Chapter II
Sasuke-kun was heavy but the prospect of the terrifying Kusa nin catching up to them weighed heavier on her still. She hastened the pace even more, her feet only briefly stepping onto the branches before pushing her into another long concave leap.
''Sakura,'' She heard Sasuke-kun grunt as his head bobbed against her shoulder. The force with which she practically bull rushed into him must've been enough to snap him out of the genjutsu, but he was still limp and disoriented, ''Put me down''.
The fear inside her stomach was urging her to keep going, but she was low on chakra and that was never an advantageous state to be in when faced with a threat. Nodding faintly, she reached out and grabbed at the nearest tree, digging her nails into the bark, before she swung them both behind the trunk and out of sight.
They both landed sloppily and Sakura was too exhausted to care that Sasuke-kun seemed to be in haste to move away from her. Situations like these narrowed down one's priorities significantly and despairing over a teammate's bruised ego was unlikely to make the cut.
They sat like that for a while, regaining their composure. Sasuke-kun's eyes were wide and bloodshot, his eyebrows furrowed and skin paler than usual. Sakura had never seen him look so distraught before, but she assumed she looked even worse.
''Genjutsu?'' He asked after a few minutes.
''Yeah,'' she replied quietly. Acknowledging that what they had experienced had been an illusion did nothing to make the whole ordeal seem any less hopeless; illusion or not, it had left them both in a wretched state, ''I think it's called Hell Viewing. The jutsu'', she mumbled.
''How did you break it?''
''Oh'' She wasn't sure what to tell him, because she herself had no clue. It wasn't like she had been thinking or calculating their escape. All she'd done was act on blind impulse,''I was caught in that genjutsu once before, I think. During Kakashi-sensei's bell test. You found me after I fainted from it'', She blushed at the embarrassing memory, ''I think my brain made a connection to the sensations from back then. Or something'', She mumbled.
When he didn't reply, Sakura stilled herself and tried to will her body into recovery. The adrenaline was starting to wear off, and Sakura realized that, whatever it was that she had done back there when she broke out of that genjutsu, it had taken quite a toll on her chakra reserves.
Everything went still, and for a while all they could hear was the rustling of the leaves and their own ragged breathing. Somehow the silence was all the more unnerving. Did the woman follow them? Did she move on to some other team?
Her hand dropped to linger over one of her kunai pouches.
In an anxious pre exam frenzy, she had decided that one set of kunai wasn't going to cut it, neither quantitatively nor qualitatively. So now Sakura sported two sets of kunai, one attached to each thigh; the ones on the right plain, and the ones on the left with pink paper bags hanging off the hilts. Sakura was no explosions' expert by any stretch of the imagination, but paper bombs were easy to use, deadly when used right, and this particular kind could only be set off through a surge of the owner's chakra, so there was no danger of her getting blown up by her own weapons. They were also tiny, so a good number of them could fit inside one paper bag.
In the weapon's store, she'd expressed her doubts about the efficiency of such small explosives, to which the salesman responded by grabbing a fistful of tags and slapping them across his body; they covered a significant portion of his arms and torso. He grinned at a very horrified Sakura before he raised his middle and index finger to his face— the Release sign. ''Don't you worry, young lady. I promise you your enemies won't be teasing you about your explosives after their limbs are blown off''. Sakura internally rolled her eyes at the memory. Weapon merchants always thought they were so hilarious.
But the tags did nothing to provide her with reassurance now, with remnants of horror still fresh and coursing through her body. Sakura had never seen anyone so effortlessly terrifying before. With Zabuza, Sakura's fear of him had to do with things such as his appearance, his reputation, his threats. The woman they had just encountered was a nightmare made flesh.
''Sasuke-kun, I don't think we should be staying in one place. We need to go find Nar—'' Her words were muffled by Sasuke-kun's palm. His other hand had an iron grip on a kunai while he continued to peer behind the tree and into the forest.
What is it with him?, It came as no surprise that she was scared, but seeing Sasuke-kun so evidently disturbed was making her uneasy.
