This guy...is fast. Way too fast for a genin. If I didn't have the Sharingan, there's no way I'd able to evade his attacks. Speaking of jutsu, I've never seen his before. Is it a Kekkei Genkai?
Sasuke thinks, barely back stepping in time to doge a swipe from Kabuto's right arm. The green chakra came off the traitor's arm in a wave like motion, spreading outwards to nearly touch the fabric of the Uchiha's blue shirt. Countering with a swift front kick, Sasuke watches as his attack is easily parried, then ducks over another one of the glasses wearing ninja's roundhouses.
What is this guy? He's definitely not a genin...but why take the exam? A spy? Maybe...
Sasuke's distraction costs him, his right shoulder throbbing in pain as Kabuto jabs at it with his glowing green appendage. Coughing up some blood, Sasuke barely dodges another one of the traitor's blows, Kabuto's hand stopping a few inches from his nose. The silver haired ninja cackles manically, his eyes still red and filled with blood lust.
"What's wrong, Sasuke? You don't seem to be as good as your big brother, Itachi..."
"Shut up!"
The Uchiha roars, his pride and blood boiling at the sound of his brother's name. True, he'd promised to protect his comrades, but Itachi was still his ultimate goal. If he couldn't beat this guy...
Panting, Sasuke tries to form hand signs, his hands working as fast as the wind. He blinks, as he watches a blur of black appear behind Kabuto, his jutsu casting almost complete. The silver haired ninja turns around to feel an intensely painful jab to the stomach, launching him straight into Sasuke's fireball. Sasuke frowns as he sees the burnt up log for a substitution jutsu slowly burn away on the ground. Neji now beside the Uchiha, is scanning the area with his white eyes, Byakugan activated. Sasuke stares at the Hyuuga's eyes for a moment, a small show of curiosity on his features. This is where the Sharingan came from, huh? Wonder if he knows anything about our doujutsu... Making a mental note of this, Sasuke prepares to take out a kunai, but his shoulder flares up in pain. He drops the blade to watch it fall on the ground through half lidded eyes, wincing slightly.
"He did something to a ligament in your shoulder...Don't move your arm or it will become worse. We'll have to bind it later."
Neji plainly remarks, looking at the Uchiha with his Byakugan. Sasuke blinks, just wondering how much those eyes can actually see. He grudgingly leaves his right arm to hang limp, slowly trotting over to where Naruto is. Sasuke knows he's of no further use in this fight; He'll have to leave it up to Tenten and the Hyuuga. This thought does anger him, but he puts his pride aside for the moment, knowing that the battle here is more important. He couldn't afford to become a liability, not against someone like that.
Naruto, sensing his comrade's obvious distress, looks up from where he is stroking the small,shivering thing cradled in his legs. Sasuke carefully sits down next to the blonde, watching the white ball as it begins to move. Two small black eyes and a nose pop out at the Uchiha, who almost immediately recoils back in surprise. The thing looks up at Naruto, who grimaces as a small pink tongue lathers his whiskered face with drool.
"Ha hah, eww...You're so tiny...but cost so much chakra to summon."
"Wait."
Sasuke mumbles, turning to face the orange clad ninja, his face a mask of indifferent disbelief.
"You were able to summon that...thing?"
"Yeah...Tousan taught me how to summon ninken. Why?"
"Nevermind..."
Sasuke looks down at the white furred puppy, which is watching him curiously, its head cocked sideways. Blinking, the raven haired ninja watches as Naruto just scratches its head, the small dog still staring at him. What's up with this thing? Stop looking at me! Sasuke thinks, his anger slowly calming down, as he watches the pup sniff the air. He wasn't really an animal person but something about this particular animal seemed to feel different. Naruto noticed it, too, since the blonde then stopped petting the small dog to stare at it.
"Something...feels off about you. I've summoned ninken before, but you're not a ninken."
The dog makes a loud yip, which startles Naruto, who turns in its direction. Sasuke follows, his eyes widening as he watches Neji and Kabuto go at it. The long haired Hyuuga was actually able to keep up with Kabuto's blows. The silver haired ninja seemed to have some trouble using his chakra as well; did Neji get a hit in? The two genin did know about the chakra network and how Byakugan users could strike at chakra points to alter their opponents flow, but to do so in such a heated battle. Sasuke screamed inwardly; there were so many people out there stronger than him! He needed to figure out how they did it. Just training wasn't enough; he'd been doing that for years on end with no success. Watching as Neji delivered a quick blow to Kabuto's solar plexus, while a hail of kunai nearly skewered the traitor, Sasuke began to think. One person alone is weak...but working in tandem with others...he can become much stronger. In order to work well with your partner's you must know them better...their likes, beliefs, things like that. You need to understand them from the inside out. The Uchiha nods slowly, his determination growing stronger as he watches Neji and Tenten's teamwork to try and take down Kabuto. The medic ninja had a few cuts and was bleeding on one side of his mouth, but still looked fit. Neji and Tenten were slowing, the kunoichi's weapons getting less accurate and shot at a lesser rate of fire. Neji was being hit more often now, his left leg seeming to nearly fall under him. Despite that, he still manages to give out quick retorts to Kabuto's attacks, each chakra covered blast canceling out the other when they strike.
"This is...taking awhile."
