Cherry Blossoms and Chakra Strings: The Forest of Death, Part 2

The Forest of Death, Part 2

The echoing laughter faded into the distance, leaving a heavy silence in its wake. Sakura stared at the spot where Amane had vanished, her threads still connecting her to the paralyzed forms of the Kiri team as adrenaline pumped through her body.

“Well,” Tsu spat, whirling around to face her teammates. “That was just great. What do we do now? Do we just drag these losers around for a whole day?”

“We could leave them,” Hikari suggested. “We could stick to our original plan, find another team, and just leave her exams. Amane said she wanted to fight us in the finals. She wouldn’t jeopardize that by hurting the other Konoha genin.”

“She would,” Sakura countered immediately. “She’s already killed other teams. Why would she care if they were from Konoha?”

Tsu kicked a nearby root, bark splintering under her foot. “So we’re stuck playing babysitter to a bunch of Kiri idiots that want us dead? Why the fuck does that girl want anything to do with us anyway?”

“She is clearly unstable,” Hikari said. “And she’s already expressed interest in Sakura. She’s probably just doing this for entertainment.”

“Entertainment,” Tsu spat. “She’s treating our lives like a game.”

“She’s treating everyone’s lives like a game,” Hikari corrected, glancing at the canopy above. “And we are wasting time. She gave us a head start, but we shouldn’t squander it.”

Sakura nodded, turning her attention to the three paralyzed ninja at her feet. Yuta was glaring up at her, his jaw clenched tight, though his eyes held worry. He thought they were going to leave them behind.

Sakura almost wished that they could. There were several nooks they could hide the group in to ensure they weren’t eaten by some errant wild animal. Unfortunately, she couldn’t imagine that Amane would be happy if they opted out of her game so quickly. If she found out that they just left them, the Kiri team wouldn’t be the only ones facing the consequences.

“How are we supposed to transport them?” Tsu asked, eyeing the team with disgust. “We can’t exactly carry three bodies while running from a psycho.”

Hikari glanced at Sakura. “Do you have the antidote?”

Sakura nodded, biting her lip. “I do, but I carry enough for this poison to use on all three of them. It’s supposed to wear off on its own.”

“How long?” Yuta managed to grind out through gritted teeth, his voice strained.

“Four or five hours,” Sakura admitted. “Six at most.”

“Five hours?” Mei hissed, her eyes wide with panic. “She’ll be back before we can move!”

“We can’t just wait for it to wear off,” Tsu pointed out, crossing her arms. “Can you split it between them?”

Sakura shook her head, “It’d dilute it too much. I can get one of them up or none of them.”

“One is better than none,” Hikari shrugged. “Choose one of them and they’ll help us carry their teammates.”

“And if they stab us in the back?”

“Then they die too,” Hikari glanced at the group on the ground, their expression a picture of deadly calm. “We couldn’t beat Amane and they lost soundly to us. I can’t imagine they’ll last more than five minutes or so once we don’t have her attention.”

Yuta’s glare intensified, but it was clear he was weighing his options. Sakura could see the moment he realized he didn’t have any.

“Give it to me,” he ground out through clenched teeth. “I’m the strongest. I can carry them both if I have to.”

“Can you really?” Tsu asked, skepticism dripping from her voice. “You just got your ass handed to you.”

“That was before we knew what you could do,” Yuta shot back. “And I wasn’t trying to carry two people while paralyzed.”

Sakura considered his words before she nodded slowly. She was probably the physically strongest member of her own team and she had felt the weight behind his sword.

“Fine,” she said, reaching into her pouch and retrieving a small vial filled with a murky green liquid. “But if you try anything, I’ll paralyze you again and leave you for Amane. Understood?”

Yuta’s jaw tightened, but he gave a single, jerky nod.

Sakura knelt beside him, carefully tilting his head back to pour the antidote into his mouth. He swallowed reflexively, and for a long moment, nothing happened. Then, slowly, the tension began to ease from his muscles. His fingers twitched, then his arms, and finally he pushed himself up onto his elbows with a ragged exhale.

