(A/N): The plot thickens. DUDU DUNNNN.

(Y/N) gulped nervously as they walked briskly, deeper into the forest. The dark green loomed over them and the grass didn't crunch under their feet; it was eerily quiet in a way, but (Y/N) could hear the slithering of an animal and see something crawling in the trees that made her shiver and jump closer to Naruto. This is creepy. Way too creepy.

Suddenly the tree tops shook and a flock of birds flew away, squawking. The bird's calls mixed with screams that echoed throughout the forest.
(Y/N) jumped a bit, automatically scooting closer to the front of the group, really not eager to be in the back.

"Wasn't that someone screaming just now?"  Sakura said nervously, looking back.

(Y/N) shut her eyes and shivered. "Please don't say it!" She exclaimed nervously.

The birds squawked, flying above them. The four tensed, looking around slightly paranoically.

"I-I'm kinda getting nervous. " Sakura muttered.

"I-it was nothing Sakura, believe it!" Naruto stuttered, trying to comfort himself. He paused for a moment then and his face twisted, as he suddenly ran to a bush by the side.
"I-I have to pee."

(Y/N) sighed and facepalmed, tension disappearing. Naru always manages to cut the tension at least.

"Y-you fool!" Sakura yelled, punching him in the head. "What are you doing in front of two girls?! Go to the grass!" She scolded and pointed furiously at a bush farther away from them.

Naruto chuckled awkwardly and scurried away to a bush, while Sakura fumed and seemed to look at (Y/N) with disappointment. Sakura dragged a hand over her face, sighing heavily. What does (Y/N) see in him?

As the three were left awkwardly standing aside and looking away, (Y/N) sighed, trying to tune out the sounds and crossed her arms, looking around. The foliage is so dense here it feels like it's watching you. Nerves tightly wound (Y/N) tried to focus on being alert, knowing her companions were depending on her to notice something was wrong first.

"Aah, that was a lot, I feel refreshed."

Naruto adjusted his pants with a grin, as he stepped away from a tree. Immediately (Y/N)'s senses tingled and she looked at Sasuke, who had tensed and was glaring at Naruto intently. (Y/N) furrowed her brows and stared at Naruto, as her senses tingled, ears twitchy.

Naruto walked back towards them with a grin, adjusting his pants again and scratching the back of his head. The action seemed fairly Naruto-like, but something was off. (Y/N) furrowed her brows, It looks like him, sounds like him, and acts like him.. but something's different. Is it just me or does this guy smell un-Naruto?

Sakura groaned in annoyance, yelling "C'mon Naruto! I just told you not to say things like that in front of a lady!"

Sasuke glanced at (Y/N) with a hard look and they nodded to each other. Before Sakura could continue her righteous rant on manners, Sasuke smacked Naruto so hard with his whole arm, not even the back of his hand no, his whole arm, that Naruto went flying, crashing in to a tree.

Naruto grunted with the landing and (Y/N) flinched but did not run to help him up. It's not him (Y/N), chill.

Sakura gaped and frowned worriedly at Sasuke, fists clenched. "S-sasuke! No matter what, you don't have to go that far!"

Sasuke did not respond, staring at the "Naruto" from the corner of his eye, narrowing his dark eyes. Naruto sat up shakily, rubbing at his cheek with his hand and a scowl.

"What was that for?!"

(Y/N) tensed at that, now really sure that it definitely wasn't her friend. The real Naruto would have retorted angrily and ran to her side. She quickly had a kunai in hand and both her and Sasuke were in a fighting stance.
"Where's the real Naruto?" (Y/N) asked calmly with a furious glare. Obviously, it had been too much to hope that they would have a couple more minutes before someone attacked them.

Sakura gasped and snapped her gaze to Naruto, blinking in surprise. Unsurprisingly, she had not noticed, focused on Sasuke as always.

The fake Naruto scowled angrily,  rubbing at the bruise on his cheek. "I don't know what the heck you're talking about!"

"What happened to the scratch you got earlier from the Proctor?" Sasuke asked with a cool glare, hands in his pockets. "And your shruiken holster is on your left leg. That guy's right-handed. You're worse at transformation than Naruto, you phony!"

The more Sasuke spoke, the more the fake seemed to give up and deflate, realizing that they had been undeniably caught. (Y/N) kept pointing  a kunai at the fake, a hot anger simmering in her chest. Where is Naruto then?! Was he captured?! But doesn't he still have the scroll?!?! Oh fuck.

The fake smirked, shrugging. "Unlucky me! In that case.."

In a poof of smoke the "Naruto" dissolved, and revealed a Rain shinobi with spiky hair and a device strapped to his mouth. The man was quickly running at the children in the next second, exclaiming, "Which one of you got the scroll?!"

