After being thrown for a loop at hearing that nearly all of them passed the written exam, they were given their next assignment for the Chunin exams at Training Grounds 44 or as others including the teachers refer to it as the "Forest of Death".
A lot of individuals had heard about this particular training grounds and knew it to be one of the most dangerous areas for anyone under the rank of high level Chunin or low level Jonin purely from the wildlife in there alone, the only person who wasn't worried or putting up a front was Ryōga. "I guess it makes sense that throwing us in here is the next part…"
Sakura glanced between her two teammates since she wanted to feel some form of solidarity with the knot of anxiety sitting in her gut; Sasuke was sitting in their vicinity with a meditative pose in the hopes of trying to calm himself but she could note that he was still equally as unnerved about this test. "You're seriously not bothered by this? You do know that a lot of people stay away from that forest for a reason." She reprimanded Ryōga as she was a little confused as to why he had the least amount of worry.
"Well, think about it: Where else is a Ninja supposed to test themselves with how they handle danger?" Ryōga pointed out as he was reading through his Breathing Styles scroll before looking to the large forest; "Besides, I may have used this place for survival training once or twice."
"Alright, kiddies! Drop the yapping and focus up!" A woman's voice broke the ambience as she made herself known; Anko Mitarashi was another of the Jonin who was considered a specialist like Ibiki, Her violet hair was styled in a short, spiky, fanned-out ponytail. Though her outfit certainly made a few pink cheeked guys and some girls glance away as she was wearing a tan overcoat that was open enough to expose a protective mesh undershirt that hugged every curve of her body, a dark orange mini-skirt and pale grey shin guards. "Wait…" She muttered then began counting the numbers that were here for the next part of the test; "Ibiki Morino, you soft hearted son of a-Alright, this actually works out perfectly."
The groups watched in confusion as this random lady seemed more interested in gauging them than telling them what to do next.
"You've all been lucky enough to get chosen for the second part of the Chunin Exam; What you'll be doing is a simple scavenger hunt in the forest, you and your teams will have either one Scroll of Heaven and one Scroll of Earth inside this here forest." Anko instructed as she held up two scrolls to demonstrate; "You will be free to get the other scroll in your set by any means necessary within the next three days…But be careful because the forest will also go to any means to subject you to certain doom~"
"Certain doom?" Sakura thought as she felt her anxiety grow at the idea of what could be in the forest. "Can we go back to the part where you use this particular forest for training?!" She shout-whispered to Ryōga who was currently focusing.
A kunai however broke that sudden conversation as it sailed toward them and broke the skin on Ryōga's cheek, making him trickle a small amount of blood. However before either two Genin would notice: Anko was right there behind them and one hand was on the boy's shoulder and the other was on Sakura's. "Now now, students~ You should know better than to ignore instructions…So put down the scroll and pay attention, Ryōga." Anko teased in his ear as she made no effort to disguise how much her attitude creeped out the others in the crowd.
"You dropped this~" A straw hat wearing person hissed behind the both of them as they had a kunai dangling from a long tongue and held it out for Anko to take.
"You are too kind~" Anko chirped as she took it but then stood up straight; "Now go back to your group so I can finish." She said before continuing the instructions for their next test. "You all have a few minutes so take this time to prepare!"
As the groups all peeled off to head to their designated gates, Team 7 decided to take the chance to regroup. "I really don't like her…" Sakura said stiffly as she still felt incredibly on edge after Anko's surprise appearance behind her.
"If you didn't want her on your case, then you should have been listening instead of talking." Sasuke pointed out as he tried to keep his focus on the test, though even he was a little unnerved by Anko and her disturbingly chipper mood. "Though she sounded like she knew you…Anything we should know about?" He asked Ryōga since he did notice that Anko was rather casual with him.
"Most Chunin chase me when I stay out too late to train…Anko's normally the one they call on when they don't have time to mess around." Ryōga elaborated as he didn't look up from his scroll; "She tends to make it a game; I avoid her long enough and she'll let me off with a warning, she catches me then I end up playing "Dodge the Kunai" for messing her around."
"Okay seriously, what kind of place needs a specialist like her to jump in to try catching a Genin like you?" Sakura asked, her attitude started to slacken a little since all of her frustration was on Anko for now.
