Disclaimer: I, the author of this story, do not own 'Naruto', in any of its forms, nor do I own it's characters, places, general plot or illustrations. Any character presented here not found in the original Manga or Anime of 'Naruto', was created by this writer and was in no way borrowed or stolen from another person's creation or work. Any similarities with both real people and/or existent fictional characters is purely coincidental, and unintentional.
Author's Note: The Character 'Hyō' is a canon character from the Naruto manga/anime. Enjoy.
Warning: Descriptive graphical violence is present throughout this Chapter and will be present from here on out.
From Rain To Rust
Chapter Six
Day One: 'The Devil's Gonna Set Me Free'
"Sector…" The forest had certainly been altered. And the only way such vast vegetation could either appear, disappear, grow, or shrink in just three years was if someone had actively tried to change so… which in its own right was a huge props to the proctors and organizers of the test. They had certainly taken their jobs seriously. It was becoming difficult even for an ANBU to get through the forest unbothered by the creatures and traps, much less unnoticed.
"Sector 9!" A voice called, finger pressed to the sounding earpiece. "I'm here, rotations seem to be going smoothly enough. Communication hasn't been interrupted with any of the other agents."
"Alright. We've tested all comms back and forth a couple of times each, everything seems to be in top shape." Temari spoke to a mic from the control room inside the forest's tower. She made sure every channel was connected and that every Agent could hear her. "Everyone feel free to act with complete freedom from here on, don't hesitate to communicate any issues that might arise—we've gone through all of them plenty—but you can still report something out of those mentioned if you feel it needed, and…" the kunoichi dragged the sentence for a second, trying to see if she'd forgotten anything. "OH, right! Remember that we have eyes on almost everything, the sensors are all set, the cameras function properly and unless we tell anyone to go or do something in particular just comply with your mission."
A dozen of affirmative answers were spoken onto the comms, signaling their understanding for their proctor. A second after, they temporarily shut down their communications.
"Kaori, how are we feeling?" Yoa asked. Trying to sound not too worried, which spoke volumes of his acting skills since he was convincing enough to not show how imperative it was for Kaori to be alright right now.
"Feeling just fine. Perfect even, no need to worry." She replied once she landed on the same thick branch as Yoa.
"That's set, then." Runa chipped in once she landed herself. "We need to come up with a plan, to at least get on the same page here."
"I agree, this doesn't feel like a traditional job." Yoa nodded.
"First we should decide our posture…" Runa proposed. "Should we be hunters? Are we gonna be looking to eliminate teams? Are we gonna hide? Run?" It was perfectly reasonable to have the conversation, to consider all options as viable. Runa guessed that every other team was having this conversation right now.
"I'm sure as hell not gonna hide or run!" Kaori voiced right away. "We didn't come AAALL the way over here to be labeled as runners or hiders." 'And we sure as hell are not gonna do it going against these a**holes' Kaori added mentally. Surprising even herself at the thought.
"I'll have to agree." Yoa complied. He wasn't even gonna consider running if he came to face that Kurotsuchi girl, he'd make her eat her words about Ame then and there. "Plus we're supposedly being watched. They were very open in telling us that this would be a war-zone, I don't think they'll reward running."
Runa had to agree as well, she half frowned, more out of deep thought than of anything else; she was really trying to consider everything about this, maybe if they had been so explicit about them fighting then it could have been a trick…? But she was also not looking to be labeled as a coward either, she knew what her team specialized in, and running wasn't it…
"Okay, sounds good to me. If we face anyone directly then we'll take them down." Their leader nodded. "And if we happen to sneak up on someone then we'll discuss if we engage. Deal?"
The plan sounded good enough to Kaori's and Yoa's ears. So they nodded their agreement.
"Do you see them?"
"Yes. There's three of them. Standing on a branch about 30 meters away."
"On my signal."
Once agreed on their plan they set to find some form of shelter, which would be needed for at least the first day in the forest, otherwise standing in the open would be suicide in this damned forest.
"Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique!" The unmistakable sound of scorching flames pushing through the air filled the vicinity, Hyō (The ANBU agent) closed half of the distance between them easily before releasing his power.
The three Chūnin were instantly scorched in their place, the burning silhouettes dropping to the ground once the flames succumbed. "Substitution?!" The ANBU asked alarmed.
"Passing Fang!" Kiba shouted as he blasted himself towards their attacker.
Hyō swiftly bounced against the tree trunk to propel himself out of the path of Kiba's attack.
"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" Rock Lee's blazing speed reached the ANBU even before the taijutsu user finished calling his move.
Hyō could only try and block the attack with both arms, but the sheer power of the Taijutsu user made him hear his bones crackling from the impact of Lee's kick. His body was propelled a good few feet backwards to an adjacent tree trunk. 'Damnit, I have to gain ground on them as asap!' The ANBU managed to think in the midst of the chaos, already planning on using the trunk he was sent to to propel himself.
"Wind Style: Johyō Spiral!" Matsuri shouted from a far away distance, her weapon of choice shooting out of seemingly nowhere like a bullet, making a sharp unnatural curve around Hyō's legs, wrapping around them multiple times over.
Hyō quickly reached for his Tantō, planning on cutting the cable of Matsuri's Johyō.
"Rotating Fang!" The Inuzuka smashed onto Hyō's crossed arms; the shock making the crack on Hyō's arms that much louder.
"Scarlett Paw!" A figure jumped from the cup of a tree, knife like claws cutting the Johyō's wires and slashing Kiba's shoulder on the same move; Hyō's summon, a quite oversized talking cat with rage on it's eyes and a tail split into two, made it's appearance. Sporting a Konoha's headband wrapped across its chest, and with three curved red lines around its eyes being identical to those on Hyō's ANBU mask.
"Kiba!" Rock Lee shouted worriedly, gushes of blood splashing around the trees.
Hyō managed to grip the cable before it recoiled back completely from the cut, he pulled sharply on it, making Matsuri drop from the cup of the trunk she held her weapon from, and directly towards Hyō's Tantō.
Akamaru jumped from his hideout, teeth snarling and eyes red with bloodlust, jaws locking right on Hyō's shoulder, giving Matsuri a chance to somersault away to the branch contrary to Lee's.
Hyō's body 'puffed' in a cloud of smoke, Akamaru's bite completely destroying the log from the substitution jutsu. The canine's eyes looking around for the ANBU that had hurt it's master.
"AKAMARU WATCH-" Kiba yelled frantically as he held his shoulder, trying to warn his partner of the fire bullet heading his way. Akamaru tried to jump out of the way but got pinned in place once Hyō's summon beast bit on Akamaru's tail. The fire bullet connected right into Akamaru's side, scorching his fur and dropping him from the sky-high tree branch and onto the floor.
"Thank you, Bakeneko." Hyō nodded to his feline partner. Standing back to back with him on the same branch, Kiba and Lee facing Bakeneko, and Hyō facing Matsuri.
Matsuri was shocked to see the ANBU's attack, judging from his moves he could have easily maimed any of them had his hits landed home. The stench of Akamaru's burnt fur and flesh reached her nostrils right away, making her ground herself to the situation, a gruesome remainder just in case she wasn't locked in already.
Kiba's jaw clenched, his already prominent fangs growing with rage as he saw the body of his lifelong partner lying about 20 meters down on the ground. His claws protruded so far from his fingers it was almost too painful to bear. He snarled fiercely, locking eyes with that wretched disgusting cat.
"Super Fang: Single Wolf Fang!" His beastly voice growled before blasting from the branch he was on, launching himself with so much force the branch he was on cracked in half from the pressure.
Kiba had never done the Super Fang alone, and he'd never done it with a shoulder as injured as his, he was so blinded by rage he didn't take into account that this was a joined technique, he usually balanced his power and speed with that of Akamaru's, and right now he was almost numb from one arm already, his usual thick coat fully drenched in blood on his left side.
