Hello people! Hope you guys like this chapter. Thanks to Tsukinoyo, MYDOGRULES, ruler of dragons, tru-viet, Lyris88, jjayno1, and MistFairie93 for reviewing. Please review, the sooner you review the sooner I update and the more reviews I receive the more I write. Oh and in the previous chapter, I wasn't sure if the person that gave Anko her kunai was a woman, but it looked like it was. Of course if you saw the anime and I assume you have you should know who the person really is. Now, on with the story!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but the lovely Rei.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Team Seven stopped and looked out in the direction the sound had come from. They stood on the tree branches wondering what had happened. Sasuke turned to look at Rei and was surprised at how serious she looked. She turned to him and frowned. She looked back to the others.
"Guys, we should keep moving. If we stay here we could be attacked."
"Hey, what do you guys think that was?" Naruto said.
"It was probably someone getting caught in a trap. We should stay quiet and watch out for any sign of movement." Sasuke said.
The others nodded and were about to leave when Rei threw a kunai disturbingly close to Naruto. Everyone looked at what she had hit and sat that her kunai had pierced a snake's head. They turned to her and she turned around ready to leave.
"I hate snakes." She said before jumping off.
Sasuke watched her and took the kunai she had thrown before going after her.
"Here." He said handing her the kunai.
"Thanks."
She took it and put it away.
"Rei, are you alright?"
She turned to Sasuke and realized that he was concerned. She smiled reassuringly.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"
"You seem tense."
"Well, I have to be, at least while we're taking the test."
"Hn."
Sasuke looked back at the others and moved up in front of Rei. She frowned knowing that he wasn't convinced that she was being honest. To be fair, he was right she wasn't tense just because of the exam. There was something bothering her, but she couldn't tell him, at least not yet. Still, she felt guilty as Sasuke had been honest with her about his past, but she knew that if she told him he would be upset and apart from that, he could be in danger. She sighed and kept moving. They stopped for a minute to rest and Naruto had to go to the restroom. When he came out he began to act like a moron in saying hoe much he had needed to go to the bathroom and she heard Sakura begin to argue with him. She wasn't paying much attention to them as she was looking around. She turned around when she heard the very familiar sound of someone getting punched. She expected Sakura to have hit Naruto, but was surprised to see that Sasuke had punched him. She was about to walk to where Naruto was to help him, but Sasuke stopped her. She looked back at Naruto and saw why.
"Where's the real Naruto?" He asked.
"What are you talking about?"
"Naruto is right handed and you have your shuriken holster on your left leg, furthermore, you're missing the cut the proctor put on Naruto's cheek. You're even worst at Transformation that he is."
Rei saw that Sasuke was right. The guy in front of them was definitely not the real Naruto, but then where was he? Before she could think more about it the guy transformed back into his own form and attacked them. Sasuke countered with a fire jutsu and Rei went to find Naruto. She found him tied up on the ground and freed him. They went over to where Sasuke was fighting and Rei saw that the enemy had managed to get behind him. Naruto threw a kunai and Sasuke caught it with his foot, holding it by using chakra. He threw it at his opponent and hit him in the air. He grabbed the kunai and stabbed him on his shoulder. Rei could see that Sakura was surprised and wondered if she had ever even stabbed someone.
"Don't just stand around! There could be others!" She heard Sasuke say.
She knew he was talking to Sakura as she was the only one that hadn't done anything during the attack. Rei was on guard as she knew Sasuke was right. There could be others around. She was holding a kunai and she saw that Naruto was also alert. The enemy got away before they could do anything.
They sat down and Sasuke said tat they should have a codeword in case they were separated. He chose a ninja song as their codeword and when she heard it, Rei knew Naruto would have trouble remembering it. Even she would have trouble with it, but she knew she would manage to remember if she needed it. As soon as they had agreed upon it another enemy appeared. They were separated, but Rei managed to find Sasuke.
"What's the code?" He asked as he held a kunai.
Rei told him the code, although it wasn't an easy task and Sasuke allowed her to get closer to him. She took out a kunai and Sasuke turned to her.
"Be careful and stay close to me. Don't let anyone get close no matter who they look like."
She nodded and a few seconds later Sakura found them. She said the code and then Naruto arrived. He also said the code correctly, but Rei saw Sasuke smirk. Suddenly he threw a kunai at Naruto and she realized that it wasn't Naruto. She frowned and wondered why she hadn't realized it before. She heard Sakura asking Sasuke why he had attacked Naruto.
"That's not Naruto." Rei told her.
The fake Naruto transformed into her original form and Rei saw that it was the woman (is it a woman?) from earlier.
"How did you know that I was a fake?"
"I knew you were listening to us from underground and so I decided to make the codeword like that. I knew Naruto would never be able to remember it."
"I see. You want my earth scroll since you guys have the heaven scroll, let's begin the battle for each other's scrolls with our lives."
They watched as their enemy swallowed the scroll and when they looked into her eyes they saw visions of death, their death. They were petrified and Rei found that she couldn't move because of the fear she felt. Rei saw that Sakura was crying and Sasuke was trying to move. She closed her eyes and tried to calm down. Although she hated to admit, it wasn't the first time she was in such a situation as that one. She commanded her body to move. She opened her eyes and saw that Sasuke had stood up. She looked at their enemy and saw her throw some kunai at them. She dodged in time and hid. She looked back and saw with relief that neither Sasuke nor Sakura were there, but her heart sunk as she saw the blood on the ground.
She heard Sakura yell and saw Sasuke appear with a giant snake chasing him. Her eyes widened when she saw the snake and she hoped to God that she was wrong about who their foe could be. Sasuke threw some kunai at the snake and she watched in horror as their enemy emerged from inside the snake. She ran to where Sasuke was as the enemy began to twist around the tree towards Sasuke.
