The first sound was the roar.
A constant, deafening rumble that seemed to originate in the center of her skull. Sakura groaned, a choked sound in her throat, and tried to move. A mistake. Every muscle in her body protested with a fatigue so deep that her bones felt incredibly heavy.
She opened her eyes.
Gloom met her, a darkness speckled by the light filtering through a curtain of moving water. The waterfall. The roar wasn't in her head; it was outside. It was in the cave.
"Easy."
Hinata’s voice was a relief, soft yet firm, a point of calm in her disorientation. She saw her kneeling at her side, a damp cloth in her hand that she had been about to place on her forehead. Her face, normally timid, now reflected a mature calm and concern.
"You fainted," Hinata continued. "The chakra exhaustion was… severe. You used almost all of your reserves on that last technique."
Sakura pushed herself up with a grunt, resting on her elbows. The memory hit her with brutal force: the earth exploding, Orochimaru, his snake-like neck, the fangs… and Hinata’s gaze stepping between them.
"Sasuke-kun? Is he…? Did it bite him?"
"He's fine," Hinata interrupted with a calmness Sakura was grateful for. "You saved him. We saved him. The poison was neutralized thanks to you. He's furious now, but he's alive."
Sakura looked around. Kiba was at the cave entrance, his back to them, with Akamaru at his feet—a tense silhouette standing guard. Shino remained motionless in the darkest corner, his insects an almost inaudible murmur. And Sasuke… Sasuke was standing beyond the waterfall, under the fine mist, a rigid figure of wounded pride and contained fury. He wasn't looking at them. He was watching the forest, as if his real enemy were still out there.
"How long was I…?"
"A couple of hours," Hinata answered. "Don't worry. Shino-kun and I stood watch. No one has come near. Kiba has been patrolling."
Sakura touched her arm, feeling the hum of energy still vibrating under her skin. The power Naruto had transferred to her. A gift that came from a sacrifice that still weighed heavily on her chest.
"That power… Naruto-kun…" Sakura whispered, more to herself than to Hinata. The image of his mangled arm was a wound in her own mind. "Do you think he…?"
Hinata nodded, a silent understanding passing between them. She placed a hand on Sakura's, a gesture of warmth and firmness that would have been unthinkable weeks ago.
"I know. I feel it too. It's… a burden. But it's also our responsibility, the proof of his trust. We can't fail him."
They stayed silent for a moment, bound by their secret and their worry. The roar of the waterfall seemed to intensify the intimacy of their pact.
Kiba turned around, his patience finally worn out.
"About time you woke up, Princess!" he growled, though his tone lacked its usual bite; there was a hint of begrudging respect in his eyes. "So? What's the plan now? Are we gonna sit here until we grow roots or are we gonna hunt for a scroll? Akamaru's getting bored."
Sasuke moved for the first time, turning to face them from the entrance, water dripping from his dark hair. His face was impassive, but his eyes were burning.
"The plan is to wait for our enemies to weaken themselves," he said, his voice cold and sharp. "We don't need to expose ourselves. Letting the weak eliminate each other is the most logical strategy."
"Inaction is its own form of exposure," Shino replied from the darkness, his voice a clinical analysis. "The reason is that a static target is easier to analyze and ambush. Remaining here makes us a predictable prize for a stronger team."
"Exactly!" Kiba exclaimed, slapping the ground. "We need to move, to attack, to do something! We can't win this exam by hiding!"
"We need a better plan than just 'attack'," Sakura said, getting to her feet. The fatigue was still there, a dull ache in her bones, but urgency pushed her forward. "Orochimaru let us live for a reason. He's either underestimating us or, worse, he's watching us. Every move we make has to be deliberate."
It was then that the team's three sensors reacted in unison.
Akamaru lifted his head and let out a low, deep growl.
Shino's insects stirred audibly under his coat.
And Sakura felt a new vibration in her chakra threads. It wasn't an animal. It was a flow of human chakra: cautious, erratic, and afraid. It moved with the caution of prey, not the confidence of a predator.
"Someone's coming," Sakura announced.
Hinata was already on her feet, her Byakugan active.
"One person. Alone. Their chakra level is decent, but it's fluctuating. They're moving nervously, but heading straight for us, as if the waterfall were their destination."
The team went on guard. Sasuke drew a kunai. Kiba crouched, Akamaru growling by his side.
"Friend or foe?" Kiba asked.
"In this forest," Sasuke said, "everything we don't know is an enemy until proven otherwise."
