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 Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2007 7:34 pm
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Okay people, so I'm going to take Maeve's advice and posting them in half chapters since they seem to be long enough either way for you not to notice too much, heh. It kind of sucks for you guys that I started doing this now, though...I made it stop at a cliffhanger. That was exactly half of the chapter, so...rofl.
Oh yeah! I re-did my profile, go check it out! I'm really proud of it. ^_^. It took a lot a tweaking to a few codes though...trial and errors, I guess. Drop a comment or something!
"Talking"
Thinking
"Telepathy through mind seal"
(“Animals communicating with humans” / "Telepathy with animals")
“Demonic Language” / Demon thinking / ’Demon talking telepathically to their jinchuuriki’
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
::;Seeing the Truth;::
Chapter 11: Snake Bite (First Half)
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
Sasuke and Naruto stared blankly at the Forest of Death as the other teams started to gather in the clearing. There was a certain ominous feeling coming from the forest (partly because of the forest itself, and partly because a certain brown-haired Anbu member (coughKenshikicough) used a genjutsu on the entrances to scare the little genin).
Anko was currently nowhere to be seen, but the genin didn’t seem to mind not having the eccentric present to torment them some more.
Akina was lying against a large rock, keeping her head clear. During the assignment her class was given by Anko yesterday, she was told what the Second Exam was, so she was memorizing the layout of the forest and hoping to kami-sama that her team’s entrance would be near the area that she or Kenshiki looked over.
Every so often a shriek of a crow or the hiss of a snake was heard, warning all the other animals of the genin that were coming and what to expect. Team Seven was, of course, not worrying about getting attacked by animals, so they were mildly amused to see even the beasts were getting prepared.
Kouseki’s eyes were immediately attracted to a grass genin when he showed up with is team. The two demons both tensed slightly when they smelled the snake, and they knew immediately who he was.
(“Orochimaru-teme.”)
Now that they were in the Sannin’s presence, they couldn’t do anything suspicious or else he’ll suspect something.
The okami demon looked up at Hiromi, who had perched there 15 minutes ago. (“Hiromi. Tell them that the snake had arrived.”)
She giggled in response and took off towards the forest.
Naruto tilted his head at Kouseki. “What was that all about?”
She just grinned in response, reciting the excuse they thought up of yesterday in private. (“The animals in the Forest of Death like to prank the ninja that pass through every once in a while, and that pale Grass-nin just so happens to be one of their targets.”)
What was really going to happen was that Hiromi would fly to the Hokage’s office and tell Sarutobi that Orochimaru had arrived by tapping his hand. She would stay there to lead anyone back to him later on.
Naruto just grinned at the thought of some animals being pranksters just like him, and Sasuke shook his head and sighed.
One by one, other teams started to gather around the entrance of Area 44, awaiting the next phase of the Chuunin Selection Exam. The bickering in the distance alerted Team Seven to Team Ten’s arrival, and Akina instinctively muffled any sound she heard coming from Ino. The last thing she needed right now was a distraction. Naruto and Sasuke, however, were not so lucky.
“Sasuke-kun! Are you ready for the next exam?” Hearts appeared in the Yamanaka’s eyes as she gazed lovingly at the Uchiha, who was now resisting the urge to twitch and retort. Naruto snickered in the background, obviously enjoying seeing his rival suffer.
Shikamaru and Chouji walked up to Naruto, Akina, and Kouseki, watching the scene unfold before their eyes. From the corner of his eyes, Sasuke saw Naruto snickering (and sensed his happiness through the link), sending him the infamous Uchiha glare.
Much to his dismay, it had no affect on the Uzumaki. Maybe he was using it too much on him…
In a whirl of leaves, Mitarashi Anko arrived, carrying a box of dango. The other examiners that were to help her arrived as well, situating themselves by the fence. She looked up at the gates and immediately noticed the genjutsu that Kenshiki put. She grinned before sitting on the booth’s table and looking out at the genin that had gathered so far.
Her golden pools swept over them all, but they focused more on the scene that the Rookie Nine were making, now that Kiba’s team had made it to the training area. Laughter shone in them.
“Crazy little kids…” she muttered, as Kiba and Naruto got into a shouting match. Shino and Hinata migrated over to the quieter group that had gathered around the blind ninja.
Akamaru hopped onto Kouseki’s head, barking a hello. She grunted, sparing a glance upwards before she returned to listening to the reports that the animals in the forest were shouting out towards each other. The smaller canine tilted his head as he listened in as well.
(“Are they pranking everyone again?”)
She scoffed. (“Of course. Why else do you think it’s called the Forest of Death? They don’t like anyone invading territory, and since they don’t have enough power to get them out forever they decided that making their lives a living hell while inside was good enough for them.”)
Akamaru shivered when he heard a particularly evil cackle coming from one of the larger ravens.
Sasuke finally managed to get Ino off of him, earning groans of disappointment from the two blondes, and, interestingly enough, Anko, who had been having fun watching the young Uchiha struggling with his biggest fan girl.
(“Areas 1-4 are secured!”)
(“Stryker Brigade is ready to go!”)
(“Areas 5-8 are secured! We’re waiting for 9 and 10.”)
