CHAPTER 20:
SOUND ATTACKS, UNSOUND MINDS
Sakura was understandably troubled as dawn approached. Keeping vigil over her comrades for so long was tiring, especially after setting a number of traps. Naruto was mostly inert, while Sasuke was suffering from a fever. Once they recovered, considering that they had both scrolls, they'd head for the Tower ASAP.
Always assuming Sasuke recovered. Anko's words about her being the first survivor of the Cursed Seal of Heaven haunted Sakura. So too did her arguments with Sasuke over the past while. Was this the universe seeking to show what she had done, by killing Sasuke?
She checked over Naruto, using what admittedly limited medical knowledge the academy and Haku had taught her. He didn't seem to be injured: all he seemed to be suffering from was a mild chakra exhaustion. If Orochimaru told the truth, it was because Orochimaru had interrupted the flow of chakra from the Kyuubi.
That being said, by the time it was early morning, it was probably long enough for Naruto to recover, at least enough so that he could help her guard Sasuke, so she began to try and wake him up(1). After a few minutes of shaking him gently, Naruto opened his eyes, blearily. "Sakura?" he asked, sounding tired. Then, recollection of what had happened came to him, and he sat up, looking around wildly. "Where is he?!" he hissed, half in fear, half in anger.
"Settle down, Naruto. I'll tell you what happened. But we're in deep shit."
Naruto listened as Sakura told him about the battle with Orochimaru, including the parts he wasn't there for, as well as her precautions for intruders, like the traps around them. Naruto helpfully told her that he had been swallowed by a massive snake, only to use a mass of Shadow Clones to break free by overloading the snake's innards with his clones. An ingenious solution, Sakura thought. But he scowled as Sakura told him what Orochimaru had done, to both him, and Sasuke. He then glared at the three tomoe on Sasuke's neck. "He's an arrogant bastard," Naruto muttered, "but he doesn't deserve this. You said that crazy proctor lady had this mark, and she was the first to survive it. Sasuke should survive it, he's strong, and he isn't going to give up, dattebayo!"
"I hope you're right," Sakura said quietly. "Once he's recovered, or else once it's safe to move him, we'll head to the Tower. We have two scrolls now."
"Yeah, why did Orochimaru give us that one, anyway?"
"I don't know. He didn't need it himself, he was just here to mark Sasuke. He probably gave it to us because he didn't need it any more as bait. He also said I impressed him." Sakura shook her head. "It's both disturbing and heartening to be praised by one of our worst criminals, especially as I used Hikariton: Kousen on him."
"He's a weirdo," Naruto said, look at Sasuke. "And probably a paedophile. So, the snake bastard blabbed about me in front of Sasuke?"
"Yeah."
Naruto growled quietly. "That bastard, sealing off the Kyuubi. Sakura? Could you have a look at it?" He undid his jacket, and lifted up his shirt.
"Naruto, I don't know enough about sealing beyond basics," she said, though she looked at the seal anyway. She knew that if she got out of this, she would make a start on reading up on fuinjutsu. Normally, it was a spiral mark, surrounded by eight arms of arcane writing. Now, there were five marks surrounding it. "When we get out of here, we'll have to see Kakashi-sensei, perhaps even the Hokage. Then again, we'll have to see them anyway. We just got attacked by Orochimaru, and he admitted that the genin team from Oto are under his command. And he's marked Sasuke. That can't be good by any stretch of the imagination."
"No," Naruto said quietly. "So, who exactly is he, anyway? I know you said he's one of the Sannin. But what was his deal? Why did he leave the village?"
"Did a lot of experiments on anyone he could get his hands on, apparently," Sakura mused, as the first rays of the dawn broke through the trees. "I only know what was put in the Bingo Book, and the history books. I was more enamoured with Tsunade of the Sannin than Orochimaru. All three of them are powerful: Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru. As far as I know, though, only Jiraiya has any ties to the village anymore. Tsunade isn't a rogue ninja, she just cut her ties with Konoha. But she is a brilliant medic."
She suddenly saw a squirrel scampering forth. She willed it to go away, but it scurried forward…and then, it managed to go around her traps. She nearly breathed a sigh of relief, before she saw the explosive tag attached to the poor thing. Quick as a flash, she grabbed the squirrel, tore the tag off, crunched it up, and then threw it at some nearby bushes.
"SHIT!" screamed a voice, before three familiar figures dived from them, just before there was an explosion. Sakura and Naruto stared. They were the Oto team. And Sakura guessed that they had sent the squirrel in with a tag on its back…as a makeshift suicide bomber. The squirrel itself scampered away.
"How did you know we were there?!" the boy with the spiky hair and bad attitude snarled.
"I…didn't. It was luck. Good luck for me, bad for you," Sakura said.
"Well, that's about to change," the bandaged boy said. "You've been guarding Sasuke all night. Well, consider yourself relieved of duty. Wake him up. The three of us want to take him on."
"He's sick, you jerk!" Naruto snarled. "Your bastard of a boss gave him some Cursed Seal or something."
This seemed to give the three Oto genin pause for thought. "The Cursed Seal of Heaven?" the bandaged one asked.
