⏪ Back in Time! (HELP!) [Sakura Timetravel AU]

20: Looming Threat

I think we all knew Naruto was going to get jumped no matter what. Condolences to my sleepy boy

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"We need to confirm Naruto's position first. Hopefully, he managed to avoid them." Sasuke comes to a skidding halt before they get any closer to their hideout's clearing, holding back Sakura with his arm in a protective gesture. "Don't move yet." Slowly taking a step back, he flicks his wrist and brandishes three shurikens. Pwuf!

Not a single moment passed before Sasuke appeared on the tree beside her, steady on the tallest branch. With one swift motion, the three shurikens are sent spinning rapidly through the trees in different directions. When peering closer ahead, Sakura realizes the intention of his action. One by one, the shurikens catch the lines of string hung across the branches in front of them. The shimmering light hitting the strings as they fluttered downward drew her attention to the paper tags flying down with them. Bomb tags.

BOOM!

Smoke billows through the trees, covering their field of view for a couple of seconds. Protecting her eyes with one arm, she winds back her free arm and charges up the chakra into her fist. They both sensed something beyond the veil of the smog. Sasuke wasted no time throwing kunai straight in the middle of the cloudy smoke, and with a clang, they were all deflected and clattered onto the ground. A figure arose from the dissipating smoke and lunged forward with their sword, red glowing murder in their eyes.

Who knew kids would be so glad to kill each other as soon as they're given the chance to? Sakura let out a sigh and dashed forward, clashing with her opponent's weapon using her kunai. They jumped back a little at the force of her parry but appeared unfazed. Advancing once more, they swung at her with incredible speed, although each swing was met with the side of her small kunai. A grimace was forming on their face, perhaps they realized what kind of an enemy they were up against. The time for games was over. Sakura slammed their sword back with so much force their grip on the sword loosened.

At this point, there was no stopping her. She grabbed the hilt of the sword with her chakra-infused arm, gripping it with no sign of injury. Snap. Their sword was broken into two, seems like it was just an ordinary weapon. Before the dismayed genin could recover from their initial shock, Sakura side-stepped them and swung her leg into them, embedding her foot into their belly. Spit flew out of their mouth as the impact sent them flying backward and tumbling onto their side. Sasuke flashed to their side and knocked them out with a cold kick.

"...Nothing's on this one." They both nod at each other and proceed onward, leaving the poor genin tied up from head to toe. Now that they were coming close to the spot where they left Naruto resting, they felt vibrations and saw pieces of debris and leaves flying everywhere. Naruto was fast in action, albeit struggling to fend his attackers off. Four blurry figures were visible and constantly switching positions among a horde of Naruto clones. That Naruto was something else, running on an hour of sleep, countering every single attack with the shadow clones, and dodging and weaving like there was no tomorrow.

"HNNNEGGHH— STAY BACK! GWAH-" One of the attacking genin grabbed and sliced their kunai into his cheek, causing blood to spray out in an arc. Naruto was pinned down by them, but he didn't stop struggling, kicking his feet and throwing his fists at his enemy's chest. A barrage of clones leaped at them and rained down on both the assailant and Naruto, piling up until they were blasted back and poofed. Two figures came out of the heap, one heaving and wiping his bloody cheek with a smirk, the other clutching their arm and sliding their arm down to their pocket.

I have to hurry. Sakura silently takes cover in the bushes, watching the fight go on as she draws closer. Sasuke understood her tactic and stepped into the shrubs on the other side. They were getting ever so slightly closer to the fight zone while the team of genin was intently focused on Naruto. Left swing, right swing, hook, jab, sidestep, kick from above, block, backflip, spinning kick, clone-on-clone sweeper. Naruto was not going to stop, believe it. That was until he spotted a flash of pink hair in the bushes. He knew who that was, he could recognize a small dot of her from even a continent away.