My distance from the target is exactly four meters and the target is 1.72 meters from the ground. The wind speed is at 10 mph - therefore, by doing a jump of 0.7 meters from the ground and tilting my wrist 40 degrees backwards, I can exert a force that will send the kunai flying towards my target at 30 mph.

Sakura's mind worked like a well-oiled clock as she studied the formulas in her head, vaguely, she heard Itachi behind her, telling her that her posture was wrong and her footing was the other way around.

Sakura knew that, of course. Since she could walk, her parents had been teaching her how to handle weapons.

She felt the familiar weight of the kunai as she exhaled a long breath and sent her kunai flying towards her target. And with a 'thunk', her kunai landed on a red ring on the target board, hovering along the white border that surrounded the bull's eye.

"Alright!" Sakura cheered.

Itachi smiled kindly at her, but she could see that there was an expression of impatience in his eyes as he studied her. "Almost had it there," he said.

Sakura smiled at him.

No. Itachi was wrong.

Sakura hadn't almost had it.

The red ring had been her target. Her kunai landed exactly where she wanted it to be. But of course, he didn't know that.

In the distance, she heard Sasuke grumble before he threw his kunai at his target and it landed on the bull's eye. Sakura hid her frown. It was the bull's eye, yes, but it was about a centimeter from the center. It hadn't been a precise throw - her father always said that a life could be taken by just knowing where exactly to aim. A miss of one or two centimeters could mean the failure of the whole mission.

The seven-year-old Sasuke then turned and met her eyes. When he caught her looking at him, he scowled. This time, Sakura didn't bother to hide her frown. It had been about a week since she had arrived at the Uchiha household and she didn't know why, but it seemed like Sasuke hated her. She had done everything she could for him to like her - she had pretended she didn't like tomatoes so that he could take her share; she had even muffled her abilities (something that peculiarly drawn people to her to be her friend when she was in Amegakure)! She didn't know what he found in her that was so... unlikable.

"Don't worry about him," Itachi said softly, patting Sakura's head. Sakura nodded mutely, but walked over the Sasuke instead. Peculiarly, he was poking the ground with a stick with so much force that the soil that had dried in the sun cracked beneath it.

"What are you doing, Sasuke-kun?" she asked, looking down at him and smiling as she did so.

Sasuke lifted his head and gave her the hardest glare he could muster. She saw his eyes dart away from her - towards where the direction his brother was standing - before he went back to poking the ground.

"It's none of your business," young Sasuke dismissed.

Sakura frowned. At least he replied, right? That meant she was getting somewhere. Well... right?

"What's that?" Sakura persisted.

"It's a stick," Sasuke answered in a tone that implied that he was talking to the stupidest person in the entirety of the Fire Country.

"What do you need a stick for?"

"I'm boring a hole into the ground."

"What are you creating a hole on the ground for?" she asked further, not giving up.

To Sasuke, however, it seemed like the last straw. He looked at her again and glared even harder. "Go away," he said bluntly. "You're annoying."

Before she could say anything else, Sasuke had already gotten up and had started walking away.

Sakura frowned as she looked at his retreating figure - she wanted nothing other than to make friends with him. She most certainly didn't want to be his enemy, so why did he treat her like she was?

She was about to follow inside when her senses picked up an alteration in the wind pattern. Sakura recognized it immediately - a kunai was flying towards her direction!

With her fast reflexes, she'd gotten away in time, hearing the sharp 'thud' of the kunai embedded on the bark of a tree behind her. In her peripheral vision, she saw Itachi standing and she turned immediately to warn him.

"Itachi-nii-sama -" she started but upon seeing his amused expression, she immediately shut herself up.

"I knew it," he said, walking towards her direction.

Sakura looked at him with fearful eyes. He was angry now - he was going to punish her! Sakura shut her eyes tight as he neared. She braced herself for a blow, but it never came. She then realized that Itachi had only walked towards her direction to retrieve his kunai from the tree.

"Although I won't question your decision to hide your abilities," Itachi started, stowing his kunai away, "I don't see how it makes much difference."

Sakura turned away from him, wringing her hands nervously. "I... I..." she stammered. Mentally, she reprimanded herself for being so nervous. Slowly, she drew a deep breath. "Back in Ame... when people find out that my parents are shinobi... they... avoid me..." she said slowly.

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Well, I don't see how that matters here in Konoha," he said contemplatively. "Here, the shinobi are considered heroes and are regarded with highest honor."

Sakura raised her head at him, awed by the new information.

"But regardless of that," he continued, already starting to turn away, "you should be proud of anything that defines who you are, whatever it may be."


Chapter 12: The Forest of Death


Uzumaki Naruto didn't think he'd seen trees as big as the trees past the barbed fence. It was surreal – he didn't think even ten people with hands linked together and arms opened wide would be able to fully wrap around the trunks on one of those gigantic trees.