"That's what Orochimaru called it," Sakura said. A bit of a lie: she had learned the name from Anko rather than the Sannin, but they didn't need to know that. "It wouldn't be a battle with him in this condition! He's not even conscious!"
The spiky-haired boy snorted. "Like I give a shit! I'm coming over there to kill your sorry asses!"
The bandaged boy held up a hand. "Wait, Zaku!" He knelt down, and peered at the ground for a while, before snorting. "Feh. Amateur. You set booby-traps along the ground, but didn't conceal the evidence." He, and his comrades, leapt into the air.
And into her actual trap. There were a few traps along the ground, true, but not as many as they thought. Sakura was already doing the hand-seals even as Naruto, briefed beforehand, cut a rope with a kunai. "HIKARITON: SENKOU!" she snapped.
The Oto genin were dazzled by the light from her attack, and thus couldn't see the massive log dropping down in front of them. With a trio of cries of pain, the log slammed into them.
For a moment, Sakura allowed herself to think that she had taken them out. But then, there was an explosion, sending splinters and woodchips everywhere. And the three Oto genin, albeit somewhat the worse for wear, landed just near the traps. "Bitch…" hissed the one called Zaku, who was still blinking the afterimage from his eyes. "You're gonna pay for that."
"I have to give you that, girl, you actually caught us off guard with a multi-layered attack," the bandaged boy snarled. "But you're out of tricks, aren't you? And out of luck!"
Suddenly, the three genin were intercepted by a green blur that sent them flying back. "Is that right?" came the familiar voice of Rock Lee.
"Where did you come from?" Sakura demanded, only to notice the very squirrel that she had saved perched on his shoulder.
"I came because you needed me," Rock Lee said, with a smile, though he put the squirrel down gently and indicated it silently. "I'll protect you with my life, Sakura. And your comrades!"
Sakura nodded. As much as she was bemused by his eccentricity, she was glad to have the taijutsu specialist on-side. And Naruto looked like he felt the same way.
The bandaged boy sighed. "Zaku? I'll leave Sasuke to you, once I'm done with the cavalry."
"Okay, Dosu. Have fun with the dregs," Zaku sneered.
Dosu lunged towards them. He leapt into the air, ready to bring his fist onto Lee, only for Lee to rip a root out of the ground from the nearby tree, and use it as a shield. A massive crater was dug into the root. Lee frowned, before saying, "Sakura? Naruto? Stay near Sasuke. I have the measure of this guy's attacks. There's an illusory element to them, so I'd waste my time ducking them."
As impressed as Sakura was by his strength and ability, something wasn't quite right in her mind. True, Dosu, when he attacked Kabuto earlier, had missed Kabuto, but his glasses had cracked, and he had vomited, all without apparently being touched. And this tree was decimated by a near-swipe of the bandaged boy's strange bracer.
Suddenly, she realised something. Oto…sound. Amplified to a strong degree, sound could be devastating. It was only a guess, but maybe Kabuto had been hit by a sonic attack of some kind. "Wait!" she yelled. "You three, you use sound-based attacks, don't you?"
Dosu, Zaku, and the girl looked at each other. "Looks like the pink-haired bitch is smarter than he looks, Kin," Zaku remarked.
"Zaku, anyone can be smarter than she looks," Kin sneered. "She takes too much care of her hair to be anything more than a wannabe kunoichi."
"You take that back, bitch!" Naruto snarled. "Sakura is the smartest girl I know!"
"You can't know that many girls," Zaku sneered.
Sakura grabbed Naruto's arm as he made to rush at them. "Naruto," she hissed quietly. Then, louder, she retorted, "You got caught out by a jutsu I created. Besides, a kunoichi should be able to use their feminine wiles. Then again, you haven't got any talent in that area, you ugly bitch."
A cruel blow, as Kin was actually quite pretty, if it weren't for the permanent sneer in her eyes. But Sakura's insult had hit home, judging by the snarl at her lips.
"Enough talk," Dosu growled.
"I couldn't agree more," Rock Lee said, unwrapping some of the bandages around his fists, before he suddenly leapt into action. With blinding speed, he kicked Dosu into the air, grabbed him, seeming to wrap him with the bandages from around his fists (not that Dosu needed to look anymore like a mummy), and then drove Dosu into the ground with a vicious pile driver, bellowing "FORWARD LOTUS TECHNIQUE!"
Afterwards, Dosu was stuck in the ground, upside down, in a rather comical fashion. But then, Sakura realised that Zaku had stuck his hands into the ground, and that two barely-noticeable mounds of soil led from him to Dosu. "Just in time," Zaku murmured, apparently relieved.
Dosu, to Lee's astonishment, plucked himself out of the ground, shaking himself off. "A scarily powerful technique. Even with Zaku making a cushion of aerated soil for me, I nearly got taken out." He then turned to Lee, and seemed to grin beneath his bandages. "My turn."
With that, he lunged forward, and swiped at an exhausted Lee. Lee dodged the attack, but immediately became disorientated. He sagged to his knees, and vomited, like Kabuto had. Then, blood spurted from his left ear.
