A/N: Wassup, readers? I've been busy catching up in school after missing a couple of days, but I managed to squeeze this out after I was done ^^
The battle is on! There's a surprise at the end of this chapter, hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto, unfortunately. I only own my OC's.
If you asked me how I managed to go from running at top speed to Sunagakure to curling up in a corner of the tense hospital room, I wouldn't be able to tell you. My mind went blank, set to auto drive, as soon as I saw the looming walls of my new- and first- home. I'm assuming Temari got us in fairly quickly, since what I do clearly remember was her rage filled screams telling them to let us Konoha nin in promptly, screw mandatory checks, screw the rules.
What I can tell you is what was happening now, with the others.
Sakura was down in the greenhouse, harvesting the necessary herbs to heal Sabakuno Kankuro. The teen himself, he was unconscious in the hospital bed, shivering violently. Temari was shaking too, standing by his bedside and holding his hand while the iryo-nin worked to stabilize his condition. There was shouting outside the door as well. The sweet old lady who was treating Kankuro earlier was a raging spit fire now, ready to strike Kakashi right there in the hallway. Although Kakashi was mostly silent, Naruto was shouting at the both of them and attempting to figure out why the old lady was so murderous.
And here I was, curled up in the corner of the room, staring at the wall pathetically. Utterly useless. Doing absolutely nothing. Heck, even Gaara, the currently kidnapped leader, had done something. He had saved Sunagakure from destruction by risking his own life.
All I really did was bitch about my sudden transfer and run from Konoha to Suna. And curl up in a ball in the corner, exhausted after a simple run to Suna, let's not forget that.
While we're at it, let's point out how completely useless I'll be on the rescue mission, considering the little experience I have. A super genin is what I was. Nowhere near the skill of a chuunin, but a hell of a lot of experience being a genin and pulling out weeds for busy civilians. I was deluding myself earlier, thinking I could be of help as an unofficial Konoha nin. Be of help to both my new comrades and the old ones.
Meanwhile, they're barely winded. Sure, right now they don't look so good, but that's merely the stress of the whole situation. Temari's family was in danger, and an elderly woman was currently threatening to disembowel the leader of Team 7- Wait no…
I glanced towards the doors. No, they've stopped shouting. Right now, there was hushed talking behind the doors. Maybe someone had finally managed to off the great Copy-Nin...? Never mind, I could hear his voice now.
I sighed, turning my head to look at Temari and her brother. Her shoulders were heaving now. Shit. I shot up and hurried to her. Oh crap, she looked liked she was on the verge of a panic attack!
"Temari," I began firmly. "Temari look at me." I grabbed her shoulders and slowly turned her towards me. I could see the despair and fear in her eyes.
"They're going to die," she gasped, though nobody else seemed to notice her. "My baby brothers are going to die, and I can't save them. I can't do anything."
"You don't know that Temari," I said calmly. "Everything is going to be fine."
"They're my only family, Fuuka. They're all I have left," she continued, ignoring me.
I paused, déjà vu hitting me square in the chest like a wave. It's exactly what I said to Tsunade three days ago before leaving for Suna. Temari only had her younger brothers left and though I've always wanted a brother myself, I never actually had any siblings. But I know what it's like, to have only one important person in your life, one last family member. I only had my great-aunt, Temari only had her brothers. I took a deep breath, determination flooding through me.
"Temari, Kankuro will be fine. We have Sakura, the apprentice to the top iryo-nin in the entire shinobi world. She will heal him."
"But what if-"
"She will," I glanced down at Kankuro's paint-smeared face and knew beyond a doubt that- "Sakura will save him."
"Gaara?" She whispered to me.
"We'll get him back. No matter what."
"What if he's dead by the time we get there?"
"Even if he dies," I growled. "Even if he dies, I swear we'll drag the bastard back to the world of the living!"
A tear escaped from Temari's closed eyelid, and she took a deep breath, "Thank you, Fuuka. I won't freak out again."
I nodded, "Yeah."
Just then, Sakura and two Suna iryo-nin burst through the doors, carrying a fragrant bowl of liquid. They rushed to Kankuro's side and I hurried back to my corner and sat down, trying not to get in the way. I stared at them sleepily, my exhaustion getting the better of me.
Under the smell of antiseptics, I could smell the dry scent of Suna. I thought it would make me sad, but it calmed me. The scent of fresh sage and the oddly sweet aroma of the cacti from my childhood were so nostalgic. I closed my eyes slowly, and for a second I thought I could hear the sound of my mother's voice, feel her hand stroke my hair, and my young father's laugh before I drifted off to sleep.
