Forest Of Death
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, I only own my OC. (Female OC)
Summary: "Death, it's a funny thing really. There are people that fear the cold harsh whisper of death, while others welcome it like an old friend. Whenever I ever thought of someone dying, I always felt scared. I thought I was scared of dying, until I actually died."
Note: All information that I have I have gotten from Narutopedia, I hope I do not offend people by getting some information wrong! And if I do, I apologise in advance.
Also the Shīringu is mine alone, it belongs to me!
Also, I am rubbish when it comes to fighting scenes, so I'm sorry if you don't like them, but I tried my best!
NARUTO
A scream was the first thing that welcomed us into the forest.
We turn around, "Wasn't that someone screaming just now?" Sakura asks uneasy.
"No," I drawl, "It was someone saying hello."
Sakura's eye twitched, "Can you be serious for once, Akemi?!"
"It was nothing, Sakura-chan, believe it!" Naruto says, even if he was feeling uneasy himself.
"Come on," I say getting their attention, "We are most likely going to be people's targets because we are the rookies, so we need to hide and fast."
They nod and we run off, as we ran I used the tracker to pinpoint where Orochimaru was. He was a few miles away, but he seemed to be heading in our direction. Shit, we need to move faster. I tell them to move faster and we do.
After a few moments, we stop. I track Orochimaru again, we had put quite a bit of distance between us. Good, we needed to keep that up.
"Why did you ask us you hurry up?" Sakura asks me.
"Yeah!" Naruto says.
Sasuke just looks at me, waiting for an answer.
"There's a particular group I want to avoid." I answer them, and it was true, I wanted to avoid Orochimaru's team at all costs.
"Which one?" Sasuke asks.
"The Grass Ninja, specifically the one with the long tongue." I say with a grim look.
Naruto nods his head, "That lady was creepy."
Sakura shivers, "You got that right."
"Her chakra didn't feel right, it felt powerful." I say after some thought.
Sasuke looks at me, "You seemed focused on something before we left, why?"
I smirk slightly, of course Sasuke would notice, "I placed a tracker on her." I answer with a smirk, and my smirk widened when my team look at me in shock.
"Why?" Sakura asks in slight shock.
"So we can avoid that team, I want to keep as much distance as we can from that team." I say with a serious tone, hoping that they would catch on about how serious this situation was.
"But they may have the other scroll." Sakura protests.
I wanted to slap her and tell her how important the situation was, but I stopped myself from doing so. "They don't, I checked." I say to them. I was lying, but I don't care, anything to make them disinterested.
Naruto's eyes widen, "How did you do that?!"
I quickly hushed him, I look to Sakura, "Sakura, check the area for any chakra."
Sakura looked surprised, "Why me?"
"Your chakra controls is the best, try and see." I say slightly encouraging her.
Sakura nods with a smile and checks, "There's no one close by."
I nod at her as a thanks and then turn back to the team, "With my ability, I can see scrolls. With Haku's help I've unlocked another aspect of it."
"So you know which team has which scroll?" Sasuke asks.
I nod in response.
A grin crossed Naruto's face, "We can totally win this!"
I tracked Orochimaru's chakra again, he was coming towards us again, "Guys, move out, they're coming for us!" I say running away with my team following me.
After a few hours of running and taking breaks, we decided to have another break. I sensed Orochimaru's chakra again, and this time it was headed in another direction. They seemed to have lost us, which was good. But I still need to be alert; now all we needed to of was find and enemy with an Earth scroll.
"Akemi-chan! There's a team up a head!" Sakura hisses to me in slight panic. Sakura seemed to be doing better with the tracking, which I do applaud her for, she's a fast learner.
We huddle on a branch; it was Sand Genin, but not Gaara's team. If it was his team I would have told my team to run away. I remember what Gaara does to one of the teams, he bloody kills them, and I do not want to become his victim too soon.
I activate my Shīringu and search for the scroll, I found the scroll, but it was a Heaven scroll, I look at them and saw them looking at me, "Heaven." I say simply.
Sakura sighs disappointedly, "If only."
Naruto pouts and Sasuke scowls.
"Come on, let's go find someone else." I say deactivating my Shīringu and quietly jumping out of the tree.
The rest follow me and we were back to running.
NARUTO
That cycle seemed to continue throughout the day, every time we found a team; they always seemed to have a Heaven Scroll. Some teams had tried to challenge us, but to save strength we run away and I cast a Genjutsu on them.
I know Sasuke and Naruto were both itching for a fight, but we needed to keep our strength up. Orochimaru hasn't been following us, which is weird. I really hope he hasn't noticed the tracker I put in him otherwise I'm fricked. There was also no sign of the Sound team yet, I imagine that they will appear after Orochimaru.
