Chapter Text
Deep in the Forest of Death, a young girl with pink hair wiped her tears. This was the absolute worst moment of her life. Naruto was passed out, pinned to a tree. Sasuke was also unconscious.
No matter how much she wished someone could tell her what to do next, Sakura was the only one around.
She took a deep breath and firmed her resolve. She needed to get her teammates somewhere safe. Some place hidden, that she could easily defend. Getting them there was going to be a task in and of itself - Sasuke and Naruto each were around the same size as her. How was she supposed to carry both of them?
Breathe in. Breathe out.
She needed to figure out where she was taking them first. She hated the thought of leaving them alone and undefended, but she couldn't scout around while carrying them. Doing so would make it easier for enemies to find her, and make it harder for her to defend everyone.
She had to take a few risks.
She scanned the forest around them. That scary shinobi... he said his name was Orochimaru? If he came back she didn't have a chance, but there was no sign of him. She grimaced. He had apparently gotten what he wanted and left.
Sakura found a likely looking hiding spot and quickly moved Sasuke. She tried to hide him with a few leaves before darting over to Naruto. She had just managed to carry him down when she heard the sound of someone moving.
She lay Naruto down and readied her kunai. "Why don't you show yourself?"
A rustling noise came from her left. Sakura tightened her grip on her kunai.
"Uh. Excuse me?"
Sakura's eyes widened at the red-haired man who strolled out. What was this? Who was he? He didn't look like a shinobi at all! His clothes were as fancy as a noble's, he didn't seem to have any weapons, she couldn't sense any chakra.
He looked like an ordinary civilian. Walking around. In the Forest of Death.
"Who are you?"
He gave a gentle smile. "Hello, my name is Cale Henituse. I was wondering if you could tell me where I am?"
Sakura shook her head in bemusement. "...How? You're in the Forest of Death."
Cale frowned. "The Forest of Death? Is it a Forbidden Region?"
"Huh? No... Well. I don't know that I'd call it forbidden. The Forty-Fourth Training Ground?" At his blank look, Sakura couldn't help but continue. "The big scary forest that we're using for the chunin exams?!?"
"The chunin exams?"
Sakura's mouth dropped open. Just where did this guy come from?!?
"The chunin exams... why are you here if you're not taking the exam?"
Cale observed the pink haired child in front of him. She reminded him a bit of On. Especially the way she was gripping her knife and standing in front of the blonde child on the ground. If this was some sort of exam for the kids, it didn't look like it was going very well.
'Human! Human!' Raon's voice echoed in his mind. He was glad the black dragon came with him, and even more glad that Raon's invisibility magic worked in this strange world.
'This place is weird!' Raon continued. 'There are hundreds of people in this forest, and they're all using some weird type of mana! Some of them seem very strong! Though not as strong as me, of course! I am great and mighty!'
Cale sighed. He didn't know how he came here... this world didn't seem like Earth, but it also didn't seem like home either. Not that they knew what to call the fantasy world he and Raon came from. He had wondered if the Forest of Death was like the Forest of Darkness, but that didn't seem to be the case. An exam?
He didn't want to wander around a forest called something as ominous as the 'Forest of Death'! Especially not if some of them were strong enough for Raon to notice.
"I appear to be a bit lost," he gave another gentle smile.
'Human! Why are you smiling like that? Are you going to try scamming that girl?'
"Could you help me find my way out? I'm sorry, what was your name... ?"
Sakura opened and closed her mouth a few times as she stared at him in disbelief. "My name is Haruno Sakura. I can't lead you out of the forest! We can't leave in the middle of the exams, and I have to take care of my team!"
Cale again glanced at the blonde child laying on the ground. "Then why don't we make a deal?"
"A deal?"
Cale nodded. "I will help you and your team, and in return you'll help me find my way out of the forest."
Sakura looked at him suspiciously. "...You really aren't a shinobi?" She knew she shouldn't trust him. Couldn't. If he wasn't a shinobi, what was he doing here.
On the other hand, the strange man hadn't tried attacking her, and he hadn't asked about the earth and heaven scrolls. Maybe this was all an elaborate attempt to steal their scroll, however... how could he steal something they didn't have? Orochimaru...! That monster of a shinobi had burned their scroll!
Plus... she was tired. And she still needed to get Sasuke and Naruto to someplace safe.
"I'm not a shinobi," Cale confirmed. "I just want to find my way home."
***********************************************************************
In a cave in the Forest of Death, an invisible dragon sat next to the black haired boy and poked at his neck with a black paw. Something is weird.
This world was very weird, though he could get used to that. He was still able to use his mana and maintain his invisibility, so that wasn't a problem. However, the people he could sense in the forest didn't seem to be using mana at all.
He could also sense some sort of spell work on the boys. The one on this boy's neck felt the nastiest. It almost felt like nature... but twisted somehow. He lay down next to the boy and observed the flow of energy.
'Human! There's some sort of spell on his neck! It's really weird and keeps growing, but I think I can stop it! I am the great and mighty Raon Miru!'
Cale glanced at the girl next to him, and mouthed the word 'Wait'.
In a few moments, Sakura stepped out to set up some booby traps and Cale gave Raon the go ahead.
Raon's black paw hovered over the seal on Sasuke's neck and black mana started to swirl.
'The energy keeps moving! I blocked it, but it keeps trying to find a way out. Why does it feel like a snake?'
Black mana continued to pour out of Raon's paws and gathered around the boy's neck. Raon moved his second paw and clasped his paws together. It felt like he was holding a writhing snake nest in his paws.
'I blocked all the energy! Now all I have to do is destroy the spell!'
Cale worriedly glanced outside the cave. Although Raon's magic wasn't so large that it could be seen outside the cave, he could tell that Raon had poured a lot of power into his work.
Would Sakura be able to sense it?
'Nasty snake-like magic! Why do you keep squirming like that? I will stop you! I am great and mighty!'
Mana continued to pour out of Raon's hands. Cale couldn't see what it was fighting, but he could see the mana continously moving around... something.
Cale felt a sense of pressure growing as the black mana formed into a giant sphere. Small black spikes appeared all around it, as though something inside was trying to push out. Raon clasped his hands together and the sphere began to slowly collapse.
It grew smaller, and smaller. As small as an orange, as small as a nut, as small as a marble.
Then, with a loud pop, it vanished.
At the sound, Sakura came rushing in. "What happened? Sasuke!" She ran over to the black haired boy and began checking him over.
"Wha- ?!? His fever! It's gone?"