Please Don't Leave Me

Surviving the Cut: The Rookie 10 Together Again

(Kazumi's P.O.V.)

It was early morning as the sun was just starting to come up as Naruto was inspecting the dead bodies looking for their scroll
"That mark on your neck, what is it? A bruise?" Kabuto asks looking at Sasuke's neck but he covers the mark with his hand
"It's nothing" he responds
"Hey guys! Here it is! Just what we needed, a heaven's scroll!" yells Naruto holding a scroll in his left hand
"Good for you" says Kabuto as I look at him narrowing my eyes, he's still got an unsettling scent. It's deceiving, he's nice but his smell says he's been with someone else that doesn't give off a good vibe. We start walking for the tower that's not very far away as Sakura has Sasuke's arm over her shoulder with Naruto and Kabuto at the front. We approach the doors and 2 ninjas are waiting in the bushes until they spot Kabuto walking over to us.
"There you are Kabuto. You're late" he says
"Sorry about that. I got a little.....sidetracked" he says
"Yeah and are we glad you did, after all it was only thanks to you that got both the scrolls" says Naruto
"Not really, you did most of it on your own. Especially you Naruto, very impressive" he says as Naruto grins at him
"Of course you did have some extra help from Kazumi didn't you?" he asks and directs his attention to me and I look away into the trees to avoid eye contact
"Well, this is the door we go through. So long, and good luck to us both"
"Right" says Naruto as Kabuto gives him a thumbs up before Naruto shoves open the doors we go through as his footsteps echoed

(Kabuto P.O.V.)

I walked in through my door with the rest of my team and there was Lord Orochimaru standing there waiting to hear my report
"A good harvest?" he asks
"Yes. Even better than expected. I learned a lot about them during the second exam, and I recorded all the data, on this. You want it?" I ask holding up a card handing it over to him
"Of course, so tell me. What did you think?" he asks taking the card and I chuckle
"Your curiosity is truly insatiable, Lord Orochimaru" I say
"As a Sound village spy, you see things others don't. Your opinion is of interest to me" he says as I smirk
"Oh it doesn't really matter does it?" I ask pushing up my glasses to my face
"Whatever I think you're the one who decides. Isn't that always the way?" I say smirking at him
"You're an obedient one Kabuto, I like that" he says and he's just about to teleport away but I stop him
"Although I did find something on one of your specimens while I was out" I say and he looks at me curiously before chuckling
"And what did you find my boy?" he asks
"That girl, the one you were considering for your new vessel, she was out for the most part because of your curse mark but when she woke up she was a different person. She killed more than 100 clones and their creators by playing with their minds. She was making her own demon jutsu' I say recalling what I saw in the forest
"A demon jutsu? How interesting. And she was fully controlling it? What did she do exactly?" he asks
"In a way she was using blood control and water element in one move, her chakra was rapidly increasing and she was using the first of any demon jutsu that I've seen. It was clear it was her first time even trying anything close to it but she mastered it quickly, it was like she's been doing it for years. Whatever part of her body she touched there was intense pain for the enemy. But when she was controlling the jutsu she was singing a dark lullaby, it steadied her mind and controlled the enemy's body at the same time, I've never come across a jutsu like this in my entire history of being a ninja" I say and he looks at me in curiosity but chuckles darkly
"So my little demon has progressed greatly since I last saw her, but that doesn't mean she's the only one, her brother's power is catching up. They will both be mine" he says disappearing in a cloud of smoke as I smirk at where he was
"Kabuto, was something like that really possible?" asks one of my teammates
"I saw it with my own eyes, it was the first of it's kind and a masterpiece of darkness. Orochimaru will be pleased with his new vessel" I say
"We better get back to work or they'll be suspicious of us" I say as they nod their heads

(Kazumi's P.O.V.)

