Sasuke jumped up in the air, dodging Oboro's blade. "Fire style, phoenix flower jutsu!" Sasuke shouted, shooting fireballs down at Oboro, he quickly dodged them all, jumping up in the air. Sasuke met him, their kunai clanked in the air as they flew past each other, Sasuke landed on a tree branch, quickly turning around. Oboro was starting to run away. "GAAH!" Naruto screamed, Sasuke looked down at him from the tree tops. "GET ME OUT OF HERE!" He screamed, "Loser!" Sasuke grunted, throwing a kunai down at Naruto's side. "Thank you!" Naruto grinned, cutting the rope that bound him on it. "Better keep your eyes on tha game!" Oboro shouted, flinging kunai down at him, Sasuke jumped away from them, holding onto the branch with one arm. "Sssssss..." "Huh?" Sasuke looked up at the at kunai. "Paper bombs?!" Sasuke gasped as they exploded, jumping out of the way just in time, he skidded in the dirt, Oboro was right behind him, pointing a kunai at the back of Sasuke's neck.

"Sorry, this is one test you fail. Now, hand over the scroll or you die!" Oboro shouted, "Sasuke!" Sakura gasped. I gritted my teeth, Sasuke grinned. I flung a kunai down at Oboro, he quickly jumped out of the way, I hopped down onto the ground. "I'm not letting you get away this time!" I shouted at him from the ground, glaring up at him. This is too dangerous for (Y/N)! Sasuke gritted his teeth, closing his eyes. He hovered his foot over a dropped kunai, focus my chakra. The kunai stuck to Sasuke's foot, "Hm?" I sensed the chakra in the air, looking over at Sasuke, his eyes were a deep red as he kicked up into the air, the kunai flinging past Oboro, Oboro watched it, distracted. Sasuke jumped up to him, stabbing Oboro in the arm! "Are you alright?!" Sakura asked in a shout, looking up at Sasuke. "Don't just stand there, Sakura! Chances are, this guys not alone! Watch out, the others could strike any second now!" Sasuke shouted down at us, Oboro kicked off of Sasuke's chest, blood spraying from his arm as he flew through the air, he held onto his wound. "I wish...I came alone so I wouldn't arouse suspicion! B-Big mistake!" Oboro gasped for air, dealing with the pain. He landed on a large tree branch, running away with his tail between his legs. Sasuke jumped back down on the ground, I ran over to him, Sakura close behind. "Hey!" Naruto shouted from afar, running to catch up with us, large red marks clung to his wrists where the rope used to be. So much for him...for now. Sasuke glared up at the trees.

The four of us sat down in a circle, Sakura put her hands in her lap, Naruto crossed his legs, Sasuke leaned on his knees with his arms, I leaned back on my hand, stretching my legs out on the grass. "That proves that we can't just trust appearances. We have to come up with a way of knowing that each of us is who we say we are and not some imposter using a transformation jutsu." Sasuke looked up at the three of us, "Mhm." I nodded my head, "Alright, so what do we do?" Sakura asked, leaning into the circle. "We need a password." Sasuke stated, "What kind of password?" Naruto asked, turning his head over to Sasuke. "A secret one. Known only to the four of us, and don't trust any one who doesn't know it. No matter what." I slumped my shoulders, I hope it's not too long. "Okay, listen up. I'm only going 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, and his weapons lie forgotten in the stillness of the night. That is the moment for a ninja to strike.'. Got it?" Sasuke explained, Naruto stared at him with a blank face, I rubbed the back of my neck. "I got it." Sakura nodded, her pink hair falling over her shoulders. "You got one a little shorter?" Naruto asked, squinting his eyes at Sasuke. "Yeah, how in the world are you expecting us to remember all that?" I asked with a sigh. "No. That's it." Sasuke shook his head. "Ugh, come on, what's wrong with you two? How could you not get it? I memorized it, easy." Sakura puffed out her cheeks. "Y-Yeah! Sure! I got it, I got it, no problem!" Naruto waved, I crossed my arms. "I guess..." I mumbled to myself, "I just thought it was gonna be a pass-word. Not a pass-speech." I huffed. Sasuke stood up. "Alright then, I'll take the scroll." Sasuke looked down at me, his hands in his pockets. "Alright, I got it right-!" I reached for my pocket, something quickly whisked by my face, it stung my cheek. I toughed it gingerly, red stained the tips of my fingers. "What was that?" I called out, quickly climbing up to my feet. I looked behind me, a loud whistling came from the forest, me and Naruto looked at each other before a large gust of wind came out way. "Ah!" I shouted in surprise, holding my arms in front of my face to block flying twigs and leaves that came blowing out way, my feet dug into the ground as I strained my legs. Sakura screamed, her long pink hair snapping behind her. "What is it now?!" Sasuke shouted, we were blown away.

