The Pact

-Of Clones, Mist Ninjas, and Scrolls-

"What are they?"
Kabuto briefly glances at the pinkette from the corner of his eye. "Clones from the look of it. And a whole lot of them."
One leans forward and laughs. "Like cornered rats!"
"Oh yeah? Cornered rats, are we?!" Naruto asks with a scowl before moving forward quickly, sending a sharp punch to the clone's abdomen.
'Well, whatever they are, they sure can't take a punch.' Sakura thought with a small smile as she shot her own fist into the air. "That's showin' them! Way to go!"
However, unlike most clones, the one Naruto hit turned into mud like liquid -allowing the blonds fist to go completely through.
"Saa~ Well, that's something new." Amaya muttered, her eyes narrowing at one of the clones as it got too close for comfort. 'What exactly are they?'

As he phased completely through the clone, Naruto fell onto his knees. "I just touched him, and he turned into mush!" He exclaimed, confused, looking back as another clone began to emerge from the hole in the original's abdomen.
Sasuke stared at the now conjoined clone. 'What's really going on here?... Sharingan!' Once his eyes activate, he looks around, quickly realizing that their enemy wasn't among the clones. He then looks back to Naruto.
One half of the clone turns to the blond in hopes of stabbing him with the double-edged kunai. "Naruto! Watch out!" Sasuke yells, pulling out three shuriken. He throws them and they each slice through the clone's arm, severing its hand completely.
At the sudden attack, the clone turns in their direction and throws the kunai. Sasuke goes to dodge but is unable to move as his body freezes, prompting Kabuto to shove him to the ground and out of the way, inevitably gaining a wound on his arm.
Kabuto looks down at Sasuke for a moment to make sure he was safe before standing. He then quickly moves off of Sasuke with a pained grunt, leaving the Uchiha on the ground. 'What's going on? I can't move my body!'
Amaya kneels next to the Uchiha and helps Sakura pull him up into a sitting position. Her eyes narrowing as the curse mark begins to burn brightly, slowly spreading across his skin.
Kabuto looks away from the three and picks up the double-edged kunai. He then reaches up to grip his newly acquired wound tightly. 'It's obvious this things real enough, no illusion here.'
Another clone steps forward, tilting its head to the side. "Surrender your scrolls." It orders, prompting the others to parrot the statement repeatedly.
Naruto scowls at the clones, a small headache starting to form at the constant noise. "The fact that Kabuto is wounded, and bleeding means that these thing's are real Shadow Clones! But man... Shadow Clones are supposed to vanish when you give 'em a good shot! These things don't. So, what the heck are we dealing with?! Some kind of Genjutsu?" He asks, and when no one answers he pulls out a kunai of his own. "Come and get it!"
"It's no use! Save it! You'll only be fighting illusions. It's a Genjutsu alright."
Sakura looked over to Sasuke confused. "Illusions? But how? That gash on Kabuto's arm is real enough."
"That's true. But still, Sasuke's right. Could be, the real enemy's in hiding. Somewhere in the woods nearby, launching real attacks from behind a smokescreen of illusions. Coordinating their movements with them, so that were fooled into thinking these Genjutsu Shinobi are the ones attacking us."
Amaya sighed. "Man, I really hate Genjutsu users..." She grumbled before looking over to lock eyes with Sasuke. He rose a brow causing her to sweatdrop and laugh nervously in realization. "Ah... No offense to you, of course, Duckbutt... You're alright." She added quickly, earning an eye roll in response.
Naruto looks away from the two and towards Kabuto. "Well, wherever they are, what are we gonna do? Just stand here?! Let's find these clowns and take care of 'em!"
Kabuto shook his head and looked back to the irritated blond. "Hold on, Naruto. They'd like nothing more than us to go searching blindly through the forest, while they sit back and take us out. One by one, we'd be making their job easy for them. I know this kind of attack, the kind who use it do so because they are weak in Taijutsu, and are afraid of close hand to hand combat, according to my data. We've no choice, all we can do is hold our ground and fend off their attacks."
"Okay fine. Whatever, lets just do it."

