Sasuke wandered aimlessly through the woods without a destination, consumed by his own thoughts. The one thing he missed from before he was on Team 7 was that he didn't have to process his emotions; he could just ignore them. Now, he was struggling with a feeling that he couldn't believe.
Jealousy
Seeing Naruto and his cousin just made Sasuke unwell, and pressure began to build inside his head. He wanted to feel happy, angry, and sad all at once, but it just came out in this general feeling of anxiety and unease. Maybe some deep part of him felt betrayed by the fact that Naruto had a family. For the longest time, he had felt that Naruto was one of the few people to whom he could relate in any way.
The sound of crunching leaves launched Sasuke back to reality. He paused and began to examine his surroundings rapidly, preparing for an ambush. He spied nothing on his first survey. He then activated his Sharingan and double-checked the area. About to write off the noise as an animal, Sasuke heard it again. Since he was focused, he was able to locate the source of the noise.
Coming from a large fallen tree, the crunching leaves echoed through the trunk. Sasuke palmed a kunai and silently began to approach the fallen log. Sasuke peered into the log, expecting to see an animal or a combatant, but paused in shock upon seeing the figure in the log.
Inside was a young girl who had a small pile of leaves in front of her. She was tearing pieces of leaves, crushing them, and putting them into another pile. She was turned away from Sasuke, occupied with her activity. Using the opportunity, Sasuke took the time to examine the girl. She had no markings of a village, her clothing was of poor quality, and she had no equipment other than a dull kunai on the ground near her. He didn't get a look at her face, but her size indicated that she couldn't have been more than nine or ten.
Lost in his analysis, Sasuke had forgotten to hide himself. The girl turned and saw him, yelping in surprise and fear as she crawled deeper into the log, grabbed her kunai, and held it in front of her shakily.
Sasuke froze; he had never had to calm anyone down before; he held his hands up, palms forward, trying to show he wasn't a threat. Sasuke then tried to make his voice a little lighter, but it just resulted in his words coming out more awkward
"It's okay, I'm not here to hurt you. Are you lost?"
The girl's grip on the kunai loosened slightly.
"Are you in the exams?"
The girl shook her head
There was a pause, and silence filled the air. Sasuke cursed that Sakura or Naruto weren't here; they would be much better in this situation. Sasuke continued trying his best to be friendly.
"What's your name? I'm Sasuke."
The girl lowered the kunai fully.
"Chino"
Her voice was dry and raspy, an indication that she very rarely spoke
"What are you doing here?"
"En told me to stay here until he gets back."
"Is that your dad?"
Chino shook her head, her long blonde hair scraping across the dirt
"En is my owner."
The casualness of the statement put Sasuke on edge. Something was very wrong here; this wasn't just some lost girl.
"Who's En, and what is he doing here?" Sasuke asked, his voice losing what softness it had
Chino hesitated
Sasuke attempted to force a smile in order to reassure her; he closed his eyes as his face strained to do the action
"It's okay. You can trust me."
Chino giggled and pointed, the first child-like expression she displayed in their short interaction
"You look like you have to poop."
Sasuke's cheeks turned red as he tried to recompose himself
"Look, it seems like you're in danger, I can help you, but you have to tell me more, especially if this person is a threat to the exam."
A smile fell from Chino's face, and she pulled her knees to her chest
"Sorry, but I can't tell you, I'll probably get in big trouble."
"If you're talking about this "owner" of yours, then I'm sure I can handle him."
Chino shook her head
"No, you can't. En is strong; please leave before he returns; I don't want you to get hurt."
Sasuke's expression hardened as he reflected on his actions. Why did he care? It wasn't his problem; he could just leave the girl and go back to his team like nothing happened. Sasuke then felt guilt as the disappointed faces of his teachers and teammates filled his mind.
Sasuke sighed.
They wouldn't leave a girl alone stranded, and he couldn't face them if he did. Sasuke gave Chino a determined look.
"I'm Sasuke Uchiha, among the last of my clan and a part of Team 7, the strongest genin team in my village; I promise you, on the honor of my clan, that I won't allow harm to come to you.
Something in Sasuke's speech seemed to resonate with Chino as she took a few moments to collect herself and began talking.
"En is a merchant; he buys and sells people with special abilities; he's working with this other guy with a scythe to take kids in this forest with abilities to sell them."
Sasuke nodded; the situation seemed a lot more grim than he originally thought. Someone who was confident enough to interfere with such a large-scale event between the villages was no doubt powerful.
