Chapter Seven - Questions
I was awakened by Gai-sensei's booming cry.
"Time to get up, my sleepy students!" I blinked a few times before sitting up with a stifled yawn. Tenten was stretching from where she had been sleeping moments previous. I glanced around. The captives were still tied up, and from the looks of it, they had been awake for awhile. I grabbed an energy bar and watched Gai walk towards the captives, motioning for us to follow. I grabbed Oroka's arm - who looked doubtful - and pulled him with us. I stopped a few steps behind my sensei, remaining next to Oroka.
"Who are you?" Gai asked in his boom of a voice. The ninja just glared at him. I scooped a rock of the ground and chucked it at one of the men.
"Hey! He's talking to you." I growled as the man turned his glare on me. The woman spat at our feet, or at least tried to. It didn't work as well as she'd intented.
"Why do you want Oroka?" Gai demanded, knocking one of them over the head. "We can do this the easy way or the painful way." He continued. I glanced over at Oroka. He seemed scared - or was it something else? - , glancing at the four ninja sitting in front of us.
"We're not going to let them get you." I whispered softly to him. He just nodded slowly.
uNeji's PoV/u
I looked up at a sound behind Gai-sensei. Akari was talking to a pale Oroka. He looked nervous about something, and he was pale and practically shaking. Why would he be nervous? Was he hiding something, or was it just my imagination? Gai-sensei continued yelling at the captives, but none of them said a word. Typical. I caught Akari's eye and beckoned her over. She looked puzzle, glancing at Oroka one more time before walking over to me.
"What?" She muttered, standing next to me.
"Oroka doesn't seem to be okay." I started.
"Of course he's not. These guys have been trying to kill him, and here they are in front of him! He has a right to be scared." She countered swiftly. I sighed.
"He's not scared. He's inervous/i. He shouldn't be nervous though." Akari glanced over at him, looking him over. He still had his pale, wide-eyed look. But he was right. Nervousness fit it, not fright.
"What do you expect me to do about it? It's not like I can force the answers out of him." Akari murmured.
"Of course you can. Get into his head." I told her. It was obvious. Akari nodded, and turned, walking back about two steps before sitting at the base of a tree.
"If anyone asks, I'm really tired from the attacks so I needed to rest." She said, forming the handseals. I just nodded. She went limp, her eyes closed and her breathing slowing, as if she were asleep.
uAkari's PoV/u
I formed handseals and left my body. I floated towards Oroka, and entered his mind easily. I didn't even need to dig yet. His thoughts were practically tell-tale.
iThose four better not say anything. They know their job. I'll personally kill them if they say anything.../i It continued like that in a practically never ending stream. I began flipping through memories. I could practically feel him tense up in surprise. I found the memory I needed, and I let it play, in normal time. If I could have, I would have punched this guy's lights out.
i"... your job is to follow me. Once we have passed through one day, you will begin attacking my group relentlessly. Kill my protectors all of us. The next person will enter Konoha. You will do the same thing. Until their shinobi are so low that they cannot even send out ninja to protect someone, we will strike, destroying the Village Hidden in the Leaves."/i It was Oroka himself, speaking to the four that we had here. I left his mind immediately.
I stood up slowly once I was back in my body. My body had seriously gone to sleep. I stumbled slightly, and I slowly blinked my eyes to clear them of the fog. Once I was fully awake, I walked back to Oroka as if nothing had happened. I was calm. Oroka didn't suspect a thing. I silently drew a kunai. I stepped back nonchalantly, he didn't pay me any attention. I stepped behind him, placing the kunai at his throat.
"Talk, Oroka." I said loudly, surprising everyone, except for Neji, who just looked smug. Gai-sensei looked at me.
"What are you doing, Akari? He didn't do anything. Let him go." He boomed. I shook my head.
"Do I need to tell
them for you? Since I just watched the memory iin
your mind/i." Oroka froze up
again.
"It was you?" He muttered, curiously. I pressed
the knife against his throat a little harder, but not enough to draw
blood. I sighed.
"He's part of some plot to destroy Konoha's defenses. They are supposed to kill all of us, Oroka included. Then, someone else goes into Konoha and gets protectors. The same thing happens. Then, when we have no shinobi left to protect the village, they go in and destroy the village." I said, and everyone looked at Orokoa.
"You little bitch." He muttered, and he did something I didn't expect. He elbowed me in the stomach, causing me to double over and make my kunai arm go limp. He spun and kicked me, sending me flying backwards into a tree. I hit it sideways, and hit my arm. A loud isnap/i could be heard as I whimpered in pain. I broke my arm. I glanced back at the area I had been standing at, to see Neji and Tenten attack Oroka at the same time. I stood, but it shifted my arm and I winced in pain. I didn't touch my arm. I wasn't that stupid, though I iwas/i stupid enough to trip over a root and hit my arm. The pain of landing on it was enough to make me black out for a minute or two. When I finally regained consiousness I pushed myself up into a sitting position with my good arm. Lee was tying Oroka up. Gai-sensei and Neji were walking towards me. Where was Tenten? I felt something touch my bad arm, and I winced away from it. I found her. I glared at her, even though I know she meant well.
"That ihurts/i, Tenten." I hissed as she touched it lightly again, and I winced again.
"We need to get you to the hospital so they can set this properly. We can make a sling for right now." I nodded. It sounded painful. Gai-sensei stopped in front of me.
"Are you okay?" He boomed. I nodded, looking up at him.
"I'll live," I winced as Tenten touched my arm again. "I hope." I heard tearing fabric. I glanced over at Tenten to see her making a sling out of a shirt. I wasn't sure whose it was anymore. She pulled it around my neck, and I got ready for pain. She pulled my arm into it, and I nearly blacked out again. I think the only thing that kept me consious was knowing it was going to happen. I sighed in relief when it was in place. It was throbbing, but I could live with it.
"What's the plan?" I asked, as Tenten helped me up. Lee had finished tying Oroka up and had walked over to us.
"We're going to take those guys back with us to Konoha and let the Hokage deal with them." Gai-sensei said. There were five badguys, and four of us. I doubted I could carry one of them.
"So... who is carrying whom?" I asked after a moment. "I don't know if I can handle carrying one of them right now." I continued. Gai-sensei nodded.
"I will carry two, and the others will carry one. You don't need to carry anyone." He said. "Alright team, lets get out of here." He finished. I went and pulled my backpack onto one shoulder. I waited as the others got ready. We began to run through the trees, making our way back to Konoha faster than we had left. Each time I landed on a tree it jarred my arm, making it hurt. By the time ten minutes had passed, my arm was screaming in agony. I didn't say anything. I refused to say anything. We figured we'd be back in Konoha in about four hours at this pace. I had no idea if I was going to make it, but I was going to try.
