(A/N) Us: Packing. Me: Casually keeping up with my update schedule.

Sakura debated attempting to glare down the massive forest. It wouldn't work, but it might make her feel better.

"Don't glare at the trees," Naruto said, nudging her. "They didn't do anything wrong."

"It's the forest of death," Sasuke pointed out. "I'm sure at least one of the trees has killed someone."

"It has an apt name," Sakura agreed.

"They still don't deserve it," Naruto said firmly.

"Alright, alright, I won't glare at them," Sakura sighed, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. "But still, we have to get another scroll, and then get to the tower without dying."

"We'll be fine," Sasuke told her. "We got you, and me, and Naruto."

"We're part of a team, of course we have all three of us," Naruto deadpanned. "I'd be worried if we didn't."

"I'm almost surprised we haven't been attacked yet," Sakura remarked.

"Well I need to go to the bathroom, so try not to get attacked while I'm gone," Naruto said, pointing at them. "I'll grow a few saplings when I come back so you know it's me."

Sakura and Sasuke nodded in confirmation, settling down to wait.

"So did we meet any of Team Gai before becoming genin?" Sasuke wondered. "I cannot for the life of me remember. They feel familiar though."

"I know I've seen Gai around the village," Sakura hummed. "And Tenten works in a weapons shop sometimes, other than that, I don't think so. And other than random glances of course."

Sasuke grunted in reply, staring after Naruto.

"I suppose you might have seen Lee while practicing, or maybe Neji at some party? But those are kind of not exactly secure." Sakura shrugged.

"Right," Sasuke said, staring suspiciously at the forest. "I think someone's coming back."

Sakura watched in mild amusement as someone that clearly wasn't Naruto, based on the lack of new saplings growing around them, sauntered into the clearing.

"So, are we gonna go guys?" He asked, looking all the world like he thought he'd gotten away with it.

"How cute," Sakura remarked. "You think you got away with it."

"Whadda guys mean?" He asked.

"Well there's a couple of things," Sasuke agreed. "For one, Naruto wears his kunai pouch on the other side."

"And for another thing, he stopped using language like that a long time ago," Sakura agreed. "And you didn't do the thing."

"The thing?" The imposter asked cautiously.

"Something only he can do," Sakura confirmed, trying to sound vaguely mystic.

The imposter looked horrified, although still hadn't dropped his henge.

"Hand over your scroll and we'll be gentle in knocking you out," Sasuke bargained, standing up and brushing off his shirt.

Sakura stood up as well, flicking her ponytail over her shoulder. "Maybe. If Naruto's too injured we might wake you up again to knock you out more painfully however."

The expression of horror and fear was rather out of place on Naruto's face, and the henge quickly poofed away as the now known as an Ame genin scrambled to pull out his scroll.

Almost half a second later, it was out, and Sakura walked up to take it from him. He dropped it into her hand and turned to flee, but she knocked him out with a neat blow to the back of his neck. He dropped like a stone.

"I did knock him out quickly," Sakura said, kicking him to make sure he was out. "Should we go find Naruto, or wait for him."

"Naruto'll be fine," Sasuke decided. "He's not a pansy."

Sakura snorted.

Sure enough, Naruto came out a moment later, flowers blooming at his feet. Tree saplings sprouted quickly in the clearing, reaching bush status moments later. "Hey guys! Sorry I took so long, had to deal with some idiots. One escaped, did you see him?"

Sakura kicked the unconscious Ame genin again. "Yep, we found him. He was even nice enough to give us his scroll before passing out because of mysterious circumstances."

Naruto eyed the genin, then the kunai in her hand. "Mysterious indeed. Let's go, we have to get to the tower now."

The first indication that something was wrong was the lack of any animals around them. Of course, the massive wind jutsu that tried to blow them away was also a very good indicator, but they were supposed to look underneath the underneath.

"That is not a genin," Sakura whispered to Naruto and Sasuke, sensing the KI attempting to pin them in place. Luckily for them, they'd faced worse. Well, maybe not worse, but close enough.

"Kukuku, aren't you a smart one," the not-genin crooned at them, appearing properly.

Sakura blinked somewhat tiredly at the not-genin. "Do I really want to deal with you today?"

"You don't get a choice," he replied promptly.

"I know," Sakura sighed.

While his attention had been on her, the boys had snuck around him, wood springing up under his feet to capture him, a fireball following in an instant.

Sakura almost felt bad for killing him, then quickly realized he was far from dead when a perfectly intact Orochimaru crawled out of the charred body. Yeah she was no longer sorry for any attempts at murder.

"Kukuku," he looked almost pleased, his neck lengthening creepily.

"I don't like you," Naruto declared from somewhere off to Orochimaru's left.

"Ditto!" Sasuke shouted in agreement.

Sakura made a valiant effort to snort and sigh at the same time.

It was over in an instant. Orochimaru was too fast for any of them, the pretty much untrained genin that they were.

Even with his neck attached as it was, all long and weird, he still managed to sink his fangs into Sasuke's neck and do something to Naruto's stomach that knocked him out. Sakura was oddly left alone, but she wasn't part of any clan and didn't have any sort of bloodline.

Oh well, she was going to be grateful for what she got. She was awake and alive after an encounter with Orochimaru, if low on chakra. She could carry her teammates and find a sufficiently defendable place until they woke up. Or if they didn't wake up in enough time, make the trek to the tower with them still out.

She managed to toss both over her shoulders like particularly large and heavy sacks of potatoes, and get moving. On the ground, and slowly, but it was better than nothing.

(A/N) You'd think I'd remember how the Orochimaru fight goes. You'd be wrong.