It didn't feel like his whole body was on fire. It was on fire. Sasuke yelled again, feeling the flames lick his skin.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun," a sinister voice came. "Finally, you're here...I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about your real goal."

Sasuke gasped when the burning was even more forceful, causing him to shout louder. His shoulder hurt especially. "Itachi..." the voice whispered, "that is your ultimate goal. So why are you being caught up in them?" An image of Team 7 appeared in his head.

"L-leave them alone!" Sasuke panted heavily as he tried to regain his breath.

"I will," the voice promised, "But will Itachi?" Another image of solely Sakura popped up. "I'm sure Itachi will learn of your...attachment to dear Sakura-chan, hm?"

"Leave. Her. ALONE!" The pain suddenly disappeared.

"Sasuke-kun...I can see you care for her, and that's a definite weakness. Imagine the power Itachi would have over you if he knew..."

"..." Many times, Sasuke thought of this possibility, but he ignored it. He wasn't going to see Itachi any time soon.

"Oh, that's what you think," the voice responded, as if reading his thoughts. "I'm sure Itachi will show up within the next couple of months..."

Another image appeared, this time of Sakura after she had come back from protecting Tazuna alone. Sasuke shuddered, recalling the large bruises on her neck and the missing piece of her ear. "You are not able to save Sakura-chan, because you are weak..."

"Shut up," Sasuke groaned, shaking his head as the receding pain began to throb again.

"If you join me, I can give you all the power you need to defeat Itachi...all you have to do is forget about Sakura and Team 7."

"..." Orochimaru smirked at his silence, that decided to go in for what he thought was the kill.

"What would your mother say?" In that moment, all thoughts of accepting were pushed firmly to the side.

"Don't. Ever. Mention. My. Mother!" Sasuke snarled at the voice inside his head, then quieted when he remembered what she had said about Sakura.

:::

Back at the Mission in the Waves, Sasuke thought he was dead when he met his mother again.

"Go, Sasuke," his mother said gently. "She needs you more than I do. I'll see you eventually, not too soon, though."

:::

After talking to his mother, he woke up to see Sakura leaning over him and crying.

Then, he looked to her face, which she kept wiping at with her arm cover, her eyes a little red and her nose as well. "Were you crying?"

:::

'She needs me there!' Sasuke thought, flailing against the invisible bonds that bound him. "Sakura!"

"—ke. Sasuke, can you hear me?"

He opened his eyes, and was immediately met the sight of Sakura leaning over him, her face still blank.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted and sat up. "Where's Naruto?"

Sakura had explained tersely that he had been enveloped with purple chakra and then suddenly fainted. After that, Tram Gai left them. Naruto had awoken immediately after, demanding to fight Orochimaru.

He ended up being disappointed that he missed the whole fight between Sakura and Otogakure's team.

"We have three days left to earn a heaven scroll," Sakura reminded them as they took a break near the river. Sasuke created a fire to cook the fish Naruto caught. "It would be wise to rest for a day, then continue."

"What?! No way, —ttebayo! I feel great!"

Sasuke nodded, but stopped as he looked over to Sakura. Just how long had she watched over us? "Dobe, we should rest," he heard himself say. "We'll get a scroll in no time after tomorrow."

Sakura nodded, then bit into the small fish, chewing slowly, her green eyes watching her surroundings scrutinisingly.

:::

All three members of Team 7 were as silent as possible, waiting.

"We have already acquired an earth scroll," Sakura explained after eating the next morning. "What we need is a heaven scroll. However, there are now many other teams that will also being seeking what we have, or a heaven scroll."

"Hey, hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said loudly, earning an elbow from Sasuke, "What if we waited near the tower, dattebayo?"

"Hn." Sakura shook her head. "No. There are plenty of other teams that have come to the same conclusion. We must fight, or ambush. It is more likely for our success if we ambush instead."

"Creepy, —ttebayo..." Naruto watched the glowing spores float about in the air.

Sasuke watched, mesmerized, as Sakura controlled the spores ("Shokuton: Seibutsu Hakkō Ōbu no Jutsu!") from bioluminescent fungi to attract people to where they were. In short, perfect for ambush.

Sakura was crouching next to Sasuke, not even moving an inch, ready to spring into action. Suddenly, a bout of movement caught her attention, and she poked Sasuke leg and motioned to the person below them on the forest floor. They both nodded, and then jumped down below, ready to take down the masked Amegakure shinobi that pretended to be Naruto on the first day of the exam with their kunai.

However, while Sasuke began to attack the shinobi, Sakura froze, causing confusion between the three. Using her as a shield, the Amegakure pushed Sakura in front of him, allowing him to escape and Sasuke to draw blood from his teammate. The boy cursed when he caught sight of Sakura's left forearm bleeding when he had managed to only get a scrape.

"Why did you stop?" Sasuke demanded, grabbing hold of her right arm to keep her still. With his other, he ripped the bottom of his shirt into a thin strip, and began wrapping her arm.

"Yeah, Sakura-chan! You could've avoided getting hurt, —ttebayo!" Naruto hollered, then jumped down next to them, scratching his head and squinting at the two.

The pink-haired genin refused to meet their eye. After a few moments, Sasuke released her arm and she finally spoke. "I am disappointed in myself, as well as my deductive reasoning and intellect." She studied her bandaged arm disinterestedly. I have been too preoccupied watching over Ramen-boy and Sasuke to notice it all along. Had I studied my surroundings carefully, I would have noticed much sooner.

"Huh? Whaddya mean, Sakura-chan? You're the smartest kid I know, —ttebayo!"

Sasuke tensed as he finally had the time to take in his surroundings for the first time. "No way..."

"Yes," Sakura confirmed. "It appears we are, and we have been here the whole entire second part of the exam. I would not be surprised if Shikamaru and Neji have already figured out so."

"I don't know what you're all talking about, —ttebayo! What do you mean, Sakura-chan, Teme?" Naruto frowned and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"We're still in the room where the first part of the exam took place," Sasuke said, meeting Sakura's gaze and holding it.

Maybe it's obvious? I'm not sure if everyone will get it, but if you don't, you'll find out next chapter for sure!

Did you like my twist on the Forest of Death? If you're confused, look forward to the next chapter!