As Naruto disappeared into the trees, the clearing fell into an uneasy silence.
Sakura glanced around, nerves creeping in, while Sasuke closed his eyes...calm and composed.
Then…
Moments later, footsteps broke through the stillness.
"Hey! I'm back!"
Naruto emerged from between the trees, hands behind his head, grin wide and stupid as ever.
"All done! Man, this forest smells weird—"
Sakura sighed in relief. "Took you long enough, idiot."
Sasuke watched Naruto approach and raised an eyebrow, a flicker of interest crossing his face.
Naruto blinked. "Huh? What's with that look?"
Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly.
"…Did you wash your hands?"
Naruto froze. His grin faltered for half a second, his eyebrow twitching.
"Why would you even ask that—"
"For a very good reason," Sasuke cut in flatly. "You have a habit of not washing your hands after peeing. And I absolutely despise that."
"Hey!" Naruto protested after a brief pause, then broke into a wide grin, scratching the back of his head. "I'm not that gross, okay? I really did this time."
"I don't believe you." Sasuke shrugged. "Let me see you do it. Come on—follow me. I'm not putting up with any weird smells right now. Just get it over with."
With that, he turned and headed toward the forest.
Naruto's eyes narrowed for a moment… then relaxed. Without another word, he followed after Sasuke.
Sakura was left standing there, the breeze rustling past her as she was completely, utterly ignored.
--
"There, see? I washed them, alright?" Naruto said, rinsing his hands in the water pooling in a small pond.
Sasuke tilted his head slightly, his expression blank.
"Indeed," he said calmly. "You did a good job."
Then his eyes narrowed slightly.
"Imposter."
The moment the word left his mouth—
Sasuke stepped forward and brought his foot down in a brutal stomp.
Crack.
The ground split apart.
The "Naruto" stumbled backward, barely managing to keep his balance.
That alone was enough.
The grin on the fake Naruto's face twitched, twisting into something cold.
"…Tch."
The disguise melted away.
Smoke burst outward, revealing a random ninja with sharp eyes and a crooked smile.
"Wow," he chuckled. "You figured it out fast."
"No wonder," he continued, eyes narrowing. "You didn't leave a single opening this whole time. You knew, didn't you?"
His plan had been simple—kill one of them quickly before the blond came back.
When Sasuke asked him to wash his hands, he'd gone on guard immediately, certain his disguise had already been exposed.
But instead…
This kid had calmly let him finish washing first.
Then kicked him.
"So why make me go through all that?" the ninja asked, fingers subtly sliding toward his kunai pouch.
He never got an answer.
Sasuke's Sharingan spun to life...
And in the next instant, the man's vision shattered as Genjutsu swallowed him whole.
"Just… for fun."
Sasuke said it with a shrug.
Truthfully, he had been interested. If this guy wanted to play games with them, then Sasuke saw no reason not to play along.
After leaving behind an appropriately prepared 'gift' for the imposter and whatever teammates were lurking nearby...
Sasuke slipped his hands into his pockets and walked away.
--
"Sasuke-kun, you're back… um—where's Naruto-kun?"
Sakura asked happily, the worry on her face melting the moment she saw Sasuke return.
Then she paused.
"…Huh?"
Sasuke didn't answer. He simply glanced to the side.
Sakura followed his gaze—
And a moment later, a loud voice echoed through the clearing.
"Yoshhh—!!"
"All charged up! Feeling refreshed and ready to beat some ass—let's go! Believe it!"
Naruto burst out of the trees, pumping his fist like he'd just won a battle.
Sakura stared at Naruto, her relief turning to exasperation the instant he started his "victory speech."
Without missing a beat, she stomped over, fists clenched.
"Will you STOP with that already?!"
Whack!
Her fist landed squarely on Naruto's head, leaving a cartoonish lump. He yelped, clutching his scalp.
"OW—Sakura-chan! What was that for?!" Naruto whined, blinking at her in confusion.
Sakura glared, cheeks puffed in annoyance. "Don't you ever do that again!"
Naruto scratched his head, face genuinely puzzled. "Huh? You mean… I shouldn't do it in the forest? But Sakura-chan, that's totally natural! Everybody does it!"
He grinned sheepishly, laughing like he'd just delivered the punchline to the world's greatest joke.
Sakura's eyebrow twitched. Her hand curled into a fist again, this time trembling with disgust.
"You… gross idiot!" she snapped, thumping him on the head once more for good measure.
Naruto stumbled away, stars spinning around his head. "Wha—hey, what did I do?!"
Behind them, Sasuke let out a rare, almost imperceptible smirk. He understood the whole misunderstanding instantly, but—honestly? He wasn't about to clear it up.
Watching those two go at it like idiots… he could live with that.
Sakura huffed, folding her arms. "Just… try not to be so disgusting, okay?!"
Naruto, rubbing both new lumps on his head, looked back and forth between them. "Seriously, you guys are so weird. I'm just being myself!"
--
Somewhere Deeper in the Forest of Death…
Beneath a twisted, looming tree, two genin crouched in the undergrowth, eyes anxiously scanning the shadows. Their nerves were frayed, every snapped twig made them flinch.
Suddenly, their third teammate stumbled out from between the trees, sweat beading his brow and a strange, vacant look in his eyes.
"Yo! You're back! So… how'd it go?" one of them whispered, trying to sound tough.
The genjutsu-ensnared ninja smirked. "Easy. Managed to kill one of them. The other two, though… stronger than we thought."
His teammates shared a look of mingled anxiety and relief. The bigger one grinned and clapped him on the back. "Not bad! Hey, don't sweat it. You did great. But next time, we set a real ambush and hit all three at once. Just two of us isn't enough for that team. Together, we—"
He never finished.
A flash of silver—cold and merciless.
Their "friend's" kunai plunged deep into his chest, blood spurting as he choked in shock.
The other teammate recoiled, eyes wide in utter disbelief. "W-why?!"
The first, wounded and dying, managed a strangled, "We were supposed to stick together…"
But the genjutsu-entranced ninja's face twisted with agony. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he croaked, "Sorry. I had a deal… and your lives are just stepping stones."
His second teammate tried to scramble away, but the kunai found its mark again—another life snuffed out in a heartbeat.
The clearing was silent, save for the soft patter of tears hitting the bloody ground.
Hands shaking, his breathing ragged, the ninja stared at his own reflection in the bloodied blade. His lips trembled.
Then, with a scream torn from the pit of his soul, he turned the kunai on himself, driving it into his chest.
As the world faded, the last thing he saw was the glint of Sasuke's Sharingan in his mind's eye, the illusion twisting his thoughts to the bitter end.
Somewhere in the darkness, the genjutsu finally faded—leaving only corpses, regret, and a silent warning to anyone else foolish enough to play games in the Forest of Death.
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