The Riders

Sasuke and Team Eagle were making their way towards Konoha; revenge for the pain of his brother Itachi still fresh in his mind.

They decided to take a shortcut through a forest that would put them on a blind side of the Konoha security.

They were halfway into the woods when Madara stopped.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked.

"This forest, something's not right."

There was an unearthly screech that echoed through the forest.

They looked ahead of them to see a black horse.

It's owner wore a black robe that hid his face; his hands in feet covered in armor.

The robed figure drew his sword and pointed it at Sasuke.

"Uchiha...Sasuke..."

"What do you want?"

The robed figure answered with another screech and ran towards them.

They dodged him with little effort.

Madara and Sasuke turned on their Sharingan; they gasped at what they saw.

"What is it?"Suigetsu asked.

"This guy...he isn't human in any way..." Sasuke answered.

There were more screeches as four more black riders appeared.

They drew their swords and charged.

Sasuke powered his sword up with chidori and aimed to kill.

He was surprised when his sword was blocked by the sword of the Rider.

These guys...they aren't pushovers...

He looked around to see that his comrades weren't faring well against their new foes.

They managed to knock them off their horses, and even smash them with devastating attacks, but the riders rose and fought as though they were never hit.

"You cannot defeat us...Sasuke Uchiha..."

"He can't, but I can!" Came a boastful voice.

They all looked up to see Naruto, along with Sakura, Sai, Neji, Kakashi, and Yamato.

"Rasengan!"

Before Naruto struck the Rider, another appeared on a horse and rammed him into a tree.

"Naruto!" Sakura said.

There was more screeching as four more riders appeared after the last one, making it a total of ten.

"Who are these guys?" Naruto asked.

"Not sure, but their chakra...they don't have any." Neji commented.

"Enough...kill the others...Uchiha is mine."

The other nine screeched in confirmation and charged for everyone else.

Sasuke looked back at the black warrior, just as the warrior flew at him.

Sasuke didn't have time to move as the warrior snatched him up, taking him deeper into the forest.

He flew into a tree and quickly recovered.

The hooded figure raised his sword as he walked up to him.

Sasuke once again powered up his sword as he charged towards the robed creature.

With speed that was twice as fast as Sasuke the robed figure slashed him across the chest.

Sasuke fell to the ground and tried to get back up.

He felt his strength leaving him, and rolled over on his back, crawling away from his foe.

The rider slowly walked up to Sasuke, sword aimed for the killing blow.

Sasuke felt himself slipping; something about that blade was most likely killing him.

As he fought to keep his eyes open, he saw the robed figure's head jerk as a ball of light hit it straight in the face.

It schreeched again and dashed off.

Men in white armor chased after for awhile.

Sasuke saw a girl in what looked like a white evening gown bend down in front of him.

She stroked his hair and brought her face close to his.

"Do not worry my friend...we shall heal you."

Her voice was so soothing Sasuke was out before he knew it.