A/N: Really late update, but better now than never. This chapter was supposed to be posted a few weeks ago, but my computer kinda decided to stop working, one part after another, so it delayed me working on the chapter for about a week. Add to the fact I had to basically start over anew (I actually had a good draft saved, before my computer crashed), and it was slow getting back into the swing of things. The good part is though, that I already have a good amount of the next chapter finished, I just need to finish them up and do major revisions before sending it off to my new beta. =) Anyways, this chapter was fun to write, and a bit challenging as I had to go back and constantly do revisions to make characterzations proper. So enjoy =).
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The sound of a branch breaking underfoot awoke Naruto with a start, as loud as a gunshot due to the vicinity, causing him to jump and slip into a fighting stance out of habit before realizing he was in the Forest Of Death and relaxing slightly. Having spent a good amount of time in it years ago, he knew that the forest was possessed and enjoyed to mess with the perceptions and instincts of ninja through unknown methods.
Another snapped branch forced him to investigate the source of the sound, massaging his hand to ease the pain from using the Rasengan: Shuriken technique hours earlier, the hand in question not fully healed but a far cry from unusable. Stepping back into the blood-caked clearing brought him face-to-face with a blood-covered Karin, who was breathing heavily from a number of wounds that were hiding underneath the sheen of blood covering her body. A quick glance over to the source of the blood made Naruto realize what had happened when the shuriken had attacked the trio, even if Karin was ignorant of it at the current moment.
"They sacrificed themselves," stating obviously, Naruto looked over Karin intently, who stared at him as though she didn't hear what he said, trying to figure out if she had sustained any significant wounds that would require medical treatment right that minute. He wasn't capable of preforming anything beyond a crude healing technique that dealt with flesh wounds, but he was able to apply it creatively and use it to deal with other injuries that weren't fatal or near-fatal. He just hoped that she had sustained superficial wounds as he didn't wish to burn a large amount of chakra on healing her and draw the attention of the ANBU that would no doubt be on their way here after his initial show of force.
Nodding dumbly, Karin didn't attempt to open her mouth to acknowledge his statement, instead trying to gather enough chakra to heal up her bruised organs but failing to grasp it properly; causing her to grunt in pain as her attempts of subduing the pain through a genjutsu failed and subsequently reintroduced her body to the pain.
Noticing her knees started to buckle from the pain, Naruto swiftly caught her, holding her body up through one of her armpits, putting all of her weight on him which she was silently thankful for. She knew it was wrong to thank her enemy, but it was obvious that the brunette wasn't going to let her die, or at least not right away. What she didn't understand however, was why he intended to keep them alive, or tried to at least.
Sensing her shift slightly, Naruto wrapped his free arm around her waist, "Don't say anything. We need to get out of here before the ANBU show up." Without warning he dashed off, arm tightly wrapped around her slender waist and putting a significant distance between them and the blood-covered clearing.
Minutes passed as he pushed his body as much as he could, putting over a mile in distance from their current location and the scene where Karin and her team had ambushed the brunette. Stopping near a river with a cave a short distance from the bank, Naruto set her down gently on a rock outside of the cave, taking notice of their surroundings, spotting potential ambush points and trap-placement points before turning to face her.
"You stay here. I need to gather some wood and herbs to keep you warm and treat your wounds. After that we'll have to wash all that blood off you," Naruto ordered, Karin nodding dumbly as she knew there was nothing she could, as it took all of her conditioning and skills to not shout out in pain. Taking her silence as acknowledgement, Naruto created a couple of Kage Bunshin to assist in tracking of wood and herbs, loitering close to the edge of the make-shift camp, absently watching Karin while his mind was elsewhere.
Her allies unnecessary sacrifice was shocking to him. In his home-dimension, he found out that the initial Oto trio didn't trust one another, all three arrogant and confident they could come out on top, though that proved to be their downfall. While he subconsciously knew they were vastly different from his home-dimension, he couldn't help but be surprised when they selflessly sacrificed themselves to spare Karin. It shook him up internally, though he wouldn't admit it to anyone.
To sacrifice oneself without thoughts of the outcome....was an act of compassion to Naruto, one that made him realize that the people in this dimension that might be more inclined in helping deal with the threat of Akatsuki, Orochimaru, and Madara, though he wasn't going to hold his breath.