Night had fallen in the Forest of Death. We were camping in a spot in a tree. I had placed my Gofū Kekkai barrier around us so we were safe. But we were still doing shifts. I volunteered for the first shift, then Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto. We had agreed to no fire, we didn't want anyone to know out location. Naruto had taken my advice and brought some dried food for us. All of us actually brought dried food, and we were sharing it out.
I had also set traps up outside the barriers to warn us.
Naruto and Sasuke were sound asleep, Naruto was even snoring. I looked at the moon, twirling my Sai in my hands to keep myself busy and trying not to fall asleep.
"Hey, Akemi-chan."
I turn my head, Sakura was awake and was looking at me, "You should be asleep Sakura." I whisper lowly so the boys wouldn't wake up.
"I can't sleep." Sakura admits with a slight blush.
I raise an eyebrow, "And why's that?" I whisper.
Sakura bit her lip, "Do you think we'll pass this exam."
"What brought this on?" I ask lowly.
Sakura didn't answer at first, looking at the moon just like I was before answering, "There are loads of others here that have so much more experience than us. They're stronger."
I nod my head, "They are."
Sakura looks at me in surprise, she was expecting me to disagree, "They are stronger and they've had more experience, but do you know what they haven't got?" I ask lowly looking at Sakura.
Sakura shakes her head.
"They haven't got Naruto's determination; Sasuke's fighting skills, your smarts or my strategies." I whisper with a grin.
Sakura's eyes widen, "You think I'm smart?"
I nod my head, "I'd have to be an idiot to not notice that you're smart."
Sakura blushed at the compliment, "Thanks."
"We've just had our first civil conversation." I say after some thought.
Sakura rolled her eyes, "You just had to ruin it, didn't you?"
I grin in response.
Sakura sighed and rolled over trying to get some sleep. I went back to watching the area and the moon. Once my time was up, I woke Sasuke up.
NARUTO – Second day of the exam
We were speeding through the forest, it was the second day. Sasuke was already tense, he wanted to find a scroll quick, and Naruto was itching for a fight. Sakura sensed someone up a head, we stopped and looked.
I activated my Shīringu and looked for the scroll.
"Which one is it?" Sasuke asks me.
"Earth." I answer with a grin, yes, it was time to fight! They were Rain Genin, meaning that they had short tempers, but no one's was shorter than Naruto's.
Naruto wore a matching grin. He was about to jump them, but I grabbed his collar, "What's the matter, Akemi-chan?!" Naruto hisses at me.
"Dobe, we can't just rush in." Sasuke scoffs at him.
"Teme..." Naruto growled back.
"We need a plan." Sakura says in thought.
Then it came to me, "I've got it!" I say in a loud whisper.
"What?" Naruto asks me.
I grin and lean into the group and began to explain my brilliant plan, "We send Shadow Clones of ourselves and attack them, and then we wait until they get tired and then jump in. Since we will be at full strength, it will be easier to take them out." I whisper to them lowly, making sure no one else but my team knew the plan.
Naruto grin, "Let's do it!"
"Not bad." Sasuke says with a smirk.
"Let's go." I say making a Clone of myself. The team followed my instructions and made a Shadow Clone. The Shadow Clones jumped into action while we watched. Through watching the Clones fight, we figured out the Rain Genin's fighting strategy and saw all their moves.
It took some time, but the Clones were finally tiring out the Rain Ninja. They were panting and had perspiration coming down their foreheads. Their moves were slower and almost sluggish. I nod my head and give the signal.
We pounce from behind, cowardly I know, but I want this test over and done with. I had asked Sakura if she wanted to join in, but she said she'd watch. Since there were four of us and only three of them, that was fine.
Naruto attacked the one in the middle and I and Sasuke took the other two.
The Rain Ninja I was battling was alright, he wasn't anything special, maybe if he was at his full strength. But after a couple of chakra infused punches he was out for the count. Not dead, but just unconscious. I look to the other two and saw that they had dealt with their opponents. I reach into the guy's kunai holder and took the Earth scroll, along with a few extra kunai.
"I've got it." I say with a grin.
"Yes!" Naruto cheers.
"What now?" Sakura asks as she joins us.
"We head to the tower." Sasuke says looking over to the tower.
Naruto grins, "That was easy!"
"Only because we weakened them first." I remind him.
Naruto pouts at me.
I laugh slightly and decide to check where Orochimaru was. "We need to leave now!" I shout as I run with them following me. Orochimaru was right near us, how did he do that?! I was sensing him the whole time. I must have gotten distracted.
"What's wrong, Akemi-chan?" Naruto asks me as we continue to run.
"The Grass Ninja, they're near." I say with grit teeth.
I hear Sakura gasp.
"How far?" Sasuke demands.
"A mile away." I say seriously. They were so close; we had been keeping a good distance between us for the first day. But now they're catching up. They must be serious, they must really want Sasuke. He wants to test him, see if he's ready, and when he is, give him the curse mark.
