Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter 20 – A Dangerous New Enemy
Last time:
Sakura smiled a little as she addressed Midori again. "Glad to hear it." She said just before she lifted Midori over her shoulder and carried her over to the aforementioned bushes.
The only thing going through Naruto and Sasuke's minds at that time was, 'I hope their scroll is the one we need.'
This Chapter:
"I can't believe it!" Naruto shouted as they were leaping through the trees, having left Midori to defend her teammates about half an hour ago. "First team we go up against and they have to have the same scroll as ours!" He was screaming more to himself than his teammates.
"Shut it Dobe or your gonna attract someone else!" Sasuke spat back to him.
"It doesn't matter Naruto-kun. There was always a fifty percent chance of getting the same scroll. We were just unlucky enough to get it." Sakura tried to explain to her annoyed teammate. "Besides, we could trade it for the scroll we need or just keep it so another team can't make it through!" She exclaimed, trying to cheer him up.
Naruto just nodded his head slightly while letting the annoyed look pass from his face. "Yeah, that's true, I guess."
After travelling further into the forest they stopped in a hollow of a tree to rest and so Sakura could reattach her weights. "I'll watch out for any enemies and we'll head out again in a while. I don't wanna be found again, I want to be the one to surprise our opponents next time." Sasuke told the two as he sat himself just inside the entrance of the hollow.
Naruto wasn't complaining. This was the most rest he'd had in a while compared to all the training he did. Soon enough the humidity in the forest coupled with boredom caused Naruto to drift off to sleep.
Naruto was back on the bridge in wave again, except, there was no Zabuza this time. The thugs were there just like last time, all of them looking mean and ready to attack. That is before Naruto tapped into Kyuubi's power again and activated the three kitsune based jutsu he had. One of his tails wrapped itself around his zanbatō as it appeared next him and he grasped it with his right hand. All the men now looked like they were going to wet their pants and run away but none of them did.
"Now, who's first?" A demonic version Naruto's voice spoke out as he licked his lips hungrily, a sadistic smile adorning his face. He charged into the group and started hacking and slashing at them causing their blood to spew out and cover him. He savored the feel and look of it as it dripped from his chakra made claws. He reveled in the look of fear and pain in each of his targets eye's. He took that look away when he drove a claw into one of the targets faces.
He almost chuckled with delight at the reactions of his prey when he killed them. How some gurgled when he attacked their throat and others just froze when he drove his clawed hand through their gut. Still, how others screamed in fear and pain as they were constricted by his free tails. The group of thugs seemed never ending.
Except that wasn't Naruto. Naruto was watching all this unfold through his doppelganger's eyes and felt what it felt. He didn't like it at all. He was afraid of these feelings, afraid that he was really feeling them and not the doppelganger. He wanted to stop it, to throw up from all the blood and try to help these poor men from being slaughtered. He was about to scream out when he felt himself be shaken slightly and someone call out his name.
"...ruto-kun? Naruto-kun are you all right?" Came Sakura's concerned voice as she tried to rouse her blonde teammate.
"Huh? I'm up. What's the matter?" Naruto asked as he yawned slightly and rubbed his eyes.
"You were twitching and scrunching up your face while you were asleep. It looked like you were having a nightmare. Was it really bad?" Sakura answered in the same concerned tone of voice.
"Nah, it was just a dream Sakura-chan. It was nothing, I'm fine, really!" Naruto told her as he grinned and put his hands behind his head, trying to quell her concerns.
"Okay, if you say so, Naruto-kun." Sakura told him before she went back to sit in her spot. She didn't really believe his statement, she was still worried, as was evident from the frown on her face.
Naruto just leaned his head back against the inside of the tree as he thought back over the nightmare. 'The same one again. It's a change from the usual replays of my beatings but why have I been having that nightmare ever since that mission?' He brought a hand up to his right temple and rubbed it lightly. 'Was that really me? Was that really how it happened back at the bridge? Did I really enjoy killing those guys?' He thought as he looked at his hands, imagining the blood on them. 'No! I did it to protect the town in wave country, to protect the bridge, to protect my teammates and complete the mission! It was in self-defence, I did the right thing!' He thought as he clenched his fists, only to have another doubtful thought enter his mind. 'Didn't I?' His hands opened up again at that thought.
He didn't have much time to think about it as Sakura spoke to him again. "Senpai? I've been thinking about what happened against those Kusa nin and I was wondering, how could we have known that the three of us are who we say we are? Anyone of us could have been beaten back there and a Kusa nin could have taken our place with a henge. How do we tell the difference if we're separated again?" She asked as her hand came to her chin.
"She's got a point there, Dobe. We need a password or something that only we know so we can identify each other." Sasuke announced as he turned his head to look over the two.
Naruto only needed a second to think about what they could do when he pulled out the ink pot that held the seal making ink he used. "We'll use this to place a symbol on each other that's hidden from view! Then we just have to ask to see each others symbol and we know it's us!" He exclaimed as he held the pot out.
"Yeah and what if the ink smudges, Dobe? Then we can't read the symbol." Sasuke scoffed.
"You really think I'm that stupid? Don't answer that!" Naruto said quickly as he saw Sasuke about to say something. "This ink is specially made for seal making. All it needs is a few seconds to dry and then it won't ever smudge, unless you use a special solvent to wash it off. So it's pretty safe to assume the symbols will stay in place, Teme." Naruto shot back.