"Fuuka!"
I grumbled, shifting against the sand stone I was leaning on.
"Fuuka wake up!" Temari's voice pierced the air once more, rousing me from my sleep.
"Gaah!" I shouted, leaping up into a sloppy defensive position. "Where's the enemy? Where?"
Temari slapped me upside the head, "You fell asleep again. We've only been here two hours."
"Yeah, sorry," I sighed, rubbing the back of my head and looking around the ruined outpost.
After I woke up in the hospital room and Kankuro was healed, we set out the battle plan for the rescue mission. The one Kankuro fought was Akasuna Sasori, the famed puppet master of Suna turned traitor. There was another unidentified member who used bombs as their main weapon. We were all going to go after them with the scent of the cloth Kankuro managed to rip from Sasori's uniform, but unfortunately the damned council stepped in.
Temari was forced to take a team to one of the ruined outposts in case enemy villages decided to strike. Being her apprentice, that included me. We protested angrily, but there was nothing we could do.
So here we are, at the dusty, old outpost doing absolutely nothing while our comrades are risking their lives fighting the enemy.
"Dammit, this is so frustrating!" I shouted, punching the sandy wall.
Temari sighed, "There's nothing we can do Fuuka. We have orders from the council, and as Suna shinobi we must carry them out."
Only… wait a minute.
"Yes," I began. "Only Suna shinobi has to carry out the orders."
"That's right," Temari replied, narrowing her eyes at me.
"You have to, as a Suna shinobi," I continued, excitement building up. "But that doesn't mean I do!"
"What?" A younger girl named Matsuri asked.
"I'm not a shinobi of Suna!" I shouted joyfully. "I'm not official!"
"Fuuka wait-" Temari yelled at me.
"Screw the rules, I'm a rogue!" I shouted back at her, already speeding away using chakra enhanced running and my wind chakra to speed me along.
I heard her fading scream behind me as I rushed in the direction Kakashi's group ran. If I caught up with them, surely I could help right?
I ran further for a long period of time, getting a good distance from the outpost, before I finally reached the trees. Jumping onto a branch, I began to wonder on how the heck I was going to find them. I stopped.
Shit, I thought. Maybe running off wasn't such a good idea.
Leaning against the trunk of tree to catch my breath, I pondered on how to find the team. I didn't have the cloth or a ninken like Kakashi did, so finding them by scent wasn't an option. The strange feeling I sometimes get when shinobi are near only applies to when they follow us, so that's out too. Think, think, what do I have that can help me find them…
I have kunai, shuriken, wire, exploding tags, senbon, some basic jutsu like the Kawarimi no Jutsu, the Hagoromo clan's high affinity for wind, my selective chakra sensitivity…
"That's it!" I shouted to no one in particular.
If I could just somehow hone in on Naruto's chakra, I could track them down. It'll be difficult trying to expand my senses, I've never done it before, but I have to try.
Taking in a deep breath, I pressed my palms to the bark of the trunk to calm myself. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on the chakra surrounding me.
One meter, five meters, ten, twenty, thirty… I strained my senses, trying to get further out. This was harder than I thought. Clearly tracking wasn't my forte.
Fifty meters… I huffed, taking in short breaths. I could hear my great-aunts mocking voice in the back of my head, taunting me for my weaknesses and my shortcomings.
You idiotic fool.
Is that all you can do?
A baby could do that far better than you can.
You've come this far, and there's nothing you can do.
Just leave it be. There's nothing to be done, I heard my father's dismissive voice.
"Shut up!" I shouted angrily, my hand balling into my fists and my senses exploding out. A huge gust of wind blew through the trees, making the leaves float around me.
Five-hundred meters. My range multiplied by ten, and I still couldn't feel Naruto's chakra- what was that?
A large amount of unfamiliar chakra was advancing at a hurried pace. Large enough to be S-class probably. Was it the Akatsuki? I couldn't be sure, but if it was, I couldn't sense any of my comrades following. True, the only one I was sensitive to was Naruto's, but even so I could still sense this one. That means it'd be up to me to stop them.
I set up a wire trap using my shuriken that crisscrossed from the bottom all the way to the top at the place the shinobi was sure to pass. When they hit the wire, the exploding tags would go off, hopefully causing some damage. I crouched a little ways off and did my best to hide my presence, waiting for the unknown shinobi to show up.
