𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐀 𝐇𝐘𝐔𝐆𝐀 𝐓𝐖𝐈𝐍

Saving Sakura

Last Time:

And with that, she plugged her ears with her earplugs and body-flickered in front of Sakura, intent on protecting her even if it meant that she would lose her life. Because she wasn't even meant to get this life anyway, and Sakura was.

Now:

"So you came after all," Hanara smirked as she noticed her teammates behind her. Funnily enough, Shikamaru was holding Choji's scarf.

"It's troublesome, but we have to do this." Shikamaru said, "Since you and Ino revealed yourselves, us men can't run away!"

"Sorry to get you two involved but we're a four-man team," Ino laughed, "We do everything together."

"E-Everything together?" Choji said hysterically as he tried to move out of Shikamaru's grasp, "I'm sorry, Ino, but I don't want to die! Can't we just leave?"

"Heh, you might just want to listen to fatty there," Zaku said, "You could just keep your lives."

'You just ruined all chances of that! Thanks!'

"What did that person just say? I couldn't hear him too well." Choji said quietly.

"Huh? Didn't you hear me? I said listening to a fatty like you might just let you keep your lives," Zaku responded.

"I'M NOT FAT, I'M BIG-BONED!" Choji exclaimed, "HURRAY FOR BIG-BONED PEOPLE!"

"W-Wow..." Sakura said.

"The f-word is taboo to Choji," Shikamaru explained quietly.

"Sakura, just leave it to us," Ino told her, "Can't have you showing us up when Sasuke wakes up. Formation Ino!"

"Shika!"

"Hana!"

"Cho!"

"Go for it, Choji!" Ino yelled.

"Okay! Expansion Jutsu! Human Boulder!" Choji exclaimed, rolling towards Zaku.

"Slicing Sound Waves!" Zaku said, countering Choji's jutsu by using his sound waves like a butchered version of Wind Style ninjutsu.

Luckily, Choji used his head and used the pressure to launch himself upwards. Zaku was frozen with panic as he realized if Choji landed he was going to be squashed like a bug. Dosu moved towards him.

"I won't let you," Shikamaru said as he caught Dosu with his shadow, "Since you're the most troublesome one. Heh."

Choji was about to smash Zaku but he dodged the hit and forced Choji to crash into a tree.

"Dosu! What are you doing?" Kin exclaimed as she saw Dosu mimicking Shikamaru like a monkey.

Beside Hanara, Ino took advantage of Kin's distracted state, "Mind Transfer Jutsu!"

Ino slumped into Hanara's arms and took over Kin's body.

'Urgh, that jutsu always creeped me out...'

"This is it!" Ino-Kin said, putting a kunai to her throat, "If you move, this Kin girl is dead. If you don't want to die here, leave your scroll and go."

'Hmph. You can pull a good bluff Ino. You should have tried something else though, these guys don't seem like the type to care for their teammates. They didn't pull a single useful technique as a team. That's what they're lacking in, the ability to work as a team. And in this case, that single fact helps them have the upper hand,' Hanara thought worriedly.

Zaku and Dosu burst out laughing.

'I was right and I really wish I wasn't.'

"Do you think that lowly of us?" Dosu asked, "We couldn't care less about her."

"Slicing Sound Wave," Zaku called out, launching an attack towards Ino-Kin.

Hanara hurriedly dropped Ino's body at the base of a tree and body-flickered in front of Kin.

"Wind Style: Air Bullet," Hanara yelled, spitting out a focused blast of wind.

Her attack clashed with Zaku's and he, along with Hanara and Kin, was sent flying back.

Kin and Hanara let out a yell and a drop of blood came out of both Kin's and Ino's mouth.

"Ino! Hana!" Shikamaru and Choji screamed.

"What's wrong with them? They attacked their own teammate!" Ino exclaimed.

"These types of people don't care for their teammates," Hanara told her, "The Sound must not care for teamwork. They most likely just assembled a three-man squad solely to enter them for the exams."

"Heh. You took us lightly," Zaku said as he staggered to his feet.

"Our purpose is not to get a scroll or to pass this stupid exam," Dosu continued, "It is to kill Sasuke Uchiha. Judging by the blood coming out of that girl's mouth, if we kill Kin, she dies too."

"You're going to kill a teammate?" Shikamaru asked in disbelief.

"If we have to, yes," Zaku responded.

"You let your guard down," Dosu said.

"Tch," Shikamaru sighed as his jutsu released itself and he picked up Ino's body, "This is over."

"Damn it," Choji let out.

"Close," Zaku said, "You almost had us."

Hanara sighed and shook her head. If they'd played their cards right, they would have gotten the Sound ninja. But no she just had to be stuck on keeping her abilities under wraps. No matter, she still could use a mixture of her clan's abilities and elemental techniques to win this.

"Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, leave this to me," Hanara told them, "I'm going all out."

"Byakugan!"

Hanara was just about to start her attack when a voice came from the trees.

"Disgusting," Neji said, leaning against a tree with Tenten beside him, "Some minor Sound ninja acting like victors by beating second-class ninja?"

"Hmph, if you hadn't noticed, Neji, I haven't even tried. They haven't beaten us," Hanara said, glaring at her cousin.

"What?" Dosu asked, ignoring her comment, "You Leaf ninja keep coming out of the forest like cockroaches."

"That kid with the bowl-cut is our teammate," Neji continued, ignoring their interruptions, "Looks like you went overboard with him!"

Neji's Byakugan activated, "If you're going to continue to fight, we will attack with everything we have!"

Hanara smirked, "You remember what I just told you, right? Ino? Shikamaru? Choji? Well, that still applies."

Hanara weaved hand signs, preparing for a Water Bullet (and giving away to Neji that she had ninjutsu on her side) when she saw thick purple chakra starting to come out of the cave in which Naruto and Sasuke were located and immediately stopped. The chakra was so thick and dense that it could be seen without the use of any dojutsu. And judging by the looks of Zaku and Dosu's faces, they knew exactly what was happening.

Apparently, Neji noticed too because he froze.

"What is it, Neji?" Tenten asked.

"Hn," Neji relaxed and wiped the shock off of his face.

"Ino, there's some purple chakra that is influencing Sasuke, and in a bad way. Release the girl and get out of here, you don't want to be caught in the middle of this," Hanara whispered urgently before body-flickering to Shikamaru and Choji to relay the message.

"If you don't like what we're doing, stop showing off and come down here," Zaku told Neji.

Team 10 used that as an opportunity to 'discreetly' leave and hide in the trees.

"It seems like I won't need to," Neji responded smoothly as Sasuke emerged from the cave behind Sakura, staggering as purple chakra swirled around him.

"Sasuke!" Sakura squealed.