WOOOOOOOOO!
LONGEST CHAPTER YET!
CAN I GET A HUZZAH!
...
Oh, you party poopers.
Anyways, I'm glad that most of you readers think Akani should be made chunin, even though she can be a dense, emotional wreck sometimes. Just a heads up, there's gonna be action and even more dense, lovable, idiotic Akani in this chappy! YAY!
safranbrod: Ya know, I didn't even know what a 'Mary Sue' was until I urbandictionary'd it. I don't think Akani's a 'Mary Sue.' She's an idiot lol But... I guess you'll have to wait and see if she becomes a chunin :D
Barryium: Fight scenes ahead! You're welcome, even though they might be a little shitty :/ It's difficult putting what I see in my mind into words but I gave it my best shot!
CeresMaria: LOL! THe gate guard could have very well been a Yamanaka but... *ominous music* we'll never know. Dun, dun, dunnnn!
ANYWHO! Thanks for ya reviews since I'm loving them all and loving the faves and loving life in general at the moment so...
ONWARDS! :)
The forest was creepy.
No 'ifs,' 'buts,' or 'maybes' about it. It just oozed weirdness from every weird corner and weird bugs came out from their weird hiding places to eat other weird things I had never seen before.
In short, Muta was in heaven and I was pretty sure I was in hell.
All these different masses of writhing chakra – no matter how small – were sending my senses haywire. I actually had to soften my echolocation since it started to give me a headache from how much blue I was seeing. It cut my vision down, but at least I wasn't in danger of becoming a burden to my team.
Muta changed directions slightly. "There is a nest of killer bee's just ahead and they have already been aggravated. It is best to avoid them," he explained.
I shuddered. "Ugh, I hate bugs."
Up ahead Muta pursed his lips slightly as Tokuma scowled. "You are on a team with a member of the Aburame clan, Akani-san. Don't be so insensitive."
"I didn't mean Muta-kun's bugs! I don't like calling them that! They live inside him, right? In symbiosis to keep him alive, right? Then they're not bugs, they're partners! Duh?"
Muta's chakra shivered a little with gratitude as he glanced back and I gave him a bright smile and a thumbs up. A lot of the time I didn't think before I spoke which resulted in me putting my foot in my mouth epically but apparently I always made up for it.
Not quite sure how, but I did.
Like when one time an older group of teen genin boys we had to pair up with for a border patrol stint – who were more interested in talking about cute girls than doing actual work – said Tokuma's clans eyes were weird and although he met them face on impassively I could tell he was a little hurt. I responded with a sarcastic 'Yeah, what's so great about them besides they can see through walls, like the ones blocking ya from the girls side of the hot springs, right?'
It probably wasn't the best response since the group still managed to corner the Hyuga sometimes whenever they wanted to go peeping and 'guide' Tokuma in the ways of the pervert.
Woops.
Jiraiya would be proud, though.
I sighed and flared my chakra, wincing at how many chakra signatures were in this place but I managed to sort them out quickly and note we were still a fair way away from any other teams. "Hey Princess, do you think that you can scout for a scroll?"
"I don't think I should be concentrating on finding a scroll until we set up a base of operations," he said dryly.
"I didn't mean now!" I snapped, rubbing my temples. "Ugh, all this chakra closeness is messing with my head."
"Didn't think that was possible since it's already so messed up," Tokuma deadpanned.
I growled and poked my tongue out at him. "Don't forget this crazy person has saved your butt many times, Princess."
"Of course," he admitted and didn't say anything else.
I gave him a soft smile before latching onto a branch and swinging off it, propelling myself forward. Tokuma was a Hyuga, and bred into a clan renowned for their level headedness and dignity. Although he can lose his temper spectacularly he rarely yelled, but his outward praises were rare too. It didn't mean he couldn't compliment someone, but usually it was entwined within an insult and it took me a little while to realise that some of his insults could be passable as 'constructive criticism.'
My stomach rumbled, alerting me to the fact that we hadn't stopped moving yet, making our way into the thicker parts of the forest. I blushed, laughing sheepishly. "Um, can we stop for a snack?"
"We have only been in the forest for two hours, Akani-san," Muta replied.
My stomach growled, louder this time and we all stopped on a rather large branch. I grabbed my tummy, whimpering. "Mr Tummy hungry!" I whined.
Tokuma sighed, sounding extremely put out even as he activated his dojutsu. "There's a large hollowed out tree one hundred meters to the north of us that is sturdy and can be used as a temporary camp. Muta-san, can you set up a warning system with your kikaichu while Akani-san and I set up the sealing wards?"
"Of course."
"Right," the Hyuga nodded. "We'll meet back up at the camp in ten minutes. Code is Number Four. Let's get this over with."
"Hai!"
We split up and I unravelled a pair of scrolls hidden in my sleeves, handing one to Tokuma. He peered at it closely. "New tags?" he asked, slightly surprised.
I grinned broadly. "Yup! New range, last for longer and faster feedback alert with pinpoint trackers. Tweaked the designs myself," I bragged, chest puffing out.
"Impressive," he complimented and my cheeks hurt from how much I was smiling.
I unsealed a tag and slapped it to a tree, activating it with a gentle nudge of chakra. Immediately I felt the connection to the tag and saw the glow of blue surround it, waiting to connect to its sister-tags. Tokuma sped through a few hand signs to coat it in a small genjutsu so it blends into the foliage while slapping his own tag on a fairly high branch. We circled around the tree we'd be camping in, setting the wards and my awareness of the tags mapped out the forest in a cobweb of blue.
I'd never get sick of seeing what I dubbed 'the network.'
Nine and a half minutes later we all met at the tree. I gawped at it. "Princess, you said the tree was large, right?"
"Hai."
I tilted my head, mouth still agape. "You negated the fact that it was effing massive."
Which it was. My entire apartment would fit inside the damn thing. Kinda made me sad when I thought about it too much, actually.
Time for happy thoughts.
I clapped my hands gleefully, squealing a little before speeding inside. Muta had taken care of any bugs and spiders inside –thank Kami since I didn't want a spider bite to the eyeball – and the entrance was relatively hidden from view. All you had to do was pull a tangle of vines over and voila.
Insta-camp.
I spun in a circle, arms open wide. "All it needs is a lick of paint and it'll be fabulous!" I chirped, planting one hand on my hip. "I'd put the couch there, and the bed over there and, oh Princess! What do you think about the kitchen over here?" I asked, pointing all about the place.
By this stage both of my teammates were inside the hollow of the tree, ignoring me. Tokuma grunted since he didn't care.