"You're looking at it."
Sasuke's brow raised as he looked to the Forest of Death; "I heard rumours that he was forced into training drills but I thought that was an overexaggeration…There's no way that someone would put an Academy kid in there." He thought as he glanced to his cousin, much like the other rumours about Ryōga that circulated: The "Hell Training" was one that revolved around a frustrated Uchiha putting his children through dangerous regimens including survival training in one of the most risky forests to date. "So you can navigate that forest easy then?"
"Hard to say…" Ryōga remarked as he started rolling up the scroll he was reading; "That forest is unpredictable…Wild animals fighting each other, different sprouts of helpful and dangerous plants growing randomly, all of that on top of dealing with other people trying to take our scroll makes it a dice roll." He explained as he got to his feet. "Not to mention that with our time limit, we don't want to risk hanging around for too long."
"We have a Scroll of Heaven…From what that lady said, we need an Earth Scroll in order to pass to the next part." Sasuke said as he then tossed the scroll to Ryōga. "You hold onto it, Dud." He said half-heartedly and then got up as well to dust himself off.
"Wait…Why give it to him? Wouldn't it be better off with you?" Sakura asked as she saw the other Uchiha place it in his pouch without so much as a complaint.
"Sakura, everyone including you are immediately going to think that you or Sasuke will be the one to hold on to it." Ryōga pointed out as he then checked over everything. "And unlike you two, no one has seen what I can do yet barring the sword business…It's not gonna be easy to get their scroll regardless so let's make it hard for them to get our's."
"It's a smart move…And the others are probably going to have their own way of hiding their's." Sakura mentioned as she thought on it, before walking with the two Uchihas to their assigned gate but took a last look at the people lining up at thier own gates. "We should have a plan going in."
"What did you have in mind?" Ryōga asked as the buzzer sounded and the gates opened to let everyone enter.
"Wait until we're deeper in, for now…Just help us navigate!" Sakura said to Ryōga as they let him take point while the two followed, hoping that their trust would work and that the so called lesser Uchiha knew what he was doing.
Ryōga did what he could to jump high up into the trees to keep the cover for the three of them while keeping a watch for the people below. "If dealing with everything before was bad enough…We have to watch for traps…Sasuke, you take up the rear and watch the sides so we don't get ambushed."
"Don't get too ahead of yourself, I'll take the front!" Sasuke argued on the subject but then looked to Sakura. "Sakura, you try to keep a watch out from the middle." He followed on as he gave Sakura his own plan.
"You got it!" Sakura agreed as the trio continued through the forest until they found a spot to land. "I think here's far enough…We can probably stop here to plan out something… Ryōga, can you make something for cover?"
Ryōga nodded and then began to weave multiple quick handsigns and then slammed his hands to the ground. "Earth Style: Multiple Mud Wall!" He called out before pressing his fingers into the dirt and summoning up four earthen walls around the three of them, then grimacing as he summoned up the fifth to act as the roof. "This should be able to hold…But we need to make it quick, this barrier is airtight and people WILL notice this."
Sakura nodded as the three began to form their plan. "So we're agreeing on Du…I mean Ryōga to hold on to the Scroll so it'll throw off other people." She explained and then looked to Sasuke, "But that doesn't stop us from getting targeted…We could have imposters or Genjutsu cast on us."
"Myself and Ryōga can see through Genjutsu with the Sharingan but we can't rely on it the whole time…We'll use a password; So remember a good time for a ninja to strike." Sasuke suggested as he started to explain: "A ninja waits till the time is right. When the enemy sleeps and drops his guard, when his weapons lie forgotten in the stillness of the night. That is the moment for a ninja to strike."
Sakura nodded as she repeated the phrase to herself mentally while the impromptu room stayed quiet.
"That's excessive even for you to come up with." Ryōga mentioned as there was the muffled sounds of dirt grinding underfoot as people went past them. "We have to move…We're not subtle here." HE said as he dispersed the rock walls.
The three then separated as they began to look around, no one was out thereand more specifically, there was something that felt off…Like they were being watched but there was no presence and no sounds to show for it. "Sakura, Ryōga…Stay close, I think we're not alone." Sasuke warned as he blinked and activated his Sharingan for better tracking.
