Chapter 32:
Yakunan's POV

"So... What are we doing again?" I asked after we ran for about 5 minutes. We were sitting down near some trees, in a bit of a clearing.

Sakura sighed. "Do you ever listen?" She asked me, and I shrugged. "Basically, everyone has either a heaven or earth scroll. Our job is to get opposite scroll. So since we have earth, we need the heaven scroll. After that, ae go to the center where all the teams that got a scroll meet up, right Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn," he said, and looked away, probably looking for enemies. He didn't show it, but I could smell his anxiety, and even if it was a bit, it was enough to put him on edge.

"Hey, uh, I gotta... ya know," Naruto said, unzipping his pants and turning to a tree beside us.

"DON'T DO IT HERE YOU SAVAGE!!!" Sakura yelled at him, and hit him upside the head. "THERE ARE LADIES HERE, YOU KNOW!!" I flinched from her loudness, and covered my ears.

"You know, Sakura, if you want me to hear out for enemies, I need to be able to hear..." I muttered, rubbing my sore ear. Kami, these people have no inside voices at all.

"Hn, Yakunan's right," Sasuke said. "If you keep yelling like that, you'll attract enemies, and Yakunan won't be able to point them out."

"Oh, sorry Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, much softer this time.

"Hn, whatever," Sasuke said, sounding bored again.

Naruto ran off, a few trees away from us. A awkward silence fell on us as we waited for our blonde teammate.

"Once Naruto gets back, we need to form a plan to get a heaven scroll," Sasuke said, sounding very boss-like.

"We can always wait at the center," I said. "I mean, if everyone's going to the center, then wouldn't it be smart to go there and take the scroll from them before they get inside?"

"That makes sense," Sasuke said. "But it seems a bit too obvious. Waiting at the center already sounds like it's going to be dangerous. There may be other teams waiting there to get a scroll."

"Well then we attack the ones who are already waiting," I said.

"There's also the chance that they may have a earth scroll and be completely useless," Sakura said. "Let's say we do go to the center, and we defeat the opponent, what if we get a earth scroll? Then what? And you need to keep the fact that afterwards, we may be really weak. We wouldn't be able to defend ourselves afterwards, if another team is to attack us while we are trying to replenish our energy."

"So, then don't go to the center," Sasuke said. "That lady back there said that a lot of people dies in the exams, so why don't we just go to the dead bodies of people and take their scrolls?"

"That's low," I said. "Besides, even if we do, their opponents probably had already taken their scroll, so what's the point in checking our dead bodies?"

"But their opponents would already be weak, if it was a serious fight," Sasuke argued. "So then we just fight them, and get both scrolls. It'll be a easy way to get our scroll."

"That kind of makes sense, I guess," I said. "But I would rather fight people, instead of stand around like vultures."

"Whatever gets us a scroll is fine," Sakura said. "But we would have to act quickly, we only have five days right?"

"Yeah, but--" I started to argue, but the wind picked up slightly and brought in a new, unknown scent. My hand trailed down to my pouch as I pulled out a kunai.

"Yakunan, what's wrong?" Sakura asked her voice was a bit shaky, and fear was gradually starting to radiate off her, messing with my nose a bit.

"Shh!" I hushed her and moved away, so that I could smell correctly.

'Get ready just in case we are attacked, okay?' I instructed my demons, and they both nodded, ready to show up if necessary.

A rumble came from the bushes, and out popped 'Naruto'. He had a grin on his face making is dimples pop up.

Naruto doesn't have dimples...

I threw a kunai at him that was attached to a heavy explosive tag. He jumped out of the way, and to the side roughly. The kunai hit the tree and the tree exploded at the base and the tree began to fall in 'Naruto's favor. Before he could get hit by it, he rolled to the side, and and the tree fell right next to him.

"NARUTO-KUN!!!" Sakura screamed. "YAKUNAN ARE YOU CRAZY!! STOP! NARUTO'S GONNA GET HURT!!!" She ran at me, and tried to stop me, but Sasuke stopped her.

"Sakura, that's not Naruto, that's a imposter. Let Yakunan take care of this," Sasuke said, glaring at the imposter.

