All characters and story belong to Kohei Horikoshi and Masashi Kishimoto
"SASUKE! YOU'RE AWAKE!" Sakura shouted joyfully. But her joy was short-lived when she felt a sinister purple chakra emanating from her body. In addition, strange black markings adorned part of her face, like tattoos. "Huh?"
Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Tenten, and the rain leader's two companions were terrified of the new Sasuke. The only ones who weren't afraid of him were Neji and Hotori.
"Sakura..." Sasuke said in a deep, sinister voice. "Who did that to you? Who was it?"
"Sasuke, what happened to you?" Sakura asked, worried and from the ground.
"Don't worry. What you're feeling is chakra flowing through me," Sasuke replied. Then he clenched his fist tightly. "In fact, I've never felt better. He gave me this gift and made me understand what I am. I am an Avenger. To follow my path, I must have power at any cost. Even if it means being consumed by the devil."
"His chakra is completely different. It's more intense, darker. Could that really be Sasuke?" Ino thought, unable to believe it.
"Sasuke..." Sakura said, still scared.
—Now tell me. Who of these did this to you?—asked Sasuke, looking with hatred at Hotori and his two companions.
"Heh. She was a mess when we found her, but I have to admit I had a hand in making her condition worse," Hotori said, pulling out her kunai.
"Don't piss him off, Hotori!" his bald companion pleaded.
"Are you afraid of him?" Hotori asked mockingly. "Fear is what you'll feel if we return to the village and fail this exam. Our leader, Hanzo the Salamander, won't forgive our failure. This newly awakened child won't be a problem."
—But that chakra...—said the rain girl with doubt.
"Cowards! I'll take care of everything!" Hotori exclaimed furiously. "Come to...!"
Hotori couldn't finish her sentence as Sasuke disappeared from sight and stood behind the rain genin. His left foot pressed against her back as he held both of her arms. To everyone's horror, especially Sakura's, Sasuke, with a wicked smile, tightened his grip until he broke poor Hotori's left arm.
—AAAAAAHHHH!—Hotori screamed with tears in her eyes.
Sakura's thoughts came to mind: Orochimaru's words: You want it, Sasuke. You want power, don't you?
"Have you done something to Sakura too?" Sasuke asked the bald man and the girl, turning around and still showing that wicked smile. "I hope you make it more interesting than your friend."
Hotori's companions were petrified watching as Sasuke walked slowly in their direction.
—It's not him. It can't be. It's not him... It's not Sasuke.—Sakura thought, tears forming in her eyes.
—NOOOOOO! —Sakura screamed, sitting up and running to Sasuke, hugging him from behind. —DON'T DO IT!—
After a few moments, the marks on Sasuke's face began to fade. Then he fell to the ground with Sakura.
"Sasuke..." Sakura said, resting her arm on Sasuke's back to keep him from falling flat on his face.
The surviving member of the Uchiha clan was breathing heavily. Team 10 and the rain genin sighed in relief when they saw that Sasuke was no longer emitting that strange chakra.
"Please, let us go," the bald genin pleaded, kneeling. "I swear we won't bother you or your teammates again. We'll give up. We've already been screwed by some guys from Konoha with glasses, otherwise we'd give it to you. Please, I just want to go home."
Sasuke looked at him strangely, not understanding why he feared him so much.
—Pick up your leader and get out of here.—Neji ordered, seeing that Sasuke didn't react.
—Yes... Thank you. Thank you very much. —replied the bald rain genin.
Between him and the kunoichi they picked up Hotori, who was unconscious due to the shock she felt from her broken arm, and left.
—Ino, Sasuke seems to be fine. Go see Lee, meanwhile, Choji and I will go to Bakugo's sword. —Shikamaru said to his partner.
"Okay," Ino replied, running up to the position of the bushy-browed genin.
"That chakra wasn't normal. I had no idea the Uchiha clan was so powerful," Neji thought, arms crossed. "He's a stronger opponent than I could have imagined."
"What am I?" Sasuke thought, starting to remember the battle against Hotori.
—Sasuke...—Sakura thought, looking at her partner with concern.
Ino helped Lee sit up, but stopped when she saw Tenten standing in front of her.
"I'll take care of him now," Tenten said.
"Okay..." Ino replied, giving the unconscious Lee.
Lee's unconsciousness didn't last any longer as Tenten shook him violently.
—COME ON LEE! WAKE UP ALREADY!—Tenten shouted, while continuing to shake him.
"Huh?" Lee said sleepily. "Tenten, is that you? What are you doing here?"
"I'm the one who should be asking the questions," Tenten scolded. "What are you doing so bruised?"
"Well, Sakura was in trouble and I had to do something, right?" Lee replied.
"Enough talk," Neji said, climbing down from the tree. "We should get going. We still haven't gotten the scroll we're missing, and I'd feel bad taking it away from these guys after they've helped my partner. So let's go," he ordered.
"Before you go..." Sakura said, approaching Lee. "Lee... Thank you. Because... thanks to you, I've learned to defend myself. And I've become a little stronger," Sakura added.