Reacting quickly, Sasuke jumped out of the way and weaved signs, "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" 
High in the air Sasuke spewed balls of flame at the shinobi, who dodged easily.

(Y/N) clicked her tongue. Dammit we need to find Naruto, we can't lose a team member. While Sasuke kept the Rain shinobi busy (Y/N) quickly ran the other way, kunai in hand. She followed the yelling voice until it grew loud and then she spotted Narut in the ground, tied up.

"(Y/N)-chan! (Y/N)-chan! Over here!"

She quickly jumped down from her branch and crouched beside the blonde, sighing in relief, "Naru! Are you hurt?"

Naruto shook his head with a grin, "Nah. Quickly untie me!"

(Y/N) smiled and nodded, quickly slashing at the ropes with her kunai as the Rain shinobi jumped over them, followed by Sasuke.

A paper bomb detonated above them and Naruto quickly stood up, ropes falling off of him in pieces. (Y/N) and Naruto followed the smoke, just in time to send kunais flying at the Rain shinobi that held his own at Sasuke's neck.

However the shinobi had already noticed them and jumped out of the way of Naruto's kunai.
(Y/N) smirked. You won't get away. With a smooth flick of her wrist her kunai whistled in the air and embedded itself in the man's leg, who cried out at the sudden sting, having caught him off guard after he dodged Naruto's.

"I won't let you get away!" Naruto yelled angrily, as the shinobi attempted to escape despite the wounded leg. Naruto jumped after the shinobi, and Sasuke quickly kicked a chakra infused kunai at him, following them.

(Y/N) put her hands on her hips and stared up at the scene, huffing from the ground as Sasuke reached the man and stabbed him harshly. Well, I guess that's that for now.

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried out worriedly at the sight of blood.

"Don't just stand there Sakura! There's no guarantee this guy's alone!" Sasuke yelled at her. "If you let your guard down, you'll be killed!"

Tasting the air for a moment, straining her senses, (Y/N) shook her head, waving her hand at him dismissively. "Don't worry, he's the only one! I checked; there are no heat signs or any sounds nearby that are not ours apart from his!"

Sasuke huffed in reply, lips slightly tilting up as he kicked the man away from him, letting him bleed. "Good."

"It's unlucky, I came on my own to conceal my presence, but that became my enemy..." The man grunted in pain, now bleeding both from the leg and his torso from the wounds (Y/N) and Sasuke had inflicted on him.

The team stared at the man as he scurried away, with shaky unsure jumps.

