Hey people, sorry about taking so long to post. I just moved away from home for the first time and it took some adjusting. The new video game had nothing to do with it. Promise. _
Anyway! Here's the next chapter, finished at the last minute! Enjoy!
Sakura's Limelight
Anko Mitarashi sped through The Forest of Death, the sun setting quickly behind her. "It's almost nightfall. I must find him quickly. If it gets totally dark… I'll be at an even further disadvantage. But why is he here? And at a time like this?" He cloak was flapping wildly behind her, and she continued her pondering. "Well, it makes no difference. If you came to the village, then we will settle things now. You are a level 'S' rank dangerous person. I must stop you even if it costs me my life. And if that's not possible, I must slow you down until the ANBU get here. I learned everything from you. I was one of your men, and thus…"
"That is my job, isn't it Orochimaru?"
He seemingly grew out of the tree, just behind Anko. She jumped and drew some sebon needles from her sleeve, throwing them at her former master. He simply deflected them, and she noticed for the first time how run down and tired he looked.
"What happened to you?" Anko asked, a safe distance away. She was tensed for the slightest movement on his part.
"I ran into a minor resistance during my plan." He said, smug smile apparent on his face.
"And what plan was that?"
He laughed quietly. "We haven't seen each other in a while, yet you're so cold, Anko."
She gripped her left collar bone, and asked the white skinned man "Are you planning to assassinate Hokage-sama?"
"No, I don't have enough men for that. I thought I'd recruit some outstanding genin from this village first." He noticed her panting and gripping her shoulder in pain. "I just gave a kid one of those "Curse Seals." There's a kid that I want…"
"How selfish. He's going to die, you know." Anko was sweating by now, barely able to stay on her feet.
"The chance of surviving is one in ten, but like you, he might not die."
"You must really like this kid."
"Jealous, are we? Are you still upset that I threw you away, Anko?"
She fell to her knees; the pain was coursing through her body.
"Unlike you, this kid has some talent. He's a kid who carries the Uchiha blood. He's the perfect vessel for my next body."
Anko was on her face now, almost losing consciousness.
"Don't stop the exams prematurely. Three from my village are taking this exam… I'm going to enjoy this. If you try to end my enjoyment, the Leaf Village is finished."
Anko looked up just in time to see Orochimaru disappear in a cloud of smoke.
--
"The sun will be up in about an hour. We've spent the first day collecting food and water. Most teams are resting now. Let's attack during the time we planned." Neji was reminding his team of the plan they had concocted earlier in the exam. "Let's split up and spend 30 minutes scouting the area. But whether or not you find a team, we meet back here in 30 minutes." He dropped a kunai into the ground. "Got that?"
"Ok."
"Roger!!"
"And Lee, I know you'll want to, but don't."
"What do I not do Neji?" Lee asked, exuberantly and puzzled.
"Never mind. Fate determines that you must."
Lee gave him a quizzical look. Before he could question Neji further, Neji had already yelled "Go!!" and they had gone their separate ways.
--
Sasuke was grunting and sweating beneath the massive tree that served as his protection. Sakura was tending to him, worrying about his well-being. "I don't understand! I gave him my blood… his cuts and bruises are gone! Why is he still in so much pain??"
"It won't work, Sakura-chan." Naruto said, knowing what she was thinking. "The Curse Mark can't be healed with your blood. It's… like an infection, only worse. Normally, your ability replaces the cells that are damaged or missing. When you give your blood to someone else, the same thing happens to them for a limited time. The Curse Mark makes the body think the cells are there naturally. It won't work.
"Naruto
"So he's just going to die then?? How can you let that happen??" Sakura was nearly hysterical.
"Sakura, calm down!" Naruto looked at her with piercing blue eyes. "He'll be fine. Hopefully, this time, he'll not go to Orochimaru. But I don't know."
She took a deep breath. "How long are you going to be here, Naruto?" She blinked. "And what's wrong with this Naruto?"
She pointed to little Naruto, who was relatively peaceful to the boy next to him.
"He got a seal put on him that disrupts his chakra flow. He's knocked out for a while, but he should be fine. He'll have trouble controlling his chakra until someone removes it."
Future Naruto paused here, as if remembering a fond time. "I have to leave soon, Sakura. It's up to you to keep these two safe."
"But why can't you stay here?? You could take on anyone you wanted here!"
"I can't interfere too much. I just came to stop you from dying. Nothing else." Future Naruto stood and turned his back to Sakura. "A last word of advice, Sakura-chan,"
Sakura turned her head and looked at the older Naruto's back.
"… Don't tell either of them about me. It might cause a rift that could collapse the universe in on itself."
