Glitter in the Sky | A Shikamaru Love Story

Chapter 12

We're standing at Gate 12 of the Forest of Death, trying to decide who should carry the earth scroll that we have. The rules of this test are simple: find the scroll that you don't have, in our case the heaven scroll, and get to the tower with it and all of your teammates still alive in five days. I'm not too concerned with us finding the heaven scroll, but I am concerned with surviving for five days straight with both Sasuke and Naruto. Hopefully, we all make it back alive.

"Just let Sasuke take it!" I snapped, finally getting annoyed enough to give in and let him win. I wanted to carry it originally, but since I'm the sensor ninja, I have to stand in the back, and that's not a good location for the scroll. I'd never admit it to him, but Sasuke would be my next choice to carry it. Naruto is too irresponsible, and Sakura won't fight back well enough if attacked.

The gates finally opened and we walked into the forest. A chill immediately ran down my spine. The vibe in here is ominous to say the least. It feels like we could be killed at any moment. And I suppose we could be. I felt anxiety course through my veins, and I'm suddenly very grateful to have my team with me. Doing this alone would be terrifying. A scream made me jump up into a tree in fear, and I realized just how tense and scared I really am. This isn't like me. I'm not usually one to be jumpy. This place just makes me uneasy, and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because 'death' is in its title.

"Was someone screaming just now?" Sakura asked and looked around. "I'm starting to get nervous." I nodded in agreement.

"You're not the only one." Sasuke said pointedly. "Come down, idiot!" He called to me. I jumped down to the rest of my team and took some deep breaths.

"Sorry. This place makes me really uneasy." I explained and scratched the back of my neck. Sasuke rolled his eyes at me. I can't help it. I have a bad feeling about this. Something just doesn't feel right.

"I have to pee!" Naruto announced and turned around to face a tree. My eyebrow raised instinctively. He's not going to do that here, is he?  I have zero desire to watch him pee. Thankfully, Sakura read my mind and punched Naruto in the head.

"You idiot!" She yelled. "Don't do that in front of girls!" She continued. He sighed and ran away into the trees, and I let out a sigh of relief.

"It's going to be a long five days." I commented. Sakura looked at me and nodded in agreement. We've been getting along better recently. She still annoys me, but less. My friendship with Sasuke still makes her mad, but less. It's progress at least. Naruto came back a few minutes later, and I immediately sensed something off about him. I just can't tell what.

"Ahhh! What a relief!" He said. Sakura started yelling at him, and I observed him closer. Something just isn't right. I have a weird feeling. Apparently Sasuke does too, because he kicked Naruto in the face and pushed him into a tree.

"Sasuke-kun! You didn't have to go that far!" Sakura yelled. I pulled out a kunai.

"That's not Naruto!" I said flatly.

"What do you mean?!" She yelled. Sasuke kept fighting him, and I readied myself to back him up if needed.

"What are you doing?!" Naruto yelled. I have to admit, this guy is good. He even has Naruto's speech pattern down. They kept fighting, and it became even more obvious that this isn't Naruto. His taijutsu is much too smooth to be Naruto.

"Sasuke-kun, please stop!" Sakura yelled.

"Look closely at him!" He replied harshly.

"It's not Naruto, Sakura." I said again, more firmly this time.

"Where's the real Naruto?" Sasuke asked.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, believe it!" He yelled back. I narrowed my eyes.