There was a pause in the chatter while Sasuke walked towards the rock that Akina was sitting against, surrounded by Shikamaru, Chouji, Kouseki, Akamaru, Shino, and Hinata. Kiba and Naruto were still going at it and Ino was mentally berating herself for not trying hard enough to win over Sasuke.
There was a loud roar from the forest that made several genin jump. A few pairs of terror-filled eyes tried to pry into the darkness of the forest to identify the owner of the voice, but it was all for naught.
Silence again. (“They’re ready. Commence the operation.”)
“They’re really taking it seriously aren’t they? I wonder what they’re cooking up in there…” Apparently the boys had stopped arguing long enough for Naruto to send this thought to his team mates. A mischievous grin was plastered on his face at the thought of the topic “pranks.”
One of the chuunin whispered something in Anko’s ear. She grumbled something like “Finally, dammit. It was getting boring.”
“ALRIGHT, SHUT THE HELL UP AND PAY ATTENTION! It’s time for the second phase of the Chuunin Selection Exam!”
Almost immediately, any and all talking stopped.
“But before we start, I’m going to pass these out to everyone.”
She reached into her trench coat and pulled out a stack of consent forms. Many genin stared blankly at the papers, wondering why they needed them. Kouseki choked on her laughter.
(“Smart.”)
Anko cleared up any confusion by explaining herself. “These are consent forms. Those taking this exam must sign these.”
“Why?”
“From here on, people will die. Therefore, we need people’s consent before we continue. Otherwise, I’d be held responsible.” She grinned and laughed. “The paperwork would kill me!”
Naruto sweat dropped before remembering that Sarutobi also hated paperwork (sometimes when Naruto would prank the Hokage in his office, he would hear the old man grumbling to himself). He glanced at the sign that Anko was standing next to.
‘Warning. You may die.’
“…” “…” “…”
“Now, I will begin the explanation of the Second Exam. To make it simple, you will all go through an extreme survival match.” She handed the pile of consent forms to Naruto, who just happened to be standing the closest to her. He took one and passed it on.
Shikamaru got a paper and sighed to himself. An extreme survival match, eh? What a troublesome exam…
“First, I’ll explain the training area’s geographical features,” she unrolled a scroll which held a map of the forest and shows it to the genin. Sasuke’s Sharingan flickered on and off, engraving the picture of the map into his mind for future reference.
“The 44th training area is a circular region surrounded by 44 locked gate entrances. There is a ricer, a forest, and a tower in the middle. The tower is approximately 10 km away from the gates. Inside this limited space, you will have to go through a certain survival program. The program consists of…”
She rolled up the map, putting it away. “…a competition where anything goes…over these scrolls.”
Two small scrolls, one with black coloring and another with white, were shown. “The Scroll of Heaven and the Scroll of the Earth. You will fight over these scrolls. 26 teams in total passed the First Exam. Half of these teams will get the Scroll of Heaven. The other half will get the Scroll of the Earth. Each team will get one of these scrolls. Simply, you have to fight over these.”
“And?” Sasuke needed more information. “What’s needed to pass?”
“Bring the Scrolls of Heaven and Earth to the tower with your teammates.”
“Which means that at least 13 teams that get their scroll jacked will fail.” Sasuke and Akina heard Naruto snicker inside his mind.
“But you have to do it within the time limit of 120 hours. Or exactly five days.” She put away the scrolls.
“Five days?!”
“What about food?”
Mitarashi Anko shrugged. “Scrounge it up yourself. The forest is a treasure box of nature. There should be plenty of food.”
“However…” started Kabuto, “there are a lot of man-eating beasts (Kouseki snickered at this point), poison bugs, and poisonous plants.”
There were several sounds of complaint at this point, and other shinobi took the time to re-evaluate the rules.
“Also, it is not possible for 13 teams, or 39 people, to pass,” murmured Neji. Lee glanced at him and agreed.
“As time passes, to will be required to move more. So, the time to rest your body will be come shorter.” He grinned, letting his teeth sparkle. “This seems quite rough.”
“And we’re surrounded by enemies. We won’t be able to sleep in peace,” added Sasuke through their mind link.
“People will get hurt in the process of fighting over a scroll, and those who cannot bear this program’s strictness will emerge, as well.”
Shikamaru raised his hand. “Excuse me, can we quit in between?”
Naruto just grinned fondly at the familiar behavior that he was accustomed to during his Academy days. Kiba, Chouji, Shikamaru, and Naruto used to get in trouble together and had detentions at the same time. Akina and Kouseki (and whatever animals that were hanging around Akina at the time) were dragged into it sometimes, too, but they always mysteriously disappeared right before the boys got caught.
“As a rule, you are not allowed to give up during the exam. You will spend the five days in the forest.”
“Just as I thought…how troublesome.”
“While we’re on this topic, here are the conditions that will get you failed and kicked out of the exam. First, a team that cannot bring both scrolls to the tower with the three teammates will fail. Second, they need to be at least somewhat alive, as in still breathing and recoverable. That means you can’t lose any teammates.
Also, just a side note…you are not allowed to look inside the scrolls until you reach the tower.”
Naruto tilted his head, extremely interested in the exam. “What happens if you look?”
Her grin became wider and more sadistic—Naruto and Sasuke were reminded of Kouseki for some strange reason. “That’s a surprise you’ll see when you look at it.”