Ryōga kept watch as the three kept a lookout for anyone nearby, he knew that this area was susceptible to not just Ninja now but also to the larger scale animals that roamed. "We need to get moving, the longer we stay put…The more at risk we are for anyone coming by." He warned as they started to make their way further inward, he followed along behind while Sakura kept her spot in the middle.
The trio could see the tower that they were meant to head for in the distance; Sasuke lead the group since he was still adamant that he should be the one leading them to victory, Sakura was starting to become unsure whether it was a good idea to not let Ryōga lead while Uchiha from behind followed up with a look of confusion and irritation at Sasuke's sudden stubbornness.
However something seemed to be off in the whole travel time…
Sasuke had his eye squarely on the tower and after how the last interaction with Rock Lee had been pushing his vision into a tunnel so narrow that he may as well have been blindfolded, adding the fact that Ryoga had been carrying himself like he knew what he was doing did not help his mood either.
Ryoga held up the rear as he was irritated that he was relegated to a support position despite knowing exactly how to handle the forest and get them there easier.
Sakura however could notice something felt off; She felt that same level of admiration for Sasuke grow when he took point like the great hero in her eyes, Ryōga on the other hand was acting like a brat for trying to compete with Sasuke…Though there was something that made her start second guessing her impression of him, that or at least improving her view of him.
Her thoughts stopped dead when she realised why this whole thing felt odd; "Everyone stop!" Sakura said loudly and caused Sasuke to stop in his tracks as they landed in a clearing. "We're right back where we started…"
"That can't be right…We've been pushing non-stop for the last few minutes towards the centre, we can't have made a full circle." Sasuke grumbled as he looked around their surroundings.
They were in that same patch of forest that they had strategised their plan and the proof of that was the square shaped indents on the dirt where Ryōga's earth Jutsu had dug in, though that still left one question left between the two of them.
"Where's Ryōga?" Sakura asked as she noticed that their number three hadn't been directly behind them when they stopped, she felt a sinking in her stomach when she realised that this not only left them vulnerable…But it meant that if he got beaten then they lost their chance to progress.
A rustling of bushes brought their attention as Ryoga stepped out panting as he saw the two ahead. "What happened? We're gonna fall behind if we don't get moving!" Ryoga said as he looked to both Sakura and to Sasuke.
"And what happened to you? Normally you're right behind us but we lost track of you…" Sasuke said as he watched Ryoga as he wanted an answer; He knew that weaker Uchiha or not, his begrudging cousin was not one to fall behind.
"Well, you got so far ahead that I lost track of you both…You know that I'd never actually be able to keep up with someone like you, Sasuke." Ryoga said as he then saw both Sasuke and Sakura were looking at him with what looked like either suspicion or disdain.
Sakura was unsure why but something felt off in her gut, normally when Sasuke reprimanded him or she did, he'd have something to say back but this time he didn't. "Ryōga, when's a good time for a ninja to strike?"
Ryoga looked confused but then straightened himself back up. "A ninja waits till the time is right. When the enemy sleeps and drops his guard, when his weapons lie forgotten in the stillness of the night. That is the moment for a ninja to strike." He relayed the password back to the both of them but instead of them welcoming him back, he was met with silence. "Tha-That was the password, wasn't it?" He asked doubtfully as the quiet had him on edge.
"Yeah, exactly right…so show us who you really are, faker!" Sasuke snapped as he threw a kunai at Ryoga, much to Sakura's shock.
"Sasuke, what are you doing?! This isn't the time to be-Wait…" Sakura protested but then saw the puff of smoke that wiped away her doubts. "You're from the Hidden Rain, aren't you?" She asked as she saw a gangly man with a breathing mask standing where Ryōga had been.
"A lot more clever than I'd expect from a bunch of brats…But for right now, you two are going to be dealing with us." The man wheezed through his mask and weaved a handsign to start making clones of himself, the clones then began to sink into the dirt and the trees surrounding them.
"Damn it…There's too many to pick out." Sakura grumbled as she attacked a nearby figure who was going to lunge at her, only for her to completely phase through it and then receiving a kick from behind to send her hitting the ground.
