Team 4 had run for half an hour through trees until they decided it was time to take a break. Hanako stopped in a clearing, Kazuki and Takeshi stopped at either side of her. The sun was starting to set, and after sunset the forest would turn even darker than what it already was.

"It's time for a refuel. We need to rest and we'll continue in a few hours when we're ready," Hanako said, and everyone else nodded. She closed her eyes for an instant, noticing a presence lurking around them. She activated her Sharingan and inspected the place, but the presence wasn't there anymore.

"Hana-chan, is there something wrong?" Takeshi asked.

"No," she said. "I just...thought I sensed someone, but I probably just imagined it." Hanako sighed as she rested her back against a tree. Again, she closed her eyes and felt, this time, a dozen ninja approaching them. She opened her eyes and frowned. There was nothing.

'What's going on?' She observed that her teammates were fast asleep, and soon she started to feel drowsy. Hanako closed her eyes and the strange sensations started to invade her once again. That's when she noticed the abnormal fluctuations in her chakra.

Genjutsu. Hanako made a seal with her hands. "Kai!" When she opened her eyes, she heard a chuckle coming from the tree in front of her. She looked up to one of its branches; there was a ninja looking down maliciously at her.

"Not bad, although you're the only one who managed a way around the illusion on time. I was planning to take the scroll from you while you were still unconscious. However, you're awake, and I doubt you'll courteously hand us the Earth scroll." Hanako's eyes widened.

"How did you-?"

"Know your scroll?" He raised an eyebrow. "We've been watching you for a while." He then smirked. "And we know that you have it, so we're not going to waste precious time in your friends." He looked serious. Hanako frowned. They hadn't been careless enough to pull out their scroll in the middle of the Forest without any reason, and even less mentioned it out loud. They couldn't know... Hanako focused her eyes on his protector. He was from Iwagakure. Did someone from Isao's team leaked their information?

She sighed, she had been too naïve to think they would remain silent.

Two more ninja appeared, one at each side of the boy, holding kunai in their hands. "I suggest you give us your scroll. Without these two you've been outnumbered." He pointed towards Kazuki and Takeshi. Hanako smirked.

"Heh, don't even think about it!" She stood up, looking at the ninja with challenging eyes.

"Is that so?" he retired his hand. "Too bad, it'll have to be the harsh way." He made a strange hand seal and her body became paralyzed. One of the other ninja launched his kunai at her, but a wooden wall appeared on its way, defending her. Hanako was surprised.

"Can't you even protect yourself, Uchiha?" Hanako moved her eyes toward the voice. Hyori.

'Thank you,' Hanako thought as she closed her eyes, letting out a breath. "I never thought they would have the ability to paralyze. It'd be easier to defend myself if I could actually move," she said. 'Maybe Itachi was right. I should have a plan after all.'

At that moment, the jutsu was released and the ninja fell to his knees.

"Looks like this jutsu of yours requires a lot of chakra and you still have a short lapse of control," Hanako commented, straightening herself. Hyori and her team stood behind her.

"You sure meet with interesting people," said the Senju while looking at the opponents. Then her eyes moved to Kazuki and Takeshi, who were still knocked out in an illusion. "Our only encounter has been against a team who were only good at threatening."

"They said they will be back, so don't let your guard down, Hyori," Ren reminded her.

"Of course, they were just weaklings and cowards for coming after us instead of looking for a bunch of stronger Genin, you said so yourself!" Hyori crossed her arms.

"Weaklings and cowards?" one of the ninjas snapped. "Don't underestimate us!" The ninja threw himself at them. Hanako took the opportunity to perform her hand seals.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu." She released a great fireball from her mouth.

"Don't be an idiot!" The paralyzing ninja yelled panting before making another bunch of hand seals. "Doton: Doryuuheki." He placed his hands over the ground, creating a big wall of dirt that deflected Hanako's fire.

"Tsk, they're good," Hyori commented making her own hand seals. "Mokuton no Jutsu." Hyori made three wooden ropes that tied the ninjas tightly enough so they couldn't escape.

"Tsk! Dammit!" One of them managed to drop a smoke grenade, and then they disappeared.

"How?!" Hyori widened her eyes. "That's not possible..." Hyori placed one finger on the ground. "They're not far." She tried to run after them but Hanako grabbed her arm.

"Don't go after them." She looked at her seriously, and Hyori sighed. The Uchiha let go of her.

"Why is that?"

"Did you take a look at their headbands?" Hanako asked. Hyori returned her glance, confused.

"Yeah, but what does it have to do with-?"

