Chapter18: The taste of fear

A breath of relief left him as he watched the failed genins exit the school; Kakashi had been almost sure his kids would manage to pass even with Ibiki monitoring the test. After all, his one female student had been taught by the former Uchiha matriarch, and Kagome certainly took to her teachings. As long as she managed to see the trap, the other two would follow her lead; it was apparently, a true and tried method to let her deal with any social interactions, or complicated manipulations.

A sliver of worry had remained, though.

Cunning or not, the girl was just twelve. The one making a psychological trap was their Torture and Interrogation chief, a sadist who refused to pull any punches no matter who was his target. There was a real chance she would panic and fail in some way (unlikely, yes, he'd seen her work through more stressful situations, but apparently, he was getting close enough to his genins that logic was starting to rebel).

Still, that was just the first phase of the exam; in a way, it was the easiest of all tests. Intelligence exams never really involved any risks other than having to wait half a year to try again. It was the next phase where failure could easily mean death or permanent damage, and once more, a part of him couldn't help but wonder if maybe he'd been hasty when recommending them.

No, they were more than capable.

What one lacked the others made up for; they knew how to work together way better than any other rookie team; even Guy's team would probably struggle to keep up with their kind of teamwork. And yes, a good part of the work was already done by the time he was convinced to teach them, but he was still going to take the credit. He did, after all, spent hours after hours drilling proper formations into them for the past few months.

A flash of caught his eye...

The Taisho's supervisor was sitting on a branch in one of the trees planted around the academy, with his eyes closed, the young man was the image of poised relaxation. His one visible eye narrowed; they were one of the earliest foreign teams to arrive, and the reasoning given for their sudden appearance was nothing, was nothing but a load of political crap. Just a facade. He really doubted anyone believed their show of goodwill to reinforce our treaties speech. Just like everyone knew they had to have some informants within the Elemental Nations, keeping an eye on every single village. Tensions had run higher than he'd seen in years after they set foot in Konoha; if the Taishos bothered to send someone, it could only mean one thing.

Something had changed.

Something big enough to lure the usually antisocial clan into a test they never cared for doing, that they only sent the one team was also not particularly popular. The only other nation that sent such a small number was Oto, and they were just founded a few years ago.

Not that it was hard to spot their ego.

The arrogance of someone who worked in their line of work wearing mostly white elaborate clothes was also a bitter statement to swallow for a lot of his fellow jounins and exam proctors. Clothing was a pretty deliberate thing for people like them.

Women who, for example, favored long hair and let it down, as well as donning flowing fabrics during missions that would involve fighting, tended to mean that they were more than capable of taking on enemies on their own. Anything that didn't stick to their bodies could very easily become a handy rope to pull them with, the reason behind Kagome braiding her hair whenever they had serious sparring sessions). Male shinobi who preferred to wear lively and eye-catching clothes with bright colors and extravagant designs tended to be stronger than the average and cocky enough to show it too.

As it was, Taisho Sesshomaru's attire was nothing more than a loud signal to indicate his power. One, Kakashi felt forced to admit, that was most likely earned. A clan like theirs didn't stay in power just by being good at bluffing.

So, what were their real motivations?

What changed?

It could be, Kakashi acknowledged, his own paranoia. Life had so far been quite clear on not liking him, always taking away what little he loved. And well, he was starting to feel a bit too close to his team...so why wouldn't it be reasonable to think that the sudden reappearance of an equally legendary and long thought gone clan be enough of a pull to move them.

Sandaime tried to keep all word about the Higurashi clan's sudden reappearance and immediate tragedy (as well as the fate of their lone survivor) confined to their village. Information blockades had been put into motion and further enforced by the Uchihas after they took guardianship of the girl. Stopping rumors from spreading had been an impossible task. Hell, they were expecting a big turn up for the final tournament event of the test not just because of Sasuke, but for Kagome as well. Even if people like the Daimyo and other nobles couldn't really understand the significance of the name Higurashi, they would easily lump them in the same level as the Hyuugas and Uchihas; their tragic story made her all the more inviting. Two of his three students were to be the stars of the show if they managed to pass this phase.