Sasuke was relieved to see that Rei was fine, but he was concerned when he saw the look on her face. He could see that she was scared, but he had never seen her that scared. She hadn't looked so terrified, even when they fought against Hametsu. She stood in front of him with a kunai and Sasuke pulled her behind him. He would not let her protect him he was the one that would protect her. At that moment he wished that she wasn't there. He wished she was somewhere safe. Although they were all in danger, he really didn't want to see her get hurt. However, he wasn't sure if he would be able to protect her this time.
Rei was surprised when Sasuke pulled her behind him. She watched as the enemy got closer and was about to push Sasuke out of the way when some kunai got in the way of their foe. She looked up and was relieved to see Naruto. She turned to Sasuke and saw him deactivate his Sharingan. She knew he had come up with an idea. She was surprised to see him take out the scroll.
"I will give you the scroll….Please take it and leave us."
Rei was shocked and she heard Naruto screaming at Sasuke for offering the scroll to the enemy. Sasuke ignored him and threw the scroll. Naruto jumped and caught it before the enemy got it.
"You bastard! What are you doing?! Do you understand the situation?!" Sasuke exclaimed.
Naruto punched Sasuke and Rei just stood there not knowing what to do.
"You're not the real Sasuke!" Naruto said.
"You moron, it's me!"
"There's no way such a stupid coward like you is the Sasuke I know!"
Rei looked at them with shock. Even though they should have been trying to get away, Naruto was right, Sasuke needed to hear that and at the moment she was too afraid to get him to understand.
"What guarantee is there that he'll leave us if we give him the scroll?"
They heard their enemy laugh.
"You're right Naruto-kun, but I'll just take it now."
Naruto ran towards their enemy.
"Naruto stop!" Rei said.
"No, run away, Naruto!!!" Sasuke cried out.
Rei looked at Sasuke and knew that he wouldn't do anything. She knew he was scared and that was what kept him from moving, but she was disappointed in him. She ran towards Naruto.
"Rei!!! Stop!!!"
Suddenly a giant snake appeared and she knew that, although she hated to admit it, she was sight about who their new enemy was. She jumped out of the way of the snake, but Naruto didn't. She hit a tree and slid down. She stood up ignoring the pain. She watched as Naruto was thrown against a tree and began to fall back down. The snake was ready to eat him, but Naruto punched it. There was something different about Naruto and she could feel that he was stronger. The snake went after Sasuke and she watched in horror as he just stood there.
"Sasuke, run!!!" She screamed.
Before the snake could get to Sasuke Naruto stopped it. Their woman used her tongue to lift Naruto up and Rei watched as she made some hand signs and hit Naruto in the stomach. She then threw the unconscious Naruto to the side and Sakura threw a kunai to hold him up and keep him from falling.
Rei ran towards the strange woman with a kunai in hand. Unfortunately, the woman caught her and punched her in the stomach. She grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up. Rei glared at her amused expression.
"Well, it's been a long time since I last saw you, Rei-chan."
"Let me go, Orochimaru." She hissed venomously.
Orochimaru chuckled. Sasuke watched as Rei spoke with the strange woman. He was surprised to see that she knew her.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, after all, I've been looking for you for a while."
Rei froze and felt her blood freeze with fear. She shuddered as she looked into those eyes, that she had never wanted to see again. She could feel tears welling in her eyes and wished someone would help them. She hadn't felt so scared since the day her parents had died and she had escaped.
"No, I won't go back!!!"
She tried to punch Orochimaru, but couldn't. She was thrown into a tree and as she slammed into it she felt something wrap around her. She looked down and saw that it was string attached to some shuriken. It was tight and she could feel it cutting into her skin. She glared at Orochimaru, but couldn't hide the fear in her eyes.
Sasuke watched in horror as Rei was thrown and tied to a tree. He wanted to help her, but he was scared. He looked at her and felt terrible when he saw the fear in her eyes. She needed him and he wasn't doing anything to help her.
'I have to protect her! I have to be strong!'
He activated his Sharingan and got ready to fight. He took out various kunai and shuriken and attacked. He used the Sharingan Windmill Triple Blade attack and burned Orochimaru's face off.
"Who the hell are you!!!?" Sasuke said.
"My name is Orochimaru, but I would have thought that Rei would have told you."
Rei frowned from where she was and glared at Orochimaru. She couldn't believe what was happening. She had tried so hard to forget about him and lead a normal life. She supposed she should have known better. She knew she wouldn't be able to have a normal life for a while. Still, she had to try, at least for Sasuke.
Sasuke froze. How did he know Rei? What the hell was going on?
"How do you know her?"
"Let's just say that she had the privilege to train with me. Unfortunately, her training wasn't finished, but I'll take care of that."
They watched as Orochimaru burned the scroll.
"If you want to see me again then survive and pass this exam."
"We don't want to see your face again!" Sakura said.
"I think Sasuke disagrees. After all, if he wants to see Rei again he'll have to see me again. But just in case…"
Rei watched in horror as Orochimaru extended his neck.
"Sasuke run!!!"
It was too late and Sasuke was bitten on the neck. She watched as he doubled over in pain and began to scream. Orochimaru approached her and grabbed her. She could feel the tears running down her cheeks as she heard Sasuke screaming and saw him shaking with pain. He looked at her and she could see the pain in his eyes. She felt something hit her neck and everything went dark. The last things she heard were Orochimaru laughing and Sasuke screaming.
End Chapter Twenty-Nine
Hope you guys liked it. Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I couldn't resist. Oh yeah, I won't be able to update for about a month. Please review, the sooner you review the sooner I update and the more reviews I receive the more I write. Sayonara! Oh, and I was kidding, I'll update soon.