Author's Note: Read me! This is just the list of jutsus that Akima was able to learn... just so you know. And also so that you can know what they mean. Some of them I don't know what their exact English name is...so... yeah. Deal with it. By the way, all of them are completely random, except for Kage Bunshin... meaning I just selected some episodes and fast-forwarded until someone did a justu.
Kawarimi- this is the switching technique where you put something in your place to take an enemy's attack
Kage Bunshin (Shadow Replication)- creates multiple real bodies that can do damage and will disappear when hit strongly enough
Suijinheki (Water Wall)- creates a wall of water. Duh.
Goukakyuu (Blazing Fireball)- this creates (gasp) a big blazing fireball.
Shinjuuzanshu- pulls an enemy underground so that only their head is above it
Karyuu Endan (Fire Dragon Flame Missile)- a big fireball. Oh, the originality. This one is supposed to be a lot bigger than the other one. It's also only partially learned, depending
on how you look at it, considering Akima hasn't successfully completed it yet.
Review Responses:
Lady Eden Your Gift from Death- Yay! It makes me happy when people review and says my story is good. I'm sorry about your dog. I hope he/she feels better. Do your best to update on your story!
purple-otter- Yay, another compliment. Am I really the first??? Ok, I doubt it. But thanks anyways. Oog, Akima seems a bit Mary-Sue to me... be sure to point out things that need to be changed and whatnot. Boo on Mary-Sues!! Ahh, grenades?? Labtops?? How would poor Akima explain those? But you're right, it would make it cool.
SHiZuNe-ChaN- Yikes!! I updated I updated!! Thanks for reviewing!
Dragon Man 180- Whee for the kitty cat!! Hm... as for whether Akima will be saved by Team 7... read and find out!
Brelle- Hmm, you reviewed my first chapter... did u read the rest? Read this one and review!! "Your story rocks!" w00t. I feel happy.
TehRadicalEdward- Hee, Sakura-bashing (kind of) in this chapter. W00t! Itachi, careless?? Well, yeah... I dunno, I couldn't let Akima die, now could I? C ya at school! (Bleh. I procastinate on hw a lot. Boo on AP Hist!)
DarkMoon
I felt quite sick when I awoke, groggily peeking open my sticky eyelids. The sunlight streamed through the treetops right into my eyes, causing me to quickly snap them shut. 'Why am I so tired?' I thought, turning over onto my side. 'I was training... must have fallen asleep.'
"Hey, brat. Wake up." An unfamiliar female voice said sharply.
"Wha?" I grumbled and sat up, keeping my half-adjusted eyes partly closed.
"Drink this. Come on, hurry up and take it. We don't have all day." She, whoever it was, said, and a bowl of funny-smelling liquid came into vision.
I sat up and took it, but didn't drink it. Instead I turned to the speaker. She wore a brown and green camouflage outfit. It reminded me of the soldiers in the war movies back home. Her pants stretched half-way down her shins and ended in those white bandages that I recalled Kakashi wore. Her shirt went similarly half-way down her forearm and also had bandages, though these were a forest green-ish color. Her hair was black and pulled back into a ponytail that fell about a foot down her back. Coal-black eyes regarded me with caution from underneath slightly curved eyelashes.
"Hurry up and drink." She said coldly.
I sniffed the concoction suspiciously. The very smell made me feel nauseous, and my head reeled. My poor sensitive nose couldn't take it, and "AH-CHOO!" I sneezed.
The scary lady glared, for I had just sneezed right into the bowl... and it was now contaminated.
"Uhh...sorry..." I sniffled and snorted. My eyes were teary. Apparently I was allergic to something in there...
"Drink it anyways." She said, calmly.
"I think I'm allergic to it-" I managed to get out before I sneezed loudly again, remembering to turn my head to the side this time.
"Listen, brat. Demons don't HAVE allergies. Stop faking and drink up, before I force you." She snarled, eyes flashing.
I stared at her wide-eyed, as if noticing her fully for the first time. Then...
"I'm not a demon!"