"Fine, we'll use that." Sasuke replied.
"Okay, turn around again. I'll put the symbol under your collar, Teme. I'm not gonna tell you what it is either just as an extra precaution. Sakura come on over so you know what it is as well." He told Sakura as he lifted the collar of Sasuke's shirt to write on his bare shoulder. In the end it turned out to be the kanji for 'Teme' which caused Sakura to stifle a giggle.
"You better not have written what I think you have Dobe." Sasuke threatened from his seated position.
"Why, whatever could you mean Teme? I would never do anything to embarrass the great Uchiha Sasuke." Naruto replied in a mocking tone and chuckling at the end. After a few seconds of letting the ink dry, Naruto dropped Sasuke's collar to cover the symbol and hide it from enemies. "Okay, Sakura-chan you next." Naruto announced as he turned to her. Sasuke turned around as well to see what Naruto would mark her with. He lifted Sakura's ponytail and pulled down the collar of her dress to write on her back. He wrote the kanji for 'Pink', let it dry for a couple of seconds and then covered it again with Sakura's dress and hair.
"Your turn now Dobe." Sasuke said as he turned to Naruto with a slight glint in his eye.
"Actually, I already have a marking so I won't need one." Naruto replied as he tried to keep the ink pot.
"Oh no you don't senpai. You know what the marking is so it's not fair. Now let us mark you." Sakura said as she grabbed the wrist of the hand holding the ink pot.
Naruto sighed in defeat, he knew she was right. "Alright, but Sakura-chan is the one that's gonna mark me I don't trust you, Teme." Naruto said as he pointed accusingly at Sasuke.
Sasuke huffed lightly. "Fine." Sakura grabbed the ink pot and proceeded to lift Naruto's vest and mesh shirt. She quickly wrote the kanji for 'Senpai' and would have left it at that, before Sasuke swiped the brush from her and wrote the kanji for 'Dobe' right next to it. Sasuke gestured for her to not say anything while she was stifling another giggle. She allowed the ink to dry a few seconds before dropping Naruto's mesh shirt and his vest.
Naruto would have gone back to his seating spot after storing the ink but Sasuke stood up and addressed both of them. "Come on let's head out again, we've rested enough." He told the two as he walked out of the hollow and onto the branch. That was all the encouragement that Naruto needed as he almost leapt to his feet and got on the branch outside the hollow, soon followed by Sakura.
They'd been traveling for a good couple of hours now. Granted, they were moving sluggishly through the branches so they weren't getting that much closer to the tower. They didn't need to get there that quickly, after all it was still the first day! "I think we should stop Teme. We should wait for my clones to tell me where the other teams are now. It's almost sundown and some of the other teams will probably be calling it a day soon. It'll be our best chance to catch them by surprise and get their scroll." Naruto called to Sasuke as he followed behind him.
Sasuke stopped on the branch he landed on as did Naruto and Sakura. Sasuke turned to them quickly and spoke. "If we wait, most of the other teams will probably get their scroll and head for the tower. That'll leave us without any targets, Dobe."
"No, since I sent out my clones about half of them dispersed themselves because they couldn't find anyone. That means there are about ten teams out there that are being trailed by my clones. All we have to do is wait for just one of those ten or so teams to stop and rest and we'll head straight for them." Naruto said calmly as he counted the teams off until only one finger was left.
"How can you be so sure we'll reach them in time before they move off again?" Sasuke spat back.
"Why do you think I made them pair off when they went after them? If they move off the remaining clone is to follow the team. Besides, I gave my clones instructions to only go a certain set distance so they wouldn't be too far aw... do you hear that?" Naruto asked suddenly, breaking from his retort.
"I don't hear anything Dobe. Don't try and change the subject just because you can't win this argument." Sasuke spat as he glared at the blonde who was now turned away.
"Shut it Teme!" Naruto spat back before he dropped down to the forest floor and placed an ear to the ground.
Sasuke and Sakura soon followed, looking at him apprehensively. Sakura had only seen him act like this when there was immediate or probable danger. "What is it, Naruto-kun?"
"I'm not sure, it sounds like there's something coming but I've never heard anything like that before." Naruto said as he brought his face from the ground.
Sasuke activated his sharingan and stared into the distance, hoping to prove his teammate and rival wrong. What he saw made him shout out in something other than annoyance though. "TAKE COVER!"
Naruto looked behind him to see Sasuke leap off to the side and Sakura follow a split second later. He looked back forward and saw debris of all kinds flying toward him on a strong wind. All he thought as he ran through some hand-seals was, 'Aw, Kuso!'. He finished his hand-seals and crouched down with both his hands on the floor as a thick wall of earth rose in front of him. The wind hit the wall with an audible thud and caused some of the outer edges to crumble and fly off. He saw the pieces fly off behind him and another thought crossed his mind. 'How strong is that god-damned wind jutsu!?'
Off in the distance where the jutsu had originated from, the three Kusa nin that had straw hats were standing with their kunoichi in the middle holding her hands up in a seal. She felt the small wall of earth in the distance interfere with her jutsu. "Interesting, but that's not going to be enough!" She hissed before she adjusted the hand-seal and concentrated the winds she had summoned on the small wall that protected Naruto.