“Move wrong and I’ll break your legs,” Tsu threatened, her hand resting on her odachi.

Yuta ignored her, rolling his shoulders and testing his limbs. He climbed to his feet, shaking off the lingering stiffness, and looked down at his teammates with an expression Sakura couldn’t quite read.

“Mei first,” he said, crouching beside the kunoichi. “She’s lighter. Ren can hang onto my back.”

“That’s not going to work for five hours,” Hikari pointed out. “You’ll tire yourself out.”

“Then what do you want me to do?” Yuta demanded, frustration bleeding into his tone. “I’m not leaving them!”

“We make a sled,” Sakura said. “There’s plenty of wood here. We can fashion something to drag them on.”

Yuta’s expression flickered between gratitude and resentment, clearly unhappy about needing help from enemies. But he didn’t argue, simply nodding as he moved to gather his fallen teammates.

“Tsu, help him gather branches,” Sakura directed, already pulling wire from her pouch. “Hikari, keep watch. I’ll start weaving the binding.”

They worked quickly, fashioning a rough sled from thick branches and ninja wire. It wasn’t pretty, but it would hold two bodies and could be dragged through the forest floor. Yuta laid Mei and Ren side by side, securing them with additional wire while Sakura checked the knots.

“If either of them so much twitches wrong, I’m cutting them loose,” Tsu warned, tightening a strap with perhaps more force than necessary.

“Understood,” Yuta said, his voice clipped. He hoisted the front of the sled onto his shoulder, the muscles in his arms straining briefly before he found his balance. “Where are we going?”

Sakura had been thinking about that exact question since Amane had vanished into the canopy. Where could they possibly go that would keep three paralyzed ninja safe from a girl who could melt through solid wood?

“We need somewhere defensible,” Hikari said, their Byakugan scanning the canopy above. “Somewhere Amane can’t simply walk into.”

Sakura’s mind raced through options. The tower was too far – they’d never make it in time, and dragging two paralyzed bodies and a hostile ninja through the forest for days would paint a target on their backs for every other team in the exam. The gates were out of the question; they’d be disqualified for leaving early.

But there was one place, a place that even that monster would have trouble reaching them in. She hoped.

“My summons,” Sakura suggested. “They live in this forest. If we can get there, we’ll have the terrain advantage.”

Tsu raised an eyebrow. “This place is pretty damn big, Sakura. Do you know where they are?”

“Not in correlation to where we are,” Sakura admitted. “But I can still lead us there.”

She slid her blood along the length of a kunai, drawing a small trickle of blood that she smeared along her palm. She ran through a set of seals and slammed her bloody hand on the ground, watching as black seals spread from the point of contact.

“Summoning Jutsu!”

Smoke burst from the seal, blooming upwards until it was almost as tall as Sakura herself. When it cleared, the rest of Team 3 took a step back, while Yuta blanched.

“Fuck me…”

Eight thick legs tapped against the ground, the sound echoing like hammering nails as a spider the size of a lion skittered out of the smoke. Unlike Kii, the arachnid was completely brown, comprised of a smooth exoskeleton that blended into the trees around them.

"Summoner," it chittered in a raspy voice. "This one is grateful to have been chosen. What task would you have me perform?"

Sakura crouched down to meet the spider's many-eyed gaze. "I need you to guide us to the colony. We're being hunted by a ninja that's way too strong for us."

The spider's pedipalps twitched, its legs dancing in place as it processed her request. "The colony welcomes the summoner and her allies. This one will lead with great haste."

"Good." Sakura stood, turning to address the group. "We move fast and we move quiet. Yuta, you're in the middle. Hikari, you take the rear. Tsu, you're with me up front."

"And what happens when the crazy girl catches up to us?" Yuta asked, adjusting his grip on the litter.

"Then we fight her," Sakura said simply. "But I'd rather not do that in the open. It didn't go well last time."