-A Few Minutes Later-

Sakura looks around at the four exasperated as she blocks another oncoming kunai. "Man! How long is this gonna go on?!"
Naruto sighs and makes a hand sign. "Okay, this isn't gonna work."
"No, it's pointless. You'll only waste your chakra. By trying to fight these things, you'll only be doing just what they want." Kabuto states, trying to make the blond see reason.
Naruto ignores him. "If we were to eliminate all of the illusions, whoever's casting them wouldn't be able to hurl kunai at us without us being able to see where they're hiding. I'll show 'em two can play at this game... Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
What empty spaces left in the clearing were then quickly filled as Naruto clones began to appear. They all run forward and begin to battle it out with Naruto also jumping into the fray as well. "Back for more, huh? Okay!"

"Sasuke, shouldn't we help him?" Sakura asks, looking away from Naruto and over to the ravenet in concern.
"He'll be overpowered if we don't. Those clones look like they're a pain to deal with." Amaya added with a sigh.
Sasuke clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Jerk! He's given us no choice. We've got to, now!"
Kabuto looks ahead. "You're right. He's gonna need us, so that's that. We need to fight!" He states before joining Naruto and his clones.
"Somebody remind me to kick Naruto's ass once this is over with." Amaya grumbles, marching off in the duo's direction.

Sakura and Sasuke watch the three for a moment, sweatdropping slightly as they spot Amaya using a stick as a makeshift staff. The brunette pauses for a moment and looks in their direction. "Well? Are ya coming or not?" She calls out, looking away to quickly dodge an oncoming kunai before swinging out the stick to bash the clones head in.
Despite the situation Naruto put them all in, Sasuke smirked. "C'mon, Sakura!"
"Right!"

Hours pass, and eventually the sun begins to peek through the trees. The fight is still continuing and the five find themselves at a complete standstill as they collapse from exhaustion.
Naruto sits up and slowly begins to stand once more. "I'm just warming up."
Amaya looks up at the blond, slightly annoyed. "Saa~... Naruto, it's no use, we're just wasting our energy."
A silence then falls over the clearing for a moment before the clones begin to dissipate, revealing the real trio. "Lucky us."
The nin standing in the middle, obviously the leader, observes the five. His eyes widening in realization as he recognizes a certain four. "You! You're the one who cut me on the shoulder!" He growls out, looking at Sasuke and then to Amaya. "And you're the one that almost had me laid up for the rest of the test for a few fractured ribs and a slight concision! That really messed me up, ya know...? Oh well... Now I can finally pay you back, with interest."
As the nin laughs, Naruto's own face lights up with a proud and determined smirk. The sight causes the nin to go quiet at the blond's sudden change in mood. Tilting his head, he goes to speak but he and his two teammates freeze as Sasuke's voice is heard from behind them.
"Well, well. Now who're the cornered rats?"
Sakura laughed as the trio turned their heads. "Worked like a charm, Naruto." She chirped as they made themselves known from the thick foliage.
Amaya locked eyes with the leader of the group, her once smug expression morphing into a vicious one as she cracked her knuckles. "I'm sorry I didn't hit you harder." She apologized, making the three swallow thickly as she continued. "But there's always a second time. Maybe we'll get lucky, and a few bones will snap clean in half."
Kabuto chuckles from beside her. "Let's not get too carried away."
The leader takes a small step back. "What?! It can't be! If they're over there, then who are they?!"
Naruto's smirk widened. "Confused? Sorry, but it was the only way to get you guys to come out of hiding." He replied as he made a hand sign, revealing the four clones beside him to be of himself and not his teammates or Kabuto.
"How?! Don't tell me that little brat... It's not possible!"
"The shadow clones were only the first part of it." Naruto informed as the clones dispersed. "My real trick was coming up with clones for the rest of my squad."
"While our doubles did all of the fighting and took the beating, we were safe and sound, waiting for you to show yourselves. What'd ya think guys? I think our little plan worked." Sasuke added, causing the nins to tremble fearfully. The Uchiha then moves his gaze to Naruto, who fell back to his knees after trying to stand up. "Naruto! Take a break, you've used up too much of your chakra. Don't worry, I've got 'em."
Naruto, however, doesn't listen to Sasuke and runs forward. He hits one of the nins in the face and sends him flying into the others, creating a domino effect. "After all the work I've done, there's no way I'm gonna stand back and let you guys have all of the fun!" He exclaims, not once moving his glare from the trio laying in a heap on the ground.
Amaya huffs. "Saa~... You never learn... Don't come crying to me when your body gives out on you from exhaustion, again." She said, earning disbelieving looks from Sasuke and Sakura.
Sasuke looks away from the brunette and back to the panting blonde. 'Woah... Is this the same Naruto? What happened?! When did he get this.. good?'
They all watch the three nins stand up. The leader keeping his gaze locked with Naruto's. "This kid shouldn't even be able to move, let alone this!"
At that, Kabuto looks to the three standing next to him. Sasuke and Sakura both shared a mixture of awed and surprised expressions, while Amaya on the other hand, looked completely done and all too used to the blond's actions. 'His chakra is incredibly resilient! To be able to pull off a multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu and then to transform them into clones of his companions, and to still come out fighting! And all of this in the fifth day... If he ever truly masters his chakra, this kid will be unstoppable.'