Sakura was taken aback. "Just saying a few words could destroy everything?"
And with that, the tall, strong blonde was gone; hardly any trace of his presence was left behind.
She looked back down to the unconscious duo. "I… I must protect them!"
--
An old, one-armed man was sitting next to a fire at the mouth of a cave. His long white hair touched the ground. He heard someone approaching, and turned his head slightly in recognition. "Did it work?"
The younger man snorted. "If it did, we wouldn't be here, would we?"
"I suppose you're right. But why didn't it work? Surely Orochimaru didn't get her after you left."
The younger man joined the elder at the fire, sitting with his legs crossed. "I think… we can't change the timeline we're in now." He drew a line on the ground. "This," a point on the line was chosen, "is where I went back to stop him." Another line was drawn from the point chosen. "This will be their timeline; different because it was changed. But to them, it's normal. I didn't make things better for us, but I made their lives better. I think that's worth it."
"You've become smarter since we met, haven't you brat?" He threw back his head in laughter, his old, dry hair swaying about.
Naruto allowed himself a small smile; the first in a long time. "Whatever you say, Jiraiya-sensei."
--
Three sound genin observed Sakura and her fallen comrades from a safe, hidden distance.
"As Orochimaru-sama commanded, we attack at daybreak. Our target is Sasuke Uchiha." The leader, covered in bandages said.
"But if the other two get in the way, we can kill them too, right?"
"Of course."
--
Sakura stayed up all night, guarding her teammates and treating Sasuke for his high fever. Every few minutes she would take the rag off Sasuke's forehead and dipped it in a nearby stream, and returned it to its place.
She shook sleep off, knowing the urgency of their situation. "If I fall asleep, I can't protect them and we'll fail the exam!"
The sun poked through the dense over brush, and Sakura sighed in relief. "At least no one will attack us now."
She heard a noise behind her and quickly grabbed a kunai and spun around.
A tiny squirrel was looking at her curiously, a nut in its tiny paws. "A squirrel scared me? I need to get some sleep…"
When the squirrel came closer to Sakura, she flipped out and threw the kunai at it, making the poor animal scurry away in fear. "That was close."
The three sound genin were still in hiding, observing their prey.
"Wow. She noticed the exploding tag on the squirrel?" The other male asked.
"No, that's not it. We'll find out when we get closer."
--
Sakura was nearly nodding off as a voice behind her spoke. "Hehe, been up all night?"
The sound genin from before was standing there with his team. His arms were limp by his side, he was hunched over, and his head tilted. "It's no longer necessary. Wake up Sasuke-kun. We want to fight him."
"I know Orochimaru's pulling the strings behind this!" Sakura cried, adrenaline waking her. "And I know he gave him a Curse Mark! What is he planning?"
"He has a Curse Mark? That's interesting. No matter, we'll kill you all and it won't make a difference."
"If you want Sasuke-kun, you'll have to go through me!" Sakura yelled, kunai held in a defensive position.
"Great! Then here we come!" The other boy yelled.
"Wait Zaku."
"What? Why should I, Dosu?"
Dosu ignored him and talked to Sakura. "You're not very good, you know. An overturned rock, differently colored dirt. Grass doesn't grow here. A booby trap is pointless if people notice it."
Zaku smirked. "Stupid girl. Weaklings like you shouldn't challenge strong guys like us."
The sound team jumped in unison, and Sakura threw her kunai to cut a string holding another trap.
"Another trap from above??" Dosu's visible eye widened, then relaxed. "Yeah right." He held his hand out and blasted the log away with sound. "You think we're weak enough for that?"
He landed behind her, jumped over her sweeping kick, and put his hand on her shoulder. "You're pathetic."
He was just about to blast her, when he was hit it the side of his face by a strong kick. "Leaf Spinning Wind!!"
Rock Lee stood there in his strange stance, squirrel on his shoulder. "I will not allow you to harm the beautiful Sakura-chan."
"Who are you??" Dosu said, clinging to his face.
"The Hidden Leaf's beautiful green beast! Rock Lee!" He proclaimed, emphasized by his shiny black hair and sparkling tooth.
"Why are you here Lee? I don't want you to be hurt!" Sakura cried, wanting to prove herself.
"I will always be here to protect you, Sakura-chan." Lee said smoothly. "Actually, it's all because of you, little guy." Lee gently let the squirrel run down his arm and to the ground.
"Well thank you for the idea, Lee. I don't really need it though."
"I do not mind, Sakura-chan! I will always protect you until I die!" Lee clenched his fist infront of him, nearly crying from joy. "Yes Gai-sensei! I am so cool!"
