Yuri jumped, completely startled, when she heard Naruto screamed as he woke up when Choji hit him on the head with a stick.
"Everyone hide! Get down! Where'd that guy go?!"
"Calm down, Naruto. Everyone's fine for the most part. That Orochimaru guy ran off like a bitch." Yuri reassured him. Naruto blinked and he was knocked back down when Choji poked him with the stick.
"You really are one of a kind." Shikamaru spoke. "Just looking at you is getting on my nerves." Naruto glared at him until his eyes widen when he saw Sakura, noticing something different about her.
"Oh! Sakura!" He shouted, running over to her.
"What?"
"Your hair!" Naruto sputtered.
"Oh, this? I just decided to change my look." Sakura smiled. "I like it longer, but when I'm in the forest, it's hard to move around and it gets in the way." Naruto hummed.
"Oh, I see." Then he turned to the others. "By the way, why are you guys here?"
"Explaining it to you would be a waste of time." Shikamaru said.
"Hey, where did the sound ninjas go?" Lee wondered as well.
"Sasuke chased them off." Ten Ten told him before narrowing her eyes at him angrily. "But never mind that! You're all beaten up! What were you thinking running off by yourself?!"
"Yuri and Sakura chan were in trouble and as a man I-"
"You are such an idiot!" Ten Ten shouted at Lee. Lee laughed.
"I can't argue with that one."
"Hey! It's bushy brows!" Naruto grinned, but Sakura punched him in the face.
"How dare you say that to Lee!" She shouted, furiously. Naruto fell to the ground, completely confused.
"What the hell happened while I was asleep?!"
Yuri shook her head and turned to Lee. "Lee, I want to thank you again for helping us." She told him, smiling.
"Yeah, I want to thank you as well." Sakura smiled as well. "I feel like I've become a little stronger."
Lee teared up as he looked at them, almost about to cry. "I still need to work harder as well." Then he looked at Sasuke. "Sasuke, the Uchiha clan sure is great. To be able to drive off those sound ninjas. You have incredible skills. I got my butt kicked."
"Yuri..."
Yuri blinked. "Yes?"
"The lotus blossom blooms twice." Lee spoke. Yuri stared at him confused.
"I'm not sure what you mean by that." She told him. Lee smiled.
"The next time we meet, I will become a stronger man. I promise." He told her. Yuri smiled and nodded.
"Sure!" She spoke. "The next time we meet. Let's be rivals! I hate to be in debt, so I have to pay you back one day!"
Ino helped Sakura straightened out her chopped hair, cutting it more evenly. And soon, the other teams left, leaving Naruto, Yuri, Sakura and Sasuke. Three days had gone by as they rested, trying to think of a plan of what to do next. A low growl filled the air as their stomachs growled.
"Let's go fishing by the creek for some food and think what our next plan is." Yuri told them.
Naruto and Sasuke were using their kunais to catch fish as they jumped out of the water. Sakura was getting a fire, started. Yuri was helping, Naruto and Sasuke with the fish, catching a few of them. Then she stopped when she saw something move from the corner of her eye. There was something tiny crawling on a tree. Yuri smiled at walked over to it quickly catching with her hands. Yuri walked back over to Sakura, keeping her hands covered.
"Hey, Sakura! Look what I found!"
"What is it-" Sakura turned, only to see a tiny green lizard right in her face. It's small tongue sticking out and back in. She squealed and backed away, startled.
"How can you touch that thing?!" she exclaimed in disgust. Yuri laughed.
"What's the matter? It's not poisonous." She replied.
"Still, it's gross! Put it back where you found it!" Sakura shouted. Yuri rolled her eyes and bent down, releasing the critter. Sakura backed away as it scurried on the ground, running away.
"Honestly, why can't you be normal for once?" She told Yuri.
Yuri's eyes widened before they dropped a little. Ever since she was little, she knew that she was different. She liked things that other kids would consider weird, especially the other girls. Usually, they liked to wear fake jewelry, talking about crushes or make up. Yuri liked to collect small animals, like lizards and frogs and an occasional garden snake that wasn't poisonous. Naruto and Sasuke came back, carrying the fish. Naruto noticed that something was wrong, seeing that she looked a little upset.
"Hey, Yuri, is everything okay?" He asked her. Yuri blinked, looking at him.
"Yeah, everything's fine." She smiled.
The four sat down, eating their fish, quietly, wondering what to do next. Yuri was lost in thought, thinking about everything that just happened. What did Orochimaru mean when he talked about her eyes? She didn't have Byakugan or Sharingan or any Kekkei Genkai for that matter. She wasn't anyone special. Sure, she was very observant and catch things quickly, but that was about it. And why did he want Sasuke as well? She glanced over at the raven-haired boy, seeing him lost in his thoughts as well.
"What are going to do now?" Sakura spoke. The three of them looked at her. "Sure, we have a scroll, but Orochimaru burnt our Heaven scroll. It's been four days now and probably most of the teams had made it to the tower by now."
"Then the next enemy we come across is our last chance." Sasuke spoke. He got up and walked away, heading back to the river. "I'm going to go get some water."
"I'm going to come too." Yuri said and got up as well, following him. The two headed to the river in silence and started to drink from it. Yuri gathered a bit in her canteen that she made from a large branch of a tree. She glanced over at Sasuke and he glanced back at her at the same time.
"What is it?" He snapped a little, irritated.
"Um, back when we fought Orochimaru. He said a name, Itachi, like you knew him. Does he have something to do with this whole vendetta thing you have?"