A short silence then fell over the group but was quickly broken by the trio. "Hah! Not bad! But that doesn't mean it's over, we're still feeling lucky. And besides, times running out for all of us. So, we'll just have to take the gloves off and show you our Ninjutsu." The leader of the group said as they all preformed the same hand sign. "Oboro Bunshin no Jutsu!"
A loud popping sound fills the area as a large cloud of smoke obscures everyone's vision. It eventually clears, revealing a clearing full of clones staring back at them.
"Shadow Clones?" Naruto asks aloud, confused.
Sasuke shakes his head. "Uh-uh, these are real clones. Don't waste your strength bonehead, let them make the first move."
"If these are clones then the real ones are in there with them! All I gotta do is smash my way through until I find the ones that squeal!" Naruto replied, a determined smirk forming on his lips.
"Saa~ Not everyone uses clones like you do, Naruto. They just want to tire you out, that's all it is." Amaya said with a sigh.
Naruto shot her a grin. "Don't worry about me, Amaya! This'll be easy!"
"No! Don't be an idiot! Listen to me!" Sasuke snapped, earning a glare from the blond.
"Get off my back, will ya? Stay out of it, I can handle this!" Naruto replies sharply before running towards the clones with a war cry.
Sakura took a step forward. "No, Naruto! Come back!"
"Not again..." Kabuto muttered, with a tired sigh before moving to help.
Sasuke goes to follow but freezes as a sharp pain emits from his neck. 'Just like before.. a stabbing pain in my neck when I try my Sharingan... Maybe I've used too much of my chakra...'
Amaya watches carefully from the sidelines as Naruto aims various kicks and punches at the clones, with each one phasing through, ineffective. "So that's a clone!... That one, too!"
By this point, Kabuto joined the blond in the fray as Naruto jumps by him to attack another clone. "Naruto, wait!"

"Could it be that they're all fake? Or could it be Genjutsu again?" Sakura asked, looking to the two beside her.
Sasuke's eyes narrow. 'I've got to try... Use the last of my chakra! Sharingan!' As soon as he activates the Kekkei Genkai, he falls to the ground with a cry of pain, clutching his neck tightly.
"Sasuke!" Sakura gasps, running to the Uchiha's side to help him sit up.
Amaya looks over and away from the fight at the commotion. Clicking her tongue, she kneeled next to the Uchiha, opposite of the pinkette, and pried his hand off of his neck, revealing a bright red curse mark.
Sakura gasps again at the reveal. "The mark again! Sasuke please, stop using your Sharingan! Don't do it!"
Amaya grazed her fingertips over the mark, taking note of the male's painful cringe as she did so. "You need to stop using your chakra. These things aren't to be messed with, Sasuke. They'll suck away your chakra, no matter how helpful they seem in a battle."

