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Chapter 13: The Fifth Test
Sakura was waiting at the base, watching her watch, waiting for it to say the test had begun. Hanako and Inuka were in other parts of the forest, waiting just as she was. Hanako was keeping watch with her Byakugan and would contact them via their communicators when she saw them. Now all that was left for them to do was wait.
Sakura knew that this wasn't going to be easy, not with her enemy being led by Itachi. She had assigned Inuka and Hanako to try and knock out Ibiki and Noya, but she had repeatedly warned them that if Itachi came, they were to run. They hadn't been happy about that order, but when she explained her reasoning, they grudgingly agreed to do so.
The communicator buzzed to life, "Hoshi, this is Hyuuga, they've entered separately. I can only see Ibiki and Noya, Itachi has not yet appeared."
Sakura responded, "Keep your eyes peeled, Hyuuga, he'll come eventually. Where are they in comparison to your positions?"
"Ibiki came through Gate 7; he's currently headed in the direction opposite Hoshi's position. Nenako, Noya is headed your way, he came through Gate 15. Hoshi, what are your orders?"
"Hyuuga, stay where you are and keep a look out. Nenako, you get to enact part one of Plan A. And remember, avoid his hands at all costs, do not let them touch you."
"Got 'cha, Nenako over and out!"
"I'll keep you posted. Hyuuga over and out."
Sakura turned her attention to the area around her, calming her mind so that she could sense any nearby Chakras. She stayed like that until her communicator buzzed again, "It's Nenako…ouch…part one was successful, however…ouch…I kind 'a got hit by one of his hands right before I knocked him out. Don't know what he did, but my left arm stopped working after that. I'm on my way to Course D…ouch."
Sakura sighed, "I told you not to let him touch you. I'm on my way. Hyuuga, where's Ibiki…and any sign of Itachi?"
"Itachi is near the end of the forest, opposite us, that's why Ibiki was headed that way, same with Noya. Ibiki is almost to Itachi."
"Good job, return to base. Protect the box; I'm going to begin part two of Plan A soon. But first I need to help Nenako; she went and forgot my warning."
"I didn't forget it! But he didn't have a weapon in easy reach…and I won in the end, didn't I?!"
Sakura twitched, "I told you to avoid his hands for a reason! He's a healer; he doesn't need weapons to cut you to pieces! Ugg…I'm almost there, wait for me. Hoshi over and out." She focused all her concentration on getting to Course D without setting off any of their traps.
She hopped down from the tree she was on in front of a cave mouth, Course D. She cautiously walked in, asking, "Nenako, why here?"
Nenako gave the counter phrase, "Because here isn't there!" She then waved her right hand, motioning for Sakura to come in. Sakura did, noticing that Inuka's left arm was just hanging there, even though the surface of the skin wasn't even bruised.
"Where's Noya?" Sakura asked, and Inuka pointed behind her, where a form lay on the ground. Sakura nodded, then ordered, "Let me see your arm." After looking at it she sighed, "Knew it…Chakra scalpel. Hold still and keep quiet, this may hurt a little." She lifted her glowing green hand over the arm and started healing it.
When she was done she stepped back as Inuka swung her arm in circles, looking at it in wonder. When she finished with that she turned to Sakura and asked, "What's a Chakra scalpel and what did it do to me?"
Sakura gave a short answer, saying Chakra scalpels could cut inside you without breaking the skin. She then turned to Noya, who was still unconscious, and looked him over, assessing his injuries. Finally she turned back to Inuka, "You didn't use it right?"
Inuka shook her head, "Nope, I gave him a nice lump on the back of his head. I told you I remembered what you'd told me earlier. Nope I didn't use it."
"Good, I wouldn't have been able to begin part two if you had." She turned her back to Inuka as she faced Noya, hands starting to glow green. As she built up her Chakra she said to Inuka, "I won't notice anything while I do this, so you do your duty for part two. And don't disturb me unless it's an emergency."
Inuka didn't look back as she said, "I know, I'll stand guard, don't worry about that. No one will get past me." After saying that she used the communicator. "Hyuuga, this is Nenako, Hoshi has begun part two, prepare for the consequences. Nenako over and out."
Noya ran as fast as his tired body could go, headed towards their meeting place. He had a couple of small wounds from his fight with Inuka, but they weren't much. He came to a halt when he had reached Itachi and Ibiki. Ibiki's grumpy voice called out, "What happened to you?"
