Part 1
Chapter 11
Sayomi's POV
Akatsuchi kept checking every so often whether we were going in the right direction, which was a feat for itself because the mine's inner corridors were like a maze. Sometimes we would go up, other times the hallway would descend rapidly, and if it weren't for light around us we would have fallen in one of the many holes in the floor.
At one point Deidara and Akatsuchi debated about making a tunnel straight across and to the exit, but Akatsuchi said he neither has chakra for such a feat nor could the mine's structure take it. Deidara wasn't exactly happy about that but I told him that us taking a minor detour was nothing compared to being buried alive.
We moved around fast but careful and it had been at least two hours since our last run-in with an enemy team. I could see Deidara wanted to fight some more since this was a perfect opportunity to test our skills. Even though he was still cool and calm I could see signs of impatience in the way he moved.
After a while we switched positions and now I was the one going first and really I should have been more careful but I accidentally tripped on a string. Nothing happened; a trap didn't activate, kunai didn't rain down on us, but it was weird. Why would someone leave a string just like that?
I decided to share what happened just in case.
"Alert system." Deidara said with a smirk. Of course, I was so dumb.
"Huh?"
"We triggered the alert system that was left behind by someone. Now they know we're here." I explained to Akatsuchi.
"So, we should be attacked now?" We looked around as he said that. "I don't feel anything."
"Me neither."
No one came out to attack us and after a couple of minutes we concluded the smartest thing to do would be to get away from that spot as quickly as possible. Deidara was angry because of the disappointment, but his wish for battle was fullfilled the moment I stepped into another underground chamber and saw a shape moving in front of me. I didn't have a mere second to warn Deidara and Akatsuchi because that person already yelled "Fuuton: Wind Bullets!"
Massive gusts of wind acting like bullets propelled us back into the corridor we came from. My fall was slightly less painful because I landed on Deidara and Akatsuchi but I became pissed off for not being quicker to react.
"A Fuuton user, un?"
"Oi, two of his teammates are missing." I said, propping myself up. "Katon: Flame Bullet!" Someone behind us said and my eyes widened. I looked at Deidara who, while still lying on the floor, flipped on his stomach and glanced at Akatsuchi, before both of them yelled "Doton: Moving Earth Core!"
Our portion of the floor sank down and I saw how fire passed above us, heating up the rocks all around.
"I'll take care of the Fuuton guy." Deidara said, going inside the earth wall with Hide like a Mole. Before I could even turn to Akatsuchi he went the other way with the same Technique while I remained standing on the sunk part of the floor.
"Are you kidding me?" I didn't like being left out of a fight and this only angered me further because I was left in such a place. I gritted my teeth, deciding to kick both of their asses for doing this to me. I took my kunai, aiming it at the earth wall above the hole and then doing a seal, guiding my shadow to the kunai and hooking it around it to form a rope. I managed to exit the hole like that and as I did I noticed a girl nearby, bearing an Iwagakure headband.
We shared a look for a second before both of us made a seal.
"Katon: Flame Bullet!" She yelled yet I wrapped my shadow around her ankle, yanking it and making her lose her balance. Her flame bullet went into the pit and not at me and I exhaled, jumping behind her. I planned to push her in but she dodged me, taking out her kunai and attacking me with it.
My next plan was to gradually make her move back to the pit but during our fight I noticed her kunai became red and soon started to steam. I guess she charged it with her Fire release chakra but I've had enough of getting burned so I did a front flip in order to get behind her. She slashed at air and cut lower part of my braid, however I had no time to worry about that. I slashed at her kunai pouch, making it drop on the ground.
"If you're looking for the scroll, it's not on me." She smirked.
I didn't answer her, hitting her arm with my leg. She still refused to drop the kunai she was holding so I bit my lip, thinking of another strategy. I had to fend her off for a while longer before an opening finally appeared and I jumped on the other side of the pit, making sure there's enough space between me and the pit.
Then it was finally time to wipe that smirk off her face.
I connected my shadow to hers, but this time it was the expanded version of my Shadow Bind, one that made me in control of her movements. I opened my right hand and she followed, at last dropping that damned kunai out of her hand. Her eyes widened once she figured she was no longer in control of her body. After that was taken care of I began to walk straight towards the pit, knowing my calculations were correct. She was closer to the pit than I was so on my fourth step she was already on the edge of it. "No!" She shouted but I made the fifth step, quickly letting go of her shadow. She fell in, letting out a scream.