Unfortunately, he survived. Fortunately, his foot got stuck underneath, and he was stuck. "Yakunan-san! What are you doing!?" He screamed at me, trying to get his foot loose.

I walked over calmly to him, and stood over him, summoning my black and white dragon katana, I unsheathed it and pointed it at the imposter.

"Y-Yakunan-san, what are you--"

"Naruto doesn't call me Yakunan, he calls me 'Ya-chan', and you--" I pointed it lightly at his chest, but hard enough for it to break skin. "Smell nothing like Naruto, you smell like water, or rain."

He glared at me and undid the transformation jutsu, changing back into a man in a yellow suit with a mask on. "Okay, you got me, but l don't have a scroll on me, I left it with my team because I thought that you guys would be weak." He made a few hand signs to flash away, and I reached for his arm, but I was too late.

"Yakunan-san, don't scare me like that!" Sakura said, placing a hand on her chest. "What if you got hurt or--"

"But I didn't," I intervened. "So don't worry, right now we need to go find Naruto." I sniffed the air, trying to pick up his scent.

"Yakunan's right," Sasuke agreed. "We need to look for Naruto, so get your stuff, and lets go."

I finally caught his scent, about a half meter from here, and high up, probably hanging off a tree or attach to it. "I got him," I said to Sasuke and ran off, with my teammates trailing close behind. After a few twist and turns, we finally found our blond-headed friend tied up and hanging upside-down from a tree. Sakura sighed happily, and turned to us, expecting us to help him.

"Ya-chan! There you are!!" Naruto cheered, wiggling in his ropes. "Get me down, believe it!" I sniffed the air, to confirm his scent. After making sure it was him, I nodded to Sasuke and he threw a kunai at his ropes, cutting him from the tree. "Thank you, Ya-chan!" He said, happily. "You too, Sasuke."

"Hn, whatever," Sasuke said. "We need to go before their team comes back," Sasuke said, and ran off, with Sakura following not to far behind.

I ran off after them, and Naruto was beside me. His blue eyes shined delicately in the sunlight, and made his blonde hair glimmer and move with the wind. His hair was a bit messed up from hanging upside-down. His mouth was curled upwards in a determined smirk and made me smile myself.

"We're here," Sasuke called out, making us slow down to a halt. We were near a small clearing that was barely noticeable. We crouched down near a fork in the trees, and sat in the shadows.

"We might be separated again," Sasuke informed us. "So, we will need a password, just in case. I'll ask: 'When does a ninja strike?' The answer will be: 'A ninja strikes when it's dark in the night while the enemy is at rest. A ninja should be unnoticeable and hidden in the shadows. That is when a ninja is to strike.' Got it?" Sakura nodded, confidently, but Naruto and I stared blankly.

"Um, can you repeat that?" Naruto asked, but Sasuke said no. "Then can you at least make it shorter?"

"No Naruto," Sakura said, "I can't believe that you couldn't remember it!" She flipped her long pink bubble gum hair over her shoulder and gave me a sideways glance. "I'm sure you remembered it, didn't you Yakunan?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, I didn't," I informed her, and she snickered. "I doesn't matter anyways. If we were separated, then Sasuke knows how to tell of its me or not anyway." Sakura and Naruto both looked confused at this, but I shrugged it off. "Anyways, I'll scout out, and see if I can find any enemies. Sasuke, let me see the scroll," I said, holding out my hand.

He placed it in my hand, and I brought it up to my nose, sniffing it and memorizing the scent. "What are you doing?" Sakura asked.

"I'm memorizing the scent of a earth scroll so that if I come across any teams, I'll see if their scrolls smells like a earth scroll or something else," I explained.

'Crimson, can you place links on them?' I asked her and she nodded.

"Okay, now I need you three to stay still for about a minute. What I'm about to do is going to hurt a bit, so I'm warning you now: Don't scream," each of them had a bit of a worried look on their faces and with a bit of confusion along with it.

I gave turned into a wolf cub and gave Crimson control. 'No killing... Yet...' I warned her, and she smirked.