The figure appeared, stumbling through the curtain of water. She fell to her knees at the cave entrance, soaked and shivering. It was a girl, perhaps a couple of years older than them. Her hair, a vibrant red, was stuck to her face and clothes. She wore dark-rimmed glasses, one lens cracked, and the protector of the Village Hidden in the Grass hung crookedly from her forehead.
She lifted her head, and her eyes, the same color as her hair, went wide as she saw the armed group. Panic showed on her face. She scrambled backward on pure instinct, searching for an escape route.
"Don't hurt me!" she pleaded, her voice trembling. "Please, don't hurt me!"
Kiba stepped forward, suspicious.
"Who are you and what do you want?"
The girl swallowed hard, her eyes darting from one person to another. They landed on Sasuke, and a spark of fear flashed in them as she felt the intensity of his chakra. Then her gaze passed over Sakura, Kiba, and Shino. Finally, it rested on Hinata.
The girl's panicked expression softened slightly, replaced by a confused sense of calm. It seemed that Hinata's serene chakra was the only thing in the cave that didn't threaten her.
"I… my name is Karin," she said, still breathless. "My team…"
She paused, clenching her fists.
"Your team what?" Sasuke pressed, not lowering his kunai.
"They left me behind!" she blurted out, a mix of anger and fear in her voice. "We heard the fight… the ground shaking. They got scared and ran. They told me to catch up, but… but I got lost."
The story sounded plausible. A team of cowards abandoning a member was common in the Forest of Death.
"And why did you come here?" Sakura asked, relaxing her stance slightly.
"I felt… something," Karin murmured, looking at Hinata again. "A different chakra. It wasn't violent like everything else in this forest. It was… calm. I thought maybe… maybe I'd be safe here."
Hinata stepped forward, a compassionate expression on her face.
"We aren't looking for trouble. You're safe here."
Karin looked at her with such overwhelming gratitude that she nearly burst into tears. The tension in her shoulders visibly lessened.
"What do we do with her?" Kiba grumbled. "We can't just trust her."
"I'm useful," Karin said hurriedly, as if afraid they would kick her out. "I can sense chakra. Not as well as I'd like, but I can tell if someone is approaching. And… and I know some medical ninjutsu. My clan… we have a lot of vitality. I can heal wounds."
She stood up carefully, making no sudden movements, and pointed to a small pouch at her waist.
"My gut tells me that staying alone means dying. You're strong; I felt it from far away. Please, just let me stay with you until this is over. I'll do anything."
The desperation in her voice was genuine. She wasn't a strategist making a deal; she was a survivor begging for shelter.
Sasuke was about to refuse. Another person was another mouth to feed, another potential weakness.
But it was Hinata who made the decision. She glanced at Sasuke and saw the Earth scroll he was holding.
"What scroll do you have?" she asked Karin.
Karin blinked, surprised.
"The… the Earth scroll."
"So do we," Hinata said, as if that settled everything. "You aren't a direct competitor."
She turned to the rest of the team.
"She stays. Her skills could be useful to us. And we're not going to leave her to die."
Kiba grumbled but didn't argue. Hinata's quiet authority had become difficult to challenge.
Shino gave a slight nod.
"It is a logical decision. The reason is that it increases our defensive capabilities. An additional sensor is an asset."
Sakura, trusting Hinata's judgment, also nodded.
Sasuke sheathed his kunai with a huff, the decision made without his consent. He turned and went back to his post, giving his back to everyone. It was a reluctant acceptance.
A smile of pure relief spread across Karin's face. She moved closer to Hinata, maintaining a respectful distance.
"Thank you," she whispered. "Really. I don't know what I would have done…"
"Rest and get your strength back," Hinata replied. "But let's be clear: if you betray us, we'll know."
"I won't," Karin assured her, this time with a determination born of gratitude. "I swear."
She sat against a cave wall, hugging her knees. She was still trembling slightly, but her eyes never left Hinata, as if she were her only safe point in a hostile world. Then, she glanced sideways at Sakura.
"You too…" she said quietly, almost to herself. "Your chakra is strange. It's strong, but… it vibrates as if it has someone else's energy inside it. It's almost… overwhelming."
Sakura and Hinata exchanged a quick look. The secret they shared now had an unexpected witness.
Karin seemed to realize she'd said something she shouldn't have and shrank back.
"I'm sorry, sometimes I sense things and… I talk too much. I didn't mean to be nosy."
"Don't worry about it," Hinata said calmly. "It's been a long day for everyone."
The alliance was fragile, born of desperation and necessity. But in the heart of the Forest of Death, a new and strange team had just been formed.
The silence that followed was thick and heavy, broken only by the roar of the waterfall. Karin remained curled up against the wall, trying to take up as little space as possible. Kiba, meanwhile, seemed unwilling to let things settle so easily.