I nodded sagely. "That's what I thought so too. It should totally go over there." I rubbed my hands together with sadistic glee. "Come, come, my pretties, we have much work to do!"
"Will you shut up?" Tokuma sighed, dangerously close to banging his head against the nearest hard surface.
I puffed my cheeks grumpily. "Mou, you should support a friend in a transitional time like this, Princess."
"Do you even know what 'transitional' means?"
"It's when you go from happy to pissy in a blink." I paused, tapping my chin. "Do guys get PMS?"
Tokuma spluttered and Muta, ever the logical voice of reason, spoke up with a small adjustment to his glasses to show he was uncomfortable. "The male species do not go through… PMS because it is wholly based around the female reproductive system and their hormonal changes."
I tilted my head. "But guys have hormones too, right?"
"Of course. It is how one grows from what society perceives as 'boy' to 'man.'"
"Oh, I see. So, you're saying it's… transitional?" I grinned cheekily towards Tokuma who had at some point stopped breathing. Muta slapped him on the back rather hard and he started gulping in air.
"How crude! You're getting worse with age, Akani-san!" Tokuma snarled.
"Naw, what's an uncomfortable conversation between friends, ne Princess?" I laughed, moving towards the inner bark of the tree and unsealing a pot of ink and brush. "Besides," I started, voice getting quieter as I began to create a fuinjutsu barrier as a last ditch protection. "After this, if one of us becomes chunin, we probably won't work together much. You guys will go back to working with your clans, and I… I don't really know what will happen to me."
What I just said even shocked me a little. I didn't even realise I felt that way until I voiced it but now that it was out there, I couldn't deny it.
Change scared me, even though I knew it was necessary.
I'd been so caught up in the idea of manipulating people that I didn't really stop to think about the immediate future. I'd grown attached to Tokuma, Muta and Kushina. If I became a chunin that would change and I'd have to make it work with other people who I called comrades but didn't really trust because I didn't know them.
If Tokuma and Muta became chunin and I didn't, I'd be left behind and they'd be so caught up in their new duties they would have no time for me. I didn't even know what would happen in regards to Kushina-sensei. Would she still be my sensei?
I'd be left alone.
Again.
And that struck a bone chilling fear inside of me.
A pair of arms wrapped awkwardly around my shoulders, and a hand rested on my head made me still. I didn't even realise I'd been shaking. Tokuma jostled my shoulders, and Muta ruffled my hair lightly.
"Everything will be fine, Akani," Tokuma murmured, dropping the honorific, "We'll always be Team Two."
I nodded shakily and Muta handed me… a handkerchief? My confusion must have shown on my face since he pressed a finger to my cheek and it slipped. My cheeks were wet?
Why would they… be…
My eyes widened and I hastily wiped the tears away. I rarely cried. Hell, the last time I cried in front of my team was when I confessed I was weak because I hesitated in downing a bandit permanently. That was ages ago.
They gave me space and I was grateful since my fear was overcome by mortification. Kami, if this got back to Kushina-sensei, and she thought I wasn't ready to become chunin…
I whirled on my teammates, growling. "This never happened, got it?" Silence. I cracked my knuckles and stalked towards them. "I said, you got it?"
"Hai!" they said in unison, turning their attention to making a cold camp.
I grinned, whipping out a storage control with all of our sleeping bags in it. "Glad you understand."
It took a few minutes for the camp to be set up so our liking. On the road we usually set up camp within two minutes – since Kushina taught us 'haste' by using cruel and unusual punishment if we went too slow – but here we were feeling a little lax since we were warded and prepared in case someone tripped the sensing traps.
We sat in a circle, munching on some onigiri I'd managed to smuggle in via storage scroll. I was getting really good at making them, because they were damn handy.
"So," I said between hungry gobbles, "Still sticking to the plan? Scout today and scroll tomorrow?"
"It is a logical and sound plan, however I ponder over the effect it might have in regards to the other genin attempting to find a scroll during the first few, crucial hours," Muta answered, releasing a small swarm of kikaichu to snack on a spare rice ball I packed just for them. The little guys needed something else to eat sometimes, and apparently they liked my onigiri which was actually pretty cool.
"We're not that far into the forest, since most of the big and nasties live towards the centre where it's denser," I replied, snatching another snack. I was hungry!
"How do you know all this? About the forest?" Tokuma asked, ever the Princess and not a grain of rice out of place.
I shrugged. "The library. And maybe overhearing some chunin talk about how the 'baby genin are going to get slaughtered in the Forest of Death.' Come to think of it, the higher-ups don't have a lot of faith in us, do they?" I deadpanned.
"It is not a lack of faith, but rather an assessment from experience," Muta replied.
"Huh. Didn't think about it like that."
"Of course you didn't," Tokuma drawled.
I growled. "Oi! Stop with the idiot jokes! What's wrong with you lately? You've been getting all pissy over everything I do and can't seem to decide whether to compliment me or insult me!"
"I have not," the Hyuga snapped. "I'm merely pointing out that you don't think ahead, Akani-san."
Wow. Statement of the century. Shame it wasn't true since all I ever did was think about the future, how shitty it was and what I could possibly do to stop it.
I thinned my lips in distaste. "Whatever. I'm gonna tag-trap the outside trunk. Scout for a scroll while I'm at it, eh Princess?" I leapt out of the tree before he could reply, my interior seal sinking past me like a film, recognising my chakra before snapping back into place.
I muttered to myself as I withdrew a handful of blank seals and quickly wrote over the top of them in sealing script. I could do these in my sleep from the amount of times Kushina-sensei made me draw them.
I think she particular liked when I screwed up because she had an excuse to hit me.
Child abuse, I say!
I slapped a seal to the trunk of the tree angrily, pushing a little too much chakra into it and the resulting shock wave was enough to blow my hair back from my face. It was ruined now, crinkled at the edges so I had to do it again. What a waste of precious paper.
"Stupid, shit, ass, jerkface, prissy Princess d-bags!" I whisper-screamed, stomping my feet on the tree bark in a hissy fit. I usually only became sarcastic and idiotic whenever I started to feel the pressure. Unfortunately that meant I was a sarcastic moron most of the time, but Tokuma and Muta knew me like they were my own siblings, and Kushina could relate since we had similar personalities due to the Uzumaki thing. So why hadn't Princess asked what's wrong? Easy, because he's being a dick.
I hated boys.
I was about to rant again when I felt something at the edge of my 'network.'