"They're from Iwagakure." Hanako interrupted her, her eyes narrowed. 'They must be up to something.' "Didn't you notice?" she asked. "You never mentioned anything about the ninjas you faced. However, they somehow seemed to know exactly who you were talking about."

"Now that you mention it," Ren said thoughtfully. "They were from Iwagakure as well." Hanako smirked.

"I see... So they are comrades after all."

* * *

The sun was starting to set in the Forest of Death. The members of Team 2 were walking through the trees looking for a place to rest.

"Itachi-kun, are you sure we shouldn't continue to look for the-?" She was suddenly interrupted by Itachi's hand covering her mouth.

"Koharu, don't mention our scroll." Itachi looked at her menacingly before dropping his hand. Koharu just nodded looking at Itachi with terrified eyes.

"Probably the other Genin may have already fought against many opponents. What do you think, Itachi? After all, they always go after the newbies." Itachi remained thoughtful for a while before turning his head towards Hiroki, who looked at him expectantly.

"Then they probably would realize that they shouldn't underestimate a ninja for its size," he said before resting his back against a tree and sliding down into a sitting position.

"I guess you're right," Hiroki commented while letting out a sigh. "By the way, this girl, what was her name? Ho-?"

"Hanako," Itachi said.

"Yeah, Hanako-san. She's part of your clan, right?" Itachi nodded. Koharu paid attention, suddenly getting interested. "Is she strong?" Itachi remained silent.

"Who knows..." he answered after a while before closing his eyes. He remembered Shisui stopping him and pulling him to the side after he received his scroll before the exam started. He wanted him to observe Hanako, since something important might happen that would contribute to their investigation of Amane Uchiha.

"You know, I hate your answers." Hiroki sighed. "They're always as if you were hiding something." He crossed his arms and turned his back to Itachi. Koharu just chuckled at Hiroki's childish behavior.

* * *

Hanako ran alongside her teammates, once again in movement. After Team 3 left, the brunette woke her friends from the Genjutsu. They rested for a couple of hours before continuing their way. This time, instead of being ambushed they'd make sure they would ambush a team with the white scroll.

Hanako signaled her friends to stop. This time they stood closer to each other, and they observed the team that was gathered on the ground. One of the members carelessly took the scroll out of his pouch. It was an Earth scroll. The members of Team 4 sighed and continued on their search of the other scroll. The only team they had encountered until now with the Heaven scroll had escaped, and at the time Kazuki and Takeshi were under the effects of a Genjutsu. Hanako frowned.

"Hana-chan," she turned to Takeshi, who was looking at her expectantly. "Don't you think it would be faster if we just split up?" She frowned harder and turned her face back to the front.

"If we split up and something happens to either of you, we won't be able to continue with the test. Besides, I would feel guilty for that..."

"But," Kazuki interrupted. "We can avoid fighting. In any case, we're not weak, you know that." Hanako thought about Hyori saving them before from the Iwa ninjas. Kazuki and Takeshi were unconscious, they didn't notice anything that happened and she started doubting.

"I don't-"

"Hanako." Takeshi snapped. The girl knew he was serious since he had called her by her full name. "Trust us, and don't underestimate us." She turned to him. He seemed annoyed.

"If you're worried about us, we can divide into two groups," Kazuki suggested. "Because you have your Sharingan and you're also a sensor, you can go on your own. Takeshi and I will go the other way." Well, if at least she knew they were together she wouldn't be so worried...but still.

"One hour," Hanako stopped abruptly before turning to them. "We'll meet here in one hour," she said before continuing ahead. She noticed that Kazuki and Takeshi nodded before going in the opposite direction.

* * *

Koharu watched her two companions rest until she felt something strange lurking around them. Itachi seemed to have noticed it too, because he opened his eyes with the Sharingan activated. Hiroki seemed unaware of the situation, until he saw his teammates worrying.

"Is someone there?" Koharu muttered to the Uchiha, who was observing a certain spot between the trees.

"Hiroki," Itachi suddenly said. "Let's go take a look. Koharu, you stay here; don't move and don't make any noise that may draw attention to you." Koharu just nodded as she watched the two boys leave.

She sat on the ground, resting her back against a boulder. She relaxed, closing her eyes; however, it wasn't long before a chuckle made her body tense. Koharu stood up, pulling a kunai from her pouch.

"Who's there?" She felt so nervous that she held tightly the knife in her hands. This wasn't the same as the easy missions of a Genin. The same chuckle was heard again. A big guy emerged from the shadows, and Koharu took a few steps backwards -forcing her body to move.