But he didn't let the trees intimidate him.

After all, they were trees. And as much as he knew, trees couldn't kill anybody.

I'll punch one of those things and they'll crumble into pieces. Psh! Weak trees!

"This is creepy," he heard Sakura mutter from behind him.

Strangely enough, the examiner seemed to have heard her even though she was a good fifteen feet from the three.

The examiner scoffed, tilting her head backwards. Her dark hair was tied up in a spiky ponytail and she was wearing the strangest smirk on her face. "Soon you will find out why this place is called the Forest of Death," she said.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Soon you will find out why this is called the Forest of Death!" he mimicked, making funny faces at the spiky-haired woman. "You think that scares me?! That's nothing! I'm not afraid!"

After all, what was there to be afraid of? They had passed the First Exam easily! He even got away with it with no answers on his test paper! He was born to pass this exam! And then be a great ninja and then be the Hokage!

The woman smiled wider. "Yeah," she said in a sickly sweet voice. "You're spirited."

Naruto was just about to retort back at her when he felt a sharp pain on his left cheek. And then suddenly the examiner's voice - what was her name again? Mitarashi? Mitarashi Anko? – Suddenly came from behind him.

Something warm was trickling down his face - his own blood?

Uzumaki Naruto gulped.

"Kids like you are quickly killed," Anko continued, locking him in place. "Spraying the red blood that I love…"

"Here's," somebody else said, a slithering voice, cut Anko off, "your kunai."

Naruto fought the urge to glance, but couldn't. He wished he hadn't. Because somebody was passing the kunai back to Anko – with his tongue.

What… the… hell…

"Thank you," Anko said, taking her kunai from him. "But unless you want to be killed, you better not lurk behind me again."

"I'm sorry," the tongue-guy (Naruto couldn't decipher if it was a man or a woman) slurred. "But the sight of blood had me excited."

Naruto gulped.

Maybe he needed to be scared - even just a little - after all.


Five minutes into the Forest of Death, they heard a scream. Sakura suppressed a shudder - she knew that being a ninja meant being in pain, but the amount of anguish in that scream had her wondering if entering this exam was a good

First, the examiner had them sign wavers so that she wouldn't be responsible for deaths, and now, after a short while, someone was already dying.

"I'm getting kind of nervous," Sakura said softly, voicing her thoughts.

Beside her, Naruto stood straighter. "This is nothing, Sakura-chan! I'll protect you!" he said, thumping one of his fists against his chest as he grinned at her.

Sakura reluctantly smiled back before she looked around. It didn't look like there was anybody nearby - the best thing to do now was cover a lot of distance without getting attacked, formulate a plan on how to get the earth scroll (they had gotten Heaven - its counterpart) and camp the night at a safe place. From the map that Mitarashi Anko showed them earlier, whether you were east or west, the river always led to the tower that was in the middle of the forest. Once they found the river, all they had to do was follow it and they would find the tower. Finding food was a problem, though. Sakura knew many kinds of plants from her lessons at the Academy, but she found that there were still a lot that she didn't know - about half of the plants surrounding the three of them were still unfamiliar to her. Moreover, she doubted that they'd encounter no one once they did find the river. It was the only source of water inside the forest - everybody would inevitably have to go there if they didn't want to thirst their way out of the second exam. It was one of the reasons why they had chosen a gate relatively far from it.

The rustling of clothing nearby broke Sakura away from her thoughts. Naruto was standing in front of a bush, and she knew from his stance what he was planning to do.

"Hey, don't do that in front of a lady!" she retorted, hitting him once on the top of his head; Sasuke snorted in amusement.

Naruto 'ack'ed and grumbled before walking away, choosing a tree about five meters away from them. Once Naruto was out of sight, she noticed Sasuke's gaze on her face.

She blinked up at him. He really was kind of tall for his age. "What is it?" she asked.

Sasuke shrugged. "I should be the one asking you that question," he answered. "From the look on your face, it look like you're already thinking of a way out of this exam successfully."

Sakura frowned. Was she really that easy to read? "Actually, not yet," she said. "I was thinking of the map Mitarashi-san showed us - which the river always led to the tower. Because it does - and because it's a river - we're bound to encounter a lot of enemies on the way. Not to mention, we still have to find our scroll's counterpart." Sakura was suddenly conscious of the weight of the scroll inside her kunai pouch. She was careful enough not to voice out what type of scroll they possessed, lest an undetected enemy was lurking in the shadows.

"We're bound to fight anyway," Sasuke pointed out. "Why prolong the inevitable?"

Sakura looked at him like he was crazy. "I'm not trying to prolong the inevitable - I'm trying to minimize the risk of injury from an inevitable fight," she said.

Sasuke shrugged again, glancing at the rustling bushes nearby. It seemed like Naruto was done peeing.