The spider skittered forward, climbing up the nearest tree with unsettling speed. “Follow,” it called down. “The colony is close. We will arrive by nightfall. Stay close.”

They set off. Sakura’s spider moved with unsettling speed, its eight legs finding purchase on bark and stone alike, never once slowing as it navigated the dense undergrowth with a skill that Sakura found herself struggling to match.

“You’re fast,” the kunoichi commented as she kept pace. “What’s your name?”

“Kumosuke,” the spider chittered, its many eyes glinting back at her. “This one is honored the summoner wishes to know.”

Sakura filed the information away with a nod, before turning back to her team and the stragglers.

Yuta was already struggling with the load but wasn’t lagging behind nearly as much as Sakura imagined he would. 

Tsu and Hikari kept watch, eyes scanning the shadows for any sign of other teams, though they encountered no one. The Forest of Death seemed to have swallowed the other examinees whole, leaving only the sounds of wildlife and the whisper of leaves in the wind.

Unfortunately, that serenity was soon swallowed as, an hour later, the air behind them suddenly surged with a powerful chakra and a manic laugh.

“Behind us!”

Tsu spun, her odachi clearing its scabbard with a metallic ring. She raised the blade just in time to catch a downward strike from a figure dropping from the canopy above, a thin katana clashing against her blade with a shower of sparks.

Dark hair fell around the Inuzuka’s face as Amane leaned down, smiling widely.

“Good job!” Amane chirped, her purple eyes gleaming maniacally as she pressed down on Tsu’s guard. “I really thought I’d catch you off guard, but–”

Her words cut off as Hikari blurred forward, clearing the distance between themselves and their teammate in a blur of motion. Before Amane could disengage, the Hyuga was upon her, driving a kunai straight into her throat.

Blood spurted and Amane’s lips turned down in a petulant frown. “Party pooper,” she gurgled, the words bubbling wetly as her body dissolved into a torrent of water that sloughed to the ground, soaking the leaves below.

Sakura’s eyes snapped upward, scanning the trees. “Guess that means the game is starting.”

As if on cue, a kunai embedded itself in the dirt at their feet, a paper tag sizzling on its hilt.

“Move!” Tsu screamed.

The explosion erupted behind them with a deafening roar, a fireball blooming outward and consuming the space they had occupied milliseconds before. Team 3 hit the ground rolling, debris and splinters raining down around them. Yuta shielded the sled with his body, grunting as a chunk of bark slammed into his shoulder.

Sakura rolled to her feet, coughing smoke, her eyes watering. “Don’t stop! Keep moving!”