Fifteen minutes later, I could see a strange white bird flying in the trap's direction, with a blonde shinobi riding it. The Akatsuki jacket! It was blurry, but I could still recognize the pattern from the cloth Kankuro snagged. He must be the other member, the one who fights with bombs.
He was about to hit the trap before he slowed down and swerved to the side, stopping and looking for the enemy shinobi. Of course, I wasn't stupid enough to believe an S-class shinobi would fall for my sloppy work. I gathered as much chakra as I could in my foot quickly and swung my leg up in his direction.
A powerful burst of wind sliced at him, barely missing and cutting off a bit of the bird's wing and the edge of his sleeve.
"Oi! What the hell do you think you're doing, you creepy little-" He stopped when he saw me crouched in a defensive position on a branch in front of him.
"Who the hell are you, yeah?" He demanded.
I narrowed my eyes at him, "Who did you think I was?"
"Nobody important, yeah," he narrowed his eyes too, contemplating me. "You don't look like a Suna wench. What's your affiliation? You have no hitai-ate, yeah."
"Yeah, don't have one."
"What is your affiliation, yeah," he repeated, grounding out the words in frustration.
"I'm a rogue, I guess. Screw the rules!" I yelled half-heartedly, remembering what I shouted at Temari earlier. I sure as hell wasn't going to give away that I was an enemy. It hadn't even occurred to me that he wouldn't know due to my lack of hitai-ate.
He blinked at me, "Okay… you have a weird eye-"
"Yeah," I sniggered, finishing his sentence for him. He narrowed his eyes at me again in anger.
I laughed some more then stopped as my eyes landed on the beak of his bird. Was that red? Looking closer, I realized in horror that it was holding a body. And this body matched the description of the Kazekage to a tee.
Red hair, pale skin, a scar in the form of a kanji above his left eye, red armor. But his skin was too pale, and I couldn't see him breathing. Oh no.
The bomb expert smirked at me, seeing my terror at the body he held, "I guess you're not as rogue as you led on, yeah."
I tensed at his words, the jig was up, "Drop the body and turn yourself in." My voice was commanding, with a confidence I didn't have.
"No can do, yeah," he laughed before reaching into his pack and sending a couple of tiny white birds flying at me.
Remembering his specialty, I gathered chakra in my hands and swiped them at the birds. Two gusts of wind sliced at the birds before they could reach me, exploding in mid-air.
"I knew it. You didn't use hand signs to perform that jutsu, yeah."
"It's a clan special, just for you I'll whip up some more wind!" I shouted back, and swung my leg for a more broad and powerful wind blade.
He dodged towards my trap, laughing, "Your wind chakra is powerful but you're terrible at aiming. I bet that's all you can do with your clan's wind affinity, yeah."
I ground my teeth in anger and reached back to open the flap of my ninja pack. The bastard was just toying with me! I concentrated, using the wind to pull out a number of my kunai and have them take aim at his head. I raised my hand and then swung it down, the wind shooting the kunai at him at top speed. This was what I used to shoot the kunai in the training ground back at Konoha, the trick Kurenai was so curious about.
He ducked quickly and avoided the kunai, still laughing, "See? You can't-"
BOOM
My kunai sliced at the wires of my trap, setting off the explosive tags one by one. He was caught in the blaze before he flew out, burns riddling the back of his body. Gaara was safe, the beak protecting him from the explosions.
"How's that for bad aim?!" I shouted at him. "I bet your butt is toasty warm now, you-"
A searing hot pain in my shoulder stopped me from continuing. I yelped and turned my head to look at my shoulder, a kunai was sticking out of it.
"What…" I gasped out. "Akasuna Sasori?"
"Nope!" The blond bomb expert yelled, smirking at me. "I thought you were this creep before, yeah. Took you long enough, Ichime!"
"Hn," I heard a male voice behind me. I turned around slowly to get a good look at him.
He stood in the middle of the air, nothing supporting him. He wore the traditional Akatsuki uniform, with his hood pulled up over his face leaving me with only the bottom half of his face. I concentrated a little and could sense wind chakra holding him up. A wind expert?!
"There was... a third member?" I choked out, fear overcoming me.
His lips slowly turned up, forming a lazy, content smile.
A/N: Dun dun duuuuuuuuun! The battle takes a turn for the worse, will Fuuka be able to survive this all alone? Probably not. Who knows, you'll just have to wait until the next chapter. Who is this mysterious Ichime guy? Guesses? Tell me what you think of him in a review!
Remember. REVIEW! Review is love. Review means quicker updates.
-sabakunofaye
