Sakura grabbed a damp towel, and folded it over her lap. She crawled over to me, wiping the purple from my chin with a sigh. She then turned back to Sasuke, my legs were shaking violently. She took a clean rag and poured a hand full of water on it, she then squeezed it out onto the grass before she lightly tapped it on Sasuke's forehead. He was quivering on the ground, slowly breathing in and out, his chest heaved as Sakura gently laid the folded up rag on his forehead. She sighed, sitting back down on the cool grass. "F-Father...go away..." I slowly breathed out, Sakura turned her head over to me, her pink hair bouncing. Father? (Y/N) doesn't have a father, I wonder what's going on in their head. Sakura sighed, her shoulders starting to relax. Her eyes drooped, she was starting to fall asleep again, but she quickly jolted her self awake, opening her eyes wide. I can't fall asleep! She shook her head, looking up at the ceiling of the small cave. I have to protect them. Sakura closed her eyes.

Naruto sat up on the grass, yawning as the towel on his forehead fell into his lap. "Naruto!" Sakura gasped, "Oh, wow, I slept great!" Naruto grinned, stretching his arms. Sasuke sat up, taking the towel off of his forehead. "Sasuke!" Sakura smiled, her eyes widening. "Few, what a dream." I called out, crawling over to her. "(Y/N)!" Tears pecked at Sakura's eyes. "Did you take care of us this whole time?" I asked her, tilting my head to the side. Sasuke turned to me, a small smile on his face. "Thanks Sakura! We're all better because of you!" Naruto grinned, Sakura smile brightly. "I'm glad you're okay!" Sakura smiled, "Huh?" She gasped, turning her head to the side. Orochimaru was standing in the bushes outside of the cave. "Now you will know what it's like to be prey, running around frantically. And I will be the predator!" Orochimaru shouted, transforming into a snake. Sakura screamed, but no sound came from . She turned her head to the three of us, Sasuke and I were happily chatting, Naruto was dancing around with a smile on his face. Sakura held onto , my voice is gone! "GAH!" She gasped.

Sakura woke up, sweat beading down her face. She quickly turned to Sasuke, slowly she started to relax again, I strained to open my eyes as I heard Sakura gasp, "S-Sakura...?" I called out to her, she looked over at me. "Everything's alright," She sighed, "It was just a dream." She smiled. "Hm?" She looked up at the sky, "I can't believe it's day time already-!" She gasped as she heard a rustling in the bushes behind her, No! She shook violently, quickly grabbing onto a kunai in her pocket, she slowly turned her head around. "A squirrel?" She sighed, shaking her head as she watched the fuzzy creatched munch on a fallen acorn. "Oh, man, don't surprise me like that little guy." Sakura sighed, the squirrel started to run closer to the cave, Sakura's eyes wided. "No!" She gasped, standing up as she flung the kunai in front of the squirrel, it bounced back, running away into the bushed. She sighed, "That was close." She whispered to herself.

"I thought for sure that would work. Do you think she saw the paper bomb we put on the squirrel?" Zaku asked turning his head over to Dosu. "No, that wasn't it." Dosu shook his head. "Then what was it? What are you thinking?" Zaku asked him, squinting his eyes. "I'm thinking we need to go closer to find out. So, let's get going." Dosu chuckled, peering through the bushes.

Lee quickly jumped from tree branch to branch, he stopped on one, peering down at the forest ground. Leaves fell in front of him. Lee clenched his fist. Okay! If I can catch all of those twenty leaves before they hit the ground, then (Y/N) will fall in love with me! Lee's face turned pink. But if I cannot, then they will never return my feelings! That is the challenge I am going to give myself! A determined look crossed Lee's face as he thought of my face smiling down at him, his heart pounded in his chest. "I will show them I am worthy!" He shouted, jumping off of the branch at the leaves, quickly catching them all. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight! Yes! I am going to get them all! Gah!" He gasped, falling on a lower branch, it knocked the wind out of him. "N-Nineteen..." He gasped, leaves in his fists. "One left!" He shouted, watching it continue to fall. He quickly jumped after it, his finger lightly touching it, but he stopped as he head a loud squeak. "What is that?" He turned his head, his eyes widening as he saw a squirrel desperately trying to put out a fire on their back. Lee jumped towards it, catching it in his hand as he pulled the paper bomb off of it, "Few. That was close." Lee sighed, crushing the paper in his hand. The squirrel snuggled closely to his chest. "This paper bomb explodes after a certain amount of time, who would do such an awful thing?" Lee frowned. The last leaf fell to the ground.

