I own nothing

The test was actually not as easy as Ashura let on...

'It's not my fault most of these questions are actually just bullshit and there are no answers real for them.'

Naruto smirked—he got both Ashura and the Kyuubi angry today... could it get any better?

He could feel Ashura roll his eyes.

Sasuke was using his Sharingan to copy the hand movements of other contestants. It was... unexpected—maybe effective at face value... but what if the other person wrote with a different hand? Or maybe wrote like an illegible idiot?

So Sasuke's decisions to cheat of Shino—creepy bug boy extraordinaire who was actually a pretty nice guy—was probably a good one. He had the same Konoha dialect as the Uchiha, and could check his answers with his bugs pretty easily.

Sakura, on the other hand, seemed pretty confident in her ability to answer the questions on her own.

Which was actually kind of strange.

'Please state the exact decimal of which owls see light better than humans to the hundred billionth value as stated in the Grand Owl Questionnaire.' How Ashura kept a level voice as he read was unknown.

Naruto snorted in his seat—he'd probably get a mark for that, but who cared?

Did anybody actually think Konoha somehow surveyed owls?

'With all the pressure these students are under right now, what can they believe?'

They could believe that the entire test was a load of shit.

It was just too funny to see Ibiki instantly catch all the cheaters, but stay quiet.

The giant, floating eyeball wasn't as inconspicuous as the creator of it thought. A floating eyeball would never be sneaky... it didn't matter where or how—floating eyeballs would never go with stealth.

'That's Shukaku for you,' Ashura explained. 'He's... he's very unique."

'I believe the term you're looking for is 'fucking idiot'. Damn... I hate Shukaku..."

Really? Kyuubi hated Shukaku? Who would ever assume that!? It wasn't like every single thing the Kyuubi said about Shukaku was an insult!

'I will eat you.'

"You have five minutes!" Ibiki barked harshly. "This is not a test you can guess on either!"

Naruto rose an eyebrow at Ibiki's statement—the end of the test seemed to come rather quick.

He glanced at a clock stationed above the proctor's desk.

Only twenty minutes had passed. Ibiki was one sadistic motherfucker... scaring kids was probably his favorite pastime.

Which, looking at some of the reactions, Naruto could kinda see why—some of those expressions were priceless.

They should carve those looks onto the Hokage monument they looked so good!

"Pencils down!" Ibiki yelled after definitely two minutes. "If I see you write I will fail you!"

There was a satisfying sound of hundreds of pencils clapping down onto desks. Naruto only leaned back in his chair and waited for Ibiki's next words.

The test had a blank question labeled '10'. Whatever Ibiki was trying to do, Naruto had no clue.

"I have something very important to say before I tell you question ten! I have gotten special permission from all your village leaders to exact a special, once in a lifetime, test." He smirked. "And it's a really good one."

Now that smile sent shivers down Naruto's spine—even though the temperature in the room was at nuclear levels.

Ibiki cleared his throat.

"If you leave right now and don't take question ten, you and your team will fail... however, you can try again next year." Ibiki paused to look around the room. "But, if you decide to take the question and get it wrong... you will not be able to participate in the Chunin Exams for another ten years."

Naruto expected uproar to fill the room instead of a stunned silence.

"Do you all understand?" Ibiki asked. "You fail if a single member of your team leaves. But if one member of your team answers the question wrong... well you fail for the next decade. Oh, and I gave you guys extra time on the test because I'm so nice—but now I regret it... so you have exactly 2 minutes to decide."

He had to say it again... Ibiki Morino was a sadistic bastard.

But Naruto was confident all of this was bullshit.

...what he wasn't confident about was Sakura knowing it was bullshit.

She already had confidence issues to begin with, and she would rather die than disappoint Sasuke. If she failed Sasuke for ten years... the fallout would be horrible.

It was a bad combination, if anyone was likely to drop out it was her.

Naruto stared at the back of her head intently, trying to stare his thoughts into her as people started to leave left and right. Even some of the loudest boasters couldn't stand the pressure—teammates couldn't even be angry at the ones who gave up.

And then Sakura's hand started to shake and slowly raise.

Shit.

He needed to do something.

Naruto stood up with his paper in hand.

"Excuse me, Ibiki?" he asked.

"What? You gonna give up?"

Naruto stared at him deeply, feeling every soul in the room looking at him.

He pointed his finger at the proctor accusingly.