As he walked back into the make-shift camp he ordered a pair of clones to get to work on making a campfire while dispelling the others, sitting himself next to a still-despondent Karin who didn't seem to acknowledge his presence but he knew she was aware of it. She and her teammates had displayed skill fit for regular Jounin, and to have it at the tender age of twelve spoke a good amount about her and her capabilities.
"Why did you save me?" not the oddest question Naruto had been asked, but he was taken back by the sudden action of her talking; she hadn't uttered a single word since he had found her, and didn't expect her to speak right away given the circumstances. As he started grinding the various herbs up in a make-shift bowl, he mulled over his response.
"You were looking for an out of your contract with Orochimaru, and I gave you and your allies the tools to break free. However, they were too hasty, too impatient, and their death is ultimately their own fault. If-" he was interrupted by a slap to the face from Karin, whose eyes seethed with unbridled rage, her eyebrows furrowed in what he assumed was a glare.
"Bad mouth them, and I'll rip your fucking tongue out," Naruto was impressed internally. Despite all the pain her body was in, she had managed to look past it and strike him, forcing him to set aside the half-ground herbs and stare at her intently. In a show of intimidation, he reached out and grasped her chin in his hand, lifting her face enough to inspect her features in greater detail, though the dried blood covered most of the noticeable features. The act also restricted her throat movements, silencing her as the effort to speak would put too much stress on her body, and she felt as though she was going to pass out from the pain.
"I can't say I blame you for striking me, Karin of the clan of the Hawk. If I were in your situation, I have no doubt in my mind that I would react similar. But, what I say is true; they were too impatient, too hasty in throwing away their lives to save yours. If they had thought logically about their situation, you three could have escaped. Even if you did not, the Shuriken would have simply wounded you, not killed. I had no intention of killing those two, as you three have great potential. Potential I intend to harness and use. Potential that Orochimaru doesn't realize, and I intend to steal from him," Naruto lectured softly, running his thumb along Karin's bloody cheek, scraping some of the blood off in the process though it was a gentle action, done to calm the girl. Releasing her chin, Naruto went back to work on grinding the herbs, withdrawing a tube of an oily substance and pouring a small amount into the bowl, mixing it while Karin sat there, stunned.
"But....how? How do you intend on harnessing my potential? I....I didn't even know I had potential," she trailed, shocked at the sudden turn in events and still in disbelief.
"Your skill level is on-par with that of an average Jounin. If you were a Jounin, it would be expected, but since you are a Genin, it shows you have great potential to become a very powerful ninja. I intend to show you your potential, but not until you've healed enough to begin training properly. Now, lets get you cleaned up, before we attract some not-so-nice visitors," he informed her, helping her stand and slowly leading her to the river, placing her on a rotting stump near the riverbank.
Forming a large bowl from the mud using his affinity, Naruto dipped it river, filling it halfway before removing it and placing it at the base of the stump, soaking his hands in the cold water for a minute before extracting them and running them through Karin's blood-soaked locks. Periodically washing his hands of the blood he removed, they sat in silence, Karin feeling slightly relaxed whenever Naruto would massage her scalp lightly, while the brunette reminisced of the times he reciprocated the same action with Ino, back in his home-dimension.
As he finished his ministrations on her hair, he turned Karin enough so she was directly facing him, a light blush on her face as well as a look of content, though Naruto ignored it for the most part as he placed his hands back in the water and went about removing the blood that was caked onto her face. While removing the blood, Naruto could feel the heat emanating from her cheeks, earning a raised eyebrow from the brunette as he stared at Karin innocently, deepening her blush as her heart started racing for an indeterminable reason. Running his thumb along her warm cheek, Naruto considered the ramifications of his actions if he acted on the thoughts that were swirling in his head.
On one hand, he could bridge the gap and use Karin's emotions against herself to convince her to join him in taking down Akatsuki and Orochimaru. It was an underhanded technique in Naruto's opinion, but he knew it was the most reliable method of getting her to see his side of things, as it would form a sort of 'hero worship' similar to her attitude towards Sasuke in his home-dimension. The only difference being is Naruto wouldn't treat her as simply a means to the end, as he knew she would be invaluable in the future.