"Well, since you're part of the club, for now at least," he said, walking over to her with Akamaru trotting at his side. "How good are you at sensing things? Because Sakura here is pretty good, Shino's got his bugs, and I've got my nose. What do you bring to the table that we don't already have?"
Karin was startled by the direct question.
"I… it's different. It's not like smell or insects. I just… feel chakra. I can tell if it's big or small, if it's calm or… agitated. Like his," she muttered, casting a fleeting, fearful glance toward Sasuke's silhouette. "His chakra is… sharp. And dark. It's scary."
Kiba let out a laugh.
"You nailed it! Mr. Gloomy is our specialist in being scary. And don't try anything stupid. Akamaru will bite you before you can blink."
Akamaru barked softly, as if to confirm his owner's words. Karin nodded quickly, not offended by the threat. She understood it. It was the language of survival.
Sakura, meanwhile, had gotten to her feet. The dizziness lingered, but her medical mind was at work.
"You said you can heal. What kind of medical ninjutsu do you know? Can you extract poison? Close deep wounds?"
Karin shook her head, looking a little embarrassed.
"It's not a jutsu I learned in the academy. It's… a clan ability. I don't know how to explain it well."
She stood up and approached Sakura shyly.
"You look pale. Your chakra exhaustion is severe. I can help you, if you'll let me. You'll feel better faster."
Sakura looked at her skeptically.
"How?"
Instead of answering, Karin rolled up the sleeve of her tattered coat, revealing an arm full of small bite marks, some old and others more recent. She offered her arm to Sakura.
"If you bite me and absorb some of my chakra… you'll heal."
A dead silence fell over the cave. Kiba stared at her as if she were crazy.
"Are you crazy? You want her to bite you? That's disgusting."
"It's the only way I know," Karin insisted, her voice barely a whisper, holding her arm out to Sakura. "My chakra has special healing properties."
Sakura looked at the arm. Her analytical mind warred with the strangeness of the situation. A kekkei genkai that transferred vitality through a bite. It was unheard of, but not impossible. The ninja world was full of strange abilities. And the truth was, she felt terribly weak.
"Okay," Sakura said, making a decision. She trusted Hinata's judgment, and if this girl turned out to be a trap, at least she was surrounded by her team. "I'll try it."
Hesitantly, Sakura leaned in and gently bit Karin's arm. The red-haired girl hissed in pain but didn't pull away. Instantly, Sakura felt a wave of warm, vibrant energy flow into her. It was a pure, revitalizing sensation, completely different from the overwhelming and painful power she had received from Naruto. The fatigue in her bones began to dissipate, replaced by a renewed strength.
She released Karin's arm, leaving a new red mark on her skin. She felt… much better. Not a hundred percent, but the difference was astounding.
"Incredible…" Sakura murmured, looking at Karin with new eyes. "Are you… from the Uzumaki clan?"
Karin seemed surprised she knew the name.
"Yes. How do you know? There are very few of us left."
"Our teammate, Naruto… he's an Uzumaki too," Hinata explained quietly.
An expression of understanding and melancholy crossed Karin's face.
"I see. That explains the other chakra I felt in you," she said, looking at Sakura. "It had a familiar echo."
The atmosphere in the cave changed. The distrust hadn't vanished completely, but Karin's demonstration had earned her a degree of credibility. She was strange, yes, but she was also useful.
Hinata came over with a ration bar and a waterskin.
"Here. You must be hungry."
Karin accepted the food with trembling hands, as if she couldn't believe the gesture.
"Thank you," she repeated, her voice thick with genuine emotion.
As she ate in silence, the strategic discussion resumed, this time with Sakura actively participating.
"Sasuke's idea to wait has merit," Sakura began, her voice stronger now. "We're a target if we stay still, like Shino said, but we're also a target if we move blindly. Orochimaru could be watching us. We need information."
"And how do we get information without moving?" Kiba shot back, crossing his arms. "Do we just politely ask the next team that comes by?"
"The reason we must move is to control the terrain," Shino contributed. "Superior knowledge of the environment provides a tactical advantage. We can set traps and choose the site of the confrontation. Remaining here cedes that advantage."
Sasuke finally turned, his dark gaze sweeping over the group. His patience had run out.
"You don't understand. Strength isn't about going out looking for fights. It's about luring your prey. The power we felt from that man… it wasn't normal. This isn't just an exam. There's something else at stake. Every weak team we eliminate is irrelevant. Only the strong matter, and it's better to let them reveal themselves and weaken each other."
