Chapter 11: Power
Sakura's P.O.V.
I can't take care of them all! Naruto, Mizuki, and Sasuke-kun, please wake up! I don't know that's wrong with them! Well, I know that Naruto got knocked out and that Orochimaru put something on the weird markings on his stomach... But Sasuke-kun and Mizuki! Sasuke has this weird purple aura around him, it's thick and threatening, but it's nothing to Mizuki's. Hers is pitch black and it takes up most of this cave! I can't keep her from feeling pain... I know I'm supposed to hate her but since she's started opening up, it's been harder and harder. She really is a likeable person... If only Naruto wasn't so reckless! Then I would at least have some help!
I looked to the left and saw a squirrel. Oh no! I thought, if it gets any closer, it'll set off my trap!
Mizuki's P.O.V.
Pain overwhelmed me. I couldn't move my body, see anything, or hear anything. I hated it. I never liked being held still, not hearing anything or not seeing anything. I was used to the darkness, it comforted me. But now it was unbearable. Suddenly light slid in, illuminating everything around me with a dim light. I looked around but all I could see was an ice floor. When I looked closer, I could see a black, thick looking fluid. It slowly poured over the floor, covering the ice with its putrid color. I slowly made its way to me, pooling around my feet. I struggled to move away, something about it made me feel weird, like something awakening in me. As soon as the liquid began to creep up my feet, pain erupted. I opened my mouth to scream but nothing came out, nor did my mouth move. My eyes widened in horror as it crept higher, coiling itself around my body. As if finally reached my waist, it began to protrude outwards, forming what looked like a tail. My back began to throb in pain as it curled, snaking higher.
It reached my shoulders and stretched out slowly, sliding down my arms. As it wrapped around my fingers, it protruded there also, sharp but hardly noticeable claws forming. I was slightly aware of it wrapping around my neck, heading behind my head to swallow my hair, which clung to my skin. At the top of my head, it protruded there as well, forming ears, my others invisible with the liquid around them, blocking out any sound I could have heard. It finally began to cover my face, making me in hail its scent. I expected it to smell horribly, I expected it to shove up my nose and kill me, but no. It smelled like...
Blood.
The only thing that wasn't covered was my mouth and eyes, and then it was too late. The liquid went into my mouth, making my teeth grow sharper, stronger. The liquid went down my throat, making it burn. I stood there as I felt the liquid moving around in me, making me feel strange, like I wanted to kill. My eyes opened wider and suddenly, white light surrounded me, freezing the liquid and cracking it. Then, it shattered. The light ebbed slowly away, the pain disappearing slowly. And then, without any warning, I opened my eyes to the real world.
I sat up and looked around. I could feel my tail swishing behind me. I was in a cave... I looked to my left to see Sasuke looking at me, smirking. I smirked back and my ears flicked. I could hear talking outside. I gracefully stood, signaling with a flick of my tail that I wanted Sasuke to follow. I walked to the cave entrance and my eyes widened slightly at what I saw. Sakura was on her knees in the middle of the clearing, her hair cut. It was scattered around her, the shiny pink strands circling her beaten body. She looked tired and weak, like she could barely stand.
"Never mind. I see that this fight isn't mine, but Sakura's teammates, Mizuki and Sasuke." Neji said, looking at us with blank eyes.
He looked at me and his eyes narrowed, but I easily ignored it. I then realized that pretty much every team was here. Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Rock Lee, TenTen and Neji. The only team that was missing was Hinata's team.
"Sakura..." I began.
"Who did this to you?" Sasuke finished, glaring slightly.
Sakura's head snapped over to look at us, her eyes widening.
"Mizuki... Sasuke-kun... Are you... okay?"
"We're fine." Sasuke replied, "I can feel the power... flowing through me. I understand now. I am an avenger, and I believe Mizuki is the same way."
I nodded, a smirk growing on my lips. We walked out of the cave entrance, the sun that shone overhead lighting up our black hair, making it shine even through the weird smoke-like thing that surrounded us. Although mine was pitch black and suffocating, I didn't feel it. I knew Sasuke's was a different version; I didn't have to look for the obvious.
"Sakura. Who did this to you?" I repeated, cutting out small talk short.
My gaze flickered to a wounded Lee. He was crouched on the floor, slightly supported by TenTen. But even then, I could see the determination to beat Sasuke and love for me. I shuddered slightly and looked away, glaring at Sakura.
"I'm only going to ask one more time, Sakura. Who did this to you?" Sasuke nearly yelled.
"We did!" a voice suddenly yelled.
My head snapped to the side and my eyes narrowed.
"No, Zaku! Can't you see that we are no match for them?" another guy said.