“If you become a chuunin, you will be handling top secret documents. We need to determine your reliability. That’s it for the explanation. We will exchange three consent forms for one scroll at that hut…(here she pointed) And after picking your gate entrance, everyone will begin at the same time.”
She sighed. “Here’s a last piece of advice. Don’t die.”
The large mass of genin split up into their respective cells. Sasuke leaned against the rock next to Akina and watched the examiners setting up a screen on the hut.
I see…So we don’t know what type of scroll each team has and which of the three is carrying it. It’s just like Ibiki said. In this exam, gathering information is done by putting your life on the line. Everyone is an enemy. He glanced around. Everyone’s determined. That means we will have to kill each other if needed.
Anko smirked at Sasuke. It looks like he understands the reason for the consent form.
Naruto immediately signed the form with a pencil from his ninja pouch. He wordlessly passed it on to his teammates, who did the same.
“I’ll pick the gate.”
The boys didn’t question her. After all, she was the “Nature Girl.” She of all people would know which entrance was best for them.
At least this way I can make sure that we get an entrance in the areas that me or Kenshiki went through… She was relieved to hear that they can actually pick their gates. Kenshiki was her trainee partner during their various training activities, so she should be able to predict where he would put his traps.
“Oi! Akina-chan!” Kiba waltzed over with his team. It looked like they already got their scroll. “We’re totally going to rule this phase, right?”
She nodded, remembering that Team 8 specialized in tracking and survival. “Good hunting, minna.”
Kiba grinned. “Thanks, but we don’t need it.”
Shino simply nodded, and Hinata squeaked out a “G-Good luck…” before they all went to their gate, which, much to Akina’s relief was far away from where she was planning to go. At least she would be sure that they would be safe from Orochimaru.
Team Seven walked up to the hut and received a Heaven scroll (which Sasuke pocketed, since Naruto’s pouch was already filled with…other things).
On the way to the gate that Akina picked, they passed by Team Ten. Akina pulled Shikamaru aside for a bit.
“Truce?”
Shikamaru stared dully at Akina (not that she can see, mind you) for a while, but she knew that he was thinking.
“Whatever…sure. Man, it’ll be troublesome trying to get Ino to agree…”
She nodded in thanks and continued toward their gate after telling Naruto and Sasuke what she did.
“What about Team 8?”
“Their gate is on the other side of the forest.”
“Besides, Kiba wouldn’t attack Akina-chan!”
Also…Hinata would refuse to fight you, Naruto…not that you know that. During the last year at the Ninja Academy, Akina spent more time getting to know Hinata, and she was told about her crush (after much blushing).
Anko looked up at the sun, then at her watch. She raised a hand, signaling the examiner nearest to her to get ready. The genin assigned to his gate also tensed, adrenaline running through their veins.
The hand dropped, and the gate opened. Like a chain reaction, all the examiners who heard it open did the same, until all the genin were released into the Forest of Death, and into the clutches of its beasts.
Team Seven jogged into the dark forest, going at a moderate pace while keeping an eye out for any threats.
A faraway scream made them screech to stop, and Akina tilted her head to find out what happened. “It’s Kiba’s team…they got their scroll.”
“Dammit, already?! It’s only been, what, 5 minutes?!”
She shrugged and led the way again.
Akina inwardly sighed as she realized that she was pretty much rushing into the Forest unprepared. Orochimaru was famous for having the legendary Kusanagi, a poisonous blade that can pierce even the thickest of demon hides, including dragon scales. It wouldn’t have bothered her if it wasn’t for the fact that Akina was half dragon. She would have contented herself to bringing a couple wakizashi, but that would have brought up too much suspicion, since she didn’t normally use blades in her genin life.
“I need to go pee.”
Almost immediately Kouseki’s brow twitched and she pointed towards the bushes with one of her large paws. He wordlessly obeyed after sticking his tongue out at the wolf. The youkai blew him a raspberry. Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his childish team mates.
Akina paid no heed to this and took the extra opportunity to scan the forest again. She noted an Ame-nin attempting to ambush Naruto while he was…relieving himself. He spluttered slightly at the timing of the attack, before hastily pulling up his pants and pulling out a kunai to defend himself.
Her attention went elsewhere when she saw that he was going to be okay. Sasuke seemed to notice the action going on nearby as well, since his hand was resting idly near his shuriken pouch.
A chirp from above told her that her first report since being in the forest was about to be given.
(“Akina-sama! The pale one is coming here at very fast speeds! Stay alert, I think he’s after your team!”) With that, the bird left to go spread the word.
She shifted uncomfortably when she sensed Orochimaru coming towards them in the disguise of a Grass-nin. Hiroki, Hiromi’s brother, was standing by to speed off towards the nearest Anbu when Orochimaru showed signs of attacking. She just had to hold him off and keep everyone relatively okay until they got here. She can at least do that.
But this is Orochimaru, the Snake Sannin. Overestimating myself and underestimating him will get Naruto, me, and Kouseki killed, and Sasuke will be marked. She was nervous, for the first time in a very long time.
Sasuke seemed to notice the condition of Akina’s nerves, and frowned inwardly. “Something wrong?”
Naruto trotted back into the clearing the other three were waiting in, dragging a tied up Ame-nin behind him. He was pouting.
“It’s a Heaven scroll. And what’s wrong with who?”