"You're a load of shit!" he yelled, wincing internally as he did. "There is no way in hell that a lie like that could make us stumble! Shinobi are suppose to be the ones who walk into the face of death, not run from it! You can't scare the ninja out of me—let alone all of us!"

Fuck... he felt like an idealistic idiot.

'Watch your mouth.'

'Watch your face.'

'That's lame.'

'Ashura, I'm in the middle of an emotional moment! Don't ruin my badassery... that's a word now.'

Ibiki smirked at him.

"Are you sure?"

Naruto crumpled his test up and threw it at the proctor.

"Yes I am! This entire test is bullshit and we all know it! I mean, how the fuck can an owl fill out questionnaire!? They can't write!"

Ibiki stared at him with the same vicious smirk for almost a minute...

Before chuckling.

"You got me kid," he said as the temperature suddenly dropped back to normal. "This entire test was bullshit, and question ten was so big of a lie we couldn't fit it on paper."

Naruto sat down, watching Sakura relax instantly.

She better appreciate that.

"This test as to see how well you are at being a Shinobi, not a student," Ibiki explained. "I wanted to see how well you could sneak information without being caught. There will be times where book smarts can't help you—when all you can use to survive is your skill and your will."

He picked up Naruto's crumbled test and threw it behind him.

"All of you will move on because when I made myself the devil, none of you backed down. While yes—it's always good to run away to fight another day, but in life... the people who dare are the people who win."

He took their silence in as he scanned the room.

"The proctor for the next test will come after a short brea-"

The window shattered as a figure crashed through it.

"I'm the second proctor!" a loud female voice all but boasted. "Anko Mitarashi, at your service!"

She was... well... perky.

'Really?'

Ibiki stared at her blandly. "Anko, you're ten minutes early."

She looked at him, then the crowd of Genin, then the window she crashed through before deflating a little...

"Well!" she started, energizing again. "Look at how many Genin are here! Not that I'm complaining, the more blood the better, but really? I knew you were soft, but this soft?"

"Be quiet," Ibiki growled, staring at her coldly.

She wasn't effected by his gaze at all.

"Follow me little lambs!" she yelled as she hopped out of a different window. "And extra credit if you follow me exactly!"

Naruto had no idea how she would give them extra credit, but he couldn't waste the opportunity.

He hasn't given a teacher a headache in a while... time to change that...

So he chose a perfectly fine window and jumped through it.

"You know, there would be a lot less people if it wasn't for you."

Naruto smirked as he bumped fists with Shikamaru.

"I'd be gone as well," the blonde replied with a shrug. "It was more self preservation than anything."

Shikamaru shrugged, a small smirk on his lips as well.

"Well, whatever the motive, it takes a whole lot of balls to go against Ibiki like that. He came to my house for dinner once, and trust me, he's always that scary."

He laughed a little. "I'm not doubting you."

The Nara sighed.

"This is all so..."

"Troublesome?" Naruto finished for him.

Shikamaru just snorted walked away after he said that—whether or not he was offended that Naruto stole his catchphrase was unknown.

He was probably too lazy to even say goodbye and properly end the conversation, which was a move that personified his personality completely.

His team wordlessly joined him. They had decided to take the civilized route to wherever Anko had led them to. It made him wonder, actually, how the hell did Shikamaru manage to arrive before Sasuke and Sakura?

Maybe... just maybe... the Nara was thinking about the extra credit as well.

"What is this place?" Sakura asked.

Naruto looked at a sign.

"This is Training Grounds 44, 'caution do not enter without explicit orders from a level three or higher...'" His eyebrow rose as he read.

"Level three?" Sakura questioned.

"It's Jonin and above," Sasuke explained. "Some Chunins are given level three clearance, but that's only for special occasions."

Sakura nodded slowly, before it clicked.

"So this place is bad, isn't it?"

"Bad to the bone," Naruto supplied with a nod. "Probably not a place where kids should hang out."

That didn't help her attitude in the slightest.

But really, what could?

It took a few more minutes for the rest of the Genin to arrive—apparently no one realized that a foreign student may have issues finding their way around Konoha.

They were all placed in a group in front of the rather ominous forest that was probably the next objective.

"This, my sweet little test subjects, is Training Ground 44," Anko smirked sadistically. "Otherwise known as the 'Forest of Death'. I consider it my home away from home, you just got to deal with the fact that 98 percent of all life is hostile... and that means everything—the plants are the deadliest things by far."

Was she just trying to scare them?