"I ran into Nenako about 30 yards from where I entered and we had a little scuffle; but I got away."
Itachi watched as Noya came forward, his Sharingan activated. As he watched Noya answer Ibiki, he saw that this truly was Noya, not a fake. Itachi then asked, turning off his Sharingan, "What happened to Nenako after you got away?"
Noya answered as calmly as always, "I'd cut the tendons in her left arm so as that she would be unable to use it. She retreated quickly after that, but I heard her use a communicator, calling for Miss Hoshi to come and heal her. Then I continued on my way here."
Itachi nodded, "Let's begin our search near where Noya met Nenako. We'll meet back here in an hour."
Noya led them to the place where he and Nenako had fought; from there they split up, each searching in a different direction. Noya was headed in the direction of Course D, Itachi in the direction of Course A, and Ibiki in the direction (unbeknownst to him) of the base.
Ibiki found the Hyuuga waiting for him in front of what looked to be a quickly constructed building. He got into a fighting stance as the Hyuuga watched him with her Byakugan activated. He attacked, sending Kunai flying at her, trying to get around her. He knew that he was no match for a Hyuuga in a battle. So instead he started trying to make her move away from the building, where undoubtedly the box was hidden.
He attacked her from all but one direction, the direction he wanted her to move. Most of the time she just defended, but every once in a while she would attack. When she did, he would jump out of the way, and then begin attacking again. She slowly moved backwards, away from the base. After about a half hour, he was about to make a move for the base, now that she was far enough away from it, when she seemingly attacked.
He jumped back, sure he was out of her reach, even if she was hiding a small weapon. Then he felt something wet fall onto his right arm, he jumped back more, looking at what it was. He only saw a small, blood red drop of some sort of liquid…probably it was blood, though from what he didn't know.
He started to take out another kunai, then froze, his hand shaking uncontrollably. His legs were not responding, he couldn't move. The Hyuuga walked over to him, watching as his legs gave out and he collapsed. The last thing he saw as his eyesight started to blur was the Hyuuga pulling out a tiny, empty vial, looking at it with an odd, almost scared, look. Then everything went black.
Itachi and Noya met at the spot where they had begun an hour after they separated, neither of them had found anything. Ibiki, however, never came, and after waiting for five minutes, Itachi said, "He must have found their main base and is currently busy fighting the person or persons guarding it. Let's go help him." He didn't wait for Noya to respond, he just started jumping from tree to tree in the direction that Ibiki had gone. Noya fallowed obediently behind Itachi, a smirk on his face.
They ran until Itachi put his hand out, signaling for them to stop. They peered through the foliage or their trees. In the distance they saw Ibiki's body just lying on the ground not a hundred feet from a small building. They also saw that Hanako Hyuuga was leaning against the wall of the building, waiting for them.
They jumped out of the trees, there was no use hiding from a Hyuuga. Itachi stepped forward, saying, "So, you've knocked out Ibiki, that takes skill. But then again, he's defenseless against the Byakugan. I however," He stated, as his eyes turned red, "am not."
Hanako didn't say anything, didn't do anything; she just stood there, watching Itachi calmly. Itachi walked forward slowly until he was past Ibiki's body, all the time making sure that Hanako didn't attack. He then motioned for Noya to check on Ibiki, which he hurried to do.
Itachi continued forward, one step at a time, sure that at any moment Hanako would attack. He noticed a well hidden trap not far in front of him, but it was easy to avoid. Once he was past that, he noticed that Hanako had grabbed something out of the base. She was about to run…and she had the box. He attacked.
The Hyuuga and he looked like they were doing some sort of dance; they were that well-timed to each others attacks. As they battled he noticed that she was trying to escape, but he made sure that she never got the chance.
Just as he was about to use a fire Jutsu he noticed what Hanako had been doing. She hadn't been trying to escape, she had been trying to put herself in front of Ibiki and Noya. She was using them as a shield of sorts. Ibiki was unconscious and Noya was apparently completely focused on healing Ibiki, unaware that Hanako was only a couple yards away from him. There was no way that either of them would be able to avoid his attacks if they missed Hanako.