"Alright, you two, fan out into the woods and keep your eyes open." She hissed at her teammates, relaxing her arms as the winds subsided. "I'll handle this alone." She grinned, looking at the large trail into the forest the winds had made.

Sasuke jumped out of a bush he was blown into, holding onto a kunai tightly. Sakura gasped. "Sakura?" He looked over at her, "Sasuke! What was that?" She asked, starting to run over to him. "Stay there." Sasuke called out, pointing the tip of his kunai at her. "First, answer the question. When does a ninja strike?" Sasuke asked her, she clasped her hands together. "Oh. Right. A ninja waits until the time is right. When the enemy sleeps and drops his guard, when he leaves his weapons forgotten in the stillness of the night. That is the moment for a ninja to strike." Sakura nodded, Sasuke lowered his kunai. "Have you seen (Y/N)? They have to be around here, somewhere." Sasuke sighed, looking around. "Hey guys!" I called out, picking leaves off of my clothes. I walked over to them, "Hold it." Sasuke stared at me, "Huh?" I tilted my head, he raised his kunai. Sakura did as well, standing behind him. "What's the password?" He asked me, I gulped. "Y-Yeah...that's right!" I chuckled nervously. "Hey! You guys okay?!" Naruto shouted, running towards us. "Stop right there!" Sakura shouted, "Say the password." Sakura commanded him. "Sure, no problem! Okay, a ninja waits until the time is right. When the enemy sleeps and drops his guard, when he leaves his weapons forgotten in the stillness of the night, that is the moment for a ninja to strike." Naruto nodded his head up and down, Sakura sighed in relief, Sasuke turned to Naruto. "Y-Yeah!" I shouted, clenching my fists. Sasuke threw his kunai at him, "Gah!" Naruto gasped, falling to the ground as he dodged the blade. "What was that?!" Naruto shouted, dirt rubbing onto his orange jumpsuit. "You could've killed me!" Naruto shivered. "Gotta hand it to you. You're quicker than the last one." Sasuke glared at him, "Hm?" I looked over at Naruto. "You're right." I took a step closer to him. "What do you mean?! What was wrong with that?!" Sakura asked, clenching her fists. "He got the password right! Word for word!" She nodded. "Exactly, that's whats wrong." Sasuke kept his eyes on Naruto. "Huh?" Sakura tilted her head. "You really think Naruto could memorize all that and get it word for word? (Y/N) couldn't, and that's why they're in the clear. Not the Naruto I know, not in a million years. You'd have a better chance teaching it to a hampster." Sasuke tightened his grip on his kunai, glaring daggers down at the fake Naruto. "Oh, right. You've got a point." Sakura nodded. "Hm, yeah. The way they moved was so uncool, there's no way Naruto would've done that." I shook my head, putting my hands on my hips. "Alright. Come out, whoever you are. Parties over." Sasuke stared down at him. "Hmm..." Naruto his lips, his voice changing into a lower tone. "Aren't we the clever one?" She asked, transforming back into herself in a puff of smoke.

"Tell me, if your team mate's that dimwitted. Why would you come up with a password he would never remember?" She asked, holding onto the tip of her straw hat. It's the grass ninja from before. I clenched my fists. "You see, it wasn't meant for Naruto so much as it was for anybody who might have heard near by trying to eavesdrop on us. It was meant as a trap, and you stumbled right into it." Sasuke grinned. A shadow covered her eyes as she removed her hat, her thin lips spread into a sick smile. "I'm impresssed. You cccertainly haven't dropped your guard, have you?" She hissed like a snake, I watched her closely. "Thisss promissess to be very entertaining." She grinned, her dry lips eagerly. Ugh, she is a new meaning to the word creepy. Sakura shivered. Where is Naruto? I wondered, gulping nervously.

Naruto's back was pressed against the ground, his legs sticking up in the air as they leaned on a tree. "Gnnnnnn..." He groaned, a thick layer of dirt covered his backside. "Okay...upsy daisy." Naruto sighed, turning back over on his side, he leaned on his arm for support as he laid on the ground. "Huh? Hey, where did (Y/N) go? I wonder if they-!" Naruto's eyes widened as he looked up. "W-W-Wow!" Naruto gasped, "Thats-thats-thats- that's one big snake!" Naruto shouted in awe, sitting up on his knees as he looked up at it's large head edging closer. He waited, watching. In a split second, the snake threw it's head down at Naruto! "AHHHHH!" He screamed, being flung through the air as the snake crashed into the ground. Naruto skidded on his hands and knees, "What?!" He gasped, the snake wrapped it's tail around Naruto's body, slithering all around him. "I-I can't move!" He shouted, struggling with all his might to break free of the snakes grasp. "GAH!" He shouted, watching as the snake opened it's mouth up wide, crashing down onto Naruto, it swallowed him whole! Naruto's muffled scream echoed in the snakes throat as he slid down into his stomach.