It was a chakra signature. Small, but notable and obviously trying to remain hidden if its compressed nature was anything to go by. I took a step back towards the camp, only to pause and think better. I was still pissy at Mr Prissy so he'd have to miss out on the fun I decided. Besides, one scout was easier to hide than three.
If I got into trouble, I'd just flare my chakra.
I nodded resolutely to myself and disappeared into the trees, leaping between the branches with the ease of someone only raised in Konoha. The signature was a few feet inside of my sensing barrier now, but they were fast. Very fast. The only little people I knew who could move that fast was Shisui, Itachi and perhaps Kakashi and Guy, though I'd have recognised any of their signatures in a heartbeat. This was someone entirely new.
Another genin, perhaps?
My hand crept towards my kunai pouch to prepare in case whoever it was decided to atta-
I growled viciously. Now they were trying to peel my de-genjutsu'd tag from a tree. Ass-hats!
I pumped more chakra into my legs and latched onto a tree-trunk, my echolocation flaring as I peered down the tree at the perpetrator.
I blinked and rubbed my blind eyes, not quite believing what I was 'seeing.'
"A bunny?" I whispered, completely bewildered.
The creature's ears and nose twitched until it tilted its head upwards to where I was. My mouth was wide open in shock. Was it just me, or did that cute little bunny just glare at me? And how did it know where I was?
Curiouser and curiouser.
"I'm a hare, girly," the bunny snapped.
"You can talk?!" I choked before realising something.
Not many animals could speak. Besides the Inuzuka ninken, only animals used to close proximity with humans could talk. Even less had a chakra signature which meant he was either someone's beloved companion or…
"You're a summon!" I accused, whipping out some barrier-tagged kunai and flinging them with deadly accuracy. They punctured into the ground around the animal and the barrier flared before he could escape.
Which genin in the forest had enough chakra to pull off a summoning?
Not many I knew of, so it was obviously one of the older genin I didn't know.
Satisfied he was trapped for now, I branch leapt to the floor and approached warily. I couldn't sense anyone else's presence, which meant the summon was alone but why would the hare try and take down my barrier tags? I could sense the residual echo of my chakra in the tag in his small paws. It was a young summon, and inexperienced. An older summon wouldn't have been caught so easily.
"Why were you tampering with the barrier seals?" I asked, crouching down to peer at him. The hare hissed, making me almost face plant in shock. What a weird noise to be coming from a rabbit.
"None ya business!" the bunny spat, though he was starting to shake. He was young and scared. Not of me in particular, but he was peering closely at my kunai pouch strapped to my thigh. So… he was scared of shinobi? What type of master did he have to warrant this type of reaction?
I frowned. "They're my seals, so I think it is my business, ya know? Who's your summoner?"
The hare tried to clean his face nonchalantly with his paws and he failed miserably when he jabbed himself in the eye. "My what?" he asked innocently, blinking rapidly.
I sighed, sitting down on the forest floor. "Look, I'm not gonna hurt ya. I just want to know what you were doing?"
"Isn't it obvious, girl?" he snapped indignantly. "I was looking for something to eat!"
I stared blankly at him. "You were going to eat my seal?"
"Yes!" he squeaked indignantly, twitching nervously.
I couldn't help the giggle that escaped. I placated the summon with an 'easy there' gesture when he glared at me. "I'm sorry, it's just… I've never met a summons before and after meeting you, the bars been set high since you're so damn cute!"
The creature glared harder, sitting on its hind quarters. "I'm not supposed to be cute, I'm supposed to be good," he grumped, frowning a little.
Everything about this summon was just screaming 'cuteness!' to me. Even that adorably little frown that should have looked weird but didn't was cute.
"Well, you're only young, right?" I said airily. "Can't expect to be good straight off the bat. You've gotta work hard to be good at what you wanna do. See that tag in your paws?" I asked. He nodded, twisting the useless paper a bit. "Well, I had to do about five hundred of those before my teacher deemed it 'okay.' Not good, or excellent, just 'okay.' So, I worked harder and harder until they became 'good' and 'excellent.' Now, I can do em in my sleep!" I finished proudly with a large grin.
"You're… strange, for a kunoichi," the hare mumbled.
I shrugged, still smiling. "Gotta make life interesting, ya know?"
"… right."
"So, what's your name?" I asked.
The hare blinked in shock. "What?"
"What's your name? You do have a name, right?"
"… I'm called Usagi."
I chuckled. "A hare named 'Hare.' How fitting."
"It's a strong name for a member of the Leporidae!" he growled.
I nodded sagely, even though I didn't know what 'leporidae' meant. "Of course it is," I agreed. "Well, Usagi-chan, my name's Akani, but you can call me awesome!"
"I'd prefer not."
I pouted. "Oh, poo, and we were getting along famously. Hey, are you still hungry?"
"… a little," he admitted quietly, almost like he was ashamed.
I grinned at him before unsealing a small scroll full of forest berries Muta had collected with the help of his kikaichu to check for poisons. My fingers sunk through the kunai tag-barrier, recognising my chakra with no worries to hand the summons a few wild-berries. He eyed them warily until I ate one to show it wasn't poisonous, and then he couldn't eat them fast enough. He must have been really hungry, and I had stopped him during his forage.
Woops.
He licked the juice off his paws, nodding at me hesitantly before saying an equally hesitant 'thank you.'
"No worries!" I beamed. "Want another one?" Before he could reply a voice called out my name.
"Akani-san!"
I twisted until I saw Tokuma and Muta leaping towards me, worried frowns on their faces. They're eternally familiar chakra signatures told me they were the real deal. I raised a hand in greeting. "Yo! What's up?"
Tokuma landed next to me, scowling down at me. "You have been gone for a half hour and I couldn't see you in the immediate vicinity. What were you doing?"
I gestured towards my small, impromptu barrier. "Talking to my new friend. Duh?"
Tokuma gave me a strange look. "The barrier is empty, Akani-san."
"Eh?" I whipped back around to see the barrier was indeed empty, Usagi and my barrier tag gone with him. "Aw, damnit! I was gonna give him more berries!"
"There is something written in the dirt," Muta said from a tree branch above.
"What does it say?" I asked, deactivating the barrier.
"It says 'Thank you, I'm sorry.'"
I blinked, scratching my head. "Huh. He was a polite bunny."
"You were talking to a bunny?" Tokuma said dryly.
"Yeah, he was a summon of one of the older genin."
"What?" Tokuma hissed. "The summon now knows where we are and will report back to its master! We have to move camp! Kami, Akani-san, you can be so dense!"
"Oi! I didn't give anything away except my name which everyone knows since Obito screamed it out during the run here!" I cried. "And don't call Usagi-chan an 'it'!"