Suddenly, Sasuke-kun was pushing her away hard, and she was in free fall. She barely had any time to comprehend why in the worldhad he done that, before an enormous snake dived into her field of vision and slammed its fangs right into the spot Sakura had been occupying mere seconds before.
Eyes widening, she scrambled to conjure chakra to her feet and latched onto the nearest tree. She only barely made it, but the snake made it clear that it wasn't done when it lunged straight for Sasuke-kun.
''No! Stay the fuck away from me!'' Her teammate snarled and flung a flurry of shuriken straight into the snake's wide open jaws.
The serpent produced a horrible, guttural hiss before crashing into the branches, mouth wide agape, yellow eyes lifeless.
Sakura suddenly realized she had forgotten to breathe. Letting out a shaky, relieved breath, she leapt and landed next to Sasuke-kun, who stared at the dead creature wordlessly.
''It's a summon'' he said after a few moment.
Sakura mentally flipped through the biology textbooks she pored over in her spare time, trying to remember if this particular breed was native to Fire Country and hoped, prayed that they were just down on their luck today and simply stumbled upon an inhabitant of the forest. ''Sasuke-kun, there's no way a genin has enough chakra to summon this. Or summon anything, for that matter.''
''Exactly.''
Sakura raised an eyebrow,''What do you mean, Sasuke-kun?''
''A genin didn't summon this. She did.''
Her blood froze. She gulped. ''How do you know?''
''I just do, and I don't want to stay and be proved right. We need to go find Naruto, and then the proctors. We need to tell them what we saw,'' He ran a hand through his raven tresses,'' Fuck, this thing is insane. Fuck.''
Relief morphed back into anxiety. If what Sasuke-kun's right, why in Sage's name would a non-genin be allowed into the exam field? And if they weren't, how did they manage to sneak past the proctors? Anyone capable of summoning a creature this big has to have a ridiculous chakra signature. Her own sensing skills were laughable, but any full-fledged jonin worth their salt wouldn't have missed it. Not to mention the Sensory department. Sakura knew her shinobi institutions well, and she was coming to a conclusion that they had been failed by the very adults that were supposed to keep them safe.
Before she had the time to think of how ridiculous it was to ponder security breaches in a place called the Forest of Death, Sasuke-kun's hand suddenly gripped her above her elbow, and she heard a wet splitting noise, akin to cracking an egg, coming from the direction of the serpent's carcass.
The snake's scales cracked and parted, something wet and slimy oozing out. Out of the gash, what looked like a crouched human was slowly coming to a stand.
Sasuke-kun's grip on her arm tightened as the human-thing stepped out of the carcass, and spoke in a terrible and familiar voice,''It wasn't very nice of you to kill my pet, Sasuke-kun,'' Sakura felt him tense by the way his fingernails dug into her skin, ''I was slightly disappointed by your earlier performance. Or lack thereof. Not at all what I expected from an Uchiha brat. But I must say, the real surprise was you,'' It was Sakura's turn to shudder as the woman's piercing gaze shifted onto her,''It isn't every day that a mere genin breaks a genjutsu of mine. Not a simple one to break, either. Easy to mistake with killing intent, you see. Your chakra control must be excellent. Are you a genjutsu type, little mouse?'' The woman asked her conversationally.
When Sakura was too stunned to reply, the woman noddeed knowingly and rubbed at her chin,''A genjutsu type, no doubt about it. You mustn't blame yourself for not knowing, little mouse, I assume nobody ever told you. This pathetic village has a reputation for underutilizing unconventional talents.'' Sick, Sakura was going to be sick. Every second she spent being regarded by the woman was making her nauseous.
The reptilian eyes shifted to fix on Sasuke-kun, on whose face Sakura saw only a reflection of her own terror and desperation,''A prey must never let its guard down. It must always stay tense and flee the enemy. Always running, always fearing,'' And there it was again, that gruesomely long tongue, poking out to lick along the corner of the woman's mouth, ''I wonder what your fear tastes like.''
And then everything Sakura thought she knew about the limits of the human body was promptly blown to pieces, as the woman's torso elongated and twisted, as elastic and nimble as a snake's. Then she was hurling towards them and fast, and Sakura closed her eyes.