Akina just shook her head and got in control of her emotions again. “Don’t underestimate the pale Grass-nin.”
They nodded and let Akina lead the way. She was satisfied to notice that they were now entering the area where she had spent the most time yesterday when she was sent on the errand from Anko. She suddenly veered off towards the right, slightly confusing her teammates until they bothered to ask her why.
“Trap.”
What Enkou meant by “getting the training area ready” was to set traps and make the forest more intimidating and dangerous for the genin. And since Akina had picked the area where her own traps were located, she could use them to her advantage in the upcoming battle.
Speaking of which…
A sudden large gust of wind threatened to sweep them off their feet. Akina immediately angled herself to land near Sasuke when she noticed that the boys lost their grip. Kouseki did the same with Naruto, using her larger body mass to lessen the distance the two would land away from their teammates.
Sasuke groaned and rubbed the spot on his head where he hit a rock and took in his surroundings. What was that?
“Holy crap, that hurt…” Naruto seemed to have survived. He wasn’t too far away either.
The bushes parted near Sasuke, revealing Akina, sporting a wind-blown look. He deemed her the true Akina since he could feel the mind seals that connected them all on her.
He nodded towards her and they started to walk to where Naruto was when a Naruto look-alike appeared, running towards them.
“Ouch…Hey, everyone, are you okay?”
“Freeze. How do we know that it’s really you?” Sasuke took out a kunai and stood, ready to attack him. ‘Naruto’ just scowled at them.
“What are you talking about Sasuke? Of course it’s me!”
His answer was a kunai to the face, which he dodged by moving back and ducking. He skidded on his butt for a bit before spluttering a response.
“What are you doing?”
Sasuke scowled, now sure that this was the shinobi that Akina had warned them about.
“Naruto would never call me ‘Sasuke’; it’s always ‘teme’ or ‘Sasuke-teme’. And the movements he showed me when he dodged are different from Naruto. Show your real self, imposter.”
“Naruto, are you two okay?”
“I think so…my head hurts and---HOLY s**t THAT’S A HUGE SNAKE!”
The imposter smirked and licked his lips with an abnormally long tongue. “I see.”
In a poof of smoke the fraud was revealed to be the pale Grass-nin. “I see that you never let your guard down. Looks like I can have more fun that I expected.”
He licked his lips again, and Sasuke was reminded of a snake for some strange reason. He took out his team’s scroll. “You want our Scroll of Earth right? You three have the Scroll of the Heaven.”
Sasuke watched with a sort of sick fascination as he proceeded to swallow the scroll with the help with his snake tongue.
“Now let’s begin…The fight over our scrolls…By putting our lives on the line.”
The Grass-nin glared at them, and Akina felt a burst of killer intent coming from their opponent. Sasuke gasped and slumped slightly, panting. She instantly knew what had just happened. Why shouldn’t she know the trademark jutsu of Anbu?
Kanashibari no jutsu.
She tensed slightly, putting one of her hands on Sasuke’s shoulder and pinching him while taking out a kunai.
“Naruto. Leave the snake to Kouseki and come help us out.”
“Got it! Kouseki better beat the crap outta this thing. It almost ate me…”
The pout that was heard in his voice lessened Sasuke’s trauma slightly along with the slight pain of being pinched, and he was able to think more.
“Who is he…?”
“Ahh…I see that the young lady wasn’t affected by my little show…”
Akina saw that he was underestimating her. Good. I’ll need all the help I can get. The reason why she wasn’t affected was because when you use this technique, you usually need eye contact to transmit the bulk of your killer intent. Since Akina was blind, she just brushed off whatever was leftover since he needed to use eye contact with Sasuke (who had been staring at him).
She sifted through her memories and remembered something about the mind seals. She sent a command to the hidden seal on her forehead, and the seal on Sasuke’s head (under his hitai-ate) burned into his head, giving him enough of a distraction to release himself from the jutsu.
In a blur of leaves, Akina and Sasuke escaped into the trees.
“He’s not normal prey…”
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Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 12:38 pm
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Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 1:05 pm
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Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 7:14 pm
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Posted: Sun Jan 28, 2007 12:27 pm
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Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 8:28 am
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Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 3:58 pm
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Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 5:25 pm
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Quite recently I've gotten hooked on an online RPG called Flyff (Fly for fun), and already have a level 19 Assist (a healer). Sorry about not updating, sweatdrop . If anybody plays and wants my sn it's CrystalFang on the Glaphen server. I think that's how you spell it at least...
"Talking"
Thinking
"Telepathy through mind seal"
(“Animals communicating with humans” / "Telepathy with animals")
“Demonic Language” / Demon thinking / ’Demon talking telepathically to their jinchuuriki’
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
::;Seeing the Truth;::
Chapter 11: Snake Bite (Second Half)
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
“Yo, Kouseki-chan! Akina-chan says that you can handle big, scary, and hissy.”
The large wolf nodded and snarled at the summon into temporary submission, giving Naruto the perfect opportunity to leave.
“Ja!”
When he was gone, Kouseki grinned at the unfortunate snake that was about to meet her wrath. (“You picked a hell of a bad day to mess with me, hebi.”)
The snake seemed to laugh at the much smaller beast. (“And why isssss that?”)
