A/N Another update! I really like how this story is going along so…yeah. Enjoy! The second phase of the exams will be a bit different though to fit with the flow. And I'm not good at writing fight scenes although I tried.
Disclaimer: …
WARNING: We probably get the point, right?
It's been a few hours in the forest and Team Seven were starting to get tired – well, Sakura was. They were in the possession of a Heaven scroll. All they needed was an Earth scroll.
"How long are we going to be here?" Sakura whined. "Where is the bathroom?"
Jin, who was in a bad mood from earlier at the sight of Anko and the unexpected hot weather, turned to glare at her. "Who would find a bathroom in the forest? Go find a spot."
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked. Realization soon dawned onto her features. "What? Do you expect me to do that, you pervert?"
Jin's vein popped in his forehead. "Just go! Or we're leaving you behind to rot"
Sakura flushed and walked away, trying to find a good spot far away though her sick fantasies – let's not go there, shall we?
Jin and Sasuke waited for a few minutes, not speaking to one another. A scream in the distance, identified as Sakura alerted them. They both ran quickly to where the scream was coming from, jumping through the trees, and landed on their feet.
They took out their kunai and rushed in for a fight to only make Sakura scream again.
"W-what are you guys doing here?" She screeched, jumping up from her spot.
The boys stared at her for a few seconds. "You screamed," they both deadpanned.
"Oh, well, there was a bug and, you know, I hate bugs so – "
Jin sighed. "Let's move. Other teams would've heard you."
Sakura blushed and was about to leave with them until Sasuke suddenly tackled her down. Sakura blushed harder. "S-Sasuke-kun?"
Cha! I knew he liked me from the start! Inner Sakura cheered, pumping her fist in the air.
Jin deflected a few shurikens with his kunai and jumped back. "Get their scroll while I distract them."
"Who said you were the leader?" Sasuke asked, standing up. Sakura was still in a state of shock on the ground.
"I don't think she'll be much of a use," Jin replied, pointing at Sakura. "Unless you want to, I don't really care as long as we get the scroll."
"Ne, ne, do you have an Earth scroll?" a girl asked, appearing in front of Jin; causing him to lose his guard for a second at the unexpected entrance. She threw a round-house kick at him when she got her chance and flipped backwards in midair as he slammed into a tree. A Heaven scroll rolled to her feet.
"No?" the girl pouted. "Guys, it's zero again!"
Sasuke gripped the kunai in his hand and Sakura shakily stood up, noticing the large shuriken above her head.
The girl was from Kirigakure, judging from her forehead protector, and had shortly cropped light blue hair and dark green eyes. She wore a long-sleeved dark blue shirt, a gray skirt over black tights, and blue shinobi sandals. She wore gray arm warmers with blue linings.
"Che, at least we should get rid of them," her teammate spat at the ground, appearing behind her. "Takashi, go in and strike."
He had inky black hair and dark blue eyes that showed no sympathy or emotion whatsoever. He wore a similar outfit to the girl minus the skirt and leggings; instead, he wore a pair of gray shinobi pants. A large shuriken was attached to his back.
His other teammate who appeared in front of Sasuke unexpectedly raised a katana above his head, which Sasuke barely dodged with the help of his Sharingan. Sasuke flipped multiple times backward until he was in front of Sakura who still looked a bit dazed and horrified.
"Make yourself useful," Sasuke said to her before charging into battle against Takashi.
Takashi was the twin brother to the girl with the same outfit as his other male teammate.
"Go, get him, Takashi!" his younger sister cheered. She then directed her eyes at Sakura and smiled eerily, which sent shivers up Sakura's spine. "The girls shouldn't be left out, right?"
Meanwhile, Jin wiped the blood from his lips and smirked, quickly appearing behind the shuriken-wielding boy. "Boo."
Jin threw a sidekick at the boy's back, making him widen his eyes in shock. 'He's fast.'
The boy sailed through the air but rotated his body so he could plant his feet against a tree, chakra flowing to his feet. "Heh, you're good."
Jin appeared in front of the boy again but the boy expected it, already forming hand seals to his jutsu. "Suiton: Bakusui Shōha!" (Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave)
The boy opened his mouth, causing a large volume of water to come crashing down onto Jin. Jin has seen this jutsu before. Although the boy still needed some more control over it, the size was pretty big for a kid his age. Jin could only run as fast as he can to avoid getting drowned, jumping high to gain a good distance. The boy started to literally ride among the waves he created, the water crashing on to the ground they were on.
Suki, the girl, along with her older brother Takashi jumped up high like Jin to avoid their teammate's strongest jutsu.
"That guy must've been tough if Shigeru used that," Suki said to her brother. She watched as the useless girl she was fighting with before screamed as the waves drowned her, her arm reaching for help. "Mah, she's weak."
Suki jumped down, transporting chakra to her feet so she could stand on the raging waters, and pulled up Sakura.
"T-thank you," Sakura gasped out, her eyes wide.