"Where's En now"
"Before he left me, he said he saw something that interested him, and he went that way, Chino said as she pointed west."
Sasuke considered his next move. He could go back and find his team, but in his daze, he had forgotten exactly how far he had traveled and what direction their camp was in. Taking the time to find them could be the difference between life and death for some people. Sasuke looked inward at himself and was content. While his teammates wouldn't be happy with his decision, he had supreme confidence in his ability to fight this En.
Sasuke turned to Chino,
"Thank you, I'll go and stop him. Stay here until I get back."
Chino began to scramble out of the log frantically.
"Wait, take me with you."
"Why"
"Because," tears began to cascade down Chino's face
"I'm really scared and don't want to be alone again."
Sasuke was struck by the honesty as he related to the statement the worst thing for a child was to be left alone
He turned away. Chino's face fell as she began to cry.
"What are you doing, Sasuke crouched down and pointed to his back
"Hop on."
"Thank you"
Chino hopped onto Sasuke's back
"Make sure you hold on tight; I'll be going fast."
"Got it."
Sasuke jumped into the trees with Chino in tow.
"Lee," Hinata exclaimed, joy, feeling her seeing a comrade.
Kiba rubbed his bruised neck,
"I'm not complaining, but how the hell did you find us?"
Lee gave a thumbs up and a huge smile, the sunlight from above glinting off of his teeth.
"Just a youthful coincidence."
"If the peanut gallery is done, I'd like to get back to my job bowl cut,"
En said, annoyance in his voice
"Be cautious; he is a very dangerous opponent. We have seen him use fire jutsu, and he is very proficient with his staff that he can extend at will." informed Shino
Lee nodded, "Thanks for the info. Please do your best to support me during the fight. The rest of my team should be here soon."
Lee dashed forward, sending a kick at En's midsection. En deftly blocked Lee's leg with his staff. Lee continued to attempt to strike En with a barrage of kicks and punches, but he was unable to land a solid hit on En due to En's expert use of his staff to keep his distance and maneuver around Lee's attacks.
Kiba and Hinata also attempted to engage during Lee's barrage, but they didn't have Lee's speed, with both of them being knocked away with well-placed strikes from En. Shino sat back and waited, preparing for a moment when they restrained En so he could release his Kikachu upon him.
Lee disengaged, sliding backward and stopping in the same stance he started the battle in. As long as En had that staff, he would be at a reach disadvantage, and at his current speed, he wouldn't be able to break through En's defense. Lee then looked toward the sky and yelled an apology.
"Sorry, Gai sensei, I can't hold back here; I'm sure you would approve of me taking off my weights for the safety of my friends."
Lee bent over and pulled down his orange leg warmers, revealing two training weights on each of his ankles, which he began to take off. He then tossed both weights to the side, the impact of both leaving the ground and leaving a sizable hole in the earth.
En's eyes widened behind his glasses at the display.
In a flash, Lee dashed forward and plunged his fist into En's stomach, sending him reeling backward. En put up his staff to block the next strike, but Lee appeared beside him and landed a kick in En's side. This combo continued, with Lee striking faster and faster, giving En no time to recover. Team 8 watched in awe at the fight, knowing that if they were to interfere now, then they would get in the way.
En finally managed to deflect a strike and knock Lee away. He fled backward, getting some distance. He was shaking in rage as he slammed his staff downward, causing it to be impaled into the earth. He was beyond frustrated. Not only had this extended far longer than he thought it would, but it seemed that he would have to take a fight seriously for the first time in years.
"You brats don't know who…"
En's words were interrupted as two kunai came toward him; he immediately noticed the explosive tags attached to them, but he didn't have to move since both projectiles were off target; as the kunai went past him, stopped as they began wrapping around the staff. They were tied together with ninja wire. En looked at his staff and sighed as the tags began to activate. The explosion engulfed the area, consuming En and his staff.
Recognizing the technique, Rock Lee turned around and gave a huge thumbs-up.
"That was a youth-filled throw, TenTen."
Neji and TenTen landed on the forest floor
"We can't leave you alone for five minutes without you getting into trouble," scolded TenTen
"Cousin," Hinata said as she saw Neji
Neji glanced in her direction, scoffed, and turned away.
"Great, even when he's here to help, he can't help but be an asshole," said Kiba
"We are not here to help; we came here for our teammate; us saving you is just a consequence," Neji said coldly.
En's voice came from above
"Man, you guys keep piling on." Everyone looked up to see him standing on a tree branch
En jumped down to the pieces of his destroyed staff,
"But playtime is over, and I'm too busy to play ninja with you all."
