Naruto, dazed and confused, shook his head in a poor attempt to get his wits about him again as he found himself sitting upside-down in the dirt, shoved against a large tree, surrounded by the shallow crater presumably made by his landing after being blasted away from his teammates. He glanced around in bewilderment, ignoring the cries of pain resonating throughout his body.
A miserable groan passed his lips as he indignantly mumbled to himself about how he'd wished he'd chosen to stay in bed that morning. Thus far, the day was faring to not be one of his best.
As the young Uzumaki focused on pulling himself back together and returning to his teammates, he managed to overlook the towering reptile poised in his blind spot, coiled and tense as it prepared to strike.
The snake breathed a low hiss that left Naruto's hairs standing on end. He froze for a second before forcing his limbs to bend to his will, ignoring the sharp protest of his torn muscles as he turned to look over his shoulder- cerulean eyes locking onto those of the giant beast.
Another deep hiss was enough to quicken the pace of Naruto's already racing heart as sudden realization set in at what he was facing. He took a chasmic breath, filling his lungs even as it felt like they were going to seize. He could only curse at how wildly unfortunate his day had been already, and how much he did not want to face this predator alone.
Naruto forcefully swallowed the lump of fear in his throat as his brain worked a mile a minute to come up with any semblance of a plan that could realistically get him out of his circumstance alive, preferably in one piece. Still, nothing came to him, even as the snake lunged for him.
He felt the reptile's body coil around his own, tightening more and more until the blonde began to see stars cloud his vision. He let out his breath, resigning himself to the fate of being eaten alive as the beast's beady black eyes locked onto him, its tongue flicking out to accompany the sound of another threatening hiss.
Before he could react, the snake's jaw opened, encapsulating him and pulling him into the deep dark belly of the beast.
~~~
The enemy ninja looked over the three genin standing before her, appraising them as she reached into her jacket to produce a gleaming Earth scroll; precisely the one that Sakura was dying to get her hands on. Arrow pulled the string of his bow tighter, prepared to let his namesake fly at any sudden movement from the opponent.
"I'm sure you want our scroll, yes?" The woman teased, rolling the item in her hand tauntingly. "Because I'll bet you have the heaven scroll."
She hummed, grinning as she watched Sakura and Sasuke squirm under her gaze. Her long, snake-like tongue peaked out from the confines of her mouth, lovingly wrapping around the length of the scroll in her hand. She watched Sakura recoil, face painted with an expression of repulsion.
The woman, however, didn't stop as her tongue pulled the object deep into her throat until it was gone from view, completely consumed. Once she'd finished, she licked her lips and winked at the genin. Sasuke glared in disdain.
"Well now, once this is over, one of us will have both scrolls and the other will be dead."
"Arrow-" Sasuke commanded in a firm, unwavering tone.
He responded quickly, releasing the arrow from his bow. It made a straight, clean flight towards the woman's head at a speed that would have made it nearly impossible to successfully evade. Still, she managed to do just that as she nimbly dodged the attack- eyes narrowing, her gaze caught the sight of both Arrow's teammates, sucking them into a terrifying genjutsu.
Arrow, refusing to look her in the eye, let his gaze fall on his teammates as they collapsed to their knees, hearts hammering and breathing heavily. Neither was able to move their bodies, paralyzed by the all-consuming terror that tore through their very bones.
Sasuke couldn't stop himself as his body lurched against his will, catching him on his hands and knees as bile spilled from his lips, heaving and coughing, unable to pull himself together; feeling weak and helpless, he couldn't seem to catch his breath as his eyes forced themselves shut in a feeble attempt to slow the rampage of his own thoughts. Mentally, he flicked through every skill, technique, or minuscule piece of knowledge he had ever learned that could get them out of their situation; he desperately searched for anything he could utilize.
Arrow froze in place, gears turning behind his eyes, unwilling to make any move that could put him or his teammates in any more immediate danger than they were already in; he maintained a cool composure, trying to ignore the thick, restless aura of malicious intent that soaked the woman's presence.
The thin, braided band he wore around his ankle pulsed, heating against his skin as if begging him to succumb to his own abilities as dread pooled in the pit of his stomach, feeling entirely at a loss for what to do.