Naruto only had a split second to act when the wall he had created snapped off at the base thanks to the concentrated winds. He hopped slightly off the ground and attached himself to the slab of dirt with his chakra. He adjusted his weight to tilt the slab so he was now lying on top of it as he flew along with the winds. He steadily stood up on the slab as he tried to control the slabs flight and bring it to a skidding halt.
It didn't quite go according to plan, as the slab decided to crash straight into the ground and shatter. Naruto was forced to hop off and start running with the wind. That is until he tripped and started tumbling, the wind pushing him along. "Stu-tu-pid wi-wi-nd ju-jutsu!" He yelled as he tumbled along like a tumbleweed.
He got his bearings back after the first hundred rolls and managed to stop himself safely by landing horizontally on a tree, using his chakra to stick to the bark. 'That was close! Wonder how far I was blown away?' He thought as he looked back the way he'd come from. "Guess I better start back to meet up with the Teme and Sakura again." He said before leaping off the tree and landing in the middle of the path that was carved up from the wind jutsu.
He started walking down the path before stopping abruptly again, his nose twitching. 'That smell... it's the same one that was coming from Anko, Kabuto and his guys. Where's it coming from this time?' He thought as he looked around and started listening intently for any movement in the forest.
His eyes, ears and nose finally settled on an area to his left and he reached for his broadswords when the bushes started moving. After a few tense seconds something emerged and a few words escaped his lips. "Damn, I'm gonna need a bigger sword..."
Sasuke was laying on his stomach behind some bushes when the wind died down and Naruto had been blown away. "Stupid, Dobe." He muttered. He heard someone coming up behind him snapped around with a kunai in hand.
Sakura had followed Sasuke when he'd jumped away but he'd still managed to evade her when he landed. She'd found him hiding in the bushes when he'd snapped around and brandished a kunai at her. "Sasuke-kun, it's me."
"Show me your symbol so I can be sure." He told her as he held the kunai steady in front of him.
Sakura did as she was told and pulled her hair back and the back of her dress down to show the kanji for 'Pink'. She covered it back up when Sasuke said it was okay. "What about you? Show me your symbol so I know it's really you!" Sakura shot back as she pulled out her own kunai this time.
Sasuke was a little surprised at first since he expected her to just accept him as the real one, even without revealing symbol. He eventually obliged, he turned around and pulled down his collar to show the 'Teme' kanji. "There, it's me." He muttered as he let the collar bounce back up to cover the symbol. Sakura relaxed the arm holding her kunai and walked up to him.
"Did you see what happened to Naruto-kun?" She asked worriedly.
"Yeah, the Dobe tried to block that wind and got blown away by it instead." Sasuke answered.
Unbeknownst to the two they were being watched throughout their conversation by the three Kusa nin that had attacked them. The three were squatting down on a branch over the two. "So, they have ways to identify each other. Clever, but a simple method. I think I know exactly what the blonde one was marked with." The kunoichi of the team mused. She stood up and addressed her teammates. "Spread out to the surrounding forest and keep your eyes open. I'll handle this alone." She ordered them before dropping off the branch.
Naruto leapt off the branch as soon as he landed and watched as the creatures enormous tail smashed through the branch he had been on. 'There's no way this thing is a normal snake. It's moving too fast and it's way too big.' He thought as he sailed through the air and landed on another tree's trunk. Again he had to leap away, this time to dodge the snake's gaping mouth trying to swallow him whole.
"Dammit! All I need is one second to get what I need!" He muttered to himself as he was flipping away. "Fine, time to bring on the clones." Naruto brought his hands together as soon as he landed on another branch. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He yelled as six clones appeared. "Keep him occupied!" Was all he said before all of them leapt in separate directions to avoid the tail coming for their general direction.
Sasuke and Sakura snapped their heads around when they heard someone running up behind them. They both watched as Naruto appeared through some bushes. "Hey guys! Are you okay!" He yelled to them while running up.
"Hold it, Dobe. Show us your symbol!" Sasuke snapped as he held out his kunai again.
"Oh, right." Naruto turned around and was going to lift his vest. Both Sasuke and Sakura flicked their kunai at him, only for him to hop to the side and land on his ass. "What the hell are you two doing? That could have killed me!" He yelled from his spot on the ground, looking from one to the other the whole time.
Naruto had finally gotten the snake more interested in his clones than in him. He was currently hiding in the higher branches, studying the snake's movements. "That settles it, this thing's a summon or a henge'd nin or something. In other words, time to bring out the heavy artillery." He snatched out a scroll, unrolled it and unsealed his zanbatō. He stalled for a moment before diving in for the kill. 'How come there's no one around to see and hear me being cool at times like this?' He thought as he hefted the zanbatō on his shoulder.
'Hey, I'm here. Besides you should be more focused on killing that thing instead of how cool you look!' Kyuubi scolded him.
'Touché.' He looked back down at the remaining four clones since two had been destroyed. He waited for the right moment to attack. When it came he leapt off his branch, holding Kubikiri Hōchō over his head, ready to use it for it's name sake as he flew down toward the snake like an eagle for it's prey. He was almost there, a few more feet and he could get rid of the snake. Until it turned to face him and opened it's mouth.
"I'll admit, you're pretty good to have figured out how we were using symbols the way we did but it still wasn't good enough." Sasuke ranted to the Naruto imposter.
"Knowing Naruto-kun, he wouldn't have bothered showing us his symbol because he doesn't like showing his back to anyone without good reason. He would have probably said something like, 'Take it easy Teme it's me!' or demanded that we show ours first." Sakura clarified as she reached for another kunai and some senbon.