Sasuke glared at the spot where he had gone and (Y/N) nudged him with her elbow. "C'mon Duckbutt. We have more to worry about than a scurry wet rat."

~~~

"If there's an instance that we get separated, don't trust them even if they look like one of us. Just like now there's a possibility that an enemy will transform to get close to us."

(Y/N) nodded along, arms crossed as she held her chin in thought. "Of course, I'll notice like I did just now, most likely. Not a lot of shinobi consider smell adjusting when they are using transformation jutsu. Still, we really should be more careful. We haven't even been here for 2 hours yet, and we have already encountered an enemy. Most likely, I'd wager we have about half an hour before we encounter another, maybe even less."

The four members of team 7 sat in a circle as they discussed their next moves. (Y/N) sat between Naruto and Sasuke, cross legged and Sakura and Naruto listened intently to the Uchiha and Ryudo, nodding with serious looks. "Yeah."
"So what do we do?"

"We'll decide on a password." Sasuke declared, a finger on his chin.

The hairs in the back of her neck tingled, and (Y/N) resisted the urge to look behind them, at a certain spot underneath a bush. (Y/N) hummed, grinning. "Makes sense."

"A password?" Naruto asked in confusion, tilting his head like a puppy.

"Listen, if the password is incorrect, no matter what they look like... assume they are an enemy." Sasuke declared firmly. "I'll only sat it once, so listen closely."

"Wait, once?!" (Y/N) exclaimed suddenly, but Sasuke had already began to say it and rolled his eyes.

"You ask, Ninja Song, "Ninja Chance". And the answer is this: "The chance to sneak up when a large number of enemies are making a scene. The quiet place has no secret hideout. It is important for a shinobi to know the right time. The time when an enemy is tired and drops his guard."

(Y/N) deadpanned. That sounds like a poem from one of our textbooks! Who knew Sasuke was a poet! She chuckled nervously. Still, I doubt I'll remember that in a few minutes.

"That's it." Sasuke said.

Sakura grinned determinedly, "Okay!"

(Y/N) winced, rubbing her temples. Naruto squinted, brows furrowed, as sweat dripped from his brow. "Could you say it again?"

"Huh?!" Sakura hummed incredulously with raised brows.
"I told you I'd only say it once." Sasuke said exasperatedly.

"Could it be that you couldn't memorize it?" Sakura asked, incredulous. "You fool!"

"Huh?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I got it right away!" Sakura said.

"I-I memorized it perfectly!" Naruto insisted with some doubt in his voice, nodding fervently. Of course, he hadn't actually memorized it.
"I thought just in case, I'd listen one more time..."

"What about you, (Y/N)?" Sakura turned to (Y/N) with an exasperated sigh.

(Y/N) laughed nervously, rubbing her temples as if that'd help to memorize it. "I mean, I remember it right now. But honestly... I probably won't in 30 minutes."

"Are you serious?!"

"I'm busy paying attention to our surroundings, okay?! I kind of have more important things to listen to right now!" *Y/N) retorted defensively, rubbing her temples and pointing to her ears. "Besides, even if someone does try to pass themselves off as me, you will know it's not me if you ask them something only I could know! Transformation jutsu can't mimic physical abilities or qualities of the original!"

Sasuke sighed as (Y/N) continued trying to defend herself from Sakura. Lizard brain. He stood up, dusting off his clothes. "I'll carry the scroll."

"Hey, what Sasuke-" Naruto exclaimed.

(Y/N)'s gaze suddenly snapped behind Sasuke with a cold glare, and she threw a kunai without hesitance. The kunai clanked as it hit another piece of metal; a senbon needle. The needle deflected by the kunai disappeared into the foliage and her kunai embedded itself into the ground.

"What the..? (Y/N)?" Naruto mumbled in confusion.

Sasuke had quickly followed her gaze and understood, tensing. (Y/N) glanced at Sasuke and nodded. In almost unnoticeable movement Sasuke threw the scroll he had nabbed from Naruto into her hand and then (Y/N) had hidden it with her own scrolls.
And just in time, because in the next second, there was a rush of air and a strong gale was trying to knock them down.

"A new enemy?!" Sasuke grunted in effort, as he tried to brace himself against the wind.

But the wind suddenly got stronger, sharper. The branches shook above them.
(Y/n) grunted and yelled as the wind suddenly burst stronger and they were all blown away.

~~~

(Y/N) landed on her back with a groan. What the?! We didn't even have an hour before another encounter, just like I thought! Man, this is awful. That Anko woman is a total sadist for putting us through this!
She stilled for a moment and listened intently. Three. I can hear three of them. And... oh fuck. Perfect. It's the one that smells like death! The grass ninja from before!

This doesn't bode well.

After a moment, she concluded it was safe to move. She looked around at the unfamiliar foliage and sighed. This is like a damn maze! Thank god for my senses. Still, I got blown so far away! Shit, gotta find the others.

With pursed lips and a worried heart (Y/N) quickly determined that she was south to where they were before and started to run in that direction, hoping to find the others. She sniffed repeatedly as she ran, hoping to pinpoint their location or catch their scent. She bit her lip worriedly, as she didn't catch any trace of Naruto at all. Please be safe.

Feet moving as quickly as possible, (Y/N) felt the heavy weight of the scroll hidden in the scroll pockets underneath her shirt. Sasuke and Sakura are probably fine. As long as they are not with the stinky creep. Nobody except Sasuke and I knows I got the scroll.

~~~

"Can't move already?"

The grass ninja laughed brightly.

Sasuke gritted his teeth harshly, a scowl twisting his face as he struggled to make his body move. She's going to kill me! Move.. move.. .move..!  Dammit if (Y/N) were here..! Move! MOVE!
With a tremendous amount of effort Sasuke managed to reach shakily into his holster and take out a kunai. He stood up shakily, holding it. Even if it's just a little, move!

The creep from the Grass Village that had been acting freaking weird and creepy since the start of the Chuunin Exam turned out to be a formidable opponent. The difference in levels was as vast as the sea; so stark and wide that you couldn't miss it. Sasuke and Sakura were helpless against their own survival instincts, unable to move.

"What do you intend to do... with that?" The woman asked with a smile and raised brows, full of disdain, looking down at Sasuke's hand holding the kunai.

I can't move! Sasuke panicked, as the fear trickled down his spine like tight nails nailing him down in that spot, rendering him immobile.

"Don't worry I'll end this in a second." The ninja announced, as she started to walk towards them, kunais held and out. "You won't even have time to feel pain."

Sasuke gritted his teeth as the woman got closer and closer, struggling to move. Dammit Lizard! Where did you go!?

The woman stopped at a few feet away from them and raised her hand with the kunais, sighing "I wanted you to entertain me more.
It's too bad."

But as she let the kunais fly towards them and Sasuke barely had time to scratch his knee with the kunai, a pair of hands were grabbing Sasuke and Sakura by their shirts and jumping away with them in tow.

The movement was so fast, it had almost seemed like they had just teleported away in the blink of an eye.
But the Rain shinobi knew better.

They stared at the kunai embedded into one of the tree's roots and smirked. "I see."