Naruto glanced back at the trio, giving a clone a chance to jump forward with a kunai. "You should never give your opponent an opening!"
The clone was fast, but Kabuto was even more so. He surged forward and grabbed ahold of the blond and made to jump away, earning a slash on his leg in Naruto's place.
Both males land on the ground roughly, Kabuto moves off of Naruto and grips his leg tightly. "Hey, you ok?" Naruto asked uneasily, though all he received was groans of pain. The blond's eyes narrow and they snap to the clone responsible. "Now you're gonna get it!"
At Naruto's proclamation, Sasuke looked from the brunette, who was still scolding him despite the current situation, and into the blond's direction. "Forget it, Naruto! You could swing at those guys all day! You're just wasting your time on them! The real ones aren't there!"
Naruto turned to look back at the Uchiha, a scowl on his face. "What are you talking about?! That last attack didn't come from any clone, of course the real ones are here, they've gotta be here! If they're not, then where the heck are they?!"
Sasuke scowled. "Use your head! If I knew the answer to that, we wouldn't be in this fix!"
Naruto sighed, looking down at Kabuto as he fell to his knees. 'I'm exhausted. I can't do the Shadow Clone Jutsu anymore.'
"Looks like they've reached the end of their rope... Oh well, it was fun while it lasted." The nin said tauntingly as a clone jumps into the air.
Sasuke, who could see everything going on with his Sharingan, spotted the three ninja coming out of the ground behind Naruto. 'That's it! They hide using earth style and attack while we're focused on their clones!' He thought to himself before snapping his head over as Amaya's presence disappeared from his side. "Oi, Amaya!"
The Minamoto ignored him and continued to sprint forward. Jumping into the air, she sent a flying kick to the clone's head in hopes of buying the two males some time to move out of the way.
At the distraction, Kabuto turns his head slightly to look back at the three and is hit by a kunai, the weapon leaving a nasty gash across the male's nose. The suddenness of it all sends him back to the ground.
"Kabuto!"
The three ninja then completely come up from the ground, each one leering over Kabuto's fallen form as he stares up at them. It's subtle, but they freeze for a moment, allowing Naruto to kick one in the face, inevitably creating another domino effect.
The three land in a heap, and the clones began to dissipate. Naruto stands tall, panting at the exertion as he looked down at the three. "Tch, like you said, never give your enemy an opening. Good advice."
Kabuto sat up and looked between the unconscious trio to the blond beside him, raising a hand, he began to rub the back of his neck awkwardly. "Thank you, Naruto. You saved my neck."
"Literally." Amaya hummed. Her unwavering stare making the older male slightly uncomfortable.
"Way to go, Naruto!" Sakura cheered with the wave of her arm as she and Sasuke left the bush.
"Ah, it was nothing..."

-A Few Minutes Later-

Amaya twirls the stick her clone used as a makeshift staff around, her blue eyes dull but concentrated as she subconsciously remembered the training she underwent with her father and brothers.
Sakura looks up, her eyes widening as she sees the sticks edge coming straight for her. Ducking low, the stick hits the tree behind her with a loud thwack, prompting her to scowl at the brunette, who grinned back apologetically. "Will you stop that? The fights over now, and if you keep doing that, you're gonna poke somebody's eyes out."
Amaya pouts and drops onto the ground beside a bemused Sasuke. "Killjoy..." She grumbles, looking in Naruto's direction as he looted the three unconscious ninja for scrolls.
Kabuto chuckled, his eyes then moving to lock onto Sasuke's curse mark. "That mark on your neck, what is it? A bruise?"
'Yes, because all bruises look that strange... Then again, it's probably for the best that he doesn't know. He's been awfully inquisitive since we met.' Amaya thought to herself looking down to her hands resting in her lap.
Sasuke noticed her tense expression and looked back to Kabuto who was still staring. He then reached up to cover the mark with his hand. "Ah, it's nothing."
"Hey guys, here it is! Just what we needed, a heaven scroll!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping up from the three as he held up the white scroll for emphasis.
Kabuto grinned. "Good for you!"
Sasuke side-eyed the older male from the corner of his eye. 'There's something about this guy... Something I don't like.'