"Don't thank me yet," Suki smiled, taking out her kunai. She raised it above her head and stabbed Sakura's eyes, creating a wide gash across both of them, and earning a shriek of pain from the poor girl. "There. Now you don't need to fret over your looks anymore or look in the mirror to see how ugly you are! You can thank me now!"
She dropped Sakura back into the water and jumped up, helping her brother against Sasuke. Speaking of Sasuke, he was a bit banged up from Takashi's crazy and unpredictable kenjutsu style. He had cuts and scrapes all over him, his Sharingan flaring as it spun faster. He dodged a slash at the knee and attempted a round-house kick to Takashi's head to only have it blocked by Takashi's blade.
Suki took out a few senbon needles and threw it swiftly at Sasuke's arms and legs, only hitting thin air and a few tree trunks when he barely dodged it, but one hit him on the shoulder, immobilizing its movements.
"It's getting old now," Suki pointed out, kicking Sasuke aside when he got surprised from the needle. "Finish him, Takashi!"
Takashi nodded and dashed towards Sasuke's body, raising the blade to slice off his head. Sasuke couldn't move; his energy was drained from the never-ending fight with the kenjutsu user.
All Sasuke saw was red, red blood dripping on top of his face – but it wasn't his.
"It's kind of tiring to watch over you all the time," Jin said.
Sasuke widened his eyes as rage took over him but he noticed what Jin just did. He practically took the hit for him, his shoulder bleeding from an ugly slash.
"Oh, this?" Jin asked, casually and unfazed from the wound. "It's nothing."
He literally bent the blade lodged into his shoulder from the katana; kicked Takashi away, ripped the blade out, and threw it at his chest. Takashi's mouth coughed out blood and his eyes dulled when the blade was thrown at his chest, pinning him harshly to a tree.
Suki screamed at the sight of her dead brother. She glared at Jin with her teeth bared in anger. "How dare you!"
She dashed at Jin, not noticing that even the raging waters disappeared, with her senbon needles in between each knuckle in both hands. She threw them from her right hand, to only have them deflected by Jin's arm as if they were made from steel.
As soon as she got close, Jin launched a punch at her face, gripped her shirt with the same hand, and threw her to the ground. Hard.
A snap was heard, making Sasuke cringe. Damn it, he was an Uchiha. He shouldn't…
"Find Haruno," Jin ordered. "Come back when you find her. I'm going to set up camp."
Sasuke wouldn't take orders from someone like Jin but stood up shakily and jumped down to find their useless teammate, not looking back at the dead team. He didn't care what Jin would do to the bodies as long as he got rid of them.
(An hour later)
They all found a cave nearby and set up camp there. Sakura's eyes were bandaged and taken care of but it was the last bandages they had after treating their own wounds.
Sakura sobbed at the loss of her sight and it almost made Jin feel bad, almost. Hey, he was human – sort of, anyways – but was still annoyed from her constant bitchy whining.
"I can't see anymore!" Sakura sobbed loudly, hugging her knees to her chest. "W-why? How can I see Sasuke-kun's face anymore? How can I be a kunoichi like this?"
"You never were in the first place," Jin muttered to himself, slipping his shirt on after checking his wound.
Sasuke was brooding, not even bothering to hear what was going on; he was too lost in his thoughts.
"We got both scrolls so we'll just have to go to the tower tomorrow morning," Jin sighed, leaning back against the dry walls. "Let's take a break for today."
"How did you do it?" Sasuke asked abruptly. His voice was quiet, soft.
"Do what?"
"Killing them."
"You saw me; unless it's about the other one."
"I meant, how did you kill them with no…mercy?"
Jin chuckled for a few minutes until it turned into a full-blown out laughter that echoed in the large cave. Sakura shivered and hugged her knees tighter as if it was her life line.
"There are things that should stay hidden," Jin answered with a small chuckle. "Besides, this is a survival test. You kill or be killed. It's as simple as that."
"Y-you're a monster," Sakura whispered.
"This isn't the first time I've heard that," Jin smirked. "Like I said, in this world, it's either kill or be killed. A shinobi is nothing but a tool and a machine to kill each other until there's one last man standing among the corpses."
Sasuke and Sakura felt like it was déjà vu again, remembering what happened back at the Wave mission. They all eventually went into a deep sleep, trying to forget what happened and hoping for a better day.
(The next day)
It was difficult moving around since Sakura kept lagging behind. After eating a small breakfast and packing up camp, Team 7 set out to find the tower and check-in.
They were all silent as they dashed through the trees. Sakura would've shrieked with joy to be carried on her crush's back but wasn't in the mood, which was appreciated by the two boys.
Jin felt a sinister presence around him and observed his surroundings carefully for any threat to find none. A bad feeling suddenly bloomed in his guts until it was too late. The whole team was suddenly blown away by a strong gust of wind.
Sakura let out a scream of pain as Sasuke fell on top of her while Jin winced from the pain coming back in his wounded shoulder. He really hated this body he was in.
