Chapter 21

It did not take long for Naruto to lead the team to a spot. It was concealed and it was near the river. There were some fruit trees near the place as well. The team unloaded some of their things there and set up camp. Once the camp was set up, Sasuke quickly went on the hunt for a scroll. Annoyed, Naruto and Sakura followed him. As they searched, they could hear the screams of someone. Naruto looked toward Sakura and saw that she was not so bothered by the scream.

"Well, you certainly toughen up Sakura." Naruto said.

"I can't afford to be jumpy. It's like you said Naruto, we can get killed in this forest if we're not careful." Sakura said. Naruto nodded as they continued to move through the forest. Naruto looked at something out of the corner of his eye and moved up to Sakura. He tapped her shoulder three times and Sakura shook her head.

"Hold up guys, I have to go and pee." Naruto said. Sakura looked him and popped him in the head.

"Don't tell me that! Don't you know how to be respectful in front of a lady?!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Show me a lady and I'll respect her." Naruto said and made his way out of sight. When he was gone, the other two waited. A few moments passed by and Naruto returned. "Alright then, let's go and get that scroll." They nodded and Naruto walked passed Sakura. As he closed in on Sasuke, he was suddenly caught in a chokehold. Sasuke looked at Sakura in shock as she choked Naruto out. Naruto tried to free himself but Sakura would soon wrap her legs around his waist and dropped to the ground. Naruto suddenly vanished and replaced was a genin from Amegakure. He tried to get free but he just couldn't get Sakura to let him go. After a few moments, he was rendered unconscious.

Sakura threw the Ame-nin off her and took some deep breaths. Sasuke looked at Sakura with some demanding eyes, which made Sakura a little nervous. That's when Naruto returned with another Ame-nin. He dropped the guy right next to him. He began to search for a scroll. That's when Sasuke finally had enough.

"What the hell was this all about?! How did you know that we were being followed?!" Sasuke demanded.

"Well, Naruto figured it out. He told me that if he tapped the left side of my shoulder that there was company near us." Sakura explained. Sasuke was angry at that and looked at Naruto with a glare.

"Why didn't you tell me that?!" he snarled.

"I tried to but you were so damn impatient, you blew me off!" Naruto spat softly. He stopped searching and growled. "Neither one of these guys have the scroll. It must have been the third one." Naruto said.

"So what are we going to do?" Sakura asked.

"Let's tie these guys up and throw them in the river. It will really hinder their process." Naruto said as he created a goal.

"Are you doing this just because?" Sakura asked with a tone.

"Well, that too." Naruto said. He and Sakura tied the two up while Sasuke sat back and stewed. He did not like this. He did not like this at all. While he didn't like the fact that Naruto was just as skilled as him, he definitely didn't like that Sakura was improving. That chokehold that she did to that Ame-nin was very well done. Also, she had enough strength to actually hold and choke out the guy. When did she start to take her career seriously? Who taught her that move? Were she and Naruto training together? It just frustrated him to no end.

"Hey dumbass, snap out of it. We're heading back to camp to come up with another plan." Naruto said.

"No." Sasuke said.

"Excuse me?" Naruto asked him.

"I said no. We aren't wasting time going back to the camp. We have to get another scroll and finish before everyone else." Sasuke stated. Naruto was about to argue but Sasuke ignored him and jumped off. He looked at Sakura with his arms open and Sakura just sighed. The two turned and followed their teammate.

XXX

Anko ate the last piece of dango off the stick. As she chewed in bliss, she threw the dango stick with ease and precession. It connected with a tree that had several more dango sticks. The recent one finished the Konoha symbol. She admired her work for a second before pulling out a small little book. It was his Iruka book. She was kind of bored and she decided to go and visit Iruka for a while. Maybe chase him around the village like she did a week ago. For a chūnin, he was pretty fast.

"Let's see, oh, he's a part of the crew that will be summoned when they reached the tower. That means that he's close by. Maybe I should say hello and give him a good groping." Anko said with a grin. Her happy thoughts were suddenly dashed by a chūnin.

"Anko-senpai!" he called out. Anko growled and fixed him with a glare.

"This had better be good. I was just about to visit Iruka-kun." Anko said with a tone.

"You really need to see this. We have and emergency." The chūnin said. Anko was curious and followed the chūnin. When she arrived, there were two more chūnin and three dead bodies. She walked up to the bodies and looked at them carefully. She noticed that their faces were taken off. That raised some red flags because this was very familiar to her.

"Who are they?" She asked.

"By the clothes and the symbol on their hitai-ate, we believe that these are the three genin." One chūnin said and handed her the files. She looks at the files and saw that these genin were from Kusagakure. The red flags were blowing in the wind. These genin had entered the forest with the others. That's when she remembered and was greatly alarmed.

"Get to the Hokage fast! Tell him to send in two squads of the ANBU into the forest! I'm going in!" Anko stated and prepared to enter the forest.

"Wait, wait, wait, what are we to tell the Hokage!" shouted a chūnin.

"Tell him that Orochimaru is here!" Anko shouted back before jumping over the fence.