"Katon: Flame bullet!" Fire passed in front of my nose but she didn't have a way to exit the pit without her kunai, and I made sure to get rid of them all. I inhaled, turning to see neither Akatsuchi nor Deidara were in the corridor. I decided to leave the girl where she is and go look for the two of them. I ran to the direction of the underground chamber, knowing that's where Deidara went.
Once I entered the room though, I was met with explosions that shook the entire chamber. I saw someone laying on the right part of the room where the floor was severely cracked. I bolted across the room to another corridor, entering in just as the portion of the floor collapsed. Deidara was already there, watching the Fuuton guy fall to his demise. His breathing was heavy but he was twirling yet another scroll in between his fingers, so overall he was okay.
"Where's Akatsuchi?" He asked as he saw me.
"No idea. I had to fight the Katon girl." I shook my head. "By the way, thanks for leaving me in the pit!"
"I thought Akatsuchi would take care of her and then come get you, un." He furrowed his brows.
"No, she almost spit her Flame Bullet into the pit and incinerated me. I got out just in time."
"Where is that dumbass?" He became angry and I rolled my eyes. "Just don't do something stupid like that again."
"Well I definitely won't leave it to Akatsuchi next time, un." He still didn't get it.
"Akatsuchi went the other way with Hide like a Mole. Maybe you can find him like that." I tried to switch the topic since we had a more pressing matter.
"I can't find people like that."
"Great, that means we lost him." I threw my hands in the air. "So, what should we do? Go in the same direction he went or-"
"No, let's continue to the exit."
"You think?" He nodded. "If he uses his brain at all he'll dig his way to the exit and wait for us there, un."
"This is supposed to be a team exam." I muttered.
"Well he shouldn't have gone on his own, then."
"It's not about me being left alone, it's about leaving me in the pit. It was pure luck my kunai were able to pierce through the earth around me or I would have been burned alive!" I yelled and he stopped, looking at me. "Just, next time, return the floor back to normal before going wherever you want to go. Okay?" His eyes burned bright blue even under the dim light and I suddenly became aware how much I leaned towards him in my fit of rage.
I felt my cheeks burning and I took a step back, just in time to evade Akatsuchi exiting the earth underneath us.
"Found you!"
"Where the hell were you?" Both Deidara and me yelled and he smiled, scratching the back of his head.
"I got into a fight with the third team member. He was just behind the Katon girl. Then I went back in to find you two." I put my hand on my forehead, taking a deep breath.
"You said it's impossible to find people through that Technique yet he managed to do that." I said to Deidara.
"Oh, I heard you yelling, Sayomi. That's how I found you." I looked away, not knowing whether to be angry or to blush.
"Let's just go already." I was slowly getting sick of this mine.
"Wait a minute, I have a bone to pick with this idiot here, un."
"Oh drop it Deidara." I cut him off and Akatsuchi exited the hole so we moved forward, finally.
Maybe an hour later, or two, it was hard to tell how much time passed while being underground, we met with the tallest hallway so far. That told us that we're either really close to the exit or really far.
"Akatsuchi, I think you should check our position again." I reminded him but Deidara knelt down, clapping his hands. "I'll do that, un. Maybe he's leading us in the wrong direction the whole time." Akatsuchi opened his mouth to argue but I stopped him, trying not to roll my eyes.
Not a minute later he exited the earth behind us.
"That was fast." Akatsuchi said while Deidara dusted himself off. "We are going in the wrong direction. We need to go back and to another corridor."
"No way!" Akatsuchi took that as a blow and I sighed. "I just checked, I know what I'm talking about." Akatsuchi furrowed his brows and I waved for him to follow Deidara back to where we came from.
"How come you've been able to check the magnet forces so quickly?" Akatsuchi asked as we took a turn.
"I guess I'm just better than you." My eyes narrowed slightly. Something wasn't right.
"Tenchi is the fastest in that and I don't remember him training you. Where did you learn that?"
"I learned it by myself, where else?" Something definitely wasn't right.
"You have to explain it to me later."
"Since when am I your sensei?" That's it, I've had enough. I put my hands in a seal, connecting my shadow to Deidara's and locking him in place.