Naruto decided to give Anko the benefit of the doubt—the forest already looked pretty spooky without her description.

"A lot of you guys could die," Anko said casually. "It would be a bit surprising if somebody doesn't die. But, before you get cold feet, remember that those sheets you signed to enter the exams were also waivers. If you guys actually read it you would know that the minute you joined the exams you signed away your life—it says that you guys know the danger and Konoha won't be responsible for your deaths during the duration of the exam."

It was actually ingenious. How did no nations realize?

The entire duration of the exam included the month of preparation leading up to the finals. The month in which all contestants still in the exams are not allowed to leave Konoha.

It wouldn't make any allies. In fact, it would give Konoha horrible reputation that would ruin trade, but... the documents used to enter the exams basically said that Konoha could kill anyone participating in the exams however they wanted during the next month. It didn't have to be in the Forest of Death, it could be while they were sleeping or something.

Because a lot of accidents could happen in a long month of training.

Was it a show of trust? Did the other nations send their promising students completely knowing that they could be killed at any moment?

Or maybe they didn't send their most promising students...

'And yet Shukaku is here,' Aura argued in his mind.

True...

But maybe, if Shukaku was as crazy as he was told, Suna wanted the host to be killed... so a new one could be made.

Bijuu were property of the Lands. Konoha would own the Kyuubi no matter what because of the laws the first Hokage put in order—it was slavery in the modern day. Nobody cared about the Bijuu despite the fact they were just as alive as any other living creature.

If the Suna Jinchuuriki died in Konoha, the Leaf couldn't keep the beast when it reformed. It would probably reform around Konoha—which meant they had to deal with it—but if Leaf managed to subdue it they had to give it to Suna.

The First Hokage was the one to make those laws—the Leaf couldn't break the laws they created.

Plus, if Konoha took another Bijuu it would cause everyone else to say 'screw it' to the rules and try to get as many beasts as possible. It would effectively cause the Fourth Great Shinobi War.

Suna was so confident about the safety of their Bijuu because the other option was a world war.

The entire premise of Bijuu laws were all quite...

'Asinine?' Ashura supplied.

Perhaps.

"Now then kiddos!" Anko spoke, drawing Naruto out of his thoughts. "Here is the game you're gonna play!" She pulled out two scrolls. "One of these is a Heaven Scroll, one of these is an Earth Scroll... every team will get one—and this is where it gets fun! A team needs both scrolls to pass!"

She let the Genin draw their own conclusions.

"I wanted it to be a bit more complicated, but the higher ups didn't want all the students to die! So consider yourself lucky!"

Damn, she was good at psyching people out.

Not that he was psyched out—Konoha weren't labeled as softies for no reason. The Leaf was notorious for being merciful... both the test and forest were probably a lot tamer than what Anko portrayed them as.

"Any questions?" Anko asked, before laughing heartily. "Just kidding! I don't give a fuck about your thoughts!"

Gate 63. That was the starting gate Team Seven were given.

It was a tad ironic, in Naruto's own opinion.

His house number was 126, his locker at school was 234 and his damn bank account had 10,008 in it. The trend was a bit too uncanny for his own liking, it was like some sort of god was playing a stupid trick on him.

Well he was the universe's science project gone wrong—it was the best explanation for practically everything in his life.

'Does that mean I am the equivalent of a baking soda volcano?' Ashura asked, sounding hurt.

But his tone didn't perturb Naruto in the slightest.

Yes, Ashura was... and it was a crappy volcano.

'My poor heart!' Ashura cried dramatically. 'Your teenage rebellion is even worse than my daughters!'

That actually made Naruto frown—he was twelve, he wasn't even a teenager yet.

He sighed, getting into the ethics of Shinobi age requirements wasn't the best thing to do before an important test. Powerful people were participating in the exam—he needed to stay completely concentrated.

The last thing they needed was a ravenous raccoon sneaking up on them.

'Tanuki,' Kyuubi corrected.

Semantics.

'Idiot.'

Carpet.

'Weak.'

Imprisoned.

'Dead.'

I dare.

'Naruto, you used two words. You lose.'

Fuck you.

'Did it again... you're not very good at this game, are you?'

"We got a few strategies," Naruto started as Team Seven hopped from tree to tree, "We can either go around a hunt for a scroll, or we can wait by the temple and ambush a group that are about to finish."

His team stayed silent for a few moments as they thought.