"The Dobe wouldn't have dodged the way you did either. He only dodges if he really has to, but that attack would have allowed him to deflect the kunai with one of his swords." Sasuke finished off as the imposter broke into a grin completely unlike Naruto's.
"Aren't you the clever ones?" A feminine voice spoke from Naruto's mouth before a large plume of smoke engulfed the Naruto. "You certainly seem close to your teammate. Why would you need the symbols if you wouldn't bother to check his?" The same voice spoke out before the kunoichi from Kusa, with the straw hat, was shown from the dispersing smoke.
"The symbols are just precautionary measures, a last resort if we really can't tell if there's an imposter among us. They're just a part of the test to sniff out imposters, it's especially good if an enemy knows about them and tries to copy them. In a way it becomes a trap, and you fell right into it!" Sasuke boasted as he too drew a few kunai.
"Impressive, neither of you have dropped your guard have you? This will be very entertaining." The kunoichi stated as she took off her straw hat and licked the rim of it.
Naruto was currently in a very annoying position, when the snake turned to him and opened it's mouth he had no way to change direction which meant he was stuck. He was able to keep himself out of the snake's belly at the last moment, thankfully. He managed to plant his feet on the snake's lower jaw and pushed up with the flat side of Kubikiri Hōchō to hold the top jaw at bay. "Damn you stink! What did you eat!?" He exclaimed, damning his enhanced sense of smell in this situation.
'So, how are you going to get out of this. I told you to be more focused on your enemy.' Kyuubi scolded yet again.
'You know me, I like to fly by the seat of my pants!' Naruto answered back. 'Besides, I already have an idea.' With that Naruto shifted slightly so he could bring one hand in front of him. "Alright, lets see how strong you are! Kai!" He yelled down the snake's throat. A few seconds passed silently before suddenly... the snake's head plummeted down to the ground. A disgusting tearing came from the corners of the snake's mouth as the tremendous weight of Naruto strained and tore the flesh. A loud crash echoed in the area as the snake writhed in the crater created from the landing. Naruto managed to leap away from the snake in it's writhing state and landed a few hundred feet from it in a tree, which bent slightly from all the weight. "Guess it worked." He stated as the leftover clones appeared beside him, Kubikiri Hōchō leaning on his shoulders.
"Shouldn't we finish it?" One of the clones asked out loud.
"I'm not sure, this much damage should have caused a summon to disappear or a henge to drop... unless it's a summon that's stronger than normal. Guess I will have to finish it so it can go back to it's own plane." With that said, Naruto brought Kubikiri Hōchō back forward and leapt at the snake again. This time, he got the shot he wanted, the snake was in too much pain to try and attack him. His overhead slash went clean through the snake's neck and it disappeared in a puff of smoke. He reactivated the cushioning seals on his feet and leaned the zanbatō over his shoulders again. "That's done, now, I wonder how the Teme and Sakura are doing?" He looked back the way he came and stretched out his senses, looking for not only his teammate's chakra signatures but the enemy's as well.
Sasuke and Sakura had no idea how the Kusa kunoichi had done what she just did. She'd pulled out her team's earth scroll and had tried to taunt them into trying to get it, thinking that it was the scroll they needed. Her plans were shot down when Sakura shouted about them already having an earth scroll. At first the enemy kunoichi had seemed disappointed, until she broke into another sick grin and... ate her team's scroll whole.
"How... how did you do that and why?" Sakura managed to stammer out. Her eyes were wide at the kunoichi's actions.
The enemy kunoichi just chuckled and held her hand to her face. "Why? Why to keep my scroll safe while I steal yours and take you out of this test of course. When this is over I will have your scroll and... both of you will be dead." She hissed the last part as she drug down her hand and her lower eyelid for her left eye with it.
Both Sasuke and Sakura stiffened as the kunoichi's iris had become slitted. A large wave of killing intent washed over them as they both saw themselves being attacked and their blood splattering onto the surrounding trees. It finally ended with both of them being killed with a kunai to the head. They both dropped their drawn weapons as their hearts almost stopped from the sheer horror. Both of them collapsed slowly to the forest floor. Both were taking shallow shaky breaths trying to steady their nerves.
'Was that... was that an... illusion?' Sasuke thought to himself nervously. He tried to take deeper breaths until his body finally betrayed him and he threw up whatever was left in his stomach.
Sakura was having the same problem. 'So much killing intent, so much more than what Naruto-senpai used on me. It feels like it's going to suffocate me.' She had remembered those training sessions the most as they had been the most terrifying for her. She was trying to calm herself down but her body succumbed to the trauma and she hunched over as she started dry-retching.
The Kusa kunoichi merely continued to glare at them.
Sasuke tried to get up when he'd finished emptying his stomach, only to fall on his ass. 'No, it's just killing intent but it's so thick... it feels like it's weighing down on me, it's almost palpable.'
Both Sasuke and Sakura thought the same thing at that moment. 'What is she!?'
Naruto had gone rigid for the first time in about six years. He'd found Sasuke and Sakura's chakra signature's but they paled in comparison to their enemy's. He'd also felt the wave of killing intent that had been sent at them. 'That amount of killing intent... it's not normal for a genin. I don't even have that level of killing intent unless I use Kyu-sensei's youki. Their gonna get killed unless they get away now! But they're not moving.' He thought, panicking for his friends lives.