Lee was moved by Sakura's words and began to cry.
"Thank you, Sakura..." Lee said, wiping away his tears. "But I see that my efforts haven't been enough. Sakura... The lotus of Konoha blooms twice. When we meet again, I will have become a stronger ninja. I promise."
Sakura smiled at him again.
"Let's go now!" Neji exclaimed, starting to lose his patience.
The three genin from Gai's team set off in search of the other scroll they were missing. But half an hour into their journey, Lee realized he'd forgotten to ask something.
"Geez! In my rush, I forgot to ask Sakura about Bakugo. I haven't seen him anywhere," Lee mused. (A/N: Remember, when Bakugo appears, Lee is already unconscious, so she hasn't seen him at any point during this Forest of Death exam.)
"Forget about him. He's a loser, I wouldn't be surprised if he ran away from here," Neji said contemptuously.
"Bakugo wouldn't abandon the exam or his classmates!" Lee replied, annoyed.
"I hope you're right, Lee. It would be a shame if I couldn't give that arrogant, rude man what he deserved," Neji said.
"Bakugo isn't a...!" Lee thought twice. "Well, maybe he is. But that's because the prime of his youth is present within him."
Back with Sasuke, Sakura and Team 10, just as Gai's team had left, Choji and Shikamaru had gone for a moment to get Bakugo's Kubikiribōchō. Sasuke looked up at the sky thoughtfully. And Sakura and Ino were chatting while the blonde was fixing the pinkette's hair.
"You greedy witch. Taking advantage of him and hugging him like that, macroforehead!" Ino whispered enviously.
—Haven't you ever heard that "all's fair in love and war," Ino the piggy?
Sasuke was the first to see how Choji and Shikamaru carried the Kubikiribōchō, with difficulty, towards their position.
"HUH?" Sasuke said, puzzled. "That sword... it's Bakugo's!"
Sakura stopped arguing with Ino when she heard her other classmate's name.
"That's right!" Sakura confirmed. "What are Choji and Shikamaru doing with Bakugo's sword?" she asked Ino.
"I'll tell you everything that's happened since you separated from Bakugo," Ino said, getting serious.
Ino recounted everything that had happened. Bakugo's fight with the Sound Trio. Zaku being stabbed in the stomach for trying to save her and Choji's lives. The torture they inflicted on her to find out Sasuke's whereabouts. Shikamaru's appearance. The search for medicinal plants for her nasty shoulder wound and Dosu's near-murder, stopped by Choji's intervention. And finally, what she'd told Choji about waiting at Gate 12 until he returned.
With each new anecdote Ino told, the pink-haired girl felt more worried and more angry.
"He's a baka (idiot)! The greatest baka in the ninja world! When I see him, I'm going to punch him! Only Bakago would go after those guys with those injuries! Baka, baka, baka!" Sakura exclaimed, clenching her fist.
—Finally we agree on something, macrofront! From now on I'll call him Bakago too! He's a super baka! —said Ino
Sasuke, Choji and Shikamaru had a tear in their eye at the attitude of their companions.
"Aaaa, I forgot," Choji said, grabbing something from his kunai holder. "Bakugo asked me to give them to you if you were still here." He handed the two scrolls to Saskue.
"Wait a minute, that means he's got another piece of shit from another team in addition to the sound trio thing." Sasuke mused, impressed by the ash-blond's exploits.
"All the more reason not to do something so stupid!" Sakura exclaimed, growing more worried and less angry. "Bakugo..."
"He'll be back," Ino said with blind faith. "I'm sure he'll be back, and we'll be able to tell him off."
"Ino..." Sakura whispered.
"She'll be back..." Ino said, squeezing the medicinal plants she had collected.
"We have no idea where he could be. So now we can only wait," Shikamaru commented.
The five of them stood there waiting. Ino was the only one doing something productive. She was grinding the acacia and juniper trees into a paste to apply to Bakugo's wound.
"Will it work?" asked Sakura, sitting next to her.
"No, at least it will stop the infection long enough for me to go to the hospital later," Ino replied.
Shikamaru was distracted, watching the clouds. It helped him avoid thinking about Bakugo's likely tragic fate. He didn't want to feel guilty for not having acted sooner. A few minutes later, the Nara clan member noticed black smoke rising on the horizon.
—Guys! Look!—Shikamaru exclaimed.
"That smoke... it could be Bakugo's explosions. It's meant to show us where he is," Sasuke commented. "But it's a long way from here. Bakugo isn't the type with a bad sense of direction."
"It might not be him..." Sakura said, not really knowing.
"Or maybe it's him, and he's in trouble," Ino said, on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
"SILENCE!" Choji yelled, concentrating hard on hearing something.
The other four were perplexed by Choji's shout, as he was a very calm man. They obeyed without question, and thanks to that, they were able to hear, albeit with difficulty due to the great distance separating them, the sound of an explosion.
—BAKUGO!—the five shouted.
"Let's go!" Sasuke ordered, leading the procession in search of his companion.
The five of them went as fast as possible, taking turns carrying Bakugo's sword, in the direction of the explosion they heard.