Dosu threw his scroll to Zaku and said "You can have Sasuke-kun. I'll take this weirdo." He leapt and drew back his fist to punch Lee. Lee quickly dodged backwards, and Dosu smirked as Lee fell into his trap. "Too bad it's impossible to dodge my attacks."
Dosu let sound rip from his gauntlet, nearly tearing Lee in half. Dosu laughed darkly. "This is what you get for interfering with other people's business." He walked over to where Lee lay, a cut and bloody mess.
"I believe you are mistaken." Dosu quickly turned and saw Lee standing, untouched behind him.
"How…! Genjutsu??" Dosu raised his hand again, and pointed it straight at Lee's face. "DIE!!"
Lee was blasted backwards, making a massive dent in the tree behind him. Dosu blinked and the dent was gone. "What's going on here??"
"Dosu, what are you doing!?" Zaku yelled at his leader. "Attack the freak!"
Dosu turned quickly and blasted where he saw Lee. "What are you doing to me??"
Suddenly, Dosu received a hard punch to the stomach. When he looked, there was nothing there. He flew back several feet, and after skidding a while flipped and charged at Lee, who was standing at his original place, next to Sakura. "I warn you, sound ninja, leave Sakura-chan alone or I will hold back no more."
Dosu laughed and charged Lee again. Lee didn't move an inch. Until he was knocked back into a tree.
"What is happening? He shouldn't be able to see me."
--
Team 10 was discussing who to attack when they heard a loud crash close by. "A fight?" Ino said, hopes rising. "Maybe they'll wear out themselves and we can take their scrolls!"
"That would be the only way we could get scrolls. We're the weakest team here." Shikamaru said in his lazy monotone voice.
"That's Sakura's team. And Sasuke's out cold." Choji said calmly, pointed through some bushes.
"What?? Let's go!" Ino shouted, bolting to hide in some bushes and watch the fight unfold. The guy who was wrapped up in bandages had just flown backwards after the green boy had punched him in the stomach.
--
"Where's Lee?" asked Ten-Ten. "He's usually very punctual with things like this."
"I told him not to. But he was destined to help that girl." Neji said, sighing. "Come on. Let's go get him."
--
Lee was astounded. "Has my genjutsu failed me? No matter! I must defend Sakura-chan!" Lee got up and remembered when he had learned this forbidden attack.
Lee had been jumping around in excitement, proving himself to be the only genin on their team to master the technique. Gai-sensei had to punch him to get him to pay attention. After that, he was at attention during the remainder of Gai's lesson.
"Lee, this technique must only be used under the direst of circumstances." Gai explained to Lee. "This attack puts a lot of strain on muscle fibers; it's essentially a suicide attack. Normally, the brain allows us to use about 20% of our full potential. This protects the muscles from tearing themselves apart. This technique destroys the barriers used to hold back our muscle power with chakra, allowing you to use close to your full potential. There is only one condition you are allowed to use this technique under."
"Gai-sensei… I'm going to use this technique without reserve; because right now is a time to protect a precious person!" He undid the bandages on his arm a little, and made a seal to focus his chakra. Lee was suddenly gone.
"Genjutsu again! Don't make me-" Dosu was cut off by Lee reappearing and kicking him in the chin, sending him flying into the air. Lee was underneath him in a moment, wrapping him up with Lee's bandages.
"This is far from over." Lee started to spin faster and faster, becoming a blur or green and white. "Initial lotus!!" The two were a massive drill, headed straight for the ground.
Dosu slammed head first into the ground, and Lee jumped a moment before it connected.
"What is this sensation…?" Lee slid back a few feet, ready to attack again.
Zaku had his hands in the ground, relieved he had made it in time.
Dosu stood up, arm extended to the side. "What a terrifying technique. This much damage even on this spongy dirt… Now it's my turn."
"Damn! This is bad. My body still hasn't recovered!" Lee dodged backwards to avoid Dosu's punch, and it missed him by inches.
"If your moves are fast," Dosu said, taunting Lee, "Then ours are at the speed of sound. I'll show you a wall no amount of hard work can surpase."
Lee fell back, his vision distorted. He lurched forward and puked onto the forest floor. His right ear was bleeding as well.
"There's a trick to my attack that makes it extremely difficult to dodge. Tell me, do you know what sound actually is?"
"Vibration…" Sakura said, trying to piece together his attack.
"Exactly. Hearing sounds means that your eardrum is catching the shaking of the air. And the human eardrum will break with sounds exceeding 150 MHz, and deeper in the ear is the inner membrane. When this is damaged, you lose your balance. You won't be able to move your body like you want for a while."
