Stellar

21. Preliminaries

*sobbing hysterically* it's been a while

Sakura wouldn't stand a chance, and Orochimaru was keeping Naruto unconscious and separated from the group, surprisingly enough.

If Sasuke wasn't terrified out of his wits, he might have wondered why Orochimaru treated Naruto like such a threat.

Every kunai he threw, every slash of a katana, it was all tossed aside like mere flies, Orochimaru smirking the entire time. His tongue flickered out, revealing more of his snake-like nature, which sent a shiver down Sasuke's spine.

But then, Orochimaru unhinged his jaw and a snake came out, only for the snake to open its mouth and produce a sword. Sasuke's mind raced for the name as he swiftly dodged an attack.

The Kusanagi. Famous for being able to cut through nearly anything easily, and able to be controlled telekinetically according to Orochimaru's command.

Sasuke felt his stomach drop, knowing this fight was futile. The crazed glint in those yellow eyes told him that he would lose today.

But he didn't use the sword. He didn't cut down Sasuke and his teammates as easily as he could have.  It could have been for intimidation. To scare Sasuke badly enough that he froze, halting in his attacks.

Quite suddenly, Orochimaru's neck elongated, shooting forward to latch onto Sasuke. His legs buckled as a cry of pain rang out through the forest.

Immediately afterward, it was followed by a scream of horror from Sakura, who was still being circled by snakes, as Orochimaru's neck snapped back to place and he grinned maliciously.

"You'll seek me out." He hissed, eyes piercing Sasuke as he began to fall unconscious. "I will give you the strength you need, the strength needed to kill Itachi Uchiha."

With a menacing cackle and a dramatic flourish, the Snake Sannin was gone.

Sasuke slumped forward, and the snakes receded, leaving both boys unconscious and Sakura sobbing.

It was the start of a nightmare.

::

They already had both scrolls.

It should have been smooth sailing from there. All they had to do was make it to the tower.

But instead, Team Eight found themselves quite unlucky, again.

Akamaru carried their flask for water in his mouth, while Kiba began skinning an animal he had killed a few moments earlier. Shino had made a small fire, one that wouldn't make enough smoke to alert anyone nearby.

Hinata rubbed at her eyes tiredly. This was their first break, and all of them were hungry and running out of energy. Her lavender eyes flickered to the meat Kiba was cooking over the fire, and accepted a stick of meat with little hesitance.

She bit into it, grimaced a little, then continued to eat. Hinata couldn't afford to be picky while in the middle of the Forest of Death.

A shiver went up her spine as a cool breeze passed them by, and suddenly Kiba stiffened. Shino and Hinata looked up to see him staring at his bandaged forearm, where it was glowing blue faintly.

His face took a pained expression before he just tightened the bandages and looked away.

Shino and Hinata shared a look before going back to eating their food in silence.

"I'll take f-first watch." Hinata murmured. Kiba opened his mouth to retaliate, but she shot him a look that made him shut up. "It's fine."

Biting back a sigh, Kiba nodded and finished his food. He passed over the flask and leaped up the tree to land on one of its massive branches.