Zaku just smirked and made some hand signs, holding his arm out in front of him.
"Air Style: Sound Exploding Jutsu!"
A huge tornado of wind picked up, heading straight to Sakura and the others. Acting fast, me and Sasuke grabbed everyone and took them behind the trees so they wouldn't be hurt.
"Heh, heh. Blew them all away, didn't I?"
"Blew who away?" I whispered in his ear, appearing behind him.
His body went stiff and he looked over his shoulder, his eyes widening. I kicked him forwards so he was on his knees and jumped back towards Sasuke. I looked meaningfully at him and he nodded, breaking into a run as soon as I did. I leapt 3 feet off the ground and Sasuke grabbed my leg as I leapt, spinning around expertly on his feet and throwing my like a rag doll (easily). I flew through the air and pulled back my fist, twirling around. I flew towards Zaku at an alarming rate and punched him in the face, sending him through five trees. I looked over to see Sasuke punching a girl in the air, appearing in front of her and grabbing her, slamming her into a wall of trees. Zaku ran at me, sending sound waves at me. I stood still and the sound waves harmlessly hit against my body. I smirked and ran at him appearing behind him. I grabbed both of his arms, placing my foot on his back as I slightly pulled them back. Blood lust filled me and clouded my judgment.
"W-what are you doing?' Zaku stammered.
"You seem to like your arms a lot, don't you? So it would be sad if they suddenly... broke?" at the last word I pulled back his arms and pushed forwards with my foot, causing his arms to dislocate and his bones to shatter.
A satisfying crack filled my ears and I dropped Zaku to the ground, spitting at his feet. Zaku screamed and then went limp. I turned to the last guy, seeing him stand up. I stepped towards him, my smirk growing wider when I saw fear fill his eyes. I slowly sauntered over to him, my eyes turning pitch black. I smirked wider as he stumbled backwards, trying to escape me. I glanced over to where Sasuke should be but I saw that he was on his knees, looking at his hands. Sakura was crouched beside him, just watching. I looked away and continued my approach. Suddenly, I was pulled in a hug from behind.
"Mizuki..." a voice whispered.
Naruto? I thought.
I pushed him off of me and continued, although my eyes weren't as dark as before. Naruto's arms wrapped around me again, and he just stood there while I clawed his arm. My bangs covered my eyes as my fingernails dug into his smooth, tan skin, drawing blood. I started shaking as he held me tighter.
"Please stop this, Mizuki. This isn't you..." he whispered in my ear.
"Get the hell away from me, Naruto." I hissed dangerously.
"No, not until you stop this!"
Slowly, the amazing power I felt ebbed away, taking my ears, tail, claws, and fangs with it. The weird markings what covered my body retracted into my three curse marks. I shook more, completely exhausted. I closed my eyes and let myself fall into Naruto's embrace. He turned me around and pulled me to him again. The world slipped away as I breathed in his scent. It was just me and him... Just us... All of my emotions slipped away.
"Naruto... You baka." I murmured, losing consciousness.
Naruto's P.O.V.
As Mizuki passed out, I took the time to take in her scent. I loved it. It was like a drug. I lifted her up n my arms bridal style, her arms tucked in her lap and her soft hair cascading over my arm like a waterfall and blowing with the wind. I turned around to see Sasuke stand up with Sakura. Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Rock Lee, TenTen and Neji nodded at us, disappearing in different directions. I sighed in relief. We made it... I wonder what was wrong with Mizuki? I couldn't really see anything since I was still dizzy but it looked like she had a tail...And ears? Haha impossible. All I know for sure is that she was going to hurt that guy. I don't think she was in control... Was it Chieko?
"Let's go, dobe." Sasuke called, perched at the top of a tree with Sakura.
"Whoa, Sakura! What happened to your hair?" I exclaimed.
She laughed nervously, glancing at Sasuke. "Oh, I just wanted a change is all."
I nodded and jumped up to the tree with Mizuki, lifting her higher so I wouldn't get her hair caught in anything. Sakura noticed and jumped over, taking her hair in her hands and putting it in a ponytail. I smiled at her cheekily and we turned, getting ready to jump.
"Are we ready?" Sasuke asked.
We nodded and jumped off. I pulled Mizuki around so I was holding her in a piggy back style, checking for any traps or awaiting ninja. Luckily, I didn't have anything to worry about. Nothing was attacking; there were no ninja in sight. I sighed in relief and glared to nothing. I will protect Mizuki, even if it's the last thing I do!
Mizuki's P.O.V.