Why the hell didn't I listen to the Hokage?! He told me he could handle Orochimaru before the Chunin exams even started, but no, I decided that I could handle this. I decided that I didn't want to risk Orochimaru coming up with a new plan, a plan which I would have no idea about. I just had to be so stupid, and now my team is in danger.
"There's a powerful jutsu coming our way!" Sakura cried.
I cursed, "Jump out of the way!" I shout as I grab Naruto, knowing that he would react too slow and be hit by the jutsu.
Just like in the anime, a large tunnel of wind came blasting past us. We luckily made it into the bushes before it could harm us, and Naruto was with me. I couldn't see Sasuke and Sakura making me panic.
"We need to find them, now!" I say as I try and find them, dragging Naruto along with me.
Luckily, I found them not too far away, and we weren't injured in the slightest by the wind. That wind Jutsu had cut into the ground. Naruto gulped at the sight. That could have been him.
However, we were also unlucky because Orochimaru had found us; he pulled out his Earth scroll. "You want this, don't you? 'Cause you have the Heaven scroll." He asks tauntingly
"No, we already have on." I answer with a glare. I needed to signal the ANBU and fast.
While Orochimaru was eating the scroll, very creepy, so creepy I was going to have nightmares for months after this. I kneeled down and pulsed chakra into the ground, I had just given the signal, I don't know how long it will take, but at least I've done it.
"Well, let's begin the battle of the scroll. Life or death." Orochimaru says with a creepy smile and his tongue coming out. He sent us into a Genjutsu, one that I hadn't learnt yet. I felt pain, and fear. I was paralysed with fear. It felt like I was being stabbed with a kunai in the head.
So much pain...
NO!
I open my eyes and glare at Orochimaru. He looks at me, "Oh, you're resisting." He says with a grin looking at me with interest.
Shit, I wasn't meant to catch his interest.
Sasuke lurched forward and threw up, while Sakura sat there shaking.
"W-what t-the hell." Naruto stammered out, the fear in his eyes evident.
I close my eyes and calm myself down, I was not scared, and there were ANBU on their way soon. All we had to do was last until they get here. I don't even know if it worked, but I trust in the Hokage.
Orochimaru began to laugh, "Can't move already?"
I open my eyes and jump; I was now able to move freely. I flashed behind Orochimaru and kicked up towards the head. He dodged with a grin on his face, "Oh? You can move, most impressive."
"Sasuke! Get Sakura and Naruto out of here, now!" I order Sasuke, my eyes never leaving Orochimaru's.
"B-but what about you?" Sasuke demands. I flash behind Sasuke and hand him both of the scrolls, this way they can continue on without me if I end up dying out here, they can still advance.
"Forget me, I'll catch up." I say to him, but not looking at him.
Sasuke looks reluctant.
"GO!" I shout to him.
Sasuke nods and takes Naruto and Sakura away. I can hear Naruto protesting but I ignore him. I couldn't get distracted.
Orochimaru goes to go after them but I stood in his way, "You have me to deal with." I say with a taunting look. Orochimaru looked at me amused and with slight interest. Screw not getting his attention, if I get his attention he won't go for Sasuke, he'll go for me. Right now, I don't care; I'd expose my Shīringu gladly if it kept Sasuke safe.
"You're very interesting." Orochimaru hisses with a smirk.
I had to stop myself from shivering.
"But I want Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru smirk as he goes to disappear.
"But I have something you want." I say with a smirk.
Orochimaru stops, "And what could you possibly have that I want?"
I close my eyes and then reopen them with my Shīringu. I could see his chakra, and the scroll that he had eaten. It was being digested. Ew that's so gross!
"The Shīringu..." Orochimaru whispers in shock as he looks at my now purple eyes.
I nod, "You've met someone with this. Have you not?" I ask tauntingly.
"Yukiko Moto," Orochimaru hisses in ager, "she got away from me, but now, I have you." Orochimaru pounces and I jump away, I needed to lure him away Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. Even if I don't survive, at least I would have out distance between them and him.
I stopped in a clearing and quickly sent another pulse of chakra into the ground, but when I looked up, Orochimaru was right in front of me. He hand shot towards me and I didn't have time to dodge. Orochimaru grabbed me by the throat and lifted me off the ground.
I was gasping for breath; I clawed his hand holding my throat whole the other hand grabbed a Sai and stabbed him in the arm. I would have stabbed him in the face but it was too far away. Orochimaru cried out in pain and dropped me.
I fell to the floor with a thud and began gasping for the breath that I had lost. I quickly jump away, creating distance.
Orochimaru was nursing his arm, which was dripping for blood. He inspected it and licked the blood away. This time I could not suppress a shiver.
"Yukiko did the same thing." Orochimaru muses.
"What do you expect when you choke someone?!" I shout back causing me to cough; my throat was still very tender. He had gripped my neck very tightly, with strength like that no wonder he was called a Legendary Sanin.