"Scarlett Embrace." Bakeneko growled, pouncing Kiba almost midway, the Inuzuka's attack too out of focus and out of control to successfully pierce the feline's body. Bakeneko's front legs wrapped firmly around Kiba's torso, hind legs and 'double' tail constricting his legs, claws protruding little by little every tenth of a second, he opened his mouth and closed it around Kiba's throat, blocking his airway and restricting his moves completely.
Matsuri's eyes shot open, watching Kiba and Bakeneko fall down freely in the embrace. She almost missed Hyō jumping her in a blink, almost…
Rock Lee's kick smashed right onto Hyō's weapon, shattering the cold steel on impact, while Matsuri launched her Wind-Infused-Johyō right at Kiba and Bakeneko's direction; giving it all the might that fit inside her tiny frame.
No much more than a second passed between Kiba's freefall and Matsuri's and Lee's actions.
Lee's hits didn't hold back this time, quickly parring Hyō's response-hit with a knee to the sternum, Hyō launched a haymaker with his free arm, Lee intercepted it with his elbow, listening to the crack of Hyō's bones trickle up his already injured arm.
Kiba could feel the life dripping out of him, he gave his best try to free his arms, finding them as tightly restricted as if they were wrapped with steel cables. The Infernal Cat's claws already having ripped through his clothes and starting to pierce his skin; and the tight lockjaw around his neck suffocating him fully, crushing his neck more with every fraction of a second. Everything was happening in slow motion for him, but he knew the moment he reached the floor would be too late already, the Cat's teeth would crush his carotid before he even ran out of oxygen.
Matsuri's eyes were fixated on the path of her weapon, she didn't even hear Lee's defense of her, completely ignoring the morbid sound of ripping tendons and broken bones.
Her mind had processed the plan long before her eyes locked with Lee's, she had just met her two teammates, yet she communicated flawlessly then and there.
It rested on her, she could see every centimeter covered by her partner's trapped body on the freefall, she could see every centimeter her Johyō swallowed while traveling towards the target; but Kiba had fallen long before her actions, she swore she had shot her weapon so fast she felt her arm whiplash...
'Just a little more…!' Her mind raced, as if willing her weapon forward with the mind.
Matsuri heard a bloodchilling impact.
"What is it with giant insects in here?" Yoa asked to no one in particular. Four ten-feet tall spiders lying dead around him and the team.
"I know! I can't even-!" Kaori complained, watching Runa clean her Katana on a nearby tree.
"That's like the third batch we'd faced so far." Kaori stated, sighing annoyedly. "We must be close to their nest or something."
Runa's head popped up, her teammate was making a good point. Having spent pretty much all her life in Amegakure (excluding a few far and between experiences for missions) dense forests like this one weren't her exact area of expertise.
"Don't you hate it when she does that?" Yoa half glared at Kaori, but his words were directed to his leader.
"You're this close—" Kaori signaled with her thumb and index almost touching. "—to getting your ass kicked for that."
"Would be worth it."
"Stop already…" Runa chimed in, quite amused and even smiley at her team's bickering. "Kaori's probably right. We should make our way out of here, the bugs may not pose a problem themselves, but they could distract us enough to get ambushed."
"Good enough reasoning, Mighty Leader." Yoa nodded, lightly teasing her leader with the 'nickname'.
"Of course it is, she plagiarized me." Kaori stated, walking past Yoa and swinging her hair around dismissively, close to his face.
"Alright, formation guys." Runa signaled ahead, taking the lead in the middle, Yoa being at her right, and Kaori at her left. They sprinted and jumped their way out of there.
A masked figure tilted his head a bit, taking in the team approaching his position. They had been given their instructions; the first couple of days would serve as the main funnel, which meant the ANBU, and the hunting Nin from Kiri would eliminate the most teams as possible for now.
He knew they all were trained enough to not have conflicts of interest if they faced teams from their own villages… or 'friends'.
Sai shook his head violently willing those wandering thoughts away. He was on the job and had to be professional about it.
He jumped on the direction the Chūnin team followed.