"What's going on?" He yelled and Akatsuchi turned to me, his eyes widening as he saw my hands in a seal, my face grim as can be.
"That's not Deidara." I said and Akatsuchi looked at fake Deidara I was entrapping.
"What do you mean that's not Deidara? He looks like Deidara-"
"He doesn't talk like Deidara." I didn't expect Akatsuchi getting what I was talking about.
"Will you stop her already?" Fake Deidara said to Akatuschi but he instead scratched his head.
"Are you sure, Sayomi?" I nodded and Akatsuchi punched the fake Deidara, making him fall on the ground.
"I've managed to trick two teams with this jutsu." Fake Deidara said, looking at us. "It worked numerous times before and now you catch me because of the way I talk? I even listened in on you to make sure I get his way of speech right." He seemed pissed off, his lip bleeding.
"Pfft, don't make me laugh." I broke the seal because Akatsuchi kept looming over the fake Deidara and I was feeling rather annoyed at whoever decided to play us with such a cheap trick. "Your attention to detail is disappointing." Too late did I see fake Deidara looking at someone behind us and giving a slight nod.
"Doton: Earth Wall!" Someone yelled behind us and I managed to see another Iwa shinobi halfway through the hole in the floor, his hands on the ground and a smirk on his face. Then a wall separated Akatsuchi and me from the corridor we've come through.
"Oh come on." I muttered, now regretting undoing the seal that trapped fake Deidara. Fake Deidara changed to an Iwa genin...a female Iwa genin. That confused Akatsuchi so much he let her escape him and hide behind a third Iwa shinobi that appeared in a span of a minute. He was coming closer to us, rubbing his hands together and I could tell we were in serious danger.
"Beware of the girl, she can trap you with her jutsu." Snitch!
"Hah, as if anyone stands a chance against my Raiton!" The guy said and Akatsuchi let out a "Uh oh."
"Raiton: Lightning Cage!" Lightning propelled through the ground and I jumped on the wall beside me, trying to glue myself to it with chakra coated palms. It worked, but not entirely, and I began to slide down and towards the lightning coming out of the floor. I didn't have a solid footing which I needed in order to perform my seals, and I was getting closer and closer to lightning. Akatsuchi had a different idea than I did; he put his hands on the wall on his right, saying: "Doton: Tunneling Technique!" He didn't finish it though because his arm got cut by a lightning bolt, making him stop abruptly and hide himself in the beginning of his tunnel in the wall.
The guy laughed and raised one of his hands to high-five his female teammate. Him doing so greatly decreased the power of his lightning even though it was still coming from the ground, making it unable to land safely.
"Akatsuchi, get a grip!" Even though I needed to get a grip on the wall before I fall. There wasn't enough space on the floor to safely stand since lightning bolts kept shooting from the ground, forming a giant web above the floor. However, I soon noticed a slight opening between the edge of the wall and the rest of the floor covered with the lightning web. It was so tiny I would have to stand on one foot to make it, but I was desperate for a footing. I needed it to free my hands and make a seal for my shadow jutsu. If I don't trap him now that he's fooling around high-fiving people in the middle of a fight, we're done for.
But the lightning bolts...they were not only loud but provided additional illumination so I would have to make my shadow go up the wall and across the ceiling in order to make it. Also, the whole thought of me getting hit by a lightning wasn't very appealing.
I bit the inside of my lip before lowering myself on that tiny portion of the floor, standing on tiptoes of my right foot, my left leg up and my back centimeters away from the wall. It was a horrible position yet I took a deep breath and did a seal, moving my shadow around and trapping both of them. Because of my restricted space I couldn't use my advanced Shadow Bind jutsu to control their movements so even though his right hand was in the middle of a high-five, his left hand remained on the ground.
His jutsu continued in spite of me entrapping them. It was the worst possible outcome.
"The jutsu won't stop until I raise my hand off the ground." Yeah, I've figured.
"I told you to get rid of her first. Now we're both trapped!" The girl behind him raged.
"She won't hold out long." He smirked at me and I was really feeling myself on the edge of falling if I make one wrong move. Well this was just great.
"Akatsuchi!" I saw he was still hiding in the hole in the wall and I've really had enough of it. "What the hell are you doing?" Where is Deidara when you need him?