She pulled out a pure black scroll, the earth scroll! My eyes widened as I watched her pull it out of her pocket, "Ah, you'd love to get your handsss on our earth ssscroll, wouldn't you?" She asked, raising it to her chest for the three of us to see, I tensed my shoulders. "It would go sso nicely with your heaven scroll," She raised the scroll to her lips, her tongue hung out, trails of saliva dripping down her chin as she circle the wet muscle around the scroll, pushing it deeper down , I shivered with disgust. Sakura watched in horror as she swallowed it whole, I watched it slide down . She grinned, a shadow crossing over her eyes. "Well, when this is all over," She her chin, "one of us will have both scrolls." "Hm?" I scrunched up my face, watching as she dug her finger nail into her bottom eye lid, "And the other will be dead."
"Ggg-!" Sasuke froze, Sakura gasped, hanging wide open. "Huh?! W-What's going on?!" I shouted, watch as the two of them fell to the ground. "AHHH!" Sakura's scream echoed through the forest, birds quickly flying away from the branched above us. My eyes widened, Sasuke was shaking like a leaf, gasping for air. "Sasuke! Sakura! Tell me, what's wrong?!" I looked over at the two of them, my hands on my head as I tried to understand. T-They just fell! "You!" I pointed at her, my eyes wide with shock. "What the hell did you do to them?!" I screamed, she raised her head. "Mmm, you're not affected." Her voice rolled in , Sasuke lurched forward, puking into the grass in front of him. "Sasuke! What the hell's going on?!" I looked over to him, he fell backwards. Her thirst for blood is...Sasuke shivered. Looking into her eyes...I saw the moment of my own death! Beads of sweat raced down Sasuke's face. (Y/N), I've have to get (Y/N) out of here! Move, dammit, move! "Sakura?" I called out to her, she was bent over on her knees, tears streaming down her face, she trembled silently. We've got to get out of here! Get away from her! Sasuke shook. She's death!

"LET ME OUT OF HERE!" Naruto screamed, his voice echoing through the snake. "I'll make you sorry you every swallowed me you stinken! Gah!" Naruto shouted, repeatedly stabbing the inside of the snake with his kunai, but nothing budged. "Let me out!" Naruto sighed, "Hey! Wait a second!" Naruto dug through his pouch, pulling out a large rice ball. "Here. Wouldn't you rather have this? I was saving this rice ball to share with (Y/N) for lunch-gnnn!" The insides of the snake squeezed him tighter, the rice ball rolled out of his hand. It dissolved. "Ah! It's all gone! And I'll be digested just like that in another minute!" Naruto gulped, struggling to move around in the slimy stomach of the snake. "GAH!" He gasped, falling deeper into the snake. "No! Let me out! (Y/N)! Sakura! Sasuke! Get me out of here!" Naruto screamed, slipping deeper into the snake.

She chuckled evilly, her shoulders relaxed. "They're paralyzed with fear." She grinned, I looked over to her, my eyes burning furiously. What's wrong with me?! Move, come on, move! Move, Sasuke, move! I have to protect (Y/N)! Sasuke shouted at himself in his head, his hand slowly inching closer to the hilt of his kunai, yes! That's it! You can do this! Sasuke gritted his teeth, slowly pulling his blade out. "Fear?! There's nothing to be afraid of except you're ugly mug! I wouldn't be surprised if you were medusa's twin sister!" I shouted at her, stomping my foot into the ground. There! He pulled the blade to his chest, that's right! Sasuke climbed up to his feet, shaking violently. Even if it's just a little, move! "Mmm, you've got an interesting pet there, child." She took a step closer, I looked down at Kale. No! He's starting to act up again! I gritted my teeth. "Hm?" She turned her hair over to Sasuke, I looked back at him. "You're alright!" I smiled, taking a step closer to him. "Very good. Now what happens?" She asked, looking over at Sasuke. I-It's no use! I can't move! Sasuke grunted, frozen solid. She walked over to us, two kunai in her hand. "Don't worry, I'll make it quick." She grinned. "Back off!" I turned to her, stomping my foot into the ground, my fists raised. "You big jerk!" I shouted, a large frown on my face. She froze, her eyes widening. "(Y-Y/N)...?" She whispered, "No." She shook her head, they died years ago. She tightened her grip around the kunai, "Stop talking to yourself, you big weirdo! I swear, you're almost as creepy as Sasuke!" I shouted at her, "Hsssss!" Kale hissed loudly, as his body started to grow, the heavier he got around my shoulders, he barred his fangs menacingly. "Kale!" I shouted at him, "Hm. I see." She raised the kunai over her head, Kale jumped off of my shoulders, burrowing under ground, my eyes widened. "I expected you to be more of a challenge. How disappointing." She sighed, flinging the kunai towards them, I jumped up, trying to catch them in the air, a spray of blood blinded me.

