Please Enjoy and I only own Ami and her unique Justus. The chapters of the story will occasionally combined some episodes in to one
Chapter 8: - The Genjutsu Trap
I carried a bundle of firewood and dumped it by Sakura, I stretched my back, cracking the bones as I did so. It had been two days since the Sound ninja attacked us, putting us on the fifth and final day of this damned test and we had still yet to acquire a Heaven scroll.
"Thanks Ami, I think that's enough firewood. You can use your fire now," Sakura told me. I nodded and formed hand signs before sending a single fire ball at the wood, lighting it. I then went over to check on the boys, who were collecting breakfast. Naruto was using his shadow clones to scare the fish out of the water, whilst Sasuke used his kunai to pin them to trees. They came back and placed the fish on sticks and we let them grill by the fire.
"It's already been four days since the second exam began," Sasuke stated. I thinned my lips and began to push the burning wood about so as to keep the flames blazing.
"That's right," Sakura admitted. They can concerned looks on their face, and even I was worried out the circumstances.
"We're sure not going to break any record," Sasuke spat bitterly. I looked at the Uchiha and I could agree, not that I cared about the records, I just cared about surviving this exam. "And we only have twenty-four hours left," Sasuke continued.
"Not exactly, we technically have more, taking into consideration the fact that the exam started during the afternoon and it's still daytime, we technically still have plenty of time left, but….," I explained and then trailed off into silence. Both of them stared at me before looking down, suddenly I didn't feel hungry.
"I wonder how many of the other teams have already got their scrolls and finished," Sakura wondered. I nodded and saw that Naruto had a big grin on his face, probably not concerned with our predicament. We began to eat even though the atmosphere was thick with worry. "We have to face it, there may not be any more Heaven scrolls left,"
"Well that's a cheerful thought," Sasuke sarcastically stated. I glared at the boy annoyed with him.
"Maybe so but it's true. Look you said it yourself Sasuke this is the fourth day we've been out here. That means we've already used up 80% of the time we've got to complete the exam, only thirteen teams can pass because there's only thirteen pair of Heaven and Earth scrolls, and you've got twenty-six teams, seventy-eight candidates out looking for them. And if those odds weren't bad enough, things have gotten even worse," Sakura explained. I decided to join in, to give Sakura' voice a break.
"Orochimaru burned our Heaven scroll, thus making it so that there are only twelve compete sets of Heaven and Earth scrolls. Also with the fact that by now most of those remaining sets will have been completed and delivered to the tower we don't have a high probability of passing," I finished up. Sasuke looked down a contemplative look on his face.
"Maybe we gave ourselves too much time to rest and recover from our last fight. I don't know what I do know is that we've got to get serious and make up for lost time, the next enemy we face could be our last chance," Sasuke told us. He then stood up and picked up the water canisters. "I'm going to get water. Ami come with, I need to talk to you," Sasuke stated. Confused I stood up and followed after the Uchiha, we came to the nearby river which was far enough form the campsite so that the others couldn't hear us.
"I'll be blunt, I don't trust you," Sasuke stated. I looked up to stare at him, waiting for him to carry on. "You know something and you're not telling us. You're stronger than you led us to believe, thus I don't trust you," Sasuke explained. His dark eyes, froze as he stared at me, I smirked and looked him dead in the eye.
"You're right, I do have secrets and so does everyone in this world. I'm not going to spill my guts to you because we're teammates. As for my strength, I only used my Justus because I didn't want to mess about with that Rain Genin, Orochimaru is a lot stronger than you think and those Sound ninja had pushed my buttons," I shot back at him. His eyes simply narrowed at me.
"Also your cold heart won't let you trust anyone, thaw your heart and then decide if you trust me or not," I added on. Sasuke's eyes widened as if he hadn't expected me to say something like that. The tense silence was shattered by Sasuke standing up, we began to head back when we came around a boulder only to see that Naruto and Sakura were with another ninja, we rushed over to the ninja, only to discover that it was Kabuto, who told us that he had stopped Naruto and Sakura from opening our Earth scroll.
"I can't believe you guys," Sasuke reprimanded the two. They looked down with shameful expressions on their faces, I also gave them a disappointed look
"If I hadn't come along when I did," Kabuto began to say but trailed off. The two of them apologise. "There have been others who have broken the rules and tried to peek at the scrolls. I've seen what happens to them, they're protected by a powerful hypnosis jutsu, a kind of booby trap for anyone unwise enough to try to read them, it'll knock you senseless and by the time you wake up the exam is over," Kabuto explained. I raised an eyebrow wondering how he knew so much, after all the conditions much have changed even slightly between each exam.
"Kabuto right? We met at registration. What are you doing wandering around all by yourself?" Sasuke asked the ashen haired ninja.
"Don't worry I'm not after your Earth scroll," Kabuto responded. I eyed him sceptical of his motives.
