Chapter 25: When bad goes to worse

A/N: Hello my loyal readers! Here's a really long chapter for you. Sorry it took so long to write, but the length of it should make it up. This is where all of the action takes place. It may not be very good, but at least it's something.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Final Fantasy 7. I do own Mikomi, Yuri, and Usagi while Bakuto Masaki owns Bakuto, Myou and Taimat.

Enjoy!

"Talking"

"Thinking"

"Usagi Talking"

Taimat Talking"

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The first exam was over and done with. Naruto managed to pass with flying colors (even though he didn't fill out the exam).

Now everyone was starting the second stage and had to endured five days in the Forest of Death. Mikomi shuddered as she thought of that dreadful place. That was where the overly huge spiders were and she hated spiders. She didn't know how her brother would pass this stage without flipping out, or staying alive for that matter.

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Since she didn't have any missions to do, she thought it would be the perfect time to catch a few Z's before worrying about what to make for dinner.

It was nice out, so she decided to sunbath out on the roof. This one of her favorite pass times. She could get some sleep and get an awesome tan at the same time.

Putting on her sunglasses, she lay back down and let the sun cook her.

"'sigh', this is the life. No missions. No annoying brothers. Just me and my peace and quiet. Nothing can ruin this now"

"Captain!"

"Or it can"

Sitting up, she saw Myou running towards her house.

"Captain! Captain!"

Rolling her eyes, she got up and jumped down in front of her lieutenant.

"What is it Myou?"

Myou was in frenzy as she tried to catch her breath.

"Oh Captain. It's horrible, simply horrible"

"What is it?"

"A few of our members were patrolling around the Forest of Death and they found something"

Yuri came out to see what was going on.

"Oh hi, Myou. What brings you here?"

"We have a problem! Our team found three dead bodies near the second stage of the exams!"

"Dead bodies?"

"Already?"

"Yes, and very weird. Come see for yourself"

They followed the distressed Hyuga towards the crime scene of the day. Mikomi mentally sighed at the concept of her one day off being ruined.

"Damn you exams"

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They weren't the only ones who were notified by the disturbing news. Anko and a few other Jonin were surrounded by the bodies.

Mikomi waved at Anko.

"Hey Anko. I didn't know you were called here"

"As proctor of the second exam, I have to know what's going on here"

Yuri turned the Jonin that was inspecting the bodies.

"What do we have?"

"Judging from their belongings and papers we found, they were ninja from the village hidden in the grass and were registered to take part in the exams"

Yuri bent down and turned one of the heads for inspection. Her face paled at what she saw.

"As you can see… their features are completely gone…the faces as smooth as thought they were melted away"

Myou freaked out.

"It's like this every time the exams are around! Someone dies a strange death and it just means trouble! What are we going to do?!"

She continued to freak out and left her captain to the inspection. Mikomi and Anko crouched down next to Yuri.

"This was done by no ordinary ninja" Mikomi analyzed.

Yuri nodded.

"I know only one person who could pull this off"

Anko paled dramatically.

"Do you mean he's here?"
"Yep"

Anko jumped to her feet and started barking out orders.

"Report this to the Hokage at once!"

Mikomi rounded on Myou.

"Report this to our squad and order them to search the forest. We have an S-Rank criminal running around in the exam and he needs to be caught"

Myou nodded and disappeared.

Yuri grounded her teeth.

"Orochimaru, what are you up to?"
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The front door banged open as Mikomi barged in. Cid woke up from his nap and fell off the couch.

"Who the hell is making all that racket?"

She just ignored him and started pulling things out of the weapons closet.

Yuri ran in and locked the door.

"Where's Barret?"

"He's upstairs" Cid said as he got back on the couch.

"BARRET!" Yuri shouted at the top of her lings.

Cid had to cover his ears.

"Damn it Yuri! You almost blew my eardrums out!"

"No time for complaining. We have a serious problem on our hands"

Barret came downstairs within seconds.

"What's up?"

"Keep Denzel and Marlene inside at all times until I say so"

"What for?"

"We have a killer on the loose and we don't know where he's at"

Mikomi strapped her sword to her waist.

"I'm going to check in the forest of death. If Orochimaru is disguised as a candidate for the exam then our best bet is that he's participating in the second exam"

She didn't want to say that she wanted to check up on Naruto as well.

Yuri stopped her before she could step outside.