As he considered the other method of gaining her trust and loyalty, Karin mustered up her courage and leaned forward, in a not-so-subtle hint of her intentions, before Naruto focused back on reality;hiding his shock at how easy it would be to get her to join him in taking on Orochimaru and the Akatsuki before leaning in giving her the kiss she clearly wanted. It lasted less than a minute, but it gave Naruto time to consider what he was doing a second time.
'...why did I do that? Why did I kiss Karin? I mean, I know that she's as much to blame as I am, but seriously, why did I kiss her? I won't deny I liked it, hell, I'd make this a day-to-day occurrence if I could get away with it, but is it really a good idea to be locking lips with someone I don't know? Ignoring the fact I technically know a bit about her from my dimension, of course,' he thought to himself as he pulled back from the kiss, watching as Karin's eyes danced with a dreamy content though he didn't say anything to destroy the mood.
Pouring out the dirty water from his make-shift bowl, Naruto refilled it, washing his hands in the river in the process before turning to face Karin, whose eyes still held the content they held minutes earlier, though he noticed it was lessened. Creating a few Kage Bunshin absentmindedly, he motioned for them to help her stand, one holding her in place to prevent her from falling while another removed her clothing and went about cleaning it in the river while Naruto ran his hands over Karin's back, earning a yelp of surprise at the sudden action.
When she didn't say anything regarding being nude around Naruto, he set about cleaning her back, massaging wounds that looked fresh, earning a tense muscle from Karin if it was, and a slight flinch if it was an old wound. She didn't say a single word while he was washing her back, nor did she say a word when he turned her to clean her front, though he noticed she blushed deeply as he had uncompromising view of her growing chest.
As he was cleaning a shallow wound located her left shoulder, he was certain she was going to say something, as he could feel her heartbeat quicken and the muscle tense under his hand, but she remained quiet even after stopping for a minute and looking at her with a questioning glance, continuing only after she shook her head. A similar action repeated, when he was cleaning a wound on her right thigh, and again she shook her head, though Naruto knew she wanted to say something, she just didn't wish to embarrass herself in front of him.
Finishing the act, he motioned for one of his clones to replace her clothing with it's clothing, saving her the embarrassment of someone wandering upon their camp with Naruto clothed and Karin unclothed, which he figured she was grateful for. He never had to endure the embarrassment of being naked in the presence of someone he was attracted to, or at least not unwillingly and at a young age.
He lead her back to the camp, where the fire was burning vigorously, hitting the duo with a solid wall of heat while illuminating the trees in a thirty foot radius. If someone where to wander in their general direction, they would no doubt be ambushed but Naruto wasn't going to fault a clone for being efficient.
"Great, now if someone wanders in this area, they'll be able to see us, and we won't be able to see them," Karin spoke up through gritted teeth, clearly not liking the prospect of other people seeing her naked, but couldn't do much about it besides not have her wounds treated. It was obviously an internal battle for the red head, between dignity and necessity, which necessity won out, in a slim margin.
"That may be, but I would think being caught naked is a lot better prospect than being caught wounded," Naruto told her, leading her to a rock near the fire and sitting her down on it, motioning for the clones to place her clothes a safe distance from the fire to dry them quicker, before the clones disappeared into the tree-line to watch over the duo.
"You're not the one who just bared all to a ninja and his clones," she shot back, begrudgingly sitting down and showing an attitude she didn't have during their fight and his subsequent rescue. The attitude change wasn't surprising to Naruto, since he knew people adopted some odd quirks when dealing with stress and shock, he just didn't expect her to so quickly.
"And yet, you never once complained when I was cleaning your body. Not once," he shot back, pushing her shirt forward enough to administer his make-shift medicine on her back wounds, before turning her to face him and applying to the wounds on her torso, though he knew she wasn't happy about it.
"Stare and I'll kill you, pervert," snapping, she glared at him, doing a complete 180 degree turn from ten minutes ago. Naruto seemed unphazed from her empty threat however, as he'd received them a number of times when administering emergency healing on the battlefield. It wasn't uncommon for the medic-ninja assigned to his group to be attacked first, as they were often any groups lifeline, and more times than not he was the only person who knew enough medical jutsu to patch them up enough so they could administer their own jutsus upon themselves.
"If you kill me, a hardy feat considering you're in no condition to fight and you're outnumbered, then how do you expect to crawl back to your precious Orochimaru-sama? I don't doubt some other team would find you, and they might be more inclined to use you as they please than I. At least with me you'll live through the night," he informed her, done with the application of medicine and using a low-level jutsu to heal the internal damage done to her organs.