(“No one messes with my pack, especially in these times.”) She howled a battle cry and disappeared into the shadows.
The snake tasted the air for the wolf, but couldn’t find her. A blur of black jumped out of the shadows and started slashing at his hide in many places, earning hisses of pain. Blood gushed out, spreading the scent towards the area where Akina and Sasuke were.
You shouldn’t underestimate a Rokubi no bijuu (six tailed demon), idiot.
She latched onto the back of his neck, sinking in her canines until she heard the crunch of the spine. The snake dropped onto the ground, exploding in a burst of white smoke to return to his home in Makai.
Kouseki scoffed at the lack of excitement the battle had before bounding towards the fight where she was needed.
Hang on, itoko-chan!
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
Akina and Sasuke dodged the snake’s fangs, pulling out shuriken. As one, they let them loose, embedding them inside its head and killing it.
The scales on its neck cracked, and from it emerged the Grass-nin. Akina and Sasuke sensed that Naruto had arrived and was hiding.
“You guys, that other snake was a summoning!”
Akina inwardly sighed. Now she can reveal who he was. “That means that this shinobi is Orochimaru, the legendary Snake Sannin—one of the Sandaime’s students. He’s the only male that can summon snakes and he’s a missing-nin.”
There were a couple gasps. “Don’t get bitten or poisoned.”
“Prey need to strain their minds all the time, and run around…in the presence of a predator.”
His body stretched to the length of a real snake and he twisted his way around the trunk, towards Sasuke. Akina shook her head and threw some shuriken in his path before jumping to help her teammate.
Sasuke jumped back and pulled out a kunai, activating his Sharingan. Akina landed next to him.
“Ah…the Sharingan…let’s test the full potential of that wonderful bloodline…” he licked his lips and blurred towards Sasuke and Akina. Both genin jumped back, but only Sasuke rushed in to fight.
He threw shuriken as he ran and threw a kick when he got close enough. Orochimaru dodged the shuriken and blocked the kick, forcing Sasuke to flip over him to avoid being countered. He skidded to a stop a good distance away.
Both adversaries raced towards each other, and Akina finally joined in by running behind Sasuke, circling chakra around her body.
Sasuke forced Orochimaru in disguise to block his attacks with both arms, giving Akina the opportunity to attack. She rushed forward with a palm thrust, managing to hit him on his left arm before he backed away.
The genin stood together, ready to attack again while their opponent took the time to assess his injury. That attack…was just like the Jyuuken…interesting. Interesting or not, his arm from the elbow down was beginning to go numb.
Akina blurred towards their target, taking control over of the winds. When she reached Orochimaru she threw a punch, but when he brought up his arm to bat it away, her arm went through him. His eyes widened slightly. Bunshin?
The real Akina appeared behind him, sending a series of palm thrusts. Some just barely grazed his body, giving him an uncomfortable feeling as he weaved in and out of the attacks. When they were at a stand still (Orochimaru had caught her arms, despite one of his own being half-numb) she breathed in and blew, using her air manipulation to turn it into a small typhoon. Orochimaru let go and was blown back towards, slamming into another tree while Akina caught her breath.
He got up from the hole his body had made in the tree, shaking his head to clear the fuzziness. Just as he was about to rush in towards the girl, an orange blur punched him back again. Naruto appeared in front of Orochimaru and gave another punch before retreating back towards Akina.
The older shinobi sent a Fuuton jutsu towards the two smaller genin, who separated to dodge. Naruto scowled when he saw that the Grass-nin was focusing on Akina. While Akina was bust dodging the swipes from his kunai, Naruto took out his own and threw it, making a cross-seal.
“Kage Kunai Bunshin no jutsu!”
One turned into one hundred as metal rained down on the fighting pair.
They didn’t bother Akina, who used her ‘bloodline’ to change the course of all the weapons heading towards her. She veered them towards Orochimaru, who now had to dodge her chakra powered palm thrusts as well.
When it was over, Naruto jumped from his perch and threw an axe-kick down at Orochimaru. Akina jumped back and threw a few shuriken to get Orochimaru into a position to get hit. He dodged towards the left, and into Naruto’s range.
The Grass-nin dodged at the last moment, only to be grabbed on the waist by Sasuke, shooting them both down towards the ground. He wrapped his legs around the shinobi and trapped his arms, pile-driving his head into a fast-approaching tree branch. Akina increased their speed with her wind, giving more damage.
“Hayabusa Otoshi (Peregrine Falcon Drop).”
“Nice one, teme.”
Akina shook her head from her place next to Naruto. “We’re not done yet.”
The Grass-nin’s body quivered a bit before limping. Sasuke let go and jumped back several yards, carefully watching the body, but staying alert for any other attacks. The body shivered some more before gaping and turning into a pile of mud.
“A replacement.”
Akina and Naruto intercepted the many volleys of kunai that were heading towards Sasuke, moving downwards while throwing their weapons. The long-haired ninja shook his head at them and summoned a large snake, twice as big as the others, to stall them. Naruto yelled out in frustration as he was forced to dodge the fanged beast.
(“It’s time to play, gakissssssss!”)
Sasuke grunted when he was suddenly punched in the face, still far below his teammates, and received several more hits before he was thrown back, skidding to a stop near the trunk.
