Caught in the Darkness

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE: Orochimaru in the Forest of Death

"Wow, I really had a lot stored in, I was able to write my whole name!" Sasuke looked at Naruto, he had gone off to pee behind some bushes but when he returned, he was different. He was analyzing him very cunningly, watching his every move. The real one would've probably already snapped at his intent stare. Less than a second later, Sasuke landed his fist on Naruto's cheek and the blond was pushed back with force against a tree. Sasuke's lips curled up into a smirk. "You know, Naruto is an idiot. But your Henge is way worse than his," he said smugly.

Sakura looked at her teammate with widened eyes, "What do you mean, Sasuke-kun, isn't that--?"

"For starters, Naruto is right-handed, so his kunai pouch should be on his right leg; yours is on the left," Sakura's eyes widened when she looked from the Uchiha to the blond, her eyes skimming carefully along Naruto's appearance. "Second, Naruto had a cut in his right cheek, which the proctor made him. I don't think it miraculously healed after peeing somewhere in the woods, so you must be a fake," Sasuke finished, his hand searching his pouch for a kunai.

Naruto smirked, "Not bad for a Genin." He undid the jutsu, revealing a ninja from Amegakure, wearing a bandana with four straight lines in the metal plate. He wore a mask, which muffled his voice when he talked.

"Show me your scroll," Sasuke narrowed his eyes, at the same time his fingers went to look for another weapon --wrapping around some shuriken.

The Shinobi from Amegakure pulled out an Earth Scroll while looking at the Uchiha with devious eyes. "We made sure you had the Heaven scroll before we made contact. Now, who of you two has it? Give it to me and I'll give you back your teammate."

Sasuke smirked. "Not a chance," and he threw his shuriken towards the ninja. The masked Shinobi jumped away, Sasuke tailing closely behind him. He stepped on a branch to gain some impulse when his eyes caught a glimpse of an orange shape. Naruto was tied in a rope behind some bushes. Sasuke scoffed.

"Sasuke! Help me!" Naruto was wiggling around, trying in vain to free himself. Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"You can't even free yourself?" The Uchiha looked around for the Amegakure ninja, he had lost sight of him when he saw Naruto. He took a kunai from his pouch and nailed right beside Naruto. The blond's ropes were cut open.

"Sasuke, above you!" The Uchiha looked over him to see the ninja falling towards him. Naruto widened his eyes, watching as the Uchiha boy maneuvered his way behind a branch were a bunch of kunai got pinned in his place. Sasuke had avoided the Amegakure Shinobi's attack perfectly, but he hadn't calculated the explosive tag tied into one of the knife handles.

The tag exploded. Sasuke covered himself with his arms, the force pushing him quickly towards the ground. The boy landed in all four, narrowing his eyes when he sensed a presence behind him. "You are going to fail this exam, now just give me the scroll or die," the Genin from Amegakure said.

Sakura ran towards them. "Sasuke-kun!" Naruto jumped from a branch, and threw a kunai aiming at the Amegakure Genin. The ninja jumped away. 'Better late than never,' Sasuke thought as he watched the kunai coming closer to him. His eyes became red under the Sharingan's influence at the same time he focused his chakra on the sole of his foot. The kunai never touched the ground, it remained attached to Sasuke's sole thanks to his chakra control. Sasuke's eyes immediately looked around for the Shinobi --he was jumping around the tops of the trees-- and with a quick kick Sasuke launched the knife in his direction. He jumped following it.

The Genin dodged the knife but he didn't have a chance to avoid Sasuke, who stabbed him right in his stomach. "Sasuke-kun, are you okay?!" Sakura yelled again.

"Don't just stay there, Sakura!" Sasuke yelled back at her, his eyes darting back at her just for a moment before returning to the Shinobi. "This guy couldn't possibly be alone. More can come and attack us at any second! Get ready to fight!"