Usually, healing organs was tricky, as you could never tell if the chakra would be directed to the organ that was injured, but with Naruto he infused a bit of chakra reserved for his healing factor into the jutsu, allowing it to quickly heal the recipients body. The only downside was it drained a significant amount of Naruto's chakra to heal, usually equal to the amount of chakra a persons body was capable of holding, and more chakra was usually spent on organs than flesh wounds.
As such, Naruto felt a bit light-headed as he finished healing the red-heads body, which she took advantage of, aiming a chop at his neck to disable him and allow her enough time to escape. What she failed to realize was the chop doing nothing, besides lightly bruise the brunette's neck and cause him to push her off the rock, forcing her to cry out in pain as she bruised her freshly-healed wounds.
"You don't listen, do you? I tell you you can't fight me in your condition, and yet you decide to try it anyways," he admonished, standing and rubbing the bruise softly, infusing the muscle with a bit of his chakra to help speed up the already-quick healing process.
Instead of answering, Karin was more focused on the pain that lanced through her body as she relived the injuries inflicted upon her by Naruto hours earlier. She couldn't move, as she was certain that it would only make the pain worse, but she knew that if she cried out in pain, she would be giving him the satisfaction that he had hurt her, and her pride wouldn't allow that to happen.
A snap of his fingers confused Karin, as the pain that coursed through her veins disappeared without warning, causing her to look around and wonder if it was all a dream. The flourishing fire and brunette standing above her brought reality crashing down upon her, realizing that the previous pain was simply a Genjutsu.
"You bastard," she seethed, anger clouding her mind as she wracked her brain and tried to figure out how she could escape. No doubt he had some degrading plan for her, as that always seemed to happen to her; follow one person, or be forced to her worst tortures. Standing slowly, she slowly began to gather enough chakra for a quick escape, but was interrupted by him facing her, eye to eye.
Before she could utter the first syllable of her jutsu, she found her lips were captured by his for a second time, though she noticed he was more forceful in this effort, showing some history behind the intimate act and causing her hormones to flare up a second time, clouding her plans of escape. At first she assumed it was a Genjutsu but after a tense minute she realized it was no illusion. Instead of using cheap tricks, he simply used her body against herself, though she oddly felt no anger regarding that idea.
As he separated his lips from hers, she wrapped her arms around him suddenly, catching him off-guard but he didn't say anything as her lithe body started shaking, from what he didn't know though he could have taken a guess. He opted not to, instead sitting against the rock and letting her rest her body against his as her shaking softened and slowly stopped, a light regular breathing letting him know she had fallen asleep. Deciding against removing her, as he admitted internally he liked the feeling of someone sleeping with his body as a pillow, and had missed it in the years following the destruction of his Konoha. As he stared at the fire, he wondered how he ended up in this position, and how his team was coping with his sudden departure.
---
Several hours earlier
"What do we do Shika? It doesn't look like Naruto is going to join us," Sakura asked, clearly nervous about the scene. Behind them lay a pile of debris, mostly parts of trees, with their third member no where in sight though they didn't know whether or not he was under the debris, or waiting for the perfect dramatic moment to step out 'alive' and shock them with tales of grandeur.
When it became apparent that he wasn't going to grace them with his presence, Shikamaru stood from his previously crouching pose, using the time between their narrow escape and the inevitable conclusion of Naruto not showing up to consider their next course of action. Really, it was a no-brainier to the semi-lazy genius, but he felt that thinking of situations calmed the nerves, allowing him to catch otherwise subtle details that could spell fortune or failure.
"We head for the tower. Naruto won't be waiting for us here, if he somehow got separated from us, he'll be heading for the tower as soon as he can. If we're lucky, we can avoid confrontation until the tower, where we can ambush another team and get our required scroll," he dictated, checking his gear for the thirty-ninth time and mentally taking inventory of what he had.
It was a nervous habit of his, and he wasn't one to normally get nervous, but losing arguably their strongest, smartest, and most resourceful member did put him in a confident mindset. While he acknowledged that eventually they'd have to learn to depend on themselves, he wasn't keen on doing it after such short time of being a team, especially in the middle of their first Chunin exam, but it seemed that he was being 'thrown to the wolves' as Naruto put it, and as such had to be confident in his abilities as a ninja and leader.