Sasuke blinked to activate his sharingan to try searching for the real guy amongst the copies but for him it was like staring into a fog. "You picked a really good time to go off on your own, dud…" He thought to himself as he threw punches for any would be attackers coming his way.
"There's too many of them, Sasuke!" Sakura yelled as she tried keep moving and watching for anyone around her. "We should probably try backing out and look for Ryōga…"
That thought was interrupted as Ryoga yelled out, emerging from the treeline and twisted on his heel, swinging the flat of his sword outward as he ended up taking out several of the copies and managing to knock out one of the masked Rain ninja who was forming the copies, taking out several more copies like toppling dominos.
"Took you long enough!" Sasuke yelled as he jumped away from another copy and threw a kunai, succeeding only in pinning a bug to a tree stump.
"Complain later, let's just get out of the fight now!" Ryoga snapped back as he looked at the mob. "Sasuke, how are you for Chakra?"
Sasuke felt his brow twitch in annoyance as his cousin focused on him and not the enemy. "Don't focus on me, you idiot! The real one is hiding among them so if you've got any special sword moves hiding then get to it!"
Ryoga rolled his eyes as he blinked his eyes and tried to scan the ever moving crowd of copies. "I think I've got something…" He remarked as he sheathed his sword and used his free hand to start making handsigns though it made Sasuke question it's effectiveness.
Sasuke ducked and weaved under the attempted lunges towards him while watching out for Ryoga "Whatever he's planning, it needs to b-wait…"
"Earth Style: Earth Spine Grudge!" Ryoga yelled before slamming his palm to the ground; Starting to make several rounds of rock shrapnel shoot forward at the budding group of enemies and then started to weave a separate string of handsigns, bringing it up to his mouth. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
The two other members of Team 7 watched as the rain of rocks ignited and passed through each bullet of fire, igniting into mini comets and rained burning rocks down: Passing through each copy and relentlessly showering down on the real enemies, knocking their combined Copy and land swimming Jutsu out of sync enough for both Sakura and Sasuke to deliver a synchronised kick to knock them both out.
Ryoga panted as he dispersed the culminated Jutsu after seeing the enemy getting knocked out and straightened himself up. "That…That took a lot but at least we can breathe now…" He thought to himself as he saw Sakura and Sasuke turn to him with a more suspicious look on their face. "Or not…"
"Alright, What's the passphrase?" Sasuke asked as he kept firm to his strategy, his fingers lingering on the kunai holster on his leg in case of a sudden move.
"I'm not saying that dumb phrase." Ryoga retorted as he got annoyed at the stubbornness of Sasuke's plans. "Passphrases are one thing but I'm not going to agree to something so-"
"You'll say it now if you want us to believe it's you." Sasuke reiterated as he pointed at Ryoga. "We're still in deep so I wouldn't push your luck even if you jumped in."
"The best time for a Ninja to strike is when they're unaware." Ryoga stated bluntly and stood equally as firm in his belief. "Asleep, awake…As long as they don't see you or know you're even there, you can attack from anywhere."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes before closing his holster again. "Alright, good enough for me." He said as he then looked to the collapsed Rain Ninja. "You disappeared so we can't take any chances of face value."
"Believe me, I know…When I got back and moving again, I had to focus on getting to you guys with our scroll still with me." Ryoga explained as he slumped against a nearby tree, the sudden drain in his chakra from using two Jutsu at the same time having hit him like a truck.
"Then where WERE you?" Sakura was the first to quiz him as she scanned him for any signs of deception. "We were pushing ahead but then you vanished without us even knowing." She asked him as he started to explain himself.
Earlier…
Ryōga was thankful that he had been able to brace himself at the last moment; While Sasuke was pushing himself in a straight line at record speed, the other Uchiha was moving too fast to block himself properly as a Kunai managed to skim past his forehead and knocked him into the branches. He had hoped that Sakura would at least be alerted by the sudden noise or that Sasuke did but the deafening silence of the forest spoke volumes, though he had more important things to worry about than any slights that the two intended or not. "Someone's separated us and if I'm not careful, we lose out."