"What's the deal? There's nobody here" Naruto says as we look around the room not seeing anyone
"It's ok Sakura, I can manage" says Sasuke standing up on his own as Sakura smiles at him
"Oh sure" she says hiding her anger as Sasuke walks away standing next to me
"Are you ok? That was a pretty bad injury you got while fighting" he says
"I should be fine, it may hurt a little but I'm just fine" I say as he nods his head with slight uncertainty
"Huh? I don't get it, what happens now?" asks Naruto
"Hold on a second, just look at that" Sakura says pointing to the big poster on the wall that says something
"Great, what is it?" asks Naruto
"If qualities of heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom to take your mind higher. If earthly qualities are what you lack, train your body and prepare to attack, when heaven and earth are opened together the pairless path will become righteous forever. This something is the secret way that guides us from this place today" reads Sakura
"This what? Or is that a secret too?"
"It's like there's a word missing here, anyway it's about the scrolls. I think we're supposed to open and read the heaven and earth scrolls now" says Sakura as she takes one of Naruto's scrolls before they open the flap
"Ok, here goes nothing" he says as he opens the scroll with Sakura
"What? What does this mean?" asks Naruto tilting his head to the side
"A man? A person?" asks Sakura as both the scrolls start releasing smoke
"Oh no! This is a summoning jutsu. Naruto! Sakura! Quick, get rid of the scrolls!" says Sasuke backing up as they both throw their scrolls at the same time as more smoke appears, from what I can see there's only the shadow of a person. But I can smell him. Iruka sensei
"Hey. Long time no see, huh?" he asks raising his head smiling at us
"Iruka sensei?" asks Sakura
"Looks like you've gone through a lot in this test"
"Hey, wait. What's the deal? What's with the surprise entrance, why are you appearing with a summoning?" asks Naruto
"At the end of the second exam we chunin are supposed to welcome the test takers back. And well, it was just good luck that I got to be the one given the important task of being the messenger for you guys. Whew, and you made it just in time too. And now, congratulations you passes the second exam" he says and we stare at him in amazement
"To celebrate your passing I would love to treat you all to some Ichiraku ramen, but I--"
"RAMEN??? Seriously?! That's so cool!" says Naruto with excitement as he runs up to Iruka sensei giving him a hug
"Hey! I'm not done!" he says but Naruto just ignores him
"Oh yeah! Ramen would be awesome!! Especially from having to eat all those bugs and plants for the last 2 days" he shouts letting him go as Sasuke, Sakura, and I sit on the ground being exhausted
"All right, well I can see you're still as hyperactive as ever Naruto" Iruka says watching Naruto
"Hn, now I see" says Sasuke as we turn to look at him so then if we had looked in the scrolls in the middle of the exam, what would you have done to us Iruka sensei?" he asks
"As usual Sasuke you're as sharp as a tack, you've figured out the secret. Part of this exam was to test how well you could see a difficult mission all the way through. Simply put, you knew that opening the scrolls was against the rules of your mission and if you had tried to open one" he starts
"What? What would've happened?" asks Sakura
"If a scroll was ordered we were ordered to knock out whoever opened it. Some ninja found out the hard way"
"Heh, it's a good thing you didn't open up yours huh Naruto?" asks Sasuke
"I owe you one, thanks a million Kabuto" he says looking a little sick
"Oh yeah sensei, what does that writing on the wall mean? The parchment the letters are written on is kind of eaten away so it's difficult to read it. We can't understand it" asks Sakura
"Oh please. Look, we passed didn't we? That stuff doesn't matter now" says Naruto getting in her face as she looks upset and annoyed at him
"Well, actually explaining that is another one of the duties I've been sent here to take care of. Give it a good read, they're instructions Lord Hokage recorded as principles that chunin should follow. Heaven stands for your mind and earth stands for your body, if qualities of heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom to take your mind higher, get it?" he asks
"Nuh-uh" says Naruto
"If your weakness lies in your intellect..Naruto. Then you have to make sure you work harder to retrieve all the skills necessary that you need for your missions" I say for him
"Alright, I get your point" grumbles Naruto as Sakura giggles at him
"And you, if it's earthly qualities you lack train your body and prepare to attack. So if your weakness lies in your physical skill Sakura then you have to make sure that you work on your physical condition every single day so it improves all the time" adds Iruka sensei
"When heaven and earth are open together the paralysis path will become righteous forever. Meaning, if your mind and body are working together as one, then even on a very dangerous mission can become an easy one"
"So what about that spot with the missing letter?" asks Sakura
"Well, that part is meant for all of you to fill in, do you see that symbol on the scroll? It's the character for person. A reference to you chunin. You see these 5 days of survival were to test your abilities as chuunin and see if you would be any good at it. But I gotta say, you guys really did magnificently. A chuunin is a leader, a guide. It's the chuunin's responsibility to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of those serving under him. And to know what skills and training those ninja are going to need in order to succeed on a mission. You did an excellent job on this mission and I want you to remember these instructions on your next one. Well, that's it. That was everything I was supposed to say to you" he says smiling at all of us
"Got it!" Naruto salutes
"Uh, one more thing" he says
"For the third exam, don't push it too far. Especially you, Naruto I'm worried--"
"Iruka sensei. When I got this headband I stopped being a student. So you don't need to worry about me at all. Not anymore. I mean this headband proves that I'm a full fledged ninja right? You gave it to me. I may still be hyper but I'm not a kid. Like you just said, I got through the second chunin exam and you watch, I'm gonna pass the third one for sure" he says
"Right now...I'm a ninja too" he says finally as Iruka sensei stands still for a moment before smiling at him
"Naruto, you're right. I'm sorry about that" he says before disappearing in a puff of smoke. We go through another set of doors before we see all the rookies in line with the sensei's in line waiting
"First of all congratulations on finishing the 2nd exam" says Anko
"I'm so hungry" complains Choji next to me
"What a drag there's so many left. This is such a pain" groans Shikamaru
"Sasuke and his team have passed too~" squeals Ino
"Well of course they did" says Shikamaru as I look at him in confusion
"What made you so confident we were going to pass?" I ask
"Because you guys got your butts saved by us" he says shrugging as I'm still looking at him confused
"Shikamaru, she wasn't even awake when we got there remember?" says Choji
"Oh yeah, after all the trouble we went through to keep them safe they better have passed" he says
"I see your team didn't do too bad Kakashi. They must've gotten real lucky, of course with my team still around your team is doomed to failure. After all what matters on the next test is ability and we've got you far outclassed, well I guess that part of growing up is learning to deal with heartbreak huh Kakashi?" asks one of the jounin standing in line, when I take a closer look at him he's everything like Lee minus the vest and the bandages on his hand
"Huh? Did you say something?" asks Kakashi as the jounin deadpans and looks annoyed before he turned around clenching his fist
"Alright Kakashi you win this time. Boy, that drives me nuts when you act so cool. There's no way I'm gonna let you get the best of me" he says still looking away as I sweatdrop at him while Kakashi sensei's just ignoring him
"Alright, now pay attention. Lord Hokage is going to explain the 3rd exam to you, you better listen carefully maggots. Lord Hokage, they're all yours" she says bowing slightly to him. I hear a soft whimper behind me and I see Akamaru is trembling a little and he doesn't look very happy. My guess is he finally got the whiff of Gaara's chakra levels. It's dangerously high and he's got a very mysterious aura that's hard to decipher. He doesn't show hardly any emotion in his eyes besides anger. What is it about him that's so mysterious, even Kabuto didn't have anything on him for his info cards and he doesn't even show much emotion in his attacks either, but he's still trying to hide himself behind a fake mask. Is it true that people are that afraid of him? If so, then why doesn't find the truth? About him? About what he's like? He's not exactly considered a friend but that doesn't mean I fear or ignore him. He's intriguing, I wonder what I might be able to find about him. I felt my neck starting to hurt, I put my hand on my neck and applied pressure trying to stop the pain. Another wave of pain goes through my body and I grit my teeth trying not to whimper.
"Kazumi? You doing ok? Is there something wrong with your neck?" asks Choji next to me
"I-I should be fine, I just n-need time to heal" I said and he nods his head not looking very convinced
"Is there something there? Why would it start hurting now?" asks Shikamaru trying to look at my neck but doesn't get a good view because my hand was in the way.
"Sasuke, you really should quit this. You and Kazumi. You've both been like this ever since you tangled with Orochimaru and it's getting worse" says Sakura and Shikamaru raises an eyebrow
"Who's this Orochimaru guy anyway?" he asks looking at me
"Someone we encountered in the forest of death" I replied
"It's that mark he put on you, isn't it? You can't deny it, please. Sasuke, Kazumi, quit now before..I don't know. I'm scared" says Sakura
'Why is she the one who's scared, we're the ones who got bitten. And it hurts so bad, it's almost like acid is slowly burning through my skin' I think before I see her only looking at Sasuke
'Oh, she's worried that he's going to die from this mark and she'll be all alone. Thanks for the sympathy Sakura' I think sweat dropping
"Come on, you know as well as I do you guys are in no condition to keep fighting" she pleas
"Shut up Sakura" says Sasuke
"You think I'm blind or something?"
"Will you please be quiet?" he asks with more authority in his voice
"You think I don't see the suffering you're going through?"
"That's enough Sakura" he says as I turn my attention away from them as I feel more pain go through my body as I clench my fist and grit my teeth in pain but I see someone raise their hand. It belonged to Kabuto.
"Ok, you got me, I'm out" he says
"Kabuto, hold on a second, you can't quit! I don't get this, what's going on?" demands Naruto as I start to feel the pain in my neck start to slowly decrease
"Oh, Naruto. I'm sorry, but my body's just too beat up. I can't hack it, I have to put my life on the line without any breaks? My body just can't take it" he says
"Now then, does anyone else want to quit" asks someone in the front
"The names of each chosen pair are chose completely at random. Before each match these names will appear on the display behind me. As there's nothing more to say let's begin. In a moment the names of the first 2 opponents will appear" he says as we direct our attention to the board behind him as random names are shuffled before it stops at 2 names.

