Of Second Tests, First Battles, and Encounters
-Of Second Tests, First Battles, and Encounters-
A few minutes later Naruto reemerged from the underbrush. "Ah man, that was a lot! I literally peed my whole name!" He informed with a sigh.
"TMI Naruto. TMI." Amaya states, looking around the area with narrowed eyes. 'Somethings off, but what?' She thought to herself, locking her gaze on Naruto.
"Ugh.. you are such a pig! You're really disgusting sometimes, you know that?" Sakura snapped, causing the boy to give a sheepish grin.
'Why is Naruto's pouch on his left leg? Unless he took his pants off and put them on backwards, it should be on the right...' Amaya thought to herself, noting Sasuke's own skeptical expression. "Sasuke." She called out, making him look at her.
"I got it." He replied simply before hitting Naruto in the face with full force, sending the blond flying into a tree.
"Sasuke, it wasn't that bad. Don't you think you're going a little overboard?" Sakura asked, staring at the Uchiha in confusion. She then turned to Amaya, wondering why the brunette wasn't making a move to help the blond like usual.
"Yeah, what the heck was that all about?" Naruto asks, wiping his mouth as he stared up at the boy.
Sasuke moves to attack again, but Naruto dodges, making Sasuke pursue him with more kicks and punches. Naruto quickly flips up onto a low hanging branch, though he isn't fast enough to block or dodge Sasuke's next kick, which sends him crashing to the ground.
"Better watch out, Sakura, Amaya... I think he's gone crazy!" Naruto exclaims, standing up slowly as Sasuke jumps in between him and the two girls.
"Yeah, you wish! I just struck before you could!" Sasuke spat, pulling out a kunai, charging towards the blond a second time.
"Alright then, bring it on!" Naruto yelled, readying his own kunai.
"Sasuke, no!" Sakura yelled, spinning around to look at Amaya. "Why aren't you stopping them?!"
Amaya stayed silent as she watched the duos weapons clash, confusing Sakura even more as she noticed the brunettes tense posture. Turning back to the two boys, the pinkette flinched as the clanging of metal grew louder and more frequent.
"Sasuke! What are you doing?!" She asked again, becoming exasperated at being annoyed.
"Take a good look at him." Sasuke prompted, making the girl pause. "Talk! What have you done with Naruto?!" Sasuke asks, this time addressing the blond.
"What? What do you mean, I am Naruto!"
"Then where's the cut on your cheek?!" Sasuke asked rhetorically, making the blonds eyes widen.
'Heh, got him...' Amaya thought to herself, a smirk coming onto her face. "Saa~... If you're gonna do a transformation, make sure you have the details down pat first. Otherwise you just look foolish." She criticizes, allowing Sasuke to elaborate further.
"I guess you didn't know that the real Naruto got a cut before this test! You also have your shuriken holster on your left leg, not your right. The real Naruto is right handed. Your transformation skills are worse than Naruto's! Tell me who you are!" Sasuke demanded, prompting Sakura and Amaya to pull out their own weapons.
"Naruto" smirks and suddenly the Transformation Jutsu is released, revealing a ninja from the Hidden Mist Village. The nin himself had dark brown hair and was wearing some sort of goggles along with a breathing apparatus covering his mouth, which distorted his voice slightly. "Alright, you got me. So what? I'm still gonna take your scroll! Now hand it over or else!" He threatened, making the three drop into a fighting stance. "So, which one of you has it?" He asks rhetorically, staring each of them down and when no one answered, he smirked smugly. "Hmph. Fine then. I guess I'll just have to take all three of you out!" He exclaims, running towards them with his kunai still drawn.
The three jump back, putting distance between them and the attacking nin. Sasuke took this as an opportunity and began to preform hand signs. 'Katōn: Hōsenka no Jutsu!' He thought, to himself before shooting bullets of fire at the nin, who in return, dodged by weaving.
Jumping into the air, the two males meet, the sound of their kunai's clashing resonated throughout the area. And before Sasuke could attack again, the Mist nin ran off farther into the forest, making Sasuke follow.
"OI! We shouldn't split up even more!" Amaya calls out after the Uchiha, letting out a sigh as she took off after the two. "Saa~... C'mon, Sakura!" She calls over her shoulder, prompting the pinkette to follow.
***
As Sasuke chased after the nin, the sound of Naruto's voice forced his eyes downward. There, laying on the ground, was a tied-up Naruto, wiggling around like a worm.