"He really doesn't think there's a chance his team can lose, does he?"

Turning around, he found bright vermillion eyes looking at the same spot he'd been staring at so far.

"Got bored with Asuma?"

"Just got tired of sitting in the same room for an hour straight, and with the next one being a survival test, I doubt my kids are getting back any time soon." There was the kind of confidence in her voice that came from certainty instead of arrogance.

Right, with an Inuzuka and an Aburame coupled with the Hyuuga girl, there was no chance in hell they'd fail unless they got extremely unlucky with their opponents.

"Got every reason to feel confident, that guy." The copy ninja nodded back to one of the reasons behind his paranoia. "That team has probably been above genin level for a while now."

"He also holds most of the cards." Wariness was evident in her words, not a surprise really considering the woman had shown to be smart about this kind of things. "I still don't get how they can just wander like that."

"My, it's clear, isn't it?" Kakashi scoffed, a wan smile on his face. "It's power, an absurd amount of it."

The copy ninja looked back down; the white-clothed man hadn't moved a muscle, but there was no way he wasn't aware of his surroundings. Kakashi wasn't a man who believed in superstitions or allowed them to rule his life (despite what his constant lie...reasonings to his team might indicate), but there was something he was absolutely sure of. With the Taishos here, something big was going to happen, and his previous history had taught him that surprises hardly ever ended well for him...or his loved ones.

Their plans, it looked like, were all destined to go to hell.

Sasuke suppressed a groan when he felt the touch of a hand gripping his own in an all too familiar pattern. They were being watched...again.

With a single hand sing from him, they all dropped from the trees.

"What's up, bastard?" the blond menace he called a friend asked, happily ignorant of their situation. "I thought we'd keep running for another hour...oh, oh! You wanna pee too?"

"No, you idiot." Hitting his own teammate while being watched was not a smart decision, and he really needed to be smart right now. "We need to talk."

"Are changing our plans then?" Impatient as always, Naruto interrupted him.

"No," he bit out. "But we have to make a new one."

"What?"

"You have to have realized we cannot stay at each other's side all the time. At one point or another, one of us is going to end up alone for some time. And considering what just happened, we have to remember we can't trust each other blindly if we get separated again." Questioningly, he looked back at his silent teammate.

"Sasuke's right; we were lucky this time that the guy was bad at imitating you." Finally, Kagome entered the conversation, her words carefully picked. "We can't just hope to be as lucky next time."

"I see...then, what's your plan."

"The safest plan is to have a secret password." Bullshit, passwords were easy to get a hold of as long as you were determined enough; he had to sell the idea, however. " That way, we'll know, no matter what they look like or how they sound. If one of us gets that wrong...they're an enemy. Listen very carefully, when I ask for the password, here's what you respond..." His gaze found Kagome again as he recited a poem far too long for the blond to be able to remember; she was more worried and quieter than usual.

"And you expect me to remember that? How?!" Naruto complained loudly, again, not a surprise. "We need a better password!"

"It's okay, Naruto-kun." Kagome's voice hid the strain under a comforting tone as she tried to calm the blond down. "Just repeat it a couple of times in your mind, and you'll get it."

"Let's get going; I'll take the scroll."

Kagome's sudden grip on his wrist stopped him at the same time their childhood friend's confused cry reached their ears. From a new cut, fresh blood was flowing from his cheek. A single red-stained leaf floated to the ground before a surge of wind blew down on them.

"Under the roots!" Kagome's words were more a worried order than a suggestion, her grip steel around him, both things letting him know the same thing...this was not good. "We need to take cover!"

It was...honestly not the worst fall he'd taken...if being thrown away by the strength of the wind could even be called a fall.

Damn, that had to be a jutsu, right?

Whoever this guy was, he was not a pushover; they'd had to be careful with...blinking slowly, he let his gaze search around him as a dreading realization hit him. He was alone.

The wind must've sent him flying way farther than he'd thought while the other two managed to grab on to something. And he was now, once again, separated from his team. Somehow, this seemed to happen annoyingly often lately. Groaning, the blond pushed himself to a sitting position; he had no idea how far he'd flown... the blond also really hoped the course had remained straight or he'd have some small issues trying to track them down. And...