If he didn't, then how could he call himself a ninja with a straight face?
"Right," she acknowledged, mentally going over her list of techniques and tactics in an attempt to quell her own nervousness. While she wouldn't admit she was as smart as Shika, or as strong as Naruto, she felt she could hold her own, if push came to shove. She just didn't want to do it in the middle of the so-called 'hostile territory', and without the comforting feeling of knowing someone would step in and save her in the nick of time. Childish it might be, but she liked the feeling of Naruto being on her team, the 'number one rookie' as people constantly referred to him as, and knowing he was watching her back made her feel confident enough to take on a Jonin.
Not a word was uttered as they dash off in the general direction of the tower, sticking near the canopy in the forest to avoid intentional confrontation, the 'music' of the forest consisting of distant sounds of fighting, forcing the duo to take a number of long shortcuts to avoid direct confrontation until they arrived in a clearing with no nearby tree to jump to, forcing them to the ground. When they landed solidly on the ground, they looked around the clearing in suspicion, as there was no sunlight peaking through the canopy, meaning it was a Genjutsu.
A branch breaking underfoot gave them a second to dodge in separate directions, narrowly avoiding two swarms of needles, the two landing in defensive positions with kunai drawn, eyes analyzing their surroundings by instinct, trying to find the best defensive positions to lay a turnabout ambush. Their training with Naruto was clearly shining through in how they assessed the situation and began to consider attack options, though it would seem their enemies were just as skilled, if not more so.
Two more swarms of needles impacted where they had stood seconds earlier, with another two tossed while they were in mid-air, forcing them to use Kawarimi to avoid becoming pin-cushions but it seemed the attackers weren't giving up, two of them dashing from the safety of the tree's to attack the two as they fell towards the ground. Shikamaru dodged too slow, receiving a strong right hook across his cheek while Sakura's small, lithe body allowed her to dodge in time, delivering a grazing kick on her attacker in retaliation.
As Shikamaru's body crashed roughly to the ground, Sakura landed softly, before charging her recovering attacker, this time connecting with a solid left hook and ramming her knee into her attacker when they stumbled back, causing it to dissipate into smoke, putting her more on edge than before. Naruto constantly told them that when an enemy seemed too weak to put up much of a fight, it was no doubt a Bunshin. They, Sakura and Shikamaru, knew eventually they would face someone who was as proficient in the technique as their third member but they didn't expect it to be used as easily as the person before them used it, the remaining clone opting to go for Shikamaru as he was sluggish in getting up off the ground from his hard fall.
When the clone was five feet away, it stopped suddenly, incapable of moving while Shikamaru righted himself while staring at the clone intently. Sakura stood thirty feet away, her left arm outstretched while chakra arced above and below her flesh, paralyzing the attacker and giving the brunette enough time to regain his composure.
Being the stronger, physically at least, of the duo, Shikamaru wasted no time in driving his fist into the clones fist, eying it carefully as he visibly recoiled but didn't 'pop' out of existence, proving his theory correct.
"You're not a Bunshin," he stated obviously, watching the body crumble to the ground as Sakura released her jutsu and calculating the best place for the remaining two enemies to launch a counter-attack, given the circumstances. Sakura did the same, her eyes scanning the trees while she unconsciously rubbed feeling back into her left arm.
The technique was originally designed to forcefully dispel Bunshins of all types, aside from mud and earth types, but could double as a technique to disable a humans nervous system. The only real downside was it wrecked havoc on the coils in her arm, which made it impractical behind enemy lines due to the time it took to reconstruct the coils.
Repeating a familiar pattern, two swarms of needles rained down upon the two, forcing them to jump out of the way only to be intercepted in mid-air by two ninja who assaulted them with a flurry of fists and feet. Shikamaru attempted to use Kawarimi, but it was dispelled quickly by a punch aimed at his midsection, forcing the air from his lungs and making him lose his grip on the chakra required. Sakura wasn't as lucky, her enemy taking a more sadistic approach and using a kunai to paint her body with blood, narrowly missing several large arteries by mere luck, though the missed attacks made the pain much more unbearable as she crashed to the floor hard. Shikamaru was the first on his feet when he landed on the forest floor, instinctively running through a quick series of seals and slamming his palms onto the hard ground.
