Sasuke is keeping up with the crow, if barely. It keeps squawking at him, and trying to urge him to go faster. Eventually they reach the thick branch of a gigantic tree.
The smell is foul, and darkness covers whatever is making the scent. Black wings merge with the shadows, glinting eyes the only evidence that the crow is still there. Sasuke approaches the blind space with caution; the amount of things hiding in the dark of this forest are immense.
He hears a noise, and a caw that sounds irritated, yet affectionate. There is rustling, and soon enough Sasuke sees what is under the shadows of the leaves.
The idiot is hugging the crow, who somehow manages to convey a roll of the eyes. "Crow-san! You brought Sasuke-teme." Naruto, of course, fails to mention why he is covered in guts and what appears to be stomach acid. The mangled head of a snake nearby sheds some light into that matter, along with the peck marks all along it.
The crow looks him in the eye, and Sasuke remembers to never piss that thing off.
.
"You left her?!" The dobe yells. The volume is enough to make several birds fly away in flocks. None are black birds.
Sasuke is not sure how to respond. He did not like it, did not want to, but he left. He listened to his teammate, the one who reminds him of-
"She said to come get you; I trust her." He thinks about the look on her face, not afraid but resigned all the same. Their sensei's words ring through his head: 'Those who abandon their comrades…'
Sasuke holds a hand out to his friend, helping him get to his feet without slipping on snake-intestines. "She said nothing about what to do after, though." It takes Naruto a second, but when he gets it he nods with enthusiasm.
"I knew you had a heart!"
"Don't push it, dobe."
.
They are rushing through the forest. They do not attempt to be quiet, sacrificing a silence for speed. Most of the Genin here will be put off by the blood covering them and the cloud of death birds that swirl above their heads. The pair must look like they have been through a slaughter. It is disturbing to think about, but useful for now.
In a test like this, nobody wants to face potential murderers who kill for the rush.
.
The trees speed by them, and they are making good time. It is obvious where the battle is going on, if the hissing and smoke is any indication. A small clearing in the forest has turned into a huge one, trees torn down with immense force and huge patches of land upturned.
Except for the white and grey smoke that dissipates into the air, the only ones left in the field are Sakura and the woman she was facing. Upon closer inspection, along with a sly comment from the enemy's real voice, Sasuke realizes that the woman is actually not. A mushy piece of flesh lying in the ground, with eyes still wide open and mouth in a silent scream, show what must have happened to the girl this man is pretending to be.
"-Isn't it, I-ta-chi?" Sasuke sees Sakura's response to that name immediately. Her eyes tear up and she freezes for a second, but a second is more than enough for whoever this man is. In a way truly reminiscent of a serpent, the man's head rears back on an impossibly long neck. He is about to strike the pink haired girl.
"Nii-san!" It is instinct that makes him throw the kunai; impulse and a response to how Sakura was just addressed makes him yell that. Nothing more, Sasuke tells himself.
A thunk is heard, and he sees his kunai hit a broken tree. He also sees the face of something evil and not human rushing towards him. He expects to feel the painful bite of fangs, or maybe the crunch of his own bones, but-
.
"You will not touch him." Sakura's voice is cold. The look in her eyes speak of a warpath that she is willing to follow if she must. The name is still reverberating in her head and wreaking havoc. Normal organized thoughts tumble and scream at her, and it is a confusing and distracting mess. (Itachi Itachi Itachi, Sakura Sakura, son, daughter)
She puts all of that on hold though, because before anything else, before anyone else, she is Sasuke's (aniki, nii-san, big brother, protector) friend. The hair that she has grabbed is straining under the pressure of her grip versus the snake's pull, so she has to be quick.
The jutsu is simple, one that layers memories into voices and then filters it all until a false mimicry is all that can be heard. A woman's voice, silken and smooth, comes out of Sakura's mouth.
"Please, son. Stop this, for us."
The man is in her grip may be a devil, but the way he whispers 'Kaa-san?' is more human than most shinobi are capable of. More than she feels capable of, some nights.
"Sleep now, my child." And the monster listens.
.
Sakura whistles, and it is a call that she knows will get an immediate response. It is an alert, one for backup in the case of very powerful enemies. She fishes a scroll out from the clothes on the unconscious man, and finds that is the corresponding one to theirs. It is tucked into her pack with less than a flick of her wrist.
Her teammates look suspiciously at the body, and she can tell they want to restrain him somehow. Sakura just shakes her head, and tells them that moving the missing-nin at all may wake him. That makes both of their faces pale a degree or so, and they jump into the foliage after her.
.
Anko has no clue who sent out the call, but it makes her life much easier and may save the lives of a few contestants. She is worried about it being a trap, but she is careful as she approaches her former sensei. The ANBU behind her tense, as if expecting the boogeyman to pop out.
Like a true professional, Anko takes a stick and pokes the body with it. When it turns into watery mud, she knows that her target is no longer anywhere near.
.
A young man with glasses and almost silver hair gently sets his unconscious master down on the grass.
That was too close.