Aftermath (A Sequel to A Flash to the Future)

Chapter 14 - The Snake Sannin

Three blurs moved about the forest, jumping tree to tree before landing on the ground to continue their journey. They had been in the forest for a day now and they haven't ran into any other teams except one. The Konoha genin halted at a large tree and began to look around. They had not long ago been against someone who had the ability to transform into different people. That definitely wasn't a trap that they would like to encounter again.

"That proves that we can't just trust appearances." Sasuke said as they all squatted around in a circle. "We have to come up with a way of knowing who we say we are and not some imposter using a transformation jutsu."

"Alright so what do we do?" Sakura said.

"We need a password." he said.

"What kind?" Sakura asked with a determined look on her face.

"A secret one. A code known only to the three of us. And don't trust anyone who doesn't know it." Sasuke said as he glance over at Naruto. A tick mark grew on his forehead. "Are you even listening?!"

"No." Naruto deadpanned.

Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest. "Well you have a better plan, genius?" he said with as much sarcasm as he could muster.

"No. Your plan is fine." he said nonchalantly.

Sasuke growled before he calmed himself. "Okay, so listen up. I'm only going to say this once." he said, immediately catching Sakura's attention. "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?" he asks.

"I got it." Sakura says confidently.

"Naruto?" Sasuke asks with gritted teeth.

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto says dismissively as he stood to stretch.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at him while Sakura looked annoyed. "Idiot." he mumbled under his breath.

Naruto was stretching his arms when the whir of a blade reached his ears and a sharp blade sliced the side of his cheek, drawing blood. Naruto narrowed his eyes as a huge gust of wind was sent their direction. Using chakra to steel themselves onto the ground, they endured the strong wind as dust and debris created a smoke around its source.

"Alright, you two fan out into the woods and keep your eyes open." an androgynous voice said as the smoke began to clear. "I'll handle this alone."

Sasuke gritted his teeth as he hid the shadows of the bush. Keeping his eye on the kunoichi, Sasuke stealthily moved from his hiding space and scoped for another clearing. When he finally managed to find a safe space he waited until he saw Sakura enter the same place. Not seeing anyone else around, the Uchiha came out and landed in front of the girl. He readied his kunai in a defensive stance and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Stay there!" Sasuke orded.

"Sasuke, I...." Sakura started.

"First answer the question." he interrupted. "When does a ninja strike?"

"Oh." Sakura nodded. "A ninja waits until the time is right. And the enemy sleeps and drops his guard when his weapons are forgotten in the stillness of the night. That is the moment for a ninja to strike." she answered confidently.

Sasuke slowly lowered his guard. "Good." he said.

"HEY!" someone said with a laboured breath. "What's up?! Are you guys okay!?"

Sasuke and Sakura turned to see their blonde teammate running toward them.

"Hey! Don't come any closer!" Sakura said, causing him to come to a halt. "What's the password?"