Right, where is Deidara?
"Doton is vulnerable against Raiton, I can't use my techniques!" Akatsuchi yelled back and I almost lost my balance. Now both the guy and the girl began to laugh and taunt me yet I concentrated on Akatsuchi.
"Are you being serious right now? You're not even going to fight because of it?"
"But-"
"I trapped both of them in my shadow, I only need you to dig your way to them and finish this off!" He peeked from his hole, his eyes widening once he saw me. His hand was bleeding near the elbow but he nodded and disappeared in the earth. He exited it on the other end of the hallway, behind the two, who now began to panic.
The wall behind me exploded just as Akatsuchi coated his hand in earth and punched both of our attackers. The explosion, which had to be Deidara's doing, rocked the floor and I finally lost my balance, as dreaded. One lightning bolt cut my left thigh but before I was wounded even more the lightning stopped, since Akatsuchi rendered the two unconscious.
I fell on the ground, holding my thigh and dragging deep breaths because the pain was shocking and sharp.
"What the hell? Where were you two?" Deidara asked as the smoke cleared, revealing the third enemy shinobi lying on the floor motionless. He saw me on the floor and came closer, crouching next to me. Fishnets below my shorts became dark red and I thought how I should stop the bleeding but the sting was what kept my hands away from the wound.
"I hate Raiton. I hate it so much." I kept saying, not knowing whether to put pressure on the wound or not. Akatsuchi sat next to me, his hand also bleeding like hell, throwing one more scroll on the ground.
"There's not a single person in Iwa who doesn't hate Raiton, un." I eyed him. "You too?" He nodded.
"You have bandages on you, right?" Deidara asked and I shook my head.
"I have them." Akatsuchi took off his backpack and Deidara rummaged through it, pulling out bandages and handing them to me. "But it stings so much, I don't know if-"
"You have to stop the bleeding, un." I exhaled. "Fine." Akatsuchi told Deidara what happened while I bandaged my thigh, blinking tears from my eyes. It stung like hell.
Then I bandaged Akatsuchi's arm. "Once I resurfaced I found only the guy that trapped you with the wall. You should have seen his face once he saw me, un."
"Yeah, they completely forgot about you." I shook my head, cracking a laugh. "I even listened in on you to make sure I get his way of speech right." I made a face and me and Akatsuchi burst out laughing.
"They tricked me all right. I really thought it was you, Deidara. You even argued with me like you always do. But Sayomi caught her slip up." I smiled slightly, tying a knot on his bandages.
"By the way, we are going in the right direction. I could sense wind farther down, un." Deidara relayed.
"I told you I wasn't misleading you!" Akatsuchi pointed a finger at Deidara.
"No one said you were you idiot!" I tried not to roll my eyes.
I slowly stood up and made a few steps, concluding I could walk no problem. When I tried to jump or crouch though, the motion would put pressure on my thigh and the pain would cut through all over again. I hoped there will be no more endless pits, or any sort of fight in general.
So with me and Akatsuchi feeling beaten, my chakra also down significantly, we continued on. After another two hours or so we all felt a change in the air which meant a source of ventilation was nearby. A wave of relief washed over me so I enthusiastically turned my speed up a notch, which proved to be a bad idea because I only strained my leg further. I tried not to show it but Deidara noticed me making faces because of the pain and proposed a small pit stop.
Akatsuchi put his hands on the wall while I leaned on it, trying to ignore the red splotch that soaked through my bandages.
"I feel people moving this way." He said all of a sudden. "We should move on."
"No, we should get rid of them." Deidara took out a handful of clay spiders from his pouch, giving them to Akatsuchi.
"You go in with Hide like a Mole and leave them all around the exit. Then wait for us there, un."
"Uuh..."
"Oh, mines." I snapped my fingers and Deidara smirked. "Exactly. I've come up with this once I went to check the direction but it seemed like a waste of time because the exit was so close."
"Oh I get it." Akatsuchi put the spiders in his pockets. "Then, see you at the exit?" We nodded. He disappeared and I sighed, moving away from the wall. Deidara then crouched in front of me.
"Get on."
"Huh?" I stared at him like I've never seen him before in my life.
"You can't run with a leg like this and you can't walk fast either. So, get on, un."