"A rabbit named Hare?" Tokuma asked incredulously.
"No, he was a hare named Hare," I replied. "But that's not the point! Usagi-chan is a 'he' not an 'it!'"
"Stop fretting over the stupid bunny!" Tokuma snapped.
"Hare," I corrected.
"Whatever! Just fix the damn barrier and get back to camp! I've located a scroll with my Byakugan." With that Tokuma sped off, leaving Muta and I behind.
I sighed as I snatched my barrier kunai from the ground and placed them back in my pouch, jumping up beside Muta who had been kind enough to wait for me. We pushed off from the branch, heading back towards camp but not before I replaced the tag Usagi had taken. How weird that he took it. Not that it would be much use besides a snack, I mused. He must have been really, really hungry, even after the berries.
"Princess really needs to loosen up," I sighed, sounding put out.
"He does not have the easiest of times doing so," Muta agreed in his Aburame-ish way, "But his clan is also not one to look kindly upon failure."
I pursed my lips as I recalled details of the Hyuga from what Tokuma had told us and what Tia vaguely remembered. Tokuma was branch house, which meant he was branded with the Caged Bird Seal. It was a nasty piece of work and I'd only seen it a few times but even I knew it would have been incredibly painful to even be applied. Tokuma was stronger than the main branch of his clan gave him credit for. "Tokuma isn't a failure. If he doesn't become a chunin, it just means that he had more time to become a great shinobi like he wants."
"Quite," Muta agreed, his lips quirking a little.
I shot the bug user a lopsided smile, playfully bumping his shoulder with my own. "Come on. Let's not keep Princess waiting."
I sped off laughing and Muta followed.
"So, that's the literal plan?" I whispered. "Just 'walk over and grab it'? That's so stupid it's brilliant!" I gave my two teammates who were hiding in the shrubbery with me a bright grin, especially Muta who'd come up with the idea.
We were about an hour away from our camp on the outskirts of a small grassy clearing further in the forest. In the hollow of a dead tree lay our goal; a sister scroll to the one Muta had in his pocket.
"Glad you approve," Tokuma responded acidly, dojutsu activated. "I can't see any traps or anyone in the immediate vicinity, but there's a group heading this way that are about ten minutes out. Plenty of time for Akani-san to grab the scroll, replace it with a fake and for us to disappear."
I nodded. "Right. Wait, why do I have to be the one to grab the scroll?"
"Because you are a walking storage facility," Tokuma hissed. "Just replace the scroll we need with a fake and get out of there. I want out of this stupid forest."
"Alright, alright. Sheesh, keep your panties on," I mumbled, tightening the strap holding my scroll on my back. I darted from the foliage before he could Gentle Fist strike a painful spot and sped towards the scroll. I didn't trip over any wires, or step on any exploding tags. I grinned to myself.
Must have been a scroll we got to first. Awesome!
I found out it wasn't as easy as it seemed when I went to grab the scroll and set off a pressure trap. My eyes widened when the seemingly dead tree erupted in a bright blue seal and transformed into a miniature army of marionette shinobi.
I squealed in fright as I back flipped to avoid a kunai to the face. I stumbled a little at the landing and glanced behind me to the shrubbery where my teammates were.
"A little help would be nice!" I snapped, ducking as a swarm of kikaichu clouded the nearest marionette to lock up its joints, Tokuma finishing it off with a beautiful flying kick.
We quickly got into a triangle formation, our backs to each other and stances defensive. I'd already flipped my scroll around so it was facing outwards at the ready. We were surrounded quickly and the clicks and creaks the puppets emitted made me shudder.
"Ugh, it's like when Shouta-sensei scratched his nails down the chalkboard," I murmured. Tokuma and Muta nodded in silent agreement.
"So, new plan?" I said brightly, trying to lighten the mood.
It didn't work. It just pissed my Hyuga teammate off even more. "The new plan is to defeat the puppets and keep the scroll for ourselves, obviously!"
"Oh… heh, duh Akani," I muttered sheepishly just as the puppets attacked. Adrenalin surged as I unwrapped my scroll and pumped my chakra into it, unsealing a barrage of explosive kunai to punch into a few wooden chests. They hissed and detonated, a shower of chips sprinkling the area.
We had to finish this fight quickly and disappear. The noise would have no doubt attracted some unwanted attention and most of my sealed arsenal was of the… explosive nature.
I briefly thought about the special scroll I carried next to my heart but thought against unsealing what was in it. No use using my actual trump on something so frivolous as a bunch of stupid dolls.
My scroll twirled back into itself and I deftly twirled it until rested it at the base of my spine out of pure habit before sweeping my leg out to trip a marionette. I heard a loud creak as its maw opened, followed by the telltale click of a spring trap activating. A spray of senbon shot out faster than I could dodge and a few punched into my shoulder.
"Ah, crap!" I cried. That stung like a bitch. Thankfully they weren't poisoned. "Muta! Princess! They shoot senbon from their freaking mouths!"
I heard a ting ting ting of metal against metal as Tokuma replied, sounding exasperated and angry at the same time as he deflected the needles. "We know that!"
"Well sor-ry!" I snapped, wincing as I plucked the metal from my skin. They didn't go deep, but now my arm was all tingly and throbbing. Not to mention my shirt was ruined now too. I withdrew an ordinary kunai, spinning it by the ring around my finger before holding it in a reverse grip to deflect a tanto, my arm shuddering from the impact but I held strong.
Against a freaking tanto!
Kakashi seriously wasn't kidding when he said this test was tough, but a freaking sword? I didn't want to die! I furiously kicked the puppet away from me as it was sneaking towards the pocket I placed the exam scroll in, sending it crashing into a handful of others. I clenched my kunai between my teeth and ran through a string of hand seals, slapping my palms to the ground.
"Earth Style; Earthquake Slam!"
My chakra flowed into the soil and the ground roiled before fissuring and cracking, stones lifting and sending the puppets in front of me off balance before falling into the still shifting earth to be crushed to mulch. Because of how intense my chakra was I kinda forgot that a majority of the ninjutsu I used were doubled, sometimes tripled or quadrupled in power.
I quickly remembered when the trees surrounding the clearing groaned ominously and began to tip at a dangerous angle.
My triumphant grin faltered before slipping all together. Behind me, Tokuma and Muta finished off the last of the puppets and whipped around when the first tree fell. I spun on my heel and shot forward to tug them out of the danger zone.
"Oh dear, what a mess! Time to go!" I said with a cheerful, false smile and even falser laugh.
