Gravity

The Forest of Death

Well then. That was the Susanoo, wasn't it? How interesting.

But he could feel his Omega shying away in distress. Orochimaru ignored his counterpart, far too interested in this new development. He chuckled. It looked like she was rushing to gain as much strength as Itachi Uchiha then.

Sadly he lost his train of thought and grew distracted when dear Anko arrived. It was nice to see his sweet student again. Anko who asked what he had done to Izumi.

.::.

Sakura flinched. One moment she was alone, clutching Sasuke tight to her side, wondering what to do, the next Izumi was there. Her chakra violently swirled around her, and it made Sakura shake, but the energy flickered away and the fangs, teeth and pupils softened. The Omega's aggressive scent eased up, but Sakura could feel it. It was coiled, simmering within Izumi, ready to burst once more.

"Good," Izumi said icily. "You're all alive."

"I-Izumi-"

"No time." Izumi grabbed Sasuke, tossing him over her shoulder, then Naruto over the other. "Follow me."

Sakura shakily grabbed her kunai. "H-How do I know it's really you-"

"Do you think anyone would fucking come up to you disguised as me?" Izumi snapped. "Move you damn ass, Sakura, or I'll kick it."

Strangely enough that was rather reassuring to hear after everything that had just happened. Normally she would be running for the hills, but Izumi was here and she could help them.

"This wasn't apart of the test so I see no reason why I can't butt in," Izumu said, stalking quickly through the forest. "Orochimaru shouldn't be here, and I knew something was wrong, but not what. I heard Sasuke scream and came running."

"H-He's going to be okay, right?" Sakuta asked weakly, staring at Sasuke's limp form. "Please... I-I didn't know what to do..."

"I don't expect you to in a situation this bad," Izumi admitted. "Two of your team mates are down, one cursed and the other who knows what?" she said, jostling Naruto. "Both are out cold and you're alone with a lot of enemy ninja. But you can't always rely on back up either."

"Then what do we do?" Sakura asked breathlessly. She could barely keep up with Izumi's pace.

"You hide." Izumi took her to a clearing with a tree that had a small gap to fit her, Sasuke and Naruto inside it. "Here." Izumi laid both of them down, and turned to her. "Basic enough, hide these two and camouflage the openings. If you had earth style you might have been able to seal up the entrance and make it look natural, but neither of us can do that."

"Is Kakashi coming here too?" Sakura asked shakily, following Izumi's heels, watching her camouflage the openings of the tree.

"I doubt he even knows what's going on," Izumi said. "Like I said, this was pure luck. I wouldn't have been here if I didn't have such a bad feeling. Besides, Kakashi's resting at the moment, he had his first scan yesterday and needed some time to relax afterwards."

Under Tenzo's care. Tenzo had refused to let Guy look after Kakashi after the trouble the pair had gotten themselves into.

"Now, get Sasuke's temperature down," Izumi ordered sharply. "I'll protect you if things go sour, but you have to pull your weight too. This is still a survival test after all."

Sakura had a bad feeling about this, but climbed into the make-shift cover and only trembled a little when Izumi sealed off the opening with more camouflage.

Her bad feeling was right. Sakura was prodded awake non-stop by stones. Every time she dozed off Izumi would kick a stone at her through the bushes. It felt like hours had gone by when she was startled awaken by a mocking sneer instead of a rock.