"Alright, stop hiding and come out." Neji called out to them, his hands on his hips. Ino jumped, Shikamaru froze, and Choji bit down on the inside of his cheek. They were all crouched down in a bush. "Shoot! How could he of seen us, we hid so fast!" Ino whispered quickly, Shikamaru put his hand on the side of his face. "What a drag, now that he's found us out this is going to be such a pain!" Shikamaru whispered back to her. "It's no big deal, our hide and hang out strategy could still work! We just have to use strategy number two!" Ino held up two fingers, looking over at Choji and then Shikamaru again. "Whaaaat?! Are you serious Ino?!" Choji chattered his teeth, "You got a problem with that? Trust me, this plan can't fail!" She nodded, "Might as well try it." Shikamaru sighed, if it doesn't work, then I might get seperated from (Y/N). What a drag, I only agreed to come here because they were here. Shikamaru shook his head.

"Ah! Wow!" Ino squealed as she jumped out of the bush, Neji squinted his eyes at her. Shikamaru and Choji were at her side. "Imagine, running into last years number one rookie, Neji Hyuga out here!" Ino plastered a fake smile on her face, "Wow, can I have your autograph?" Shikamaru said sarcastically, "Oh, it's you guys." Neji sighed. "Yeah!" Ino smiled, strategy two, when you fall head over heels with my beauty! Ino pulled out the rubber band that kept her hair together, it caught onto the breeze, flowing like a golden waterfall. "Hi there, I've been wanting to meet you for a really long time Neji." Ino giggled, "Get lost." Neji turned his back on her, shaking his head. Ino raised her fist, she was fuming with anger. What?! He should of been pulled over by my beauty! Why didn't that work?! AHH IT MAKES ME SO ANGRY I COULD JUST HIT SOMETHING-"Did you just raise your fist to me?" Neji called out, stopping as he turned his head around. "Does that mean you want to fight?" He asked, Ino gulped. "N-No! Of course not!" Ino chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her neck. "Tch, go away. Even if I were to steal a scroll from you cowardly wimps, everybody would laugh at me for it." Neji turned his head away, Ino ducked back into the bushes. Shikamaru and Choji followed, "Sounds good to me!" Ino shouted, going back into her hiding space. "Tch, they scurry off like cockroaches." Neji crossed his arms, what a pathetic girl. As if some one as ugly as her could woo me, there's no way she could compete to (Y/N). Neji thought as he walked away from them.

They were gasping for air as they ran away quickly, Ino fell to the ground. Just as I thought. Someone like him wouldn't take a scroll from people like us, thank goodness he didn't turn around and attack. Shikamaru sighed, looking down at the ground. "Alright!" Ino shouted, tying her hair back up into a ponytail. "Let's go see if we can find some weaklings!" She chuckled nervously, her hands still behind her head. "I doubt we'll find anyone weaker than us."

Sakura was slowly starting to fall asleep again, I couldn't keep my eyes open. "You've been toughing through this quite impressively." My fathers voice rang through my head, I ignored him. "Sooner or later, the curse mark will make you pass out. I can't believe you were so foolish, hugging him? God, I can't even begin to tell you how idiotic that was. You think that just because he brought you some toys when you were younger that he was trustworthy? Orochimaru is nothing but a-" "Shut up..." I breath out, he furrowed his brow. "H-He's...a friend...u-uncle O." I was gasping for air in between words, father clenched his fists. "After all of this you still think he's a good guy, huh?! Well, let's see where that gets you!" He shouted, fading away into the back of my head.

"Some look out, you're half asleep." A voice called out from behind Sakura, she jumped, I opened my eyes wide. "At least you don't have to keep watch any more, we already found you." Dosu called out from the front of the cage, I gritted my teeth, pain burning onto my neck. "Now wake Sasuke and (Y/N) up, we want to fight them." Dosu commanded, Sakura clenched her fists. You'll never get them you jerks! She reached down to her pouch with a shaking hand, keeping her eyes pinned on them, "What do you want here? I mean, what do you really want? I know Orochimaru is calling the shots from the shadows." Sakura shouted at them, Dosu's eyes widened. "What are those strange bruises on their necks, you're behind those too, aren't you? And now you want to fight them when they can't defend themselves?!" Sakura screamed. "What in the world could he be thinking?" Dosu whispered to himself. "I can't stay quiet after hearing you talk to us like that. First I'm going to kill this girl, then I'm going to kill Sasuke." Zaku stood up, a grin on his face.