"Hey! Get me out of this!" The blond yelled out as he struggled.
'Little idiot!' Sasuke thought to himself as he threw his kunai, slicing through the ropes.
"Thank you!" Naruto replied, throwing the ropes off himself as he grabbed the kunai.
Sasuke looked back up as the Mist nin threw multiple kunai and shuriken. "Hah! Better keep your mind on the game!"
Sasuke dropped down, hanging on the branch as the weaponry embedded deeply into the bark. Suddenly, the sight of a paper bomb attached to a kunai hitting same branch caught his attention. "A paper bomb?!" He gasps, right as the bomb went off, sending him to the ground.
Sasuke landed on his hands and knees with a grunt. However, right as he raised himself up, the nin appeared behind him with a kunai drawn. "Sorry... This is one test you fail. Now hand over the scroll or you die."
"Sasuke!" Sakura yelled as she ran through the underbrush, making the two males look up. While the nin was distracted, Sasuke slowly stood, a smirk forming in his face as a kunai flew out from a nearby tree, forcing the nin to back off.
Naruto then makes himself known as he jumped down from the tree. "Oh no you don't!" He yells, watching as the nin tried to distance himself from the reunited group.
'There's one missing!' The nin thought to himself, looking down at the trio. 'There were two girls on the team as well! Where is she?!' He thought again, his eyes skimming the area. His question, however, was quickly answered as Amaya appeared from one of the many surrounding trees, landing one harsh blow to his head and then another his ribs.
Sasuke smirked from below. 'Well, well. Better late than never, I guess.' He thought as he looked around at his teammates. Looking down at the kunai, he held his foot over the weapon and focused his chakra, allowing him to pick up the kunai and fling it at the nin.
The nin looks away at the kunai as it flew past him, and once he looks back, Sasuke slams into him, stabbing him in the stomach with another.
Amaya jumps down from her perch and lands next to Sakura as the pinkette calls out to Sasuke. "Are you alright?"
Sasuke sends her a sharp look. "Don't just stand there, Sakura! Chances are, this guys not alone! Watch out! The others could strike any second now!" He yelled back as he was pushed away by the nin.
"I wish... I came alone so not to arouse suspicion. Big mistake." The nin groaned, clutching the wound on his stomach before fleeing into the forest.
Sasuke landed safely onto the ground next to the trio. 'So much for him. For now.' He thought to himself, staring in the direction their opponent went.
***
A few minutes later they found themselves sitting around in a circle, speaking in low voices. "That proves that we can't just trust appearances. We have to come up with a way knowing each of us is who we say we are. And not some imposter using some Transformation Jutsu." Sasuke advised, earning himself nods of agreement from Amaya and Naruto.
Sakura narrowed her eyes. "Alright, so what do we do?"
"We need a password." Sasuke answered, looking down at his lap in thought.
"Hm? What kind of password?" Naruto asked, squinting his eyes in confusion.
Sasuke sighed. "A secret one." He replied, earning a snort from Amaya.
"Saa~ Obviously." She said, earning a scowl front he Uchiha as she shrugged back with an amused smile.
Sasuke shook his head and turned back to the others to continue. "Something known to only the four of us. And don't trust anyone who doesn't know it. No matter what... Okay, listen closely because I only want to say this once. The question will be, "When does a ninja strike?" And the response is, "A ninja waits until the time is right, when the enemy sleeps and drops his guard. When his weapons lie forgotten in the stillness of the night, that is the moment for a ninja to strike." Got it?"
Sakura nodded. "I got it." She answers proudly.
Amaya rolled her eyes and leaned back onto her hands. "Yeah, yeah I got it."
Naruto on the other hand, stared at Sasuke with a funny expression. "You got one a little shorter?" He asked with squinted eyes, earning a laugh from Amaya.
"No, Naruto. That's it." Sasuke replied, annoyance filling his voice.
Sakura groaned as she stared at the blond. "Come on, what's wrong? Didn't you get it? I memorized it easily."
"Y-yeah sure, I got it! I got it! No problem. I just thought it was gonna be a password, not a pass-speech." Naruto replied, rubbing the back of his head nervously as they all stood.
"Alright then. I'll take the scroll." Sasuke said, holding a hand out to Amaya for the scroll.
"Saa~ We're really lucky that guy didn't know which one of us had it." The brunette murmurs, reaching into one of her pouches for the scroll.