She said nothing, threateningly reaching for her kunai holster. I didn't say anything either. Why did she think I was a demon? Oh... she probably meant Naruto. Traveling with Itachi and Kisame...yes, it made sense. They had thought I was Naruto and kidnapped me, probably to ransom me or something from the Akatsuki. Though, that didn't seem quite right. Akatsuki didn't pay ransoms... if they wanted something, they would get one of their members to do it. And where were Itachi and Kisame for that matter? And where am I, and how did I get here?
But what mattered right now was the fact that she was ever-so-slowly pulling out the ninja knife. What could I do? Then I felt a sneeze coming on again... Perfect timing. I could use my handicap to my advantage (eh, oxymoron? Kind of.)
"AH-CHOO!" I made sure to sneeze right into her face.
"Eeeww!" The reaction was immediate; her hand automatically forgot about the kunai and reached up to wipe my spit off her face. Before she had time to recover, I splashed the liquid in the bowl in the general direction of her eyes and then drew back and threw it like a Frisbee at her head.
(KLONK)
I had good aim, and she fell down unconscious. Taking my chance, I ran for it.
But before I had gotten 10 feet, the man I recognized from last night materialized in front of me. I skidded to a halt and sharply changed directions to the right, but he still managed to stay to the outside of me, forcing me to curve slowly back to where I had started... I faked a left turn and he slowed down, ready to catch me, but I quickened my sprint and was barely able to skirt him.
I ran as fast as I could, but he said something I couldn't quite hear and suddenly my legs were bound by the earth. I struggled violently, cursing, but I couldn't budge an inch. I was caught.
With Kakashi and co.
Naruto had gotten over the seriousness of his sensei and now was annoying everyone with his unstoppable questions.
"Hey, hey, Kakashi-sensei!! How much longer do you think it will take for us to catch and beat the crap out of the bad guys?"
"I don't know." Kakashi answered, having blanked out Naruto's questions for the past mile or so when they had become unbearable.
"Can we at least get an estimate?" Sasuke said, causing Kakashi to actually pay attention. After all, Sasuke was Kakashi's favorite student. "It would be beneficial to know the distance so that we may prepare for ambushes."
"The blood had not yet dried, they shouldn't be too far ahead. Maybe a few miles, depending on how fast they're moving." Kakashi answered.
Naruto glowered. 'Stupid Sasuke. Stupid Kakashi-sensei. He always favors Sasuke! Why does he answer Sasuke and not me?' Naruto wanted to throw a temper tantrum, so he did.
"Sasuke, you baka!"
"What? You total idiot, what did I do now?" Sasuke answered teasingly. Ohhhhh, he knew why Naruto was mad alright. It just goes to show who was better.
"You complete a-" Naruto started but was cut off sharply by Sakura, who screamed as a kunai thudded into her leg.
Back with Akima...
"Well, now, where did you think you were going, missie?" the strange man asked me, as I continued to struggle fruitlessly against the earth that bound my legs. He looked a little like the 1st Hokage, except his hair was short and spiky and his eyes were full of malice. He wore a maroon long sleeve shirt with a green vest and black pants that ended in white bandages. I was about to do something vulgar like stick my finger at him or spit on his face, but a far-off scream caught my attention.
"Ahh, it appears that my trap has provided results. If you were expecting to be rescued, note that scream carefully..."
I knew that neither Itachi nor Kisame screamed like a girl, so it wasn't them. Actually, I doubted that they would even be coming after me... I slumped slightly at that thought, and the scary man took that as his victory.
"Now then, where has my idiot of a partner gotten to?" He turned around and scanned the forest, then began to walk off.
I grabbed my chance. Quickly forming some seals, I slammed my hands into the ground on my legs and said, "Doton, Shinjuuzanshu no jutsu!"
He whipped around, but fell into the hole that suddenly appeared underneath him. The earth quickly caved in, and he was stuck.
I let out a sigh. Now we were both stuck, and the other lady was knocked out. "Looks like a draw." I said, glaring at his smirking face. Wait, smirking?
(POOF) He disappeared. My jaw dropped. Bunshin no jutsu? Must be... then where was he?
"That was rather naughty." A voice hissed into my ear, and I felt cold metal on my neck. I didn't dare to move, but closed my jaw hurriedly.