My teammates twitched, but otherwise didn't say anything as we deftly avoided being crushed to death by the forest.
I tilted my head in thought. Huh. Now the name of the training ground made sense.
The clearing was unrecognisable by the time we were safe, a dozen trees having fallen and birds shooting out into the sky with indignant squawks. I felt the barely concealed rage from my Hyuga teammate. Even Muta was frustrated, but it was quickly fading as he realised we had the scroll.
I scratched the back of my head, facing my homicidal teammate. "Heh… woops?"
"Do you… have any idea what you just did?" Tokuma asked calmly, and that terrified me. I must have really screwed up.
"Um… Hey! Look what I have!" I tried to distract him by waving the sister scroll in front of his twitching face. "Look at that nice scroll! Wow! Thank you, Akani-chan! Oh, no need to thank me, Princess! All in a days work! We good to go? Yes? Awesome! Let's go!" I tried to escape but Tokuma snatched the back of my shirt, my collar almost choking me.
"Gack! What the hell, Princess!"
"You almost killed us!" he snarled. "On top of that, you made such a racket that the whole forest knows where we are! Do you even think before you act?" I opened my mouth to reply when he cut me off. "Of course you don't! You've always been brash and impulsive! You simply don't care about anyone but yourself!"
My face burned with anger. "What did you just say?" I hissed venomously, getting in his face.
"You heard me," he replied, equally pissed. "You disregarded the safety of your teammates with that earth jutsu! Have you even used it before today?"
"Yes!" I cried, almost ripping my hair out in frustration. "I've been working on that damn jutsu for the past month! I'll admit that it's the first time I managed to get it to work so well, and I'm sorry if I put you guys in danger but I just…"
"You what, Akani?" Tokuma spat. "Didn't think that by tearing up the earth the trees wouldn't be uprooted and fall, almost crushing us?"
"I trusted that you two would be fine, and you are!" I snapped, looking between Muta and Tokuma before focusing on the former. "What about you, Muta? Did you think that using a jutsu that effectively eliminated over half the freaking puppets was a stupid idea?"
Muta adjusted his glasses uncomfortably. "The jutsu was extremely effective in destroying the marionettes."
"Thank you!" I cried.
"However…" He paused, seeming to think about what he was going to say. "However, despite your incredible spatial awareness, you did not factor in the danger to your teammates."
I stared at the two of my teammates blankly for long moments before digging into my pockets for the scroll. I shoved it into Tokuma's hands before turning my back to them. "I'm going to look for some more water." I needed to be alone to fume or else I'd hit something that resembled someone's face.
I was about to push off when a hand clamped down on my bad shoulder. Hard. I couldn't help but cry out from the lance of pain. Tokuma quickly withdrew his hand, frowning a little at my whimpering form and the blood coating his fingers.
"You're hurt," he accused, as if it were my fault.
"That tends to happen when you get senbon spat at you by crazy possessed bits of termite lunch," I responded dryly.
Tokuma sighed, turning towards Muta. "Muta-san, go look for some more water while I patch the idiot up."
Muta nodded and took off, both of them ignoring my offended 'Oi!'
I whirled on Tokuma. "I could have done that myself," I snarled.
"You're injured, moron," he said, none too harshly. "In a forest where predators are attracted to the scent of blood. You need to be patched up."
I blinked, feeling incredibly stupid. I hadn't thought about that. "Oh."
The Hyuga gently pried the giant scroll from my back. My teammates and sensei were the only ones I'd trust to do that. Anyone else would find themselves sans eyebrows from an 'accidental' wayward explosive tag.
He unsealed a first aid kit and forced me to sit down on the tree branch. I obeyed, but only just. I sat a few inches from where he told me to sit.
Rebellious.
"I have to cut the arm of your shirt off," he muttered, all business though I could imagine he was a little pink around the cheeks. Whenever I got hurt on missions it was always Kushina-sensei to patch me up if it was somewhere… not suitable for a boy to look even though I was flatter than a board.
I nodded stiffly and a snip snip later my arm was free, blood trickling slowly from the senbon wounds. My teammates had long since seen my scars – seriously, it was difficult to hide them when you're always getting into trouble as a team on a week long mission – but the air on my exposed skin made me feel a little uncomfortable.
Tokuma cleaned and dressed the wound quickly, which I was thankful for. We were both awkwardly silent through the whole thing, though he could tell I was itching to break the silence.
He sighed, tying the bandage tightly near my collarbone.
I looked like swiss cheese beneath it.
Goody.
"I'm sorry," I blurted before he could say anything. I fixed my attention to the scroll now resting in my lap, fiddling with the edge of the paper. "I just… I'm sorry."
Tokuma sighed again, shaking his head a little. "It's fine. We're safe, though it was a close call. And we have the scroll. All we have to do is get to the tower in the centre and we'll pass."
I grunted and we fell into companionable silence this time. It was good to know that even though I frustrated my teammates to no end they'd forgive me for being an idiot. Speaking of teammates…
"Hey, how long has Muta-kun be gone for?" I asked, worry creeping into my voice.
Tokuma stiffened, dojutsu activating instinctively. "Too long."
I bit my bottom lip. Muta could have just had a little trouble finding a stream, but even so he should have been back a while ago. "You don't think he ran into another team do you? Maybe the one you saw heading this way?"
Tokuma frowned, clasping his hands to focus his chakra more clearly as he scanned his surroundings. After a moment his entire chakra shuddered dangerously before freezing in shock.
"What?" I demanded. "Is everything okay?"
"I… the genin team that were supposed to meet up with us at the scroll," he choked out. "T-they're… dead."
I blanched. "What?" I whispered. "They're dead?" He nodded. "But… this is just an exam! I didn't think anyone would want to kill a fellow Leaf shinobi!" It didn't make sense to me.
Even if another set of genin were serious, I highly doubted they'd be willing to kill a fellow comrade. Something didn't add up. "We have to find Muta."
Tokuma nodded. "Agreed. I'll scan for him n-" He was cut off by a loud buzzing sound, approaching quickly.
I focused on the small flickering mass of blue I recognised as Muta's chakra, though significantly smaller. It was one of his kikaichu and it was buzzing in distress. I held out my finger for it to land on and it began to pace, agitated. I held it up to my face.
"Can you lead us to Muta-kun?"
It buzzed angrily before flicking its wings into flight and taking off at a fast clip. I shared a worried glance with Tokuma and we both sped off to chase the small beetle. It was a minor miracle that it hadn't been eaten on the way to find us. Our worry propelled us forward, bark crunching beneath our feet as we pushed off to find out teammate.