Laughter followed them as they resumed their race towards safety.

~~~

Nearly half a mile away, high above the forest floor, concealed among the dense foliage of an ancient oak, a figure in a dark cloak observed the scene below with unblinking eyes.

​They watched as Amane tramped through the forest, drawing the attention of anyone and everyone who cared to pay attention, all in the pursuit of one team. Her team.

​“She’s going too far,” the cloaked figure murmured, the words barely audible even to those standing beside them. “As usual.”

​A second figure shifted at the edge of the branch, bloody sword catching dappled sunlight through the leaves as he cleaned it slowly. “What did you expect?”

​The cloaked figure’s fingers tightened on the bark beneath their hand. “I expected her to stick to the plan. We had an agreement.”

​“That was your first problem.” The broad-shouldered man chuckled slowly. “When has she ever stuck to anything? The moment something catches her interest, all bets are off.”

​The third member of their team dropped down from the branches above, landing without a sound. She was shorter than the others, her white hair pulled back from her dark face and her green dress speckled in blood. She held a bloody scroll between manicured fingers.

​“Got it,” she said, her voice carrying a satisfied edge. “This is the one we need.”

​The cloaked figure nodded slowly, their attention drifting toward where the Konoha team was moving through the underbrush. “Good. Then we can move on to the next portion of the exams.”

​“Are we going to do something about her?” the white-haired girl asked, jerking her chin in the direction Amane had vanished. “She’s going to draw attention.”

​“She’ll be fine,” the broad-shouldered man said, waving a dismissive hand. “No one’s going to miss a few genin teams. Besides, it’s probably best to weed out the weak so we don’t have to waste time in the next phase.”

​“That’s not–” the cloaked figure started, but a sound from below cut them off, a ragged cough that sounded half dead.

​At the base of their tree, half-hidden among the exposed roots, a body was stirring. One of the Kusa nin they had intercepted was still alive. His chest rose and fell in shallow, ragged breaths, and his fingers twitched weakly against the blood-soaked earth.

​“Please,” he gasped, his voice barely a whisper. One of his eyes was swollen shut, the other fixed on the figures above him with desperation. “Please... don’t kill me...”

​The cloaked figure dropped from the branch, landing in a silent crouch beside the boy. The other two followed, their expressions easy as they loomed over him.

​“You know that’s not how this works,” the broad-shouldered man said to no one in particular. “You came at us with intent to kill. Don’t expect us to spare you just because you lost.”

​The boy’s remaining eye widened as the cloaked figure loomed over him. “P-please... I have a sister... she’s waiting for me to...”

​“I’m sorry,” the cloaked figure said, their tone without malice but also mercy. “But this is simply the way the world works.”

​Two fingers extended from the dark sleeve of the cloak, tapping the center of the teen’s forehead before he could even flinch. There was a pause, before his remaining eye rolled back into his head and his head lolled to the side. Blood trickled from his nose, the only evidence of his death.

​The cloaked figure straightened, shaking their hand once as if flicking off water.

​“That’s always creepy,” the white-haired girl asked, tilting her head. “Does it ever bother you? How easy it is?”

​The cloaked figure considered the question for a moment, their head tilting to watch a bird roost in its nest. The animal seemed to pause as it reached its nest, a worm squirming in its mouth as it tilted its head inquisitively. Curled up in the nest, a snake flicked its tongue.

​“No,” they said, watching the bird drop its prey and fly away. “It doesn’t.”

​The broad-shouldered man sheathed his sword with a quiet click. “We should move. The others will be heading for the tower soon, and we don’t want to fall behind schedule.”

​The cloaked figure turned away from the bodies strewn across the forest floor—three Kusa nin, all young, all with their own stories that would now go unfinished. “Agreed. We have what we came for.”

​Their team moved as one, disappearing into the shadows between the trees. But before they vanished entirely, the cloaked figure paused, their eyes moving one last time in the direction Amane had disappeared.

​“Fool,” they murmured, too quietly for even their teammates to hear.

​Then they were gone, leaving only corpses and silence in their wake.

~~~

We’re not gonna make it.

Sakura’s legs burned as she pushed through another thicket of brush, her lungs straining for air. Behind her, Yuta’s breathing had grown ragged, his steps faltering as the litter dragged against roots and rocks.

“Keep up!” Tsu barked, glancing back.

“I’m trying,” Yuta gritted out, sweat streaming down his face. “This thing weighs a ton.”

Amane had already attacked them three times since the initial encounter, each assault more aggressive than the last. She was toying with them, probing their defenses, looking for gaps in their formation. It was only a matter of time before she found one.

Hikari dropped back to cover their rear, their Byakugan active and scanning the canopy. “She’s circling. Looking for an opening.”

“And I found it!”

Amane burst from the foliage on Hikari’s flank, her sword glinting as she swung it with glee. The Hyuga spun to meet her, palms glowing with chakra as they engaged in a rapid exchange of blows. 

Amane laughed, weaving between strikes like she had done it a million times. “Come on, little Hyuga! Show me something new!”

Hikari pressed forward, their hands a blur as they aimed for Amane’s chakra points. But the Kumo nin was faster than anyone Sakura had ever seen, outstripping even Kenji at his fastest. She twisted away from a strike aimed at her shoulder and retaliated with a slash that opened a jagged gash across Hikari’s arm.