Orochimaru chuckled, "Just as fierce as her as well."
"When are you going to stop hiding behind that disguise, Orochimaru?" I hiss at him.
This time, Orochimaru full on laughed, his laugh echoing through the forest, "I shouldn't expect anything less from someone who possess the Shīringu." The normal colour skin began to burn away, leaving silvery skin in its place. Right below the eyes were purple markings, and his eyes yellow. His hair stayed the same, but it just made him look even more like a snake than he already was.
I glare at the snake before me.
Suddenly, two ANBU appear behind Orochimaru and restrain him by throwing him to the ground. "What the-?!" Orochimaru says struggling in the grip of the ANBU.
"Thank god." I mutter to myself, thank the lord they've arrived. I relax and sag to the floor; at least I didn't have to fight him. I wouldn't have stood a chance.
Seven more ANBU appeared in the forest all poised with weapons ready to strike. One move out of place, and even Orochimaru wouldn't be able to get away easily. Orochimaru stops struggling, "I know when I'm beat." He says with small smile.
There no way that he'd admit that.
Abruptly, Orochimaru sprang free and flashed behind me. I froze; I could only turn my head and look at him in horror. The smirk on his face only reinforced my horror. Orochimaru performed familiar hand seals, his neck spirals forward, like a snake and bit me on the junction of where my neck meets my shoulder.
Yeah, he freakin' bit me, like a vampire.
The burn was instant; it felt like a white hot pain, a burning feeling coursing through my veins. I hear a scream and then realise that I was the one screaming. My scream echoed through the forest as the pain coursed through me.
"See you soon, Akemi-chan..." Orochimaru whispers into my ear and flashes away.
I fell to the floor holding my neck where the snake had bit me. The pain was too much; all I could think about was the pain. It felt like all the blood in my system was replaced with molten lava and was burning all my organs. I bet childbirth isn't as bad as this.
I barely make out black blurs near me, "Take... me to... my... team." I manage to grit out holding my neck and clenching my first. I felt my nails break the skin on my hand, but it didn't distract me.
Another pulse of pain hit me, and I was gone.
NARUTO
3rd Person POV
Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto stopped at a clearing. The clearing had a large tree and a cave at the bottom of the tree.
"We should be there helping her!" Naruto shouts in anger. He didn't want to leave Akemi with that freak. Naruto was pacing around the clearing in worry.
"And you think I didn't want to either?!" Sasuke shouts back also pacing.
"Guy!" Sakura shouts crying to get them to stop shouting at each other. She was the only one sitting down looking tired.
"She could be injured and we wouldn't even know!" Naruto shouts stomping his foot on the floor.
Sasuke growls, "She ordered me to leave! I didn't have a choice!"
"No! You decided to be a coward and leave her to fight!" Naruto shouts getting close to Sasuke looking like heads going to attack him.
"SHUT UP!" Sakura shouts hitting the two over the head. The arguing ceases and the Uchiha and Uzumaki look at the pink haired teammate holding their heads.
Sakura was panting, "You think she'd want you two fighting?"
Both boys look to the floor.
"She'd want us to get along, she hates it when we worry about her." Sakura says. The boys seemed to have calmed down. Their postures relaxing and went to sit down.
That was until they heard Akemi's bloodcurdling scream.
"Akemi..." Sakura whispers. Sakura was looking into the distance in horror; she could only imagine what Akemi was going through right now. Naruto and Sasuke stood there in shock; they had never heard Akemi scream like that. It sounded like she was in so much pain.
"AKEMI/AKEMI-CHAN!" Both Sasuke and Naruto shout together. They went to run into the forest, until someone appeared behind them.
Both turn around, thinking that it was Orochimaru, took out kunai and got ready to attack. But were surprised to see it was an ANBU with Akemi in his arms.
"It's Akemi!" Sakura shouts running over.
The ANBU gently places Akemi on the ground and jumps away.
Both boys and Sakura run to Akemi and kneel down beside her, "She looks fine." Sakura says, she doesn't see any blood, so what caused that scream?
"Look at her neck!" Naruto shouts pointing at her neck.
Sasuke's eyes widen when he sees her neck, it was bruised very badly and in the shape of hand marks. That's when he also noticed another mark on her neck.
Sakura was looking for anymore wounds, but didn't find any. She couldn't help but notice how Akemi's face scrunched up in pain, and sometimes her mouth opened as though she was going to scream, but no sound came out.
"She needs medical attention." Sakura says looking at the boys in desperation. They were still miles away from the tower, and Akemi was in too bad of shape to move her too much.
"She's the medic." Sasuke growls looking at Akemi, the guilt hit him full force. If he had done something, anything, maybe she would be in so much pain.
"What are we going to do?" Naruto asks looking at his teammates.