"Man, so much came out! I feel so good now!" he said, rubbing the back of his head contentedly. Sakura was about to warn him not to try to piss in front of her again, when Sasuke suddenly punched Naruto hard on the stomach.

"Sasuke-kun! What are you - "Sakura was about to help Naruto up his feet when cold realization hit her - the person in front of her was not Naruto at all! How could she have not realized it sooner?

"What the hell are you doing?!" 'Naruto' yelled, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.

Sakura asked before Sasuke could, taking a kunai from her holster and assuming an offensive position. "Where's the real Naruto?"

"What are you both saying all of a sudden? Have you both gone crazy?" 'Naruto' said back. Sakura fought the urge to run towards him and punch him straight in the face, no matter how much she knew that was unwise. After all, this impostor's teammates could be hiding somewhere near them and were just waiting for their cue. However, she and Sasuke had just found out that he was not Naruto, so what was he doing still pretending he was? Maybe, as Sasuke said, he was 'prolonging the inevitable'.

"Your shuriken holster is at your left side; Naruto is right handed," Sasuke answered beside her, deciding to humor the impostor. "But what really blew you away is that you don't have the scratch on your left cheek - the one the examiner put on you. You are a fake loser who is worse than the dobe."

Slowly, a sadistic grin formed on 'Naruto's' face before he released the jutsu. Before them was a shinobi with brown hair clad in all white. Sakura recognized the headband immediately - Ame. However, the most peculiar part of this shinobi's costume is his mask. Sakura vaguely wondered if this was because his ninjutsu style was poison-oriented, since the use of poison was as common as the use of genjutsu at her former village.

"How unlucky - I got found out," the ninja said in a droning voice. "Let's cut the chase then: which one of you has the scroll?"

Sakura's jaw clenched; the scroll on her holster felt like it weighed a ton. Beside her, Sasuke prepared for attack.

"No one's answering? That's okay - I'll just get it by force, then!" And with that, the ninja sped towards the two of them.

Sasuke performed a series of seals too fast that Sakura didn't catch it all - but upon seeing the last seal, she immediately had an idea on what it was: tiger.

Sasuke jumped high, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake; Sakura jumped back as far as she could.

"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"

Several balls of fire that vaguely looked like flowers descended towards the enemy ninja, but he dodged them easily. Sasuke cursed under his breath and followed. Sakura's mind calculated the speed that their enemy was picking - no, it wasn't for escape! The enemy was just looking for an opening.

"Sasuke-kun, watch out!" she exclaimed as a kunai was thrown towards him. Sasuke got away in time, hiding behind a particularly wide tree branch.

Sakura mentally cursed - she had to find the real Naruto. Remembering what direction Naruto went earlier, she ran, only to hear an explosion behind her.

Damn - the kunai had an exploding tag. She silently hoped Sasuke was alright.

"Sakura-chan!" a familiar voice broke away her train of thoughts. Sakura descended and landed beside the real Naruto who was tightly wrapped by a thick rope. She crouched and cut the rope in one swift motion with her kunai.

"You okay?" Sakura asked as Naruto wiggled out from his bindings.

"Fine, Sakura-chan," Naruto replied. "Go help that bastard -"

Naruto was cut off by another explosion. Sakura did not need to be asked twice.

Sakura cursed under her breath and ran to where Sasuke was only to find the enemy shinobi standing directly behind him.

"Move and I'll kill you," the ninja sneered. "Hand the scroll over!"

Sakura gritted her teeth - like hell!

"Sasuke-kun!" she called in warning while throwing a kunai at the enemy. Sasuke, hearing her voice, turned around just as the enemy jumped to dodge the kunai. Sasuke raised one foot and stopped the kunai from hitting the ground - Sakura realized he was using chakra to keep it in place. Above him, the enemy ninja was regaining his footing as he stood at a branch. Sakura was about to jump up to land a hit when a kunai was flung towards his direction. Sakura glanced at Sasuke and saw that he was still holding the kunai she had thrown earlier. That must mean it was -

"You won't get away," Naruto's voice echoed in her ear as he threw another kunai.

The Ame ninja managed to dodge them, but was too distracted to realize that Sasuke was now jumping towards him. It was too late when he moved to dodge the blow because Sasuke had successfully landed a kunai on the shinobi's left shoulder to incapacitate him.

Sakura found herself getting dizzy at the sight of blood on Sasuke even though it wasn't his. Sasuke stabbed the enemy deeper.

"Sakura! Naruto! Look if there are more of them nearby!" Sasuke said, glancing once at Sakura's direction. The pink-haired girl realized that he had his sharingan activated.

The enemy took this moment to dislodge himself from Sasuke's grip and escape. Landing on the ground, Sakura saw Sasuke grit his teeth.

Sakura's eyes studied him, looking for any sign of injury and, finding none, felt her legs wobble, the adrenaline ebbing away.

What did she say about covering distance without getting attacked again?