"Give me your scroll, girl, and maybe I'll consider not hurting you." He chuckled again, making Koharu feel nervous.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She gulped. "I don't have the scroll." She tried to appear brave, but she knew he didn't buy it. He looked at her with a smirk.

"Come on, it's the basics to give the scroll to the weakest member of the group. Then, the stronger ones get to go in search of the missing scroll, while avoiding the risk of theirs being taken." He suddenly became serious. "Give me the scroll." Koharu was so frightened that her hand moved itself towards her pouch and took out the white scroll. She showed it to the ninja. He widened his eyes, and then chuckled again. "It's the same as ours."

"So that means you'll leave me alone?" Koharu put away the scroll again. The ninja laughed at her.

"Of course not! Who says that one team can't gather more than one set of scrolls? It would reduce competition." Koharu felt a strange sensation in her stomach, and held her kunai tighter, wishing for her comrades to return quickly before this guy could hurt her. She knew she was afraid, especially because of the look in his eyes.

The next thing she saw was that he pulled out a kunai, and launched it at her in full-speed. Koharu just stood there, waiting for the end to come. She closed her eyes and suddenly heard a thud. The knife never reached her. She opened her eyes again, finding a girl in front of her, shorter than she was. Her straight brown hair partially covered the Uchiha crest on her back.

"You..." she said surprised. Hanako turned her head to look at Koharu and smirked. Her eyes had the Sharingan, just like Itachi's.

"What use does a kunai have if instead of using it for self-defense, you just close your eyes and wait to be killed?" she asked. Koharu was dumbfounded. Hanako frowned and turned back to the ninja in front of her. He was supposed to be lying still on the ground, but he was gone.

Both girls looked up to find him falling straight towards them, with a kunai in his hand. He launched it towards Hanako, but she deflected it with one of her own. Still, the guy fell on top of her, pinning her against the ground. He then pulled out another kunai and pressed it against her neck. Without being able to take it anymore, Koharu let out a loud and terrifying scream.

* * *

Hiroki and Itachi had walked around, but they didn't find anything strange. "There's nothing here, Itachi." Hiroki said. "We should get back to Koharu, I don't like her being alone." He moved close to mutter something to his ear. "And even less if she's with our scroll." Itachi nodded, heading back to where they had left their teammate.

A loud scream was heard from the meeting spot. Itachi could feel chills going down his back and he turned to look at Hiroki with worry. He was already looking back at him with wide eyes.

"Koharu!"

* * *

Hanako was having trouble to breath with a knee pressed tightly over her chest and a knife pressed against her throat. If only she moved a little, she would be cut. Hanako did her best to remain completely still, but she didn't have much trouble -her strength was nothing compared to his.

Koharu just stood there, looking completely terrified and without doing anything. Her screaming still echoed in Hanako's head, not letting her think clearly. She met the ninja's eyes and let out a nervous chuckle, which she soon regretted when she felt a stinging pain on her neck. The kunai had grazed her skin. However, she kept her Sharingan fixed on his eyes and took the chance to catch him in an illusion that would paralyze his body. His hold loosened and she switched their positions, Hanako being on top now. She pressed the kunai to his neck.

"Give me your scroll," she hissed lowly. The guy chuckled.

"Do whatever you want," he said. "I don't have it." He looked back at her with pursed lips. "You have quite good eyes."

"Ko!" Hanako heard a voice behind her and turned around just in time to receive a kick on her stomach that sent her away. Hanako crashed against the bark of a tree, cracking it a bit. She immediately stood up, cleaning the blood the trickled from her mouth. She glared at the newly arrived boy who kicked her.

"Let me deal with this brat." Ko stood on his feet as he glared at Hanako. "If you want our scroll, then we will fight for them." He turned to his comrade. "Pass me the scroll." His comrade pulled out a Heaven scroll, making Hanako's lips curl up into a smirk. "Now show me yours," he said to the Uchiha. Hanako pulled out her Earth scroll and showed it to him. Now it was his turn to smirk. "It's been decided then. The winner gets the set, while the loser gets nothing." Hanako put away her parchment, allowing Ko's partner to do the same. This was Hanako's chance to finally get the scroll they needed.

'How ironic,' Hanako thought. 'We agree to not get into any fights, and look at me now.' She let out a chuckle.

"I feel sorry for you," Ko said. "I don't plan on losing today against a kid." Hanako narrowed her eyes.

"Don't underestimate me," he chuckled.

"You have some guts to talk back to me like that." He looked seriously towards his comrade. "Don't interfere, this is my fight."