The kikaichu lead us further inside the forest and past a small stream where I caught the scent of blood. Muta's blood.
Tokuma's lips thinned as he sidestepped the puddle of red, making sure I didn't step in it. It wasn't enough to kill the Aburame, but it was enough to make us panic about whether he was bleeding out or heavily injured and unconscious.
The kikaichu hovered over the puddle, its buzz becoming slow and almost sounding like it was mourning. That didn't bode well. I focused my chakra and flared it, searching for my friend. I didn't have to look far, since he was approaching Tokuma and I at a fast pace though he was unconscious.
Someone was carrying him.
Tokuma, still with his Byakugan activated, faced the other side of the stream at the same time I did. We didn't have to wait for long as a trio of unknowns appeared on the muddy bank, an unconscious Muta slung over one man's shoulder.
I heard Tokuma inhale a sharp breath and withdraw a kunai. "Iwa," he hissed. "How did they get inside Leaf territory?"
The man holding Muta ignored Tokuma completely, instead focusing his gaze on me. His aura was chilling and made my knees want to knock together but I bit my tongue to focus myself. "Are you Akani?"
I straightened ever so slightly. "Who wants to know?"
"My name is Hayase of the Hammer Fist. Remember the name of your executioner, child," the man snarled. "Three years ago you singlehandedly defeated a group of chunin. Two of them were my brothers."
I paled, swaying a little. How the hell did Iwa get wind of that? I'd sealed them, yes, but as far as I knew they pretty much 'disappeared.'
And Iwa wouldn't acknowledge the group that had infiltrated Konoha to save international face and gain sympathy from the big, bad Leafies trying to accuse them of doing something mean.
But that still didn't answer how they knew my name, and how they knew that I was the one to seal them. It seemed Konoha had a very well informed spy. I could feel Tokuma glancing at me in confusion from the corner of his eye, but I ignored him, too lost in thought.
The Iwa shinobi tutted. "All I want to know is if you're the brat called Akani. Just a name, that's all."
"And if I say it isn't?" I asked. "Would you let us go?"
"Probably not," the man shrugged casually. "It seems my former village has a beef with the Leaf, and as much as I hate the place I suppose I could do them this one favour by killing a few potential threats like, say, a fuinjutsu prodigy?"
I blinked. Did he just say 'former village?' So… he was a missing nin?
So boned. I'm so boned.
I slipped out of my defensive stance, taking a step towards the enemy nin. The other two hadn't spoken yet, but I still kept an eye on them. Maybe they were mute? "If I say I'm Akani, would you release the Aburame?"
The man shrugged once again and bodily tossed my teammate across the stream towards Tokuma who caught him awkwardly. Before I could blink the man was in front of me, his elbow lodged in my stomach. I doubled over, mouth open wide as I coughed out blood. Before I could find my breath I was lifted off the ground by a massive hand squeezing my throat. Tokuma had his hands full with our injured teammate, so all he do was watch helplessly and keep an eye on the other two unknowns.
Pain bloomed and my eyes watered as my legs kicked nothing but air, my fingers uselessly scratching at the arm holding me. My lungs were beginning to burn from the lack of oxygen, but all I could do was laugh reedily.
"Shut up," the missing nin hissed. "I'm going to kill you nice and slow, like how you killed my brothers."
"I… I d-didn't," I wheezed. The man loosened his grip by a fraction and breathing became a little easier. "I haven't k-killed… anyone."
"Liar!" the man roared. "You're the one who sealed them! You're the only fuinjutsu student capable of doing such a thing! Don't insult me by lying! Own the blood on your hands like a true shinobi!"
I was squeaking out breaths by now, tears flowing freely because I couldn't breathe and I was going to die and Kami, I can't breathe!
But somehow, everything felt detached as I let out an amused, strangled chuckle. "You… forgot o-one th-thing," I wheezed.
"Oh?" the man hissed venomously. He jerked me closer until we were almost nose to nose. "And what is that?"
"Never touch a sealer," I hissed before gripping his arms and activating one of the seals I could actually do without hand seals. It was an explosive one. The seal lit up blue and hissed into his skin, making the man howl in pain and drop me.
I collapsed onto the forest floor, my head swimming as I gulped in oxygen just as the explosive seals detonated on the man. I didn't expect it to do much other than buy time since the man was obviously of a higher calibre than any of Team Two. He managed to override most of the side, but he's have some lovely third degree burns for his efforts.
"Tatsu, Oshi, Tori!" I intoned brokenly, fingers twisting into the appropriate hand seals and shooting my fingers skywards. The emergency flare shot into the sky and exploded.
I almost sagged with relief until I realized that there were still three enemy nin vying for my blood.
Tokuma had leapt out of the way with Muta sometime during the ordeal, caught between defending Muta or trying to help me. I shot him a small smile that was more like a grimace. This was like that time with Rin all over again, though this time the Iwa nin actually wanted to kill me.
Fun.
"Go get help," I told my teammate. "I'll be fine." Though I certainly didn't feel it. Some part of me was silently begging that he'd stay, that he wouldn't listen to me and stubbornly stay but he had to go find help. His Byakugan was the quickest way to do that. I got frustrated as his hesitation, as well as mine. "Just go!"
He waited a long moment before nodding and picking up Muta. "Be back soon."
I nodded. "I'll be seeing you."
What a morbid joke, especially for one who's blind.
Gallows humour, I suppose.
Tokuma left and I was left alone. I tamped down hard on the near overwhelming sense of panic threatening to rise inside of me. "You just want me, right? No one else? You'll let my teammates go?"
Hayase cracked his neck, grinning. "Of course. This won't take long. This is for my brothers."
I unravelled my scroll and twisted it around me to form a barrier just as the ex-Iwa nin coated his fists in earth and came at me with deadly intent.
My paper barrier was strong when infused with chakra, but Hayase was a powerhouse. The blow caused a mini shockwave that pushed me and my little paper ball barrier backwards into the base of a tree. I was rattled around inside like a ragdoll. My concentration almost slipped but I managed to focus once more to coat my barrier in another layer of paper, making sure to face a number of surprise storage seals outwards.
I was way out of my depth.
All I could do was make sure I stayed alive long enough for my teammates to get somewhere safe and perhaps get help.
Another earth shattering punch almost cracked my barrier and I hastily repaired it, unleashing a torrent of sealed senbon to where I could sense Hayase. It did absolutely nothing, and now he knew my barrier had a few hidden tricks.
"Fuck."