"If we get separated again," Sasuke began as Team 7 huddled together to regroup, "even if it's one of us, don't trust them. This could happen again."

Beside him, Naruto nodded eagerly, having experienced firsthand what it felt like to be replaced by an enemy nin. On his other side was Sakura - her stance was attentive and if anybody else looked at her face, they would assume she was listening, but Sasuke knew her well enough to know she wasn't. The faraway look in her green eyes said as much.

"Sakura," Sasuke called. Sakura stiffened slightly before looking at him. "What do you think of the ninja who attacked us?"

"I think he's a pain in the ass!" Naruto quipped. Sasuke cast him an annoyed glance.

"That wasn't what I was talking about, dobe," he said. "That ninja was from Ame."

Sakura nodded. "Yes, he was," she said. Her eyes were attentive now; whatever she had been thinking about before forgotten. "I think he uses poison-type attacks, judging from the mask he wears on his face. Although if he and his team mates thought it was okay to go on their separate ways, I think they are also able to use genjutsu."

Naruto snorted. "That shinobi was as dumb as a rock!" he said. "He couldn't even transform himself into me properly!"

Sasuke was inclined to agree.

"I bet they won't be as easily beaten if they worked as a team," Sakura said, her brows furrowing in thought.

"We'll make a codeword in case this happens again," Sasuke continued, looking at both of them to make sure they were listening - or at least, Sakura. "If any one of us gets the codeword is wrong, assume he is an enemy, no matter who he looks like."

Sakura and Naruto nodded and Sasuke closed his eyes and exhaled softly. The foreign chakra was still there - whoever it belonged to, the person was obviously listening, making no move to attack them. Sasuke had no choice but to continue on and pretend that he didn't know that the enemy was then.

"When you are asked about the codeword, remember the song 'Nin Machine'." Beside him, Sakura blinked in recognition. The song was constantly being played on the radio during the past week and he and Sakura had heard it enough over breakfast to memorize the lyrics. But it didn't matter if she knew the song or not - he and Sakura had established another codeword, even before the Chuunin Exam had begun. Naruto, however, furrowed his brows in confusion, obviously not knowing what he was talking about. Nonetheless, he said nothing. For this, Sasuke was thankful. For all their enemy knew, it would have been Naruto's favorite song. "Listen carefully; I'll only say this once."

"A large amount of loud enemies is the friend of a shinobi; hide and remain silent," Sasuke recited. "A shinobi must understand the power of time, when the enemy is tired and ill-prepared."

When he finished, Naruto looked at him like he was crazy. "That's too long!" he retorted. Sasuke glared at him to shut up and not give any indication that he didn't know anything, but Naruto took it as a glare of annoyance. "It's impossible to remember, teme -"

"I already memorized it, Naruto." Sasuke was never more thankful for Sakura's interjection. "And Sasuke-kun said he'd only say it once."

Turning his head towards Sakura, he met her eyes. She nodded once at him - good, she knew what he was trying to do. If an enemy approached them in the form of Naruto, all Naruto had to say was...

"I'll hold the scroll," he told her. Sakura nodded as she took the scroll from her kunai holster and gave it to him.

Sasuke had just began to stand up when Naruto muttered an 'ouch' from his direction. Blood trickled down his right cheek and Sasuke looked down to find what had caused it. On the ground, its one side glazed in Naruto's blood was... a leaf?

"What -" Naruto began, but was not able to finish because a strong gust of wind was aimed at their direction.

Sasuke knew enough that this was no natural occurrence.

"Hide!" Sasuke barked before he teleported under a nearby bush.

Sasuke waited until the gush of wind stopped. He heard the leaves on the ground cracking behind him and he stood up in alarm.

"It's me, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, holding up her hands.

"Stop where you are," Sasuke warned holding up a kunai. "What's the code word?"

Sakura took a deep breath before answering, "The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it."

After she spoke, Sasuke relaxed. This was the real Sakura alright - if it was anybody else, he or she would have recited the codeword he had said a while ago. This codeword - the quote that Sakura spoke - was one that they had come up with many years ago when Fugaku joined them for training.

"When you are on a mission, there are times when you will get separated from your teammates," Fugaku had told them then after commenting about their forms. "When that happens, you must always have a code to confirm that who you're with is not an enemy."

Seeing that Sasuke had let his weapon down, Sakura relaxed as well. "I was beginning to think that you were really going to attack me," Sakura said, sighing in relief.

"If I did, then it'd be safe to assume that I'm the enemy," Sasuke replied, still holding his kunai in his hands, in case whoever it was who attacked them decided to show up. Sasuke heard the rustling of leaves again before Naruto walked over them asking them if they were alright. Sasuke studied his teammate carefully - the scratches on both his cheeks were there and his shuriken holster was on his right side. Naruto looked like Naruto - but there was only one way to find out if that were true.

"Naruto, wait a second! What's the codeword?" Sakura said from behind him.

