In the end they decided not to kill the Ame ninja they captured. It was sort of a 'thank you' for being relatively gentle with Naruto, all things considered. Then again they couldn't exactly let him meet up with his team as there was a danger they would come after them again.
Sakura took all of the Ame nin's equipment leaving him with just a single kunai. With his shoulder injury and no equipment he should hopefully be a minimal threat. It was not a perfect solution but Sakura found herself reluctant to do anything more to the bound and helpless prisoner. She couldn't help but be reminded a little bit of the bound prisoners down in T&I. If she started killing not because she had to but because she could then she really would be a monster.
They left him tied up and hidden high in the trees and took off as a team confident he would be able to get himself loose when he regained conciousness. After maybe thirty minutes of travel Sasuke called for them to stop at a small clearing.
"What is it?" asked Sakura.
"Let's take a small break. Also I've been thinking about it. We really should set up a password in case we get separated again so we can make sure whoever we meet up with isn't an enemy using Henge."
"Ok… that sounds prudent," agreed Sakura. Naruto observed and nodded his agreement. All of them made their way to the forest floor and sat down near the base of a tree hidden as much as they could from view and took out their canteens sipping from their limited supply of water. Dehydration would become an issue soon if they didn't find a source of water to resupply.
They sat in companiable silence for a few minutes sipping water and letting their bodies rest. It was funny how as if by unspoken agreement they had all taken out their canteens to drink as if choreographed. Eventually Sasuke broke the silence by speaking up. "Now for the password. We'll set up a challenge and a corresponding reply. Listen carefully because I'm only going to say this once. The challenge will be, 'what is the value of war'?"
"The response will be 'The art of war is of vital importance to the state. It is a matter of life and death, a road to either safety or ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected. The art of war then is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions in obtaining the field. These are as follows; the moral law, Heaven, Earth, the commander and the harmony of method and discipline'. That is all."
Sakura nodded once. "Ok, got it," she said with confidence.
Naruto however looked blankly at Sasuke. "Ugh, can you repeat that?"
Sasuke let out an annoyed huff. "I told you I was only going to say it once. Are you telling me you didn't memorize it?"
"Of course I memorized it!" said Naruto not too convincingly, "I just, um, wanted to double check I memorized it right is all."
Sakura shook her head. "Didn't you work on those exercises to remember long codes we had at the academy?" she asked sounding a bit exasperated.
"What… err of course I did! Didn't everyone?" he said chuckling nervously. The truth was he didn't even remember having exercises like that. He probably had been skipping that day.
"Enough," said Sasuke standing up, "come on we need to get going."
They had all just stood up when some little debris moving at high speed hit Sakura in the cheek, breaking the skin a little. Confused and a little alarmed she looked deep into the forest. Then there was a strange rumble before all three of them were suddenly overtaken by an insanely powerful wind coming from the forest.
"Another enemy?!" Sakura barely heard Sasuke yell over the din of the blowing gale.
Dust and particles forced the whole team to close their eyes. They all struggled to find cover and get away from the sudden windstorm and lost track of each other. Against all their wishes that one technique managed to separate the three of them.
Sasuke hid under a set of bushes looking over the destruction the attack that had been aimed at them had caused. The wind attack had left a shallow trench starting from where the attack originated and continuing on deep into the forest. That had been a powerful attack. Much more powerful than he would have expected from the Genin in the exam.
He strained his senses trying to spot either the enemy or his teammates. That the enemy hadn't immediately followed up the attack with an aggressive move was worrying him. It probably meant the attack was meant to confuse and disorient while the enemy proceeded to pick them off by stealth.
Behind him he heard someone nosily crashing through the foliage headed in his general direction. Weighing his options Sasuke turned as much as he could to observe. It was Naruto walking close by.
Sasuke stood up with a kunai in his hand letting his teammate see him.
Naruto spotted him right away and began running over. "Yo, Sasuke! Are you ok?" he said.
Sasuke brought his kunai up defensively causing Naruto to stop and shoot him a questioning glance.
"The password Naruto. 'What is the value of war?'" said Sasuke coolly.
Naruto stood there and gaped at him. "It's… urmm… the art of war, something and some shit. Dammit I don't know Sasuke! Why did you have to pick out stupid long code anyway? Bastard," he said, crossing his arms in angry frustration.
Relieved, Sasuke brought his kunai down. "Ok then," he said approaching Naruto.
