Well here you have it the much anticipated chapter 6... cough I'd like to once again thank my readers and to those that have left reviews. So with that said, please enjoy. I don't own Naruto or its characters.
'I hate this place...' Kyuusuke mentally sighed for the seventh time.
The sleep depredation was getting to him, Asuka as well. Shifting his weight, Maaya groaned in pain on his back. Her broken arm, leg and shattered rib were hard to keep still as they travelled, but the large gash on her back was the more serious wound. Even with proper treatment it would get infected and there would be a permeant scar for the rest of her life.
"We're not far now..." Asuka grunted. "The air is moving faster."
"Right."
Asuka was fairing better then Maaya. She lead the way, using one of her swords as a walking stick due to a kunai wound on her leg.
He was lucky. The few injures he had we're practically healed now cause of the Kyuubi.
'And to think its only the second day...' Kyuusuke thought darkly.
36 hours ago
They had just entered the tunnel network and were wasting no time in putting distance between them and the entrance. The walls were laced with the same glowing crystal as in the main chamber, giving them some light to travel by.
"So any idea's on how we get to the surface?" Maaya asked.
"We go up of course!" Asuka snorted.
"And if we run into a dead end?" Kyuusuke asked. "The more we back track the bigger chance we have of running into another team."
"We follow the flow of air," Asuka sighed. "That should lead us to the top."
"Well seeing that Iwa is playing the home advantage, You can assume that the majority of the people passing will be locals."
"How you figure that?"
"In Konoha they host there second Exam in training field 44, other wise know as the forrest of death. The area is a forrest environment with a stream running through it and a tower in the centre. In order to enter the tower you need to posses two scrolls, one of which your given before you enter the field."
"And the second scroll?" Maaya asked.
"You fight a team for it and hope its the one you need." Kyuusuke continued. "This cuts the remaining teams in half. Anyway, seeing that Konoha is surrounded by vast forests, there shinobi are well trained in that environment."
"And seeing were in Iwa," Maaya gasped. "Their shinobi could waltz through this place at double the passé."
"Exactly," Asuka said then frowned. "How do you know so much about the Konoha Chunnin Exam Kyuusuke?"
"Classified," he smiled under his mask.
"You know," she said looking at him darkly. "We've been on the same team for a while and we barley know anything about your past..."
"Classified," he said moving forward.
"Classified my ass," she said following him. "How do you expect us to trust you if you don't trust us enough to talk to us. Right Maaya?"
"Uh..."
"Trust me when I say this..." Kyuusuke sighed looking back at them. "If I were to tell you, your opinion of me might change, and I don't want that..." Asuka glare wasn't helping. "If it means that much to you... I'll talk after we get out of here."
"And why not know?" Asuka demanded. "Give me one good reason."
"Cause if someone were to hear," he turned dead serious. "It would put not only my life, but the life's of the two of you, and everyone in Suna in danger."
"Yea right," Asuka laughed. "You make it sound so serious... Oh, I'm Kyuusuke, I'm soo mysterious, I hide my face with a mask so no one can tell who I am."
"Asuka-san," Maaya said grabbing her arm.
"What?"
"Now's not the time... we need to keep moving."
"FINE!" Asuka stomped off to the front, leaving Naruto and Maaya behind.
"Thanks," Kyuusuke sighed.
"No problem..." she smiled. "You going to be all right?"
"I'll be good once I get out of this cave," he said walking forward. "I need to talk to Gaara about Asuka."
"Kazekage-sama?" She blinked. "Why do you need to talk to him?"
"Because if I'm to tell you guys everything... then he'll have to be present as well..."
"Kyuusuke-san...?"
"Lets go. Before Asuka gets into trouble."
"... Right..."
After what seemed like days, they came to a large chamber with multiple entrances. It was no ware near the size of the main entrance, but it was big enough to set up camp for a few hours.
"Seems like a good place to rest for a while," Kyuusuke said looking around.
"What's that over there?" Maaya pointed at a yellow box in on the far side of the chamber.
"Might be one of those supply deposits?" Kyuusuke said pulling out a kunai.
"Or a trap," Asuka said unsheathing a sword.
"So how to we find out? One of us is going to have to open it.."
"We could wait for another team," Asuka said. "But them we'd might have to fight over the food."
"I Guess there's no other choice..." Kyuusuke sighed forming a cross like seal. "Kage Bushin no Jitsu."
There was a pop, and there we're two Kyuusuke's now in the chamber. Without wasting time, the clone walked forward and began examining the crate.
"When the hell did you learn that!?!" Asuka slammed her fist on Naruto's head.
"Owww..." Kyuusuke rubbed his head. "Asuka..."
"Whatever, you'll probably say that Classified crap again."
"That's a Jounin level jitsu..." Maaya squeaked out.
Kyuusuke shrugged and watched as the clone dismissed itself, sending back its knowledge to him.
"Seems like its the real deal, come on," he said walking over to the box.
"I wonder what's inside?" Maaya asked.