"Wait, Zaku." Dosu called out to him. "What? Why?" He gritted his teeth. "It's so obvious that this dirt has been dug up, and this type of grass doesn't grow in a place like this." Dosu lightly touched the ground, Sakura's eyes widened. "You know, there's no point in laying a trap unless it's actually hidden." Dosu pulled back the fake grass. "Ha, you're just a joke! You threw that kunai so the squirrel wouldn't set off that trap you put here, huh?" Zakue chuckled. "Now," Dosu called out to Zaku and Kin. "Kill her." He commanded, the three of them jumped towards her, Sakura grinned as she pulled a kunai out of her pocket, cutting a wire.

"A log?!" Zaku shouted as it came beaming towards them. "She also set a trap above?! Watch out!" Dosu shouted, putting his hand on the log, he blasted through it with a sound wave, Sakura gasped. "Clearly, you have no talent as a ninja. Some one like you needs to put in a little more effort don't you think-!" "Leaf hurricane!" Lee shouted, kicking the three of them out of the way. "L-Lee!" I shouted, "Gah!" I gasped, a large pain hitting my chest. "Wha-What's he doing?!" Sakura gasped, Lee stood in front of us. "Looks like you also need to make more of an effort." Lee pointed his palm up to the sky, his other hand behind his back. "Who are you?" Dosu grunted, staring his down. "I am the handsome devil of the leaf village, (Y/N)'s boyfriend, and my name is Rock Lee!" He shouted, my face turned red.

"What are you doing here Lee?" Sakura asked, looking up at him on her knees. "I will always appear, any time and any where (Y/N) is in trouble." Lee explained, the squirrel from earlier on his shoulder. He picked it up with one hand, bending over as he put it on the grass. "This is all thanks to you, little one. But now it is time for you to run along." Lee nodded, watching as the squirrel walked back into the bushes. "B-But we're your enemies." I breathed out, leaning closer, holding onto my aching chest. "(Y/N), I already told you. I will protect you until I die!" Lee clenched his fist. "Rock Lee, thank you." I whispered, ignoring the pain. Lee's face turned pink. "Looks like I have no choice," Dosu sighed, throwing his scroll over to Zaku. "Zaku, you can kill Sasuke and (Y/N). I'll take care of these two." Dosu nodded, Lee looked back at me in the cave. It does not look like (Y/N) is in any condition to fight, they have undergo much damage. Who could have done something so cruel? Lee clenched his fists. "The guy with the bushy eyebrows is good at taijutsu." Dosu pulled up his sleeve, revealing his large metal gauntlet. "Looks like I get to have some fun." Dosu grinned, running towards Lee. Sakura gasped, weakly throwing her kunai at Dosu, it missed. Lee turned back to him, punching into the ground, he pulled up a large root from underground, using it to block us from Dosu. Dosu jumped back. "I am positive that there is some kind of trick to your attack, therefor, I will not waste my time trying to dodge it." Lee was staring daggers at him. "After all, I have seen your jutsu before." Zaku scoffed, putting his hand on his hips. Wow, he's tough. Sakura's eyes widned. "You're amazing Lee." I smiled, slowly starting to crumple back down onto the ground, my eyes closed. My odds are not good, three against one, I have to take a chance. Lee looked at all of their faces. One at a time, I will attack each of them with all my might.

Choji was sitting down on a tree branch, happily munch on the last piece of strawberry cake he had brought with him. "Oh man, there doesn't seem to be anyone weaker than us." Ino sighed, "Not so fast, Naruto's team might actually be weaker then we are...if we can get past (Y/N), that is." Shikamaru looked over at Ino, she raised her fist. "Take that back right now you jerk!" Ino shouted at him, "What do you mean?" Shikamaru turned to her, "There's no doubt Sakura, (Y/N), and Naruto are lame, but there's no bad mouthing my Sasuke!" Ino seethed, "Yeah...whatever." Shikamaru crossed his arms, there's no way we could beat (Y/N), they'd track us down in a heartbeat. Besides, they're too cute to actually attack. But if I could just see them...well maybe it would turn this whole day into less of a drag. Shikamaru sighed. "Maybe your precious Sasuke is better in theory than in practise." Shikamaru turned to Ino, she was fuming, staring his down. "Alright, alright. I apologize if I upset you." Shikamaru scoffed, what a drag. I say one negative thing about Sasuke and I get the evil eye from his number one fan here. "There is no way Sasuke could loose a battle, ha, but Sakura's a different matter." Ino turned her head away from Shikamaru, her arms crossed. Choji continued to much, oh, there's (Y/N). Choji's eyes widened. "Hey, (Y/N)'s down for the count, and Sasuke too. Heck, even Naruto looks about dead." Choji called out to them, he put his piece of cake down, looking from the tree. "Huh?! What did you say?!" Ino jumped up onto the branch, her eyes wide open, Shikamaru was close behind. "Wha-!" Ino gasped.