"You're not going alone. That place is dangerous even without Orochimaru in the picture"

"What do you want me to do? My platoon is already searching around the forest. I can't find any replacements on such short notice"

"Then ask your friends or something. I don't want you to go alone"

Mikomi sighed with annoyance.

"Who am I suppose to call on such short notice?"

"Why not Bakuto? I'm sure he's dying for some action since he hasn't done anything"

She wasn't really fond of Usagi's pick. Bakuto was the last person she would ask for help. Then again, she really didn't have any options to pick from.

"You owe me big time for this, Usagi"

"OY! BAKUTO!"

Bakuto poked his head out of his room. His annoyed look was plastered on his face as he looked at his eternal rival.

"What do you want now you stupid fox?"

"Grab your weapons. A criminal snuck into the exams and we have to catch him"
"And how does this involve me?"

"I need backup and I figured you would want to make yourself useful for once"

A tick mark appeared on his forehead.

"After hearing that comment, I refuse to help you with anything"

He shut his door and locked it.

Mikomi sighed. She wasn't about to give up just yet.

"Time for Plan B"

Walking up to his door, she did the only thing that would make Bakuto cave in.

"YUGITO!"

Yugito ran out of her room to see what her friend wanted.

"What is it Mikomi?"

Mikomi could hear Bakuto moving around in his room. She mentally smirked and acted out her part.

"Oh it's horrible, Yugito. There's a criminal interfering with the exams and needs to be stopped. I was going to go and stop him but I don't think I can do it on my own. It's too dangerous to go into the forest of death by myself and I want to see if Naruto is ok"

She put on her fake water works to further her plan.

"Nobody will help me track down this crazy nut job! Naruto could be dead because nobody will help me! What am I going to do? I could lose my brother because I wasn't able to do anything!"

She started to 'cry' in front of Yugito. The Cloud ninja must have fell for it because she tried comforting her.

"There, there. It's going to be ok, Mikomi"

"No it's not. I need to find this nut job but no one will help me!"

"Don't be silly. I'll help you"

She looked at her with fake tears still in her eyes.

"Really?"

"Absolutely. You've become a dear friend of mine and have done so much for Bakuto and I"

Mikomi wiped away her 'tears'.

"But... it's going to be dangerous. It isn't called the forest of death for nothing"

"Relax. I'm a Jonin. I can take on anything that comes my way. Let's go get this psycho path and put him out of our misery"

Just then, Bakuto opened his door and came out with his swords strapped to his back.

"I'm coming too"

He glared at Mikomi who acted all innocent.

"But I thought you said you didn't want to help?"

"I changed my mind. I don't think I can stand another minute of doing nothing in this house, and if I have to hear Yuri sing one more time I'm gonna blow my brains out"

Yugito smiled at her boyfriend.

"Oh, Bakuto. You're so sweet. I'll be ready in a minute, just let me go get my things"

She went back into her room and left the two rivals alone.

Mikomi grinned at Bakuto who just glared at her still.

"I win" she said in a singing voice.

Bakuto just gave her the finger.

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Yuri frowned at Mikomi's group. Three people wouldn't be enough to track down Orochimaru. It was obvious that Mikomi purposely didn't ask AVALANCE for help. She could never ask them to do anything.

Yuri had put this into her own hands.

"GUYS!"

Rapid footsteps were heard as everyone came down stairs.

"What's wrong, Yuri?" Tifa asked.

The medic held back the grin that was threatening to appear.

"Ok. I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that an S-rank criminal and broken into the exam and is possibly a threat to Naruto"

"And the good news?"

"The good news is that our lovely 'Komi-chan was brave enough to volunteer to go into the forest of death and try to capture this nut job" she beamed as she hugged her goddaughter.

Mikomi glared as she realized what her godmother was up to.

Yuffie raised her hand.

"Question, why is it called the forest of death?"

"Well, people usually die in there when they partake in the exams. It wouldn't be called the forest of death if people didn't get killed"

"I have another question, who's this S-rank criminal?"

"Why it's none other than Orochimaru"

Mikomi had told them about Orochimaru when she was stuck in Midgar. She explained to them that he was like Konoha's version of Sephiroth and that you didn't want to mess with him.

"And on that note, I should be leaving. Don't want Orochimaru to get away"

She went to walk away when Yuffie pounced on her.

"You can't go, 'Komi-chan, you'll get killed!"

She pushed her off and stood up.