She opened them when death never came, but Naruto's energic sunshine colored voice did. ''You're gonna taste my fists is what's gonna happen, you freak!'', Sakura took notice of the kunai stuck mere inches from the woman's head, courtesy of Naruto ''Sorry, Sasuke, but I forgot the password!'' He chided.
Sakura had never been so happy to see her reckless, foolish, uplifting teammate. She wanted to run up to him and give him the biggest hug she could muster, but Sasuke-kun didn't share her joy. ''That idiot,'' he growled, reaching into his pouch. Instead of a weapon, he produced a scroll. Their scroll.'' This is what you're after, right?''He addressed the woman,''Here, you can have it. We'll give you the scroll, if you let us leave.''
''What?!'' Naruto shouted from his spot above them,''Are you out of your mind? There's no way we're giving her the scroll!''
Sakura's tone was more dignified but she was just as shocked by the suggestion; it wasn't the possibility of conceding and failing the exam, it was the fact that Sasuke-kun was admitting defeat that disturbed her. ''Sasuke-kun, no. If you hand over the scroll we'll-''
''Stay out of it, both of you!'' He snapped, ''There's no way we can beat her or make it out alive from this. Just let me handle it''
She knew he was right, in her bones she knew it. But it was so hard to reconcile the image of the dauntless Sasuke-kun she knew with this Sasuke who was so willing to admit to being weaker in a fight. Because if he was afraid and ready to run, they really stood no chance.
Sasuke-kun tossed the scroll at the smirking woman, but it was instead grabbed by Naruto, who angrily shoved it in his pouch before socking Sasuke-kun hard.
Falling to his side, Sasuke-kun spat and glared at Naruto.''You idiot, you absolute fucking idiot, you've got no idea-''
''You're right, I've got no idea who this person I just punched is! I thought it was Sasuke, but all I see is a stupid shaking coward!''
Sasuke-kun's voice was hoarse with anger and impatience.''This thing'' He pointed at the woman, ''is in a completely different league. Do you even understand what will happen if we don't surrender right now?''
''I understand,'' Naruto's glare was as resentful and unyielding as Sasuke-kun's,''I understand that you choked. There's no way in hell that the Sasuke I know would be surrendering! Snap out of it, man!''
The woman didn't seem too eager to let them sort out their philosophical differences and with an effortless ''Kuchiyose no Jutsu'' summoned another snake, this one even bigger than the last.
''I'm getting a little bored over here, Sasuke-kun'', she crooned, ''What's your move now?'' And Sakura could only watch as the giant serpent dived for her two teammates.
Naruto moved and Sakura's jaw went slack as she watched him stop the seemingly inevitable attack dead in its tracks with nothing but two kunai and his own body. His back was pressed flush against the tip of the snake's nose, and he was panting.
He peered up at Sasuke-kun, who was paralyzed in shock,''Are you okay...scaredy cat?'' .
Sakura suddenly felt suffocated by Naruto's chakra signature. There was something distinctly dark and sinister about the way his chakra flared and twisted inside of him, and she could feel it envelop her too in its intensity. Like waves of nausea and anxiety emulsified, washing over her in currents. Is this really Naruto?
If the woman was any bit taken aback by Naruto's display of raw power, she didn't let it show. Her grotesquely long tongue darted out and encircled Naruto tightly, before pulling him up to her.
Sakura wanted to move but her body was not her own. She watched as Naruto trashed and struggled, his orange tracksuit moved up to expose an elaborate ink pattern in the centre of his abdomen (the flashcard enthusiast in Sakura recognized it as fuinjutsu right away, but could not think of a single reason why there would be one in the middle of Naruto's stomach). The woman then arranged her fingers into a worryingly unfamiliar hand sign.
When the jutsu was done, she nonchalantly tossed Naruto to the side. like he weighed nothing at all. He'll fall and die, at this rate. Sakura instinctively whipped out a kunai and flung it towards Naruto and through the loose parts of his jacket. The force of her throw drove the blade deep into the bark, pinning Naruto in place and away from the long fall down.