"Super Beast Imitating Drawing." Sai uttered, long thick serpents slithering out of his scroll, not wasting any time to attack the traveling trio.
Runa and Kaori turned around with perfect timing, Runa slashing the reptile with a swing of her sword and Kaori impaling it to the floor with her right Kusarigama.
Sai had the upper ground on them, which made him able to overlook them perfectly, the trio had been almost too in the open, standing there in a small clear between the trees.
"Your ink reeks of iron." Yoa creeped with unbelievable speed though not enough, yet. He talked only after he'd swung a Kunai of his doing to Sai's neck. Sai—not being too impressed yet—blocked Yoa's swing holding his right (attacking) wrist. Sai reached for his Tantō with his free hand, quickly swinging it to cut Yoa's left ribs.
Sai's Tantō bit deep enough onto Yoa to get stuck; only it hadn't really reached any flesh, 'I'm sure I felt the Tantō connect.' Sai reasoned immediately, but before anything else Yoa locked Sai's Tantō and arm to his own side, smirking at Sai's struggling face.
A flying Kusarigama shot right at Sai's face, he wasn't able to unlock his arm from whatever grasp had on him on top of the physical one. His only choice was to release Yoa's Kunai-wielding-hand.
Sai released Yoa's arm, twisting backwards so his other arm could rotate in Yoa's grasp and he could avoid the incoming scythe.
Kaori's scythe missed.
But Runa's Katana didn't. She cut diagonally right into Sai's torso, slashing all the way from Sai's shoulder to his waist. Runa felt and heard the metal of her Katana sing as the edge cut its way through.
Sai's body dropped down the branch on a black puddle of ink.
"It was just a clone...!" Runa gritted her teeth. Immediately looking around for the real ANBU attacking them.
"Earth Style: Hiding Like a Mole Technique!" Sai shot out of the ground, right behind the only member of Nin Team K that was currently standing on ground level, Kaori.
Kaori wasn't that fast, not enough, she turned around as fast as she could, only in time to receive a breaking blow from Sai's fist, connecting right on her stomach, blowing all the wind out of her; Sai followed this with a roundhouse kick that connected on Kaori's cheek, sending her tumbling a good distance away from Sai.
"Kaori!" Runa yelled, pouncing towards Sai, but finding her body unable to do so, the puddle of ink from Sai's clone forming a thick paste that bind her feet into place with the branch. "Yoa!"
The Ame Nin got the words of his leader right away, jumping out of the puddle's constraints easily by manipulating the iron in it—he'd already used his defense when Sai tried to cut him, shielding his side with a patch of metalic chips that swallowed and trapped Sai's Tantō—but now his focus was offense instead of defense; he reached Sai in a blink, posture crouched right before Sai; the Konoha ANBU was briefly unresponsive from the unusual posture of his attacker, but Yoa was too slow to land a hit, Sai stroke down with his Tantō right away.
Yoa's left hand moved automatically, grasping Sai's Tantō right by the edge! 'Gotcha.' Yoa thought, breaking the Tantō in half with his left hand at the exact same moment his right hand punched Sai's right kneecap. He'd done the same trick he did back on the branch, only this time the chips covered his palm instead of his ribs.
Sai's eyes shot open from beneath his mask, he had hardset training, the rules and responses of combat had been drilled into his mind in order to turn an assault around in his favor. But those rules and knowledge weren't too useful when your attacker acted illogically! He wasn't supposed to reach for Sai's weapon; now he had a pretty much useless blade and an injured knee, he'd felt his kneecap slide out of place right after Yoa's punch.
"Lightning Style: Lighting Razors!" Small sparks of electricity enveloped Runa's body, 'cutting' herself out of Sai's ink. She sped towards Sai and Yoa with her arms crossed, unfolding them with an electric shock right in Sai's chest. The blow sending Sai flying backwards.
Yoa smiled at Runa, both sure they had beaten the attacker this time. Kaori was already reincorporating herself, her Kusarigama just retreating back inside her sleeve.