Naruto looked at the Uchiha hesitantly. "Wait a minute, Sasuke, I uh--" He began but stopped as something flew out of the nearby foliage, cutting his other cheek. "What was that?" He asked, wiping some of the blood away as they all stared out in that direction.
Amaya narrowed her eyes as a low whistling sound resonated through the area. "Is that.. wind?" She asked unsurely as she tilted her head.
Sasuke stared at the brunette for a moment before looking back into the direction the sound seemed to be coming from. Suddenly, a large and extremely powerful gust of wind blew through the area, making the four let out a few of their own grunts and curses.
"What is it now?!" Sasuke asked with a yell, watching from the corner of his eye as the wind separated Sakura and Naruto from himself and Amaya, who had backed herself into a nearby tree.
***
After the wind stopped, Amaya and Sasuke hid in the foliage that remained unaffected as they waited for their possible attackers and/or their teammates. Amaya looked down from her perch as Sasuke spun around, revealing himself from the bush he hid in.
"Sakura!" He exclaimed, somewhat surprised as they barely noticed her come up behind them.
"Sasuke! Amaya! What was that?" The pinkette asked as she slowly jogged forward, only to stop as Amaya's kunai embedded in the ground at her feet. "W-what?" She stammered, looking from the weapon to the brunette glaring down at her in suspicion.
Sasuke brandishes his own kunai threateningly as he stared back, his expression wary. "Stay there! First answer the question. When does a ninja strike?"
A look of realization crosses Sakura's face. "Oh! A ninja waits until the time is right, when the enemy sleeps and drops his guard. When his weapons lie forgotten in the stillness of the night, that is the moment for a ninja to strike." She recites, a proud expression crossing her face for remembering the answer.
Both relaxed at her response. Lowering his weapon, Sasuke sighed. "Good."
Amaya hopped down from her spot as footsteps neared, their owner revealing the self to be Naruto. "Hey! What's up? You guys okay?" He asked as he neared.
Sakura raised her hand in a stopping motion. "Don't come any closer!" She ordered, making the blond skid to a stop. "What's the password?"
Naruto gave a huge closed eye smile. "Oh, sure no problem! Okay, a ninja waits until the time is right, when the enemy sleeps and drops his guard. When his weapons lie forgotten in the stillness of the night, that is the moment for a ninja to strike!" He answers, and Sakura let out a sigh of relief, although Amaya remained somewhat skeptical.
'Naruto can't even remember what he had for breakfast yesterday, how in the hell did he get that long ass answer?' The brunette thought with a raised brow, crossing her arms.
Suddenly Sasuke throws his kunai at Naruto, though the blond dodges, landing on the ground with a thud. "What was that?! You could have killed me!" Naruto exclaims as he sits up.
Sasuke sends a glare his way. "Gotta hand it to you, you're quicker than the last one."
"What are you talking about? What was wrong with that? He just got the password right, word for word!" Sakura exclaimed in confusion.
"Exactly. That's what's wrong." Sasuke replied, earning sounds of confusion from the pinkette. "You really think Naruto could memorize all of that? And get it word for word? Not the Naruto I know, not in a million years. You'd have a better chance teaching it to a hamster." He added.
Sakura's confused expression dropped completely. "Oh right. You've got a point."
Amaya deadpanned. 'Oh, Naruto... Even if they're kinda right, they have so little faith in you.'
"Besides, you saw the way this guy moved when he dodged my attack. That was definitely not a Naruto move. Alright come out, whoever you are. Party's over." Sasuke said, staring down at the crouching blond.
"Naruto" smirks ominously and licks his lips, his voice changing into an eerily familiar one. "Aren't we a clever one?" "He" asks, releasing the jutsu to reveal the creepy Grass Ninja from earlier that day.
'Oh, you've gotta be kidding me.' Amaya thought to herself, shivers going down her spine as she stared at the taller female.
"Tell me, if your teammate is really that dim witted, why would you come up with a password he'd never be able to remember?" She asked, staring at them with a somewhat small creepy smirk.
Sasuke gave a smirk of his own as he answered. "You see, it wasn't meant for Naruto, so much as for anybody who might be nearby trying to eavesdrop on us. It was meant as a trap, and you stumbled right into it."
The Grass nin removes her straw hat as her smirk widens. "I'm impressed. You certainly haven't dropped your guard, have you? This promises to be very entertaining."