Zaku drew his hands from the ground. "Lame old taijutsu won't work on us. In all fairness, you were doing well. You forced me to use my jutsu, so of course you lost. I can freely control air pressure, and I have even enough power to destroy a rock. Blasting air into the earth to create a cushion is nothing." Zaku taunted.
"And now, you." Dosu redirected himself towards Sakura, standing set as stone.
"It's not like he can hurt me, anyway. But Sasuke-kun and Naruto…" Sakura took a basic stance, kunai in hand. "I… I must protect them!"
"Brave, aren't we. Oh well. Time to die." Dosu lunged, fist ready to deliver a devastating blow to Sakura.
"Sakura-chan!!" Lee forced himself to jump in the way, and deliver another kick to Dosu. A shot of pain coursed through his body, blurring his vision and debilitating his movement.
"So the attack is affecting you, then?" Dosu caught Lee's kick and pushed it aside. "You scared me there for a moment. But it seems you've lost the ability to do taijutsu in rapid succession." Dosu threw a hook swing and Lee blocked, causing him immense pain. "This device on my arm multiplies small sounds and amplifies them. You could say it's a speaker. Then I use my chakra to direct the sounds, so they always attack my prey." Dosu demonstrated his point by focusing his attack into Lee's inner ear yet again, wreaking havoc on it.
Lee let out a horrific scream, and Sakura yelled his name. Lee fell to the ground, and Dosu held his arm over his head menacingly. "Now, let's finish this."
"I won't let you!!" Sakura threw her kunai and drew several shuriken, launching them as fast as she could. Dosu simply stood there.
--
"They're in serious trouble! We should run while we can!" Ino whispered to Shikamaru.
"It looks like Sasuke and Naruto are just knocked out. That Lee has also been beaten, and Sakura's all alone. What will you do, Ino?" Shikamaru said, ready to run or think up a plan in a moment's notice.
"Me??" Ino whispered back, "Why me?"
"Well Sakura's in trouble. Didn't you guys used to be friends?"
"Oh yeah… we started to fight over Sasuke-kun." Ino thought, remembering times of happiness with Sakura. "But what can WE do? We can't just jump out!"
--
Sakura reared back her arm and let the last shuriken fly. Zaku appeared and blasted them back at her. She blocked with her arms, knowing they wouldn't hurt.
She was shocked when they did, and even more so when the female on the sound team was behind her, holding her by her hair. "Why… why does it hurt??" She cried out in pain.
"Pft. Are you serious with this hair? If you have time to fix it up all pretty, you have time to train. Are you trying to be a sexy ninja?" She gave a hard tug on Sakura's hair. "Zaku, kill the Uchiha in front of this boy chaser. Teach her a lesson."
"No! They can't!"
"My pleasure, Kin."
"I'm STILL the one who needs protecting! Not anymore! This time… I'll protect you guys!"
"So, let's do this." Zaku said, evil grin plastered on his face. He started to walk over to Sasuke and Naruto.
Sakura drew out another kunai and Kin threatened it wouldn't work against her. "What are you talking about?" Asked Sakura, devilish grin on her face.
She sliced her hair, freeing herself from Kin's tight grasp. "I always… thought of myself as a proud ninja. I always said I liked Sasuke-kun, and lectured Naruto as if he was better than me; all I did was watch them from behind. Then, I got this ability. I'm practically an immortal, and I still watched them sacrifice themselves to save me. No more! This time, you'll all watch MY back!!"
"Kin! Kill her!" Zaku yelled, preparing himself to do the same if Kin failed.
Kin drew sebon and rammed Sakura from behind with her shoulder.
Sakura had replaced herself with a log, however, and escaped.
"Such a basic jutsu… she's so weak." Zaku raised his arms and revealed a small hole in the center of each of his palms. "She's coming at me." Zaku turned and yelled for Kin to get out of the way. "Air Slicing Blast!!"
Wind erupted from Zaku's hands, and Sakura preformed another replacement. "You're not fooling anyone, little girl!!" He looked up, and Sakura was there, performing another seal. "How many times do I have to tell you it's useless??" Zaku threw another batch of kunai and shuriken, and started looking around for the next Sakura to pop up.
"Where are you now, girl?" He noticed Sakura was still flying at him, kunai in hand. She had taken every weapon that was thrown at her, and blood was seeping through her skin rapidly. "What the? This time, it's not replacement!!"
Sakura tried to stab at his neck, but he took it in his arm. He cried out in pain as she bit his uninjured arm. "Let go of me you bitch!!" Zaku flailed his arm wildly, trying to shake her off. She wouldn't relent, and Zaku started beating her head with his fist.