'Well what do you do now Kit?' Kyuubi asked in complete seriousness.
'What do you mean!? I've gotta go and help them!' Naruto screamed back to his sensei. He stabbed Kubikiri Hōchō into the ground at his feet. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He yelled into the forest as dozens more clones appeared around him. He lugged Kubikiri Hōchō out of the ground and placed it back on his shoulders and addressed the clones that were all over the area, crouching on tree branches, sticking to the bark of the trees and wherever there was space. "Alright guys, we have an enemy most likely stronger than us and their trying to kill our teammates, you know what that means! No playing around, go for the kill when you can. Keep to the shadows while I take him on first, MOVE OUT!" He yelled again as all of them leapt away, leaving nothing more than dust clouds.
Sasuke turned his head slightly to look at Sakura as she tried to turn her head to check on him as well but all she could manage was to glance her eyes at him. She was too afraid to take her eyes off the kunoichi in front of them for too long.
"S... Sakura?" Sasuke called out weakly.
Sakura couldn't bring herself to answer him verbally, all she could manage was a small shaky nod. The Kusa kunoichi chuckled at their little conversation. "You're both paralysed with fear."
'No good, she's as bad as me. We both have to get out of here and away from Her.' Sasuke thought to himself as he looked back to the enemy.
'I've got to move, I've got to arm myself or I'm definitely going to die!' Sakura thought to herself as she moved her hands feebly over the ground near her. She was trying to find any of the senbon she had dropped so she at least had something. Her hand finally fell on a dropped senbon, she dug up the dirt around it trying to get her fingers under it and pick it up without looking away from the kunoichi.
Sasuke on the other hand was on his way to standing up, shakily but he was standing. 'I've got to move. Just a little is enough right now.' He thought as a shaking hand went to the kunai holster on his leg and he slowly pulled out a kunai. 'That's it! I can do this!' He thought as he brought the kunai up and tried to ready himself for a fight.
Sakura had picked up the senbon and was now clutching it in her right hand as tightly as possible. 'I've got to get up, I need to be on my feet.' Sakura thought as her legs twitched from her efforts of trying to stand.
The Kusa kunoichi continued to stare at them, seeing that both had armed themselves in some way and Sasuke had brought himself to stand she spoke. "Very good. What do you do now?" She asked in what sounded like a mocking tone.
Both of them froze at hearing her voice like that again. 'No good, I... can't... move!' Sasuke thought as his body shook slightly.
'Sasuke-kun, Naruto-senpai, I'm sorry.' Sakura thought as she also shook slightly, still clutching the senbon to her chest.
The Kusa kunoichi started walking toward them and took out two kunai. "Don't worry, I'll make this quick. Then again I don't have to tell you that, do I? You've both seen it with your own eyes." She stopped and brought her arm up ready to throw the two kunai at them. "I expected for you to be more of a challenge." She stated simply before launching both kunai at them.
'NO! Sasuke-kun!' Sakura thought as she pulled the senbon away from her chest and rammed it into her shoulder. She hopped to her feet and started running to Sasuke to try and block the kunai.
'Move... MOVE!' Sasuke thought as he watched the kunai come ever closer. He finally brought his kunai up and rammed it into his thigh, activating his sharingan in the process. The Kusa kunoichi's eyes widened slightly at their actions. He turned to Sakura and dashed at her, meeting her halfway. He grabbed her around the waist and leapt off into the trees with her in tow.
The Kusa Kunoichi walked over to where the two had stood seconds before and looked at the small amount of blood they had left. 'They both got over the fear with pain. It seems they're not as helpless as I first thought.' She thought as she looked in the direction they had left.
Sasuke and Sakura stopped on a tree branch as far from the scary kunoichi as Sasuke could go with the kunai in his leg. He let go of Sakura and collapsed back into the tree trunk. She took the chance and immediately took out the senbon in her shoulder, a small trickle of blood escaping the hole left behind. Sasuke likewise took the kunai out of his thigh, a small spurt of blood escaped from the wound as the larger weapon had obviously caused more damage.
Sakura didn't say one word as she charged her hands with healing chakra and worked on her shoulder with one hand while the other worked on Sasuke's leg. Sasuke didn't seem to notice as he snapped his head back the way they came to watch out for their enemy. 'We've gotta get away from here! Away from her! But where!?' He thought as his eyes darted left and right.
Sakura was looking at him worriedly as she did what she could for their wounds. 'I've never seen him this panicked before. Even when we were up against Haku, he was still calm and calculative then.' As she thought this a shadow descended over the two of them. Sakura looked away from Sasuke and her eyes widened in shock at the sight before her. Right next to them was a large snake that looked like it was contemplating on wether to attack them or not. "Sasuke-kun watch out!"
Her cry caused Sasuke to snap his head around and stare right at the snake. Both of them were about to leap from their spot before... "Ryūseiōda!" Someone called as a black and blonde streak dropped right onto the snake's head and pushed it right down through several branches. The figure on the snake's head leapt away before it finally slammed onto a thicker branch and stopped. Several pieces of wood stuck from the snake's head and a large wound could be seen at the top of it's head as it bled on to the branch.