"I'll be fine. Bakuto and Yugito are going with me so it's not like I'm going by myself. I'll be fine"

"But it's Orochimaru! You said that he was bad news and that he isn't someone that you want to be around"

"I did say that, but lives are at stake, including my brothers. If no one is going to stop him, then I will"

"Be reasonable Mikomi" Tifa said.

"I am being reasonable. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some searching to do"

She went to open the door only to have Cloud blocking it.

"Not you too, Cloud"

"You're not going alone"
"I just told you that I wasn't! Bakuto and Yugito are going with me"

"You know what I mean. You're not going without one of us"

By 'us' she knew he meant AVALANCE.

"No way. The forest of death is dangerous. You don't know how to perform any Justus to begin with. You'll get yourself killed within the first few minutes you step in"

Cloud didn't move and just gave her one of his looks. Through the time that Mikomi has spent with him, she had become his little sister. There was no way that he was going to let another dear person to him die again.

Tifa came up to Mikomi.

"Let us go with, Mikomi. We don't want to see you get hurt"

"But Tifa"

"Please Mikomi? You're very dear to us. I don't want to let anything bad happen to my best friend"

Mikomi sighed.

"You're not going to let me go until I say yes aren't you?"

"Not if it means you'll be safe"

She looked at her friends wearily.

"I suggest you pack a lot of weapons with you, and bring every single material that you own. We'll be stepping into the most dangerous place in Konoha"

Yuri beamed as her plan worked. She gave Mikomi a thumbs up.

Mikomi swear dropped.

"God damn you Yuri"

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The Forest of Death gave off this murderous aura. Shivers went down her spine as she looked at the death trap for the second exam. The whole area was caged up so that all of the deadly animals and plants could be kept from society. Barbed wire wrapped itself around the metal poles as a way to keep people in without breaking out. This place was hell to her. Nobody would go in and nobody would come out. Only the strong could survive here.

Yuri smiled as she looked at the caged fence.

"Man, this brings back memories" she sighed.

Mikomi rolled her eyes.

"Alright guys, this is the Forest of Death. This is where we keep our most deadly plants and animals. If a ninja doesn't kill you, this place surely will. Now who's ready to go in?"

She turned to her friends to find them rooted to where they were standing. Yuffie was shaking as she looked at the forest.

"This place gives me the creeps"

"You wanted to go with, so deal with it"

"I didn't know that it would be this scary! I think I'll just go back home and wait for you guys"

Yuri grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Yuffie, Yuffie. There's nothing to worry about. You have two Konoha ninja's who know this place like the back of their hands. As long as you stick with us, then there's nothing to worry about"

Yuffie gulped but stayed put.

Myou nervously looked at Mikomi.

"Um, Captain? …I know this is a very serious situation and everything, but I don't think I can handle large, deadly animals. Is it ok if I just wait out here?"

Mikomi gave her a reassuring smile.

"That's fine. I need you to report to Hokage-Sama anyway about the situation. I'm sure he'll want to know who's taking care of Orochimaru"

Myou smiled in relief.

"Thank you Captain. I'll let him know right away"

She ran off to inform Sarutobi about the situation.

"Is there anybody else who's chickened out?"

When she saw nobody raise their hand she grinned.

"Good. Now let's get this over with"

She went to one of the doors the lead them into the forest. It creaked in protest, indicating that is hadn't been used in a while.

"Alright guys, follow me"

They silently went into the death trap known as the Forest of Death.

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The sky went from day into night as they walked through the trees. The forest was so deep and vast that not even a speak of sunlight could seep through. Strange noises could be heard everywhere. Some were from animals, some were unknown.

"Be careful where you step. Chances are that everywhere is rigged with traps"

Yuffie looked like an idiot as she 'carefully' walked forward. Cid poked his spear in the ground in front of him to make sure it was safe.

Yuri pulled out a map that had the whole layout of the forest.

"If we don't run into Orochimaru any time soon, then we'll head for the central tower that's located in the center of the forest and check the security camera's to see if we can find him that way"

"If we can find him" Bakuto said. "Finding that snake in this forest is like looking for a needle in a haystack. There's no way that we'll find him in time"

"Ah, that is where you are wrong Baku-kun" Yuri chimed.

She pulled out a scroll from her trench coat.

"You should know that I was on the same team as Orochimaru when we were kids. I was the sealing expert in our group"

"So? What does that have to do with finding Orochimaru?"