Tokuma grit his teeth as he hefted his teammate further onto his shoulders, leaping from tree branch to tree branch with his Byakugan activated. He could see Akani facing off against the Iwa nin, Hayase of the Hammer Fist at the edge of his vision. Although she could be an idiot sometimes she was smart and would last until he found help.
She'd be okay.
At least, he hoped so.
His jaw popped from the pressure of clenching it so hard. Over two years together and saving one another's butts had given him a healthy respect for the blind Uzumaki. Each time he thought she had reached her pinnacle she shattered it. She was incredible, and that's why he had to faith that she'd be okay.
She slipped out of view, but not before he saw her activate her paper ball barrier and he felt himself relax a little. Not much could get through that stupid paper when she decided to be serious.
Movement up ahead made him tense back up again until he heard the exclamation of 'youth.' He violently suppressed a shudder. How Akani was friends with a kid like Guy would forever remain a mystery. Uncaring of the potential clash between Guy's team and their opponents he leapt in between them, realising he was out of breath and weak from the hasty retreat.
His knees wobbled and he fell onto one knee, gently manoeuvring Muta so he would tumble harmlessly to the forest floor. He heard a feminine gasp and looked up to find Rin rushing over to him. So, he'd interrupted a fight between Guy's team and Kakashi's?
"What happened?" Rin demanded, chakra flickering green as she began to run a diagnostic on Muta and heal his stab wounds that looks worse than what they were.
"Muta went to get some water when Akani-san and I realised he was gone too long. He was attacked." He looked Kakashi – the only chunin available and one of the recognised evaluators. "Some missing Iwa nin killed a group of genin and attacked Muta. They're after Akani." He noticed Rin stiffen from the corner of his eyes. He faced her. "You know something."
She continued to heal Muta. "I don't know what you mean."
"Don't lie! What do you know?" he snarled, fingers alight with piercing chakra. He was a bit past boiling point by this stage.
"Don't talk to Rin-chan like that!" Obito snapped, stomping towards him.
"If Rin knows why the Iwa nin were after Akani-san, my teammate and your friend, then I want to know why! He said something about her defeating a number of Iwa chunin three years ago. What. Do. You. Know?"
Rin glanced between his serious face and the curious onlookers. She sighed. "Hokage-sama told me not to say anything, but…" She bit her lip. "You know how she's from that clan?" The ones in the know nodded. "Well… I was with her trying to teach her better chakra control and medical jutsu when we were attacked by four Iwa nin. She told me to leave and find help. I did, but when we arrived, Akani-chan… she… It was incredible. She was incredible. Before the ANBU could attack she whipped out a scroll and proceeded to seal all four chunin in a single scroll."
"Impossible," Guy's teammate Ebisu stated, awestruck as his other teammate Genma seemed to inhale his senbon toothpick.
"I know what I saw!" Rin snapped, finishing her healing of Muta.
"Where is Akani-chan now?" Guy asked, expression deadly.
"Three kilometres that way," Tokuma replied calmly pointing towards the stream.
Guy nodded before taking off, blending into the tree line in an instant. Obito made a move to follow before Kakashi stopped him.
"Get out of the way, Hatake," the Uchiha spat. "I'm going to help."
"No. You're going to go alert the ANBU to the presence of Iwa infiltrators. I'm going to intercept the enemy."
"But-"
"I'm the only chunin here," Kakashi said frostily, making Tokuma narrow his eyes. That sounded dangerously close to worry in his opinion. "In saying that, I'm in charge. Follow your orders, genin. I'll go after Guy."
Obito twitched before shoving past the silver haired boy. "Fine," he hissed. "But if Akani-chan dies, I'm blaming you."
Kakashi ignored him and they went their separate ways, leaving behind two very confused genin and a frowning Rin.
Tokuma couldn't hold onto his strength anymore and fell onto his back. He wasn't a stamina freak like Kushina-sensei or Akani, and he didn't have any kikaichu to regulate his bodily functions like Muta. Rin snapped out of her daze and rushed to his side, smiling a little sheepishly.
"Sorry. It's all pretty sudden. One moment we were about to fight over a scroll and the next we're on high alert for enemy nin." She shook her head, brown hair swinging about her shoulders. "And all I can think about is if Kakashi-kun will be okay."
Tokuma frowned. "And Akani-san."
Rin nodded, smiling somewhat sadly in a way that confused the Hyuga. "Yeah. Akani-chan too. Kakashi-kun's going to save her. I don't doubt that."
The tone in her voice made him watch her curiously from the corner of his eye as she healed his fatigue.
Rin sounded defeated.
… now, why was that?
"Shit," I hissed. "Shit, shit, shit!"
I'd run out of kunai from my storage seal. Quite a feat since I packed that thing with what must have been half the weapons shop. I couldn't use any earth jutsu since they were Iwa shinobi and that was their specialty. They'd probably just slap a boulder away and say 'oh, what an annoying fly' or some shit.
Water was also out since, though it came easier than earth, I didn't have much control over the direction of my jutsu. My drilling vortex was strong, but it would leave me exhausted, ergo defenceless. Water bullets also out since I was too panicky to concentrate on holding the water to my fingertips.
That left my trumps trump.
I hastily withdrew the scroll from inside my shirt and unravelled it, unsealing a pair of elbow length metal clawed gauntlets.
I quickly donned the weapons Io made for me. These were actually version umber seven since the prior six were bloody impossible to use or wield easily. The short weapons inventor had begrudgingly listened to my design ideas and went with it and I was happy to say that I loved the things to bits. Took a bit of trial and error to get used to them, but I got there in the end with Kushina's help.
I clenched my metal coated fists and tightened the leather straps just as another of Hayase's punches met my barrier and I was pushed further into the tree's root system. I was being bounced around like a freaking pinball.
"Enough of this!" Hayase roared, his voice sounding slightly muffled through my barrier. "Face your fate like an honourable shinobi, brat!"
I took a deep breath to steady myself and withdrew my chakra from my barrier, causing the paper to rewrap itself into its scroll form. The area in front of me looked like a pincushion. I didn't realise I had that many kunai and senbon.
Hayase grinned viciously, eying my new weapons. "All out of pointy things so you have to don the kiddy gloves?" he taunted, leaking almost suffocating killing intent.
The metal of my gloves rattled from how hard I was shaking but I clenched my fists until the tips of the claws met my skin. The sting snapped me out of it, but only just.
"I didn't kill your brothers," I told him, which was apparently the wrong thing to say.
Hayase's chakra churned and frothed with pure rage and I was absolutely terrified because it was all directed at me.