Sasuke's charcoal gaze drifted to Sakura, watching as thick tears dribbled down her flushed cheeks, eyes locked on the ground, wide with terror as her body trembled like a leaf in the wind. She was unable to move or make any sort of sound as the genjutsu scene replayed in her head so vividly that she couldn't discern fantasy from reality.
"You're paralyzed with fear," Shiore let out a sinister cackle, her eyes sliding over the three teens in a starving expression. A tinge of disappointment flashed in them as she took in the sight, craving more of a challenge.
Arrow bit his tongue, refraining from lunging at her. He knew he would have to get Sasuke and Sakura out of harm's way before he could afford to make such rash decisions. He didn't have much time to think as the Kusa-nin drew three kunai from her holster.
Sasuke forced himself to his feet, ignoring the looming threat of his quivering legs giving out beneath him. It was only through sheer willpower that the Uchiha managed to keep himself upright, surprisingly drained by the effort of even standing.
Arrow knew he couldn't entertain the pondering of where Naruto was, or even if he was still alive. He knew that if he couldn't pull off his plan he would be risking his life for a hopeless cause anyway; releasing a slow breath, he darted his eyes to look at Sasuke, praying to any god at would listen that luck was on his side.
With a flow of chakra to the soles of his feet, Arrow threw himself at the enemy, brandishing his brother's daggers, determined to save the lives of his teammates.
~~~
Sasuke's jaw fell open as he tried to call out to Arrow, only to find that his voice failed him. Horror saturated his expression as he saw Shiore's eyes shoot to the boy who barrelled at her, a snarl on her lips.
Her attention was no longer directed at him and Sakura- and despite still struggling to take back the control that was robbed from him of his own body, he forced himself to take one of his own knives and plunge it deep into the center of his thigh.
A groan of agony left his parted lips as pain blossomed at the site of the wound- adrenaline, thankfully, kicked in quickly, numbing his pain as he hooked an arm around Sakura's waist, pulling her as he scrambled into the treeline and away from Arrow and Shiore's battle.
The heir offered a mental prayer for Arrow's safety and survival as he dragged Sakura's dead weight alongside him into the safety of the trees. He knew it was his responsibility to keep her safe- knowing she was both the least capable and most favoured of their caramel-haired teammate.
Sasuke's only concern was getting her as far away from Shiore as possible so he could return to support Arrow's fight, assuming he wasn't already dead.
~~~
Arrow dove for Shiore, aiming for the closest vital organ as he felt the heat of his knives in his hands. A smirk adorned her pale face as she parried his attack elegantly; rolling his shoulder, he threw a kunai in a weak attempt to keep her distracted.
He continued to recklessly throw himself into her attacks, focusing on his only goal of ensuring an adequate window of time for Sakura and Sasuke to get away. Ideally, he would get out alive without using too much of his power, but he wasn't overly optimistic as she blocked and parried his attacks with ease.
As they exchanged blows, he still couldn't seem to land any worthwhile hits, feeling like a mouse under a cat's paw as she slowly decorated his skin with shallow cuts.
It was evident that she enjoyed playing with him, knowing she could critically hit him at any given point and still choosing to refrain. He struggled to block the sound of her melodic voice and sharp words in his ears, but they still managed to dig into him as sharp as her physical weapons.
Although he had received extensive, elite training while living with the Kazekage- pushing himself as much as he reasonably could, he still felt like a child in comparison to the woman standing before him. He was far out of his own league and he was well aware of it; continuing to brace himself for her persistent barrage with only a few landed hits to show for his efforts.
As the minutes ticked by, her entertainment slowly weaned and her boredom grew along with her annoyance. She glanced around to check on her other prey, only to find that they had fled long ago.
Scowling, she clicked her tongue in frustration as her malicious gaze locked onto Arrow once more, embedding a sense of fear that snaked from his chest into his throat, choking him.
He was ill-prepared as Shiore darted at him, thrusting her fist into his chest with a chakra-infused blow that sucked the oxygen from his lungs along with a small cry; he was launched into the air and thrown into the dense greenery and out of sight.
Satisfied with the intention of hunting him again later, she turned and continued in pursuit of her original target.