"We wait it out." Sasuke says picking Akemi up and carrying her bridal style. He brought her under the tree and into the shade. Naruto and Sakura trailed behind him, once Akemi was placed down, Sakura felt her forehead, "She's burning up!" Sakura says.
Naruto wets a piece of cloth and places it on Akemi's forehead, "Hopefully this will work." Naruto says looking worried.
"It's all we can do, for now." Sasuke grunts.
"We have the scrolls, don't we?" Sakura asks.
Sasuke nods, "She gave me them before she told me to go."
"In case she didn't make it." Naruto says sombrely.
A morbid silence fills the terrain. No one spoke. The only sound that was heard was Akemi breathing heavily.
NARUTO - Third Day of Exam
Daylight had broken. Just as Akemi had instructed, they took shifts, even if she was unconscious. Sasuke was the one who took the first watch, then Naruto and then Sakura. Each time, they had changed Akemi's cloth and added more cold water to it.
But Akemi didn't seem to be getting any better. Her breathing had regulated, but she still looked like she was in pain. Sakura sat there with Akemi's head on her lap, stroking her hair. She had noticed that Akemi relaxed when someone was stroking her hair.
Sakura looked up through the roots of the tree and saw that it was daylight. Naruto also yawned and woke up when sunlight hit his closed eyes. Sasuke was also awoken by Naruto's yawning was now stretching and rubbing his eyes.
"How is she?" Sasuke asks looking at Sakura.
Sakura jumps slightly, but then relaxes, "She still hasn't woken up, and her fever hasn't gone down either."
Sasuke cursed, "We only have two more days."
"Should we risk it?" Naruto asks, "Should we risk running the rest of the way and get the medical attention that she needs?"
Sakura shakes her head, "It could be too dangerous."
"And if we run into any enemies, we would be in serious trouble." Sasuke says looking at Akemi.
Naruto grumbled and also looked at Akemi worriedly. She was always the strong one, and to see her vulnerable and hurt made him feel terrible. If only he had stayed behind and fought with her, maybe she wouldn't be in this situation.
Sasuke's head snapped up, "Dammit." Sasuke says with git teeth.
Naruto and Sakura follow his gaze and saw the Sound Ninja standing there looking at them.
"Wake Akemi up, we want to battle her. We also want to battle Sasuke." Dosu says to them.
"How about no." Naruto denies getting a kunai out.
"What're you saying?" Sakura asks the Sound Ninja, "What is it you're after?"
Sasuke stands up with a kunai poised, "We know the one called Orochimaru is calling the shots from the shadows. And there's no way I'm battling you."
The Sound Ninja tense, they weren't meant to know that.
"What's the strange bruise on Akemi's neck?" Sakura demands.
Naruto shouts while pointing, "You did this to her! How can you say you want to fight her?!"
"I wonder what he has on his mind." Dosu says with a thoughtful tone, he was of course referring to Orochimaru.
Zaku speaks with a smirk, "However, I can't stay quiet after hearing that. I will kill these brats and then I'll also kill this Akemi chick and Sasuke character." Zaku stands up from the boulder that he was sitting on.
"Wait, Zaku." Dosu says.
"Huh? What is it?" Zaku asks slightly impatient.
Dosu took a few steps forward and then knelt done, "It's so cliché. It's the colour of dirt that's just been dug up. This grass, it didn't grow in a place like this, does it?"
Sakura silently cursed, the trap that she had set up had been exposed.
"You know, with a trap, there's no point unless you make it so it's not discovered." Dosu says picking up the fake grass.
Zaku scoffs, "Huh, how ridiculous. So that kunai knife was so the squirrel wouldn't be caught in the trap?"
Dosu tilts his head dementedly, "We kill them now!"
All three Sound Ninja jump up into the air. Sakura smirks and sets off the log trap she had placed. She had Naruto's help, but it was her idea. It looked like it was going to work, until Dosu used his gauntlet to break the log and they were all still coming for them.
"What?!" Sakura cries.
Sasuke cursed and got ready.
Naruto looked ready with a grin on his face.
"Clearly you have no talent." Dosu mock them, "people like you brats need to make more of an effort or else!"
Sasuke gets ready to attack, but he was beaten to that.
"Leaf hurricane!" Lee shouts as he kicks them all in the face each and sends them flying back. Lee lands in front of Sakura. When Sasuke sees him he scowls, but he was also thankful. Naruto looked annoyed that someone took his spotlight.
"Lee?!" Sakura cried in shock.
"Who the hell are you?!" Dosu shouts.
Naruto looked at Akemi; he knew that she would have made a crack at Dosu, not hearing her sarcasm was heart wrenching.
"I'm the beautiful green beast of the Leaf Village, Rock Lee!" Lee answers.
Sasuke's eye twitched.
Naruto burst out laughing and Sakura looked slightly disturbed.
"You?! The beautiful beast?!" Naruto laughs rolling on the floor.