And apparently, bad things happened whenever they were apart if the enormous snake in front of him was anything to go by.

Its head was bigger than Naruto himself; what the hell did these animals eat to grow up like that? He should probably start running the other way soon; because the stupid animal had begun to move like it was definitely interested in having him for lunch. The first direct charge was easy to evade, the tail it whipped behind him...not so much.

There was no time to get used to the sensation of being crushed in a scaly grip before the snake lowered its big, ugly head, mouth open wide directly on top of him.

Being swallowed felt different than he thought it would be. It was stickier for one, and while he was feeling a bit crushed, it wasn't that painful yet. Not that the blond was planning on staying inside the stupid snake, but all in all, things could be worse.

"Hey!" Hey, you there, you better spit me out while you have the chance!"

Okay, so this wasn't his smartest plan so far, but honestly, this was not the sort of things he expected to happen to him at any point in his life. Which did absolutely nothing in his endeavor to solve his problem. He needed to get back out, not just to avoid being digested, but because if he was having problems here, then there was no doubt in his mind that his friends were probably dealing with something worse. That appeared to be their pattern lately.

So, how did he make the stupid animal barf him out?

He wasn't being crushed per se; however, he also had little wiggle room, and...wait...he had puked without any kind of food poisoning some time back, hadn't he?

Yes, back in Wave, the first day when he thought he could make up for his depleted energy by eating.

A smirk made its way to his lips as the blond put his hands together in an all-too-familiar seal.

It was going to be gross alright, but it was definitely going to get him out of here.

"Kage bunshin!"

He felt crushed under the weight of the dozens of clones for all of five seconds before the snake's skin gave in. He may have gone a bit overboard; the giant animal didn't quite spit him out, as much as its belly exploded into small bits and pieces, unable to contain the number of clones inside it.

The force of the explosion had him flying (for the third time that day), smoke filling the clearing as his doppelgangers banished because of the hit to the ground as they landed. Blood and gore rained down on him, and no doubt it would start to stink in a bit, but the blond couldn't help but feel just a little proud.

""I'm the shinobi who will become Hokage, so don't mess with me." Whether he was saying this to reassure himself or because he truly believed he wasn't sure. "I got better things to do with my life than end up as a big snake turd!"

Starting to sprint in the direction he hoped he came from, the blond frowned; he really needed to hurry back to the others.

Kagome was breathing heavily by the time they knelt under one of the oversized trees, worry clear as day on her eyes as she glanced around them. Naruto wasn't there; an easy prey for whoever tried to trap them. And if the girl's reactions were anything to go by, then this was not going to go nearly as smoothly as their earlier confrontations with the Ame nins.

The seconds crawled as Sasuke listened to the sound of the wind hitting the trees around them; their opponent would probably show up once it ended.

"Ouch," not a second after what had to be a wind jutsu died down, the familiar voice of his childhood friend echoed loudly throughout the forest. "Are you guys alright?"

"Not so fast, Naruto!" Sasuke's response was more of a reflex than anything else; things were going right as he thought they would, but his usual confidence was affected by Kagome's reactions. "The password?"

He kept his expression blank as he listened to the blond repeat the overly long poem word for word, his mind already whirling, trying to locate their real teammate had been dumped into. The girl's grip delivering all he really needed to know about the danger in front of them as she let go of his wrist to shuffle behind him. Her hands probably moving to grab her weapons in a similar move to his own.

As the last perfectly recited word left the imposter's mouth, the Uchiha moved, his aim true as a kunai flew towards his target.

"The hell...!"

Whatever the fake Naruto was going to say was stopped by the long deadly needles that followed his path. His movements still trying to imitate the blond's somewhat clumsy dodging.

"So this time, the fake is good enough to dodge our attacks."

"Well done," the fake Naruto said, with a smile that felt entirely out of place on his face. "What gave me away?"