A cold, snake-like laughter came above them. All they saw was a huge snake.
"You're a bit banged up, I see?" an oily voice spoke from on top of the snake. "Hmm, and who are you?"
Jin picked himself up from the ground. "Last time I saw you, you were a pretty good guy but…I believe in this world it's different."
'Just like Kakashi,' he thought bitterly.
"Kekeke," the feminine-looking man chuckled. "You speak as if you weren't from this world."
"Actually," Jin smirked. "I'm not. I was about to keep it a secret but – "
He suddenly appeared in front of the man. " – I'm not a patient one." He threw a swift kick at the surprised man, taking the chance to charge at him again and throw a punch.
His suspicions were confirmed when the man suddenly melted. It was a clone.
"My name is Orochimaru," the man introduced with an eerie smile, standing in front of Sasuke. "I can help you, Sasuke-kun; you know, about your revenge."
Sasuke glared before lunging at the man, engaging into another tiring fight. Jin appeared from behind Orochimaru and attempted to kick him but he was still a Sannin while Jin was stuck in a twelve-year-old body.
Sakura desperately looked around to catch what was going on but could only see nothing. She crawled towards a bush and hid behind it, trembling in fear while covering her ears with her hands.
Sasuke threw shurikens and kunais at the snake-like man to only have it missed. Jin jumped up and raised his leg in an axe kick, missing the man's head by a few centimeters.
"Such child's play," Orochimaru chuckled. "Come on, I know you can do better than that, Sasuke-kun."
"Do you always attract pedophiles?" Jin joked. Sasuke glared at him before dodging a punch and counterattacking with a round-house kick followed by a flipping axe kick.
"It's getting a bit boring," Orochimaru yawned. "Why don't you show that Sharingan of yours?"
Sasuke gritted his teeth and charged with a kunai in his hand, Jin doing the same. It was both futile when they seemed to work on their own.
"I thought you were attacking the left," Jin hissed, flipping backwards.
"I was until you popped out of nowhere," Sasuke growled back, sliding backwards on his feet.
"This is getting nowhere."
"No shit."
"Can we work together for once?" Jin sighed.
"Hmm, let me guess – no. With us, it's a no."
"At least, attack his front and I'll take his back."
"Good enough."
They sprinted towards the waiting man, never expecting the large snake he was standing on before to block them and attack. They jumped high to avoid its dangerous fangs until another gust of wind threw them back. Jin and Sasuke slammed against trees until falling onto a trunk.
"Do you have a plan B?" Sasuke asked.
"As of right now, no," Jin answered. "Just attack with everything you got."
"Done, already?" Orochimaru smirked. "I was expecting a bit more from you, Sasuke-kun."
Sasuke cried out in rage and charged with great speed at the man, slashing and kicking with all the energy he had left. Jin was left with the snake who hissed at him.
"I'm not enjoying your company either," Jin shrugged. He jumped back and threw shurikens inside the snake's mouth, causing it to choke and fall down to its death.
The fight went on and it seemed like there was no end. Jin's wound reopened at some point and Sasuke was littered with more cuts and scrapes. Orochimaru wasn't wounded, the lucky bastard. He somehow got them tied up with his creepy snake pets. Jin cursed at his limitation of power.
"Oh, but all I want is Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru said. "You're interesting, too, but my intentions lie on him."
Sasuke shivered at the look the man was giving him.
"Can you escape with your Sharingan I wonder," Orochimaru mused. "Let's find out."
Then a weird thing happened. His neck, his neck, stretched towards him like a snake and the boys could see his fangs protruding from his mouth. Jin and Sasuke struggled desperately trying to get out of the snake binds while trying not to get bitten.
Sasuke widened his eyes when the man's head seemed to appear right next to his neck. He clenched his fists and closed his eyes tightly, waiting for whatever the man wanted to do. He felt nothing.
"Seems like you're lacking," a familiar, husky voice spoke.
Jin gritted his teeth when he saw a tall, cloaked figure stepping on the man's long neck, to only have it melt.
Sasuke widened his eyes. He couldn't bring the words out of his mouth. That voice, was he dreaming?
Fortunately, Sakura's head popped out of the bush, voicing his thoughts. "W-who are you? Guys, what's going on?"
Okay, maybe not but it was close to what he was thinking.
"Hello to you as well," the figure greeted blankly. His head turned towards Jin and Sasuke saw a faint glow of red and cerulean blue beneath the hood.
"Jin," the figure said dryly.
"Uzumaki," Jin growled. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I'm here to save my world," Naruto answered, "and to bring your ass back to prison where it belongs."
A/N It was a bit rushed, I know, but I really wanted Naruto to come out. Yep, he'll be a badass but you'll see more of his character as it goes on. Loved the reviews I got! And yeah...I sort of feel bad for Sakura but there will be a reason why later that she's blind. ^_^ And this Naruto is older than the deceased one.
Review for this one please~