He took off his glasses and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his eyes had undergone a transformation. His sclera turned bright red, his irises dark red, and his pupils turned white horizontal lines.
En began to crack his neck
"I don't feel like getting my name and face spread around all the major villages, so I gonna only have to capture maybe two or three of you; the rest of you will have to die."
He held out his palm toward the broken pieces of his staff, and upon closer inspection, it began to dissolve into liquid. The Genin were horrified at the fact that it was blood. En lifted his hand, and the blood floated into the air and began to form into a glaive. The blood hardened as En grabbed it out of the air and put the glaive over his shoulder.
"Now, which one of you dogs is up first."
Shikarmu stared in awe at the woman in front of him; in his grief, he had completely given up hope of help coming. Shikamaru felt the wire around him loosen as Hidan's scythe fell to the ground around the tree.
A red-haired girl came from around the tree.
"I can't believe we actually helped them, their leaf ninja, for god's sake."
Another cloud genin walked out into the open; he had white hair and was sucking on a lollipop
"Hate to agree with Karui here, but we should have just kept on moving; there's no telling if they would betray us even after we help them."
Samui continued to stare down Hidan, whose face was filled with shock and rage
"While I have no love for Leaf Ninja, letting a weirdo run around killing people is not something I'm willing to do."
Hidan stood up, transforming out of his reaper form.
"Who are you calling a weirdo"
"You, no normal person goes around eating blood."
Samui said
Shikamaru stood shellshocked at the girl's casual banter with the guy who just maimed his teammates
Samui took a moment to analyze the situation
The leaf girl was in critical condition; she'd likely die if she wasn't taken back as soon as possible. The other boy, while battered, only had one significant wound that could be closed up if proper first aid was given.
Samui began giving orders
"Omoi, there should be proctors patrolling to help escort wounded teams out of the exams; circle back to where we dispatched the last team, take the girl and find a proctor, have them escort her back, and ask them to send any assistance. Come back as soon as possible to assist."
"Karui, grab the boy and get him away from this area. Stabilize him, and return as soon as you can."
Despite the duo's reservations, Omoi and Karui nodded in agreement, trusting their leader's judgment.
"Got it, but we could probably take this guy down and then deal with the wounded, a lot of unnecessary risk, splitting us up." voiced Omoi
"I jumped in. I'm not going to half-ass it now that I've gotten us involved. If we can save their lives, we will," Samui said, her voice still calm.
Hidan began laughing maniacally.
"Oh, look like we got a group of everyday heroes here; talk is cheap; let's see if you can back it up."
Hidan rushed toward Ino with the spear in his hand aimed at her chest. Samui's eyes widened as she and her teammates attempted to interfere. Just as Hidan was about to pierce Ino's heart, he was stopped in his tracks.
Samui saw a length of shadow connecting to Hidan. She turned around to see Shikamaru standing still with his hands in the rat seal.
"Shadow possession success"
Taking the opportunity, Omio swiftly picked up Ino and began to sprint through the trees to locate the proctors. Karui followed suit as she took Choji and began to take him away from the battle.
"A Nara, huh, useful; care to tell me anything you learned."
Shikamaru was shaking, struggling to keep his hold on Hidan
"He claims he's immortal, he can use his body as a voodoo doll if he tastes your blood, and he's very proficient with the scythe that was wrapped around me," Shikamaru explained, trying to be short with his answers
Samui nodded
She reached into her tool pouch and threw a kunai with deadly precision, piercing the front of Hidan's neck and lodging itself hilt deep. Hidan began to let out gurgles of pain as he choked on blood and the kunai.
Shikamaru let go of his techniques, allowing HIdan to freely move. Hidan began grasping at his neck, desperately picking at the kunai.
"Maybe he is just insane," commented Shikamaru
Hidan finally got his finger around the loop of the kunai and pulled it out of his throat. He let out deep breaths and began to spit up blood, as some leaked out of his neck
"Fuck, that hurts; I may be immortal, but not being able to breath is still fucking horrible." Hidan complained"
"How does his body even work?" Samui asked out loud, her cool expression gone as her face hardened. She analyzed the threat an immortal man posed.
Shikamaru approached and stood next to Samui
"I don't know, but I'll find out; that bastard is going to pay."
"I appreciate the enthusiasm, but please keep your cool; we need to stay alive until my team returns," Samui warned, now slightly regretting her earlier decision.
Hidan stood up with his small spear in hand; he gave a smile with his blood-covered teeth and yelled.
"Now give me back my scythe so I can gut you!"