Naruto himself tensed up. "Wait a minute, that's it? How do I know you're the real Sasuke? Tell me the password," said Naruto challengingly.
Sasuke scoffed. "As if you remember it anyway to know if it was right or not, dobe. I haven't called you dead last at all during the exams have I?" asked Sasuke.
"Err… No I guess you haven't," said Naruto dubiously.
"Then there is no way for the enemy to know you were dead last, dead last. That I know that is proof enough of who I am for now," said Sasuke putting his kunai away.
Naruto didn't look happy but accented to the point. "Fine bastard, only you would be such as an asshole, I don't think an enemy could fake that so well."
"Come on," said Sasuke, "we need to look for Sakura."
It turned out they didn't have to because right at that moment they heard someone walking through the thick foliage. A moment later Sakura walked through and spotted them both.
"There you are," she said eyeing them warily. Clearly she wasn't a hundred percent sure they were who they looked like.
"'What is the value of war?'" Sasuke asked her keeping himself ready in case of deception.
Sakura relaxed her shoulders seemingly relieved. If they knew the challenge phrase then they had to be her allies. "'The art of war is of vital importance to the state," she began "It is a matter of life and death, a road to either safety or ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected. The art of war then is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions in obtaining the field. These are as follows; the moral law, Heaven, Earth, the commander and the harmony of method and discipline'."
Sasuke relaxed his guard and gave a subtle nod to Naruto who relaxed as well and gave Sakura a wide smile. "I'm glad you're ok Sakura-chan," he said brightly.
"Thanks Naruto," she replied smiling back at him in turn.
"Come on let's go. We need to either find the enemy nin or get away from here," said Sasuke turning to go. As he was walking away he turned back to Sakura almost as an afterthought.
"By the way, I'm glad you're ok too Sakura. Maybe after the exam we could go out on a date together?" he asked her.
Naruto gaped, his mouth literally falling open. He would have complained about the bastard asking Sakura-chan out but he was momentarily in too much of a shock to say anything. Had the icy Uchiha who had never shown even the most remote of romantic interest suddenly started liking Sakura?
Sakura for her part looked surprised for a moment before smiling warmly at her teammate. "Sure Sasuke-kun. I'd like that," she said.
Before the words had finished leaving her mouth Sasuke had whipped his arm at high speed and thrown a kunai with everything he had at Sakura. The girl threw herself out of the way and onto the ground only at the last possible second.
"SASUKE!" yelled Naruto in surprise and outrage, "What do you think you're doing?!"
"Looks like we have someone who can actually dodge an attack this time," said Sasuke ignoring Naruto, his eye firmly trained on Sakura. "That's not Sakura Naruto. It's another impostor."
Naruto looked at Sasuke before looking back at Sakura who was laying on the ground looking at the two of them with a mixture of alarm and fear. Suddenly Naruto wasn't sure which of his teammates was the real one and which one was fake. Both Sakura and Sasuke looked perfectly like he remembered and they both knew about the code.
"Naruto," said Sasuke sensing the blonde's conflict, "think about it, what would Sakura say if I were to suddenly ask her out on a date? She would probably look at me shocked and in disbelief. Or she would cross her arms and raise an eyebrow if she thought it was a trick. At best she would trip over her words before accepting. There is no way she would just smoothly accept and just leave it at that like it was no big deal. That isn't who Sakura is. Also, did you see how he dodged my kunai? This guy's movements are totally different from Sakura's."
He turned and addressed 'Sakura' on the ground. "Why don't you quit with the games, you pathetic faker," he said.
Naruto looked on as Sakura's face transformed from one of surprise and shock to a profoundly creepy predatory leer. She slowly stood up with a boneless fluidity that was more alien than impressive. Sakura's tongue spilled out of her mouth and it was abnormally far too long, like a twisting and moving pink appendage that looked disturbing on her face as it licked the air. Despite himself it made all kinds of chills go up and down Naruto's spine.
"If you weren't going to trust the code from either of your teammates why did you make it in the first place?" asked 'Sakura', sounding genuinely curious.
Sasuke gave the enemy a self-satisfied smirk. "I knew you were lurking underground listening to our conversation. Now that you're out in the open we'll take care of you and take your scroll," he said.
'Sakura' chuckled at this. "Well you can certainly try. It does seem like you're not the type to let his guard down," she said. Then with a puff of white smoke the Henge was undone. In Sakura's place stood a very tall Kunoichi holding the brim of her straw hat. From where he was standing Sasuke could make out the symbol for the Village Hidden in the Grass.