Yuri unrolled the scroll that she was holding.

"It has to with everything. Since I do a sealing expert that means I'm able to seal someone's chakra without them know"

She did a handsign and produced a vial of a glowing substance.

"This right here is Orochimaru's chakra. If I have just a tiny bit of it, I can use it to track him down. Think of it as how a dog can track a scent"

Mikomi looked at her godmother. That was impressive for someone like her. But then again, Yuri was a lot smarter than what she looked. She could create a complex battle strategy within minutes.

"That's great. But who are we going to find Orochimaru with just a tiny bottle of chakra?"

"Like so"

Yuri pulled out one of her arrows and poured it on the arrow head.

"Since this is his chakra, it'll want to go back into his body. All we have to do is follow the path it takes us"

She notched the arrow to her bow and fired. It zipped through the trees at lightning speed. At the end of the arrow, Yuri had a chakra string tied to it.

"And now we search for him"

"Great. This'll be fun" Bakuto said sarcastically.

"Cheer up, Bakuto" Yugito said. "It could be worse"

"How?"

"We could run into some man eating plants" Mikomi said.

Yuri led the way as they followed the path her arrow left.

"We're going to get lost, I just know it" Cid said.

"At least we're all together. It won't be so bad that way" Tifa said.

Cid just sighed at her logic.

"If we get killed here, I'm blaming you"

They walked deeper into the forest, never realizing that they were being watched by a pair of snake like eyes.

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"This place sure is creepy" Barret said as he stepped over a paper bomb.

"It's supposed to be. This is a test to see how well you can cope with fear" Mikomi said.

She used her sword to chop through branches that were in there way.

"Why would you be tested on something like that?"

"Because a ninja is not supposed to know fear. They must be brave and face any obstacle that comes in their way. If a ninja get's afraid easily, then they can't fulfill their mission. You know what I'm saying?" Yuri said

"I guess. But why a forest? What can be so scary about a forest?"

"Forests are so unpredictable. You don't know what lives among the vast trees such as these. Here, there are genetically enlarged animals and insects. Deadly plants grow here and can blend well with regular plants. Genjutsu spells are places over certain areas of the forest so you don't know if what you're seeing is real or not. A forest is the perfect place to test someone's fear"

Mikomi just rolled her eyes at Yuri's logic and continued walking.

"Your logic scares me sometimes, Yuri. How you are able to explain things so well is beyond me"

Yuri laughed.

"Well, that's what your dad told you when you were taking the exams. He didn't want you to freak out while you were in the second exam"

"That didn't really help since I almost got killed by a spider. He should have warned me that there were spiders that were as big as a house living here"

"How was he supposed to know? Besides, he couldn't just tell what lived here, that would be cheating. He wanted you to find out on your own"

"I learned alright. I learned that spiders are evil and they must be killed"

"Oh yeah, you're afraid of spiders" Yuffie said.

Bakuto snorted.

"You're afraid of spiders? How pathetic"

Mikomi glared at him.

"And I take it that you aren't afraid of anything?"

"That's right. A real ninja should never be afraid of anything. He must take everything in calmly"

"Oh really?"

He flash stepped in front of Yugito and held a knife to her throat.

"So I suppose that if I were going to kill Yugito right here and now that you would take this calmly?"

Bakuto charged at her and kicked her in the gut. She went flying and crashed into Vincent.

"Don't you dare lay a finger on Yugito?"

"Bakuto, calm down. She wasn't really going to do anything" Yugito said.

"I don't care. I don't like seeing a weapon so close to you like that"

Mikomi laughed as Vincent picked her up.

"Oh, this is rich. You act like any other boyfriend."

She wiped the tears from her eyes.

"You're afraid of losing Yugito. That's sweet, but since this is you, that's also funny"

She continued laughing as Bakuto fumed at her.

"Listen you. At least I have someone who loves me, even though I'm a Jinchuriki"

Mikomi stopped laughing and looked serious.

"Oh, are you saying that just because I'm a Jinchuriki that it means that I won't find Mr. Right?"

"No. You're just a stubborn, obnoxious brat who takes everything as a joke. You don't take everything seriously and act like a kid. What kind of guy would want to be with you?"

Mikomi got right into his face.