"Hiding in Mist technique!" A Kiri's Hunting Nin shouted, going through the hand signs right away. A thick, foggy mist enveloping everyone and everything in the vicinity.
"Kaori, Yoa! Formation!" Runa shouted right away, none of them was a sensor nin, she needed to have her team accounted for, she could hardly even see Yoa right beside her.
Kaori knew that wouldn't be too possible, she was at least 30 feet away from her teammates, and moving around the mist wouldn't be smart right now.
"Kao-!" Yoa shouted for his teammate, not being able to finish his sentence before a razor-sharp Ice shard cut the right side of his neck. "Shit!" Yoa cursed, not being able to see the attack coming at all.
"Yoa, what's-" Runa asked out loud before another shard opened a wide gash on her left thigh.
"Magnet Release, right?" The eerie Nin from Kiri muttered, chuckling mockingly. "Try to control this!"
Yoa and Runa listened intently but the voice, trying to triangulate it, but it didn't seem to have a set source.
The shard of ice impacted right above Runa's left breast, looking for the heart. Though this time the shard shattered before it reached the target.
Runa sighed in brief relief, she would have never seen the hit coming. "Thanks, Yoa." She immediately knew her teammate had saved her this time, black shiny debris was floating around them. Yoa had deployed a defensive mechanism for them.
"I don't need to control it, I just need to use it!" Runa went through some hand-seals right away. "Lightning Style: Piercing Static!"
Kaori knew that wasn't good, she jumped away in the first direction she could before sparks of electricity traveled through the Mist, the humidity conducting the electricity right to its source.
A loud groan of pain from the Kiri Hunter was heard, the mist instantly started to disappear.
"Assasination Technique!" Sai attacked, wielding his Tantō, which was infused by hardened ink, a tight tendril of ink could be seen wrapped around his wounded knee, supporting the joint.
Yoa didn't see it coming, Kaori did, she launched her scythe; but Sai's movements were smooth and calculated even while injured, he weaved around the path of the scythe and wrapped his arm around its chain, tangling Kaori's weapon around his arm as ink tendrils ran along her chain and towards Kaori.
Yoa barely ducked under one of Sai's slashes, twisting his body to kick Sai's knee again; but an ice shard embedded itself on Yoa's leg before he could hit Sai.
Runa stepped over to aid Yoa, but the Kiri Hunter flickered right in front of her, a couple of twin swords at the ready, he started to slash, bob, and weave; his two swords clashing against Runa's Katana.
Sai's ink tendrils had reached Kaori, climbing under her sleeves and wrapping themselves up her neck, starting to constrict the air out of her lungs and shutting down her airway.
Sai kept the hold on the chain, tugging hard on it, which made Kaori's ink binds tighten with every twist and tug. With his free hand he tried to impale Yoa to the ground, Sai's ink blade elongating with his thrust.
Yoa managed to push himself off the ground with his arms, evading Sai's blade and kicking it further down with his heel. Sai tried to free his Tantō from the ground, but it was fully stuck. Yoa went to kick his face, Sai was fast enough to block it and grip his foot.
Kaori felt Sai's tendrils crush her ribs, her eyes almost popped out, she saw her two teammates battling one Jōnin each, her fury raged even more now, her anger making her yellow eyes flare wildly with bloodlust; the only thing in her mind was the Kiri's Hunter mocking laughter. She moved her hands flashingly quick through hand-seals, then reached for her chain and wrapped both hands around it.
"Fire Style: Hell's Chains!" Kaori was able to mutter before the chain that Sai held burst into wild flames, burning the flesh of Sai's hand right off, his black ink evaporating right away and releasing Kaori's body as she coughed aggressively.
Yoa took advantage of Sai's shock and landed a kick right in his face with his free foot. He felt Sai's bones crack under his toes, the ANBU's full body slamming down to the ground, Sai's skull ricocheting off the floor in a gruesomely crude fashion.
The Kiri Hunter was winning some territory, making Runa back down more and more with each swing of his swords. 'Cowering like a woman! I'll take that sword right out of her hands once I'm done with her.' The Kiri Hunter thought loudly, pointedly swinging down hard on Runa, breaking her defense and slashing her forehead.
