Chapter 4
Some Hours Later
Naruto and Sasuke lay, once again, on the floor of the training grounds, barely able to move; having only the Kyuubi's chakra left to keep them conscious. As promised Kakashi had not gone easy on them, he'd treated them like any other enemy.
"Come to Team 7's training grounds tomorrow at 8:00 am," said Kakashi emotionlessly before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.
"Sasu-nii…" trailed Naruto weakly, inching his tired and sore body closer to his twin,
"Ah?" answered Sasuke quietly.
"You can feel it, can't you? Something awful is going to happen…so promise me, promise me you'll never leave me alone no matter what."
"I promise," whispered Sasuke before he succumbed to the dark pit of unconsciousness.
Meanwhile many miles away, while the eyes of the Uchiha twins closed a pair of golden snake-like ones opened; flickering to life.
"Ah, the time has come…Kabuto," said the raspy voice, the owner's tongue gliding out of its mouth and grotesquely licking its lips.
The Next Day
Sakura tapped her foot impatiently, she'd gotten a message from Kakashi to come to Team 7's training grounds at 8:00 am, but so far she was the only one who'd arrived. Sakura turned her green eyes to the pure blue sky above, losing herself in thought.
"Naruto…Sasuke-kun…" she whispered, flashes of their blood soaked bodies and rotting skin played before her mind's eye. She hadn't seen her two teammates for weeks and their absence left a strange pit of loneliness in her stomach. As she thought about her teammates her thoughts switched solely to the blue eyed one. The pinkette had heard rumors that Naruto was now an Uchiha.
"Usotsuki….liars, it can't be―" she began but stopped in mid sentence when the air around her turned to wind; which then gathered into a swirling vortex. When it died away the air cleared to reveal two black-haired Genin in its place. Naruto and Sasuke had arrived.
"Sasuke-kun!" said Sakura, her face lighting up; then her eyes switched to the strange boy beside him. "Who is―" she began but halted when the boy turned to face her, his familiar blue eyes meeting her green ones. Only one person had those eyes.
"Naruto?" she whispered in disbelief. "The rumors are true…" she said but her expression was still that of a question.
"Ah," answered Naruto, his strange voice startling her. "The rumors are true; Sasuke is my oniisan, my twin brother to be exact." Suddenly Sakura felt dizzy and she took a step back, one small hand covering her mouth.
"Who are you two? And what did you do with the Sasuke and Naruto I know?" she whispered, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. The pinkette took another step back. There was so much darkness, anger, pain and sadness surrounding these two; she didn't know them, they were two heartless, revenge filled beings that reveled in the things of the darkness…they were avengers, true avengers. Sakura shook her head, her voice a mere whisper at first then it changed to a yell.
"Iie, iie, iie!" she screamed "these are not my teammates…these are..are…" she trailed as the tears spilled over.
"Hn, I'm glad you realize, Sakura," said Sasuke, a slight smirk twisting his lips.
"We are no longer the same, we have chosen our fated paths, our paths as avengers, our path in the darkness," hissed Naruto, his blue eyes darkening.
"Sakura," he continued quietly, almost softly, while taking a step forward, putting his hand on the Kunoichi's shoulder and leaning over so that his lips were close to her ears.
"You will tell no one what we have told you," he commanded, his voice dangerously soft and laced with poison.
"H-hai," stammered Sakura; trembling from head to toe with fear.
A few minutes later Kakashi arrived, and he noticed nothing amiss except for Sakura's tear stained eyes, which he decided to ask her about after he announced the news. Kakashi pulled three white slips of paper from his pocket and handed one to each member of Team 7.
"Those are the application forms for the Chuunin Selection Exams, which will be taking place here in Konohagakure no Sato in two months time," explained Kakashi. At this Sakura's eyes widened with shock.
"D-Do you think we're ready, Kakashi-sensei?" she asked hesitantly, not meeting her sensei's eyes.
"Hai," answered Kakasi "but do you think you're ready Sakura?" Sakura looked down at the ground, trying to hide her lack of confidence; but not before Naruto and Sasuke had seen her self doubt.
After Naruto and Sasuke had left the training field Sakura turned to leave when Kakashi stopped her.
"Sakura, a minute please," he said, while motioning for her to stand beside him. Sakura quickly obeyed, then looked quizzically up at Kakashi.
"Nani?" she asked as she watched something inside of Kakashi's eyes change and he became sombre.
"Why were you crying earlier?" he asked seriously.
"I wasn't..." lied Sakura. Kakashi's eyes hardened.
"Don't lie to me Sakura," he said warningly. "Was it something Naruto or Sasuke did?"
Sakura opened her mouth to agree, but then she remembered Naruto's hot breath on her ear and his soft dark words that had seeped like poison into the pores of her skin and into her very being.
"Its nothing Kakashi-sensei, I promise, its nothing," she lied, swallowing to quell her nervousness. Kakashi watched Sakura intensley. He could tell she was hiding something, but exactly what, that was what he could not decipher. But he decided to drop the matter, but not before saying,
"Do not disappoint me, Sakura," and with that disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
After Kakashi left Sakura sank to her knees, giving in to the fear and weakness that had overcome her. She had lied to her sensei, directly so. She hated doing it but just the thought of Naruto's dark, intense blue eyes sent shivers down her spine, and not the good kind either. As the pinkette began her guilt trip, once again tears spilled over, creating watery green pools in the depths of emotion that were called her eyes. Confusion clouded her ability to think and she began to panic. She didn't know what to do. She hated lying to her sensei but she knew she couldn't reveal Naruto and Sasuke's secret, plus she knew she wasn't ready for the Chuunin Exams. But if she didn't enter then her team couldn't and Naruto and Sasuke would be furious. Just the thought of a furious Naruto and Sasuke gave her the chills.