"By the looks of it, its simple rations," Asuka paled. "I don't know about you two but I ate some Suna rations once. It was not a good experience..."
"Luckily for us, I came prepared," Maaya said pulling out a scroll. "I sealed a few supplies in here before we left home just in case."
"And what, you decide to share this information now?" Asuka growled.
"I didn't want to use them unless it was an emergency."
"An emergency is what we're going to have if you don't dish out the food Maaya!"
"Asuka..." Kyuusuke and Maaya sighed.
"I don't suppose you..."
"Yes Kyuusuke-san," Maaya giggled. "I have Ramen too."
"Your the best Maaya-chan," Kyuusuke plopped on the ground, waiting for her to unseal the scroll.
"Kami, a shinobi who's weakness is Ramen... pathetic..." Asuka sighed.
Kyuusuke was having a nice dream where he was being ushered in as the Rokudaime Kazekage when he was shook awake. Groggily, he opened his eyes to see a worried Maaya who was missing her jacket.
"Maaya-chan, I was having a good dream..." he yawned.
"Kyuusuke-san," Maaya said shaking him more. "Asuka-san said there's shinobi heading our way, we need to get moving."
"Are you sure its not another team from Suna?" He said starting to grab his gear.
"The chakra signatures aren't familiar," Asuka said throwing her bag over her shoulder. "We need to hurry there's almost here."
"Actually we all ready are."
Asuka grabbed her sword, dropping her bag in the process and got ready.
There were three people surrounding them, all dressed in the same black suits with red trimmings.
"Taki-nin," Maaya said.
"And your from Suna," the tallest one said with iron grey hair.
"You can have the supplies," Asuka grinned. "We don't really care. We'll be on our way now."
"Ohh I don't think so," the one near Kyuusuke said. "We'll take the food after we kill you. Got to thin out the competition you know."
"Save the woman..." one purred, playing with a kunai. "They look like they'll be fun after we kill the guy."
"Pigs," Asuka growled in rage. "I'll kill myself before I become a whore for a bunch of weaklings."
"Oh I'm defiantly going to enjoy having you. I so love seeing strong woman broken before me," he laughed maniacally. "And after I'm done with you, I'm going to -"
He didn't get a chance to finish as he was sent flying back to the wall with a sickening crunch. Kyuusuke stood in his place with his leg extended, then returned it to his side.
"Sorry about that..." he said. "I got a thing against perverts."
"None taken," Asuka grinned.
The Taki-nin that was covering Naruto whistled. "That was a close one baka."
"Fucker." came an angry voice from behind the leader. "I'm going to enjoy slitting his throat, after he watch's us have our fun with the whores."
"Kawarimi no jitsu?" Kyuusuke blinked.
"Sharp eye," the leader complimented.
"Thanks."
"Shall we begin?"
"I guess so," Kyuusuke pulled out a few of kunai.
In a blur of motion, Kyuusuke threw the kunai at the one covering him before, who pulled out a kunai of his own and deflected them barely. Asuka took the queue and charged with her sword with Maaya trailing behind her.
Asuka rolled to the side at the last minute, giving Maaya a clear path for a flying kick. As Maaya now engaged the leader in Taijitsu, Asuka moved in on the final Taki nin.
"You could have just taken the food..." Kyuusuke said starring down his opponent.
"And where's the fun in that?"
"... Good point," Kyuusuke grinned. "However I don't really have time to play with you guys."
"You make it sound so simple. Don't you think that someone in your position should be a little more worried? I can sense your chakra reserves, there so small its not even funny."
"You can sense my chakra reserve?"
"How do you think we were able to find you? We searched out the smallest ones and take them out first."
"Ahh..." Kyuusuke nodded. "Smart strategy on your part."
"Thank you. Now shall we?"
"I guess," Kyuusuke sighed.
The shinobi appeared behind Kyuusuke and held a kunai to his throat with a smirk. "That was to easy. Its like you didn't even try to stop me."
"That's the point."
"WHAT?"
Looking behind him he had just enough time to look surprised as Kyuusuke's fist slammed into his face and sent him flying into the cave wall. Grunting in pain, he got up and looked at Kyuusuke with blood pouring out of his broken nose.
"Teme!"
"Bring it."
He charged at Kyuusuke but before he reached him he tripped on something. As he fell, the second Kyuusuke appeared beside him and kicked him upward till he hit the roof and began to fall. He never did reach the ground as Kyuusuke slammed his fist into his gut, knocking the air out of his lungs.
"How..." he gasped.
"I lowered my chakra levels as not to be detected easily." Kyuusuke explained. "You see I have a abnormally high amount of chakra for my age so my control sucked. However my sensei showed me a few meditation exercises that allowed me to control it a lot better."
"Who... are... you...?"
"Sakabu no Kyuusuke," he said tossing him aside. "Man, that was to quick... now I have to wait for the other to..."
A scream shot threw the air, putting Kyuusuke on edge.
"Maaya!" He looked over to where she was fighting and froze.
Asuka hated perverts, and now she was stuck fighting one.