"I guess not, if you were you would have just swiped it from Naruto when you had the chance," Sasuke stated. "So you're looking for a Heaven scroll to?" Sasuke asked.
"Not really. You see I already have them both," Kabuto responded. He then reached into his scroll pouch and pulled out both a Heaven and Earth scroll. "I had a run of luck. I was just on my way to the tower to wait up for my teammates. So if you'll excuse me," Kabuto explained as he tucked the scrolls away. He then began to walk away.
"Hold it. I'll fight you for it," Sasuke declared. I wasn't surprised we needed a Heaven scroll and it was anything goes.
"You'll fight me for it," Kabuto repeated. I watched the scene before me with the other two, however I felt the eyes of someone else watching us. The other two began to protest until Kabuto spoke up. "Are you serious?" He asked.
"Perfectly. Sorry but I don't have time to play nice," Sasuke answered. The other two attempted to stop him, but I remained quiet. "Shut up! It can be helped. It's either him or us, out here it's all about surviving and winning, nothing else matters," Sasuke added in.
"You're lying. Come on admit it for all your tough talk, your heart really isn't in it. If it was true, if winning was really the only thing that matter to you, why openly challenge me to a fight? Why announce it and put me on my guard? Why not just jump me when my back is turned? After all that's what a ninja would do," Kabuto argued his point.
Kabuto then offered to take us to the tower, but insisted that we should move quickly as the competition would be drawn by the fire, it was obvious he had noticed that we were being watched.
"You think there are still other candidates out here?" Sasuke asked as we jumped through the trees.
"Oh yeah. Just think about it, what do you think is the most efficient way of gathering the scrolls in an area as large as this? To go searching through the forest" Kabuto responded.
"No, it would be more efficient to strike where the teams are most likely to converge. Which in this situation is the tower, especially on this day when everyone will be rushing straight for it," I answered.
"Exactly. The tower at the centre of the forest it the goal right. So on the last day of exam that area will be crawling with teams, converging on the tower with their scrolls
"Oh yeah, I get it, like an ambush. So we just head for the tower, find a hiding place and when a team comes along with a Heaven scroll, we jumped and take it," Sakura declared. I shook my head knowing it wouldn't be that easy.
"That's one-third of the problem. You guys aren't going to be the only ones thinking of this. Every other team lacking a scroll will be lying in wait, just like you," Kabuto warned.
"So what! The more, the merrier, I say. Whoever they are we'll take care of them, wouldn't want this to be too easy, that wouldn't be any fun. Ok, so we grab someone else's scroll and keep those losers from grabbing ours and bingo, we pass the second exam," Naruto boasted.
"That's two-thirds of the problem. There's bound to be some collectors lurking around at the finish line." Kabuto informed us.
"Collectors?" Sakura asked in confusion. I kept a wary eye on him, making sure he couldn't pull any tricks.
"Even when you think, you're home free you can't relax your guard for an instant. This kind of exam brings them out, collectors, they gather extra sets of scrolls to use for various ends, for example to bribe their way out of unexpected situations, or to provide their village mates with the scroll their lacking," Kabuto began to explain.
"Some steal them to keep candidates from rival villages form passing or to help our tams form their own villages who couldn't find the village on their own, others steal then for their own dark purposes, they hang on to them to use against the stronger teams down the line, they'll be there alright and they're bad news. The closer you get to the tower the more likely you'll be to run into them," Kabuto finished up.
"I see and I think I'm starting to understand, why you brought us along with you," Sasuke stated. Kabuto looked at him confused by his statement. "It's because you're frightened aren't you," Sasuke stated.
"You bet I am," Kabuto admitted. I glared at him not believing that, there had to be another reason why he dragged us along.
Night had fallen and the full moon was still rising into the sky, its' yellow glow shone down on the earth, bathing it in an eerie light.
"There's the tower that means the end is in sight. Now comes the hard part," Kabuto informed us.
"Well it's about time, bring it on!" Naruto yelled out. However the rest of us sensed something.
"There's someone back there," Sakura told us. Naruto threw a kunai backwards, and it landed in the head of a giant centipede.
"Ah, false alarm it's just a centipede," Naruto said. He was completely unconcerned that Sakura was shaking like a leaf in a gale storm.
"Just a centipede, that creepy thing's as big as a bus," Sakura complained. I rolled my eyes at her exasperation.
"Hey Naruto. Do us a favour, and try to keep it down to a dull roar will you?" Kabuto asked the blonde. However the blonde was completely confused by his request. "See the whole idea is not to let anyone know were here. If you go crashing through the forest like an elephant you're going to draw collectors like flies. We want to find them before they find us," Kabuto explained.
"Oh yeah I see your point," Naruto answered once he realised what Kabuto meant. I looked around something felt off, the atmosphere had shifted but I could tell what it was.
