"Right. One of the Rain team had covered eyes, we'll need to be on the lookout in case he's a sensor, but that sounds like a solid plan to start."

And then the signal to begin comes, and the gates open. Team Seven rush through, following Mariko's lead.

They've been traveling for a few hours. They had a run-in with one of their targets, though unfortunately not the one of the team with a scroll, and are now hunting the other two members of the Rain team.

Mariko notices something mid-jump. At the edge of her range, something large and tightly contained, approaching fast.

"Hey guys? I sense something hinky, there's someone coming our way fast - "

She can hear bells.

Just as she says that, a massive wall of wind slams into the team, sending them flying.

The bells ring louder.

Mariko goes flying further than the others - shit, they're separated, and that grass genin isn't hiding anymore... And those bells weren't for her, who's resonating they can't both be from Konoha, everyone's introduced for exactly this reason, shit enemy resonants are killed it better not be Rian or Sakura - 

But for now: there's a giant snake (a summon, she's pretty sure, and there's something she should be remembering about snake summons...) rearing in front of her.

She dodges the first strike, then flicks out her chakra chains, one sliding neatly into the snake's eye. It hisses and veers towards her, mouth open to bite.

And Rian's going to chew her out for this, but Mariko holds her ground, chains lashing straight out and into the roof of the snake's mouth, killing it. She has to fling herself to the side as it crashes where she was standing.

Rian manages to anchor herself and shelters behind a tree. She draws her chokuto and leans out when the wind ends, looking for her teammates.

The bell's tolling for her, but she's not going to run. She's not going to abandon her team, even if it means being killed as a potential traitor.

There's Sakura!

"Rian!" she calls out. "You're not hurt! - Can you hear the bells too - what's going on - "

"Wait! What's Sen's favorite attack?" (Sen being her most commonly summoned nin-cat.)

"Oh - fireballs." Sakura grimaces, remembering a few times she'd lost a spar to a cat.

She doesn't relax, but - 

"Good, we should try to find Mariko, though knowing her she'll find us. And... I hear the bells." She goes quiet for a moment, then: "I don't think it's a genjutsu. They're for me."

"What - " 

She knows very, very well what happens to shinobi who resonate with enemies.

She takes a deep breath, and - "I'm not going to kill you."

"Thanks, but... I don't know if I'll still be myself. If I'll still be safe for you."

"I don't care. You're my teammate."

Before Rian can respond, they're interrupted by the sound of slow clapping.

"Very, very touching," the newcomer says, emerging from the shadows of the trees. "Would that others had such devotion. Or not. Would be rather dangerous for the village, to lose a team when they lost one."

He's ditched his disguise, so he's not instantly recognizable, but the golden eyes stir something in Rian's memory. A picture from a book about the Second Shinobi War.

The bell tolls for him, too.

Rian freezes, an existential sort of horror creeping over her - then she immediately launches into an attack. She has no idea what happens if one half of a soulmate dies before the resonance completes, but.

It'll be better than betraying her friends.

"Ah-ah-ah," he taunts, casually flicking aside her attacks. "You're good, I'll give you that - it'll be interesting binding to you, Uchiha Rian."

He disengages and puts some distance between them. "But oh, where are my manners? You may call me... Orochimaru."

She knows that name.

"I don't care," she says, stubborn. "I'll be known as the snake-slayer then."

He just laughs, and - 

Rian activates her sharingan, hands already flashing through the handseals for the summoning technique -

Blood spraying from beside her, Sakura screaming, red sky and black clouds - 

Rian falls to her knees, gasping for breath, shaking. She takes a deep breath, nearly retches, glances over -

Sakura is frozen and shaking.

"Heh. You can no longer move. Now, you'll be coming with me - " And he idly throws a brace of kunai at Sakura, as if she's barely even worth the effort it'd take to kill her.

"Fuck you," Rian shouts, moving faster than she ever has to grab her teammate and drag her away. Her fear's already turned to anger, fueling an itching in her eyes. 

"Sakura, get up, you need to fight or run - I can hold him off - "

"What - what was that - " she stutters, but shakily follows Rian's directions - only to spot a snake slowly lowering itself beside them.

"Rian - watch out!"

Rian throws herself away from the snake and Sakura - it follows her, good - she finishes the summoning technique, pulling Sen through, only to have to dodge away from her cat. Sen adapts immediately, shooting a fireball at the snake, and while it's distracted Rian darts over and above it, sinking her sword into its eye, then dodging back as its skin cracks and splits.

(The bells are getting louder.)

Their opponent emerges. "Heh. You don't stink of fear like you should, little girl... Prey should try and run away, rather than futilely struggling to fight a predator. Though I think I like your spirit. You might just be worthy of being my other half." And he lunges up the tree, slithering around it like a snake -

Only to have to dodge as several chakra chains thunk into the bark, bringing him up short.

"Hey, snake freak! Leave my teammates alone!" Mariko shouts, giving Sen an opening to breathe a line of fire at their opponent - who simply weathers the attack with a smirk.

"Heh. You're all so determined, despite the inevitable looming above you. Still, I tired of this game. Perhaps you can tell your dear Konoha that its precious Uchiha did not go quietly."

He blurs, heading straight for Rian.