"Now then, you will follow my orders without question. Understood?" The kunai moved away a little so that I could speak without cutting myself.
"...yes."
"Good. Put your hands behind your back." I did as I was told, mentally scolding myself for being so easily tricked by such a low class jutsu. Or had it been Kage Bunshin?
My hands were tightly bound, and only then did the earth crumble around my feet, releasing me.
"Walk straight forward. Any attempts to escape..." A dramatic pause. "Will be dealt with severely..." A couldn't help but give a small shudder. Believe it or not, I would give almost anything to be with the two friendlier S-class criminals right now.
He marched me back to the campsite, where the lady I had hit with the bowl was just gaining consciousness.
"Defeated by a kid, huh?" he snickered. She glared up at him, then gave an even more furious glare at me. "How did it happen?" he asked, not concealing his amusement.
She blushed and said indignantly, "That demon kid sneezed on me! You would get distracted too!"
"Not to the point that I wouldn't notice a bowl flying at my face." He remarked, eyeing the cracked bowl lying upside down on the ground.
She grumbled something indecipherable and then stood up. "So, what about our pursuers?" she asked, avoiding eye contact.
"I took care of them... We can rest here today, and get a few answers." He glanced over at me, who was standing obediently on his right side. I wanted to glare, but I was too curious as to what he was talking about.
Back with Kakashi and co...
Sakura fell from the tree, which was both good and bad. It was good because the whole new set of kunais buried into the tree branch where she had been a second before, bad because she was going to hit the ground and die. But, Kakashi moved with lightning speed and caught her, then yelled, "Everyone, down here!"
Sasuke dived down as something exploded right behind him, and Naruto did likewise.
More explosions sounded as the traps went off. When Sasuke and Naruto got to the ground, Kakashi shoved Sakura, who was currently bleeding badly and hyperventilating into Naruto's arms and shouted, "Bind her wound and stay here, I'm going to disable the traps!" and then leaped back into the currently burning tree branches.
"Sakura-chan! Hold on!" Naruto shouted as he laid her gently on the ground. "Sasuke, get the bandages!"
Sasuke opened his pack and pulled out the roll, and said, "Hold her leg, Naruto. I'll try to bind that wound."
Sasuke pulled out the kunai carefully, then wrapped the bandage tightly around the cut. Sakura shrieked in pain and then passed out.
"Sakura-chan..." Naruto whimpered. Her bandages were already turning red.
Sasuke said nothing. She had ever been hurt this badly before.
Kakashi flipped out of a tree and said hurriedly, "Everyone ok?"
"Sakura has passed out. I believe that when she recovers, she will not be able to walk for awhile. We should take her to the hospital." Sasuke said. Kakashi nodded.
"The nearest hospital is only a mile that way in the Hidden Wave. That's the way we were going anyway. Now, I'll carry Sakura, let's hurry." Kakashi scooped up the unconscious Sakura and darted off. Naruto and Sasuke followed wordlessly.
In Hidden Wave Hospital.
Sakura was lying in bed, sleeping peacefully. The doctors had convinced a worried Team 7 that she would be just fine after a week or two. However, Kakashi knew that they didn't have a week or two to spare, and that their foe was probably getting farther and farther away each minute. But, he couldn't just leave Sakura here, alone...
The answer was right outside the hospital.
"Naruto!!"
Naruto perked up from his slouching position and instantly recognized the child running up to him. "Inari! How have you been?"
"Great! But... why were you in the hospital?" Inari asked, suddenly concerned.
"Ohhh," Naruto's good mood disappeared. "Sakura-chan is hurt..."
"Oh my!" Tsunami, Inari's mother walked up. "Did I just hear you say your friend is hurt?"
"Yeah... we have to go in with the mission, but we can't leave her here by herself..." Naruto said.
"Don't say another word! We will take care of her!" Tsunami instantly said, clenching a fist.
"R-really? That would make everything-" Naruto started, but Inari cut in and said,
"Naruto! She said not to say another word! We're going to go in right now!"
and with that, Tsunami and Inari rushed off.
Tsunami poked her head out of the door and yelled, "Don't even think about following us! You have a mission to do!" and the door slammed.