The effeminate shinobi walked towards Sasuke, frowning. “That was too easy. You’re not living up to the name of Uchiha. Oh well, I’m going to slowly beat you, and then kill you…just like a bug.”
From up above, the snake was keeping the genin busy, but Naruto saw what was going to happen to his rival. KUSO! I need to go help him!
Rage was directed at the summoning, and Kyuubi’s chakra started circulating through his system. Akina gasped at the familiar feeling and fought to control her demonic urges and the blood lust. Kouseki appeared behind Akina, laying one of her paws on her feet to help her fight the urge to cause a massacre.
Naruto snarled, slashing at the snake’s face with his newly formed claws. Blood gushed out of the new wounds, forcing the snake to retreat back to Makai. The jinchuuriki rushed down towards his wounded teammate just as the mini explosive tags that Sasuke set on Orochimaru’s robes exploded, giving the Uchiha a chance to back off for a bit.
When Orochimaru flew back, Naruto appeared above him in a blur of speed, glaring with his red, narrowed eyes and growling. He rained down punch after punch that slightly stunned Orochimaru as he dodged the blurred attacks.
So he is the Kyuubi brat…
He dodged a spinning kick and grabbed the outstretched leg with his long tongue, flinging him towards a tree. Naruto flew, but righted himself, pushing off the tree and flying back at Orochimaru. The Sannin in disguise sent another gust of wind at Naruto, making him hover in midair for a bit.
Narrowing his crimson eyes, Naruto roared, sending a shock wave that canceled out the other technique. He landed and rebounded off the tree branch towards Orochimaru, who crossed his arms to block the chakra-enhanced punch. He skidded back from the force of the punch.
Sasuke’s eyes widened slightly. Is that Naruto?
Naruto slashed upwards with his other hand, making several cuts on Orochimaru’s arm appear before the Sannin spun and kicked Naruto away. While the jinchuuriki flew, the anger finally started to fade away, but the Kyuubi no Kitsune’s chakra lingered.
A long tongue caught him, and Orochimaru put his hand behind his back. Naruto struggled in his grip, growling all the while.
“OI! LET GO YOU b*****d!”
He brought Naruto closer with his tongue, and slammed his open hand, which had 5 element kanji surrounded by purple fire, into the boy’s exposed stomach, where the seal just so happened to be showing.
Gogyo Fuin (Five Elements Seal)!
The demonic chakra receded, and the demonic features that came with it went away as well. Red faded into a blank blue, and Naruto’s body slumped, unconscious.
The Sannin threw his body away, and Akina, who had just managed to overcome her demonic instincts now that the fox’s chakra was gone, disappeared, reappearing underneath Naruto’s motionless body and sticking to the side of the tree. She ran back up and lay Naruto down next to Kouseki, who whined slightly and licked the boy’s cheek.
Meanwhile, Sasuke had his shuriken ready. He jumped high and backwards, releasing several volleys of triple-bladed shuriken tied to wires towards the snake-summoner. He held the wires and used his Sharingan to control the shuriken as it wrapped around multiple trees and bound the Grass-nin in a strong hold. Orochimaru tried to move his hands, but found that he couldn’t now that Akina had reinforced the hold with her air manipulation.
Satisfied, Sasuke stabbed the kunai anchors into the branch he was standing on and bit down on the wire that led to the other shinobi’s face while forming the hand seals for his newest fire jutsu.
Katon: Ryuuka no jutsu (Fire Element: Dragon Fire)!
Fire exploded from Sasuke’s body and surrounded him in the form of an inferno. He blew, and the fire raced down the wire and engulfed their enemy, as well as the tree he was trapped in. He let the jutsu continue for a few seconds before cutting off the chakra supplying it.
Akina noticed which tree Orochimaru was stuck in and threw a chakra-enhanced shuriken at Orochimaru. It went through the flames and landed with a thunk on the trunk next to his screaming face.
Sasuke, panting slightly from the chakra use, sent a questioning look towards her. "Why did—"
BOOOOOOM!!!
That explosion set off the other exploding seals that were set around that area, making a chain reaction and completely obliterating the tree the Sannin was trapped against as well as the surrounding area.
She gritted her teeth, intercepting another Fuuton technique with her wind manipulation from her place next to Kouseki and Naruto. Out from the dying flames stepped the ‘Grass-nin’, but his face looked melted. He made the monkey seal and glared at Sasuke, freezing him yet again with a burst of killer intent.
“I’m impressed that you can use your Sharingan so well at your age. You live up to the name of Uchiha.” He put his hand over his headband, and when he took it off it had turned into the symbol of the Sound.
“I want you after all.”
(“Holy s**t that sounded so wrong.”) mumbled Kouseki. Akina shushed her and got ready to spring into action.
“You two are definitely brothers. Your eyes say that you carry more potential than Itachi.”
This made Sasuke surprised (and angry) enough to overcome the paralysis slightly to gape at him at the mention of his aniki.
“Who are you?!”
He took out his Earth scroll and held it in front of him. Akina quickly took out a dummy scroll and used Kawarimi to switch the two, putting the Earth scroll in her ninja pouch. The Oto-nin smiled evilly, not noticing the switch.
“My name is Orochimaru. If you wish to see me again, get through this Exam if your life depended on it.” The scroll in his hand slowly started to burn as green fire ate at it. “In other words, you’ll have to defeat my subordinates, the three Sound ninja.”