"Oh really? Well you are a stubborn, arrogant know it all who has a stick up his ass and gives everyone the cold shoulder. What Yugito sees in you is beyond me"

"I am not cold; I just act like that because you drive me nuts"

"Well that makes two of us. You take everything so seriously that I bet you don't even know what fun is"
"I do too, except my type of fun doesn't involve acting like a 4 year old on a sugar buzz"

"I act like a four year old? You're the one who acts like a four year old with all those temper tantrums you have"

"Why you"

They head a lighting between the eyes moment as they head butt each other.

Yuri sighed.

"You two will never change"

She pulled them apart before they could do anything.

"Alright you two, that's enough. We don't have time for these cat fights, so save it for later, ok?"

She held up the chakra string that she was holding.

"Now let's go find Orochimaru before it gets dark. A lot of creepy things come out when it's night time"

She walked away with a skip in her step.

Mikomi and Bakuto just glared at each other as they walked.

"Stupid Fox"

"Damn Dragon"

Yugito sighed as she followed them with AVALANCE.

"I'll never understand them" she said.

"Neither will we" Tifa said.

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"Are we there yet?"

"No"

"Are we there yet?"

"No"

"How about now?"

"No"

Yuri wrapped the extra chakra string around her arm as they continued on. Mikomi and Bakuto were having a glaring match and had to have Yugito stand in between them so a fight wouldn't break out.

Red Xlll kept sniffing the air to see if he could find a scent.

"Did you find anything yet, Red?" Cloud asked.

"Not yet. I kept getting all of these scents though"

"It's probably from everyone who's taking this exam"

"And I keep smelling dog"

"That's probably Akamaru. He belongs to Kiba Inuzuka. They're experts when it comes to dogs"

Cat Sith jumped onto Red's head.

"Sounds like someone you could get along with"

"I highly doubt that they'll want to associate with a talking canine"

"Oh, they wouldn't mind" Mikomi said. She got tired of glaring at Bakuto for now.

"The Inuzuka's train the ninja dogs to talk. How else is Pakkun able to speak? I'm sure you would fit well with them"

"Really?"

"Sure. In fact, if we run into Kiba, I'll introduce you to him"

Red Xlll managed to smile.

"I'd like that"

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Yuri stopped in her tracks as they got to a certain part of the forest.

"Uh-oh"

"What's wrong?"

"We have a slight problem" the medic said.

"What's the problem; we're not lost are we?" Mikomi asked.

"No, no. We just might have a little problem with the trail"

"What do you mean?"

"The chakra string leads into the spider infested part of the forest"

Mikomi skidded to a stop.

"See ya"

She turned around and made a run for it.

Yuri pulled her back.

"Now, Mikomi. You need to face your fears and be a big girl"

"I don't have to face shit. You know what happened last time. I almost lost my leg thanks to those little bastards"

"Now there's no need for the potty mouth. You need to go in there and face your fears"

"Can't we just go a different way?"

"That'll take too much time. There's nothing to worry about, I'll be here and so are your friends"

Tifa patted her on the shoulder.

"It'll be ok Mikomi"

She just whimpered.
Bakuto snickered.

"Aww. Is the little fox afraid of an itty bitty spider?"

Mikomi glared at him.

"Shut up, you damn dragon! There's nothing little about these spiders. They're as big as a house! They'll eat you whole if they had the chance"

"Bakuto just waved her off.

"Please. As if a spider could grow that big. You're just exaggerating just so everyone could feel sorry for you and let you stay. You're such a baby"

"I'm not a baby!" she fumed.

"Yeah you are. You won't go through the forest because it's filled with spiders. That's just pathetic"

"I am not pathetic!"

"Oh yeah? Then prove it"

Mikomi clenched her fists and looked at the spider infested forest. She squared her body off and marched right into the web infested trees.

She looked determined on the outside, but inside she was screaming like a little girl.

Yuri quickly followed after her, knowing that her goddaughter would panic once she was out of sight of Bakuto. She looked at the dragon as she passed.

"If I lose my goddaughter to a spider. You'll have to deal with a very scary godmother"

Mikomi screamed a tiny bit, indicating that Yuri should hurry after her.

Tifa followed behind.

"Poor Mikomi "

Everyone else leisurely followed into the spider forest.

Bakuto was the last to enter.

"This is either going to be rather interesting or rather bad"

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Webs covered every branch as they walked. You couldn't take one step without bumping into the sticky mess.

Mikomi walked close with Yuri as they went forward. She lost her cool exterior five seconds after she stepped into the forest. She didn't see any spiders yet, but it was just a matter of time.