"Stop that Naruto!" Lee shouts stomping his foot.
"Why are you here?" Sakura asks Lee with a confused look.
"I will always appear," Lee says turning his head slightly to look at Sakura, "whenever you are in trouble."
Naruto glared at the bushy brows.
"But right now, I'm also your enemy." Sakura says with an unsure look.
"I did say once before, didn't it?" Lee tells her. This reminded Sakura of the time he said he would protect her until he died.
"T-thanks." Sakura says with a slightly blush on her face; she didn't actually think he meant it, but it was sweet.
"Let's get them!" Naruto shouts running at them. Sasuke and Lee followed. Zaku and Sasuke fought, Lee went for Dosu and Naruto went for Kin. Sakura stayed with Akemi, looking after her. Naruto was fighting Kin with his Shadow Clone Jutsu, while Zaku and Sasuke were fighting using Taijutsu. And of course, Lee was using nothing but Taijutsu.
As Lee was using the Primary Lotus technique, Zaku got distracted and used his air pressure technique to soften the ground for Dosu. However, Sasuke used this opportunity to blast him with his fire jutsu, causing Zaku to cry out in pain.
Unfortunately, Zaku's plan worked, and Dosu didn't sustain any damage. However, Lee was still very much exhausted and only just jumped out of the way so Dosu didn't hit him as he punched. But, the sound waves out of Dosu's gauntlet got him, making Lee's ears bleed.
"Lee!" Sakura cries.
Sasuke looks away for a minute, giving Zaku and opportunity stab Sasuke on the arm, Sasuke cried and returned the stab with a punch to the face.
Naruto also looked away from his opponent when he heard Sasuke cry out in pain, giving Kin the opportunity to slip past Naruto, temporarily paralysing him and head for Sakura. Due to Lee being disorientated, Kin was able to slip past easily.
"Sakura, watch out!" Naruto shouts unable to move.
Sakura jumps when Kin grabs her hair, yanking it back, "Your hair is shinier than mine. Hey! If you have time to worry about your hair, you should practice more!" Kin taunts as she yanks Sakura's hair back.
Sakura cries slightly in pain at her hair being tugged violently.
"Sakura!" Sasuke yells, he tried to run to Sakura, but Zaku blocked his path. Sasuke cursed, he hoped Sakura would be okay. He needed to deal with this guy, and fast. Lee was already gone; he was on the ground unable to move. Naruto was temporarily paralysed, and Akemi was still unconscious.
Kin turns to Zaku, "Zaku kill Sasuke, while Dosu kills Akemi." Kin smirks.
"Yeah, that sounds great." Zaku says still battling Sasuke.
Dosu chuckles, "It would be my pleasure." Dosu walks forward.
Sakura glares from where she is and tries to move, but she is yanked back by Kin, "Don't move!" Kin say tugging on her hair violently.
As Dosu walks forward, no one notices the dark aura around Akemi, or that Shikamaru, Ino and Choji were watching in panic. Ino wanted to help Sakura so badly, and Shikamaru and Choji wanted to help out Akemi, but they were scared, and Shikamaru didn't have a plan.
Sakura takes out a kunai.
"That's pointless. That won't work on me." Kin says smugly.
Sakura sends Kin a sideways dark look, "It's not for you." Sakura slashes the kunai behind her, cutting her hair and getting away from Kin. Sakura stood up and attacked, using the replacement jutsu on Kin. And then appearing again and attacking Kin, when Kin attacked back, Sakura turned out to be a Clone. Sakura reappeared again and attacked. When Kin attached with a kunai and stabbed her, Sakura disappeared with a puff, she has used the substitution.
Sasuke smirked, Sakura had got serious for which he was glad. He used his fireball jutsu on Zaku, knocking him unconscious. Sasuke then went for Dosu, who was walking towards Akemi with a kunai ready to kill her. Unfortunately, Sasuke was knocked back and his vision disorientated.
Sakura was kicked back again by Kin with blood running down her face. Suddenly, Ino, Shikamaru and Choji sprung forward, even Dosu stopped to look.
"Ino?" Sakura says looking at her confused.
Ino kept her back turned to Sakura, "I promised that I wouldn't lose to you, didn't I?"
Sakura looked surprised, but then a soft smile appeared on her face.
Dosu looked at Team nine in annoyance, "Konoha's bugs have wandered in here again." Dosu glares at the team causing Choji to shiver in fear.
"What are you two thinking?! These guys are too dangerous!" Choji shouts trying to get his scarf back from Shikamaru, which was used to pull him into the battle in the first place, otherwise he would have ran the other way.
"It's troublesome, but we have to do this." Shikamaru says, "Since Ino revealed herself, we men can't just run away, Akemi would laugh at us."
Ino giggles and glares at the Sound Ninja, "Sorry to get you two involves, but we're a three man team, we do everything together."