Seeing the enemy appear before them like that both Naruto and Sasuke drew their kunai. Naruto for his part was surprised and worried about the real Sakura. There was just something off about this Kunoichi, and something was telling Naruto's instincts that this was the kind of person who would kill without hesitation. Shaking off the direction those thoughts were going Naruto focused on the here and now.
Still the question remained. Where was Sakura?
The Grass Kunoichi produced a scroll of Earth from her back. The boys tensed at seeing the exact scroll they needed to pass the exam, feeling a rush of excitement run through them at seeing their goal so close at hand. The excitement turned to disgust and horror as they saw the Kunoichi unhinge her jaw like a snake and wrap her inhumanly long tongue around the scroll, pulling it into her mouth and swallowing it whole.
Sasuke and Naruto could only watch dumbfounded and with a growing feeling of dread after seeing that. The Kunoichi turned to them and gave them a disturbing, condescending smirk.
That was when she struck without warning. Suddenly Naruto saw the Kunoichi right in front of him, a sadistic smile on her face as she brought down her kunai. It slashed across his chest and opened up his belly, spilling out his intestines. Naruto tried to cry out as he saw the kunai come around again and tore open his throat. With a strangled noise Naruto fell to his knees.
He was… he wasn't dead? It had all been some kind of illusion. But why was he shaking? Why was he so afraid? It was all he could do to not fall over from where he was on his knees, shaking as his mind howled in fear and his chest felt like ice. He had just had a clear vision of his own death and he had never been so terrified in his entire life. It was like he knew he was going to die and now he knew exactly how it was going to happen. He was sure the Kunoichi in front of him was going to be the instrument of his death and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.
With a start Naruto realized that this was killing intent. He had been exposed to it some in Wave but then it hadn't been nearly this bad or this powerful. Shooting a shaky glance next to him he saw Sasuke was in a similar state to him, on his knees and looking at the Kunoichi with fear naked on his face. His teammate had a kunai gripped in one hand but it was shaking badly.
"That's it? Is that all you have?" said the Kunoichi lazily sounding somehow disappointed. She drew two kunai from somewhere and held them casually in one hand as she started walking slowly towards them. "Don't worry I'll send you both quickly into the next world. You won't even have time to feel it."
She slowly lifted the two kunai held between her fingers. Naruto tried to force himself to move but couldn't do it matter how much he screamed at his body that he needed to do something, that he needed to move. With a shaky hand he reached into his pouch and produced a kunai – he had dropped the one he had been holding before – but reeling with fear as he was he could only barely bring it up in front of him. There was no way he would be able to deflect a thrown kunai like he was.
"Die," said the Kunoichi almost lazily, flicking her wrist and sending the two kunai flying at him and Sasuke.
Naruto tried to force himself to move as he saw the kunai approaching his head but for all his struggling he could barely do anything. Panicking Naruto thought for a second that he really was going to die.
At the very last moment he felt himself being tackled from the side and into the ground. Looking up he realized it was Sasuke who had pushed him out of the way, his face contorted in a mask of fear. Half dragging, half carrying Naruto the Uchiha took him and fled into the forest and trees as fast as he could.
Sakura groaned as she lay face down on the forest floor. There was a root painfully digging into her hip but she couldn't move to get up quite yet. The gale had seemed to single her out and had sent her hurling for what felt like a solid mile through the forest. When the technique ended she had been sent skidding and tumbling along the ground until eventually the base of a tree stopped her. Miraculously nothing seemed to be broken but the wind had been knocked out of her badly and she was willing to bet she'd have a record number of shiny new bruises to show for it tomorrow.
Slowly she dragged herself to her hands and knees. What in the world had happened? Sakura was having a hard time believing that giant gust of wind had been a ninja skill. Creating a gale of that magnitude and directionality would take chakra reserves and control that would simply be impossible for a Genin. Then again her own experience was rather limited to the other Genin she had dealt with in Konoha. With a shudder, Sakura decided she better assume the powerful freak windstorm had been created by another Genin taking the exam until proven otherwise.
As Sakura was rising to her feet she froze as she heard the sound of something large scraping across the forest floor. It sounded like something very big was directly on the other side of the tree she had landed against. Struggling to get to her feet Sakura stood and backed away from the tree, turning her body to look at whatever it was that was making that noise. It sounded like whatever it was was coming around the tree towards where she had landed.