"But-" He turned, his blue eyes telling me to comply. He was right, I just didn't want to be additional baggage.
Regardless of him giving me a piggyback ride, Deidara was fast and after a couple of minutes I relaxed. My chakra reserve was almost back at its full potential and I used the opportunity to recover from the whole ordeal, if only for a little bit. Also, his hair was really soft.
I felt fresh air moving around me and soon enough I saw an opening down the corridor we were in. Akatsuchi exited the earth right as we approached the exit.
"We made it!" Akatsuchi cheered and I chuckled. Deidara grinned, making a seal and triggering a chain of explosions inside the walls. They rocked the whole mine and sounds of collapse echoed through. However, all we had to do was take two steps in front and exit the mine, completing our mission.
I saw sun was low on the horizon, and since I know we entered it around eight to nine in the morning, we've been in the mine for almost the entire day. Then we caught a sight of Onoki-sensei and Kitsuchi a bit far ahead.
"Of course it had to be you three to catch me in my slip up." Onoki-sensei said and I raised my eyebrow.
"Slip up?"
"No one specified you cannot exit through the entrance." Kitsuchi said with a slight smirk and we grinned.
"But you just had to blow up the whole mine in the process." Deidara put me down, laughing at Onoki-sensei's observation.
"Do you still have the scroll with you?" He asked and all three of us went for our pouches. Akatsuchi and I pulled out one scroll each while Deidara pulled out two. We dropped them on the ground and Onoki-sensei stuttered: "That's three teams you've eliminated."
We smirked, feeling triumphant.
"Congratulations, you are the third group to exit the mine." Kitsuchi said.
"Third?" We stopped gloating, wondering why we were only the third group to exit.
"Kurotsuchi and her group came first. One older group of Iwagakure Genin came out second." Great, why did Kurotsuchi have to be the first.
"The rules state you will fight for your spot in the third exam in accordance with the time of your arrival. So, your fight will be with the group that comes after you."
"When will that fight be?" Akatsuchi asked.
"Tomorrow morning." Onoki-sensei nodded. "Yes, tomorrow morning in Arena B. We have to wait for the rest of the teams to exit the mine, or at least for the search party to retrieve them-"
"Onoki-dono." A jonin appeared, a bit out of breath. "I'm sorry for interrupting you but Ishikage asks for you to prepare a fighting area."
"I have." He shook his head in annoyance.
"No, he meant right now. The fourth team exited the mine moments ago and it is the first Ishiagakure group to do so. Ishikage demands for them to fight the third group right away." Onoki-sensei gritted his teeth.
"Tell that Old Sack of Bones I cannot stage an impromptu fight like that just because he wants it! We have a schedule ready for tomorrow morning; first two teams fight at nine, third and fourth at eleven, and so on. Who does he think he is, demanding a change like that?" I tried to swallow down my laughter because hearing Onoki-sensei call someone an Old Sack of Bones reminded me so much of Deidara calling him an Old Geezer.
"I tried telling him that but he insists you will humour him out of the friendly relations you two spoke of earlier." I could see Onoki-sensei regretted the whole Ishiagakure ordeal that instant.
"Well, it seems you will have to comply Old Man." Kitsuchi said and Onoki-sensei sighed. I glanced at my leg and Onoki-sensei caught that.
"Sayomi, if your wounds are serious-"
"They're not! I'm fine, I can fight." If I back off now the whole team will be disqualified. He gave me a look but then nodded. "Fine. This one request I won't deny. But only because I have to show him my students can easily beat his." He looked at the three of us. "Iwagakure shinobi should never lose, especially against Ishiagakure shinobi. Don't disappoint me."
I exhaled before Akatsuchi handed me an energy bar from his backpack, his own already half-eaten.
"As a matter of fact, they are probably eager to fight you because they know you three beat up rogue Ishiagakure shinobi." Kitsuchi added. That again.
"And they will be no different, un." I chuckled.
"Kitsuchi, make sure Arena A is ready. I'll go find the judge."
Y'all favoriting but you ain't reviewing, smh.
Also, Sayomi doesn't know that her Shadow jutsus have official names so she either doesn't bother thinking up the names or just calls them the expanded version of that one technique she knows the name of (Shadow Bind).
Thank you for reading and don't forget to drop a review :)