"It wouldn't be smart to ambush on the first day," Sakura said. "Only the strongest of groups will finish quickly. If we want to ambush we need to wait until the end if the test—so we can hit the people who barely managed to scrape by..."

"There is no way I'm sleeping in the forest for five days," Sasuke said quickly.

Naruto smirked.

"Don't want to ruin your hair, princess?"

Sasuke glared, Sharingan spinning menacingly. Naruto was unperturbed by Sasuke's legendary eyes—Sasuke was a softie and everybody knew it.

"I agree with Sasuke," Sakura commented in a non obsessed fashion. "I have long pink hair... that doesn't combine well with a forest filled with deadly animals and deadly teenagers."

"Don't forget the plants!" Naruto said cheerily. "Apparently they are the deadliest things here."

Sakura shuddered.

"We're hunting," Sasuke decided for the group. "Naruto, sense the entire forest and find the team with the lowest chakra levels. We can handle any Genjutsu they throw at us."

Naruto nodded. People with lower Chakra reserves tend to be Genjutsu users—it was the best way for them to take advantage of their better control and smaller capacity.

Sasuke was smart, his guess would probably be right.

"Stop," Naruto ordered.

Team Seven stopped. Sasuke and Sakura took positions on either side of Naruto as he fanned his senses outwards.

Hinata, hell no. Shika, he's cool... so no. Lee? Neji looked pretty beefy, so no.

Fu!?

'Yeah, how did you not notice her?'

There was a warning about Gaara, but not Fu?

'Well she is your lover from a dangerous space time, so I assumed you would sense her. Remember, we weren't apart of your Taki adventure.'

How did he not sense her?

'She has a new seal from when we were in Taki,' Ashura explained, 'Plus her chakra has fused pretty well with Chomei. She's suppressing it damn well, to top things off.'

It wasn't just the chakra, how did he miss GREEN hair?

'It's more mint in my own opinio-'

Shut up! Nobody cared what the shag carpet thought!

'She entered the examination room right before the test started, and you were a bit preoccupied with Kabuto.'

"Naruto?" Sakura brought him out of his thoughts. "It's been a few minutes, we can try again after we move."

"No need," Naruto said as he opened his eyes. "There's a team with a very small accumulative chakra. They all have affinities for water, so it's safe to say they're either Ame or Taki."

Sasuke nodded.

"Where."

"East, and a bit north... meh, too tough to explain." Naruto looked around. "Let me take point, I'll lead us there while avoiding the other teams."

"Stop," Naruto ordered.

Something was off... very off.

"What is it?" Sakura asked as Sasuke looked around. Naruto stood deadly still, his eyes narrowed as he stared blankly into the distance.

"There are suppose to be 84 people in the forest," he said lowly.

"So?" Sasuke asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I can only sense 83..." the blonde muttered with a frown.

"Are you sure nobody died?" Sakura asked, before she grimaced. "Wow... I said that really casually."

"No..." Naruto's nose twitched as he looked around. "One person just vanished. I have no idea how, but somebody's chakra signature is completely gone. Even dead bodies will give off some sign if they're fresh."

Sasuke relaxed sightly. "So one person is gone? I don't like the unknown, but what are the odds that it'll affect us?"

Suddenly, Naruto's instincts flared.

"Guys!" was the only words he could managed as the biggest fucking snake ever rushed them

Chakra exploded from him as the snake opened its mouth and attempted to eat him. Two chakra arms shot out of his back and grabbed the snake by the jaws before it could swallow him.

The chakra arms struggled against the snake's powerful jaws.

What the fuck was he going to do!?

'I'm giving you more chakra!' Ashura yelled. 'Overpower it!'

Ashura's power rushed through his body like blood, the snake's jaws were easily pushed wider and wider. White chakra erupted from Naruto in a massive explosion that blew the head of the snake clean off.

Naruto panted as the snake's body fell to the ground below. He looked down and noticed his feet had dug into the massive tree branch he was on by a couple inches.

"What the fuck was that!?" Sakura yelled in shock.

There was a dark chuckle.

"Me..." a shadowy voice said.

"On our left!" Naruto yelled, feeling the chakra of the assailant. "We got a big motherfucker!"

"How big?" Sasuke asked, knowing that 'big' referred to chakra size.

"If we're on a one through ten scale," Naruto started grimly, "I'd say he's at a twenty three."

"Shit."

"I expected more from that snake," the ominous voice said again. "Well done, Naruto! I would have never expected you to deal with my pet so easily..."