"Don't worry! I know it." Naruto grinned. "A large amount of loud enemies is the friend of a shinobi; hide and remain silent. A shinobi must understand the power of time, when the enemy is tired and ill-prepared."

Sasuke smirked; beside him Sakura stiffened. He knew that she had realized the same thing that he did - this wasn't the real Naruto, not at all.

With a swift motion, Sasuke threw the kunai he was holding at 'Naruto's' direction with all his might. 'Naruto' exclaimed and dodged it at the last second.

"So this time it's someone good enough to dodge my attacks," Sasuke mused. Sakura took out a kunai from her holster, seeming to have recovered from her initial shock.

'Naruto' grinned darkly - an expression that the real Naruto would never make. "It's impressive that you knew." The impostor dropped the henge and Sasuke recognized the person immediately - it was the one from earlier; the shinobi who had handed Mitarashi Anko her kunai back. "How did you find out?"

"I knew you were listening to our conversation from underground," Sasuke explained. Sakura glanced at him once with an expression of bewilderment - it seemed like she didn't know why he really established the codeword after all. "That's why I made a codeword like that."

"It if was Naruto," Sakura added. "He would have said that he didn't know what it was."

Sasuke looked at the enemy's headband as he (or she - Sasuke wasn't really sure) chuckled in amusement. This one was Kumogakure.

"I was wondering why you quoted Thucydides earlier," the Kumo ninja said, glancing at Sakura's direction. "It seemed that I was wrong in underestimating you."

Sakura said nothing. Instead, she looked back at the enemy with a determined look on her face. He knew that she was wondering what this ninja had done to the real Naruto.

"You want my earth scroll, right?" the ninja said, taking out an earth scroll from his (her?) robes. "Since you kids have the heaven scroll..." the ninja trailed off, taking out his long tongue and wrapping it around the scroll. Slowly, he carried the scroll towards his mouth with his tongue - and swallowed it.

What the -

"Now, let's begin..." the ninja continued, "the battle for each other's scroll with our lives on the line."

The Kumo nin raised his hand to his face and Sasuke's eyes followed it - until he met his eyes.

And then Sasuke didn't know what happened.

Suddenly, he felt like his skin was being peeled off - the all-too familiar stench of blood filled the air and Sasuke vaguely registered that the blood he smelled was his. His eyes felt like it was burning and his bones felt like it was being broken over and over again. He wanted to scream, but as he opened his mouth, more blood came out and he found himself choking, gasping for air, begging for mercy - and then he saw a kunai being flung towards his direction. It was too late. He couldn't move, he couldn't scream, he couldn't even breathe. The kunai landed in between his eyes.

And then...

Sasuke sunk to the ground.

…he was dead.

Uchiha Sasuke blinked.

Except that he wasn't.

Sasuke drifted in and out of his consciousness as he caught his breath. It took him a moment to realize that his skin wasn't being peeled off, his bones were not breaking and there was no kunai in between his eyes - it was a genjutsu.

Yet it felt real - too real - and he wanted nothing but to close his eyes and wake up from this nightmare.

"…you will witness me murdering everyone from the Uchiha Clan again and again and again -"

Bile rose from his throat as memories that he had buried deep inside of him played on and on in his head.

"Run," his brother's voice echoed in his ears, "Run - live life in the most despicable way -"

STOP! he screamed in his head. This is just fear! It's nothing - it's genjutsu its -

"...live life in the most despicable way -"

A whimper broke him away from the havoc inside his head. Someone - someone was beside him - Sakura!

It took every ounce of his strength to turn his head towards her. She was shaking - just like he was - and she was crying. Fear was written all over her face as her tears continued to flow.

This is bad, Sasuke thought. We must run! Otherwise we will -

"You can no longer move," the ninja said, like he could read Sasuke's thoughts.

Sasuke tried to move his limbs but he couldn't - his whole body felt numb. What had he done to them?!

Beside him, Sakura still knelt, unmoving, her eyes were clouded only with fear, and Sasuke realized that she must still be inside the enemy's genjutsu.

Move!

Slowly, he moved his fingers towards his kunai holster. The kunai felt heavy in his hand and he tightened his shaking hand around it.

Move!

The Kumo nin took two kunai from his robe. Sasuke knew what he was going to do - he was going to throw it at them when they were both vulnerable - and they would be dead.

Move!

Sasuke raised his hand; their enemy raised his.

MOVE!


Naruto's head throbbed where it had been hit. He vaguely remembered being thrown over by a powerful force and his vision spun around him. Naruto felt like he was upside down...

…which he was, he realized.

"Where's Sakura-chan and that bastard?" he muttered under his breath.

From nearby, he could hear something moving. Recovering from his nausea, Naruto stood up, only to come face to face with a giant snake.

"Wha - what is -" Naruto stammered as the snake slithered closer. Its body was as thick as the trunks inside the forest. Naruto gaped, not really knowing what to do.