As he swooned, Dosu sneered behind his bandages. "Fast you may be, but you can't break the sound barrier. My bracer means that even if you can dodge my attacks, you can't avoid their fury. You seemed smart enough to discern what our attacks were based on, girl," Dosu said to Sakura. "A powerful enough sound blast can burst the eardrum, and even disrupt the middle ear, and thus your sense of balance. It takes time before that balance gets restored."
"And he forced me to reveal my weapons," Zaku said, revealing holes in the palms of his hands as he pulled them from the ground. "Sonic blasts powerful enough to shatter rock, or aerate soil into a soft cushion. More finesse and subtlety required than the brute force you use, Bowl Cut."
"Nothing subtle about a blast wave," Sakura said, even as Lee sagged, nearly unconscious.
"Or about superior numbers!" came a cry, as three welcome faces emerged from the bushes. Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji.
"Great," Zaku muttered. "More freaks."
As Dosu turned back to Team 7 and Rock Lee, Sakura knew it was time to act. Remembering the Bell Test, she made eye contact with the bandaged boy, and, pumping as much chakra as she could into it, hit him with the strongest Hell Viewing Technique she could muster.
His eye widened, before he fell to the ground and started rolling around on it, screaming that he was on fire. "You bitch, what did you do?!" Kin demanded.
"Genjutsu, bitch," Sakura retorted with a savage grin. "Out of tricks, didn't he say?"
"So what?" Zaku sneered. "You've got nothing compared to us! You've got a punch-drunk Bowl Cut, a loud-mouthed brat, another wannabe kunoichi, a lazy ass, and a fat idiot."
As Chouji, who looked like he didn't want to be here, heard that, he glared. And Sakura, who knew something of the rotund boy's nature and his abilities, smirked, and said to Zaku, "You done goofed."
"I AM NOT FAT! I'M BIG BONED! BAIKA NO JUTSU!" Suddenly, Chouji expanded, becoming like a massive boulder that began rolling towards Zaku at speed.
Shikamaru said, as he made a gesture for his signature jutsu, "I'll keep the bandaged one confined with my Shadow Possession in case he breaks free of the genjutsu. Ino, the girl!"
"On it!" Ino said, before she seemed to faint, Shikamaru catching her. Zaku had managed to dodge Chouji, who had shrunk back down to normal size, and was reeling.
Kin held a kunai to her throat. "Oi, you! Stop this at once, or I'll slice her neck open!" Ino yelled from within Kin. "Leave any scrolls you have here and leave! Once you've left, I'll release her!"
Zaku sneered. As he raised his hand, Sakura yelled, "Ino! Get out!"
"Too late!" Zaku jeered. A blast of air sent Kin smashing into a tree. Blood drooled from her mouth, and Ino's.
Dosu, who seemed to have recovered from the genjutsu, smirked underneath his bandages, despite still being held in Shikamaru's jutsu. "Our objective is not the scroll or passing this irrelevant exam. We're here to kill Sasuke. We'll even kill Kin if it means that we take one of you down with her."
Ino withdrew swiftly from Kin's body after hearing that. But they heard a voice from above. "You're pathetic. Nobodies who think that a few interesting little moves that can stop a few novices means that you're somebody."
Sakura looked up, to see that a dark-haired boy with the distinctive pale eyes of a Hyuuga, and a girl with her hair done up in twin buns, perched on a nearby branch. It was the Hyuuga boy who had spoken in an arrogant tone, and Sakura realised this must be Neji Hyuuga.
"More pests emerging from the woodwork," Zaku sneered.
Sakura, meanwhile, had an odd feeling from behind her, and turned to look at Sasuke. He was getting up. She very nearly called out, until the words died in her throat at what she saw.
She heard Neji say, "The boy with the bowl cut is our team-mate. And an attack on one is an attack on all of us. Cease your attack, or we will exterminate you."
Sasuke began to struggle to his hands and knees. Sakura and Naruto gaped at the black markings that covered much of his body, wriggling and writhing. Distantly, Sakura heard Dosu say, "Stop your trash talk, and put your money where your mouth is! Then you'll see how pathetic we are!"
Neji, with a faint air of surprise in his voice, said, "It seems we may not have to."
Sasuke got to his feet, his eyes now with the Sharingan showing, but more than that. His eyes looked cold, dead. So too was his voice. "Sakura…Naruto…point out our enemies. Show me the fools who are about to die."
CHAPTER 20 ANNOTATIONS NO JUTSU!:
Well, a slightly different confrontation with the Oto genin team, with Sakura proving more competent, and Naruto actually helping. Unlike in the manga, where this sequence was a crucial part of canon Sakura's development, the Sakura of my story doesn't quite need that. She already is strong mentally and emotionally, for the most part. And while it doesn't make that much of a difference on events so far, she at least contributes more.
1. Keep in mind that, in the manga, Chouji and Shikamaru basically revive Naruto by hitting him repeatedly. I thought that Sakura, after assessing Naruto's health, would try to wake him up so that she had back-up to guard Sasuke. While normally he would be first in to attack the Oto genin, his defeat at Orochimaru's hands and the sealing of the Kyuubi makes him more cautious.