The chakra suddenly vanished. Naruto looked around frantically for the enemy, but couldn't find anything.

"I aim to please," Naruto said slowly. "Maybe I can give you my autograph, if you want?"

There was another chuckle, this time from their right.

"Perhaps later."

A blur shot out of the treeline and smashed the blonde in the face. Naruto was sent flying into a tree and was embedded into the bark painfully.

In front of Sasuke and Sakura, a person appeared.

It was a Kusa nin... perhaps seventeen of eighteen, with long hair and a rather ambiguous face.

"Hello there," the figure said with a unnaturally smooth voice.

Sasuke's Sharingan twisted.

"Who are you?" the Uchiha demanded.

"Somebody who will be rather important in your life some time in the future."

The Kusa nin suddenly ducked under a kick and grabbed the assailant.

"Naruto, that was sloppy!" he... or maybe she... taunted.

Naruto smirked even though the thing held him.

"Boom," the blonde said happily.

He exploded with his Great Clone Explosion Technique.

"You good?" the real Naruto asked as he appeared next to his team. "That party trick won't last long against a person like... like that."

"Who is he?" Sasuke asked.

"It's a... a faker," Naruto said with some difficulty. "The chakra isn't merged with the body... it is kinda like there is a different person inside of him—or her... whatever."

"Chances of winning?"

"Slim," Naruto admitted honestly.

Sasuke nodded as he got into a combat position.

"Our chances are always slim."

"Sakura, stay back," Naruto ordered. "Sasuke tried using a Genjustsu with his Sharingan and it did nothing. You have nothing you can fight this guy with. We'll come to you for healing instead, alright?"

Sakura seemed relieved and nodded. She jumped back to a tree farther away from her teammates.

They had ordered Sakura to stay away for more than her combat abilities. She had the earth scroll—nobody would expect the weakest of the group to have it.

The smoke finally cleared from the explosion, revealing the Kusa ninja perfectly fine.

"That's a good technique," it commented, smiling.

Naruto glanced at his partner for a moment.

"Ready Sasuke?"

"Ready."

Naruto rushed forwards ahead of Sasuke. He channeled Chakra all around himself and created two clones on either side of him, the trio of blondes approached their foe at blinding speeds.

They threw a volley of hits in perfect synchronization, but the Kusa nin dodged all of them with flexibility that was seemingly unnatural. It twisted and bent out of the way without any trouble.

Naruto jumped away as Sasuke fired a Shadow Shuriken. The projectiles tore through the two clones and dug into the enemy—making it fly back.

Despite being impaled multiple times, the Kusa Shinobi laughed and stood up. In a burst of chakra the shuriken were dispelled—most of them were only chakra creations to begin with.

Naruto threw a punch straight at his foe's jaw. The Kusa ninja leaned his head back and allowed the fist to past him. As he leaned back, Sasuke jumped over Naruto's head and spun into an axe kick straight towards it's face.

The Grass Nin's neck bent unnaturally to the side, making Sasuke miss and fly past his enemy.

Naruto erupted into chakra, pushing the Kusa nin back. The blonde created a hundred clones that rushed the enemy—all of them exploding as they got close.

Sasuke joined his teammate.

"I'm herding him," Naruto said quietly to the Uchiha. "Get ready for the combination."

The Kusa Ninja jumped through the trees to avoid Naruto's clones. Right as he jumped into the air, Sasuke came out from behind a tree and kicked him in the back and sent him flying. Naruto shot through the forest and intercepted the flying Grass solder—his momentum carried both of them into a tree.

The Naruto that held the Kusa nin vanished and more Shadow Clones jumped around their enemy, ninja wire in hand.

The real Naruto and Sasuke jumped a few meters away from the Grass Shinobi, who was now tied up.

"Chakra Transfer Technique," Naruto muttered as he touched Sasuke's shoulder. Power entered the Uchiha as Ashura's pure chakra flooded his system.

"Who are you!?" Naruto roared as Sasuke weaved through hand seals.

The Kusa Shinobu chuckled.

"I'm just a Genin trying to become a Chunin," it said simply.

"Stop lying!" Naruto yelled. "I know there is something wrong with you! You don't belong in that body! What the hell are you!?"

The Ninja kept laughing.

"Naruto," Sasuke said. "Do it."

Naruto brought his fist back and took a deep breath. He the punched the air and a massive gust of wind erupted from around him, the wind drove into the Kusa Shinobi at mach speeds.