Amaya's deadpan deepens. "Or very creepy..." She mumbles, earning a nod of agreement from Sakura.
Suddenly, the nin reaches behind and pulls out an earth scroll from one of her pouches. The sight of the scroll earned a gasp from Sakura and slightly surprised expressions from Sasuke and Amaya.
At the looks on their faces, she smirks. "Aahh... You'd love to get your hands on our earth scroll, wouldn't you? It would go so nicely with your heaven scroll." She said bringing the scroll closer to her face before sticking her tongue out.
The trio watch in disgust and slight awe as the muscle wraps around the scroll, assisting her in swallowing the item whole.
'Saa~ I've said it once, and I'll say it again... Pretty cool, but also nasty as hell.' Amaya thought to herself, scrunching her nose in distaste at the sight of the nin cramming the scroll down her throat.
Once finished, the nin licks her lips. "Well, when this is all over, one of us will have both scrolls. And the other will be dead." She said, bringing a hand up to her eye as she stared back at them unblinkingly.
Suddenly, the trio's bodies freeze, and no matter how hard they try, they couldn't move. They continued to stare at the Grass nin, a vision of sorts comes to mind. The three of them were in the same predicament they were in now, except this time they all were crying out in pain as weapons pierced and sliced through their bodies. The image continues until three kunai fly towards them, their targets being the center of the trio's foreheads.
As if waking from a nightmare, the three snap "awake" with gasps of their own as they each fell to their knees. 'I-is this an illusion?' Sasuke thought to himself as bile began to rise in his throat, forcing him to lurch forward to vomit. Once finished, he takes a deep breath and tries to stand, but is unable to do so and collapses. 'No, it's more than that. Her thirst for blood is almost palpable. Looking into her eyes... I saw the moment of my own death! Wh-who is she?! What is she?!'
The remembrance that he wasn't alone made him turn his head slightly. "S-Sakura?... A-Amaya?" He stammered, looking over at the two females only for his eyes to widen at the sight.
Both girls were trembling furiously, with pure fear coursing through their bodies. Sakura was hunched over on her hands as her tears fell to the ground. Amaya on the other hand, was staring blankly ahead with watery eyes, as if in deep thought.
'No use... They've got it worse than me. We've got to get out of here. Get away from her. She's death!' Sasuke thought to himself, looking back to the nin as she let out a laugh.
"You're paralyzed with fear." She said, staring at them in dark amusement.
Sasuke grit his teeth together. 'Ngh, what's wrong with me? Move! C'mon move, Sasuke, move!' He thought, barely inching his hand towards his kunai holster. 'That's it. You can do this! Yes!' He thought once more, mentally cheering as he slipped a kunai from the pouch before slowly beginning to stand. 'That's right. Even if it's just a little. You've got to move!'
The Grass nin locked her gaze on Sasuke, watching his small achievements with observant eyes. "Very good. Now what happens?" She asks, and Sasuke can feel his body freeze up completely, once more.
Pulling out three kunai, she began to walk forward at a slow menacing pace. "Don't worry, I'll make it quick. But I don't have to tell you that, do I? You've seen it with your own eyes." She laughed, raising her kunai. "I expected you to be more of a challenge. How disappointing." She added, throwing the three weapons.
Soon enough, blood flies into the air.
-Meanwhile-
Mitsuko's upbeat walk came to a sudden stop as she felt her heart skip before dropping into her stomach. Her hands began to tingle and sweat as bile rose up her throat. It was only when she cupped her mouth, did she realize that she was trembling.
Kenji looked up, from his spot in the living room as he noticed her frozen form in the doorway. "Mitsuko, what's wrong?" He asked, quickly standing up from his chair to make his way over to her side. "Do you need to go to the hospital?" He asked again, his brows pinched with worry.
Taking a deep breath, Mitsuko looked up at him with worried eyes. "That chakra... Do you not feel it?" She asked, her voice trembling just as much as her body.
Kenji shook his head. "No... What do you sense?" He asked, rubbing her back soothingly.
"It's menacing... I haven't felt it since we were younger..." She replied, staring off into space before her eyes widen in realization. "Something's wrong! I can feel it... Kenji, I think Amaya's in trouble." She said, looking up at him with wide fearful brown eyes.