"Well, that's settled. I guess I'd better send a letter back to Konoha to tell them to pick up Sakura..." Kakashi began, but two more familiar people showed up.
"Naruto!" It was Lee and Neji.
"Fuzzy Eyebrows! Neji! What are you doing here? And where's Tenten?" Naruto asked.
"Tenten's sick, and we're...picking up groceries..." Neji sighed. He glared at Naruto. "Because of YOU, I still have to do D-class missions."
Naruto was about to respond with a witty retort when a sudden idea struck him. "Want to go on an A-class mission with us?"
Kakashi immediately stepped in. "No, they do not. Gai would kill me, and plus, it's too dangerous."
But Neji had already made up his mind to go, and Lee's eyes flamed at the word 'dangerous'.
So, Kakashi eventually gave in to their requests and sent off a letter to Gai explaining where his students were and giving instructions to pick up Sakura. All the while, he was muttering under his breath, "Gai will kill me, Gai will kill me..."
With Akima
The man that looked like the First had gone off somewhere again, saying that he 'had to get supplies'. I sat quietly against a tree, while the scary lady cooked up another nauseating mixture. I was given this opportunity to see what went into the potion, and it made me very glad I hadn't drunk the first one. She put in a lot of funny looking plants, a few weeds, and I swear she put in some kind of bug, though she tried to hide it from me. I didn't recognize a single one of the plants... but they looked and smelled poisonous. Then, to top it all off, she took out a little vial and dumped a white powder into the soup, then mashed all of it together with a mortar and pestle.
'Absolutely no way in hell they're going to get me to drink that.' I thought, shaking my head slightly.
"Ok, demon, eat it." She held the bowl up near my mouth and waited for me to open up. After all, I can't eat with my hands tied behind my back. Understandably, I kept my mouth zipped shut.
"Fine then, resist and see what happens." She held the bowl with her right hand and pinched my nose shut.
I hadn't been expecting that, and hadn't had a very good breath. Immediately, it seemed, I needed a breath of air. But, as soon as I opened my mouth, I knew that slime was going in it. So, this was a problem easily solved once you think about it. I opened just the corner of mouth and breathed that way.
Glaring, she let go of my nose and grabbed my chin, fiercely wrenching down. I hadn't been clenching since I had been breathing through that opening, and my jaw easily opened. But just because something goes into my mouth doesn't mean it wasn't going right back out.
(SPLTH) (I'm sorry, I can't think of a good spitting sound)
For the second time that day, she was drenched in my spit. This did not go down too well.
"I'll kill you, you f-ing brat!" She took out a kunai and slammed it into the tree where my head had been a split second ago. Luckily, I had rolled to the side, and, sitting in a cross-legged position, I rolled back a little and jumped up. Of course, Scary Lady came after me with little shurikens, which she threw swiftly at me. I ducked and almost lost my balance. 'Shit, I need to cut these ropes somehow.' I thought, zigzagging back and forth. It was a little like dodgeball, really, except 'out' equals 'extreme pain and probably death'.
Scary Lady had run out of shurikens, and started doing some kind of jutsu. I took my chance to back up to a tree with a shuriken stuck in it, and started feverishly sawing at the ropes.
"Ninpou, Earth Claws Technique (Yeah... I made this up... and I know it sounds stupid. Shut up.) Four claws ripped out of the ground and sped towards me.
'Hurry up, hurry up!' The rope was almost done, just a few more seconds... I heard a snap, and stepped quickly to the side. The earth claws smacked into the trunk of the poor tree and reduced it into splinters. Then they fell onto the ground, returning into harmless clods of dirt.
Seizing my chance while she was vulnerable, I grabbed a kunai from the bark of a tree next to me and sent it flying towards her, then formed seals as quickly as I could. She dodged it easily, despite her exhaustion, and charged straight forward at me, and slammed her fist into my face. I fell backwards, nose bleeding profusely.
"See, brat, you shouldn't have messed with me." She chuckled evilly.
"I grinned up at her, blood dribbling from the edges of my mouth, and said one word.
"Stupid."
She gaped as my body poofed into a piece of tree trunk. "Kawarimi?"
I jumped at her from behind, followed by four other me's. "Not only that, but..."