“Your form is sloppy,” Amane cooed, dancing backward. “But you’re not as stiff as the other Hyuga I’ve fought!”

Sakura grit her teeth as Hikari tried to retreat from the crazed Kumo nin. Teashi burst from her scroll in a swirl of smoke and surged forward, arms spread wide and sickles glinting as they whipped toward Amane’s exposed neck.

The Kumo nin’s eyes widened, and she leaned backward, the blades passing inches from her throat. She sprang backward on her hand, avoiding the follow-up strike, and flipped away, landing on a branch overhead with a delighted giggle. 

“Oh, that was close! I felt the wind from that one!” 

She blew a kiss at Sakura before melting into the foliage, her laughter echoing through the trees.

Sakura recalled Teashi, her mind racing as they regrouped. Hikari was clutching their shoulder, blood seeping between their fingers.

“It’s not life-threatening,” they reported, hand glowing green as they pressed it to the wound. “But it will certainly scar. I don’t get the impression she was trying to kill me.”

“Of course she’s not,” Tsu snarled. “This is a game to her.”

Yuta stumbled up beside them, the sled scraping against the ground. Mei and Ren remained motionless, their faces pale but breathing. “How much longer? I can’t keep this up.”

Sakura turned to Kumosuke, who had descended from his perch. “How far to the colony?”

“Six hours at current pace,” the spider replied. “Perhaps five if we push hard.”

Shit.

“We’re not going to make it.” Sakura shook her head. “She’ll pick us off one by one before we get halfway there.”

“Then what do we do?” Tsu demanded. “We can’t outrun her, and we can’t fight her head-on.”

Yuta shifted the litter, his eyes narrowing. “What about your summon? Can’t they just take us there?”

Sakura blinked, an imaginary lightbulb springing to life above her head. She glanced at her summon. “Kumosuke? Is that possible?”

The spider’s mandibles twitched as it considered the question. “This one can transport the summoner alone, yes. But additional humans require a seal. Blood and chakra must be woven together to anchor all parties to the destination.”

“How long will it take to set up?” Sakura pressed.

“Several minutes. Perhaps longer if we are disturbed. It is a delicate process.”

Several minutes. An eternity when being hunted by a monster. Still, it was better than running themselves to death.

“Do it,” Sakura decided. “Set up the seal. We’ll protect you.”

Kumosuke skittered to a small clearing, its legs moving in a complex pattern as it began to weave. Silk spilled from its spinnerets, forming intricate patterns on the forest floor – circles within circles, that Sakura vaguely recognized.

“What do you need from us?” Hikari asked, positioning themselves between the spider and the direction Amane had fled.

“Blood from each participant,” Kumosuke replied. “A drop on the outer ring will suffice.”

“Then let’s hurry,” Tsu growled. “Before she–”

She didn’t get to finish. A surge of chakra erupted from the trees to their left, and Amane emerged with a smile that promised violence.

“Oh, what’s this? What could you possibly be doing with a seal that big?” She tilted her head, purple eyes gleaming. “Are you trying to escape? That’s no fun at all.”

“Protect the seal!” Sakura shouted.

Hikari was already moving, intercepting Amane as she darted forward. The Hyuga’s palms struck out in rapid succession, but Amane avoided each one. Tadao ran at her from behind, jaws open to latch around her throat, but she weaved around that too, letting the dog pass her by.

Tsu joined the fray, her odachi sweeping in wide arcs that forced Amane to flip backward. The Kumo nin laughed, twisting in midair to avoid the blade.

“Three on one? I love it!”

She formed a seal with one hand, and suddenly there were three of her, each clone armed and dangerous. They split apart, surrounding the group in a triangle formation.

“How did she do that?” Mei groaned from the sled, her voice weak. She’d regained enough consciousness to speak but not enough to move.

“Doesn’t matter,” Yuta grunted, positioning himself between the sled and the nearest clone. “Lay down and rest.”