"It's none of your business." Sasuke frowned.
"I have heard about the Uchiha clan massacre that happened years ago. Did he have something to do with it?" Yuri asked.
"I said it's none of your business!" Sasuke shouted, harshly. Yuri frowned, but decided to drop it for now. The two of them headed back and Yuri's eyes widened when she saw someone, standing next to Naruto and Sakura. Kabuto.
"What's going on?!" She demanded, running over.
"Just stopping these two before they make the worst mistake of their entire lives." Kabuto explained. "Anyone who opens the scrolls while get a nasty surprise. I've seen it happened many times."
"Geez, what we're you thinking?" Sasuke frowned at two, waiting for an answer.
"I just thought that if we made a copy scroll then we wouldn't have to fight anyone!" Naruto shouted.
"The scrolls are booby trapped with a hypnosis justu, knocking anyone out, that will last until the end of the exam." Kabuto spoke.
"What are you doing out here?" Sasuke asked him.
"Relax, I'm not after your scroll." Kabuto smirked.
"Yeah, if you were you could've just taken it from Naruto." Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him. "So, you after the Heaven scroll as well?"
"No, I already have both." Kabuto spoke and he took the two scrolls out, showing them. "Something's happened and I'm on my way to the tower to meet with my teammates."
"Wait." Before he was about to leave, but Sasuke stopped him.
"I'll fight you for it."
"Sasuke?" Sakura questioned.
"You idiot! What are you thinking?!" Naruto shouted, wondering as well.
"You're serious." Kabuto smirked.
"I'm sorry, but we don't have any time left."
"Hey, Sasuke! Kabuto helped us!" Naruto shouted.
"This doesn't feel right-" Sakura agreed as well but Sasuke cut her off.
"Shut up!" Then he glanced back at Kabuto. "Like I said before, we don't have a choice. This is the only way for us to survive this forest."
"You're lying. You aren't as cold hearted as you say." Kabuto smirked back at him. "If this test really turned you into that, then why would you even challenge me? Instead of doing that, you could have just attacked me and taken the scroll. That's what a ninja would do." He finished, fixing his glasses, pushing them back up. "So, I'll tell you the path you should take. But we need to move. The smoke of the fire and the smell of the fish can be sensed from far away. Wild beasts and enemies could be nearby."
The five were now hopping from tree to tree as Kabuto talked to them.
"Are there really any enemies left?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes, no doubt about it." Kabuto nodded. "Just think about it. You know the smartest tactic is in a large area like a jungle like this?"
"To take people down near the tower once they got both scrolls." Yuri replied. Naruto stared at her confused.
"Huh?"
"Correct. We need to set an ambush." Kabuto said.
"So we go after a team who already have both the Heaven and Earth scrolls!" Sakura smiled.
"I'm pretty sure other teams have thought about it as well." Yuri spoke.
"That is also right." Kabuto said. "There are others in your situation, waiting to spring their traps they have set."
"Oh! I get it! There are already tons of enemies near the tower waiting to ambush us!" Naruto grinned. "Well, bring it on then! If we kick all their asses and get the Heaven scroll. We all pass the test!"
Yuri noticed that Kabuto had a strange look in his eyes. "Is there something wrong?"
"There are people, who I call "Collectors" that appear in this time of the test. Even though the tower is right in front of their eyes. The difficult part of the test gives birth to them. Those who collect extra scrolls in case they run into a strong enemy and gift it to them so they can escape." Kabuto explained. "There are those who try to receive favor and information from other teams from their own village. And those who like to pick off others to make the test easier for the third part."
"So, you used us to help yourself get to the tower in case you ran into trouble." Yuri frowned. Sakura gasped and Naruto's eyes widened. Sasuke narrowed his eyes as well, glaring at Kabuto.
"Well, partly." Kabuto smirked. "You seem like a powerful team. I think that you can handle yourselves."
Night time had fallen in the sky and everyone stood on a high tree branch, seeing the tower not too far off within the distance.
"We need to be careful from here on." Sasuke warned.
"Let's go!" Naruto shouted, excitedly.
Suddenly, Yuri, Sakura, Kabuto and Sasuke sensed something nearby. Naruto quickly grabbed his kunai and threw it, stabbing a very large centipede to a tree.
"Guess we should be lucky that it was a centipede." Kabuto sighed. Sakura shivered in disgust.
"Such a large bug."
"Look at all those legs." Sasuke said in awe. Kabuto turned to Naruto.
"Naruto, I'd like us to avoid any unnecessary noises and actions from here on. Moving through the forest like a rampaging elephant will only tip off our enemies. And they do not have a fun welcome party for us. We need to move slowly and safely." All four nodded.
"Okay!"
They started to walk through the forest, heading towards the tower while keeping on high alert. But with each step they took, the tower seemed to be further away. Sakura panted, leaning against a tree to rest.
"How long have we been walking? It looks like we're not getting to the tower at all." Sasuke questioned.
"Yeah, it's right in front of us. We should be closer by now." Naruto frowned.
"We're trapped in a genjutsu." Yuri spoke. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke's eyes widen in realization. Kabuto smirked.
"Seems like our welcomed party have found us." He spoke and pointed out. "Does that seem familiar to you?" It was the same centipede that Naruto had killed earlier. "Looks like we've fallen into their trap. And they're trying to wear us out by making us walk in circles."
Suddenly, multiple ninjas from the Hidden Rain village, were crawling out through the trees and they completely surrounded everyone.
"Here they come!" Kabuto warned.