Naruto mumbles, his breathing now steadier than it was before. Even though he had taken a painful jab to the heart, some of the chakra cords still remained intact, meaning the Kyuubi still had enough power to heal him. He found that it was easier to move his right arm as well. A few of his ribs still ached, and he could taste some traces of iron in his system but Naruto knows he's relatively safe. Sasuke however, as Naruto turns to look at the battered Uchiha, is worse off. His right arm is hanging limply at his side, Sasuke's onyx eyes wincing with pain every few seconds as it sways. The small pup in his lap seems to sense Naruto's concern, for it looks at Sasuke and whines. Carefully climbing over the blonde's protective hold and padding on its four small legs to a space near the Uchiha, it barks at Sasuke, who regards it quizzically.
"What is it,you weird dog? Look, I'm not in the mood for-"
The raven haired ninja is interrupted by a feeling of intense malice coming from where the trio are still fighting. Turning their heads quickly, the three see that neither Kabuto nor Neji is the cause of this disturbance. Tenten looks at the two and scratches her head, following their gaze to a further distance in the forest. They can feel something powerful coming from that direction. A tremendous amount of energy is being released by whatever is in the forest. Naruto curses, causing Sasuke to look at him curiously.
"That's where Lee took Sakura-chan! Damn..."
"You mean her curse mark..."
"Yeah..."
Naruto nods, his face serious. Sasuke swears, slamming his good hand onto the ground. Things couldn't get any worse right now, could they?
… … …
"Whew! I'm glad he didn't spot us...or else that'd be the end for us, eh Akamaru?"
Kiba remarks to his canine companion, who emits a soft woof in response. Hinata, nearby leaping from some branches, feels an odd chill in the air. Something's not right...I can feel it. Shino notices her worried gaze, and asks her about it.
"Something big is c-coming..."
The other three nod in agreement, Akamaru giving off a couple of warning barks.
"Yeah, I can feel it too, boy. It's chakra is pretty powerful, but not as bloodlusted as that Gaara kid's was. It seems to be only coming from one person. Maybe a rival team that got separated?"
A wolfish grin on his tatooed features, Kiba eagerly races off ahead in the treetops, ignoring Hinata's pointed half-shout to be careful. Shino sighs, speeding up his own pace as well, Hinata following suit.
"He never learns, does he?"
Hinata stays silent, not wanting to offend anyone, and just focuses her Byakugan on the spot where Kiba dashed off. She can still him a few miles ahead, meaning that he has not gone too far. Scouting even further, she has finally located the owner of that terrible chakra. What? This doesn't make any sense...No person should have that kind of chakra. It's too different from her regular pinkish red anyways, too maroon and dark. I can't feel the care and concern...like it was washed away by malice and hatred. This is bad!
Hinata stops where she is on the tree branch, causing her two other companions to freeze in their tracks.
"What is it, Hinata? Have you found it?"
Shino asks, genuine concern in his question. She was a timid girl, but was confident in her teammates abilities. If Kiba and Shino combined couldn't take this one out...
"It's...it's..."
Hinata stutters shakily, her mind racing. Kiba waves his hand in front of her face, Akamaru whining pitifully.
"Oi, you still with us? Hinata? Man, this has her and Akamaru spooked..."
"...S-sakura-san..."
She mutters weakly, her mumbling unheard by her two teammates because of her soft voice. Kiba snaps his fingers in front of her face, trying to get her out of her momentary daze.
"Oi! You sure you're alright?"
"This chakra...is S-sakura-san's. B-but how...?"
"What!"
"Are you sure?"
Her two teammates blurt out, unable to believe it at first. Hinata nods her head, her serious gaze pointed towards the feeling of malice she detected earlier. Kiba shakes his head, confusion dotting his and Akamaru's expressions'.
"No way..."
"This is very unlike Haruno-san's regular chakra. Something must be wrong with her."
Shino points out, causing the three to look at him.
"Yeah, but what about Naruto and Sasuke? They're her teammates, right, so they should be able to do something ab-"
"Excuse me, Inuzuka-san! Have you seen either Naruto-kun or Sasuke-san?"
Kiba stops talking, jarred out of his speech by a speeding green blur that comes to land beside him. Lee, his face worried and covered with a couple bruises, quickly explains the situation.
"Something seems wrong with Sakura-san. I cannot locate either of her teammates; They must have moved to a new location while fighting."
"So...you need us to help you calm her down or something?"
Kiba asks, the four turning to look at Lee, who is nodding.
"At least until I find Sasuke-san or Naruto-kun! Please, it would be most nice of you to help."
"So that chakra really is Sakura-san's.."
Shino mumbles to himself, quietly sending out a few of his chakra eating bugs out ahead of the group.
"W-well, we'd be happy to h-help, Lee-san, but..."
Hinata is cut short by Kiba's loud exclamation, Akamaru whimpering in protest.
"No way! Did you feel that chakra?"
"B-but Kiba-kun...Sakura-san might n-need our help."
Kiba sighs, turning back towards their other companion, Shino, who expression is unreadable beneath his collar.
"I'm sure we can do it. It is one versus three, after all. No matter how powerful her chakra is, we should, by all means, be able to do it. Hinata's Jyuuken and my bugs can be of great assistance."
"Alright, alright we'll go. But don't blame me if you guys get hurt."
Kiba complains, turning to a grateful Rock Lee. The young green beast nearly chokes the boy and his dog in a youthful hug, then sprints out west in the direction he last saw Naruto.
"I'm...gonna kill...you guys...if we get out...of this alive..."
Kiba moans, Akamaru growling in agreement.
… … …
A/N: Sorry, getting ready for college has been a pain. Enjoy!