Sakura released Teashi again, the puppet’s four arms spreading wide as it interposed itself between the seal and the nearest clone. The fake Amane lunged, and Teashi caught her blade with two sickles while the other two arms reached for her throat.

The weapons passed through the girl like she wasn’t even there. Her form wavered before dissolving like a mirage, and Sakura blinked.

“No shadows,” Sakura realized, looking towards the other two. “They’re regular clones! They can’t hit us!”

“Very good!” The real Amane called from somewhere in the canopy. “But now that you’ve figured that out…”

A sizzling sound was the only warning before a stream of white foam cascaded from above, melting a hole through the canopy and splashing against the forest floor. Sakura dove to the side, dragging Hikari with her as the acid ate through roots and leaves.

“She’s trying to destroy the seal!” Hikari shouted.

Kumosuke continued weaving, its legs moving faster now as it sensed the urgency. The pattern on the ground was nearly complete, intricate webbing forming a complex geometric design that pulsed with faint chakra.

“This one needs blood. All but summoner's,” the spider reminded them.

Tsu bit her thumb, pressing it against the outer ring. Hikari followed suit, and Yuta reluctantly added his own blood after a sharp look from Sakura.

“Is that everyone?” Amane’s voice rang out from above. “What about the sleeping beauties on the stretcher?”

“I’ll take care of it!” Yuta said, leaning over his teammates with a kunai in hand.

A thud drew Sakura’s attention back to the battle just as Amane dropped from the trees, landing in the center of the clearing with a splash.

“You’re pretty good at stalking,” she said, slowly rising to her feet. The ground around her sizzled, a thin sheen of white oozing off of every part of her body like slime from a slug. “I’m gonna take it up a notch, if you don’t mind. Try not to melt.”

She lunged forward, trailing steam and sizzling foam. Teashi intercepted her, but the moment the puppet’s wooden arms made contact, smoke began to rise. Sakura yanked her hands back, eyes wide as she saw the damage that tiny amount of contact had caused to her creation.

“Kumosuke, how long!?”

“Almost complete,” The spider chittered. “Thirty seconds.”

“Thirty seconds might as well be thirty years!” Tsu roared, throwing herself at Amane. The Kumo nin caught her sword with one slime-covered arm, the acid hissing against the metal.

“Your sword is melting, mutt,” Amane giggled. “Better switch to fists or better yet, throw your dog at me! Even I don’t like hurting sweet little puppies~”

Tsu yanked her blade back, the edge already pitted and smoking. Hikari appeared at Amane’s flank, but the Kumo nin spun, her arm sweeping wide and sending a spray of acid droplets that forced the Hyuga to dive away.

Sakura’s mind raced, trying to find a route of attack that wouldn’t end with her weapon being destroyed or her teammates melting themselves to the bone.

Twenty seconds.

Amane advanced on the seal itself, foam dripping from her form. “This looks important. I wonder what happens if I step on it?”

“Don’t!” Sakura thrust her hand forward, chakra threads connecting to Teashi. Ignoring all caution, she had her puppet wrap its tertiary arms around Amane’s torso, ignoring the smoke rising from its joints.

“Oh, you’re sacrificing your toy?” she laughed, not even bothering to struggle free as the acid did its job. “How noble!”

Fifteen seconds.

Teashi’s arms were melting now, the wood softening and warping. But it was enough, at least for the moment.

“Kumosuke!”

“Nearly complete.”

Amane ripped free of Teashi’s grip, acid-slicked hands reaching for the seal. “Too slow!”

Just as her fingers grazed it however, Sakura’s summon completed the array, one leg gently streaming chakra into the delicately spun web. 

The seal blazed with light, and the world dissolved into a whirlwind of chakra and sensation. Sakura felt herself being pulled, stretched, twisted through space in a way that made her stomach lurch.

The last thing she saw was Amane’s face, inches away, slime dripping from her chin as she smiled widely.