I can't believe it...is this really how it ends? Naruto closed his eyes, stuck with in the belly of the snake. Iruka-sensei...old man Hokage...Konohamaru...Kakashi-sensei...Sakura...oh, (Y/N)... Naruto sniffled. Well...I guess Sasuke, too. Hmph! I don't know what Sasuke's problem was! The guy was always jealous of me...still, we had our moments. Like how we helped Kakashi-sensei bring down that creep Zabuza. We were always fighting, always pushing each other on every challenge, always looking for that final showdown to really show which one of us is the best. Hey! Wait, a minute, that's right! We never did have our final showdown! We never proved who's best! I-I can't just leave things up in the air like that! That's it! I'm getting out of here! Whether slither-puss like's it or not!

In a flash, we were gone. A splatter of blood in our place, "So, that's how it is." She looked up into the trees. Sasuke leaned against the tree trunk, his hand still on the hilt of the kunai he stabbed into his leg, his other hand clutching onto my arm. Sakura was on her knees, Sasuke was gasping for air. "Sasuke..." Sakura whispered.
A desperate move, but a clever one. He overcame the fear with pain, so, this pain isn't so helpless after all. She grinned.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto shouted, clones squeezing into the snakes belly, "Ow!" Naruto shouted, a foot landing on his forehead. Hundreds of Naruto's filled the snake's body, blowing him up like a balloon! The snake exploded in a bloody mass, chunks of it's skin flung around the forest, Naruto gasped for fresh air, soaked in the snake's stomach acid. "Sorry, but you picked the wrong shinobi! I'm gonna be Hokage one day!" Naruto shouted, wiping snake juice out of his hair. "If you think I'm gonna end up a pile of snake crap in the middle of the woods, you're crazy!" Naruto clenched his fists.

"Gnn!" Sasuke grunted, pulling the kunai out of his leg, my eyes widened as he squeezed my arm to deal with the pain, I looked down at his leg. He dropped the kunai down on the tree branch, I gasped. "That wounds deep, will you be alri-!" Sasuke slapped his hand over my mouth, pulling me close to his chest, Sakura gasped. We've gotta get away from her! Sasuke shook, looking around worriedly, I kept my mouth shut. But how?! Where?! (Y/N), they matter the most, (Y/N), (Y/N), (Y/N)! Sasuke gritted his teeth. I-I've never seen Sasuke like this! He's got me scared! I breathed slowly through my nose, worry etching onto my features. "Hm?" I looked over at my side, a large snake was edging closer to us. "GNN!" His hand muffled my voice as I grabbed onto his arm, shaking him. "Sasuke! Watch out!" Sakura screamed, "Huh?!" He gasped, jumping with me in his arms, Sakura jumped in the opposite direction, just in time to dodge the snake. I looked down at it. T-That snake! It's eyes look just like...no. There's no way...he's dead. I shook my head. "Unbelievable! I didn't even notice!" Sasuke gritted his teeth, I held onto his hand. "It's alright! We'll get through this!" I shouted at him, the snake circled around the tree, lunging towards us. "No!" Sasuke screamed, staring into the snakes eyes. "STAY AWAY!" He shouted, flinging shuriken into the snake's neck, it dropped dead on the tree. I landed on a tree branch, Sasuke right next to me. I shivered. Sasuke's losing it! And where did Kale go?! And this feeling...it's uncanny! Those snakes, where could he be? I clenched my fists. No, it's impossible! I saw him die, right in front of my eyes! I shook my head back and forth, "Huh?!" Sasuke exclaimed, looking down at the snake. "What?" I whispered, watching it's skin peel back. Sakura gasped.
"I sense your fear and desperation." She hissed, growing out of the dead snakes carcass. "It's only natural, the prey must never let down it's guard, not even for a moment." She glared up at us, her body twitching in an unusual way. "In front of it's predator!" She hissed, laughing as he tongue hung out of . "Gah!" Sasuke shouted, pulling me closer to his chest. She circled around the tree, racing towards us with her tongue sticking out. "Hm?" She stopped, a kunai thrown in front of her. She looked up at another tree branch.
"Look's like I came just in time!" A voice called overhead, I looked up with wide eyes. Naruto was grinning down at us, his arms crossed. "Naruto!" I gasped, a wide smile tugging at the corners of my lips. "How's it?" He asked, adjusting his headband.