I stared blankly ahead, hardly noticing a weird mirror in front of me. I expected to see myself in that mirror, but there was nothing there. It even looked sort of... liquid? I approached it and placed my fingertips on the shiny thing and gasped. Like water, ripples appeared and danced around it. Suddenly, a figure appeared, standing over three other figures. I narrowed my eyes to see better and a gasp slipped from my lips. I saw myself in that weird form, standing over Sasuke and Sakura. I closed my eyes tightly, trying to block out the image. But it just appeared in my head again. I opened my eyes again to see Naruto, running at me. My eyes opened wider.
"No, Naruto! Get away!"
He didn't seem to hear me, since he kept running. The weird me turned, blood dripping from her claws. Her mouth was in a smirk and her eyes were covered by bangs again. She walked towards the shocked Naruto, raising her claws. I screamed for him to run, to leave, but he didn't he just cocked his head to the side and looked me straight in the eye. The weird me stabbed him through the heart, letting him finally realize her presence. He also saw Sasuke and Sakura. Tears ran down my eyes as he glared at me, coughing up blood.
"I hate you, Mizuki... I HATE YOU!" he screamed, falling limp in the weird me's arms.
She threw him roughly to the ground and turned to look at me, her blue eyes staring straight into mine. I fell to my knees, clutching my heart. It hurts, I thought, it hurts so much! Make it stop!
"Throw away your emotions, then." a voice said.
I looked up to see the weird me, smirking. I shut my eyes tight, the pain overwhelming me again. I slowly nodded, agreeing to her advice. I knew that keeping these emotions would only hurt me in the end if they died, so I threw them aside, they formed into another me, trapped in a cage. It just became a shadow, something of the past. I ignored it as it cried for me to let it go, to become one with it. I turned my back on it and placed my hand on the weird me, letting myself become one with the emotionless thing.
Slowly my eyes opened. I felt wind brush against my cheeks and saw trees flying by. I looked up to see Naruto's blonde hair. He was carrying me?
"Put me down, Naruto." I demanded coldly, my eyes narrowing.
I could feel myself shaking, tears running down my face.
"Are you okay, Mizuki? Naruto asked, completely ignoring my demand, "You were screaming our names."
I glared at him and jumped of his back, landing in a crouching position on a branch. I leapt up to another one, grabbing it with my arm and flipping over it, leaping onto another branch. I jumped down to meet them.
"I'm fine."
Naruto stared at me before looking away sadly. Surprisingly, I didn't feel anything when he did that. Kabuto appeared beside me.
"Hey." he stated simply.
I glared at him before pushing him aside.
"What is he doing here?" I growled.
"He helped us defeat some ninja! We couldn't have done it without his help!" Naruto exclaimed, his sadness forgotten.
"I don't care. You can leave now, Kabuto. We don't need you anymore. If there is anything left out here, then I'll kill it."
"Mizuki! Don-" Sakura began.
"It's okay." Kabuto interrupted her, "I should be catching up to my teammates now anyways."
He leapt off, throwing a smirk at me from over his shoulder. I ignored it and kept jumping. Soon the tower came into view. We slowly walked in, entering a room. I sighed and leaned against the wall.
"Well what happens now?" Naruto asked.
"Hold on a sec, look at that," Sakura said.
"Great! What is it?"
"If qualities of heaven are your desire acquire wisdom to take your mind higher. If earthly qualities are what you lack, train your body and prepare to attack. When heaven and earth are opened together, the pariless path, will become righteous forever, this something is the secret way is what guides us from this place today." Sakura read.
"This what?" Naruto asked. "Or is that a secret too?"
"It's like there's a word missing," Sasuke said.
"Any way, it's about the scrolls," I said, "I think we're supposed to open and read the heaven and earth scrolls now."
Sakura and Naruto started to open them but were freaking out.
"Just open them already," I said breaking the silence.
"Well, here goes nothing," Naruto said ad they opened the scrolls.
"What… what does this mean?"
"A man? A person?"
"This is a summoning Jutsu. Naruto, Sakura, quick, get rid of the scrolls," I said.
They both threw the scrolls and then Iruka appeared.
"What? It's you," Sasuke said.
"Hey, long time no see, huh."
"Iruka-sensei?"
"Looks like you've gone through a lot in this test."
"You've got no idea," I said.
"Hey, wait, what's the deal with the surprise entrance? Why are you appearing with a summoning?" Naruto asked.
"At the end of the second exam, we Chuunin are supposed to welcome the test takers back and well it was just good luck that I got to be the one given the important task of being the messenger for you guys."
"Messenger?"
"And you made it just in time, too. And now… congratulations, you've passed the second exam. To celebrate your passing, I'd love to treat you all too some ramen but I…"
"Ramen!" Naruto exclaimed, "Seriously! That's so cool!" Naruto yelled hugging Iruka.