Sakura didn't see who it was that saved them but Sasuke did. He'd activated his sharingan in the panic and saw Naruto land on the snake's head and plunge the zanbatō he had right into the snake's head. He even saw the hand-seal Naruto had been holding with one hand as the other was holding the zanbatō.
Naruto showed up on the same branch as them as soon as he'd replaced the cushioning seal. "Hey you two okay? Wanna check my symbol?" He asked with a confident smile as the zanbatō was leaned on his shoulders, some blood dripping off the tip where he'd stabbed the snake.
Sakura turned to him, her eyes wide. "Senpai!" A smile came to her face at the realization that he'd saved them.
Sasuke just looked at him and said something almost inaudible. "Naruto... how?"
A large cracking sound came from below them and all their eyes darted to look at the snake's body. They watched as the Kusa kunoichi emerged from underneath the snake's scales, some kind of mucus covering her body. "So you survived meeting my friend?" She asked as she fully emerged from the snake's body.
"So that was your summon that attacked me." Naruto stated as he narrowed his eyes at her. The kunoichi didn't reply she merely chuckled at the three of them. "Guess it really doesn't matter now. You've been attacking my teammates, I don't like that. Slither away now before I make some shoes out of you!" He threatened the still chuckling kunoichi. Naruto hoped he sounded more confident than he felt because he knew this shinobi in front of them could probably kill all of them easily but he wasn't going to give up just because of that.
'Little idiot! He doesn't know what we're up against. He's gonna get the three of us killed!' Sasuke thought, looking wide eyed at Naruto. "Shut up Naruto! You don't know what we're up against!" Sasuke berated him.
"I know more than you think Teme. Both of you get out of here, I'll hold her off." Naruto told, no, ordered the two of them as he brought Kubikiri Hōchō out to bear in front of him.
'No, there's gotta be another way. A way that all of us can get away from her.' Suddenly a thought came to Sasuke as he looked at Naruto's vest. 'That's the only way.' He thought before addressing Naruto again. "Naruto, give her our scrolls."
Naruto's head snapped around so quickly you would have thought he broke his neck. He didn't say anything, he merely looked at Sasuke incredulously. As if Sasuke had just grown a second head or admitted that Naruto was better than him. The look soon disappeared as it was replaced by a hard glare but there was something else there. In his eyes, Sakura caught a glimpse of his mischievous mind at work, he was planning something.
"Fine, Sasuke, I'll give her our scrolls." Naruto said dejectedly before digging a hand into his pouch and taking out what looked like two earth scrolls.
Seeing him dig into his pouch to retrieve the two scrolls, Sakura and Sasuke knew he was planning something since they knew he'd kept them in a seal. Sasuke almost look horrified at what Naruto was about to do, while Sakura was fighting a smile.
"You can have 'em!" Naruto shouted in another downcast tone before tossing the two scrolls to the kunoichi.
She caught both of them easily and started cackling. "A very wise move. If the helpless prey is to save their own skins, they realize they must distract the predator with something even more precious." She told them as she started burning the two scrolls with chakra. Only to hear them already burning and crackling. She looked down at the two and went wide eyed at seeing the two pouches of explosives Naruto had swiped from Konohamaru covered in exploding tags instead of the scrolls. "WHA-" She was cut off by the subsequent explosion that went off right in her face.
"RUN!" Naruto shouted to Sakura and Sasuke as he turned and waited for them to leap off the branches. He soon followed as they started running and gave off a signal to a shadow clone they passed. It meant one very simple thing, swarm the enemy if they were still there.
The kunoichi was slightly angry to put it lightly. She'd jumped from the explosion as it happened and landed where team 7 had been a few seconds before. 'So that's the game they wish to play?' She was going to summon another snake and go in pursuit at that thought. She hit a snag, though, when a lot of Narutos appeared from the trees, all brandishing broadswords, knives and kunai. 'I don't have time for this.' She thought to herself as she continued the summon. She was soon standing atop a snake larger than the one she had summoned before. She looked up at the clones again and raised her arm as well. "Seneijashu!" She called as several snakes appeared around her arm and struck out at the clones, dispersing them. She whipped her arm about and slammed the snakes into more clones, making them disperse. She cackled lightly. 'Shadow clones, how interesting.'
Naruto wasn't as happy as the kunoichi right now, not after receiving the info he had received from the shadow clones. He looked about the area they were in now after having run so little. 'Not yet. A little further.'
The kunoichi started moving through the forest on her snake. Following her prey, all the way she was attacked by more clones. She merely batted them away with her snakes. 'So, he anticipated me following them. 'They're probably planning something right now.' She thought before lashing out and dispersing another clone.
"Stop!" Naruto shouted to Sasuke and Sakura. They both stopped on branches ahead of him.
"What is it Dobe!? We need to keep running or she's gonna catch up to us!" Sasuke shouted to him.
"You were actually serious about getting away from her? There's no chance of us ever getting away from her. Right now she's catching up to us even with us running, besides I never give up! All I wanted to do, Teme, was lead her to a battlefield of our choosing. I've covered the trees in this place with exploding seals so I can blow her up some more. There's plenty of cover so we can perform some long range attacks or if she summons more snakes." Naruto paused abruptly and looked over his shoulder. "Take cover, NOW! She's almost here!"
"Wrong Gaki, I am here." The kunoichi announced as she came up between Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura, atop the snake's head. Sasuke and Sakura froze again at the sight of her.