She gave another chuckle. "You think you can defeat me with Bunshins? Don't make me laugh. I can tell which is real if I look closely."
I simply gave a group, "Ha!" and continued rushing forward.
'I...I can't tell which one! Is this really Bunshin no jutsu?" she thought, horrified. Then she spotted that only one of the me's had a kunai. 'Must be that one... gotcha!'
I couldn't help but laugh as she charged at my clone. ' I don't believe this... it's too easy! Is she really a ninja?' I thought as I snatched up another kunai.
"You're mine!" she screamed in fury, stabbing my clone ferociously.
"Close!" I called, as the shadow clone disappeared in a puff of smoke. Then I slammed my kunai right in between her wide eyes, as hard as I could. Blood poured out in rivers, and she fell.
"I...I didn't mean to do that..."
"No... it's not real...c'mon, she used Kawarimi! Disappear!"
She didn't disappear. She was dead. Culprit... gosh, I wonder...
I stared down at my blood-speckled hands. Just like in the movies. Except it was real.
I would have screamed, but my throat had caught and refused to budge. I had killed someone. Not an innocent, for sure. It was in self-defense. Right? Right? She was trying to kill me right?
No. She had not been trying to kill me. After all, they had kidnapped me, emphasis on kidnap. Not kill. They thought I was Naruto, and were somehow going to ransom me or something. Therefore, no matter how angry she got, she still wouldn't have REALLY killed me. Because then her teammate would probably kill her.
Oh my God... I killed someone...
I wasn't panicking... there was no need. She was dead and that was that. She seemed to be evil enough to deserve it...right? But now, I think I'd better move it... who knows when the other guy will show up?
I took all her weaponry and scrolls, examining each as I found them. There were kunais, small shurikens, a shadow shuriken, and a scroll each for teleportation, healing, and stealing. I also took her wallet, and discovered that she had quite a bit in there. As I searched for anything else useful, I desperately tried to avoid the thought that I was stealing from a dead person.
I stood up, and sadly noticed that my faithful pillowcase was missing. 'I hope Itachi keeps it around. Hopefully I'll meet up with him again someday, and then I can get my stuff back.' I thought. 'Ha, as if that'll ever happen. Itachi isn't going to carry around my extra weight.'
Meanwhile, somewhere out there...
Itachi struggled with the urge to just drop Akima's stuff and then apologize to her later. 'What is IN this thing? Weights?' he thought, as his blood-red eyes frantically searched for tracks. He had been tracking 'non-tracks' for about a mile, and now the tracks had returned again. It was quite annoying. Spying a footprint, he jumped forwards, quickly followed by Kisame.
'Kisame really needs to learn how to track... I'm sick of this... all he knows is how to rip up the other person.'
Heaving a sigh, Itachi continued on, drawing closer and closer...
Back with Akima, in a tree 3rd POV
The rain had started at first with a light drizzle, but now it was pouring down fitfully. Akima had been tree-jumping back the way she had come for an hour now, and although tired, she was freezing her butt off. After all, she was only wearing a shirt and shorts.
Her breath came out in little puffs of steam as she shuddered violently, huddled against a trunk. It really only provided a minimum amount of cover from the pouring rain, and she was soaked to the bone. Her fingers were stiff, and her nose had clogged up.
'I caught a cold for sure...' she thought, sniffing miserably. The ground around her was slowly turning into mud, but she was already soaked, so why not get a little dirty too?
'Right now I'd give all my money for a cup of hot chocolate...'
She closed her eyes and tried to prevent her teeth from chattering, as her stomach gave a little squirm. 'So hungry...Strange how people take stuff for granted... like food, a home, a warm bed...'
She started crying, feeling sorry for herself, and the hot tears only helped slightly to warm up her frozen cheeks. And then...
"Hey! Whatcha doing?"
1st POV
"Eh?" I blearily stared up at the blond-haired blue-eyed boy in front of me... he looked really familiar...
"Oi! Kakashi-sensei! I found somebody!"
'Kakashi-sensei? (gasp) That's Naruto!!'
A gray-haired man dropped into view, startling me. "Yo!"
I stared at him... then... "AH-CHOO!"