He decided against using the Jutsu, instead he attacked head-long, hoping to get her away from his teammates. She dodged, but not before he cut her with one of his kunai on the arm. He felt he blood splatter onto the back of his arm. He turned around, ignoring the feel of blood and was about to attack her again when he felt more liquid hit his arm. He glanced behind him and froze.
Noya was holding a small vile over his arm, smirking. Then it hit him, Noya never smirked, ever. This was not Noya…but yet it was. His Sharingan would have shown him if this was a clone or an illusion, but it only showed him Noya. The next thing he knew was that his Sharingan had deactivated itself. His eyes widened, he couldn't move.
He heard Hanako say in a tone that he'd never heard her use before, "You're scary some times, you know that?"
He then heard Noya chuckled and say, "I've been told that a few times." Itachi watched as Noya walked over to Hanako, finally understanding what had happened. His Sharingan wasn't lying, this was Noya, or at least Noya's body; it just wasn't Noya who was controlling it.
He heard Noya say, "Once I'm gone, use the other vile I gave you on Noya." He watched as Noya fell to the ground, only to have a few drops of a red liquid poured on him by Hanako. After that, Hanako walked over to where he was still standing, unable to move.
"I believe the test is over." She said without a trace of emotion, "Miss Nenako and Miss Hoshi should be here soon." She then backed up and stood, waiting. Five minutes latter they arrived, Inuka half carrying Sakura. Hanako asked quietly, "What's wrong, Miss Hoshi?"
"Nothing really," answered Sakura, still holding onto Inuka so as not to fall down, "It just takes a while after that Jutsu I used before I can easily move again." She turned her head to look at Itachi, "Sorry about drugging you all, but I felt it was the easiest way to stop you without harming you. It'll wear off eventually, with no side effects."
She then said to Hanako as Inuka helped her sit down, "Come here and let me heal your arm. Then could you please bring Noya over here afterwards. I never did heal his injuries." Hanako did as she was told to without saying a word.
As Itachi watched, he noticed that that Hanako and Inuka both occasionally glanced at Sakura. There was awe evident on Inuka's face. Hanako hid it better than Inuka, but even she acted in a way that made it seem as if Sakura were someone she revered.
And he understood why. It wasn't everyday that an eleven-year-old, over the course of just two hours, was able to defeat three Jonin in a test that was supposed to go for at least six hours. It also wasn't an everyday occurrence that someone was able to fool the Sharingan.
He watched as she healed first Hanako, then Noya, thinking, 'The more I learn about her the more I notice…' He watched as she finished healing Noya, and then turned to ask something of Inuka.
'…she's unlike any other girl I've ever met.'
Ok, I've been asked by many people about Sakura meeting the young versions of those she grew up with, the answer is: she will meet some of them...the only ones I'm sure of so far is Ino, Gaara and very possibly(98 percent sure) young Sakura. Another thing that's been brought up is that Inuka (age 18) and Nenako (age 22) think of Sakura as a little sister, and that's true. Also, I think I'll be making Noya think of her as his daughter (he's probably in his late 30's).
The next chap. may or may not be short. It all depends on what I find I need to put in it before I do a time skip. And there will be a time skip, probably with an overview of what happened in the two or three months I skipped over. Sorry, but there's no escaping it this time.
If you see spelling mistakes, please tell me what they are, and I will try to fix them.
It's me, again, ShippoTheCRAZYTREKKIE. All is well and well-edited. Now, if JUCHKO would allow me, I will do a little advertising. If you are at all interested in the InuYasha anime/manga, please read my fic, "Hubris." I guarantee you'll like it! Thanks.
Reviews and constructive criticisms are welcome, flames however, will be 'boo'ed off the stage. If you don't review...shame on you! (Hey! it ryhmes!)
Thanks to: Sachiko 1991, Dreamergirl92813, xnarutoxrocksx, Blood Blossom, Red Shagging Couch, pinky101, Summerlovver1, Sakura-angle113, Clea everlasting, Coeur Casse, PhAnToM SpEaKeR, SilverMononoke, Sabaku no Hime, Namida Drop (I know, that's kind of the point; Inuka being, a weapons misstress, is stuck on proper names of weapons), Crazy Neko Girl, meisi, Bishieluver01(Um...your wealome; You know, most people tell writers to update sooner, not latter.), vendeta, & Jess Ishtar for reviewing.