"Why are you turning into a puppy, believe it?" Naruto asked, and pointed at me. Crimson rolled her eyes, and jumped on his head so fast that he didn't realize she was there until about ten seconds later.

"AH!! How'd you get there!?" Naruto asked, and shook his head. Crimson hung unto his head, and dug her nails into his skull. "Ow ow ow ow ow..." He whined.

"Stop shaking your head, dummy," Sasuke advised. Naruto pouted slightly, but stopped.

'Troublesome kids...' Crimson sighed, and placed a paw on his head. She channeled her chakra into his head, making Naruto screech quietly in pain. A second later, it was done, and Crimson jumped to Sakura's head.

"AH! DON'T GO ON ME!!" Sakura yelled, trying to swat me off.

"Sakura stop!" Sasuke ordered, making her slow to a stop, and huff at me. "Keep going, Yakunan."

Crimson nodded, and placed a paw on her head, and channeled her chakra into her head. Much like Naruto's, she eep-ed too and stopped once she finished.

Finally, Crimson jumped to Sasuke's head and placed a paw on his head, and channeled chakra into his head. Sasuke just grunted, and didn't say anything else.

'So how do I work it this time? Do I focus on all three of them at once?' I asked Crimson once she gave me control again.

'Just imagine them in your heads when you want to talk,' Crimson explained.

'Okay,' I thought, and imagined my teammates faces in ny mind. 'Hey guys,' I greeted awkwardly.

"Who was that?" Sakura asked frantically, and she looked around.

"Yakunan...? Is that you?" Sasuke asked, eyeing me strangely. "What are you doing? How'd you do that?"

'Mind link,' I explained. 'If you want to talk to me, then imagine me in your mind, and I'll answer,' I turned to Pure. 'Can you summon yourself, and watch over the team?'

'Of course,' Pure said, making hand signs. 'But it will drain my chakra a bit more than usual.' She appeared in a poof of smoke, and stood beside Naruto.

'That's fine,' I said. 'Just reverse summon me if they come across any serious trouble. I'll take Crimson with me, to look for some scrolls.'

'Okay, be safe, and don't get into trouble or anything,' Pure warned. 'And don't forget to--'

'Pure, by the time you finish, we'll be out of time to take the test,' Crimson complained, making me giggle silently. 'Let us go. We'll be back before you could say Jashin,' Crimson winked at her sister, and I ran off, into the thick jungle with Crimson.
*-*-*-*
We had ran for at least a half hour when we finally came across a team. They smelled like rice and had two guys and a girl. I did the transformation jutsu and turned my black and white fur completely white and rolled in the mud making myself look dirty.

I hid in the bush, but shook it loudly making myself known. "What was that?" A male's voice said. It was deep and mysterious.

"I don't know, but it came from the bush," another guy said, this one was more stricter than the other ones but I could tell it was hiding a bit of sadistic humor.

"Lemme check," a girls voice said, it was high pitched and girly.

"Wait, what if its a trap!?" The first boy said.

"Daisuke's right," the second said. "What if it is a trap or something?"

"I don't sense any other people, besides, the bush is small, so even if it was a trap, it could also be a small animal or something that needs help," the girl argued, and parted the bush.

The girl had purple hair that was pulled into two ponytails and green eyes, that popped out. She also had high cheek bones and light-tanned skin. Her hair looked really silkly and I could smell the chemicals and stuff in it.

"AWWW~!" She cooed. "Its a puppy!!" Heart formed in her eyes as she picked me up and held me in front of a boy. He was fairly tall, taller than the girl, at least, and was blonde haired and green eyed.

"Saki put it down," he ordered. "What if it's an enemy in disguise or--"

"How could this cute puppy be an enemy~?" She asked innocently. "I mean, loon at it, it's adora-bu!" She rubbed my cheek against hers and smiled widely.

"What if it has ticks or fleas or rabies or something?" A deep voice asked behind the boy. The blond boy moved over to show a brown haired boy with blue eyes, that was a bit on the short side. His voice was deep, and sounded very strange, and cautious.