"I'm not done…"
"So cool. Let go. Believe it!"
"Hey, Naruto!" Iruka-sensei yelled.
"Oh yeah! Ramen would be awesome! Especially after all the bugs and plants we had to eat for the past few days! So gross!"
Sakura sat down on the floor and a few seconds later so did Sasuke, "Where does he get all his energy?"
"I have no idea," I said.
"Yeah!" Naruto yelled.
"Ugh… shut up," Sakura said.
"Alright well, it seems you're still as hyper active as ever, Naruto." Iruka said, sighing.
"Now I see. So then if we'd opened the scrolls before the end of the exam, what would you have done to us, Iruka Sensei?" I wondered out loud, looking up at Iruka-sensei lazily.
"As usual Mizuki, you're as sharp as a tack. You've figured out the secret. Part of this exam was to see how far you could take a difficult mission. Simply put, you knew that opening the scrolls was against the rules of your mission and if you open one…"
"What? What would have happened?" Sakura asked.
"If a scroll was opened, they were ordered to knock out who ever opened it. Some ninja found that out the hard way," Iruka said.
"Huh, it's a good thing you didn't open up yours, huh, Naruto, "Sasuke said.
"I owe you one. Thanks a million, Kabuto," Naruto said.
I glared at Naruto and Sakura. They laughed nervously.
"Oh yeah, sensei, what does that writing on the wall mean? The parchment the letters written on is kind of faded away so it's difficult to read it." Sakura asked
"Oh, please," Naruto said, "We passed didn't we, that stuff doesn't matter now."
"Well, actually, explaining that is another one of the duties I've been sent here to take care of."
"What? Seriously?"
"That's right, it's serious business. They're instructions Lord Hokage recorded as principles that Chuunin should follow. Heaven stands for your mind, and earth for your body. If qualities of heaven are your desire acquire wisdom and knowledge to take your mind higher. Get it?"
Naruto shook his head.
"Alright I'll explain in other words. If weakness lies in your intellect, Naruto then you have to make doubly sure you work extra hard to learn information and skills you need to prepare on your missions."
"Ergh ok I get your point."
Sakura laughed.
"And you," Iruka said looking at Sakura, "In earthy qualities you lack. Train your body and prepare to attack. So if your weakness lies in your physical skills so you have to work on your physical condition every single day to improve all the time. When heaven and earth are opened together the path of peril will revert to the righteous path forever. Meaning if your mind and body are working together as one then even a very dangerous mission can become an easy mission."
"So what about that spot with the missing letter?"
"Well hat's for you to fill in. You see this symbol on the scroll," Iruka said picking up a scroll, "It's the character for person a reference to you Chuunin. You see, these five days of survival were to test your abilities as Chuunin and to see if you'd be any good at it. And I've got to say, you guys really did
magnificently. A Chuunin is a leader, a guide. It's a Chunnin's responsibility to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of those serving under him and to know what skills and training those ninja are going to need in order to succeed on a mission. You did an excellent job on this mission. I want you to remember these instructions on your next one. Well… that's it. That was everything I was supposed to say to you."
"Terrific, can we go now?" I asked. "All I want to do right now, is sleep."
"One more thing, on the third exam don't push yourself too hard. Especially you, Naruto, I worry…"
"Iruka sensei, when I got this head band, I stopped being a student. So you don't need to worry about me at all. Not anymore. I mean this head band is proof that I'm a full pledged ninja, you gave it to me. I
may still be hyper, but I'm not a kid, like you just said, I got through the second Chuunin exam and you watch I'm gonna pass the third one for sure. Right now, I'm a ninja too."
"Naruto, you're right, I'm sorry."
We stood up and Iruka gestured for us to follow him. We were taken into a room.
"First of all, congratulations on finishing the second exam," Anko said.
I ignored her and looked around. I looked over and saw Guy talking to Kakashi then randomly freaking out.
"Alright, now pay attention! Lord Hokage is going to explain the third exam to you. You better listen carefully, maggots. Lord Hokage, they're all yours."
"First, before I tell you what the third exam entails, I want to explain something about the test itself. Listen closely now. It's something you all need to understand. I'm going to tell you the true purpose of these exams. Why do suppose countries hold these exams in conjunction with our allies? To raise the ability level of the shinobi, to increase friend ship between allied nations, to be sure. But it's important that you understand its true meaning. The exams are so to speak, they're a representation of the battle or allied nations"
I started zoning out, staring into space. I was only brought out of my trance when someone interrupted the Hokage's looong speech.
A guy puffed up, "Lord Hokage before you do please allow me Hayate Geko appointed as Proctor of the third exam want to speak first."