~Scroll 26~
After flying through the trees for several hours, Team 7 and Kabuto came to a stop to rest and catch their breath. Not too far off in the distance, they could see the tower.
"We're in view of the tower..." The grey-haired Nin warily sighed, "Here's where the fun really begins."
They decided to wait for a couple of more minutes before they would continue when suddenly they heard rustling coming from behind them.
"An enemy... so soon?!" Sakura gasped.
Naruto immediately let a kunai fly free from his hand.
GLUK
CHNNNG
SKRIT! SKRIT! SKRIT!
"Wow!" Kabuto whistled then looked down at the blonde teen, who lowered his head for a moment in a silent prayer for the life he took.
It did not escape the older Genin's notice that his younger counterpart was not surprised at seeing the giant black centipede.
"It was a centipede..." Sakura whimpered, "A really BIG centipede..."
"Naruto..." Kabuto called, causing oceanic blue orbs to glance at him. "The idea here is not to attract any attention. Let me make this really simple for."
A blonde brow arched.
"If we stomp through the forest like a herd of wild elephants, we're basically trumpeting our arrival to everyone around. And they'll throw us a welcome party... but one that we'll surely not enjoy!"
Execuse me?! Shisui gasped in outrage that the grey-haired shinobi would have the gall to lecture Naruto when it was the small blonde, who saved the older Nin from being bitten by the centipede.
And I suppose you want to be bitten by a poisonous black centipede?! The spirit ranted then turned to the young blonde, Next time, let a damn centipede bit his scrawny ass... it'll be one less headache for us to worry about!
Naruto's hand covered his mouth as he coughed to hide a smile and laugh at his phantom friend's rants.
The older Genin narrowed his eyes on the blonde, who just openly smiled at him.
~o.O.o~
Several hours later, the Konoha shinobi found themselves shuffling their tired feet and gasping for breath. The pinkette looked up and gave a whine as she felt the last of her strength leave her, causing her to drop to her knees.
"I'm sorry..." She whimpered, "I'm done..."
" 'neechan...!" Naruto yelped as he came to his sister's side with concern coloring his eyes.
Sasuke turned around, leveling a glower on his exhausted teammate.
"I-I don't know how far we've come..." She stuttered, "But the tower never gets any closer."
As she pointed to the tower, Kabuto and Sasuke followed her hand.
"... she's right!" Kabuto mumbled.
"It's bizarre." The pinkette continued as she tried to get an explanation from her exhausted mind, "It's right in front of us, plain as day..."
"Apparently," Naruto sighed as he looked at a far tree, "we're already enjoying someone's warm welcome! Look!"
Everyone turned around.
Behind them was the giant black centipede that Naruto had killed.
"You have got to be kidding!" Sakura exclaimed.
"A Genjutsu...?" Sasuke asked.
"That's what is looks like!" Kabuto answered, "And we fell for it! We've been very, very cautiously running around in circles!"
"And, undoubtedly, being watched?"
"It would make sense. Whoever did this is waiting for us to wear ourselves and so they can move in and take us down!"
"Then they must realize our strength is fading..." Naruto whispered as his eyes flittered across the tree line.
"So they'll make their move soon." Kabuto pushed his glasses up, hiding his smirk in anticipation.
Instantly the blonde jumped to his feet.
"Here they come..." Sasuke smirked as 15 dark clothed ninja appeared out of the trees and the ground.
"Sasuke," Naruto whispered loud enough for the dark haired teen to hear. "They're all doppelgangers... there behind us are the real threat..."
"Heh heh..." One of the doppelgangers cackled, "You're all trapped like rats!"
Sasuke growled as he activated his bloodline, trying to see the heart of the doppelgangers. As he was about to attack, his entire body throbbed in pain. His body locked in place, unable to dodge a sudden attack by one of the doppelgangers.
"What are you -?!" Kabuto yelled as he tackled Sasuke to the ground, "GET DOWN!"
"Sasuke!" Naruto and Sakura cried out.
Naruto placed himself in front of his team while Sakura knelt next to the Uchiha heir. Her eyes grew wide in fear when she was the black mark had grown bigger.
"Are you all right?" Sakura whispered, trying to hide her fear. She was afraid that her one time crush would fall victim to the curse mark once again.