"I knew you were underground; that's why I chose that kind of password." He smirked, trying to keep a confident tone as the smoke revealed the grass nin Kagome had warned them against. That explained a lot of her reactions. No matter how perfect the henge, no imposter could fool her intuition. "The kind of password the real Naruto would never manage to memorize."

"I see." Even without the girl's instinct, Sasuke could feel himself tense; there was something in the way the grass ni was watching them that put him on edge. "Watch and wait, eh? This is going to be more fun than I thought."

Technically, they were two against one, both of them counting with fairly strong kekkei genkais, and yet he had the distinct feeling they had no advantage whatsoever. The pale-skinned teen was standing still, an amused smirk on his face, like being discovered was nothing more than a slight bump to his plans.

"I suppose you'd like to steal our Earth scroll, wouldn't you?" The pale teen's mocking voice was more unnerving; than irritating as he continued talking, his tongue already out and slowly elongated. "Since you've already got a Heaven scroll."

Sasuke could feel himself freeze as he watched the grass nin lift the scroll to his mouth, his unnaturally long tongue swirling around it as he slowly pushed the parchment down his throat. It felt like an eternity, and he could do nothing but stand and watch as the unknown man swallowed.

"Now, shall we see...just who will be stealing from whom?"There was a sickening smile on the man's face, one that sent shivers down his spine. "We'll fight to the death!"

He couldn't move.

He couldn't move as he saw the shinobi raise his hand.

As he saw the pair of kunais flying towards them.

Pain erupted as he felt the blade pierce his flesh, shatter the bone.

He was going to die.

Breath got caught on his throat, his lungs refusing to move.

He was going to die, and he couldn't move.

No.

No.

He was still breathing.

Nothing was piercing his skull.

He'd been through something similar once; it was an illusion. An incredibly powerful one but a genjutsu all the same.

He was shivering.

When had he fallen to his knees?

He couldn't stop trembling, but he could feel the bile violently rising through his throat. Just one look at his eyes and he'd seen his own death; felt it even...who...who the fell was this guy?...with no hand seals, no preparation...

They had to run away.

They had to run away now, because if they stayed...they would die, for real this time. If only the Uchiha could force his limbs to move.

An almost burning warmth washed over him, his onyx eyes snapping to his side. Reiki soothed his trembling, his body slowly calming down at the familiar energy. Kagome was kneeling, one hand clutching the fabric of her modified kimono as she panted. A look of shock still etched on her face. Right, Itachi had said that energy could act on its own; it reacted to her emotions, it was part of the reason behind her prodigious control.

"Oh, well now, that didn't quite feel like chakra, did it?" Greed, greed was dripping from the enemy in front of them as he set his eyes on the girl's trembling form. What exactly did it do, though?"

This guy hadn't realized it, had he? All his attention was focused on Kagome, who was still recovering from having her bloodline's ability to lash out on its own. He hadn't notice Sasuke could move now.

The world slowed down as his chakra rushed to his eyes, the sharing bleeding into his vision, his hands taking hold of the one girl that had become almost the entirety of his world for so long before the twin kunais could hit their targets.

His breathing still wasn't under control, Kagome's unexpected release of energy had given him back his mobility, but he could still feel the panic bubbling under the surface. The feeling of her fingers tightly closed around his arm, perhaps the only thing grounding him.

Kagome.

This was why she'd been so anxious before.

He had to get her out of this fucking place.

But how?

That man was clearly playing with them, just running around would do them no good. He needed to find a way to avoid him, to fool him...would clones work? No, they'd be wasting too much chakra for a diversion, and if it didn't work, then what?

"Sasuke! From above!"

The grip on his arm tightened even more as he felt a strong pull, and then, they were falling. His gaze faltered at the sight of the huge snake; it had been trying to stealthily move to where they'd been. Fuck, he was still panicked, for the Uchiha to fail to notice the giant animal creeping up on them made it undeniable.

Hitting the ground, the boy groaned; this was not good, they needed to leave...

"Sasuke!" Kagome's voice sounded odd, the effort to keep her own panic out of it, giving it a weird quality. "You need to focus; we need to find Naruto and get rid of this thing!"