Kenji's expression softened. "Amaya's participating in the Chunin Exams... I'm sure she's perfectly safe..." He replied, only to trail off as her expression morphed into a protective one.
Mitsuko opened her mouth to reply but was stopped as Kou came barreling through the door, Kurai not far behind. "Papa!" He exclaimed, tripping over the small step in the foyer.
"What is it, Kou?" Kenji asked, his stomach churning at the expression in his son's face.
"There no time to explain! You gotta come with us!" Kou said, making his mothers face pale.
Kurai sighed from the main entrance. "A civilian found something, and you need to see it." He informs, making his father nod as he added, "It could be serious."
Kenji sighed and pecked Mitsuko on the forehead. "It could be nothing. Just relax, okay? I'll come back and explain what's going on." He reassures before following the two out the door.
The Grass nin stares down at the blood puddling on the ground. Looking up, she observes the three kunai embedded into the tree that was behind the once present trio.
"So that's how it is?"
***
Sakura stares at Sasuke, who at the moment was gripping the kunai in his leg, with slightly wide eyes. "Oh Sasuke..." She murmurs, looking down at the kunai and then to Amaya.
The brunette sat quietly, still shaken by the previous events as she stared at the slowly healing gash on her arm. The sight itself made the pinkette feel uneasy. 'She's usually not really bothered by things... Then again, that was a pretty close call...'
***
The Grass nin looks from the kunai and back to the blood. 'A desperate move... But a clever one.' She mused as she thought about the previous events.
-Flashback-
'Move Sasuke! You've got to move! Move! MOVE!' Sasuke thought to himself, looking away from the oncoming assault and down to his hand that still clutched the kunai. "MOVE!" He yelled, slowly twisting his hand to stab himself in the thigh.
Running forward, he grabbed Sakura and pulled out another kunai, which he used to slice Amaya's arm, the pain bringing her back to reality enough to follow him as he fled into the foliage.
-Flashback End-
'He overcame his fear with pain, and then used it on his teammate. So, this prey is not so helpless after all.' She thought to herself, a slow menacing smirk forming on her face.
***
Amaya flinches as Sasuke pulls out the kunai with a grunt.
Sakura leaned forward to inspect the wound. "That wound is deep! Will you be alri-- mmph!" She began but was stopped as Sasuke slammed a hand over her mouth, craning his head to look behind them.
'Gotta move! Gotta get away from her! But how?! Where?!' He thought, slowly beginning to panic.
Sakura's eyes softened as she took in her teammate's expression. 'Man... I've never seen Sasuke like this. He's got me scared.' She thought to herself, looking over as a shadow fell over them.
Hearing a hiss, Amaya looked up from her cut, her eyes widening as they made contact with large slitted ones. "Sasuke..." She called, swallowing thickly at the sight of the large reptile. "Sasuke..."
Sasuke ignored her, giving a small hush in return. And Sakura had enough, slapping his hand away she yelled.
"Sasuke watch out!"
The Uchiha turns in surprise jumps out of the way with Sakura and Amaya, all three watching with wide eyes as the snake bit into the branch. 'Unbelievable! I didn't even notice! I'm losing it!' He thought to himself as he landed on another branch.
The snake moved back from the branch and looks up at Sasuke, twisting and weaving around the trees as it got closer. Sasuke watched as it opened its mouth, the sight gave him the same feeling the Grass Ninja had, earlier.
"Gah! No, stay away!" He yelled, throwing multiple shuriken into the reptile's mouth.
In return, the snake recoils in pain, letting out a final hiss before falling back against a tree, dead.
Suddenly, the snakes skin begins to crack open as something begins to emerge from its corpse. The trio's eyes widened even more as a familiar voice spoke out to them. "I sense your fear and desperation. The prey must never let its guard down even for a moment, in the presence of its predator."
The Grass nin then lets out a laugh as she lunged from the snake. The lower half of her body was now that of the aforementioned reptile. She weaved and wrapped around the trees and branches, her eyes locked solely on Sasuke.
The Uchiha couldn't help but let out a cry of fear as she got closer. However, that was quickly out of an end as multiple weapons embedded into the bark right in front of her head.
Looking up, Amaya felt relief pool in her stomach as her blue eyes locked on a familiar MIA blond, who was standing above them all with crossed arms and a smirk.
"Naruto!" Sakura cried out, her eyes tearing up in relief and happiness.
Naruto grinned. "Oh, and by the way... What was that password again?"