Sakura stood in awe and fear as the largest snake she had ever seen came into view. As it reared up in front of her it was easily thirty feet tall with a mouth large enough to swallow her in one bite. Yellow eyes locked onto her as its tongue slithered in and out of its mouth tasting the air. It had yellow eyes, what Sakura herself had dubbed as the eye color of a predator.
The pink headed Kunoichi instinctually took a step back which only caused the giant snake to seemingly lock onto her more intently and begin to coil its body. Sakura lowered her own body in preparation to dodge knowing that if she took off running now she would just make herself easier prey to be struck from behind. She silently cursed herself for not having practiced the Shunshin no Jutsu in the last few weeks before the exam. Looking at the hungry eyes of the snake readying to strike she would have given her right arm to be able to get away instantly at high speed.
At some unseen signal the snake struck, it's coiled body propelling it forward almost too fast for Sakura to see. The snake sunk it's fangs into Sakura's body, only for the image of Sakura to fade and be replaced with a damp log that shattered in it's mouth. It hissed in anger and it whipped it's head around, unwilling to be denied it's prey.
By smell and by the thermo sensitive organs on it's face the giant snake quickly spotted Sakura crouched on a tree limb above it's head.
Sakura looked down at the snake, eternally grateful she had completed her seal-less Kawarimi training as it had probably just saved her life. With the speed of it's strike and it being so large it was unlikely she would have been able to dodge the serpent's lightning quick attack. The snake quickly spotted her and it propelled itself forward, coiling around and climbing the tree after her with surprising speed. When it reached high enough it struck at Sakura with a quickness that the Kunoichi thought should have been impossible for something so large. Sakura was prepared for it and jumped away with all she had to another tree limb, the one she had just been standing on shattering as the snake bit down on it viciously.
Shit, shit! That thing really wants to kill me, what do I do?!
Despite all her training and the mission in Wave this was the first time she found herself in a life and death situation where people were relying solely on her to get them out of it. Namely, she was relying on herself to not get eaten by the mother of all snakes. With a fright she realized she was all alone. Neither her teammates nor Kakashi-sensei were likely to bail her out of this one.
Sakura saw the giant brownish creature stretch it's body out from where it was on the tree next to hers and wrap itself around the trunk of the tree she was now standing on, clearly intent on chasing her down yet again.
Sakura ran with all she had and jumped to another tree before the serpent had the chance to reach her. Behind her she could hear the creature swiftly making it's way through the thick foliage after her. Desperately she tried to think of what to do but she was too panicked by what was chasing her to really think of up a coherent plan. Whatever strengths she had Sakura was relatively inexperienced and it was unfortunately starting to show.
The snake was gaining on her, this time almost getting in range to try to bite her again before Sakura managed to climb higher and throw herself off the tree, landing on another tree limb further away and setting off at a dead sprint.
What do I do? I can't keep running forever. Think, Sakura, think!
Surprising her with an unexpected burst of speed the giant snake threw itself and landed on the limb she was standing on. However it couldn't support the enormous bulk of the snake and the thick branch broke, sending the both of them crashing towards the forest floor.
Suddenly with nothing to stand on and seeing that she was about to fall sixty feet towards the hard forest floor with nothing in reach to break her fall Sakura panicked and screamed. In her terror her mind spat out an extremely unhelpful but relevant question.
Oh by Kami, is this where I'm going to die?!
Naruto was crouched down, trying to get his breathing under control after their mad dash through the high forest to get away from the terrifying Kusa Kunoichi. He had sent some Kage Bushin to distract her and make sure she couldn't follow and he at least thought they had been successful. The viciousness which she had killed his clones sent a shiver down his spine as he got the memories back from their demise. Thankfully he and Sasuke were now concealed and more or less safe high in the forest canopy.
The blonde had always been a resilient sort, he had to be with the kind of childhood he had, and thus he was already shaking off the effects of the massive killing intent the two of them had been hit with. Sasuke he noticed wasn't doing nearly as well. His eyes were still too wide and they had a manic, panicked glint to them. Naruto looked down at the bleeding thigh of his teammate. Sasuke had been with it enough to break through his paralysis by stabbing himself in the leg and that had been enough to save them both. He hated to admit it but he'd more than likely be dead without Sasuke pulling him out of the way. Now however it looked like Sasuke might be falling apart.
