Team Seven strolls through the Forest of Death, cheerfully admiring the scenery. They are waiting to be ambushed because they are bored and want to kick some ass. It is not long before a team falls for the bait, hook, line and sinker. Team Seven falls into a pit trap with some rather impressive sharp things at the bottom. Of course, Naruto uses a well-placed Temporal Distortion to slow his team's fall and they land safely in among the sharp shuriken and kunai.
"What a waste of perfectly good weapons," comments Madoka, picking up a few and testing their quality. After deciding they are worth keeping, Madoka pockets the weapons.
Sasuke clears a space and sits down neatly to wait for the team who laid the trap to show up. Naruto removes all trace of the Temporal Distortion seal. Madoka gathers more kunai and shuriken.
Three genins appear at the top of the pit, silhouetted against the sky. Sasuke glares at them. This stupid trap got her tights muddy! Dirt stains are a nightmare to get out of white clothing. Sasuke wonders why she even wears white. Oh yes, it is because it looks cool. Now who are these three idiots? Sasuke squints against the fading sunlight and makes out the distinctive forms of the three genin from the Hidden Sound.
"Haha, you fell for our trap," sneers the boy with the white rug on his back. Or is a cloak? Rug, cloak...who cares so long as Sasuke gets to beat one up.
"It would be more accurate to say we fell in your trap," points out Madoka.
"NERD!" says Naruto.
Madoka blushes.
The black haired Sound genin holds out his arms towards the pit. Naruto draws something in the dirt. A blast of air thunders towards them, accompanied by a sound like a thunder clap. A barrier erects around Team Seven, originating from the design Naruto drew in the dirt.
"How clever," says the Rug boy. "But can you dodge my attack?"
Naruto proves that he is a complete idiot and, not only lowers the barrier, but also says, "Bring it on!"
A moment later, all three members of Team Seven are knocked to the ground. Sasuke hears a noise like a thousand cicadas throwing a wild disco party explode through her ears. Pain explodes inside her head, and she is vaguely aware of her team mates holding onto their ears. What was that jutsu?
Naruto shakily pulls himself to his feet and demands, "How did you do that?"
The rug boy laughs. "I am Dosu of the Hidden Sound, and these are my team mates Kin and Zaku. Nothing you do can stop us because we are far superior to you little worms!" he laughs.
"I didn't ask for your names," says Naruto grumpily. "I asked how you did...whatever that was. I've never seen anything like it."
"That is because my jutsu is one of a kind!" boasts Dosu. "I am the only one who can use my techniques!"
Sasuke internally groans. Not a monologue! Oh, wait: Kakashi sensei taught them that getting the enemy to monologue is a good way to buy time. During that time, Kakashi sensei taught them, they can catch their breath and learn the enemy's secrets. Well, time to get him to talk for hours, because they need to buy time until their ears heal, or until Madoka recovers enough to heal them. How to encourage the sound kids to talk? Sasuke can just about use her arms, and she can see relatively well. Maybe…
Sasuke decides to do it. She pulls out a notebook and a pen and pretends to take notes. Dosu sees her taking notes and slows down his explanation so she can copy what he is saying more easily. He gets very technical in his explanation of the sound based jutsu and, as the pain in Sasuke's ears lessens, she is able to take notes faster. Dosu directs everything he says to Sasuke as soon as he realizes what she is doing. Sasuke wonders if her father would approve of the flirty tone Dosu has taken.
When Dosu finishes his explanation he grins at Sasuke and says, "Did you get all that down, cutie? Maybe I'll let you live if you give me a kiss."
Naruto and Madoka turn to look at Sasuke in surprise. They hadn't noticed the notebook.
Sasuke wasn't taking notes, she was only pretending to keep Dosu bragging. "S-s-sorry," she stammers, taking advantage of her shyness. All weaknesses should be used as weapons. "I don't think my Dad would approve." She blushes. "But I drew a picture of your team!" She turns the notebook around to show them the cartoon she drew of the three Sound genin. "Do you think it looks like them, guys?" she asks her team mates.
Naruto and Madoka stare at the rudely drawn cartoon of the Sound genin. Then they both burst out laughing and immediately clutch their ears in pain.
"It looks exactly like them!" Naruto snorts.
The three Sound genin glare at Sasuke in anger.