Amaya and Sakura help Sasuke up the steps leading to the tower. Naruto was already ahead of them, looking for their designated door as two males exit from the woods. "There you are, Kabuto. You're late."
"Sorry about that. I got a little.. sidetracked." Kabuto replied as he walked to meet his team halfway.
"Yeah, and are we glad you did! After all, it was only thanks to you we got both scrolls." Naruto said as he folded his arms behind his head, the statement causing the three to turn to them.
Kabuto smiled. "Not really. You did most of it on your own. Especially you, Naruto. Very impressive." He said humbly, earning a laugh from the blond in return. He then turns to look at his teammates and then to one of the doors. "Well, this is the door that we go through. So long, and good luck to us both."
Naruto grinned at the closed eyed smile and thumbs up he received. And once the trio went inside, he turned to their own door and opened it, ripping he seal stuck to it.

***

"What's the deal? There's nobody here." The blond muttered as they took in the large and spacious room.
As Amaya let him go so that she could explore the room further, Sasuke pulled away from Sakura's hold. "It's okay, Sakura, I can manage." He said, responding to her confused and worried look.
Sakura flushed. "Oh, sure!" She chirped, though on the inside her inner self was raging. 'WHAT A DRAG! I WAS ENJOYING THAT!'
"Huh? I don't get it, what happens now?"
Sakura looks around and spots Amaya's silent form standing still, looking up at large words printed out on the wall. "Hold on a second, just look at that!"
At the Haruno's exclamation, Naruto also turns in the brunette's direction. "Great!... What is it?"
"If qualities of Heaven are what you desire, acquire wisdom to take your mind higher. If Earthly qualities are what you lack, train your body and prepare to attack. When Heaven and Earth are opened together, the perilous path will be righteous forever. This... S-something, is the secret way that guides us from this place today." Sakura read aloud, her brows furrowing in thought.
"This what? Or is that a secret, too?" Naruto asked as Amaya and Sasuke shared a look of confusion.
"It's like a word's missing here... Anyway, it's about the scrolls. I think we're supposed to open and read the heaven and earth scrolls now." Sakura said, causing the three beside her to tense.
"Saa~... That's what you think... What if we're still not supposed to read them?"
Sasuke looked from the brunette and to the scrolls in Naruto hands. "It's a risk we'll have to take."
Amaya nods and moves to stand next to Sasuke as Sakura takes the heaven scroll from Naruto, who gulps quite loudly as they begin to peel back the corner of the parchment. "Okay, here goes nothin'..."

-Meanwhile-

"A good harvest?"
Kabuto nods, a smirk forming on his lips as he looked at the older male leaning against the wall. "Yes. Even better than I expected. I learned a lot about him during the second exam. And I recorded all the data on this." He informs deviously, pulling out one of his Ninja Info. Cards. "Want it?"
"Of course. So, tell me, what did you think?"
Kabuto laughs as the card is taken from his hand. "Your curiosity is truly insatiable, Lord Orochimaru."
"As a Sound Village spy, you see things others don't. Your opinion is of interest to me." Orochimaru replied both serious and amused.
Kabuto adjusts his glasses, mindful of the injury on his nose. "Oh, it really doesn't matter, does it? Whatever I think, you're the one who decides. Isn't that always the way?"
Orochimaru chuckles. "You're a cagey one, aren't you, Kabuto? I like that." He replies, staring at the card in his hand. "One last thing."
"Yes...? What is it?"
Orochimaru's face turns into a thoughtful one. "What of the Minamoto girl? Surely you've picked up something new about that ever-evasive clan?"
Kabuto's smirk falls slightly, his eyes lighting up in frustration. "Well, everything we know so far, seems to be true. I healed her wound, curtesy of yourself, in hopes of prying deeper about the Minamoto Kekkei Genkai, but she wasn't all that sharing on the subject. If anything, she became a lot more guarded." He said before handing the older male another card with the brunette's information.
"That's disappointing." Orochimaru commented, skimming through the data for both Genin, becoming more and more impressed in the duo's statistics. He wasn't all that surprised at the secrecy, especially since the silence was from the the clan heads granddaughter. "We'll just have to try harder the next chance we get. A bit more... forceful in our methods."
Kabuto smirked slightly at the hidden meaning of the nins statement. "Sometimes you're too cruel..."
Orochimaru chuckled at that, deciding not to dwell on the subject. "Nonetheless. Good work." He replies before disappearing from sight.