The next day, everyone was gathered around 'The Forest Of Death' with their teams. Akai was currently poking a very, very tired Akito on the side of the head as they waited.

"Akai, you're my teammate, and also my friend, but if you poke me again, I'll break your finger." The quiet boy said, and Akai let a small smile pass over her lips.

"I don't think you will."  She said with a laugh, once again poking his head. Akito tried to quickly grab Akai's hand, but the girl jumped back from him.

"You'll have to try better than that!" She said laughing.

"Stop it you two." Shin said with a heavy sigh, his team obviously annoying him.

"Make us, tashikani." Akai said, sticking her tongue out. Shin went to grab her, but was cut off when Anko's voice called out over the crowd.

"Listen up maggots! The second part of the exam is about to begin. The paper work we gave you to fill out will be turned in in return for a scroll. Each team will receive either a Heaven or Earth scroll. The point of this exam to take the opposite scrolls from yours  from another team. Successfully doing this and making it to the tower in the middle will mean you pass. Now, gather your materials and make your way to an open gate, waiting for the exam to begin."

Ibiki's team quickly made their way to the closest desk with a chunin behind it, which wasn't hard considering where they were standing to begin with. Their paper work was turned in, to have an Earth scroll returned back to them. Akai took the scroll and placed it inside of the pouch on her leg. She had predetermined that the scrolls would be safer with her.

This part of the exam would be a piece of cake for her. The point of this exam is to steal, and who steals things better than a thief?

Akai smiled as her team and her gathered at a gate that would lead them into the forest. "Are you guys ready?" She asked.

"Let's do this!" Shin said loudly, throwing his fist into the air.

"Hooray." Akito muttered, right as the gate slammed open. His eyes immediately twitched, especially when Akai hit his back and pushed him inside the forest.

| * | * | * | * | * |

"Now I wonder how you lived like this, Akai." Shin said, looking around, staring warily at the dark trees around them. As always, Akai grinned, throwing a coin up in the air and caught it with two fingers.

"It's not that bad once you get used to it. Do you guys want to finish this round quickly or do you prefer enjoying the forest here?" Akai asked back, "I personally chose the latter."

"No way in hell, Hozuki." Akito stated bluntly, "Let's hurry up."

She laughed, and turned away, as they continued their journey. Not long after, however, a scream was heard.

Instantly, they looked at each other, as if telling each other about their shock. Akai grunted, motioning her teammates to follow her, and they did.

The three of them climbed a tall tree, and found a team from Suna not far from their location, with 3 dead corpses around their feet. One was a guy in black clothes with purple face-paint, and then a blonde girl with a large fan, while the last was a thin redhead with a large gourd on his back.

"That redhead... Sakura told me about him. A team from the Sand... I think his name is Gaara. According to her, he's no ordinary Genin." Shin whispered, and turned at Akai, "I think we should leave. His aura screams danger."

"Go ahead." Akai said, "Bring Akito with you. Don't you see that they have 2 Heaven scrolls with them? I'm gonna steal one of them."

Akito stared at her in disbelief, his eyes twitching. "Are you crazy? Don't you see how his teammates look at him in fear? And you want to pick-pocket them?"

"Hey, I love challenges." Akai replied. And as if on cue, the redhead, Gaara, suddenly turned to their direction. She quickly pushed her blonde teammate away, and Akito jumped down, pulling Shin with him, resulting in leaving her alone in the staring-contest.

Gaara narrowed his eyes at the blue-haired girl. She waved at him, smiling, and stood up from her crouched position. As the other two Suna nins saw her, the smile turned into a smirk, and she pulled out a dagger. She threw the weapon up in the air, and caught it with the blade facing her, as she created a slashing motion in front of her neck, while her other hand held up her scroll and shook it tauntingly.

Everyone's jaws fell agape, except for Gaara, who only turned away much to her displeasure. Akai snickered, putting back the two items into its respectful place and went after her team.

"You have just killed us. Congratulations." Shin told her. But she only grinned, giving him a worse reply.

"I know. You're welcome. And I gotta go, I have a scroll to steal!"

With that, she left, as the two boys remained in their positions, still unable to move.

Akito slowly turned at the pinkette. "Ibiki's gonna have our head if we don't save her."

"Agree."

| * | * | * | * | * |

A short blue-haired girl was wearing a mischievous grin on her face, while she tip-toed towards a group in front of her.

However, her expression soon change. She let out a grunt as soon as she realized that the redhead, who kept the scroll, was walking at the front.

And that grunt didn't end well, either.

A large hand made of sand suddenly lunged at her, and she was forced to jump away from her targets, landing swiftly on a tree branch above them.

"Tch. So close, tashikani." She muttered, pulling out her dagger as she crouched, smirking slightly, before putting an innocent look, smiling at the three.

"Hello. My name is Akai. What's your name, guys?"

The blonde girl stared at her brunette teammate, giving him an unbelievable look at the girl.

"Uh... I'm Kankuro..."

"Sabaku no Temari. We're siblings."

Akai raised an eyebrow. "Must be cool, having brothers and sister like that, tashikani. At least you're not alone."

She then jumped down, and stood a few meters in front of the team. "And you, redhead?"

"It's none of your business. Leave before I kill you."

Her grin grew wider. "I heard your name is Gaara. Is that true?"