He made a hand seal, which stretched his neck. His head moved towards Sasuke at high speeds, aiming at his neck. Sasuke gasped as he remembered Akina’s warning from the beginning of the battle, which seemed oh so long ago when it had really only been about 15 or 20 minutes.
--“Don’t get bitten or poisoned.”--
Just as he was about opened his mouth to bite down, Akina appeared in between the two males, taking the attack instead of Sasuke. Orochimaru’s fangs went into the point where her neck and shoulder met. Her body shuddered from the pain.
Orochimaru inwardly cursed, now that he had gotten the wrong target. Well at least he got someone strong, if their fight from earlier was any clue. There was only one problem.
Why did she taste like wood?
Akina’s body turned into a large log, covered in so many explosive notes that there was not a patch of brown in sight. His eyes widened.
“Wha---!”
KAAAAAAAAAA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!
The resulting explosion engulfed the entire section of the forest, creating such a large dome of fire that it could be seen from the village. It started spinning, transforming into a flaming tornado that reached up into the skies. The tornado span for another ten seconds before dissipating.
Kouseki had appeared behind Sasuke with Naruto on her back, she grabbed the other boy before fleeing the scene, the fire just behind them. Sasuke finally got his senses back and ran next to Kouseki. Akina appeared on the other side of Kouseki, panting hard and having to deal with a large headache. Through the pain, she smirked inwardly.
If that doesn’t get the Anbu to move faster, then I don’t know what will. But that will only stall Orochimaru. I doubt that this will kill him…
They stopped for a bit, satisfied at the distance they put between Orochimaru and them. (“We need to get some shelter.”)
He nodded slightly just as a large black panther appeared in front of them.
(“Kouseki-sama, Akina-sama, is everything alright?”) The panther, who was slightly smaller than the wolf, was staring wide-eyed at the large section of forest that had been reduced to charred dirt.
(“The snake Sannin did it…oi, is there anywhere we can spend the night? We’ve had a hell of a long day…”)
The big cat nodded and started leading the way. Kouseki, Akina, and Sasuke followed. To Akina’s insistence, Sasuke was riding behind Akina on Kouseki, seeing as she was the size of a large horse. Naruto was held in Akina’s arms as they moved at a quick pace.
(“Hai. There is shelter about a mile ahead, surrounded by many traps. There’s a river another mile away from there, also.”)
Kouseki nodded, inwardly suspecting that Akina had something to do with that for some odd reason. She did say that she was the one that put all the traps in this area… As they jumped, a couple other panthers joined their party, serving as an escort through their forest.
Sasuke’s eyelids started to droop slightly from exhaustion, but when he heard faint hissing from far, far behind him, they snapped open, determined to get his team to safety. He glanced back, now a little paranoid.
A small snake riding a hawk came into view behind them, and in the hawk’s talons was an Earth scroll. The snake nodded towards the strange group.
(“Akina-ssssssama. The Stryker Brigade has succeeded.”) The two flew next to the running Kouseki, dropping the scroll into Akina’s outstretched hand. They disappeared as Akina handed the scroll to Sasuke, who accepted it, putting it in his ninja pouch.
They reached a large hollowed out tree stump after passing through layer upon layer of traps that forced Akina to get off of Kouseki to lead the way (since she was the one that set them, but Sasuke didn’t know that).
The group landed in the small clearing, and the panthers immediately separated and sat themselves at strategic places so that they can guard them. Akina set down Naruto’s body inside the stump before rubbing her temples due to the stress of using her manipulation so much, especially after turning the dome of fire into a tornado.
Sasuke unhooked Naruto’s ninja pouch and rest the orange-clad boy’s head on it before sitting down himself. Akina nodded towards him.
“I’ll go get water; the beasts will get food.”
With that, she walked out of the clearing, carefully avoiding her own traps. Sasuke realized just how much mental stress that using her ‘bloodline’ gave her, since she actually talked instead of using their mind link.
He sighed before lying down on his own ninja pouch, turning on his side.
Kouseki glanced at him from her resting place near the entrance to their little hideout. (“You okay there Sasuke?”) she whispered, so that the panthers wouldn’t hear. He grunted slightly, before allowing the darkness to takeover.
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
Akina dived through a complex web of wires, doing multiple flips and spins to avoid setting anything off. She weaved in between another set of traps before landing in front of a small steam that led to the main river of the Forest of Death.
She took out their water canteens and leaned down, filling them up. Thinking back on the battle with the snake Sannin, she nodded in slightly satisfactory. She didn’t have to show her true strength (since Orochimaru didn’t expect it), and no one was marked by his Curse Seal.
The only problem is the seal on Naruto…
A shadow appeared behind Akina as she finished getting the water. She straightened, about-faced, and snapped her hand up in a salute.
The shadow revealed itself to be the Anbu Commander himself. He nodded and moved his fingers in their secret sign language.
At ease. Report.
Hai. Objective accomplished. Sasuke was protected and no Cursed Seals were given. The enemy fought at ¼ his power, and we were able to flee after giving a distraction.
Here the Anbu sweat dropped slightly at the ‘distraction’ she was referring to. The other Anbu said that it had some of the villagers in a panic for a few minutes, and everyone in the forest must have been gaping at it. It was hard not to see it.