"Then I would get sick," Saki said, not caring about the fact that I could most definitely be sick or something. "Besides, I wouldn't care if I got sick or something, this animal could be killed in the wild of this dangerous forest, and I have vowed to help any endangered any animals. That is my ninja way!" She was very confident and strong in her voice, and had a very determined look on her face. She reminds me of Naruto, actually...

"Ugh, fine whatever, just make sure you keep that thing from getting anywhere near me, I don't want it's ticks..." The blonde one complained, and sat down on a tree root, across from Saki.

"Yeah, yeah," Saki said, rolling her eyes, uncaringly. She stroked my back with her hand, and scratched behind my ears, making me unwillingly relax. "Anyways, what scroll do we have?" My ears perked up, trying to hear this new information.

"Um... Earth," the green eyed one said and I frowned. I guess their useless then. I need to get out of here.

"Oh okay, I saw a team a half mile away from us earlier. I think they had a heaven one," the blonde said. Maybe I could follow them and take the scroll when they weren't looking, or something.

"That's great, do you know what they were?" Green eyes asked.

"Yeah, they were those Konoha newbies. Remember from earlier?" The blonde snickered at the team, and I frowned.

"Awesome, we could beat them in an instant! Nice job, Akira-kun," Saki praised.

"No problem," Akira said, with a grin. "Come on, they were this way. The faster we get there, the faster we can finish the exams." They walked away, and Saki picked me up.

"Listen puppy, I can't take you with me, as much as I want to, but I can't," she warned. "I'm going somewhere very dangerous, and I want you to be safe. So go back to your family, or something, and I promise I'll make sure to come back for you, okay?" I barked, not wanting to do anything else to give away my position. "Good girl! No off you go, shoo!" She set me on the ground and I ran off in the direction I came.

'Yakunan!!' A voice called in my head, making me stop in my path.

'Yes, who is this?' I answered.

'It's Sakura, and we need you to come back, we may be in a lot of trouble,' Sakura said.

'Pure, reverse summon, now!' I commanded.

'I can't do that right now,' she grunted. 'I'm in the bit of a rock and a tight place.'

'Crimson, can you do anything to help her right now?' I asked her.

'I can summon myself to Pure and help her out,' Crimson said. 'But I can't summon to her on the spot, I'll be at least a meter behind or around her, at least.'

'Perfect, start the summoning,' Pure said.

'Guys, how are you doing? What's going on?' I asked, and changed into a nine foot wolf, to run to them faster.

'I'm in a snake with Pure Angel,' Naruto said.

'Wait, what?' I questioned them.

'Long story short, a snake ate us,' Pure said.

'Is it Orochimaru?' I asked.

'No, it's that lady you were talking with earlier,' Sasuke said. 'Do you know her?'

I stiffened. 'It's him...' I thought grimly. 'Crimson, can you reverse summon me?' I asked her.

'Yeah after I defeat this giant Man/Demon eating snake,' she replied sarcastically. She paused for a second, then gave a heavy sigh. 'Okay, done. Naruto decided to explode the damn thing, so we are finished. I'm summoning you now.'

In a poof of smoke, I was standing next to Crimson, Pure and Naruto. Each of them was covered in Snake enzymes and saliva.

"Ew..." I said, moving away from my slimy friends. "Pure, I want you to take the team and get as far away from here as possible. Once you get away, I want you to make sure they are in a safe place, not too secluded though, because they still need to finish the test. Then I want you to go to Kakashi and warn him about Orochimaru, if you can't find him, go to the Hokage. Get them to shut the test down, or something. Crimson, come with me, were going to confront him. Pure, once you finish convincing them, come back and help us. Make sure nobody gets bitten by him, okay?"

"You're asking a lot of stuff out of us," Pure said, looking at me with suprise.

"I expect that you can get it finished," I said. "You are one hell of a demon." Crimson smirked at the phrase and put on a serious face. "You have your marching orders, now move!!"

Pure grabbed Naruto, rather roughly, by the waist, and ran off. Crimson and I ran off to the direction where we smelled the scent of snakes.

"You ready?" Crimson asked, drawing her blades.

"Readier than I'll ever be," I replied. "Let's kick some scaly ass."