Kabuto stumbled to the embedded kunai. His right hand clutched at his injured left arm. Plucking the kunai from the ground, the grey-haired Nin glared at the very solid weapon.
"Surrender your scroll...!" The doppelganger croaked.
"Does the fact that they physically hurt Kabuto mean these guys are solid doppelgangers and not illusions...?" Naruto asked Shisui, who stood protectively in front of the blonde shinobi.
No, they are just illusion... Shisui replied.
"They're genjutsu cast by the enemy." Sasuke huffed between bouts of pain.
"B-but Kabuto's wound is real..." Sakura stated.
"No..." Kabuto interjected, "Sasuke's right. The illusionist is watching from somewhere close by, synchronizing a real, physical attack with the movements of the enemies we think we're seeing! It enhances our perception that the shadow shinobi we're fighting are real."
"And I doubt they are going to come out of the trees that they're hiding in." Naruto grumbled.
"We'll never find him but he's hoping we'll try." Kabuto continued, "Based on my experiences, his kind are pretty much wimps when it comes to taijutsu. The actual, physical foe won't come and face us until we're completely worn out and helpless."
"Right now, our only choice..." Sasuke panted, "is to keep moving and avoid their attacks."
~o.O.o~
Hours have passed, and the Konoha shinobi have yet found a moment of reprieve from the enemy shadow doppelgangers' attacks.
"Ohhh!" Sakura cried, "How long can they keep this up?!"
"How long can we?!" Naruto cried back as he brought his hands in front of him.
"Naruto, no!" Kabuto shouted, "Don't squander your chakra! A direct attack can't help us!"
The blonde just ignored the older Genin. He took a deep breath, leveling his gaze and focus into the tree line where he knew three enemy Heart Songs were hiding.
"Kagebunshin no Jutsu! Art of the Shadow Doppelganger!"
Instantly an army of Narutos charged and attacked the enemy shadow clones. And despite reducing the number of the enemy's doppelganger, there still seemed to be no end to them.
And then in the horizon, dawn's light began to lighten the dark skies. The army of Narutos disappeared into a puff of smoke, and Naruto himself collapsed into the lotus position. His breathing was labored as he looked about the battlefield warily. He knew that the enemy was aware of his depleted chakra. He was fighting himself to stay awake. He would not meet his end here, and judging by Shisui's angry expression, the petite blonde knew that once this was over and they all were safe, he was in for a very lengthy lecture by the spirit.
"I know you..." The enemy cackled, causing Naruto to look at the Rain ninja.
"And I you..." Naruto whispered as he remembered Sasuke had nearly amputated the Nin's arm.
"You're the one who maimed my shoulder!" The shinobi shouted at Sasuke, "And here you are again, making us work hard all night. I'm so glad there's time for a little taste of payback!"
In that moment, Naruto smiled as he sat up straighter. His previous exhaustion disappeared, startling the three Rain shinobi.
"Now who's the trapped rat?" Sasuke growled... from behind the three ninja.
"Nice work, otouto!" Sakura cheered.
"Wh-what the -?! N-no way!" The leader of the Rain Genin stuttered, "When...? How did they...?!"
He snapped around to see instead of the Konoha Genin his shadow clones were fighting, he saw four blondes. The Rain shinobi's eyes nearly bulged in shock that the little blonde had not only used his own shadow clones as a distraction but also to impersonate his comrades, giving the other Konoha shinobi the chance to sneak up on the Rain team.
You expended nearly all of your chakra, Naruto! Shisui hissed with his hands on his hips, Let them handle the rest!
The blonde had a tired smile as he gave his phantom friend a slight nod in agreement.
"Naruto..." Sakura whispered in concern while she watched her otouto give Sasuke a pointed look.
Sasuke's expression became feral as he glared at his enemies, and all the while, Kabuto stared at the blonde thoughtfully.
The grey-haired Nin knew that the small demon vessel was a force to keep an eye on. The blonde's chakra was immense. Kabuto did not know if the chakra was the boy's own or belonging to the entrapped demon within. Either way, he knew that once the petite Genin really gained mastery over that massive chakra, the teen would be an unstoppable force to be reckoned with.
Suddenly the battlefield exploded with more doppelgangers from the Rain shinobi, causing Kabuto to become irritated by the enemies' gall.