"Snap out of it you two we have to fight!" Naruto called as two shadow clones showed up in place of Sasuke and Sakura using a kawarimi. He was also replaced with a clone, you could only tell because the Kubikiri Hōchō disappeared from his shoulder. The shadow clone that replaced him dispersed almost instantly as the snake clamped it's mouth on the branch it was situated on.
Sakura was situated in some high branches way above the kunoichi that was after them. She looked about and spotted Naruto and several of his shadow clones around the area, along with Sasuke to the kunoichi's left. They had effectively surrounded their enemy and she had been placed perfectly to rain down attacks on their enemy. She took out some senbon and kunai she had left and waited for the right moment to arise, as well as get ready to use her only long range jutsu, the bakudan.
Sasuke wasn't as ready as Sakura to attack, he still wanted to run. To get away from this person, this thing of death in front of him. He wanted to survive. He didn't dare move incase she noticed him.
Naruto, well Naruto was everywhere. The real one however was squatting on a branch near Sasuke to keep an eye on him. He'd never seen Sasuke act like this before, it was like he was a different person. Almost like he'd reverted back to how he'd been that night. The night his clan had been killed, Naruto had seen Sasuke before and as he was taken to the hospital. If he'd been any earlier he'd have seen the massacre as well.
Flashback
Naruto was running through the village, unable to sleep yet again, he tried to get rid of his energy through running. He'd been in the academy for almost two years now, a few more months and it would be his eighth birthday. So far he was doing good in the training Kyuubi gave him and he was becoming infamous as a prankster in the village and a class clown at the academy. Being a prankster was the best part since it counted towards his stealth and stamina training when he ran from the ANBU. He still wished he had more stuff to do with chakra though, so far all he had was the henge and kakuremino jutsu. Both of them were some of the lowest level jutsu out there and he knew it from hearing about some stronger jutsu from Kyuubi. Along with the tree walking and water walking exercises Kyuubi had him do, there wasn't anything really interesting he could do.
He was broken from his thoughts as he neared the Uchiha compound, eventually he stopped and dashed behind a nearby tree. He usually passed by the different clan compounds in the hopes of seeing their famous ninja in action, even if some of them had attacked him before he went to the ninja academy. This night however, the compound was surrounded by ANBU and other ninjas of various ranks. 'What's going on?' He wondered as he crept closer through the shadows.
'Keep your distance, Kit. The scent of blood is in the air.' Kyuubi warned him before he got too close.
'How do you know?' Naruto asked, surprised by his sensei's warning.
'Because you were wondering what the metallic smell was. Blood contains iron and when it hits air or mixes with fats in the human body it gives off a vapor with the scent you can smell now. Remember that scent, Kit.' Kyuubi answered.
Naruto nodded mentally and tried moving to a higher spot to see inside the compound and over the heads of the gathered shinobi. He managed to get to a rooftop and almost lost what was in his stomach from the sight. Inside the compound was covered in blood, it was over the walls, the roads and the lone shaking form of Sasuke as he was being tended to by the shinobi.
There were even some bodies still left in the compound, yet to be taken to the morgue at the hospital. They were cut up and still leaking some blood, others had started coagulating. Some bodies were draped over others as if they had tried to protect those they covered. There were even some children, babies even, still in their mother's arms.
Naruto was sickened. He was grief stricken and horrified at the same time. Civilians and shinobi alike of the Uchiha clan had been slaughtered. People of his village. He should have been there to do something, he was supposed to be a hero. He was about to jump down and find out who'd done it before Kyuubi reeled him in. 'Calm yourself Kit. Even if you found out who did this, there's nothing you can do to change it now. All you can do is get stronger so you can stop it from happening again, if it happens again.' Kyuubi informed him sagely.
'Right... You're right Kyu-sensei. I will get stronger, strong enough to protect everyone in the village. This will never happen again. I'm gonna train harder than ever. I just hope Sasuke will be okay. He's cocky in the academy but I wouldn't wish this on anyone.' Naruto thought as he settled back down to listen in on whatever the shinobi were saying. Naruto heard enough to know that an Uchiha named Itachi was the one responsible for the massacre. He also heard how Itachi was Sasuke's older brother. Naruto soon grew tired of listening and since Sasuke had been taken to the hospital, he returned home.
The next few days Sasuke had been absent from the academy. Naruto just figured he was in the hospital and waited for his return. When he did return he was moodier and cockier than ever, but mostly moody. Naruto tried to befriend him and failed. Eventually Naruto decided to act as a rival and tease Sasuke into challenges, mostly sparring and kunai throwing.
Flashback End
Naruto shook the memories from his head and focused back on their enemy. She still hadn't moved, she seemed to be just standing atop the snake's head, glancing into the surrounding trees.
The Kusa kunoichi took one last glance into the surrounding trees before she spoke. "You seem to have a grasp of stealth. Hiding alone, however, will not keep a predator at bay!" She snapped around and glared directly at the real Naruto before her snake rushed forward. It rammed it's head through the tree he was on and knocked him into another tree.
He coughed up blood on impact with the tree, Kubikiri Hōchō slipped from his grasp and buried itself in a lower branch after falling through the forests understory. 'Too fast, couldn't... see it coming...' Naruto thought weakly, almost blacking out. He started falling, moving away from the tree. He eventually hit a couple of small branches and disappeared through the understory of the forest as well.