In reply, another waves of sand went after her. But this time, Akai didn't bother to dodge. Instead, she activated her kekkei genkai. The sand went through her, becoming wet in the process.

"Well, that feels weird." She commented, as she returned back to normal, and raised her hand, looking at her palm, "But definitely worth it. I guess I'll just take my leave now, tashikani."

Along with that last statement, she turned into water, and ran at full speed towards Gaara, breaking through his wall of sand, and grabbed one of the scroll in his weapon pouch.

When the sand wall crumbled, the blue-haired girl was nowhere in sight.

| * | * | * | * | * |

Three young 'teens' were currently walking through the infamous Forest of Death, their Earth scroll clearly on view. However, it doesn't seem like they care. The team's members themselves were all acting quite strange compared to other participants.

The first one, was the girl. She had short violet hair, with a rose pendant on a necklace around her neck. She had a pair of golden eyes, watching the two boys in front of her strictly like a mother watching her sons' behavior. She also held a dominant and authoritative aura around her, despite her beautiful looks and the white flowery kimono she wore. She was clearly the leader of the team.

"Seriously, guys, can't you act a bit interested in this? A bit normal? You are too suspicious!"

One of the boy let out a grunt. He had dark brown, almost black hair, and also a pair of red eyes with bags under them. He was wearing a turtleneck black shirt with a grey vest over it. He had black shorts, ordinary ninja sandals, and also a weapon pouch on his leg. His whole figure really screamed 'Go Away' to his surroundings.

The other boy snickered at his teammate's reaction. He was wearing a hoodie, and he had black eyes. He had a katana on his back, and a playful look on his face.

"Can't we just relax and enjoy this place, eh, Kon-..."

"It's Naoka!" She yelled back, definitely angry, "Can't you remember a simple name like that?"

"Uh... What was Ita-..."

"Tarasu." The ravenette snapped, "And you almost say my name out loud. Are you really asking for trouble?"

"Hai, hai, sorry. By the way, my name is Sameshi, right?"

The girl gave him a tired nod. "Please, I don't want to repeat it again. At this point, Kushiro will report us."

"He's currently taking care of the Hokage's files, isn't he?" Tarasu asked.

Naoka nodded, and looked back at Sameshi, who was scratching the back of his head again.

"Uh... Who the hell is Kushiro again?"

"... Aloevera. Now enough question. We haven't meet any team for this past hour, and we have to find anyone at this rate."

"Hai, hai. You're such a pain, Naoka."

"What was that?!"

"Nothing, nothing!"

| * | * | * | * | * |

Akai thought her teammates would thank her for the scroll, and even treat her some food.

She was very wrong.

Here she was, tied up to a tree, with Shin and Akito standing in front of her. Even though they were indeed grateful, they were still angry at her.

"What the hell were you thinking?! Wait, I bet you don't even think at all!" Akito yelled, much to his team's shock. Akai, especially, never thought he would be the one who's the most angry among them.

"He could kill you, Akai. You're lucky you have that kekkei genkai." Shin added, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Well, I gotta make a use of that luck, right, tashikani?"

"Arrogance can lead to death."

"I'll be careful. Believe me, I-..." She stopped when she suddenly closed her mouth shut and began to cough.

"Akai, you alright?"

Akito knelt beside her, noticing how beads of sweat began to roll down from her forehead. She looked like she struggled to swallow something, and when she finally did, her lips parted to take a gasp of air.

"Could you guys... untie me?" She whispered in a hoarse voice, gritting her teeth. Shin nodded and immediately cut off the rope around her. Instead of standing up, Akai fell forward, quickly using her arms as pillars to support her weight.

"F*ck..." She muttered.

"Akai, what's wrong?"

She only shook her head, but her hand once again went up to cover her mouth, and started coughing uncontrollably. Blood began to drip down from between her fingers, her body trembled at the amount of the red substance.

Shin's eyes widened in terror, while Akito was already frozen in shock. They hardly ever see her in this state. Even at that time after Zabuza's fight, it wasn't this bad. And Ibiki was there for them, unlike now.

Akai leaned on the tree behind her and raised her head, giving her teammates a clear view of her tired expression. With the back of her hand, she wiped away some of the blood from her lips, frowning slightly.

"Damn it... The timing couldn't be worse that this..."

Much to the boys' fright, she suddenly clenched her fist, her other hand was raised and now clutching her chest. For a moment, her eyes were blank, as she gritted her teeth in pain, before she started gasping for air. To no avail, instead of calming down, she only coughed up more blood, as tears of pain began to form in her dull grey eyes.

Her body slowly relaxed, her hand fell on her lap as she looked up, her gaze locked on Akito and Shin.

"L-Let's just get... to the damn t-tower." She grunted, pulling out her dagger and hold it up towards Akito. The blonde's hand was shaking as he reached out, taking a hold of the blade.

Akai tried her best to grin, looking at Shin, tapping her weapon pouch. Letting out a small cough, her eyelids fluttered close, but she hardly could struggle against the urge.

"I d-don't have... to babysit y-you... idiots... right?"

"AKAI!!"

| * | * | * | * | * |

This is MidnightRavencrow.

The chapter is just-... Well, fill in the blank. We want to know your opinion.

This chapter is a bit rushed, due to excitement, despite my hiatus status. Who cares, tho?

Guess who's that mysterious team! Don't forget to Vote and Comment! Arigato!