"But what about this one?" Ko's partner pointed his finger at Koharu, who still stood with wide eyes, looking at Hanako worriedly.

"Leave her. She's useless to us. The only one I care about is her," Ko said, narrowing his eyes at Hanako. "Girl," he directed his attention to Koharu. "It would be best if you leave now before I change my mind and decide to kill you as well." Hanako could feel Koharu tense and look doubly worried at her.

"Go," Hanako looked at her seriously. "I'll be okay. Trust me." She half smiled. Koharu nodded softly and ran away, without turning back. Hanako knew she felt guilty for leaving her behind. She saw it. She was trying hard not to cry, but she failed. She then moved her eyes back to Ko.

"Well, shall we?" He picked up his kunai from the ground. Hanako gulped, taking out another kunai from her pouch. Without a warning, she launched herself towards him and they engaged in a Taijutsu fight -clashing their weapons. For a brief second, Hanako found an opening and took the chance to land a hard kick on Ko's stomach. He skidded backwards, covering himself while she kept hitting him everywhere she could. Hanako managed to land another kick that sent him flying to the tree opposite to them, making the wood crack.

"Not bad," Ko chuckled. "But," he joined his hands forming the hare seal. "Raiton: Akari Raimei no Jutsu." He placed his hands on the ground. Hanako felt an electric current moving through the earth towards her. Her body became paralyzed for an instant; she felt an electric shock as she appeared to be consumed by lightning that emerged from the ground beneath her. Hanako let out a scream before disappearing into smoke, leaving on her place a lightly burnt log. Ko widened his eyes. Wires appeared from the ground around him, which tied him tightly to the tree behind him.

"That was close," Hanako walked towards him, holding in her hand the other end of the wires. She could notice the surprise and incredulity on Ko's face, which made her smirk. "I told you not to underestimate me." She turned to the ninja who kept their scroll. "It's over now. Give me the scroll." He pulled out a kunai and got into a fighting stance.

"You'll have to take it away from me." Hanako raised an eyebrow.

"I thought we had a deal. If I won, then the scroll would be mine." She sighed. "Oh well, it seems that you can never trust anybody." Hanako glared at him with her Sharingan. "I won't have any trouble taking it from you anyways." The tomoes around her pupil started to move, circling it. Hanako took the wires to her mouth and held them with her teeth as she made a clone appear. It then attacked Ko's partner. The original Uchiha looked back at Ko, tied to the tree. She made another set of hand seals. "If we exchanged places right now, would you really kill me?" Hanako asked as she took a few steps backwards, so the wire would extend until it looked like a fine line from her mouth to the tree.

"I'd do anything to get the scroll," replied Ko, looking at her coldly.

Hanako smirked. "It's nice to see we're on the same page." Hanako performed the last seal as her eyes concentrated on his headband. He was from Kusagakure. "Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu." The flames moved through the wires until they lighted up the tree on fire. After a few seconds, the fire disappeared, leaving the ninja unconscious but alive. Hanako looked at her clone, who had knocked Ko's partner out and was now taking the scroll from him. It disappeared at the second it gave the scroll to the original. Hanako stared at the scroll for a while.

'We have both scrolls. Now we just have to get to the tower,' Hanako thought as she put the Heaven scroll in her pouch.

"What have you done?!" Hanako heard a high-pitched voice and sighed. She turned her head to find Koharu alongside a very surprised Hiroki and Itachi -as always, there was no emotion showing in his face. Maybe his eyes did widen a little bit, but nothing noticeable.

"They're fine, I didn't kill them. They should wake up...eventually." Hanako shrugged, noticing that Koharu's eyes were still glued to the burnt figure tied to the tree. He was still releasing smoke. "Well, he might have a couple of serious burns..." she tilted her head innocently as she smiled at Koharu. "But he's still alive."

"You defeated the two of them, alone?!" Hiroki dedicated her an incredulous look. Hanako just nodded.

"It was pretty easy, I actually expected a little more of them...but I don't care now since I got the scroll I needed."

"You have a complete set already?!" Hiroki widened his eyes even more. "But it's just the first day!" Hanako shrugged.

"It'll be easier to get to the tower now than in a couple of days when everyone becomes desperate. I'll be rooting for you, though." Hanako looked at the sky. She frowned. "It's getting late." She should have met with her teammates a long time ago, and they would probably be worrying. "I have to go." She turned to the woods.

"Hanako, wait." She heard Itachi say, and stopped to look at him. "Thank you for saving Koharu," he smiled slightly. "Take care." Hanako felt her heart skip a beat but ignored it as she returned his smile.

"Same," she replied before she left, back into the woods.