Unshackled: A Naruto Fanfiction

Chapter 18: Horrors

A few rapid knocks woke Sei from her dreamless sleep, her eyes slowly opening as she turned her head towards the direction of the noise. She saw her teammate, a spy for Orochimaru, answer the door and reveal their sensei, Tenzo, or as she was told to call him, Yamato. 

It had been exactly thirty-six hours since her conversation with Naruto. With that reminder, she hid her hands underneath the black woolen blanket she had been provided by the examiners to hide from her sensei that they were trembling. Her head began pounding. 

"Kill Danzo." Sei's jaw fell open in surprise as her eyes widened to the size of saucers. She wasn't sure if she had heard him right, but the seriousness in his dark blue eyes left no room for doubt. He wanted her to kill Danzo, one of the only constants in her life. The man who had trained her since she could walk. 

"Unless, you aren't willing to prove yourself in such a manner?" He asked as he saw Sei's shellshocked expression. His words knocked her out of the shock she was stuck in as she shook her head violently.

"NO!" She shouted, her hands finding their way to her hair as she pulled at the loose strands wildly as the stress of the situation hit her full force. "No, I will! I'll do anything you ask! Please don't leave me, Naruto-sama! I don't care how strong he is I'll do it!" The panic of displeasing Naruto overrode her sense of logic as she held onto his feet, praising him like a god. 

Sei felt a gentle hand stroke the top of her head and she peered up, tears streaming down her cheeks as she saw Naruto smiling lovingly at her. "I know you will." He whispered softly. 

She had to kill Danzo. The knowledge of that simple fact seemed to carry the weight of the world. She was broken out of her thoughts as her sensei's voice pierced her ears. 

". . .ei, we have to get ready. Sei!" She opened her eyes completely as saw Yamato looking at her with a concerned stare in his eyes. "What's wrong? You're usually up and ready to go before these two," He said, pointing his thumb at Kabuto and Yugito who were already up and prepared for this day's event. 

"I'm fine, sensei." She said after a moment. "The Forest of Death was draining." The concern in his eyes melted away into suspicion. He knew Sei and her origins. She wouldn't be drained by an easy five day task in a forest she's trained in since she was little. 

Sei only watched as Yamato debated in his head on his next course of action, but was relieved to see him just shake is head in denial. "Alright then, hurry up and get dressed. The Second Exam is officially over and Hokage-sama wants all of those who passed to gather at the basement." Sei nodded. 

"I'll be as quick as possible." With that, Yamato left with Yugito and Kabuto in tow, the latter of the two sending her a worried glance before shutting the door behind him. 

Sei hurriedly threw on her usual shinobi outfit, strapping her tanto to her back before checking all of her equipment and rushing out. She made her way down to the basement, where she saw all of the passing Genin from the Second Exam standing in neat rows in the center of what seemed to be an arena. 

She bowed her apologies to the Hokage, who sat above everyone else on a platform with two Anbu guards on either side of him along with Anko, who had her arms crossed over her chest as she stood with a scowl on her face. Hiruzen merely waved Sei off and she quickly took her place in the crowd next to Kabuto. 

She didn't hear the Hokage leap down from his platform and begin speaking about the purpose of them having gathered. She didn't hear a man named Hayate Gekko then step in, revealing himself as the proctor for the Third Exam, nor did she hear the following rules the sickly man laid out. 

All she heard was the sound of her heart beating in her chest, the sound of the blood rushing in her ears didn't help. She was interrupted from her thoughts when she heard Kabuto speak loudly next to her.