"It's a shame that your teammates were so eager to leave you behind…Though with the info we gathered on getting to the village, I can see why." A man with a stone mask on his face gloated as he stepped into view; It was a member of the Hidden Grass Village and one of the teammates of the person that handed the kunai back to Anko. "I guess they understand where their priorities are…"
"They know what they have to do, I trust them to help get the other scroll." Ryōga said as he kept his eye on the man in front of him, "Even if it means that I can't be there to do it."
The second teammate who stepped out was a bald man with a menacing chuckle as he took out a kusarigama from his waistband and started swinging the weighted chain. "And why would they want the runt of the Uchiha litter around? I understand leaving the weak link behind but to think that your own family would do that so readily? That's cold…"
"If you think that trying to intimidate me will change anything, you're wrong." Ryōga warned as he placed a hand on his sword, ready to unsheathe. "Now if you have a scroll on you…I suggest handing it over to make it easier…"
The two laughed at this supposed weakling's confidence and decided to humour him. "Scroll of Heaven if you're interested…But even your whole team can't handle our's…Don't worry though, our leader's gonna make sure they're handled quickly." The masked man taunted as he pulled out a tanto from his waist.
Ryōga sighed as he unsheathed his blade and watched the two cautiously, a faint hint of relief settled when he saw a small fox eyeing the group. "I can't afford to take too long and I don't want to gamble away our chances…I better make this quick." He thought to himself as he saw the two men rushing from both sides to try and pincer him. "Water Breathing: Fourth Form…" He growled before ducking under the chain's swing and brought his sword up in a flurry of strikes when the two men were in range. "Striking Tide!" He yelled as he weaved and dodged between the two, striking them with flowing cuts and spiralling thrusts like he was as fluid as a river.
Once the two were knocked back; The bald man grabbed the sickle by the chain and swung it at Ryōga like it was a flail, only for the Uchiha to deflect it and then kick him square in the head. With their options now limited because of the sudden upset and the shock that Ryōga was a lot better than they had been believing, the masked man then decided to do something that took Ryōga by surprise; He rammed the tanto into his stomach and slowly pulled it down like he was opening a bag of rice. "My Lord will succeed!" He snarled with choked breath as he clasped a hand to his wound. "Ritual Summon: SNAKE NEST!"
Ryōga jumped back in shock as he saw the man split open like an overripe melon, dozens of coiled snakes lunged towards him like they were shot out of a cannon and it only gave the boy a split second to weave the right handsigns. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" He yelled before spitting out a fireball in front of him by the time that the snakes were on top of him.
Present time…
"And after that, I followed you guys the rest of the way." Ryoga finished as he started up a fire as the sun went down over the trees, it was already the end of the first day and they needed to pace themselves if they wanted to all pass to the next segment.
Sasuke was keeping watch from a nearby tree as he chose to be on first watch for the night, though he was currently staring down a multicoloured skewer at Ryoga's persistence and Sakura's compromise. "And you're sure that these aren't poisonous, Dud?"
"How many times do I have to tell you? I checked them, they're safe…So eat!" Ryoga snapped as he turned the other skewers that he held over the fire; He had been lucky enough to find some edible mushrooms where they made camp and while he would've loved to cook some meat for variety, that would've required them to risk a lot while also worrying about getting attacked too. "If you're going on night watch first then you need to be careful."
"Don't tell me what to do!" Sasuke snapped back as he started to eat and keep a watch for the two others; He was thankful that Sakura was taking things more seriously and that Ryoga was at least demonstrating himself as an Uchiha should…Though he was still irritable when it came to Ryoga becoming more outspoken.
Sakura was sat in two minds at the moment; On the one hand, she was ultimately wary of Ryoga's shoving of the mushroom skewer into Sasuke's hand mostly because she worried that the other Uchiha was still someone in disguise…Though on the other hand, she had to admit that she was impressed with the kind of improvements that he had shown ever since the Land of Waves…Though that thought and the ones before started to become tinged with guilt when she realised the way she treated him. "These are really good…" She said to break the silence and to try testing the waters for turning the attitude around.
"Nothing special…" Ryoga admitted as he chewed on a large looking mushroom after pulling it from the fire. "It's not gourmet but it's enough." The air was tense with the silence of the Team but also with the worry that someone somewhere was going to jump out at them…The sound of trees which would've been a ode of nature's joy, tainted by the feeling of isolation and an unplaced feeling of being watched.