"Hey Sasuke," asked Naruto in a whisper. No sense giving away where they were unnecessarily, "are you ok?" he asked lamely. It didn't seem quite the right thing to say but what else was there?
Sasuke turned to him sharply and the wild eyed look on his face reminded Naruto of a frightened animal.
"I'm fine. But we really need to move and find a better hiding spot before that woman finds us," he said, his voice coming out in a rushed whisper that was just a bit too loud.
Naruto frowned at that. Sasuke wanted to keep running? They had seen what that creepy bitch could do now and could probably take her down if they ambushed her. She seemed like one of those types who was always so high and mighty until he got them with one of his pranks. On top of that they still needed to look for Sakura.
"Listen Sasuke, I don't think running and hiding is such a good idea. We need a plan not to mention we need to find Sakura. Why don't you put a bandage on that leg before we decide what we're going to do."
"No! Don't you get it?" snapped Sasuke. Naruto narrowed his eyes, he had never seen Sasuke in such a state before, "she's much too strong for us. We don't have any choice. We have to run while we still can."
Just like that? Since when had Sasuke become such a coward? He was just about to reply with an angry retort when disturbingly effeminate voice they both recognized interrupted them.
"Ku ku ku, it seems the little Uchiha has the right of it after all. When a predator has your scent the only thing the prey can do is run, run in hopes of saving their pathetic little lives," said the voice from seemingly all directions at once.
In the open freefalling space off the branch they were concealed on there was suddenly that looked to Naruto like massive ripples in the air. One second there was nothing and the next there was a snake the size of a building. Naruto barely had time to gape at it stupidly before it struck. It dove straight at Sasuke pushing Naruto aside with it's massive bulk.
Thankfully even with whatever weird thing was going on with him Sasuke jumped away in time. The snake turned and went to go after him again.
"Get away!" Sasuke yelled at it and threw a volley of shuriken at the monstrosity. The blades went into it's mouth and cut it inside deeply. The snake stopped and looked at Sasuke angrily when it inexplicably went rigid. It fell to the side, it's head landing on a gigantic Y-Branch of the tree. Sasuke and Naruto watched on anxiously, knowing that Sasuke should not have been able to kill it with that attack.
A second later the side of the head of the snake began to crack and rip open as if being pushed up from the inside. The two Genin watched in fascinated horror as the Kunoichi that had been chasing them rose out from the body of the snake covered in slime and ichor.
Though she didn't mean to her panic and fear caused her to lose control. In the split second of hanging in the air before the fall began Sakura's eyes changed and she entered First Heaven.
For a moment the world seemed to slow down. Sakura could still feel all her fear and panic but it was somehow muted, just faint enough to allow her to think and function. Hesitation left her body and all of a sudden Sakura knew that she would at least be able to fight that irritating snake with all she had to her last breath.
Time seemed to resume again and both Sakura and the giant snake began freefalling towards the ground through the open air. Sakura desperately looked around her and quickly spotted what she was looking for; a large chunk of wood from when the serpent had smashed the tree limb was now falling to the ground adjacent to another of the gigantic trees.
With an effort of chakra and her will Sakura used Kawarimi and replaced herself with the falling chunk of wood she'd spotted. Suddenly finding herself in freefall next to the giant tree Sakura used both her hands and her feet infused with chakra to stick to the trunk and halt her fall. She skid down a few feet before her hands and feet stopped her descent altogether.
There was a large fleshy thunk from underneath and a loud hiss of pain and anger from where the serpent had fallen to the floor down below. Sakura clung to the side of the tree as she looked down at the snake that was just now righting itself and already moving to come up the tree after her again, albeit seemingly a bit slower than before.
With a few seconds to think Sakura realized now how she could kill the creature. It was large, fast and strong but at the end of the day it was still just a dumb beast. Every time it came after her it did so in the same way, a direct attack with a bite attempting to swallow her whole. That simple minded repetitive strategy would be it's undoing.
As the snake began to climb the tree Sakura ran up the side aiming to get to the higher canopy. In moments she was hundreds of feet in the air near the top of the tree where the branches were all thinner. Looking around she found a relatively skinny branch that would serve her purposes just fine. After making a few preparations Sakura moved out as far as she dared to the end of the branch that could barely support her weight. She only had to wait a few moments for the giant serpent to reach her level, it's girth coiled around the trunk of the tree.