Naruto was given the Five Element Seal and I don’t have the ability to unseal it.
Her report ended, and she put her hands to her sides. Her Commander thought for a moment before nodding.
Hokage-sama can unseal it in the Tower when you arrive. Good job; continue the mission.
Akina saluted again. Hai!
He disappeared back into the shadows, leaving Akina all alone. She tilted her head slightly. He must have come here himself to make sure that Orochimaru was gone. I couldn’t tell if they caught him or not, though…probably not.
She sighed silently and rubbed at her head before walking back. A tiger walked towards her before she went too far and dropped a deer carcass at her feet. Akina bowed towards him.
“Arigatou Tora-san.”
He nodded and left.
Akina checked her surroundings and deemed it uninhabited before pointing at the meat. A spark of chakra jumped off of her finger, turning into a small dragon that circled around its prey, cooking the meat. The Anbu trainee used her air manipulation to keep smoke from appearing and the smell from spreading. A few minutes later, it was done. The blood was cleaned up.
She used her air manipulation for the last time that night by levitating the meat and bringing it back to her team’s hideout.
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
Mitarashi Anko growled in frustration now that they were sure that Orochimaru had gotten away. She punched the tree trunk before crossing her arms and glaring at nothing in particular. The Anbu operatives that were assigned to aid her backed off slightly at the murderous aura that was surrounding the snake-user.
Goddammit…he got away…and I didn’t even get to see him face to face so that I can at the very least yell at him or somethin’…
Her hazel eyes looked at the acres upon acres of ashes in front of her before she snorted. Well at least I can basically guarantee that he was at least hurt during his little visit here… The remains of an explosive seal blew by in front of her face, making her smirk maliciously. I gotta thank that midget that set the traps in this area…she did pretty damn good for a chibi-chan.
“Mitarashi-san. We need to get to the tower.”
Anko waved off the urgency in the Anbu’s voice. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Let’s get going.”
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
Sasuke and Akina ate in silence, when Akina sneezed a little. Someone must be talking about me behind my back…
The sudden noise seemed to snap Sasuke out of his quiet brooding. He looked over at the quiet girl.
“Why?”
Akina seemed to understand what his question was. He was asking why Orochimaru had been after them. It wasn’t recommended to tell him about Orochimaru, but Akina knew from experience that Sasuke didn’t like things ‘done for his own good’, especially if he didn’t know why.
“Orochimaru’s dream is to be immortal and learn all the jutsu in the world. He intended to steal your Sharingan and use it to accomplish it.”
There was silence while Sasuke thought over what he was just told. He clenched his fist until it turned white. He was just toying with us… As he thought back he remembered what Orochimaru had said about Itachi and him. How does he know the b*****d? How dare he mention that name in front of my face…
Akina knew enough to leave him alone at times like these, so she finished eating and walked towards one of the big cats.
“Watch out for the Sound Genin. They have the symbol of a musical note on their hitai-ate.”
The panther nodded before passing the message to the others.
Akina walked back to their shelter, passing by Sasuke and briefly putting a hand on his shoulder. “We have a long day tomorrow. We have to get to the tower since we have both scrolls, so please get some sleep.”
She left him alone and went into the tree stump to sleep. Hopefully, by tomorrow morning this headache will be gone and I can think without feeling like Gamabunta-sama stomped on my head.
Sasuke didn’t reply and continued to brood, but the sense that she made in that request got to him. If I ever want to kill him, then first I need to survive this Exam…
He looked around him to make sure they were safe before turning in for the night as well. He lay down on the other side of Akina, closer towards the entrance (the order is: entrance, Sasuke, Akina, Naruto), and climbed into his black sleeping bag, using his ninja pouch as a pillow.
Thoughts of Orochimaru, his lost clan, and his once-loved older brother prevailed as his mind drifted into the darkness.
Akina was awake, sensing Sasuke finally falling asleep.
Sasuke…I wonder when you can finally leave the past behind and move on…
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Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 1:06 pm
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Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 4:23 pm
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Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 3:52 pm
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Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 6:32 pm
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That's great! biggrin . And yeah, dragonlady, that was one of my favorite quotes from that chapter as well.
But anyways, I just logged in to inform you guys that...I'm sick. crying . I think I got physically sick from lack of sleep, and in turn caught a slight fever plus a runny nose and slightly sore throat. What is that, the flu? >_>;;. I knew I should have gotten a...a...shot (shudders).
And as such, I will not be updating anything until I get better. I had to go to school today to do a Math test...(pokes the paper like it's a monster) I swear these things shouldn't be made...(sighs) I should have been home today, lounging in my bed and watching TLC. Or National Geographic if I could find it. For some reason the shoe "Dog Whisperer" appeals to me, xD.
I'm planning on getting a PS2, also. If you have any game suggestions (I'm getting Tales of the Abyss and a DDR for sure!), please tell me and I'll check it out.
And...man, I forgot what I was about to add. gonk . Wait for it...THERE WE GO! I finally decided a name for my other story. "Resurrection" sounds nice enough, and I checked on FF.net...there are only 9 other Naruto fanfictions that have Resurrection in its title. BUAHA! It's not cliche! whee . I'm going to go change the title now.
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Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 7:17 am
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Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 1:42 pm
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Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 8:58 am
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