The Kusa kunoichi started cackling. "And here I thought he would put up more of a fight." She looked down the way Naruto had fallen. 'Now that I've gotten rid of that meddeler. I can fully gauge the Uchiha's skill.'
'KIT! I'm sending a burst of my chakra.' Kyuubi screamed to him mentally.
Naruto felt it. The warm feeling of Kyuubi sending chakra to him. Always the same, a warm feeling coming from his stomach. It also meant that the seal on his stomach showed up. His eyes snapped fully open. The pain from the impact forgotten. He redirected himself and latched onto the tree's bark with chakra. He tore it up as he slid down. His vision had changed as well. Everything was going slower. The kitsune eye jutsu had been activated.
Sasuke looked even more frightened at the kunoichi now since she was only a few feet from him, atop her snake. The snake's head turned to look at him, as did the kunoichi's. Sasuke couldn't help it. All he saw when he looked at her was that vision of death that had been brought upon him by her killing intent. Coupled with how her snake effortlessly took care of Naruto who was just as good as him and he truly feared her. The snake's head advanced toward him slowly. The kunoichi broke out into another sick smile. "I see you're still scared from our earlier encounter. I suppose your only good as a tasty little snack for my snake now." The snake started moving faster it's jaw now agape.
Sasuke's instincts kicked in. He leapt from the branch he was on and threw a barrage of shuriken at the snake and the kunoichi. "NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!" He screamed as he tried to find someway of losing her.
The kunoichi merely moved her head slightly to avoid the few shuriken that were aimed at her. The shuriken that were aimed at the snake merely bounced off it's scales. The few that got between the scales only served to irritate the snake. "Such fear and desperation." The kunoichi mumbled calmly before launching herself off the snake's head directly for Sasuke.
It was thanks to the slowed down vision of the kitsune eye jutsu that Naruto caught a glimpse of Kubikiri Hōchō. He sent the rest of the youki Kyuubi gave him into his legs and used it to launch himself toward Kubikiri Hōchō. He fed his own chakra to his eyes to keep the jutsu up.
He grabbed the hilt and yanked Kubikiri Hōchō out of the branch as he flew over it. He landed horizontally on another tree and started running up it with his chakra. He held Kubikiri Hōchō out to his right as he went. He tried to make anything out with his enhanced eyesight as he neared the understory of the forest.
The Kusa kunoichi flipped around in mid flight. She caught several kunai and senbon that had been sent at her before stopping on a tree, sticking to it with chakra. She held her forearms over her eyes as all the weapons were held between her fingers. "I was hoping there would be no more interference after I took care of the blonde one. It seems, however, that you are not smart enough to stay out of a fight so you may live." She said calmly as she lowered her arms and came face to face with a fireball.
She swiped her arms out in front of her causing the frieball to explode before hitting her. She dropped down from within the flames. She landed on a branch and was under another hail of senbon. Her summon snake blocked them by merely placing it's head over her.
Sakura was getting desperate now. She was out of kunai and down to her last few senbon. She'd lost about a quarter of her chakra from using the bakudan just once. The snake summon was too large for her to take on and the enemy kunoichi just seemed too powerful for even Sasuke and Naruto to take on, let alone her. 'Senpai, I hope you're okay.'
The snake moved it's head away from the branch and Sakura had a twinge of fear run through her at what was revealed. The kunoichi had disappeared. She had to move, before the enemy found her. She started backing up so she could travel under cover of the leaves before she bumped into something much too soft to be the tree. She turned her head slowly, already with a good idea of who was behind her. Her face was twisted into a look of fear. She looked up to be face to face with the Kusa kunoichi. "Hello, my dear. It seems you care more for your friends life than you do your own."
Anko had been called by some of the assistants that were helping with the exams to see about some dead bodies. At first she'd been a little pissed off at the chunin because she had just finished her dango break, even having a few extra dango in a small celebration at having the curse seal removed, you could almost say she was giddy with excitement. She was finishing off her sweet red bean soup when the chunin showed up. She was going to just brush off the chunin until he told her that there was something strange about the bodies, other than being dead.
She hadn't expected what she found though. All three of the faces were gone, like they'd been melted away. 'It's him!' Anko thought as she clutched the shoulder that bore the curse seal. She snapped around to the three assistants and barked out her order. "I want to see pictures of what these three looked like, where are their IDs?"
"Right here ma'am!" Answered one of the assistants as he held out three pieces of paper.
Anko snatched them away and stared intently at the very first photo. 'So this is the face he stole. Why is he here?' The face was none other than the Kusa kunoichi that was now after Sasuke and Sakura. Anko snapped around at the assistants again and barked out new orders. "We've got big trouble! Go tell Hokage-sama exactly what's happened here. While you're at it, tell ANBU Black Ops to send a couple of convoys out here." Anko turned to face the three bodies again. "Meanwhile, I'm gonna go in after these three. Move out!" The three vanished, speeding away to their destination. Anko was still looking at the bodies, thinking about who had done this. 'I may not need you to get rid of the seal after all Gaki, he's come back. Orochimaru is back in Konoha.'
Author's Note;
I'm not sure if I got that Ryūseiōda name right but it's supposed to mean 'meteor strike'. If I got it wrong, could someone please tell me the proper name and I'll change it. Basically what Naruto did was deactivate the cushioning seals again and drop on to the snake, if you didn't already figure it out.
Reviews are also greatly appreciated.