"Little bitch," he hissed. "They're dead! I know they are!"
"They're not!" I countered, voice rising from panic. "I didn't kill them! I only sealed them!"
"I received their severed heads!" Hayase roared, darting forward at a speed that was almost impossible for me to comprehend. I whipped my hands up and created a chakra shield that met his earth hardened fist with a deafening crack. I cried out in pain as I went soaring backwards. I think he shattered some of the weaker metal joints and they stabbed into my arms, but my arms were on fire so I couldn't be too sure. My back met the dirty ground with a thud, my breath leaving me and once again the Iwa nin took the opportunity to get inside my already flimsy guard. I was a genin, and no matter how good I thought I was, it was clear Hayase was stronger, faster… just better.
I rolled out of the way of a downwards kick that sprayed me with dirt. I scrabbled to my feet and moved into a defensive position.
Hayase chuckled darkly. "So, you're finally going to fight eh? Makes things more fun."
"Hayase-sama," one of the other two of his entourage spoke up hesitantly. "We really should be going soon. The Leaf ANBU will be here any min-"
"Shut up!" Hayase snarled. "Or I'll put you down like that stupid talking rodent."
That caught my attention. I'd only met one talking 'rodent.' I thought Usagi was another genin's summons. Could I have been wrong?
"Usagi-chan? What did you do to Usagi-chan?" I demanded.
"My stupid summon didn't want me to find you. Said you were a nice kid or some shit," Hayase drawled. "So he's not going to be hopping for a while."
I was disgusted. "You're a monster."
And that really terrified me. I wasn't naïve as to pretend the world was all rainbows and butterflies, where everyone ate cake and sang while holding hands. This was a nitty-gritty place where sometimes you had to be cruel to be kind, but I couldn't understand the unnecessary cruelty that Hayase seemed to revel in.
"I am," Hayase admitted proudly. "And you're going to find out why you shouldn't go to sleep without checking under your bed first, little girl."
He attacked again, but this time I was expecting it. I managed to use my small size to my advantage and duck a leg to plant my hands onto the ground, an explosive seal spreading underneath him. I somersaulted out of the blast zone and clapped my hands together, activating the tag. The explosion pushed me forward a bit but I managed to hop to my feet.
Hayase had managed to jump out of the way in time. Damn.
He unleashed a barrage of kunai and I unlatched a small clip at the base of my elbow gauntlets. I swung my hands towards an overhanging tree branch and chains whipped out to stab into the wood. A slight tug caused the chain to retract and pull me upwards.
I'd never done that before, and couldn't help the sigh of relief as I landed safely.
"Oh, so more than just kiddy gloves, ne?" Hayase sneered.
I grinned cheekily, making small sparks between my metal claws. "I'm full of surprises."
What a lie.
I was all out of ideas and talking out of my ass.
Where the fudge was the backup!
I leapt away from another spray of kunai that missed by bare inches. Unfortunately the Iwa nin met me halfway and kicked me down to the earth. I landed harshly, knees buckling to brace myself. I grit my teeth. I had to show that I could at least land a hit on someone like Hayase. He was getting overconfident and that meant that he was underestimating me, though he made sure to stay out of range of my hands.
I didn't want to tell him that I could only do a handful of sealess explosive tags in a row. Molding the chakra like that made my arms ache and palms burn.
The ex-Iwa nin descended with his fist outstretched to punch the ground next to me, only I moved in a way he wasn't expecting and that cost him a a split second of composure. I didn't go left, right or down. I went up, and met him halfway with a chakra metal enhanced punch to the jaw. I made sure to swipe the sharpened finger points across his face to nick his cheek with three deep scratches.
"Ha!" I crowed as Hayase retreated to the side of the kunai-littered stream. I gave him the middle finger which coincidentally also had a large bead of blood sliding down the sharpened tip. "What about kiddy gloves now?"
Hayase grinned and I was frozen stiff because it was one full of cunning. With a start I realised I couldn't see his other two teammates until they appeared on either side of me, pinning me down to the ground by the arms.
I flailed but got a fist to the gut for my troubles. I couldn't do anything other than wince over my already bruised and battered body. Hayase stalked closer, his grin turning into a full blown 'I'm-effing-crazy-and-should-be-locked-up' smile. He glanced towards his two companions. "Take her glasses off. I want her to see the face of the man who avenged his family."
I tried to bit one hand that came too close, though I knew it was futile. Whoever the guys holding me were, they were strong and smart enough to keep away from my gauntlets and outstretched palms. My glasses were removed, showing my milky eyes to the enemy.
Hayase blanched in anger. "You… you're blind."
I rolled my sightless eyes, feeling cold on the inside. "Wonderful observation. I hadn't noticed."
"You're blind," he snarled. "You never even saw the faces of the men you killed! You insult the memory of my brothers! I'll rip you to shreds!"
Then, to my horror he withdrew a twelve inch short blade. I'd never even noticed it until he withdrew it with a sharp, metallic shing. The blade sped down towards my exposed form but before he could connect, the amazingly beautiful cry of 'Dynamic Entry!'
Hayase was booted in the face, but it didn't stop the blade. It just redirected it.
Metal slid into me and pain exploded everywhere as I felt myself go numb with shock. All I could think as the world around me slipped into darkness amongst pockmarks of blue was Kushina-sensei is going to kill me.
Just before I went under I saw Kakashi engage the enemy with Guy as backup and for a moment I could have sworn he went into a panicked rage when he saw me skewered on the ground.
But that was all in my head.
I succumbed to the pain and blacked out.
Woooooooow, longest chappy EVER. Sorry to leave it at a cliffy, but I couldn't resist because I'm a sadist :P
Reviews please! I love reading your thoughts on the story.
How did you like the fight scenes? I'll admit that I really suck at writing them, but I hope I did okay. Not quite what you were expecting? But, on the bright side, GUY AND KAKASHI TO SAVE THE DAY!
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! :D
FUN FACTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND OTHER USELESS JUNK:
I have freckles and when I'm bored I join them together with a pen to make pictures. My daughter loves joining in too haha
I can make a killer lemon meringue pie (as in it's yummy, not poisonous, though my first few attempts were pretty close...)
Vanilla flavoured milkshakes confuse me and they don't bring all the boys to my yard :(
The eyes are a self cleaning organ.
The strongest muscle in your body - in comparison to size - is your tongue.
Your skin is your largest organ.
Fingernails grow quicker than toenails.
Our fingers go wrinkly in water to provide better grip on underwater and slippery surfaces, as well as tell ya when to get out of the freaking bath :P