A New Yet Similar Path

A Snake in the Wind Part 10

Naruto stared at the the large trees behind the fence.

'The forest of death… Great…'Naruto had hated what had happened last time what with Sasuke receiving his curse mark and everything pretty much going to hell after that.

'Well, at least this time I'm a match for the damned Hebi…'

Naruto stuck his hand in one of his coat pockets and started fiddling with the scroll he had brought along specifically for this.

'Last time he used a great breakthrough to separate us, so if he does the same thing here, it'll guarantee my victory.'

Naruto sighed as he popped his neck and turned to look at his two teammates.

'They're better prepared this time around as well, but I need to make sure they get the hell out of there when shit hits the fan.'

Sasuke noticed that Naruto was nervous and it was starting to get him nervous.

'What's up with Naruto? I've never seen him like this, it's like he's waiting for something to attack him at any moment.' He watched Naruto's movements.

'He's definitely anticipating something…'

Sasuke sighed, deciding not to dwell on it much longer and to bring something up that had been bothering him.

"Naruto… about that Lee kid…" Sasuke started before his blonde teammate interrupted.

"The fact that Lee cannot use Genjutsu or Ninjutsu was a hard truth for him, so instead, he has focused all of his training on Taijutsu. You on the other hand have spread your training out to all three and therefore your skills, while powerful, are spread out equally. Because Lee only focused on his Taijutsu, he's fast enough to pick apart most Shinobi. His Taijutsu is off the charts for that specific reason and he's only getting better. That is why I told you, you wouldn't be able to beat him in a fight, not for a long long time."

Sasuke nodded, understanding how correct Naruto was.

"I need to say one thing before these exams start Sasuke…" Naruto said quietly. "Promise me, that if I tell you to run, you will run. I'm not going to give you details, but at a certain point, I'm going to need you to run as far as you can and hide."

Sasuke opened his mouth to argue when Naruto continued.

"Someone will come looking for you, and you are nowhere near strong enough to fight him off, I however, may be able to drive him off temporarily. So, when I tell you to, grab Sakura and run."

Naruto glared into Sasuke's eyes with so much intensity, that Sasuke activated his Sharingan without meaning to.

"Um… sure…"

Naruto continued to glare at Sasuke until Sakura arrived.

"Um, hey guys…" Sakura noticed the tension that was between her two teammates and didn't know what to make of it.

"So what did Ino want?" Sasuke asked suddenly as he broke off eye contact with his blonde teammate.

Sakura then noticed that Sasuke's eyes had the Sharingan activated and hesitated.

"Well…" she started as she glanced at Naruto.

Flashback

Sakura was sitting on a rock next to Naruto, talking about Kakashi and the plan to see what was underneath his mask when she noticed another blonde approaching.

"Hey there Ino-chan!" Naruto exclaimed in a happy tone.

Ino turned beet red when she heard this and mumbled out a quick hello before turning on Sakura.