The sound f scales rushing against the trees had them jumping back. The thing was charging against them; the Uchiha's attack was frenzied, a volley of shuriken hitting the beast's hide along with the slender needles Kagome preferred. Loud cracks sounded deafening as the weapons missed their target, breaking the bark of the trees they landed on. He took only an instant to breathe, his gaze refusing to leave the giant corpse of the snake only to falter as the skin of the beast began to crack open from the inside.

His senses had to be lying; the thought repeated itself over and over as he could do nothing but watch as the man crawled from inside the animal. Slowly coming to stand on top of the corpse of the giant beast. How was that even possible? Was that guy human in the first place?

"Now look at that; seems like one of you managed to keep her head clear." The voice that filled the air sounded completely unaffected, uncaring about their attempts to attack him. "That's good; you have to stay on your toes, like good prey. It makes the chase so much more rewarding for the predator?"

For the second time of the day, Sasuke couldn't move, his body all but paralyzed as he saw that...that thing...slither up the tree. His body more snake than human as he rushed towards them at an inhuman speed.

They couldn't win.

Kagome was right to be afraid.

They just couldn't win against him.

He was too weak.

Too weak to protect her.

Too weak to survive.

"Sorry, Sasuke!" A loud familiar voice filled his ears at the same time the snake shinobi's path was cut by a barrage of shurikens. "I can't remember that stupid password."

The blond looked like he'd been through hell, blood splatters covered most of his clothing, and something el, something fleshy, was clinging to him. Still, the boy was smiling proudly on top of a branch, like he'd just saved the day just by reappearing. As if having him here would be enough to change their odds.

"Don't just stay there, you idiot! Now's a good idea to run for your life!" His voice was slightly hysterical, even to his eyes, it didn't matter. "This guy's way out of our league."

"Hehe, My compliments on your stunning defeat of the giant snake, Naruto-kun." The Uchiha pushed the unnerving question of whether they'd spoken all of their names out loud.

"Hey! Why don't you pick on someone your own size!...or something."

No.

They couldn't win.

That idiot would get them all killed.

And he...he couldn't die like this, couldn't just let Kagome die.

Releasing the chakra focused on his eyes the sharingan flickered out. If fighting was useless then, he could only think of one thing to do.

"If it's our scroll you want, just come and get it," he didn't want to say it, not really, but he knew when he was in a match he could only lose. "Just..take it and go!"

"Sasuke, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" the blond bellowed. "Is this some clever way of defeating the enemy? By handing over all we've got?!"

"Well done, you're obviously a natural-born prey." His pride stung, but the boy stomped on it as hard as he could. "Instinctively knowing that your only hope lies in the chance of the predator being distracted by some tastier bait."

They needed to survive. To find out what really happened that night. To give retribution to those who played his clan...to find Itachi...They needed to survive. And if this kept them alive, then so be it.

"Go ahead and take it." He said, sending the scroll flying; it wasn't worth their lives.

Before the thing could make it half of the way, an orange blur took it.

Naruto landed at his side, hand tightly gripping the only thing that could let them all get out of this alive. And the damned idiot had no idea how much they could not fight this enemy.

"Stay out of this!" His throat felt dry. "You'll ruin everything!"

The pain of being hit was something he didn't expect, nor the force he hit one of the endless trees behind him with. It took a second for his brain to understand what had just happened.

Naruto just hit him.

The blond who'd been friends with him since he'd started following like a stray dog, just him after he'd tried to save all their lives.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"Guys, this is not the time..." For once, Kagome's voice fell deaf on his air.

"I forgot the stupid password, so I have no way to prove it...but this so-called Sasuke is obviously fake!" Now, the idiot had turned around, pointing at him as he looked at the girl.

"Naruto, you idiot, I'm me!"

"Bullshit," he screamed, turning to face him again. "You're an idiot! And a coward, Sasuke isn't. So you're not him!" He couldn't understand; why couldn't he understand Sasuke's idea was the only way they'd get out of this alive? "I'm not so sure we have to be afraid of this guy...and even if we did hand over our scroll, there's no guarantee he'd spare us! So even if you were Sasuke, I'd still be telling you you're an idiot!"