Blood was pouring off her face from random cuts scattered across her face. Most of it was hers, but some of Zaku's blood had clotted her hair and landed on her own face. She was pale from blood loss, with deep red blood leaving streaks across her face. Her hair was bloody and clotted, and thrown across her face.
She looked terrifying.
"I… I HAVE TO PROTECT THEM!!" Sakura was eventually thrown off, landing a few feet
Zaku raised his hands to her, ready to blast her away. "You brat!!"
Suddenly, Team 10 was in front of Sakura, ready to protect her.
"Pft. More weirdoes have arrived." Zaku said.
"You're not the only one who gets to look good in front of Sasuke-kun, Sakura!" Ino yelled behind her, not taking her eyes off of the enemy.
"Shikamaru, let go of my scarf!! These guys are WAY too strong for us!!" Choji yelled at his black-haired friend.
"Yeah right! It may suck, but if Ino is fighting, we men have to too!" Shikamaru held firm on Choji's scarf.
"Sorry to get you guys involved. We're a team though, so this is necessary." Ino apologized. "We'll get through this somehow."
Zaku chuckled. "You can leave if you want, fatty."
Choji froze; a look of determination written across his brow. "What did he say?" His voice was suddenly hard and cold. "I didn't hear him."
Shikamaru quickly let go of Choji's scarf. "That word is taboo for Choji. Say it twice and…"
"I said 'If you want to, you can run away FATASS!'" Zaku raised his hand yet again to Choji, and yelled "Air Slicing Blast!!"
Choji held his ground, and the chakra-enhanced air like a breeze to him.
"What? Die!!" Zaku blasted again and again, but he only ruffled Choji's hair and scarf. He looked at his hands, disheveled. He fired at a tree to the side and left a huge gash in the trunk. "What are you??"
While this was happening, Ino told Sakura to take it easy and take care of Sasuke and Sakura. "Alright!" Ino yelled, facing her opponents. "Time for Team Ino full power!"
Shikamaru cracked his neck. "It's necessary, I suppose."
"Choji! Go!" Ino commanded, and Choji nodded. He took a few steps forward, made a seal, and his entire body became like a ball. He started to roll in place, gaining speed and traction. "Meat Tank!!"
Choji rolled and bounced toward Zaku, whose Air Slicing Blast had no affect on the spinning Akimichi. He neared his target with enough speed and weight to crush him in seconds.
Dosu lunged to attack the ball of meat, but was stopped by Shikamaru's shadow bursting forth and attaching itself to Dosu's. He was stopped in his tracks. Zaku had leapt away at the last minute, but had sustained some minor damage.
"Dosu, what are you doing??" Kin screamed, appalled by her team mate's lack of action.
"Ino! Now there's just the girl! Take care of her!"
Choji was dizzy from all his spinning, and had returned to normal size.
Ino made a seal and her body went limp. Shikamaru caught her and Dosu copied the action.
Kin gave a look of shock, and then passed out on the ground. "It's over now!" Kin yelled. "If you guys move an inch, I'll kill this girl! When I can't sense your chakra anymore, I'll let her go."
Zaku and Dosu shared a smirk, and Zaku lifted a single hand to Kin. "No." He blasted Kin into the air, sending her flailing into a tree.
"These guys…" Ino thought inside of Kin's mind, "They would sacrifice a comrade for no reason?"
Zaku taunted them, "You guys misunderstand."
"Our goal isn't to complete the exam, nor keep these scrolls away from you. Our goal is to kill Sasuke Uchiha." Shikamaru's shadow receded back into its original form."It seems like 5 minutes is the limit for this jutsu. And that girl can send her spirit into another person's. From the look of that bleeding, it seems that killing Kin will kill her as well." Dosu gave a grunt of boredom. "I can't take any more of this."
He readied another attack, designed to decimate the rest of his opponents when a voice above them said "Some minor sound ninja bullying these second class ninja and declaring victory? Anyway, you made a mistake here." Neji Hyuuga stood above them, arms crossed and relaxed. " You see, that freak in front of you is on our team and…" The veins around his eyes bulged as if to accentuate his point, "You're going to pay for that.
"If you're going to go any further, I'm going to go all out."
Dosu scoffed. "If you're so strong, then come down here and face us!"
"This chakra…" Neji closed his eyes and sighed. "No. It seems that won't be necessary. It seems one of them is waking up."
And indeed, Sasuke was standing on his own, dark purple chakra swirling around him like a hurricane. His hair was tossed about, and dark flames seemed to race across his skin. "Sakura, who did that to you?"
Zaku laughed, "We did it!"
Sasuke glared at him with sharingan flaring, dark chakra swirling around him, and black flames chasing around his skin. "Good. Now I can kill you."