'POOF' Runa's figure disappeared in a cloud of smoke, the Hunter's sword 'cutting' cleanly right through the air.
"Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu." Runa's voice was heard just as her hands shot out of the ground and pulled the Kiri Hunter down in a hole, the crater closing on and constricting him into place until only his head was above ground level. Soon after Runa jumped out from the ground, she'd deployed her decoy just before the mist dissipated completely, letting her clone do the fighting for her until the Hunter stepped right on her trap. Her eyes were locked on those of the Hunter's mask. "You're not exactly 'Hot Tan', but you can handle a sword decently enough, darling." She openly taunted the man.
"MOTHERF-" Kaori's furious tirade was interrupted by more aggressive coughing on her part. She could still feel the punishment on her neck while she stood there, feeling the bruises around her throat; and the sharp, stinging pain of her crushed larynx.
Yoa's thigh hurt—yes—but he found himself able to move it perfectly well if he ignored the pain; the gash was about three inches long and one inch wide, his fibrous muscle completely visible just below the torn clothing.
"It's okay, Kao-" Yoa was at Kaori's side right away, knowing the ANBU was unconscious, and the Hunter trapped.
"IT'S NOT OKAY!" Kaori barked aggressively at Yoa. Much more so than she'd ever done to him ever
before; and he'd given her good reasons in the past, he'd even seen her in quite more dire situations than this one.
"Kaori calm-" Runa was about to try and calm down her friend, she had of course seen Kaori getting attacked, she more than anyone else was aware of Kaori's situation mid-battle… but that kind of things just happen, she had been through worse, Yoa had been through worse, Kaori had been through worse. And she'd never reacted like that.
"Don't tell me to calm down!" Kaori replied. "He almost killed me!" Kaori shouted and pointed at Sai. "They almost kill us! They certainly tried!" She reasoned as she glared down at the Hunter currently trapped in the ground.
Earth style wasn't one of this particular Kiri's Nin domains, far from it. And that girl's technique wasn't lacking power at all. He knew he was at enemy's mercy, and he knew Sai would have acted already had he been responsive.
Yoa looked over at Runa, but Runa's eyes were fixated on Kaori.
"Calm. Down." Runa sternly told Kaori.
Kaori's eyes shifted from her prey to her leader's. Kaori's jaw was locked and her flaring eyes screamed bloody murder.
Even amidst the deadly beast-filled forest the sudden silence was chilling. Had a tree leaf fallen to the ground its sound would've probably been heard by any of the present people.
Kaori was by far the better sealer of the group, whether that was hand-seals or otherwise. Yoa was leaps and bounds the fastest. Runa was infinitely more experienced and groomed. They all knew their roles, they all knew each other…
They all knew what was about to happen.
"KAORI DON'T!" Yoa's voice cried out a plea. But he wasn't fast enough; neither was Runa.
"Fire Release: HELLFIRE PIT!"
Temari was proud to be a Proctor. It wasn't like the Shinobi Union was running around handing random people highly regarded titles and responsibilities, and seeing how things were taking shape, The Union Jōnin Exams would probably be a one-time-thing; which meant being a proctor in them was even more of a select group. She knew that even if the Exams proved to be utterly uninteresting—something she would happily bet against—the fact that they even happened in the first place would pass the test of time as a unique and legendary event.
But right now she hated it all.
Hated them!
Her eyes were idly shifting from screen to screen, watching live what the cameras were recording… But she wasn't watching, her mind was on another place altogether. Namely the place of a certain lazy-ass pineapple haired Jōnin that was running (okay, slouching-through) laps in her mind.
They hadn't had the time to share that breakfast they'd talked about, Temari was rapidly summoned by a fellow organizer of the Exams and barely even found the time to change her clothes before meeting Darui at the Training Hall and kicking off the Exams.
She knew Shikamaru got it—of course he did—but it was apparent in his eyes that he was at least as disappointed by the interruption as herself.