"Oh, Naruto, this is rich." The grass nin spoke again, ice seeping through his veins as the voice reached his ears. " And you're right, why bargain...when I can simply kill you and take the scroll?"

"Shut up!"

"Don't, Naruto!"

He was going to die; he was going to get killed.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

Her limbs were moving before the smoke cleared, her instincts screaming at her to get away from the man she wasn't even sure was human anymore. But like hell she was going to let Naruto get himself killed.

The giant snake that came out of the smoke got to the blond first, it's enormous tail sending him flying, slamming against a branch.

"Excellent, but let's not take any chances, eat the boy."

A somewhat familiar feeling reached her senses; her legs faltered as she saw Naruto shift halfway through his fall, pushing the giant snake down with a single punch. The Kyuubi chakra, it was leaking again...somehow she felt like this time around it wouldn't be so useful...especially if the boy couldn't manage to keep his head clear.

She jumped back into the air; the boy was too flustered. He wasn't thinking clearly, and she really needed to get him out of there. The senbons left her fingers with the same accuracy as always; the smoke of the exploding tags joined her regular bombs as she tackled the blond. She could feel the feral chakra of the fox bubbling under the surface as the girl did her best to get back to Sasuke.

"Kagome!"

"I know we have to fight!" Kagome's voice was too loud to her ears; she didn't care, though. "But rushing head-on on your own is going to get killed!"

Vermillion-stained eyes widened; she'd never shouted at him, never really screamed at anyone, but this time was not the time for her friends to lose their heads. Because there was no way this guy was just a sadistic applicant for the exams. Right now, they needed to know that the hell he was after.

"Back!"

She screamed as she jumped back again, taking the blond back with her, while her hands went through the seals she'd only recently learned. The snake crashed on the floor, right in front of them, rearing back for a second attack, and she wasn't going to make it. She had no time.

Pushing more energy into the technique, she could barely breathe a sigh of relief as the light pink shield formed around them before she could feel the strain on her barrier when it blocked the beast's charge. The slight smell of something being singed reached her. The snake-obsessed nin calmly stood beside the animal, ignoring its violent thrashing.

"Sasuke, I need you with me!"

"My, so this is the famed Higurashi bloodline. The man walked, slowly, his eyes gleaming with something that put her on edge, deliberately placing his hand on the shimmering surface. The stench of burning flesh filled the area. "It looks like it does live up to the expectations."

Panic began to creep in; the barrier wouldn't hold against a full-power attack. She'd been unable to finish the string of seals and just pushed her reiki to the surface, but it wouldn't really hold against anything strong as it was.

"What do you want?" Miraculously, her voice was steady as she tried to stall.

"Oh, is it not obvious?"

"No, you're not here for the exam." This she was sure of, exactly what he was after though, that was another thing. "You're...targetting us..."

"You're certainly a sharp little lady, are you not, Kagome-chan?" Whatever pain he was feeling from the burning of the shield, it didn't seem to bother him. "Seems like this village has been hiding quite a diamond in the rough."

Unlike most barriers that completely separated the two sections of land, the shield she was currently using allowed for those inside to cross it without damaging it. It could be useful in a fight to avoid being trapped in your own jutsu...and yet as the blond lost his temper once more. Rushing out of the shield to charge against the snake nin, Kagome wished it wasn't like that.

"Naruto!"

At last, the Uchiha moved, though he was just as unable to stop the blond's mad dash as hers. She wanted to curse; the blond having access to the Kyuubi meant his mental state was probably too unstable. He wasn't thinking straight. It wasn't difficult for the snake nin to jump back and reappear behind him, his tongue unnaturally large once again as it wrapped around Naruto's waist.

"Hey, get off me!"

Sasuke sprinted beside her, racing out of the barrier in an attempt to get to their childhood friend back. Only to be blocked by the giant snake. At least, he was back to normal, letting the shimmering shield vanish; she jumped to his side. The burns on the side of the beast's head were bad, but not enough to render it useless.