"Take it slow and quiet, let's use all the time we've got left," Kabuto suggested. We then began to move into the forest – we even encountered a trap along the way that Naruto trigged – however even as we moved, the tower never seemed to get any closer, and we were getting exhausted.
The others final noticed that the tower wasn't coming any closer, I looked around and spotted something I shouldn't have. A large centipede, pinned to a tree, with a kunai through its' head.
"Um… that look familiar," I pointed out. Everyone turned in the direction I pointed and their faces instantly paled.
"Oh man no way it can't be!" Naruto cried out in disbelief. I sighed and realised that we had been caught in a Genjutsu. "Hey what's the big idea?" Naruto asked.
"What's going on?" Sakura echoed the blonde's question.
"It would appear that we've been caught in a Genjutsu," I told them. Kabuto berated us and himself for not noticing, I gritted my teeth and looked around for any tell-tale signs.
"What's their game?" Sasuke asked.
"They're probably trying to ware us down, and strike when we're frustrated and physical exhausted," Kabuto reasoned.
"You mean like we are right now," Sasuke responded.
"Right. They'll be coming," Kabuto agreed. I looked around waiting for the inevitable attack form our assailants. Suddenly, dozens of Rain ninja began to crawl out of the wood, effectively surrounding us.
"Well Naruto you wanted a fight," Sasuke stated. I thinned my lips as I looked at the mass of ninja before us.
"5 against 50. I like those odds," Naruto responded. I pulled out my scroll and I looked around prepared to fight.
"What are they?" Sakura asked in panic. I was too sure myself, they could be clones or some kind of jutsu.
"Clones from the look of it, and a whole lot of them" Kabuto answered. Although I could tell that he wasn't too sure himself.
"Like cornered rats," One of the ninjas laughed. I looked around for any trick or sign that would discern the real ones.
"Oh yeah cornered rats are we?" Naruto yelled out as her charged. His fist connected with one of the ninjas and Sakura congratulated. However Naruto's fist began to slip through the ninja as it seemed to stretch and split, but instead of disappearing like normal clone would, another clone grew out of the damaged one.
'What the hell?' I thought as I watched the clone emerge. It came out holding a double edged kunai, it then went to attack Naruto.
"Naruto watch out!" Sasuke yelled. He then threw some shuriken protecting the blonde from the attack, by severing the arm of the clone. The clone then threw another double bladed kunai at Sasuke, he was frozen however, I grabbed a hold of him and shoved him down and out of the way, however the blade sliced across my arm.
I looked down at the boy only to see he was frozen, his Sharingan activated, I glanced at the mark on his neck and saw that it was blazing red and beginning to spread.
"Sasuke undo your Sharingan," I told the ravenette. I stood up and looked around the area, it was crawling with clones, that could attack us but we couldn't attack them. "Sakura watch Sasuke," I told the pinkette, she nodded and immediately tended to him, I saw that Kabuto had picked up the weapon.
'That things real, so what's the trick here.' I wondered in my mind. The clones then demanded that we surrender our scroll, I rolled my eyes not about to comply with the ridiculous request.
"The fact that Ami is wounded and bleeding, means that these things are real Shadow Clones," Naruto called out to us. I noticed that Kabuto visibly tensed and glanced at me for a brief moment before refocusing on the encroaching clones. "But, man, Shadow Clones are supposed to vanish when you give them a good shot, but these things don't. So what the heck are we dealing with, some kind of Genjutsu," Naruto finished up. The clones continued to demand our scroll but as Naruto was about to attack Sasuke called out.
"It's no use save it. You'll only be fighting illusions, it's Genjutsu alright," Sasuke told us. I slipped my scroll away, knowing it was useless to use it against an illusion.
"Illusions but how? That gash on Ami's arm is real enough," Sakura protested. I looked around still trying to spot our real opponents, now that I knew the ones in front of me were illusions.
"That's true, but still Sasuke's right. Could be the real enemies are hiding somewhere in the woods nearby. Launching a real attack from behind a smokescreen of illusions and coordinating their movements with them so that we're fooled into thinking the Genjutsu shinobi are the ones attacking us," Kabuto theorised. I nodded agreeing with it, wondering where exactly they could be… if only we could lure them out somehow.
"Well wherever they are, what are we going to do just stand here? Let's go find these clowns and take care of them," Naruto suggested. I knew that wouldn't work, we'd end up wandering in circles again.
"Hold on Naruto. They'd like nothing better than for us to go searching blindly through the forest, while they sit back and take us out. One by one, we'd be making their job easier," Kabuto told the blonde. Naruto wasn't happy with this at all.
"This sort of trick is only used by weak, little, cowards who are afraid to confront their opponent in Taijutsu," I told the others, having encountered this trick before in my travels.