Yuri could feel her shaking as she held onto her arm. She couldn't blame her for being terrified. Konoha spiders were the nastiest insects that roamed the shinobi nations. Only a nut wouldn't be afraid.

Barret wiped the cobwebs that he brushed past.

"This place gives me the creeps"

Yuffie was shaking as she walked.

"How come we haven't seen any spiders yet?"

"They're probably eating the corpses that they found from the exams" Yuri said.

Cloud had to use his Buster sword to swat away nearby webs.

"This place is like a jungle. Why are they cramped up in one area of the forest?"

"The spiders here like to be in one location. Moving around can be dangerous for the smaller kinds of spiders. In a way it's convenient."

"How so?"

"If they were roaming around the forest, we would be dead by now. The smaller the spiders are, the deadlier their venom is"

Mikomi whimpered at the mention of venom.

Some rustling in the bushes caused them to stop.

Yuri pulled out an arrow and aimed it at the bush. A spider no big than the size of a melon scurried out. Mikomi flipped out and jumped into Tifa's arms.

"Don't let it get me!"

Bakuto rolled his eyes.

"Relax you big baby. It's just a little one. I doubt it could do any serious damage."

The spider went back into the bushes and pulled out a half eaten corpse.

"Is that a half eaten corpse?" Barret asked.

"Uh-huh" Cloud said.

The spider ripped off an arm and started eating it. Yuri fired off her bow and hit the little monster. The spider let out a high screech and withered in pain before it died. Green venom oozed out of its body and melted anything that was in its way.

Mikomi slowly let go of Tifa and went to Yuri.

"Did you kill it?"

"Yep, but my arrow is ruined thanks to its venom"

Mikomi shivered as she spotted the venom. That was what nearly made her lose her leg.

The sound of something moving caught everyone's attention.

"What the hell is that?" Cid said.

Yuri looked up to a horrifying sight. Up in the trees lurked hundreds of spiders. This wasn't good.

"Guys, we need to move now. And Mikomi, whatever you do, don't look up"

Yuri's orders fell on deaf ears as Mikomi craned her neck to see where the noise was coming from. Her blood ran cold as she saw the giant spiders. She almost let out a blood curltling scream before Yuri covered her mouth.

"Come on, let's move!"

Everyone ran as the spiders came down in groups. They hissed as they got closer to them. Vincent and Barret fired at them when they got too close. It didn't help much since they were coming from everywhere.

"Split up! The exit is straight ahead so go forward!" Yuri yelled.

Everyone divided up into smaller groups to lure the spiders away.

Mikomi ran after Bakuto and Yugito as the spiders followed them. Tifa ran near her and grabbed her hand.

"Come on, Mikomi. Let's get out of here"

"No need to tell me that twice!"

Sending chakra to her feet, she performed flash step and ran ahead of the group. That proved to be pointless since she tripped over a loose root and landed smack into a spider's web. She started to panic when she couldn't get loose.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

Mikomi looked up to see a giant spider coming down the web. Venom dripped from its pincers as it got closer.

"It looks like I caught myself a little snack. How fortunate of me"

Mikomi screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping that someone would hear her.

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Yuri could hear Mikomi's screams from a mile away.

"Mikomi!"

She jumped over a spider that tried to get her and fired her bow.

"Hang on honey, I'm coming"

She flipped through the air and landed next to Cloud.

"Was that Mikomi who was just screaming?'

"Yeah, something must be terribly wrong"

Cloud performed Blade Beam and cleared a path for them.

Vincent caught up in his Chaos form and flew through the trees.

"Where is everyone?"

"I don't know, but I hope they made it to the exit"

"Where's Mikomi?"

"I think she got caught, which is not good"

Mikomi screamed again.

"Hang on Mikomi!"

They sprinted through the forest while attacking at any spider that crossed their path.

Yuri's blood boiled at the thought of a spider trying to eat her precious goddaughter.

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She whimpered as the spider got closer to her. Venom dripped from its pincers and melted anything it touched.

"What's the matter? Are you scared?"

She tried pulling herself out of the web, but it was no use.

"Don't bother. These are chakra infused webs. You'll never get free with brute strength alone. Now be a good little snack and stay still"

Mikomi just screamed again until her throat hurt.