"The brat of the Ninetails is still alive and kicking." A stream of fire flew past her, aimed at the monster holding the blond only to be blocked by a scaly tail. "How fascinating, when he is consumed by rage, he loses himself, and a bit of the Kyuubi trapped within comes through. An amazing development! There's the proof, the spell that seals the monster appears on your skin like a tattoo."'

The sound of her friend's scream as the unknown shinobi pressed something into his stomach was terrifying. The stupid animal in front of them was still blocking their path, azure eyes widened in terror, watching her childhood friend's slumped body be tossed aside from a height that could easily kill him. Her hands were busy as she sent charged projectiles, and by the time she retreated to gain enough space, she'd be too...

"He's too stupid to die like that." Sasuke's voice was strained, but his hastily thrown kunai pierced the blond's clothing in time to pin him to a tree. "Sorry for making you worry."

Kagome looked back only to freeze, a second magatama was now swirling in the Uchiha's sharingan; it was evolving. Taking a shaky breath, the girl looked back up to where their enemy was languidly watching them, a greedy glint in his own eyes.

"I know, just..." She was scared, terrified even, more than ever. "Focus on attacking; I've got your back."

So far, the man had done little fighting, using the beasts and genjutsus as ways to paralyze them. Getting close would be a bad idea, considering his tongue was clearly, a threat too big to ignore; they would be restricted to long-range attacks. It was okay; they could deal with that.

Her fingers gripped the weapons hidden in her clothing with ease. She was using too many of her explosives reserves, but there was no helping it; they needed to stop his movements one way or another.

The man slithered up a tree to escape the Uchiha's weapons only to be stopped by her explosions. Wired senbons to his right cut off another escape route.

Metal clashed against metal as the kunais sent towards Sasuke clashed against her own projectiles. The man was still playing with them, not even bothering to ask the battered snake to assist in his fight.

Fine by her.

Let him underestimate us and make a blunder.

Sasuke's blades finally managed to cage him in, timing her own weapons to come from above, Kagome finished their net. Wires were all around him. Scorching flames traveled through them, the heat of the fire reaching her despite being several meters above.

It should be done.

It should be over.

And yet, the tension refused to lift from her shoulders as she landed on a nearby branch. Ice flowed through her veins when the man's voice echoed through the forest like he wasn't just in the center of a massive fire.

"That one so young would have such mastery over the sharingan." The words sent chills down her spine. "Truly, a worthy successor to the honored name of the Uchiha clan. I thought there was only one fruit ripe enough to be of interest, but in fact...I believe I want you too, after all."

She couldn't look away from the nauseating spectacle that was the man continue to speak through a layer of molten skin, and then she felt it, the genjutsu taking hold of her as her limbs froze.

"It's marvelous fun, having you show me all your tricks," the man spoke again, completely unbothered y what had to be thrid-degree burns. "You really are his brother, aren't you? You can see and conceal things with those eyes of yours, could Itachi himself advance this quickly?"

Itachi...

Did this man know him then? Did they meet after he left the village?

"Who the hell are you?" Temporarily, a kind of hunger had taken control of the Uchiha, her as well.

"I am Orochimaru if you'd ever want a rematch..." Kagome cursed silently; her eyes widened at the way the man simply burned the Heaven scroll they were looking for. Forcing herself to calm down, she concentrated on her reiki, she couldn't use her arms, but for destroying this illusion, she wouldn't need them. "Then pass this exam as quickly as you can. I'll see you again if you manage to defeat the three Oto nin that answer to me."

Her reiki exploded around them once more, tearing the illusionary chains that kept them still...

...Only for something to grab ahold of her legs...something real this time.

A scream left her lips when her gaze landed on the snakes restricting her movements. In front of them, the man's snake-like body extended, traveling fast in her direction. Her legs couldn't move; her hands were frantically stabbing the beasts on her legs with a hastily grabbed kunai. Too slow, she was too slow.

The familiar symbol of the Uchiha clan obstructed her view; Sasuke's back was in front of her. His arms raised in a useless attempt to block the disturbing man as he sunk his teeth into the Uchiha's neck.