As the Wind pounded on their foe, Sasuke finished the last of his hand seals.

He blew into the air and a giant dragon made of fire flew out of his mouth, growing as it traveled.

The dragon met the Naruto's wind and started to merge with it. The flames became white hot as the wind amplified the burning torrent—it lit the forest with a deadly glow as it approached its target.

"Dragon's Breath!"

The Forest of Death glowed.

Naruto's eyes snapped open.

He stopped channeling Chakra into his legs and got out of his braced position. The blonde brought his arms away from his eyes and looked around him.

"You think we got him, 'Ke?"

Sasuke coughed from his spot next to Naruto and nodded.

"That did a lot more than I thought. I'm not sure a Jonin could survive that—let alone a Genin."

"A rather freaky Genin," Naruto said with frown. "That... thing gave me the chills."

"You're telling me, 'Ru," Sasuke agreed tiredly. "You're telling me..."

The Uchiha fell onto his knee, his chakra exhausted.

"Guys!" Sakura yelled as she approached them. She jumped onto the branch they were on and placed her hands on Sasuke's back, a small green glow came from her hands as she healed her crush.

Sasuke let out a relieved sigh as she soothed his aching muscles.

"Sakura, deciding to learn Medical Ninjutsu was the greatest decision you have ever made," the Uchiha decided.

Sakura was so concentrated on healing she couldn't even take the time to swoon over her crush's compliment. Sweat rolled down her face as she looked at Naruto seriously.

"Do you need healing too?" she asked.

Naruto smirked and shook his head. He stared into the fire where the Kusa Nin died with a satisfied expression.

"Nah, my healing factor is pretty damn good. I'll be fine in a few minu-"

A suddenly grabbed Naruto by the neck and threw him into a tree.

"Naruto!"

The still burning figure of the Kusagakure Shinobi grabbed the blonde by the face and smashed his head into the tree multiple times.

"Impressive!" it's deformed voice said as it continued to slam Naruto's face. "But not good enough!"

Sakura, being the only one in a good condition, rushed the burning monster—but she was quickly smacked away. Sasuke jumped into the air and managed to catch her before she fell to the ground below.

"What are you?" Sasuke asked quietly as the thing held Naruto against a tree—the bark broken by how many times the blonde's head was smashed into it.

The fire covering the Kusa Shinobi started to fade, and the charred black corpse started to crumble away. A perfectly fine man stood in the place of the burning body, a cruel smirk on his face.

"My name is Orochimaru," the newly revealed man said. Orochimaru breathed in deeply and took in the scent of the burned body laying at his feet.

Naruto started to struggle even more at Orochimaru's introduction.

"The Snake Sanin..." Sakura muttered quietly in fear.

The notorious criminal drew a kunai and laughed.

"Yes... I am that Orochimaru." He smiled wickedly at the looks of fear of the Genin's faces. "You just realized that you are hopelessly outmatched, right?"

A glow started to emit from Naruto. The blonde started to gain more strength as he struggled against Orochimaru's iron grip on his face.

"You're good," Orochimaru commented to the Uzumaki. "No wonder Sarutobi sees Konoha's future in your hands. You have what it takes to be a great Hokage..."

Orochimaru drove his kunai into Naruto's skull.

"But screw Sarutobi!" he yelled as he threw Naruto's body out of the tree canopy and towards the ground below.

The Snake started to laugh maniacally.

Sasuke's fists clenched as Naruto left his vision. His Sharingan—usually with only two tomoes per eye—evolved into its final form. Three marks swirled in each of his eyes as he glared at Orochimaru.

"Run Sakura," Sasuke said quietly to his teammate. "I'll hold him off."

Sakura's body trembled

"I... I can't."

"What?"

Sakura stared at him with tears in her eyes.

"I'm not gonna run... we do this together. "

Sasuke only sighed and shook his head—but he had a small smile knowing he wouldn't die alone.

"We're gonna make you pay!" Sasuke yelled, feeling more adrenaline in his system than blood.

Orochimaru looked at them, amused. "Are you going to beat me?"

"No," Sasuke said honestly, "but we're not going to die without a fight."

Orochimaru smirked, a wicked smirk that sent shivers down their spines.

"Sasuke, you don't understand... I'm not going to kill you. I'm gonna give you a gift! I'm gonna give you a gift that will make you just as strong as I am! So you can do all this by yourself!"

Sasuke's eyes widened as Orochimaru rushed him.

He couldn't even scream.