Shikamaru looks at Akemi, he knew she would have made a joke about what Ino said, but sighed when he was met with silence.
Shikamaru shrugs, "Oh well, whatever happens, happens."
"No! I don't want to die yet!" Choji shouts in protest. He then tries to run away, but Shikamaru had hold of his scarf, "Let go of my scarf!"
"Shut up! Stop moving!" Shikamaru shouts keeping hold of the scarf.
Dosu smirked under his wrappings, "You can run if you want, fatty."
Choji stops. His posture relaxes and his ear twitches, "What did that person just say? I couldn't hear him too well." Choji asks in an eerily calm voice.
"Huh?" Kin says looking confused at Choji's demeanour.
Shikamaru starts to sweat, knowing Choji's temper very well. "Those words are taboo to Choji." Shikamaru hisses. He really hoped that Dosu didn't say the word 'fatty' again.
But lucky Shikamaru was not, "I said that you can run if you want, you fat ass." Dosu says.
Choji explodes, "I'm not fat! I'm big boned!" Choji, in a blind and powerful rage, unleashed a large amount of chakra; Choji looked to his teammates, "Okay! You two understand that this is a fight between Konoha and Sound, right?!"
Ino smirked, this is what she hoped would happen, for Choji to get pissed off.
Shikamaru sighs "Geez, this is going to be troublesome."
"I believe that's our line." Kin says looking annoyed.
"Sakura, take care of Akemi back there." Ino says not looking at Sakura.
Sakura looks at Ino, she smiles and nods. Sakura shakily stands up and goes to look after Akemi, who had dark chakra swirling around her. Sasuke ran over too, he was making sure that Sakura and Akemi were guarded. He had even brought over Naruto, who was starting to get feelings back in his body again.
"The Ino team is going to go with everything they have!" Ino says with a grin.
"Roger!" Both Shikamaru and Choji say together.
"Formation!" Ino shouts.
Choji uses a jutsu that turns him into a ball and attacked a fast speed. He goes to attack Dosu, which he continues to dodge. Kin was going to help, but Shikamaru stops her with his Shadow Imitation Jutsu, so she couldn't move. Ino then used her Mind Transfer Jutsu on the trapped Kin. Shikamaru released his jutsu when Ino's was successful, and he guarded her body.
"Kin!" Dosu shouts, he needed back up.
Kin's head was bowed, and then she lifted her head. Her eyes were glazed over, "If you don't want to retire here, leave your scroll and get out of here! Once you two back off far enough where we can't sense your chakra, I'll let the girl go." Kin/Ino says holding a kunai her throat.
But Dosu didn't move, in fact he chuckled and smirked.
"Choji!" Kin/Ino shouts.
Choji switches direction and heads for Dosu, but Dosu redirects the attack, sending it to Kin/Ino. She slammed into a tree, causing blood to come from Ino's mouth. Choji stood up dizzily, looking like he wanted to puke.
Kin/Ino struggles to get up, "What's wrong with them? They hurt their own teammates."
Dosu scoffed, "You took us too lightly. Our purpose is not some dumb scroll or to get through this exam."
"Huh?" Choji and Shikamaru say together.
"It's Sasuke we are after. We then got word just recently to go after Akemi." Dosu says, the demented look on his face appearing again.
Dosu looked at Ino's vacant body, "That girl's technique, it seems she is able to slip into another person's mind and take control of their body. Seeing the blood from her mouth, it looks like if we kill Kin, that girl will die too."
"You're going to kill a teammate?" Shikamaru asks.
"If we have to, yes." Zaku says waking up from his unconscious state. He glared at Sasuke, but pointed his hand at Kin/Ino, ready to attack.
Shikamaru's eye twitches, "This is over."
"Damn it!" Choji says.
"Close, you almost had us." Zaku says.
Dosu joins in, "You let your guard down."
"How disgusting."
Everyone looks to the trees were the voice came from. Up in the tree was Neji Hyuuga with Tenten, Neji stood there with his arms crossed and was sneering at down below, "A mere minor Sound Ninja, acting like victors by beating second class Ninja."
Sasuke looks at Akemi; he knew that she would have made a comment about what Neji just said. Not hearing her voice made him frustrated, he hated her sarcasm at first, but now that's all he wanted to hear.
"What?" Zaku says sounding offended.
"They're from Lee's team." Sakura whispers to Sasuke and Naruto.
"Took them long enough." Naruto grumbles as his arms twitch.
Tenten sees Lee's body and how bad to a state it was in, "Lee!"
Neji looks at Lee, "It looks like he screwed up."
Zaku scoffs, "You guys keep coming out like roaches."
Neji glares at Zaku, "That bobbed hair kid there is on our team. Look like you went overboard with him!" Neji activates his Byakugan and gets ready to fight.