It was only then that she realized that Sasuke-kun hadn't moved all this time. He would have let him fall. ''Sasuke-kun!'' He was still stubbornly frozen in place, ''Sasuke-kun, please!''.
All she wanted was some feedback. A response to make her feel less terrifyingly on her own. A look that meant I'm coming to save you too. Anything.
But he either hadn't heard her, or he wasn't even listening. He seemed eons away from her and her words.
The snake shaman drawled, ''The prey won't run, but it won't fight either. Ah, I guess it can't be helped,'' Another hand sign and the gigantic shake was dismissed in a flurry of wind and smoke. The woman was alone now, and somehow that made her even more terrifying,''I'm just going to have to finish you off.''
If there had been any hope inside of her at the beginning of all of this, the last of it had dissolved seamlessly into pure and unrefined despair. Naruto was unconscious and stuck to a tree, hanging limply inside his oversized orange jacket. Sasuke-kun was there but not there.
There was just Sakura. And that would have to be enough.
Her body moved on its own and before she knew it, she was springing past Sasuke-kun and towards the woman.
The fear she'd been feeling only seconds ago mixed with the utter hopelessness of her situation to give the strangest of concoctions- apathetic tenacity. She could feel every inch of her body fill with fearlessness defiant in the face of certain death. Her ears filled with the sound of her sandal clad feet hitting the wood below, and her eyes saw red.
Sasuke-kun's voice cracked like a whip when he called out her name, but Sakura had already made her decision, the reassuring coolness of metallic hilts against the soft skin between her fingers. Her arms were crossed at the elbows as she pushed forward, paper cherry blossoms dangling in front of her eyes.
She hurled the first plain kunai as soon as she leapt up into the air, and followed up with a cherry blossom one almost immediately. She aimed for the head, and was not at all surprised when the woman effortlessly dodged with only a slight shift of her body.
Sakura continued to shower her in kunai, and couldn't believe she ever thought Sasuke-kun's dodging to be flawless. This woman dodged like an artist, like her every move was a part of a perfectly orchestrated choreography. Sakura missed every single one of her shots.
But Sakura didn't need her aim to be true. She just needed it to be somewhat accurate. There's no way this works on someone like her, but I need to try, I'll be damned if I don't.
Her arms were getting tired from the violent movements, and she was down to her last kunai when the woman chuckled, ''What a piece of work, really. Can break out of an advanced genjutsu, but can't throw a kunai in a straight line,'' She caught Sakura's last kunai between her middle and index finger, mere inches from her face, with no indication of it being difficult at all, ''Konoha has always manufactured the most bizarre of creatures. I'd advise you to work on your aim after all this is over, but I'm most doubtful you'll get out of this alive. Now, let's begin … hm?'' The woman raised her left arm, her eyes drawn to a piece of paper innocently fluttering down and onto the edge of her sleeve.
But it wasn't alone. The cherry blossoms had opened mid flight and spilled their contents all about the snake shaman.
There were dozens of them, stuck to the fabric over the woman's shoulders, arms, and torso. Some even in her hair.
Sakura wasn't aware of the grin spreading over her features while her middle and index finger rose to form the seal of Release. Got her.
The warmth of the explosion travelled over her face and body like a comforting caress, but the sound was deafening and the brightness blinded her.
Sakura shielded her eyes, and waited for the blaze to die down.
When it did, all that was left were splotches of black liquid where the woman stood.
She heard someone land next to her, and she didn't take her eyes off her enemy's remains even when Sasuke-kun grabbed her shoulder in disbelief, ''Sakura… what did you do?''
Sakura's grass green eyes stared flatly ahead, ''I-I…'' All she saw was death, rot and ashes, ''I blew her up''.
Art credit: vashito . tumblr . com
A/N: Don't you just hate when FFNET decides to butcher your documents with no particular reason? The site is literally like ''Hmmm, what a cute little pronoun *snip snip*''. Then I have to go ahead and revise the entire chapter just in case it decided to chop off any other bits and pieces. Oh well.
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