XXX

Naruto groaned as he got to his feet. Whoever hit his team with that damn jutsu was going to get punched in the face. He looked around and tried to get his bearings. Whatever that jutsu was blew him a pretty good distance. That's when he heard the sound of something. He quickly pulled out two kunai and looked around him. He looked around for whatever was stalking him. He felt someone coming from behind and quickly lashed out with his kunai. It was knocked away and Naruto was quickly wrapped up.

He looked up to see a large snake. He was surprised to see a snake this size. The reptile bore down on him and looked at him in the eye. Naruto looked right back at the snake and focused his chakra. The two stared at each other for a while before the large serpent released Naruto. He sighed and kept his gaze on the snake. He knew that this was no ordinary snake. It was a snake that was similar to Anko's familiar, Kaijin.

"Okay friend, take me to your summoner." Naruto said. He jumped on its back and the two slithered away.

XXX

Sakura and Sasuke was wondering how they got in this situation. A few hours ago, they were arguing about Sasuke's attitude during this exam. She was in agreement with Naruto on this as Sasuke was angry about nothing. Because of this, Naruto demanded the scroll and Sakura agreed to it. He challenged the both of them to come and take the scroll from him which not only surprised her but annoyed her. It made her question everything about her crush. That's when they were hit by a very strong wind.

Lucky for her, Sakura was able to keep herself from being blown away like Sasuke. Naruto was not that lucky. When the wind died out, she was going to look for him when the two of them were confronted by a Kusa kunoichi. She challenged the two of them to a fight. Sasuke was ready for a fight and Sakura decided to back him. That's when they were hit with a killer amount of intent that froze the two. They could each see their death if they faced this woman. Sasuke was the first to break out of the intent and grabbed her. He thought that he got away but he was wrong.

The kunoichi chased them. Sakura attempted to confuse her with a few genjutsu but they were quickly dealt with. Sasuke attacked but it was out of fear. That's when the teenage summoned a snake to face them. Sasuke was so scared that he was about to give her their scroll. She was about to object to this when the kunoichi and her snake was hit by another snake. The kunoichi was surprised by the attack and was concerned. She was then struck from the blind side and sent flying off her snake. She quickly flipped out of her flight and landed on her feet.

Sakura suddenly felt someone next to her. She turned to see Naruto. He suddenly tossed something to her. It was their scroll. Naruto looked at the kunoichi before them and slipped out two kunai.

"Sakura, you protect the scroll. Provide support if you can. Sasuke and I are going to have to deal with this kunoichi." Naruto said.

"Naruto, I think we should flee. This kunoichi, she on a different level." Sakura said.

"I can see that but she's going to just chase us down and kill us. Besides, this chick might have some answers and I'm going to get them." Naruto said and jumped away. Sakura looked on as Naruto appeared in front of the Kusa kunoichi. The kunoichi wiped her mouth before facing Naruto.

"That was quite a punch." She said. "I believe I heard that you have some questions for me. I have a question of my own. How did you do that with my snake?" Naruto looked at the two snakes who were wrestling each other. After a while they vanished in a puff of smoke.

"I'm not going to tell you jack! Now, how in the hell did you get the Hebi (Snake) contract?! I know that there are only two people who have that summoning contract. One is Anko and the other is that bastard who hurt her!" Naruto exclaimed. That brought a small smirk to the teen's face.

'So, Anko hasn't told him much about her past. By the looks of it, he figured some of it himself. Very well, I'll indulge him a little.' She thought. "You would be right but do you believe that he wouldn't replace Anko? She was weak after all. It was why she was abandoned by him. I am much stronger than she is."

"Weak, huh? Fine let's test that theory!" Naruto said and charged at her. The kunoichi grinned and met his charge. Watching the two, Sakura was amazed at the courage that Naruto showed in front of a superior combatant. It boosted her confidence as well. She was about to go and help her teammate when she was stopped by Sasuke.

"Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

"What are you thinking about? We need to give that woman the scroll. Give me the scroll Sakura before that dobe get us all killed." Sasuke said. Sakura looked at Sasuke for a while, angering him. "I said give me the scroll!" That's when it happened. A loud crack was heard. Sasuke stepped back stunned at what just happened. Sakura looked at Sasuke with narrowed eyes.

"I can't believe that the last Uchiha is such a coward! You aren't the Sasuke I fell for! You're a fake! You're not strong at all!" Sakura shouted. She took off to help her teammate fight this kunoichi. Sasuke stood there and placed his hand to his cheek. It stung a lot. What was just said to him had stunned him and to hear it from Sakura of all people was embarrassing. That's when he heard the voice of his brother. It was telling him how weak he was. It was telling him how he wasn't worth killing. He clenched his fists in anger. He snarled and turned toward the battle.

He jumped toward the fighting, hoping to show them that he was not a coward.

XXXXX

Authors' Notes: It's a little different and short from the original but I like where it is going. I summarized the confrontation with Orochimaru because it is similar to the cannon plot. What would it do for me to write about the same thing that you have already read? Anyway, I hope you like the chapter.