Ino leaves Kin's body when Shikamaru and Choji rush back into the bushes for safety. Sasuke glares at the young Hyuuga along with Naruto. Sakura looks shocked by the sudden veins and thought they looked weird.
The Sound Ninja looked apprehensive. They knew that this Hyuuga kid was on another level. And his eyes kind of freaked them out.
"If you're going to continue to fight, we will fight with everything we have." Neji says. Tenten gets ready to attack, but stops when Neji looks shocked.
"What is it, Neji?" Tenten asks.
Neji was looking around. He sensed a powerful and dark chakra, but he didn't know from where.
Dosu scoffed, "If you don't like what we're doing, stop showing off and come down here."
Neji smirked, "No, it seems that there's no need for me to do that."
Dosu looked at the Hyuuga confused, but then he felt it. It was a dark and powerful chakra. The aura itself was suffocating, like someone was strangling him. He looks over to where he sees purple chakra swirling around and saw it was coming from Akemi.
Sasuke was looking at Akemi in shock, the purple chakra was visible. There were marks in the ground where the chakra was touching it.
"What's wrong with Akemi?" Naruto asks sitting up slowly.
"I don't know, but I don't like it." Sasuke says glaring at the purple visible chakra.
Without people noticing, Akemi had stood up.
"Akemi-chan you woke up!" Sakura says getting everyone's attention. That's when they noticed something was wrong. The way Akemi looked was dark. She had black flame-like markings across the left side of her body and her Shīringu was activated. The dark chakra swirled around furiously, cracking the ground.
"That's Akemi..." Ino says looking at Akemi in fright.
Akemi's marks turn red, making them look like they were burning.
Sakura looked at Akemi in fright.
Sasuke was shaking slightly; he had never seen Akemi look so frightening.
Naruto couldn't look away from Akemi; he felt as much fear as he did looking at her as he did Orochimaru.
Akemi's head snapped up, "You did this, didn't you?"
Dosu shivered at the bone chilling voice. Fear was instilled in him, he felt like he couldn't breathe.
"Akemi-chan... your body..." Naruto whispers in shock.
Akemi looked down at herself. She felt powerful, more so than she had ever felt. Every part of her mind had shut down. It was like someone else was taking control of her body. Every part of her morality was screaming at her to get a grip.
"Don't worry." Akemi says simply glaring at the Sound Ninja. The curse marks spreading over the rest of her body.
Dosu was looking at Akemi in horror. The realisation that they had been used to test Akemi was now hitting home.
"I will ask again, did you do this to my teammates?" Akemi asks eerily calm.
"I did." Zaku says smirking.
Akemi's gaze snaps to Zaku. She disappears; Zaku looks around waiting for Akemi to appear. Suddenly, Zaku is sent crashing into a tree; Akemi had kicked Zaku in the neck with a powerful force. A sickening crack echoed through the forest.
Zaku was cradling his leg that he had landed on very badly. Akemi appeared before him again and this time grabbed his arms and twisted them so they were behind him, "You like your arms so much, how about I shove them down your throat." Akemi says with a demented grin and pulls, placing a foot on Zaku's back.
Zaku cried out in agony, the pain of his shoulders being forcefully separated from their sockets was the most painful thing that he had ever felt.
"Akemi-chan! Stop it!" Naruto shouts.
Akemi just smirks and tugs even harder on Zaku's arms. Two sickening cracks sounded through the forest. Zaku shrieked in agony before passing out, falling limp to the floor.
Akemi turns to Dosu, "You're next." Akemi makes her way to Dosu, purposely slow to instil more fear, which worked. Dosu was shaking in horror as he looked at Zaku. He couldn't look into Akemi's eyes without wanting to pee his pants. Her gaze froze him, he wanted to flee but he was petrified.
"Akemi, stop!" Sasuke yells running over with Naruto in tow.
Both grabbed her hands and pulled her back, stopping her from advancing. Akemi turns her head to glare at the two, but when she sees their faces, she stops. Both Naruto and Sasuke looked terrified, but they weren't terrified of her, they were terrified for her. She could see that in their wide eyes.
"Don't be like him." Sasuke mutters softly.
"Give us back our Akemi-chan." Naruto whispers, tears gathering in his eyes.
That's when Akemi snapped out of her trance. Tears began to fall down her eyes and the curse seals receded back into her neck. Akemi fell to her knees, Sasuke and Naruto kneeling down beside her. Akemi was breathing heavily looking at her hands in shock.
"You're strong." Dosu says picking up Zaku and Kin. He places his Earth scroll onto the ground, "We cannot defeat you, Akemi-chan. Please excuse us for now." With that Dosu walks away.
"Wait!" Sakura yells.
Dosu stops and turns.
"Who is Orochimaru?! What did he do to Akemi-chan?!" Sakura demands.
"I do not know." Dosu answers, "We were just ordered to kill Sasuke and Akemi." With that, Dosu jumps away with both his teammates in his arms.