"Come on whore," he said licking his kunai.
"You are soo going to regret that."
The man charged with lust and madness in his eyes, as he slashed wildly with his kunai. His movement were sloppy, but not to the point that she could let her guard down. She slashed horizontally on a 30 degree angle, that he narrowly avoided save for a few strands of hair.
Keeping her advantage, she continue her assault as she continued to push him forward. Growling in frustration, he jumped back a few feet and formed seals.
"Suiton: Teppoudama," he shot bullets of water from his mouth.
Asuka just a combination of slashing the projectiles with her sword and using her speed to dodge all together.
"My turn," she grinned. "Zankuuha no Jitsu!"
She used her free hand to send a blast of wind at the shinobi who stabbed the kunai into the ground and braved the wind. After the wind died down, he formed more seals attacked.
"Suiton: Suriyuudan no Jitsu!"
Surprisingly, water shot up from the ground and formed the head of a dragon that opened its mouth and rushed Asuka. 'There must be a underground river or something below us...' Flying through her own seal, Asuka brought her hands together, pulling wind with it till it formed a ball.
"Futon: Renkuudan!"
The ball shot forward, ripping through the water dragon and towards the Taki-nin. Seeing the speeding wind sphere, he jumped over it, barley. When he landed he looked up, only to see air.
"Its over."
Looking over his shoulder, he saw Asuka standing behind him ready to strike.
"Whore," he spat.
Asuka frowned and with a slash of her sword, sliced a long and deadly cut in the enemy's back. Before she could gloat however, he popped in a cloud of smoke.
"Kawarimi again?" she said but was answered with a scream.
The smoke cleared and Maaya now stood before her with the wound meant for her opponent.
"Maaya!" She heard Kyuusuke yell as he ran over to them.
"No..." Asuka went to help but stopped and looked to her side.
"That was a close one again baka," the leader said.
"Shut it," he said.
"Seems like we're short one person..."
"He's over there somewhere. Lets deal with these two first."
"Lets."
"Kyuusuke!" Asuka said. "Get ready."
"But Maaya-chan is-."
"We'll help her later! Right now we have to deal with these two."
"Right..." He grunted getting up, kunai at the ready.
"Oh... so your ready to play again?"
"I'm going to enjoy watching you scream in pain," Asuka seethed.
"Funny... I was about to say the same thing to you," the pervert grinned.
"We don't have time for this." Naruto growled charging.
"Kyuusuke!!"
The pervert grinned and threw a set of kunai at him as did the leader.
"Kage Kunai no Jitsu," they yelled in unison, turning 10 kunai into 50.
Kyuusuke dodged half the kunai, with ten missing all together, leaving 15 hits. The kunai all hit none vital spots, but still cut deep, hitting muscle and bone. Everyone was so shocked that they couldn't react in time as Kyuusuke delivered a punch to the leader's face, sending in to the ground.
Using the momentum from the punch, he turned around and with his other hand, stabbed his kunai into the other shinobi's shoulder all the way to the handle. He screamed in pain as it arm went limp, giving Naruto the chance to deliver a taijitsu combo that sent the enemy back towards Asuka.
Seeing a body fly towards her was enough to snap Asuka from her shock. Wasting now time, she side stepped the body and while it was still in the air, slashed with her sword. This time she hit her mark, placing a deep cut into his chest.
She looked over to where Naruto was, only to see him walking away from the leader, blood covering his hands.
"Kyuusuke?"
He walked past her and over to there fallen team mate, who had remained unconscious after the attack. Pulling a cloth and small container, he kneeled down and began cleaning the wound.
"How bad is it...?"
"I'm not a medic so I can tell," he said while he worked. "This ointment will seal the wound long enough for us to get her to a doctor. She'll be fine as long as we can get her out of here." He paused and looked her over. "Looks like her left arm and leg are broken... maybe even a few ribs..."
"I'll get the gear," she turned around and walked towards the gear.
However she didn't notice the pervert Taki-nin roll over till it was too late. She screamed in pain and a kunai was lodged into her leg. Instinct took over as she took her sword and stabbed it through his chest, killing him instantly.
"Dammit," she growled pulling out her blade.
"Let me take a look," Kyuusuke said looking at the wound.
"I dropped my guard..." she gasped. "Ass hole."
"I'm going to have to pull this out," he said looking at her.
"Do it," she said grabbing hold of his coat.
In a swift movement he pulled out the blade, getting a cry of pain from his team mate. After cutting the clothing open, he took out another cloth from his pouch and dressed her wound before the bleeding got out of hand.
"Can you walk?"
"I'll damn well walk out of this shit hole," she said as he helped her up.
"We'll leave the gear," he said walking over the Maaya, then gently placed her on his back. "You lead the way seeing you can track the air currents better then me."
"What about your wounds baka?"
"Trust me when I say they won't be a problem," he walked up to her. "Which way Asuka?"
"Hold on," she said taking a breath and closing her eyes. "The stronger air current is coming from this direction."
"Then lets get out of here."
To be continued...