I had remembered to turn my head in the nick of time. I probably wouldn't make a good impression to sneeze in someone's face when I met them.
He jumped back a little when I had sneezed. Naruto and I stared, then shrugged. Rather, he shrugged. I sniffed and then said, "Hello... Who are you?"
"Me me! My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen! My hobbies are eating ramen and beating up Sasuke and training to become stronger! And, and, someday, I'm going to be the Hokage!" Naruto shouted exuberantly, rain pouring down his face.
"She didn't ask for your life story, dobe." A boy with black hair about the same age as Naruto stepped forward, followed shortly by a fuzzy-eyebrowed boy wearing a full green suit.
"Sasuke! Why do you have to be such a bastard all the time! I wasn't annoying you was I? See? She's shaking her head! Proved you wrong!" Naruto stuck his tongue out at Sasuke.
I couldn't help but give a small smile as I watched Naruto continue with more insults while Sasuke just ignored him. Instead, he turned to Kakashi. "Where's Neji?" he asked.
"Here." Neji somersaulted right down in front of me, then looked me straight in the eye. "I believe we should get you out of the rain soon... your name?"
There was an expectant pause, and I hesitantly said, "...Akima."
"Neji's right. I think you caught a cold, Akima-san." Lee said. I nodded and slowly unclenched my stiff arms and legs from their positions and stood up awkwardly, cracking my joints.
"Ok, everyone follow me..." Kakashi said, leaping off into the air.
I followed clumsily. My frozen legs were numb, and I couldn't feel my toes at all. I focused intensely on the back of the jounin teacher ahead of me. I didn't want to go through the embarrassment of falling off or getting lost. I stumbled a couple times, but managed to keep my balance. Behind me, I could feel someone's eyes boring into my back, though whether it was Sasuke or Neji I couldn't tell. I doubted Lee or Naruto were capable of the intense stare I was receiving.
After only about ten minutes, we reached a cave, and I hurried inside, shivering so hard my knees knocked together. Then... the coughing started.
Kakashi stared at me worriedly as I collapsed into a coughing fit. "Are you okay?" he said.
I nodded, hands over my mouth. I kept my eyes closed, and sat down and drew myself over to the wall, trying unsuccessfully to muffle the hacking coughs. My throat felt like it was on fire.
Naruto stared worriedly, and then said, "We should make a fire."
"With what, moron?" Sasuke said exasperateley. "There's no dry wood around here."
For once, Naruto didn't answer, mostly because Kakashi spoke up. "Well, looks like one of us will forfeit a bedding tonight. Guess we'll have to play janken (rock, paper, scissors).
I stood up and said hurriedly, "No, that's not (snufflecough) necces-(cough) necessary. I'm fine."
Neji made a 'humph'-like sound and said, "If you were to sleep like that, you'd probably die. Furthermore, being the only girl, we are obligated to give you the best."
I would have yelled at him had I not been so cold. Instead I settled with glaring, but he pretended (I think) not to notice.
"I'm absolutely fine! It's my own fault for not planning ahead and all, and just because I'm a girl you guys think you can treat-" Neji pinched the pressure point on the back of my neck, and I fell, unconscious, to the ground.
3rd POV
Sasuke stared. "I really don't think that was necessary. When will she wake up?"
"Who knows?" Neji said. "Probably tomorrow morning. And, besides it's a lot easier this way. Now, let's hurry up and play janken."
Kakashi ended up losing, so he tucked in Akima, chuckling. "I should have volunteered. After all, I'm the oldest, and have to take care of you all."
Naruto set up his bedding and lay down, almost immediately beginning to snore and drool profusely.
The rest of them slept in a quieter manner, and Kakashi simply sat with his back against the cave wall, napping with his senses alert, as all jounins knew how to do. 'I have a lot of questions to ask Akima... especially concerning that dead woman we found in the forest a little while back. Could it be...? No, the young lady here does not look capable of that kind of merciless bloodshed... but there's still no harm in asking...Or is there?' Kakashi thought, before closing his eyes.
Author's Notes:
And another chappie done... more action will come soon, I promise. Did my first fight scene come out ok? Reviews pleez!!