Sakura and Haku opened the scrolls after a few minutes of pondering over the puzzle on the inside of the building in the center of the forest of death. The scrolls began smoking, and in a poof of smoke Iruka was there to meet them.
"Well done on making it here" He said with a cheer that only he could produce. "I'm glad to see you!" Iruka said, then braced himself for the onslaught that he thought would follow. He stood there awkwardly for a minute, waiting for the smoke to clear. When he wasn't tackled down by 100 pounds of happy Naruto when the smoke cleared, he became worried.
Iruka looked over the group Sakura was dropping out of a fighting stance while Haku stood confused. Then he saw behind them. Sasuke and Naruto were unconscious and badly hurt. "What happened?" He asked voice cracking when he saw how badly they were all hurt.
"Long story" Sakura said picking up Sasuke bridal style. Haku bent down to pick up Naruto
"They require medical attention." He said simply. Iruka nodded and lead them in. Immediately there were medical nin with stretchers there to take them to the hospital in the tower. Kakashi came over and placed a hand on Sakura and Haku.
"I want you to tell me what happened." He said in a calm tone. The two nodded and began to follow Kakashi to a nearby table. Sakura and Haku took turns telling Kakashi what had happened from the moment they entered to when they arrived in as much detail as they could. Kakashi remained unreadable through it all but his mind was racing.
'That sounds like Orochimaru alright, but why would he do that to Sasuke? He's up to something, and I need to find out what. On top of that Sakura saw the seal on Naruto's stomach... Good, she thinks Orochimaru did that too. Mental note: Check Kyuubi's seal later.'Kakashi thought as Sakura had ended her story.
"Well it sounds like you four had fun" he said cheerily, earning some ringing in his ears then the two in front of him shouted
"WHAT?!"
"Yes well..." He continued, sticking his pinky in his ear. "I'll go and check up on them once there out of intensive care. I wouldn't worry too much though. They're strong, they'll make it through." Haku nodded halfheartedly while Sakura still didn't look convinced.
"And the thing Naruto did... what was it... the red chakra?" Saukra asked, her voice shaking a little.
"I, um... don't know. I'll check into that..." Kakashi said in a slightly nervous voice that went unnoticed. "In the mean time go take a shower - you both reek! You have 18 hours left of this part of the exam. Get some sleep, eat some Jell-O, I would suggest the bar if you were older but..." Kakashi was stopped short when a medical nin came running up from behind him tapped him on the shoulder, and whispered something in his ear.
Kakshi nodded and stood "Well I have to go and umm... just think non worrisome thoughts about your teammates while I go get a cat down from a tree. See ya." And with a wave he took off behind the medical nin.
"Where am I?" Naruto asked as he seemed to wake up. His voice sounding lower to his ears. One glance around told him he was not where he was supposed to be. There was white in front of him and black behind him but there was nothing more. Just an endless abyss of black and white. He was standing in the middle of the two clashing colors which seemed to intertwine. Although the white and black swirled about each other they never seemed to mix.
"Hello?" Naruto tried again but only got an echo. Naruto tried to take a step forward but didn't get anywhere as he was still on the line of swirling colors. His footsteps echoed but still nothing.
"I suppose I should explain." Came a voice. Naruto turned to look and saw Kyuubi coming into view from his left. It looked almost as if the swirling colors were a fog he was coming out of. Kyuubi stood about as tall as a horse.