"I must me strong, I must," whispered Sakura, her green eyes hardening with determination and an image of two dark haired Uchiha twins came to mind. "For them I must, I must not disappoint them, I must become strong," she repeated, then got to her feet and headed off in the direction of the Konoha library, her resolved hardened.
Naruto and Sasuke walked along an empty street in Konoha, heading towards their home when the screams of,
"Let me go, let me go!" filled their ears. As they rounded the corner they saw a shinobi wearing a black jumpsuit with a hood that had cat-like ears. He was holding a small boy with a long scarf around his neck; strangling him.
"Be quiet, teme gaki," sneered the black clad nin, his purple kabuki painted face twisting into a sneer.
Naruto's blue eyes flickered to the shiny metal protector on the nin's hood.
'He's a Suna-nin,' thought Naruto as he recognized the hourglass sign. 'He must have come here for the Chuunin Exams.' The brunette's eyes switched back to the young boy whom he instantly recognized as Konohamaru Sarutobi. A smirk formed on Naruto's lips and he silently drew a kunai, and with precise aim flung it so that it lodged in the Suna-nin's arm, causing him to howl in pain and drop Konohamaru.
"Kuso!" cursed the nin "whoever did that come out and face me, I'll pound you to bits!" Naruto smirked and said to Sasuke via their mental link,
'I'll handle this one, I'll make him wet his pants.'
'Che, just be careful Naru-nii, we can't give away ourselves yet,' replied Sasuke mentally.
'Ah, I know.'
Naruto stepped out of the trees lining the street, his head held low, his eyes closed. Kakuro sensed his presence and turned to face him.
"Huh?" he sneered "so you were the one who threw the kunai, heh, looks like this is the end for you, genin," he smirked. At this Naruto's head snapped up and his eyes flew open revealing the blood red Sharingan of the Uchiha clan. A leer filled with blood lust twisted his lips, then he said,
"You were saying..." Kakuro took a step back. This was no ordinary ninja. The look in his eyes reminded him strongly of his younger brother. Naruto smirked when he noticed Kankuro's fear.
"No one messed with the shinobi of my village, Suna-san," he hissed as he drew another kunai, twirling it in his fingers as he took a step closer towards Kankuro. Naruto opened his mouth to say something when a vortex of sand whirled in between him and Kakuro, fading away to reveal a boy around his age with spiky red hair and a gourd of sand strapped to his back.
"Kankuro," said the boy, his voice surprisingly deep and throaty. "Didn't I tell you not to get into trouble?"
"G-Gomen nasai—" stammered Kankuro in fear and began to launch an explanation but was cut off by Gaara.
"Yurusei, I'll kill you!" he growled, his green eyes narrowing.
'He's a Jinchuuriki,' said Sasuke to Naruto mentally.
'Ah,' agreed Naruto 'Only Jinchuurikis have that much chakra and that aura.' Gaara turned to face Naruto, his green eyes meeting Naruto's red ones.
'He's like me, his eyes look like mine,' thought Gaara and let out a small dark chuckle. 'Kaasan wail enjoy tasting his blood!' Sasuke noticed the killing intent in Gaara's eyes and hopped down from his place in a nearby tree, landing beside Naruto.
"Who are you?" he asked Gaara rudely.
"Sabuku no Gaara," replied the red head, inclining his head slightly, waiting for Sasuke to respond.
"Uchiha Sasuke," replied the brunette. Gaara turned slightly in Naruto's direction.
"And you?" he asked darkly.
"Uchiha Naruto," answered Naruto, his Sharingan swirling dangerously. The air filled with tension but was soon broken by the arrival of a tall blonde with her spiky blonde hair in four ponytails, causing her to greatly resemble a porcupine.
"Gaara, Kankuro," she said reprovingly "I've been looking all over for you two, what have you been doing? Let's go back—" she didn't finish as Gaara interrupted her with a growl.
"Yurusei Temari, no one gives me orders, especially not you."
"H-hai, gomen nasai Gaara," she whispered, lowering her head, but not before Naruto and Sasuke saw the fear in her eyes. Gaara cast one last look at Naruto and Sasuke before turning to go while saying,
"I look forward to fighting you in the Chuunin Exams, Kaasan will love to taste your blood, how pleased she'll be..." he trailed darkly, while grotesquely licking his lips. Naruto and Sasuke smirked simultaneously, raising their chakra as they did so.
"Hn, we'll be waiting, Gaara," spat Naruto, his now blue eyes narrowing dangerously. With that Gaara strode away, calling to Kankuro and Temari.
"Ikuzo," and the three of them took off over the roof tops, disappearing into the distance.
A forgotten Konohamaru inched closer to Naruto, fear showing in his eyes. This person was no longer the Naruto that he once knew. How he longed for the fake blue eyed, blonde haired happy-go-lucky Naruto to retun.
"Ano...arigatou," Konohamaru managed to say, trembling with fear as Naruto's blue eyes snapped to his attention.
"Hn," grunted the Uchiha ans with that strode off, his beloved Sasu-nii at his side.