And she didn't even want to talk about how she had to spend the entire duration of the First Test in this damned tower. Darui was actually pretty good company once you got to know him, he was polite, smart, and surprisingly funny after you got the hang of his humor; but he wasn't Shikamaru and right now the only person she wanted to be with was Shikamaru! She knew she was being childish and far more clingy than was expected from an Elite Kunoichi…
But that was bullshit and everyone knew it! She'd seen very powerful Ninja become absolute putty in a loved one's hands—and though she'd never admit so out loud—she knew it was only natural to be in a blizz at the beginning of… whatever it was that they had. She was smart enough that way.
"Temari! We have a situation!" The voice of Darui was heard on Temari's headset, bringing her back down to Earth right away.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Yoa shouted at Kaori, eyes wide open, fixated on the immolated carcass of a man that used to be one of Kiri's Hunter Nins. The pressure of the sudden burst of flames had enough force to push the upper part of the corpse above ground—the soil trapping him almost melted at the edges— but it was all charred now, nothing but black melted skin and bone that barely resembled a human form of any kind, the wooden mask of the nin was reduced to a pile of ashes instantly; they realized he had a headband underneath it only because the melted metal was still burning red hot and sizzling on the burnt remains of its wearer.
But the worst part was the smell…
There was nothing more disgusting than the smell a human body released after being burnt to the core; the smell of hair dissolved onto the scalp, nails getting eaten out by the flames right through the cuticle, tendons and ligaments shrunken down and barely hidden by the film of carbonized skin above them, eye's burst by the sudden boiling of the organ, eye sockets black and filled with sizzling ashes. The few synthetic fabrics the wearer donned plastered in a melted puddle to the appendix they clothed… If Hell really was like a million souls burning, then just standing amidst the fumes was surely enough punishment for a lifetime of sin.
Kaori's eyes saw right through her victim… The once flaming irises of the girl were now a pure reflection of confusion over a glazed sclera, eyebrows trembling and knitted together.
This wasn't her first kill, far from it, this wasn't even her first execution; but it had been the first time her mind had lapsed and skipped through the battle; the first time she couldn't remember the motions of her hands and the beating of her heart, she couldn't remember the surge of heat that rose up her body when she channeled fire.
The last thing she remembered was black tendrils slithering up her body, constricting her like iron vices, but after that… nothing. A vague yelling from her friend, and the smell…
"Kaori!" Runa closed the distance to her teammate, she knew there was no fix-up to this. They had talked about it, they would engage, they would fight tooth-and-nail for their survival; but they wouldn't take a life if they could avoid it, the three of them had enough rage inside them to be able to kill a 'Chūnin of the Five', but self-control was as—if not more—important than brute strength and sharp skills, they came here to get recognized, promoted, employed… they didn't come here to murder, they didn't come here to conquer, they didn't come here to make another Village miserable. They came here to make things better…
Kaori retreated her hands, freeing her wrists from the grip of Yoa as if it were his hands that summoned flames.
She wasn't scared by the sight, no. None of them were. They'd seen far worse.
In her temmate's case they reacted like that just because of a previously agreed principle.
But in her own case? She was terrified, terrified that for even a minute she wasn't in control, that she wasn't the one with both hands on the leash, that she wasn't only not a rower on the boat; but that she didn't even feel the river lashing out.
"We need to go before more Jōnin arrive." Runa, still in the best mental state out of the three, commanded. They couldn't waste more time, the ANBU was still unconscious, and if her thoughts were correct not only more Jōnin would come, but the proctors would as well. One cadaver was enough for today.
"Move!" Runa yelled once more once her friends didn't respond, tugging Yoa to Kaori's side and herself taking the other; the two pretty much dragged the girl out of there. Kaori didn't complain, didn't fight back their holds, she barely even blinked as her feet carried her by muscle memory from leap-to-leap.
Night was already falling, and The Forest of Death was only just awakening…
End of Day One.
.
To be continued...
Note: We finally got some action here. Let me know what you thought of the fighting sequences! See ya.