"He's late and he's never late. Lee is...well fanatical about being on time." Tenten put her hands on her hips, looking down at the ground. "Maybe he ran into an enemy." Tenten gulped, "You think..." Tenten's eyes widened. "No, I'm sure he's alright." Neji shook his head, if he was down, that would leave one less person trying to block (Y/N) from me. But still, if he's dead than we can't complete the chunin exam and I might not be able to move on with (Y/N). "But in any case, we better go find Lee." Neji turned to Tenten, "Right." She nodded.

Lee looked down at the ground, he slowly untied the bandages around his arms.

The large log broke in half, Lee punched his fists into the air. "Yes! I did it! I've finally mastered the justsu, yes!" Lee shouted, jumping around excitedly. "That's enough, you're wasting your precious gifted youth!" Guy put his hands on his hips, watching Lee buzz around, laughing. This jutsu, in the end only Lee could make it his own. Guy thought with his arms crossed, a small smile on his face. "I did it! I actually did it!" Lee shouted, flailing his fists in the air. "Lee." Guy called out. "After all that practice, I finally did it!" Lee jumped up and down, a wide smile on his face. "Lee!" Guy shouted, "When I try hard enough, I can do anything!" "LEE!" Guy shouted at him, "Wow! I really did it! Ha ha-GAH!" Guy hit Lee on the side of his face, Lee fell to the ground. "Gnnnn..." Lee groaned, standing in his knees. "Now, listen to your sensei's awesome advice." Guy pointed at him, "Yes, I am ready to hear your amazing wisdom, sir." Lee sniffled, looking up at him with watery eyes. "This new jutsu, the lotus technique is now forbidden." Guy put his hands back on his hips, Lee gasped jumping up on his feet. "W-What do you mean?! Why?!" Lee ran up to him, his eyes wide open. "This jutsu, it puts a huge strain on your bodies muscles. It's a self sacrificing technique." Guy warned, "Huh?" Lee looked up at him. "Normally, the human body only uses twenty percent of their muscle strength. You understand, only twenty percent. If all the power were to be used, the muscles would disintegrate. So, the brain regulates the amount of power the muscles can exert. But this jutsu is different, it uses chakra which forces the brain to go past its limit allowing for dangerous high speed taijutsu! In other words, this jutsu relies on a secret technique that brings more power, almost to the limits of the human body, so you see, it's very dangerous." Guy explained, Lee nodded his head. "There's only one time this jutsu should be used, when a particular condition is met." Guy nodded, holding up his index finger. "Yes, I see! So, what is the condition, sir?" Lee asked, his eyes wide open. "You need to take this to heart. The condition is...

Guy sensei, the condition has been met. I must use the lotus jutsu! Lee finished unraveling his bandages, Sakura gasped as she watched Dosu run closer. "To protect the life of someone precious!" Lee shouted, holding a hand sign in front of is face, Dosu's eye widened. In a flash Lee was gone. "He disappeared-gah!" Dosu gasped as Lee kicked him up in the air, he appeared behind him. "Not yet!" Lee shouted, the bandages on his arms wrapping around Dosu's body. Lee grabbed a hold of him, twisting him in the air, he pointed his head down towards the ground as they fell. Zaku's eyes widened. "Oh, no Dosu! There's no way he could break his fall!" Zaku gasped, making some quick hand signs. "Take this! Primary lotus!" Lee shouted, twisting both of them around into a drill heading straight towards the ground! "Gah!" Zaku shouted, shoving his fists into the ground. Lee stuck Dosu into the ground before he quickly jumped away, Zaku made the soil soft to break Dosu's fall. Gah, what is this feeling? Lee gritted his teeth. "Ha, got you just in time. That in past could've been a lot worse for you." Zaku chuckled, Dosu jumped out of the ground, shaking dirt off of his head. "What?! This can not be!" Lee gasped, crouched down on the ground. "That's a frightening jutsu, it nearly took me out even though I landed on this soft dirt." Dosu stood back up, Lee was gasping for air. "Now it's my turn." Dosu grinned, pulling his sleeve back up. My body has still not recovered from that jutsu! Lee clenched his fists as Dosu charged towards him. Dosu threw a punch, Lee jumped back to dodge, "GAH!" Lee cried out in pain. "L-Lee!" I cried out, barely able to lift my arm. "Your jutsu is fast, but ours travels at the sped of sound." Dosu glared down at him, Lee fell to his knees, glaring up at Dosu. "Effort by its self does nothing, now watch. We're going to show you something called the wall." Dosu grinned, Zaku and Kin chuckled behind them.