~~~
Arrow was unsure of the amount of time that had passed before his eyes fluttered open, accompanied by a groan that conveyed nothing short of complete misery. Pain came to life in his back and ribs, paralyzing him as he tried to pull any amount of air into his lungs; his eyes screwed shut as a pained hiss, followed by a series of hushed cursed as he tried and failed to take a few full breaths.
Breathing through the pain wasn't an option when even the action of breathing caused immeasurable suffering. He focused instead on surveying his surroundings.
He'd landed, head over heels, in the branches of a large oak that had provided little support as he tumbled down, finding a resting place in the large split of the trunk- presumably the result of a lightning strike.
Mind fuzzy and vision blurry, Arrow slowly blinked away the black spots and gave his eyes time to adjust to the severe change of lighting. His gaze wandered to assess the damage of his own wounds, letting out a pained sigh as he saw the trail of blood he'd left. His head fell back against the rigid wood of the tree, where he sat for seemingly forever before deciding he had to figure out a better plan.
Very slowly, he managed to force himself into a semblance of a seated position, letting out heaving breaths as sweat beaded on his brow. The pain was progressively getting more intense as his adrenaline high wore off. He had given up on trying to tear off his shirt to look at his wounds after pulling at a piece that was fused to a broken rib wound, ripping it open with his attempt and leaving him paralyzed in pain for another few minutes.
All the exposed skin of his body was decorated purple and blue from deep bruises, along with shallow slices from Shiore's games. He willed his hand to hover over his torso, easing chakra into it as it began to glow a pale green.
He bit deeply into his bottom lip to contain the howl of pain that threatened to escape him as he withstood the feeling of his ribs shifting back into place at a painstakingly slow rate. They were easily the worst of the damage and he knew it would take all his chakra to even get them to a non-critical, manageable level. The rest of his wounds would have to wait, he thought.
As he lay in the crevice of his tree, attempting to put his limited medical ninjutsu know-how to use, he could only hope he'd given Sasuke enough time. His brain spiralled as he began to think of what had potentially happened to Naruto, or what might be happening as he was incapacitated.
Knowing he was in a vulnerable position against his will with no good way to defend himself, he paused his healing to dip his hand into the small pool of fresh blood he'd made in his healing endeavours. He slowly formed a set of handsigns before pressing his bloody hand to the ground and watching a sneaky sand-coloured fox appear from the smoke.
As quick as he could, he debriefed the animal and commanded that he search the area for enemies and report back without engaging. He watched the fox nod in understanding before bounding off, slinking into the underbrush.
Once he found himself alone again, Arrow resumed his healing, feeling his chakra dissipate faster by the minute.
~~~
Naruto's throat stung from the yelling he'd been doing in the unlikely chance that someone would hear his desperate cries and cut apart the giant snake to release him. He'd even stooped to throw the only rice ball he had left, watching sadly as it was absorbed by the snake's digestive juices into nothingness.
Despite the limited chance, he'd resorted to hoping his lunch would be adequate compensation and the snake would kindly throw him up and let him go free.
Left frustrated, Naruto faced the wet, sticky, repulsive internal organs of the reptile. Letting out another grunt of exasperation, knowing he didn't have much time before he was digested the same way the rice ball had been, he employed every brain cell he had to come up with an escape plan. He'd seen the digestion process and it didn't seem like a very pleasant way to go out.
A couple of minutes ticked by, Naruto still pondering and trying to come up with a plan to save himself. He knew that his options were limited, but he had one really good trick that had gotten him out of a couple of bad situations, so it was worth a try.
Clasping his clammy hands together, he formed a handsign and channelled his chakra, releasing it in the form of as many shadow clones as he could muster. Smoke filled the inside of the snake, almost choking the blonde before the snake's body gave way, bursting to release the many clones alongside the original.
Launching from the snake, covered in fluids from the inside and smelling like week-old meat that had been left in the sun, Naruto laid on the grass, hacking and coughing before dispelling the clones. He gagged on his own stench, dreaming of finding a river to clean up in.
For once in his life, the Uzumaki forced himself to focus on the bigger picture and resigned himself to figuring out where everyone else was- and maybe even saving them from whatever danger they may have found themselves in.