"Earth Barrier: Earth Dome Prison," he muttered, catching the two off guard when a living entity of mud rose from the ground and covered them with itself, forming a dome used for containing Genin-level enemies. It required a great deal of concentration to preform the technique, oftentimes making it useless in direct combat and was commonly used in distant confrontations or to disable weak enemies like Genin or bandits. If Shikamaru was honest with himself, he didn't see it holding for long, but it would do in a pinch to allow him and Sakura to escape to a safe distance.
As he walked to where Sakura lay prone, he took a moment to assess her wounds, to determine whether or not they were life threatening enough that he would need to perform emergency care to prevent infection or if they should forfeit the exam to get her treated. He knew that Naruto would likely not be happy about them forfeiting, but he wasn't going to risk Sakura's life for a simple chance to be promoted. It didn't sit well with him, to sacrifice a friend and ally for a promotion, something that could be earned outside of the Chunin Exam.
So engrossed with his thoughts, he didn't notice the third member struggle to his feet and throw a kunai at him until it was too late to use Kawarimi or dodge, forcing him to stumble when it lodged itself in his shoulder and cause him to cry out in pain. The lapse in concentration cause the dome of mud to crumble and break, freeing the other two ninja, who looked annoyed that they were kept at bay with a Genin-level technique but didn't comment on it.
One of the ninja, the tallest and probably a male judging from his body type and how he moved, dashed forward and delivered a snap kick to Shikamaru's chest, sending him flying away and land on his back, forcing the kunai to dig even more into his shoulder and intensifying his cry of pain. The other ninja that was trapped, shorter than the injured ninja and Shikamaru's attacker, walked calmly towards Sakura, rifling through a pack attached to her hip, containing spare kunai, shuriken, and their exam scroll.
Extracting it and nodding towards her allies, as she had the body type of a pubescent female, they helped their third member to his feet and started to walk out of the clearing before stopping, hearing an unusual noise. As they turned to face the source, they were visibly shocked to see Sakura standing, blood covering her clothing and still flowing while she panted heavily from the effort exerted to stand and face her enemies.
"Return the scroll, and I might spare your lives," she seethed, anger clouding her mind and overlooking the obvious pain her body was in. Internally she knew she was putting her life in danger by forcing herself to move, but she vehemently defended her actions, citing that she had been too much of a liability to their team for too long, and was going to earn her keep even if it meant her limbs being damaged for years to come.
The tall male muttered something that she couldn't hear, her anger forcing her to tune out the unimportant details as she formulated a battle plan. Tricky as it might be, as she could be putting her body in a comatose state, she was going to fight tooth and nail until she got their scroll back. She wasn't going to let something petty such as her livelihood get in the way of their success, not if she had anything to say about it.
The female stepped forward, her lips moving but no sound reached Sakuras ears as the female shook her head sadly and did a quick string of seals and said the name of the technique. A projectile made of water caused Sakura to instinctively jump out of it's way, her body protesting but it fell on deaf ears as Sakura charged the female, doing a string of seals and striking the females body with a sluggish punch. The female couldn't avoid the punch, due to chakra-infused lightning leaping out and disabling her bodily-movements for a moment. The moment of being unable to move was all Sakura needed, as she delivered the punch to her stomach, the lightning chakra seeping into her body, racing along her enemies chakra coils and attacking the organ that produced the life-giving energy.
As the foreign chakra entered her body, the female couldn't keep a blood-curdling scream from escaping her lips as her body felt as though it was on fire and freezing cold at the same time, the two extremes intensifying for a minute before she dropped dead, the shock forcing her to suffer a heart attack and stroke, followed by the chakra organ shutting down.
Breathing more heavily due to the amount of chakra it took to use the technique, as she was still working on it and it's interactions with the human body, Sakura could only stand still as the tallest male shouted and landed a strong right hook across her cheek, sending her flying away while he dashed to continue assaulting her. A minute passed as Sakura's catatonic body received punch after punch, kick after kick, until the ninja jumped back to avoid a spike made of earth thrust out of the ground, narrowly missing his body. Shikamaru was now the one standing, breathing heavily to make his mind focus more on saving his friend and teammate more than the pain coursing through his body.
While not beaten as badly as Sakura was, he knew it was a feat he had made it to his feet, since his left arm was essentially dead-weight due to how deep the kunai was embedded in his shoulder. He could use it, yes, but it would involve a large amount of pain to use it to use two-handed techniques, forcing him to rely on the more direct, chakra-consuming method of single-handed seals.