"Shadow doppelgangers...?" Naruto asked as he tried to get to his feet but his body refused to obey.
"No..." Sasuke growled, "just ordinary doppelgangers but there's got to be more to them than this... stay back!"
Attempting to get to his feet, the blonde crumpled once more as he fought against the black spots in his vision.
"Naruto!" Sakura screamed when she saw several of the Rain clones charging at her little brother.
Sasuke attempted to move to protect his blonde, but his body refused to obey again, seizing up on him. Furious at his weakness, the Uchiha flared the last of his chakra and activated his Sharingan eyes and suddenly...
"AUGHH!" The raven-haired teen screamed, startling Sakura, who barely realized that Kabuto had leapt away to help the exhausted blonde.
"Sasuke?!" The pinkette called as she knelt next to her teammate, who was digging his fingers into his right shoulder.
Sakura's eyes grew wide in horror as she watched the curse mark spreading to encompass the pale team's entire shoulder.
"Sasuke, don't use the Sharingan again!" The kunoichi hissed as she grabbed hold of the Uchiha's arm.
The raven-haired teen snarled at the girl. Enraged that she would order him... order him, the last of the Uchihas, not to use his gift... but he did not strike her as he so desired because he knew that his Naruto would be angry with him if he did. But he would make her pay for her daring... he looked away from her and caught sight of Kabuto slamming into his blonde, who was looking at him with worry and not paying attention to the Rain Nin that were coming upon him.
The force of which Kabuto had tackled the younger Genin caused the pair to roll away from the Rain shinobi's attack; however, not before the grey-haired Konoha was injured in his left leg.
Having finally stopped rolling, Kabuto ignored the sharp pain racing up his leg and along his spine as he stared down at the blonde beneath him. Normally he preferred the subtler body of a young girl barely into her womanhood, but having the young Kyuubi vessel beneath him sent a hot charge and thrill through him that he could not ignore... nor could the grey-haired Nin ignore the breathtaking sight of those blue orbs grow unbelievably wide in fear. If it were not for his mission and the exam, he would have played with the small blonde.
The moment Naruto felt Kabuto collide into him to save him from the Rain Genin's kunai, the blonde became overwhelmed with such fear that not even Orochimaru was able to instill into him. It was true that Kabuto was someone to be wary of because his silent Heart Song, but now in so close proximity, Naruto could hear the cold and soul gripping wailing shriek that was the grey-haired shinobi's Heart Song. Instinct gripped the petite teen's mind as he attempted to scramble away from the monster before him. The darkness in the grey-haired shinobi's eyes focused on Naruto with an unholy glint that the blonde did not care if he was heading toward the enemy... anything was better than him...
The small teen's hands dug into the earth when he felt three pulses beat against his touch. It was then he realized that the Rain had been using Doton - the Art of Earth - to hide themselves. He was trapped... he was alone... Ka'a was gone... Shisui was screaming at Kabuto to leave the blonde alone and for Naruto to run... and the Rain were about to kill him, a fate kinder than whatever plans were formulating in Kabuto's twisted mind... and then the area echoed with screams as a welcoming darkness pulled the petite blonde under to unconsciousness.
"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed as tree roots exploded from the ground and cocooned around her otouto, protecting him from the Rain.
The three Rain shinobi were pulled out of the ground by the roots and imprisoned, unable to escape as they screamed in shock.
Kabuto had barely escaped from being impaled by a sudden tree root that shot out of the ground. Now a distance away from the blonde, he felt his right cheek sting as if on fire. His fingers caressed his cheek to feel the deep cut and blood.
Sakura immediately rushed to the cocoon, trying to pull the roots apart as she reached for her otouto.
Sasuke slowly stood up and began to stalk toward the grey-haired Nin. He did not know what it was, but whatever made his blonde react like that, cannot be ignored. And the only one able to answer him was the grey-haired shinobi.
Kabuto looked up and gave the Uchiha heir a cordial smile.
"Naruto is full of surprises." He said, "An Earth Elemental Specialist... your Konoha no Yoko, ne?"
"We have their scroll." Sasuke lied as he leveled his glower, "We don't need your help... we can make it on our own from here."
"Oh?" The grey-haired Nin questioned then looked over the teen's shoulder to the pinkette had finally broke through the cocoon. "Very well, I'll see you at the tower."
And with that, he disappeared.