I don't own Naruto.
Chapter 14
"Question: When does a ninja strike? Answer: A ninja strikes when the time is right. When an enemy sleeps and drops his guard, when his weapons lay forgotten in the stillness of the night...that is the moment for a ninja to strike."
"That's the password?"
"Yes Naruto, that's the password. Why is it too long for you?" I know perfectly well that it is too long, but he will never admit it.
"Of course not! I was just expecting a password, not a pass-speech." He huffs and turns his head away like it will hide his blush.
I have to admit Sasuke outdid himself with this one. If anyone decides to try to impersonate us again they won't get away with it because of the password.
"Alright boys, let's keep going." Just as we turn to continue onwards we feel a rumble under our feet.
"Something's coming," no duh Sasuke.
The rumbling gets stronger, resembling an earthquake now and making it hard to stay on my feet. Stretching out my senses I sense a large mass of chakra closing in on us rapidly. It gets closer and closer and I yell to my boys to brace themselves, but I don't think they hear.
And then it hits.
An unbelievably strong wind tears through the forest, picking me up in the process. I feel weightless, like I'm flying at a high speed.
Until the trees interfere. Hitting a few tree trunks, sliding over the bark, until I can get a grip is agony. The rough bark rips some of the skin off of my palms and legs. Using chakra I hold on tight to my chosen branch, hoping for it to be over soon.
And the wind is gone as quickly as it came.
I assess my injuries. Only a little blood on my hands thanks to my arm guards' protection. But my legs look terrible, scratched and bleeding everywhere. Luckily it's nothing real deep or we would be screwed in the middle of this forest.
Looking around I spot Sasuke clinging to a tree branch a couple hundred meters away. Jumping down from my spot, I approach him.
"Sasuke, are you okay?" I call as I get near.
He jumps from his branch, landing lightly on the ground.
Damn graceful Uchiha genes.
Suddenly he pulls a kunai and takes a defensive stance, Sharingan spinning.
"What's the password?" he spits out as his glare intensifies.
Oh for the love of…"When does a ninja strike?" I pull my own kunai, even though the familiar taste of ozone already tells me that it truly is Sasuke.
He relaxes, putting away his weapon, as he gives the lengthy reply.
I can only see a couple scratches on him; obviously he fared better than me. Now to find the blonde one.
As though someone read my mind Naruto walks, more like stumbles, out of the bushes.
"Yo, guys, what the heck was that!" Naruto's pulling sticks out of his hair and looks to be about two seconds from cursing.
"Wait don't come any closer, the password, when does a ninja strike?" And cue Naruto stuttering out some lame excuse because he can't remember.
"That's easy. A ninja strikes when the time is right. When an enemy sleeps and drops his guard, when his weapons lay forgotten in the stillness of the night...that is the moment for a ninja to strike."
Sasuke's kunai is flying towards 'Naruto' before I can even comprehend that the password was correct. In a move that involves much flailing, cursing, and falling the weapon is dodged. Sending out a small amount of chakra I taste something other than sunshine and happiness, there is another imposter. This one tastes like oil, all black and slimy, and incredibly strong.
"What the heck, guys, I got the password right!" You also got Naruto's loudness level right.
"That's the problem; the real Naruto could never remember a password that long."
The fake Naruto straightens up and looks at us oddly, "you would create a password too big for your own teammate to remember, very clever."
The enemy Nin drops his transformation jutsu and reveals himself to be the creepy Grass Nin that was messing with the proctor earlier.
Both Sasuke and I take up defensive stances as the Grass Nin reaches into his pouch. But he only pulls out his scroll.
"This is what you want isn't it? This Earth scroll, wouldn't it compliment you heaven scroll so nicely." His voice sounds just like his chakra tastes, slick and disgusting. He's starting to really creep me out.
But Sasuke must not have a single brain cell, because I can sense him tensing up, like he is anticipating a good fight.
The Grass Nin is just standing there, taunting us with his scroll. He must be strong to think so confidently about beat two opponents by himself.
Raising the scroll higher, the Nin parts his mouth and a tongue about a foot long comes out and wraps around the Earth scroll. Sasuke and I can only stare in horror as the Nin unhinges his jaw in a grotesque gesture and swallows our chance of passing the exam. I mean, he literally swallowed it whole! Is he even human? Can humans eat paper like that?
"There we go, that way if either of us wants to leave the other will have to die. Simple solution, isn't it?" This freak is smiling away, like he didn't just swallow a freaking scroll!
Enough of this! I throw a kunai as hard as I can at the enemy, but all he does twitch his head to the side and it flies past harmlessly. He doesn't look very amused, and I can sense Sasuke is not happy that I attacked first.
"Now, now, so impatient," he reaches up and for a second I'm afraid he's about to swallow something else, but he only pulls his lower eyelid down.
I see the kunai flying towards my head. It pierces the skin right between my eyelids, slicing right through muscle and bone, digging deeply into my brain. I see the first spray of blood. Then blackness…
I come to shaking, breathing heavily like there is not enough oxygen in the world. I'm in the exact same position as before, crouching defensively before an enemy in the forest of death, a kunai in my hands. What was that? I saw myself die, felt myself die!
There was no stopping the kunai, and I very clearly felt the half second of pain as it slid home in my skull. And the blackness… It wasn't really blackness, it was…Nothingness. I felt nothing, no thoughts no pain just absolutely nothing. Is that death? Did I really die for a second?
I can vaguely feel my legs give out, and absently I wonder if the ground I'm now sitting on is real. I can almost see the fiend that showed me the vision, for that is what it had to be, but all I hear is the echo of the nothingness.
Father was right, I am a terrible ninja. I am facing my first trial and I'm failing, sitting here deaf and immobile as my team and my very life hangs in the balance.
A kunai is coming and I know its path, for I witnessed it a few moments earlier, and there is no hope for dodging. It gets closer and my death does also…
A brutal force knocks into me, lifting me up into the trees. And it's like a spell was broken, I can breathe again. I can think again. I can fight again.
Jumping out of Sasuke's arms I nod my head in thanks to him. Taking in his condition I notice a kunai sticking out of his thigh, the angle would suggest it was self-inflicted.
"Genjutsu," I gasp as it hits me. That is the only explanation for the vision and the resulting immobile state. Sasuke nods sharply in agreement, and then yanks out the kunai he used to break his own illusion. He muffles his grunt of pain, and I quickly reach into my pack to retrieve some bandages.
He leans his back against a tree and I kneel before him and wrap up his bleeding leg while he watches my back. Kakashi would be so proud of this teamwork.
As I'm wrapping, I send out my chakra to look for the fiend. I find him below us, right where we left him. Finishing up the first aid I stand and motion to Sasuke where the enemy is. I'm standing so close to Sasuke as we silently confer on our next actions that I can see the reflection in his eyes of just how wide my eyes go when the oily chakra moves.
One second it is far below us and the next it is ten feet away, directly behind my teammate and closing in.
With a speed I didn't know I possessed, I shove Sasuke off the branch and dive in the opposite direction just as the spot we occupied explodes in a shower of splinters. The Nin was back and he was hunting us now.
We may be in over our heads.
I'm Sorry! I went on a road trip to Michigan, then had the biggest case of writers block. So needless to say this chapter probably sucks.