"Now that's not being good" the spider said. "I think I'll need to fix that"

Tear welled up in her eyes as the pincers got in her face.

"Mikomi!" Tifa and Yuffie came out of nowhere.

"Hey You! Get away from Mikomi!"

Yuffie threw her giant shuriken and got the spider in the head. It hissed in pain and looked at them.

"Oh look, more treats I can snack on"

Tifa grinned as her plan went to work.

"Now Barret!"

Barret and Red Xlll came from behind and tackled the spider to the ground. Red Xlll bit through the web until Mikomi was set free.

Tifa ran over to her and helped her up.

"Are you, Mikomi?"

She just burst into tear and cried. Tifa held her and calmed her down.

Barret pulled them by the arms.

"We need to get out of here, let's go"

They ran after him. Mikomi ran as fast as she could until something wrapped around her ankle and pulled her back. She fell flat on her face and was pulled back. She screamed when she saw the spider had its web wrapped around her ankle and was pulling her back.

"My snack! Not yours!" Tifa and Barret tried pulling her back. It was like a tug of war with Mikomi in the middle. The spider pulled back hard and jerked Mikomi out of their grasp. It started wrapping its web around Mikomi.

"I can't let you get away, now can I?"

Mikomi tried getting away, but it was hard when she had stick web covering her body.

The spider seemed to drool as it picked Mikomi up to its face.

"Finally, a worthy meal in such a long time"

Mikomi tried pulling her arms free.

"Don't eat me!"

"But I'm so hungry, and you're so delicious looking. How can I pass such a fine opportunity?"

Mikomi screamed again as her head got close to its pincers.

"Hey, ugly. Look up"

Yuri jumped through the air and fired off her arrows. The spider hissed in pain and dropped Mikomi. Cloud slid under the spider and grabbed Mikomi before she could be eaten again.

"Are you ok, Mikomi?" He asked as he tried to pull the webs off of her.

She just screamed again.

"It's ok, Mikomi. You're not going to be eaten"

"Behind you!"

Cloud turned around to see the spider right behind him.

"My snack!" it hissed.

Cloud held Mikomi close to him with one hand and drew his Buster sword with the other.

"You're not going to have her!"

Bakuto appeared behind the spider with his katanas drawn.

"No one picks on my rival but me!"

He slid under the spider's belly like Cloud did and drove his swords into his stomach. The spider hissed in pain and buckled before collapsing. Venom spilled from its mouth as the life faded from its eyes.

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Yuri ran up her goddaughter to see that she was alright.

"Are you alright, Mikomi?"

She started pulling the webs off of her body in the process.

Mikomi didn't say anything at all. Instead, she just burst into tears and cried into her hands.

Cloud held her and rocked her a bit to calm her.

"It's ok. No one is going to get you"

Yuri smiled as she saw Cloud acting like that. It almost reminded her of how Minato would calm Mikomi down when was crying.

"He is such a good brother to her" she thought.

Bakuto put his swords away. He looked at Mikomi and was about to say something, but Yugito gave him a look.

"Don't be mean to her, Bakuto" she warned.

He looked at his rival's crying form and decided to let it go.

"I'll be nice to her this onetime"

"Good boy, Bakuto. You're finally showing your compassionate side. Keep this you and you'll be friends in no time"

A tick mark appeared as he listened to Taimat.

"I don't want to be friends with her. She's my sworn enemy and she annoys the hell out of me. Why would I want a friend like her?"

"Because she's not like anyone else that you've meet. Every time you meet someone new, you just scare them away with your cold looks, but now that you've meet someone who can see past that, it makes you feel curious. I bet you're wondering why she isn't afraid of you"

"And I bet you're wondering why the village went against you and had you sealed up"

"That was mean! After all I've done for you; this is how you repay me!? I don't know what Yugito sees in you"

'Don't be bring that subject up again!"

The two had a huge metal argue that they didn't even notice one of the members in their group was missing.

"Hey, where's Cid?"

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They managed to find Cid as they left the spider infested part of the forest. Apparently, a spider mistook him as one its babies and brought him back to its nest. Needless to say, it wasn't pretty trying to rescue him.

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"I've just about had it with this damn forest" Cid cursed as he picked the spiders webs off of him.

Everyone was feeling the same way. Mikomi was still crying abit as Tifa held her. Yuffie came up and hugged her too.

"You were right, 'Komi-chan. Spiders are evil"

Mikomi just sniffled and wiped her eyes.