I've never seen a snake so... so... big!

Naruto stepped backwards as the snake advanced as his mind worked on how to defeat it. The snake opened its mouth, revealing its sharp fangs, Naruto was about to run when something wrapped around his body. At first he thought it was another gigantic snake, but he then realized it was its tail.

Using all the strength he had, he tried to wiggle free from it, but to no avail. Naruto could only gasp as the snake swallowed him whole.

The sensation of being squished and falling down at the same time was unnerving.

"LET ME OUT! DAMN YOU!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs - not that the snake could understand him.

But maybe he did.

"DAMN YOU! SPIT ME OUT!"

Whatever, he decided. He was going to do whatever it took to get out of this gigantic snake's stomach.

Naruto tried to move his arms and legs, but it was too tight to punch his way out.

Damn it! he thought. At this rate I'm going to be digested.

He thought of ways to make the snake throw up - the only way to make him sick was to make him eat more than his body could contain. Naruto sighed, he doubted that the next moment the snake had another meal, he would still be alive.

An imaginary light bulb lit inside his head.

That was it! He just had to make so much of him that the giant snake would throw up!

Wiggling his arms from his sides, he formed a seal, and with the loudest voice he could muster, he yelled: "KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"


Sasuke inhaled and exhaled through his nose deeply as he pulled the kunai from his thigh. It was only a theory - that the pain would dull the fear enough for them to escape - but it worked.

In front of him, Sakura was panting hard, seeming to have escaped from the genjutsu cast by the Kumo nin. Any initial trauma or fear was completely washed out the moment her eyes saw Sasuke's injury.

"Sasuke-kun are you alri -" Sasuke clamped a hand on her mouth to shut her off. She was being so loud - the Kumo nin was still out there. He doubted they could keep quiet long enough to remain undiscovered. He felt Sakura taking his hand off her face.

"SASUKE-KUN, A SNAKE!" she yelled as Sasuke snapped out of his thoughts. They jumped and dodged the initial attack.

Sasuke panted as he saw what attacked them - Sasuke was right. It was a snake, but it was a thousand times bigger than a regular one. That was impossible - how could snake this big exist inside this forest?!

Sasuke mentally cursed. Unless it's an animal summon.

He found us!

Sasuke's body fell rigid as he remembered the genjutsu from before. His breathing grew faster.

"GET AWAY!" he yelled as the snake as he threw a handful of shuriken at its open mouth. The snake bled and fell. Sasuke was about to yell at Sakura to get out of here when a movement from inside the snake caught his attention.

Sasuke's sharingan eyes - he hadn't even noticed that he had activated it - widened. It was the Kumo nin! And it was coming from inside the snake!

"You guys shouldn't relax even for a moment," the Kumo nin slithered. "Prey should always be trying their best to run away."

As the shinobi's whole body emerged from the snake, Sasuke realized that the Kumo nin had somehow transformed its body - instead of feet, he had a tail; a snake's tail. This guy had transformed himself into a snake!

Sasuke was frozen on his spot. His mind screamed for him to move from where he was standing at the branch of a tree, but his body wouldn't listen.

At the distance, Sasuke could hear Sakura call out his name, but he knew it was too late. It was impossible - he couldn't escape. He would die.

Just when he had began to close his eyes to face his death; a barrage of shuriken was thrown in front of the Kumo nin. The ninja stopped, looking at where it had come from.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," a familiar voice said - Naruto! "I can't remember the codeword!"

"Naruto!" Sakura called out in relief. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled, "I know you think you're trying to save us - but forget it! Run away! This one is on a whole other level!"

Below him, the Kumo nin chuckled. "It seems like you've successfully defeated that giant snake, Naruto-kun."

Naruto cast him a disgusted glare.

Sasuke mentally cursed. It was no use - whether Naruto was here or not, they were all going to lose. What was he going to do?

"Why don't you pick someone your own size, hmm?!" Naruto yelled at him.

Sasuke's mind panicked. This was bad - angering the enemy would only allow things to get worse! He knew what he had to do.

Extinguishing his sharingan, Sasuke reached for his kunai holster and took out the scroll. "I will give you the scroll!" Sasuke called out to the Kumo nin, ignoring Sakura and Naruto's bewildered looks. "Just take it and leave us!"

"Sasuke! What the hell are you talking about!" Naruto exclaimed. "Why would you give the scroll to the enemy!"

"I see," the Kumo nin said, ignoring Naruto's loud retorts. "Very smart - the only way to escape predator is to give the predator a different meal."

"Take it!" Sasuke said, throwing the scroll towards the enemy.

...But before it could reach him, an orange blur passed and caught it in his hands. Naruto landed behind him.

"You idiot! What are you doing?!" Sasuke began, turning around. "Don't you understand the situation?!"

Naruto turned towards him with a furious expression and punched him hard on the face.