"We have no choice but to hold our ground and fend off their attacks," Kabuto told us. The clones continued to attack us, whilst our real opponents threw kunai at us from the shadows, we blocked the attacks with our own kunai or to dodge the attacks as best we could.
"Man how long is this going to go on!" Sakura exclaimed. I had to agree with her, then I felt someone nudge me in the ribs, confused, I looked down to see Naruto.
"I have an idea," Naruto told me. I looked at him confused but then I grinned as I watched him cross his fingers in a familiar hand sign. "Ok this isn't going to work," Naruto spoke louder. However Kabuto quickly walked up to him and stopped him.
"No it's pointless, you'll only waste your chakra. By trying to fight these things, you'll be doing just what they want," Kabuto warned. However Naruto didn't heed him.
"If we were to eliminate all the illusions, whoever's casting them won't be able to hurl kunai at us without us being able to see where they're hiding. I'll show them two can play at this game," Naruto responded and he summoned his Shadow Cones.
The clones charged forward and began to engage the enemy, Naruto then quickly told us his plan and we executed it, before our opponents noticed what we were doing.
Time passed and the sun was just beginning to peek beyond the horizon, we had watched as Naruto and his clones took down the Genjutsu clones, before eventually joining in however now we had been worn down, exhausted, I knew that the real opponent would appear soon.
The Genjutsu clones faded away and the ninjas who had attacked us at the very start of the exam appeared with two others dressed just like him, I could only guess that they were his teammates. I looked at the other three and we nodded before silently jumping down behind the three Genin who were staring at Naruto and ourselves.
"Well, well. Now who's the cornered rat," Sasuke taunted the Genin. They seemed shocked to hear his voice echo from behind them and not from in front, Sakura then laughed.
"Worked like a charm Naruto," Sakura compliment. The Genin were beginning to panic as their leader looked around searching for us.
"Nice job Naruto-san, a cunning plan," I added in. They turned around to see us, unhampered and not breathing heavily, they didn't believe what they saw and were confused.
"Confused? Sorry, but it was the only way to get you guys to come out of hiding," Naruto explained. Then the fake us, were surrounded by a puff of smoke and when it faded more of Naruto's Shadow Clones replaced them.
"How? Don't tell me that little brat, it's not possible," the leader protested, unable to believe what had happened.
"The Shadow Clones were only the first part of it. My real trick was coming up with clones for the rest of my squad," Naruto began to explain, as he stood up, the clones disappearing.
"While our doubles did all the fighting and took the beating, we were safe and sound waiting for you to show yourself. What do you think guys, I think our little plan worked," Sasuke finished up. I wanted to laugh at the Genin but held my tongue, Naruto then fell to his knee as he was exhausted.
"Naruto take a break, you've used up too much of your chakra. Don't worry I've got them," Sasuke told the blonde. However Naruto got to his feet and landed a punch onto the Genin which forced all of them to the floor. I was stunned by the fact that he could still move after all that he had done.
"After all the work I've done, there's no way I'm going to stand back and let you guys have all the fun," Naruto protested as he heaved in his breaths. I was amazed at the sheer willpower, strength, stamina… whatever it was, that Naruto displayed.
The Rain Genin began to attack us using fog clones, I sighed not in the mood for this since time was running out. Naruto and Sasuke got into an argument about strategy, eventually Naruto began to charge in, I was about to follow when Sasuke froze up again as he still hadn't deactivated his Sharingan.
I was torn between helping Naruto who was fighting the clones, who was quickly followed by Kabuto or helping Sasuke who was still trying to use his Sharingan despite that pain that it was causing him. Sasuke made the choice for me when he cried out in pain and collapsed to his knees, I knelt down by him, followed by Sakura.
"Sasuke! Sasuke pleases stop using your Sharingan, stop it," Sakura begged. I looked at the mark to see it was starting to spread again.
"Listen to her, stop using your Sharingan it will only cause you pain," I advised the Uchiha.
"Now you're going to get it!" I heard Naruto cry out. I looked up to see that Kabuto was down and clutching his left knee, signalling that he had been injured.
"Forget it Naruto. You could swing at those guys all day, you're just wasting your time on them, the real ones aren't there," Sasuke told the blonde.
"What are you talking about that last attack didn't come from any clone. Of course the real ones are here, they've got to be here, if they're not then where the hell are they?" Naruto protested.
"Use your head. If I knew the answer to that, I wouldn't be in this fix," Sasuke retorted. Naruto then collapsed, a clone went to strike, then I saw that behind Naruto the ninjas rose out of the ground and attack Kabuto. When they went to deal the finishing blow, they suddenly flinched back this allowed Naruto to take them down and the clones disappeared.
We found that the Genin possessed a Heaven scroll, taking it we then rushed over to the tower. We managed to arrive without another incident and briefly met up with Kabuto's team, before we headed inside, I was quiet thankful for the possibility of the rest after what we had been through.