Aoi Hitomi vs Kazumi Uchiha

"So you're up first huh?" asks Sasuke
"Alright now, those who's names have been drawn come forward" he says as I walk up in front of everyone else with someone random coming up with dark brown hair and a red tank top and tan pants with a big black sash going across his chest and another sash going from his waist going down his leg stopping before his ankles
"You have been chosen for the first match, Aoi Hitomi and Kazumi Uchiha. Are there any objections?" he asks
"Not for me" I say and my opponent sends a smirk at me
"It might not be a bad idea for me, but you might as well quit now before you get that pretty face of yours damaged" he says
"No" I say sending a glare at him
"Alright then, lets begin the first match" he says
"Ok, everyone other than the 2 opponents will now clear the area and go to the upper level" he says as everyone starts to go up the stairs as they take their seats looking down at us. I turn to look at my opponent and he's standing across from me with his hands in his pockets but I feel a presence behind me and I see Kakashi sensei
"Don't use your sharingan" he says and I gasp in shock and look at him
"You knew?" I ask looking ahead at my opponent
"If that mark on your neck gets out of control your life could be in danger" he says and I 'hn' at him saying I understood
"Just to let you know if it gets to that point I'll have to step in and stop the fight. Good luck" he says walking away and I look at him in anger. He stops the fight? Does he even have the right to do that? I sigh in annoyance before turning back to my opponent