Her world froze for an instant.

"I look forward to seeing you two again." Orochimaru's voice shattered the illusion, his neck going back to his body as the boy who had been by her side since she could remember doubled over. A scream piercing her soul.

Kagome failed to notice the snakes turning to ash as she hurried by her side, her panic taking over because she didn't know what to do. She didn't know how to heal this.

"What did you do?!"

"Just a little something to remember me by." The words grew harder to hear as the snake shinobi melded into a tree.

She didn't care though.

Her focus was on the boy currently screaming in her arms. Her fingers trembling as she struggled to get his hand away from his neck to give her a better view. Three black marks were now clearly tattoed in his skin, and this couldn't be good. It couldn't, and he was still screaming with more pain and agony than he did even back when the nightmares were still bad.

Her hands rushed through the seals for diagnosis, and terror began settling in because she thought she knew what this was.

Some sort of curse seal.

She'd read about it while searching for techniques to learn.

It was in one of the scrolls she'd discarded, barely skimming through it because she was looking for something to balance her out. She didn't know how to heal this.

She was alone.

Ahe was alone, with Sasuke suffering in her arms, and she couldn't do a thing.

Other teams would hear him, would come to see, would finish them off, and she'd be useless and...

A good intuition is something many shinobi would die to have. With time, you can try and develop one, but even then, it's not as reliable as it may look. Your intuition, your instincts, are amazingly sharp...if you ever feel lost, be sure you follow them, Kagome.

Right.

It didn't matter if she didn't know what to do.

It didn't matter

Tightening her hold against Sasuke and with Itachi's words on repeat, she forced herself to take a shaky breath, trying to ignore the dampness that fell down her cheeks.

First of all, she needed to stop his screaming.

"I'm sorry..."

Turning his face to the side with one hand, she gripped a long needle with the other. When it came to the human body, Kagome could easily identify and hit any and all pressure points. It was a skill she'd relied on before; it allowed her to close the gap that existed in her taijutsu. She never missed.

The tip of the needle pierced the skin on Sasuke's neck with ease, his voice dying as the senbon reached its intended target.

Not wasting a second, she rushed to find his pulse. It was agitated, but it was there, and a relieved sigh left her. The sudden lack of tension threatening to overwhelm her. The girl fought to keep it at bay; they weren't safe, not by a long shot.

Azure eyes blinked, trying to keep the moisture away as she attempted to locate her remaining teammate.

Naruto was still pinned to the tree by Sasuke's kunai.

They needed to move and fast. The explosions and...the rest...would doubtlessly attract unwanted attention. If not from the other genin teams, then by whatever kind of deadly animals that lived here. Looking between the two unconscious boys, the girl frowned; carrying them on her own would take too much time, hinder her mobility far too much.

A slip of paper was between her fingers in a second.

This was only an experimental shikigami; she'd barely completed it three days ago, there had been no time to charge it with any decent amount of reiki. In all honesty, it would probably vanish with the first hit that managed to connect. It was the only one bog enough to help her carry two teens her own size.

Not willing to lose more time, she pushed a jolt of reiki to activate the technique.

A black wolf looked back at her, ready to obey her commands. Forcing her legs to move once again, she lifted herself up, carrying Sasuke's unconscious body with her. The wolf hunched over, letting her place the Uchiha on his back without too much effort. Her gaze went up the trees around her, stopping on the limp form of her childhood friend.

She needed to get them all out of here; otherwise...the three of them would be dead come morning.

A/N: Finally, the action part of the chuunin exams, so let's be honest here, the three of them are definitely stronger compared to the original team 7 but still nowhere close to a sannin level. Also can I just say that Sakura just frustrated me to no end in this part, she's screaming at her teammates to do something while she's doing absolutely nothing despite being completely uninjured. Also, I do have a vague outline in my head of where I want this to go and I am several chapters ahead with my drafts but details of the story are not set on stone until the darfts are done, that said, I still haven't finished writing the chuunin exams arcs so...yeah.

As always, thank you so much for reading and revewing, any comment, review criticism is greatly appreciated.