"And what if a stronger team finds us while we're waiting?" Hinata asked, her quiet voice cutting through the tension. "What if Orochimaru himself decides to come back? We can't rely on luck."
Hinata's logic was inescapable, and Sasuke fell into a frustrated silence.
It was Karin who spoke, her voice hesitant but clear.
"I… I can help with that. With the information."
All eyes fell on her.
"If I concentrate, I can extend my perception. I could sense other teams at a considerable distance. We could know where they are, how many of them there are, and maybe how strong their chakra reserves are. That way, we wouldn't be moving blindly."
The proposal hung in the air. It was a perfect compromise between Sasuke and Sakura's caution and Kiba and Shino's need for action.
Hinata looked at Karin and nodded.
"Can you do it now?"
Karin finished her ration, took a long drink of water, and closed her eyes. She sat cross-legged, placing her palms on the cave floor. The team watched in silence as her expression became intensely focused. Shino's insects hummed quietly, and Akamaru rested his head on Kiba's knees, expectant.
Several minutes passed. The only sound was the falling water and the group's bated breath.
Finally, Karin opened her eyes, a bead of sweat trickling down her temple.
"There are… three teams within a two-kilometer radius," she reported, her voice a little tired. "One team of three is directly east. Their chakras are average, genin-level. They seem to be making camp, probably injured."
She paused, frowning.
"There's another group farther south. They're moving fast, hunting. They're strong. Their chakras are stable and large. And… there's a single person far to the northwest. Their chakra is… strange. It's huge, but it's heavily suppressed, as if it's being hidden. It's cold."
Sasuke stepped forward.
"Cold how?"
"Like a snake," Karin whispered, and a chill ran through the cave. "It's not moving. It's just there. Waiting."
The mention of a snake chilled everyone's blood. It could be Orochimaru. Or it could be another of his subordinates.
"Then the team to the east is our target," Kiba said with a predatory glint in his eyes. "Three against… six! It'll be a piece of cake!"
"No," Hinata said firmly, and everyone, even Kiba, listened. "We won't attack an injured team. That's not our style, and it could be a trap."
"Besides, we need the Heaven scroll," Sakura reminded them. "If they also have the Earth scroll, it would be a pointless fight."
"So, what do we do, O great leader?" Sasuke sneered, sarcasm dripping from his voice. The power dynamic had shifted, and he clearly resented it.
Hinata looked at him directly, unfazed.
"We'll use Karin's information to our advantage. We will avoid the strong group to the south and the suspicious individual to the northwest. We will circle through the territory, using Karin, Shino, and myself to create a map of our surroundings. We will look for a team that is alone, has the Heaven scroll, and offers us a fair confrontation. We'll act like a team of hunters, not thugs or cowards."
The plan was solid, logical, and took everyone's strengths into account. It combined caution with action, intelligence with force.
Kiba grinned.
"I like it. Hunting sounds a lot better than waiting!"
Shino nodded.
"The strategy is acceptable. It mitigates risks while maximizing our opportunities."
Sakura looked at Hinata with admiration. She had taken everyone's differing opinions and combined them into a coherent plan.
Sasuke said nothing. He simply turned around and began checking his kunai. It was his way of accepting the plan without admitting it verbally.
Hinata turned to Karin.
"You did a good job. Rest for a bit. We'll move out in twenty minutes."
Karin nodded, visibly relieved to have proven her worth. She leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes. The small act of being included in the plan, of being treated as an asset instead of a burden, seemed to give her a new, fragile confidence.
As the others prepared, Sakura sat down next to Hinata.
"She can feel it," Sakura whispered. "Naruto's chakra in us."
"I know," Hinata replied in the same low tone. "We have to be careful. It's a complication."
"Do you think we can trust her?"
Hinata watched the red-haired girl, who looked almost asleep from exhaustion.
"I don't know. But for now, her survival instinct is aligned with ours. She wants to live, and she knows her best chance is with us. As long as that's true, she'll be on our side."
The makeshift team, formed in a crisis, prepared to leave the safety of the cave. The alliance was unstable, egos clashed, and an unknown threat lurked in the forest. But for the first time since entering this nightmare, they had a plan. And a leader.
Sasuke paused at the curtain of water, staring out into the gloom of the forest. The anger from his humiliation at Orochimaru's hands still burned inside him, a cold fire. But now, it was mixed with the frustrating new feeling of no longer being at the center of his own universe. He glanced sideways at Hinata giving a final instruction to Kiba, and gritted his teeth. They would survive, yes. And they would get stronger. And he, Sasuke Uchiha, would claim the power that was his, no matter who he had to follow… for now.