Sasuke jumped back and glared at him murderously. "What are you doing?!"

"You're not Sasuke," Naruto said through gritted teeth. "I forgot the code word so I can't prove it - but you're not Sasuke!"

"You idiot!" Sasuke seethed. "I'm the real Sasuke!"

"YOU LIAR!" Naruto shouted, clenching his fists at his sides. "There's no way a coward like you is the Sasuke I know!"

Sasuke froze, for once not knowing what to say.

A... a coward?

"I don't know how strong this guy is," Naruto continued, "but how can you be so sure that he'll let us go once we give him the scroll? You don't know what you're doing because you're too freaked out to understand the situation!"

Sasuke stared wide-eyed at his teammate. No - he was wrong. He was not a coward! He was not -

The Kumo nin chucked near the two of them. "Naruto-kun," he said sweetly. "You are correct."

Sasuke glanced at him, seeing the plain malice on his face as he lifted his sleeve up, revealing a seal. Sasuke's eyes widened - the seal was a snake. He was going to do a summoning jutsu!

"Shut up!" Naruto yelled as he ran towards the enemy.

"Naruto, stop!" Sasuke began, but Naruto made no indication of stopping or slowing down. The next moment, another snake - one bigger than the one before appeared beneath the ninja. The chakra around the summon was overwhelming - Naruto stumbled backwards in surprise. The snake attacked, but it was too late. Naruto was tossed over by the snake with so much force that the branches he collided with broke in two.

"NARUTO!" Sasuke and Sakura called out in unison.

It was too late - that kind of force would have broken his bones and kill him. Naruto would die!

"Go ahead and eat him," the Kumo nin commanded, pertaining to the still free-falling Naruto.

And then - Sasuke didn't know how - Naruto opened his eyes.

"LIKE -" Naruto raised his foot... "-HELL YOU ARE!" ...and kicked the snake right on the head with a force he didn't know he was capable of.

The giant snake followed through, tossing Naruto away again. Sasuke froze in surprise. How could he have survived that?! It was impossible!

Slowly, the Kumo nin turned to face him with a dark glint in his eyes. "Now Sasuke-kun," He licked his lips, "it's your turn."

The snake turned its head at Sasuke and lunged. Sakura called out his name at the distance, but he was too surprised to do anything. The snake advanced on him and he braced for the impact... but it didn't come.

...Because suddenly Naruto was in between the snake and himself, stopping the snake with his body.

"Are..." Naruto wheezed, "you alright..." He raised his head, his right eye was swollen and there was blood trailing down her chin. But that wasn't what caught his attention. It was his eyes - they were red. "...scaredy-cat?"

Sasuke stared at him. Naruto... had just saved his life.

"There is no way that a coward like you is the Sasuke I know!" Naruto's voice echoed inside his head.

Before he could do anything - say anything - the Kumo nin lifted Naruto off from where he was standing with his tongue. He was saying something to him, but he was too disoriented to comprehend what it was. What he remembered, though, was that the Kumo nin hit Naruto on the stomach and Naruto was sent flying with a scream.

Sasuke's eyes widened. Naruto was falling - he was falling too fast that it was impossible to catch him.

"Naruto!" Sasuke heard Sakura's voice from a nearby branch. Quickly, she threw a kunai towards Naruto's direction. It landed on the tree bark with a thunk; hanging from it was Naruto. Sakura had successfully lodged her kunai in between his clothing.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted, her voice shrill with an underlying emotion - anger? He didn't know. Sasuke wouldn't blame her. After all, as Naruto said, he was a coward. "SASUKE-KUN WAKE THE HELL UP! I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO FIGHT ITACHI-NII-SAMA?! I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO RESTORE THE UCHIHA CLAN TO ITS FORMER GLORY?! WELL, YOU CAN'T DO THAT IF YOU'RE DEAD, SASUKE-KUN SO WAKE UP!"

Sasuke's eyes widened.

"Foolish brother... if you want to kill me, hate me! Despise me! Run - run and survive in the most despicable way!"

Slowly, he closed his eyes.

"Run and survive in the most despicable way!"

No.

"Run and survive -"

No.

"...survive -"

I will not die here!

And when he opened his eyes again the blazing red of his sharingan mirrored his newfound courage.


Sakura felt like a bucket of cold water was poured on her as she saw Sasuke activate his sharingan, although she knew that she shouldn't feel relieved yet. At least the awakening of his sharingan signaled that Sasuke was finished with his death wish.

Sakura gritted her teeth, willing her legs to move. She didn't know what kind of genjutsu was put on her, but its aftermath was paralysis. Her adrenaline had willed her body to move when the snake attacked her and Sasuke, but now whatever brought her body to work again was gone.

Sakura grumbled, forcing chakra into her legs.

Move!

Still feeling nothing, she concentrated harder.

Move you useless piece of muscle!