She could see the creature hesitate, obviously being smart enough to realize the branch she was on would not support it's massive weight. Sakura readied herself as the snake seemingly made up it's mind and coiled it's body in preparation to strike, consequences be dammed. With blinding speed it launched itself at her with it's jaws wide open.
Sakura used the log she had prepared beforehand and pulled the fastest substitution of her life letting the snake take the whole thing into it's mouth. The tree limb snapped and the snake began to fall well over two hundred feet towards the ground.
Unknown to the snake the explosive tags Sakura had placed all over the log in it's mouth began to burn. A second later they all detonated, the force of five explosive tags in an enclosed space ripping through the snake's skull and tearing the top half of it's head clean off. From her hiding spot Sakura watched with satisfaction as the nearly headless snake plummeted to the ground far below.
Sakura let herself stay on her perch and just breathe in and out for a few minutes. As she calmed down she realized something was nagging at her about this situation. That snake had been unusually determined to get her, even going so far as to risk a large and potentially lethal fall just to get at a little morsel like her. It was unusual behavior for a wild predator. Usually they would never risk serious injury because it could easily lead to death.
The snake and the suspiciously strong gust of wind that had separated her from her teammates were giving her a bad feeling. To her dismay Sakura found that she had been completely turned around during her fight with the snake. Starting her descent from the tree Sakura determined to get her bearings.
The whole situation felt off. She needed to find her teammates as soon as possible.
Sasuke watched in horror as that – that monster held Naruto by wrapping her unnaturally long tongue around him. After Sasuke had tried to give the Kunoichi their scroll so she would leave Naruto had decked him and called him all kinds of names, mostly consisting of coward. Then the blonde had gone on a rampage striking at the impossibly large snake the Kunoichi had summoned with enough strength for him to feel the shockwaves of the impact. Sasuke could almost not believe that had been Naruto unleashing that kind of power and fury on the creature.
It had been for naught however. Naruto had tried to shield him when the snake suddenly turned to attack him and the blonde had somehow managed to stop the attack of the giant snake through sheer physical strength alone. Naruto had called him a coward again right before that dammed Kunoichi had stretched out her unnatural tongue and used it to wrap Naruto up helplessly. Sasuke could only watch as the Kunoichi examined Naruto while the boy struggled and raved at the ninja.
Then for whatever reason he couldn't understand the Kunoichi lifted Naruto's shirt and hit him in the stomach with one hand. Whatever technique she used caused Naruto to stop struggling and lose consciousness.
With a casual flick the snake Kunoichi threw Naruto away into the air like he was garbage. Sasuke could only watch in mute horror as Naruto's figure fell through a gap in the cris cross of impossibly large tree branches and plummeted towards the ground floor over a hundred feet below. He wanted to move and save Naruto from the fall but he couldn't make himself move.
It was just like that night. The feeling of complete helplessness when he was just a boy as he faced his brother, his brother who had just killed his entire family. Sasuke had never felt that kind of utter helplessness and fear before. And that was before his brother decided to show him all the multiple ways he had decided to kill their family that night with his Sharingan.
Sasuke had always struggled and trained day in and day out since then so he could kill his brother and have his revenge. Another deeper, hidden reason that no one else knew was that he trained to the bone nearly every day was because he never wanted to feel like his life was no longer in his control. He had never wanted to feel that helpless and overmatched in front of another person ever again. If he trained hard enough he would never have to fear being at the mercy of someone stronger than him ever again.
This Kunoichi had completely disabused him of that notion and brought him to his knees with only her intent. Despite what Naruto may have said he knew that she had only been toying with them the whole time. Knowing he was so completely outclassed and that there was no one who would help was just like being back in that night. No matter how much he wanted to Sasuke couldn't shake the fear that weighed down his mind and body like lead.
"Ku ku ku, both of your teammates are out of the way now, most likely dead. Are you really a member of the Uchiha clan? So far you've shown yourself to be nothing but an embarrassment to the Uchiha name. If you don't show me something interesting I'm going to take my time in killing you."
Sasuke swallowed a lump in his throat as his whole body shook. All he could do was pray that someone would come and save him.
AN: Don't worry Sasuke someone will come and save you! Though it might not be who you all expect. I wasn't too happy with this chapter since I had to rehash some canon things and that is always kind of strange for me. Thankfully I think this is the last time for a long time anything will adhere strictly (more or less) to the canon story.
BTW I hated my story summary so I changed it for now until I come up with one I like. If anyone has any ideas feel free to send them my way :)