Team Harmony

CE32: The Forest of Death Pt. 1

Sai kneeled in front of Danzo. "We have confirmed that Orochimaru will attack the village during the chunin exam," he said.

Danzo hummed, taking every possibility into consideration. "I see. Do you know if he has already arrived?"

"We will find out."

He held a hand up. "No need. The less we know about when, the better. For now, we will let things play out. I hardly doubt Orochimaru would attack by himself. Hiruzen will not let his old student get away a second time and Minato will defend this village with his life. Should things go my way, they'll both be taken down and that seat will finally be mine."

Sai kept his eyes lowered as he listened to his master speak of his wishes. He didn't understand what it meant to have dreams, wishes, or even emotions and he had nothing to contribute to such a conversation.

"For now, do nothing and we'll wait and see what happens."

"Yes, sir."

*

Team 7 was the second team to make it to the set location when the sun was barely rising and they stopped in their tracks when their eyes focused on what was in front of them. A large forest filled with trees that were of great width and height, surrounded by a chain-link fence that was chained and locked off with warning signs plastered all over it.

Their proctor, Anko Mitarashi, smirked at their expressions before turning away and waiting for everyone else to arrive. She knew the ins and outs of this forest, she knew how dangerous it was and she chortled thinking about the difficult time these genin were gonna have trying to complete the objective.

Naruto turned to his teammates. "That's a, um, pretty dark-looking forest, you know," he laughed nervously. "Anyone else getting a bad feeling about it?"

Sasuke shrugged. "We knew it was going to be dangerous," he replied. "Working together, we'll make it through this."

Though nervous, Hinata nodded. "Sasuke's right, Naruto. We'll be doing this together."

Naruto smiled at his teammates. "You're right. We'll be okay," he said, though they were all aware he was reassuring himself.

They stood off to the side underneath a tree as they waited for the others to show up. By the time it was the designated time, all of the teams had arrived and were mingling. Primarily, the nine rookies and Guy's team as well.

Sasuke was apprehensive of Lee being near Hinata, but that changed rather quickly when the older boy caught sight of Sakura and promptly asked her out just as he had with Hinata. Sasuke scoffed at the boy's change of heart, trying to decide whether he should be relieved that he wasn't focused on Hinata or offended that he ditched her for Sakura. Ultimately, he wasn't going to bring it up and just left it alone.

"Hyuuga-sama," Lee said, catching her attention. Hinata smiled at him politely but her cheeks went bright red. "I wanted to wish you luck in this portion of the exam! May you have a youthful experience!" He cheered.

Hinata giggled at his outgoing nature. "Thank you, Lee-san. I wish you luck as well," she replied.

He put his hands behind his back and toed the dirt. "I also wanted to apologize for moving on from you so quickly," he sighed. "I still think highly of you and think you're very pretty, but something about Sakura-chan struck a chord in my heart that you had not." He bowed lowly, catching her off guard. "Please forgive my fickle heart!"

She put her hand on his shoulder and raised his head. "You don't need to apologize to me," Hinata said gently. "Sakura-chan is very pretty and I will not fault you for being so taken with her. To be completely honest, I am very happy that you have decided to pursue her as I am already engaged and I did not want to hurt you. I care very deeply for you as a friend and as a teammate of Neji's."