Lotus Of The Leaf ~Book One~

Chapter 26! Ren's Determination: Ameonna Surfaces

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"Okay, so anyway! What is the password again?" Naruto asks loudly, his arms crossed over his chest and a triumphant smile on his face.

"Forget it, I know it's you!" Sakura calls out. "You made it!

"Naruto!" Sasuke shouts. "Get out of here! What're you thinking?! You don't know what you're up against! Hurry! Go now! While you still can!"

"So, Naruto... You managed to escape from my friend. Well done." The woman jeers, still in her coiled position around the tree branch. Naruto frowns at her. I swallow thickly.

"Okay, okay. I don't know what's going on here, but you've been picking on my friends, and I don't like that!" Naruto calls, pointing down at the vile snake woman. "So, you better sliver on back in your hole, snake lady, before I make a pair of shoes outta ya!"

Sakura slumps down, sitting on her knees while she holds onto my leg, clutching tightly. She looked upwards in concern as the tremors in my body got worse. "You can have it!" I gasp as Sasuke shouts. He reaches into his pouch and pulls out our scroll. "The scroll, right? That's what you want!" He calls, tossing the scroll into his other hand.  "Alright then! Take it and leave us in peace!"

"Wh-Sasuke! Are you crazy or what?!" Naruto shouts. "We're just gonna hand the scroll over to the enemy?! No way! What's wrong with you!"

"Shut up and stay out of it!" Sasuke snaps.

The woman leans upwards, propping her hand on her disfigured hip. "Very wise. Very sensible. Sometimes, the helpless prey, if they are to save their own skins, realize their only hope is to distract the predator with something even more precious!"

Sasuke tosses the scroll, and I found myself getting angry. Fire burned in my stomach like nothing else. And the fear was replaced by it. The tremors in my body stopped. Naruto was quick to intervene and catch the scroll before the snake woman could get to it. Naruto jumped off of a nearby tree and lands by Sasuke. "Stop playing the damn hero! Just leave it to me!" He says as Naruto rounds on him, punching him straight in the face. He growled out. "Stupid fool! You don't know what your doing!"

Naruto breathed angrily from where he stood until he finally spoke. "I may not know the password, but I know who I am!" My heart thumps a bit and I'm calmer than I was a few moments ago. I grasp onto my kimono and breath out a breath of air. "You're the one I'm not so sure about. How do we know you're who you say you are?"

"What do you mean?" Sakura asks, standing up besides me. "It's him! Don't be so stupid!" Sakura scolds.

"What sort of nonsense is this?!" Sasuke growls. "It's me you loser!"

"Liar..." I snap, receiving a shocked glare from the duo.

"Liar!" Naruto affirms. "You may look just like him.... You may sound just like him... But... There's no way you're the Sasuke I know!" Naruto roars. Sakura gasps from besides me and I'm seething by now. "I don't care how tough a fight you been through! Surrendering! Giving up the scroll! When did Sasuke become a coward! You keep saying I don't understand what's going on, but I do! You've choked! That's what it is!"

The Snake Lady chuckles. "Sad... But true." She makes a creepy face before speaking again. "It doesn't matter. As far as the scroll goes, I can simply kill you and take it." She bites her finger and draws a line of blood down her arm. Naruto pulls out his kunai to charge at her.

"Let's see you try it!"

"Don't!" Sasuke screams. "Naruto, no!!"

"Summoning Jutsu." The woman weaves signs. The wind picks up as a large snake appears under her. My heart pounds as another voice rings out in my head. 'Show no mercy, or you will die....'