The main problem was Naruto had only begun to teach them how to use one-handed seals, so Shikamaru's repertoire of techniques was low, and his experience was just as low as Naruto didn't want them to use single-handed seals against one another due to how unexpected they could be. Shikamaru pushed the memories from the forefront of his mind however, as the enemy ninja, an Ame ninja judging from his headband, rushed through a string of seals before presenting his hands to Shikamaru, the palms facing him.
"Water Shark Projectile," instantaneously, the water held by the trio exploded from the bottles containing them, shocking Shikamaru and keeping him rooted on the spot as the shark converged on him, it's jaws wide-open and giving the lazy genius a clear view of the tool of his demise.
When the shark was a foot away from colliding with the shocked brunette, a newcomer dashed in and rescued him, hoisting his body on his shoulder and causing the shark to collide with the ground where Shikamaru stood a moment earlier. The Ame ninja eyed the newcomer suspiciously, obviously formulating either a plan of attack or escape, though Shikamaru didn't know which it was.
As the brunette's shock wore off, he looked up to his rescuer, noting an unfamiliar head of red-hair atop a short stature. Although he couldn't tell what village he was from, he noticed that the red-head wore a light-layer of clothing, making Shika assume he was from a village that was warm all year long though it didn't help pinpoint the newcomers point of birth. Snaking his forearms was intricate tattoos, reminiscent of Kiba's but lacking the dog that tagged along with the ninja.
"Leave your scroll and take your ally. You won't be told twice," the red-head ordered, the Ame ninja eying him before sighing and throwing both Team 7's and his own scroll at the feet of the ninja and leaving with his now-unconscious ally. "Temari, Kankuro, help the girl. I'll help the boy," continuing, a blond female and short black-haired boy emerged from the trees and went to assist Sakura, the girl picking her up bridal-style and carrying her gently into the forest, with the red-head helping Shikamaru to his feet and following the girl.
"Do not worry, you will not be harmed while we are around," Shikamaru felt the comment to be a tad redundant, but didn't say anything as he fell unconscious, wondering where Naruto was and wonder what had befallen him.
----
Elsewhere
"I don't know why we must be dishonored and degraded. Are we not enlightened? Does He not bless us? Were we not chosen to partake this mission from the Almighty?" a tall, thin man, covered by the dark of night, wondered aloud. His partner, a shorter figure, ignored his complaining. They'd been traveling for two days straight and he'd had to put up with his incessant comments the entire time, and was close to letting his composure slip enough to 'accidentally' maim him and later tell their leader that they ran into stiff resistance.
"Do you think they suspect anything?" adopting a more serious tone, the first man continued with a question aimed at his partner, who eyed him cautiously, wondering for the hundredth time how he switched demeanors as quickly as he did.
"No. He believes they are as ignorant as they were the day they were birthed. They suspect nothing out of the usual, aside from the fact that they are mobilizing and making preparations for what's to come," the shorter man stated curtly, not breaking his brisk pace.
"Do you think you they suspect anything?" asking the question a second time, with an emphasis on the opinion of his partner, the tall man looked around the forest in wonder, rarely having the oppurtunity to be in Fire Country in the dead of night. It was an unusual beauty for the man, but he felt the more unique the beauty, the more enjoyable it was to corrupt it.
"My opinion has no bearing on this mission," his partner said in an even more curt tone. "Now quit with your incessant questions or I'll kill you," he continued in a threatening tone, releasing a small amount of killing intent to get the point across. For ninja of their calibur, it was a small amount, but it did the job in getting his partner to shut up for five minutes, at the least. They walked in silence until dawn, when the sun started to sift through the dense forest surrounding them, earning a comment from the tall man.
"And on the 7th day, He said 'Let there be blood', and indeed there was."
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A/N: Finally this chapter is done. It took me a little bit but I'm satisfied with the final product and hope you are too. =) Review responses follow.
Edengrave: I'll admit my neglect on the other characters has been apparent in the last few chapters, but luckily my other beta pointed it out and inspired me to write in some nice growth in this chapter. Hope you enjoy it =)
To everyone else not mention: Thanks for the reviews. I do really appreciate that you took the time to review, even if I constantly rehash this statement in each chapter. =)