-hand subordinates," Sasuke replied calmly, nonchalantly, walking on.

"You mean – there are snakes bigger than that one?" Tenten exclaimed, voicing the girls' surprise. "I mean, even Gamabunta (5) is only slightly bigger than that snake!"

"You haven't seen Manda," Sasuke said darkly. Naruto nodded. He'd met the King of Snakes once, when he and Jiraya were attempting to bring Tsunade back to Konoha.

"Oh. Gosh." Sakura's disbelieving voice as she halted cut off their conversation.

Right before them, a huge maze of chakra webs stretched out menacingly from tree to tree. Unlike the previous web they'd encountered early in their last mission, these webs varied in size, clearly visible glowing silvery-white, surrounding and protecting a small, altar-like hut in the very center. The webs were so closely knit and complicated in arrangement , it would be a nightmare trying to crawl through them all.

"All this fuss for a scroll," Sasuke muttered distastefully, pulling a chakra nature card from his pack and swiping it lightly across the web closest to them. The card sizzled viciously with electrical sparks. "And I'll be damned if Kakashi didn't help them with these webs… the electrical charge can match the Chidori," he stowed the card away.

"So… what's the plan?" Sakura asked uncertainly, knowing that punching the ground like she did last time was out of the question, her chakra control was too erratic for her to even attempt a punch – she might end up severely wounded instead.

"Sharingan!" Three black commas swirled in the blood-red irises of Sasuke's eyes as he studied the obstacle. He quickly noted the weaker chakra flow of several webs that might just yield to a strong barrier of their own chakra. Several footholds were visible upon the trees, probably to help them navigate across.

"Well?" Naruto asked as Sasuke turned back to them.

"Difficult, but possible," the raven-haired Uchiha spoke. "There are weak spots in the maze, and footholds on the trees,"

"Are you suggesting chakra barriers?" Tenten glanced at him in surprise. Chakra barriers took up a lot of energy.

Sasuke nodded. "We'll just have to be quick. Three of us will create the barriers, Sakura can slip through the barriers and navigate over the stronger ones with the footholds,"

"Are you sure? My physique isn't the best at the moment," Sakura said doubtfully.

"It's better than our chakra control, and you're the most slender amongst us," Sasuke said bluntly. Tenten pretended to look offended at the comment about Sakura being the 'most slender'.

"Anyway. Here's the plan. I'll create the first and second barriers here and here – " Sasuke motioned to the two webs stretched before them. "Because my reflexes are the fastest and I'll be able to get out before the first web reseals. Tenten will enter next, pass through my barriers, swing over those interlocked webs and create the second barrier on that web,"

Tenten nodded, noting the exact spot she needed to block.

"Naruto enters the same way following Tenten's path, passes through her barrier, navigate under two webs and over the next few – and make his two barriers on the last two webs before the altar. He needs to be there, his chakra reserves are high and those two webs are strong. Sakura, get your path?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura nodded, as did Tenten and Naruto. Sasuke knelt before the first web. "Be quick, Sakura. And you guys, don't touch any of the webs or you'll be fried,"

"Way to lay off on the pressure, Captain," Sakura rolled her eyes. She could've sworn that she'd seen the ghost of a smile cross the Uchiha's face.

His hands glowed momentarily, eerily blue, and as eh touched the web, the chakra began eating its way upwards, cutting the web's connections, in a circle until it rejoined the spot where Ssauke's hand was touching, forming a hole just big enough for a human to slip through, surrounded by what seemed like a ring of blue fire.

Sasuke himself carefully climbed through, and formed the same ring barrier on the second web.

Tenten followed, leaping up to catch a foothold on the nearby tree, swung over three webs expertly, landed and commenced with her part. Naruto entered the maze next.

"Sakura, go," Sasuke said quietly the moment Naruto was in place. He added, somewhat subconsciously: "And be careful,"

"Don't choke me with your concern, Captain," Sakura smiled ruefully at him before her expression switched into grim determination and she slipped through the first two barriers. Following Tenten's maneuver, she leapt up, caught the foothold and swung over to where Tenten was, missing the top of the last web by millimeters.

She met Tenten's encouraging smile with a forced one that looked more like a grimace. Clambering through her friend's barrier, she glanced at the vast maze of the webs before her. All was well for Naruto, who was pretty agile and very much hyperactive, but she was tired and had not yet regained her strength.

Chiding herself sternly for having such thoughts, Sakura took a deep breath and got down to a crawl under the vertical web stretched above, but she hadn't anticipated the horizontal web lying close to the ground, Flattening herself, the cherry blossom resorted to a commando crawl on her tummy. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't too hard, just a few tricky spots and son she found herself leaping over the last web before crossing Naruto's two barriers, met with a wide grin from the blonde ninja. The last barrier Naruto had created was so small Sakura had to dive through it, getting a small shock after having brushed past the edge, before rolling to a halt in front of the altar.

Stepping closer, Sakura saw that the elevated altar held a basin, and the scroll lay at the bottom, but –

CLANG!

The sound of metal clashing rung through the forest, and Sakura whirled around, barely dodging a kunai that had been thrown at her. They had enemies – Sasuke had allowed the last web to reseal, and was fighting using his sword, slashing across the webs at whoever it was trying to get in. No problem there, Sasuke's sword was strengthened by electricity after all. Tenten was helping him, hurling two kunais with practiced, dead accuracy using her free hand, hitting two of their attackers square. Judging by the lack of voices, it was probably just another four-man cell trying to get this scroll.

"Hurry up, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said urgently, straining to keep his barriers up. "We need to get out of here!"

"I can't, the scroll's covered by another solid layer of chakra, same as the webs," Sakura said, racking her brains for an idea. She couldn't do a barrier…

"Hang on, I'm coming-" Naruto moved.

"No, stay where you are – it'll be difficult for you to reconstruct the barrier," Sakura's eyes were shut in concentration.

"Hurry up, will you!" Sasuke yelled. His movements were hampered by the two webs he was between. The two remaining members of the attacking team were putting up a good fight.

Sakura didn't even hear him. 'If I can't control my chakra properly enough for a barrier… I can still create a burst of it around my hand… lightning… is weakest against the earth element, right?'

So. Her chakra was originally earth-natured, this shouldn't be a problem. If only she could just channel, focus the chakra in her hand –

It worked. All of a sudden, her hand glowed brightly with greenish chakra, and she found that she had more control over it than before. For a moment, the sheer joy that her foremost ability – chakra control – had returned, overshadowed everything else. Then she remembered the task at hand. Her face set once more, Sakura plunged her chakra-encased hand into the basin, through the solid layer protecting it.

It didn't hurt. Her theory had been correct; her chakra repelled the lightning-natured barrier over the scroll.

Sakura yanked the scroll out, yelling triumphantly.

"Got it!"

N

Hm. Was that a cliff? Well… don't complain, it was such a long chapter! And my fingers are tired…

Now you know the name of the white haired guy, Koru Shiroi, and his abilities. The next mystery ought to be his companion, Kin Tsume. Make all the guesses you want to!

Explanations:

(1)Nawanuke no jutsu: I'm not sure if this exists, but I think I saw it in a Naruto guidebook. It's a jutsu to loosen ropes that are binding you.

(2)Kuchiyose no jutsu: Summoning jutsu, to summon animals.

(3)Nemuri Genjutsu: Sleep- inducing genjutsu.

(4)Manda: King of all snakes, leader.

(5)Gamabunta: Toad Boss, as Naruto calls him.