Sasuke returned to watching the forest from his perch, so far he wasn't seeing anything that was out of the ordinary, whether that was good or not had him stumped…He was loathe to admit that the ambience kept his nerves on a razor thin edge but the slow chewing of the mushrooms was some little comfort. "She is kind of right…They're not the best but they're…" He thought to himself but then felt a sudden spike of killing intent before his body ducked into a defensive stance, throwing a kunai from his belt and seeing that it deflected one kunai but then another sunk into the branch above his head, seeing that Ryoga was in a throwing stance and the look on his face was one of tranquility. "So you've finally made your move…Whoever you are."
"You're a lot sharper than I had initially believed, Sasuke." Ryoga sneered as he rested a hand on the hilt of his sword; which on closer inspection looked a lot different to the one that normally hung on the other Uchiha's waist. "I do have to ask, what was it that gave it away?"
"What are you two doing?! This is no time to be fighting!" Sakura snapped as she stood up and looked at the boy that was staring both of them down.
"Sakura, stay back!" Sasuke yelled as he hopped down from the treeline and then drew another kunai. "So since you've shown yourself…Who are you really?"
Ryoga chuckled softly, it slowly changed in his throat from something calm into something that practically scraped at their fight or flight responses. "Well, right now who I am is not important but all you need to know is that I have something you want." He said with a voice that was both smooth, melodic yet it was just as subtly sinister and had the odd sound of a hiss that spilled from his throat, before pulling a brown scroll from his pouch: A Scroll of Earth. "If you want it, then take it from me…Or you can put your Scroll down and run, you may lose the chance to become Chunin but you'll be able to live through this."
Sakura's body prickled with goosebumps as she struggled with all her willpower to not shake under this imposter's words but there was a brief moment that brought her back from that feeling as Sasuke's foot stepped forward.
"No…I'm not giving up, not now and not ever." Sasuke said with a grimace on his face as he gripped his kunai tighter. "So if you want to fight, I won't hold back."
Ryoga let out a soft laugh before he lifted the Scroll of Earth towards his head. "Good." He hissed with a more dark tone as he opened his mouth so wide that everyone could see his jaw unhinge itself and his tongue elongated to wrap around the scroll, swallowing it down his throat like it was nothing. "Because I prefer my prey to put everything on the line…Now let's play." He said and then his eyes were fixated on the pair, those onyx-blue eyes had become serpent like slits and sharpened his gaze with something that Sasuke could only describe as sheer bloodlust.
Sasuke and Sakura felt their whole bodies freeze and shake like they were blanketed by the cold dread in the air; Every moment that Ryoga's eyes were on them was making every moment feel darker and shrink around them until it was only them left…The crashing waves of Killing Intent suffocated them.
And then in that brief moment of dead silence: Images of unimaginable pain, suffering, fear and madness flashed before their very eyes, their very instincts clawed at them with a silent begging, a mental voice that screamed at the two to run away from this spot, from this monster…But their bodies were paralysed in place and then a sharp pain emanated from their foreheads like a kunai had struck them dead centre.
Sakura's hand weakly lifted up to tap at the spot where she had been attacked, only to find that there was no weapon there and instead of blood, she could only feel the cold sweat that formed on her brow and the fearful tears that streaked down her face. "Tha….Was that Genjutsu?" She thought to herself before her knees hit the dirt and a horrific sound of retching rang in her ears.
Sasuke had thought that being subjected to the horror's of his family's massacre would have dulled him to such an attack on his psyche…But his body reacted like he was that little boy all over again: His body lurched forward and the remnants of his stomach contents coated the grass in front of him, the chill that rumbled through him dulled enough as he glanced to Sakura. "We need to go…Now!" His thoughts echoed that sentence so loudly that it rattled his brain and distracted him from the acidic aftertaste in his mouth.
"Ryoga" smirked as he took aim and threw another volley of kunais at the pair, only to purse his lips when he saw the specks of blood on the ground and his prey were gone. "It wouldn't be a fun game if he stayed brave…No matter, I appreciate a good chase." He thought as he vanished from his spot and began to look for the two.