~~~

"You are so goddamn lucky I reached you in time!" (Y/N) whisper yelled at her teammates angrily.

The three panted, hearts pumping wildly as they rested on a tree root, trembling slightly. (Y/N)'s still trembled a bit at the strength she had used to just grab them both from the collars and drag them with her, the texture of the cloth still in her mind.

Sasuke panted, gripping tightly the kunai he had barely had time to nick himself with. He stared at (Y/N)'s freaked out expression and clicked his tongue. "Where were you lizard?!" He grunted lowly back.

"I was blown too far away by the wind! You fools, why didn't you move?!" (Y/n) whisper-yelled at them angrily. She had barely arrived in time just to see the crazy smelly guy throwing kunais at them. Before she could even think about it, she was moving, never mind putting herself in danger. With the adrenaline she had just grabbed them by the collars and jumped away with them.

Sakura trembled where she sat, staring in shock at both of them, gulping loudly. "We couldn't... that guy...it was like..."

Sasuke covered her mouth quickly, as Sakura did not even think to whisper. Slapping his hand over her mouth, he looked behind them frantically.
He crossed gazes with the worried (Y/N). If we don't flee in a hurry, we'll be discovered here too. How do we flee? How should we escape?!

Sakura's gasp was muffled and she stared worriedly at Sasuke's frantic face. I've never seen Sasuke so worked up. If (Y/N)-chan had reached us a second later...

(Y/N) strained her senses as much as she could, trying to keep track of the crazy guy's location. She quickly noticed they had a bigger problem. Literally. She gasped at the scales sliding in the branch above them and stumbled back.
Sakura followed her gaze and spotted the snake slithering above them, getting closer. She fought against Sasuke's hand, trying to warn him.

(Y/N) quickly slapped Sasuke's shoulder, pointing to the snake. "Duckbutt duckbutt! Snake, snake! 6 o'clock!"

Sasuke startled and finally looked behind him, just in time for the three of them to jump away as the snake struck, burying its fangs into the tree branch where they had just been standing.
(Y/N) and Sakura landed on the same branch, staring as the snake slithered up a tree, following the jumping Sasuke. (Y/N) straightened up and gaped. It's... targeting him!

Sasuke seemed to tense at the sight of the quickly encroaching snake and threw shruiken at it quickly with a frantic shout. (Y/N) wasn't sure why, but suddenly Sasuke had been afraid of it.

The shruiken struck true and the snake fell on a branch, limp. Blood trickled from the wounds on its neck, gushing out and (Y/N) scrunched up her nose at the foul smell.

Sasuke panted, landing on a branch. That was close. He stared at the snake's body, trembling. And then with a gasp as the snake's body was torn from the inside out, and someone was sliding out of it.

(Y/N) covered her mouth in horror and the urge to vomit, looking away and gagging as the person slithered out with a squish and squish of the slimy insides of the snake. Of course, it was the damn death stinking creepy Grass ninja.

"Don't lower your guard, not even for a moment... A prey must always tense and try to flee desperately, before a predator." The woman said and laughed, long tongue sliding out of her mouth like a reptile's. And then she was moving to Sasuke's tree, body elongating and twisting like a snake's, sliding up the tree in coils.
Sasuke could not move, but he could yell in fear.

(Y/N) swore under her breath, quickly trying to grab her shruiken, but just in time kunai and shruiken struck the spot right in front of the creep's head, halting them.

(Y/N) almost cried out in relief, as the freak stopped his sliding up the tree, just a few feet away from Sasuke.

"Huh..?!" Sakura gasped, looking up and following the trajectory of the weapons, spotting their fourth member on a branch.

"Sorry Sasuke! The password... I forgot it."

Sakura lit up and beamed up at Naruto "Naruto!"
For once, Sakura was ecstatic to see him.

(Y/N) grinned widely, full of relief as she saw Naruto safe and sound, perfectly in time to save the Duckbutt's butt. His clothes seemed dirty and wet with some unknown substance, but (Y/N) could not see any wounds on him, and that was enough for the moment.

YES! WOOHOO! THE FOUR GENIN TOGETHER AGAIN! Now... let's deal with this asshole. She cracked her knuckles, looking at the snake freak with a furious smirk.

"Looks like it's four against one!"