"What?" she says, playing innocent, which is easy, since she wants to go hide in a deep, dark hole. "I didn't mean to make it funny."
The Sound genins turn their glares to Naruto and Madoka, deciding Sasuke is the weak link of the team and probably didn't mean to make them look like characters from a late night adults' cartoon.
Sasuke's plan is working.
Madoka is healing his ears.
Naruto makes some shadow clones.
Dosu readies the weapon attached to his arm.
Madoka shuffles over to Sasuke and heals her ears.
Kin pulls out some senbon and holds them ready to throw.
Zaku holds out his arms, ready to fire whatever jutsu he has.
Madoka finishes healing Sasuke's ears and creeps over to Naruto, who seems to be the least affected.
Zaku sends a blast of air out of his arms.
"Formation C!" says Naruto, and his team mates nod in acknowledgement.
Madoka casts a genjutsu over the pit, and the three genin of Team Seven sneak out while Naruto's clones, a third transformed into Sasuke and a third transformed into Madoka, stay in the pit. Naruto, Sasuke and Madoka retreat to the nearest cover and stare at eachother in confusion.
"What is up with their techniques?" whispers Madoka. "We only just managed to get out of the way in time!"
"I wish you really had taken notes, Sasuke," sighs Naruto. "I didn't understand any of what that guy said. But that picture is pretty funny."
"What should we do?" whispers Sasuke. "Dosu can manipulate sound, that Zaku boy can shoot air out of his hands and who knows what creepy thing the girl can do!"
"Look on the bright side," whispers Naruto, grinning. "At least we get a challenging fight."
"What if we broke their justus?" asks Madoka. "If we break that tool, Dosu might not be able to fight."
"But how do we stop the other two?" asks Naruto.
"They've noticed we're gone," whispers Sasuke, activating her sharingan. "It's time to counterattack."
Naruto nods firmly and stands up, ready to fight. Madoka nods and leaps into the treetops to attack from above. Sasuke runs towards Zaku, and Naruto follows, heading for Dosu. Madoka leaps down from the trees, a kunai out, ready to attack Kin. The three Sound genin stand back to back in a triangle formation, their weapons ready. Sasuke leaves her teammates to their fights and focuses on her own.
Zaku fires his air blast at Sasuke, who leaps into the air, flying above the jutsu. She lands on the ground in a crouch near Zaku and launches herself into a flying leap over his head. Sasuke twists in the air so that her back is facing Zaku as she sails over his head. Zaku stares up at Sasuke, his mouth open in surprise. Sasuke turn her body vertically, finishing her mid-air turns by kicking Zaku in the back of the head. Zaku is sent flying across the grass as Sasuke lands in a crouch where he was standing a second ago. Zaku, his back to Sasuke, picks himself up off the grass. Sasuke leaps forward and grabs one of Zaku's arms in each hand and planting her foot squarely on his back.
Then she pulls hard.
Zaku screams as his arms are torn from their sockets.
Sasuke lets Zaku fall to the ground. "That takes care of your jutsu," she says, coldly.
"Woah, Sasuke!" Naruto's voice prompts Sasuke to turn and look at her teammates. "You didn't have to go that far!"
Kin is on the ground at Madoka's feet, probably under a genjutsu, but Dosu is still squaring off against Naruto. "I thought you were the weakest member of the team," says Dosu. "But it seems you are the strongest after all."
"No," corrects Madoka. "Naruto is the strongest. Sasuke is the most skilled, and I am-"
"NERD!" yells Sasuke.
Madoka droops. "And I'm the nerd."
"So you've got the brainy one, the brawny one and the skilled genius," says Dosu. "That seems to be the standard team formation." Dosu looks from one of his teammates to the other. "It seems my teammates are beaten." He pulls out a scroll and lays it on the grass. "Take this and let us be." he scoops up Kin, hurries over to Zaku, scoops him up too and shunshins away.
Naruto picks up the scroll. "An Earth scroll?"
"Too bad for them, we have a set already," says Madoka. "All he really did was retreat with dignity."
"At least he was smart enough to retreat," says Naruto. "But I wanted to fight that Dosu guy. He seemed strong. Maybe they'll make it to the finals." Naruto tucks the scroll into his pouch. "Let's go to the tower!"