She only half-watched as Sasuke ignited the Kumo ninja's face with his katon. The ninja stumbled back. Sakura expected her to collapse, but she didn't - from what it looked like, her face was... shredding?!

What kind of being is this ninja?! Is she even a person?!

"To be able to the sharingan so well at this age..." the Kumo nin began. To Sakura's ears, it sounded like her voice was changing as the skin on her face peeled off. "You truly are an Uchiha."

Sakura didn't know if she was to be disgusted at what she was seeing - the skin on her face was now half-melted, but beneath it was another skin, pale as moonlight. And her left eye - which was formerly mud-brown - was now golden. Sakura didn't like the looks of this.

At that moment, the numbness went out from her legs and she knew she was able to stand again. Gathering chakra on her feet, she jumped and landed next to Sasuke.

"I had fun testing your powers," the Kumo nin's voice was different now - it didn't sound like the voice of a woman at all. So he was a man? Who was this guy?! The shinobi drew his hand up towards his forehead protector and cupped it. Sakura heard a fizz before a sensation of being locked into place entered her body.

She tried to move her hands, her thighs, her head - anything - but she couldn't. She was paralyzed.

Not again! Sakura grumbled to herself. Beside her, Sasuke didn't seem to be able to move as well.

"You really are brothers," the Kumo nin continued. "I can sense that the power in your eyes surpasses Itachi's."

He withdrew his hand from his hitai ate, and instead of the zigzagging lines that symbolized Kumogakure, an eighth note emerged.

Oto?! But how?!

Sakura would have frozen if she wasn't already. What did this man know about Itachi? And how did his forehead protector suddenly change to Oto's?

Sasuke jerked his body upwards, but was stopped midway. It seemed like the shinobi strengthened his hold on Sasuke. Sakura silently envied him for this strong will. "Who the hell are you?!" he asked, fury evident in his voice.

"My name is Orochimaru," he answered. "If you want to see me again, then you'll have to survive and pass the exam."

Sakura saw Orochimaru take something from his mouth - she recognized it immediately. It was the earth scroll... and it was on fire!

"The scroll!" Sakura exclaimed, finding her voice.

"Of course, to pass, you'd have to defeat the sound trio that is on their way," Orochimaru continued, ignoring Sakura completely.

The sound trio... Sakura recognized them! They were the ones who attacked Kabuto-senpai before the first test!

"What are you talking about wanting to see you again?" Sakura spat. "Like we'd ever!"

"Ah, I'm afraid it wouldn't be that simple," Orochimaru chuckled, pressing his palms together to form a seal she wasn't familiar with. Suddenly, his head sped up towards them - somehow, he'd made his neck elastic. Why wasn't Sakura surprised?

It was too late before she realized what Orochimaru's head was aiming for, because suddenly, his teeth were into Sasuke's neck. Sasuke, just as paralyzed as she was, could do nothing to avoid it.

"Sasuke-kun will seek me," Orochimaru said, putting his head back. "He will seek me to seek power."

Sasuke crouched down and screamed, clutching the side of his neck where Orochimaru had bit him. It was then she realized that whatever it was keeping them stationary was gone.

She glared at Orochimaru's direction taking a kunai from her holster. "What did you do to him?!" she shouted.

Orochimaru smiled at her - it was the kind of smile that made you want to kill somebody. "I gave him a going away present," Orochimaru answered.

"Like hell you did!" Sakura spat, throwing her kunai at him, but he'd already disappeared.

Beside her, Sasuke screamed again. "Sasuke-kun!" she exclaimed, but he didn't hear her.

He screamed.

And screamed.

And screamed.

And Sakura wanted nothing more other than to take away the pain from him and make it her own.


A/N: If you probably noticed, in Sasuke's narration disguised!Orochimaru is referred to as "him", while in the first part of Sakura's narration, disguised!Orochimaru is referred to as "her". This is because Sasuke (who was confused at first to whether disguised!Orochimaru was a man or a woman) decided that disguised!Orochimaru was a guy, while Sakura decided otherwise. I, myself, was a little bit confused once I was re-watching the episodes.

Anyhow, as many of you requested, I have given Sakura a role during the fight scenes, however, there is only so much I can give her. I plan to give her the strength that a true kunoichi should possess in the later chapters when she realizes why she wants to be a ninja in the first place. Because, as you may have figured out, she only started as a ninja because her parents were ninja. I also wanted to emphasize the reason behind Sakura's wide forehead - she's smart like hell. Anyone who doesn't agree can just eat chilli sauce or something.

Also, Sasuke and Sakura's codeword (sentence, whatever) is quoted from Thucydides, an ancient Greek historian and author who lived 460-404 BC. Kind of ironic that their codeword (sentence) is about bravery, when Sasuke struggled with his in this chapter.

WOW that was a lot. I don't usually have a lot to say. So, uh, thanks for waiting! Love you all! Reviews make this author happy. (kisses)