Just as Haruto was about to say Sayonara to the summoning of a snake, his senses tingled—the trees shuffled nervously, creaked a warning, like, move out of the way—and not a moment too soon, he thought grimly as he jumped out of the way.
Cursing, the Senju eyed the three newcomers with distaste: all of them were from Sound, judging from their headbands. He recognized them as those that had been the only one to answer his challenge verbally back before the first test, and they had the ability to wound someone even though there was no skin-to-skin contact. In short, they were dangerous and a hindrance.
"Look," hissed Haruto, irritated. "I don't have the scroll and I'm a little busy here. Fuck off."
The sole female (rather pretty, though maybe it was because she looked a little like Satsuki, though this chick's skin was darker and she was older-looking and had long hair) stepped forward, a smirk etched onto her face. "My, it seems like the Senju heir has quite the potty mouth. I like that."
Great, just what he needed, a new admirer. "Well, if you like me that much, you can let me deal with my little problem and I'll take you out for a date after this exam."
"Don't be crazy, Kin," the spiky-haired Sound ninja grumbled; Haruto assumed he was jealous.
Kin laughed. "Yeah, right. Like I'll fall for such a lame trick." Her piercing laughter, which Haruto thought must've sounded like a harpy's, died down but her smirk remained intact. "And besides, I'd like to keep my head intact, thank you very much; I know how jealous an Uchiha can be."
Too bad she ain't here now where she could rip that smile off your face, Haruto thought, somewhat amused. Even though he should've kept his mouth shut, he said, rudely and loudly, "You're right. I shouldn't have said that. After all, Satsuki would be ashamed to know that I took someone so ugly out instead of someone as pretty as her, hm?"
Kin grounded her teeth together. "You better be prepared for a world of pain for that, Senju."
Haruto smirked as he assessed the situation, knowing that the time for stalling was out and that he was out of options but to stand his ground and fight.
Run? He considered that option but that wasn't good, those guys would just follow him and he'd only bring Satsuki and Sakura danger. Not that they aren't already faced with Orochimaru. Renewed dread and urgency surged through him, he brought his fists up, eyes narrowed and determined.
"I don't have the time to play games with you guys, but if you want, I'll give you the beating of your life."
And with that said, all hell broke loose.
***
Asked by anyone what was her most frightening experience, Haruno Sakura would answer very truthfully, that it was during the second phase of the Chunin Exams. Not because of what was within the Forest of Death, rather, what transpired in it. Heck, in comparison to the opponent she fought and what happened there, the threats the Forest of Death hurled at them was nothing.
Trembling, the pink-haired girl blinked back tears that clouded her vision. She glanced around the battlefield, taking in the destruction that had happened. Well, the destruction was mostly caused by Satsuki's missed fire jutsus and her weak attempt at Earth jutsu. Her earthen barrier crumbled from just one blow and was barely able to defend them.
Then, her mint eyes landed on the two listless figures on the ground. One was her teammate and the other was an acquaintance. She stumbled on shaky legs towards the former first. Trembling still, her fingers found the Uchiha's neck, checking for a pulse and she breathed a sigh of relief when the other girl was still breathing.
"Thank Goddess," she nearly sobbed in relief. Nevermind the fact that Satsuki's body was covered in bruises and littered with cuts, blue-blacks blossomed on her once immaculate skin and the girl's breathing was ragged; her fever was high and Sakura was ready to bet her right arm that it had something to do with the mark on her neck, the exact spot where that freak snake-nin had bitten her.
They hadn't even stood a chance against the missing-nin who called himself Orochimaru; she wasn't sure to believe his identity at first but when he displayed barely 5% of his powers, she was ready to believe him. Sakura glanced back at the other limp and broken body.
She didn't know why Lee had even come to their rescue; he couldn't hold a candle to Orochimaru either, just increasing their chances of escape a little. Though the boy had been stubborn about escaping in the first place, but when their opponent clearly outranked him, he was ready to flee.
But he was already heavily injured, his ego taking a serious blow when Orochimaru mocked him as a useless ninja with his chakra pathways messed up so. Sakura was beaten around too, though she counted herself lucky for just escaping with broken ribs, split lip, and like a thousand number of bruises and cuts combined. Satsuki wasn't so lucky; Sakura didn't know why, but once Orochimaru had bittern the other girl, she'd crumpled to the ground, unconscious as angry and hatred-filled strands of… tentacles like things seeped onto her skin.
Seeing two of the strongest Genin she'd known defeated so quickly, Sakura was frightened.
Where was Haruto when you needed him anyway?
They couldn't go on like this. Sakura knew nothing about healing and had no medical supplies to heal both of her fellow Genins so she settled for making them as comfortable as possible.
Routinely, Sakura checked both Lee's and Satsuki's temperature, and drenched their forehead with cool water from the river again and again; it was the only thing she could do. Aside from setting traps and double-checking them again to be more effective. Aside from that, she knew of nothing else she could do and it frustrated her; why did she have to so fucking weak? Why did she always have to rely on others to protect her?
If—when, Inner Sakura corrected her with vehemence-they got out of this, Sakura swore she'd find a way to be stronger. But for now…
Haruto-kun, please hurry and come back!