Bakuto rolled his eyes.

"Can we please get this over with? I don't think I can take any more of this forest"

Yuri went to grab the chakra string, only to find that it was gone.

"Uh-oh"

"What is it now?"

"I might have lost our only source to Orochimaru"

"What?!"

This made Mikomi stop crying.

"What do you mean you lost it?"

"I don't know. I could have lost it while we were in the forest and trying to get away from the spiders"

Mikomi grabbed the bridge of her nose.

"So are you saying that we're lost?"

"Um, if you want to say it bluntly, then yes. Or you could say we're taking a slight detour"

It everything in her to not smack her head against a tree.

"This is insane. We're going to die if we keep following Yuri like this. Usagi, can you trace Orochimaru's chakra?"

"Sure, but it'll take me a few minutes"

"Take as long as you like, just get me out of this hell hole"

"Ok, just give me a minute"

She could feel Usagi's chakra stir within her. She drowned out her friends ranting and concentrated on her inner demons power.

"Found him!"

"Great! Lead the way, Usagi!"

She flashed stepped and left her friends behind in the process.

"'Komi-chan, where are you going?"

"I think she found something" Bakuto said.

He followed after.

"I'm not going to stand here and let Yuri lead us to our death"

Yugito followed after him.

Cloud and Tifa chased after Mikomi.

"Mikomi, you shouldn't run off like that. You could get hurt"

They all ran to catch up with their fox friend.

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She zipped through the trees with the intention to catch Orochimaru. She let Usagi guide her as the fox followed the chakra trail that the evil snake had left.

"I'm going to skin that wretched snake alive when I get my hands on him!"

Since Orochimaru was part of Yuri's team as a child, that meant she knew everything about the infamous Sanin. The power hungry man even tried to obtain her kekkei genkai a few times before Yuri sealed it. Her connection with Orochimaru ran deep.

"He's right up ahead! Be on your guard Mikomi"

Drawing some Kunai, she jumped of the branch that she was on and flew through the air. She flipped a few times before landing in front of none other than Orochimaru.

The look he gave her was a mixture of amusement and desire.

"Still after my eyes, are you?"

"My, my. You sure have grown since the last time that I saw you, little Mikomi"

She growled at the nickname that he gave her. He used that when she was a child.

"What are you doing in the exams, Orochimaru?"

"Oh, you mean I wasn't allowed to compete? I thought Genin were allowed to compete in these exams" he said as he indicated to his disguise.

"He dressed up as that grass ninja that Myou found"

"Why did you kill those ninja? Were they just another bunch of toys that you got bored with?"

"Now, now. You know I wouldn't be able to come in here looking just like myself"

He pulled off his disguise to reveal his true self. His gold eyes burned with power.

She threw her kunai at him and watched as he dodged them with ease and were pooled around him.

"You should know by know that petty weapons like that won't defeat me"

"I know" she said. "But this might"

She performed a handsign and set off the paper bombs that she secretly planted on the knives. Orochimaru got caught in the explosion and screamed in pain.

"Stop the acting Orochimaru. I know you're alright"

He stepped out of the smoke without a single scratch.

"I see you have improved the last time that I've seen you"

"You're flattery. You're just getting old and aren't as strong as you once were"

He gave out a creepy laugh.

"Are you so sure about that?"

"Orochimaru!"

Yuri burst into the clearing with her bow drawn. Everyone came in and had their weapons aimed at the Sanin.

"Ah, it's be far too long, Yuri. I see you've gotten more beautiful since the last time we've meet"

"Shut up, you stupid snake!"

Orochimaru eyed everyone.

"Well, well. It looks like you made some friends. I take it they're with you, little Mikomi?"

Everyone took one look at Orochimaru and knew that he was trouble. The reeked with such power that the hair on their necks stood. Bakuto could feel his blood boil as he looked into Orochimaru's snake like eyes.

Mikomi got into a fighting stance.

"You never answered my question. Why are you here?"

Orochimaru tossed his hair over his shoulder.

"Oh, just picking up some new toys to play with. By the way, I ran into your brother a few minutes ago"

Mikomi felt her blood grow cold.

"What did you do to him?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just gave him a slight beating and a parting gift. I have to say..." He grinned evilly. "He looks just like your father"

"Shut up!"

She charged at him and started fighting him with taijutsu. It proved to be pointless since she wasn't as good as Tifa and that her opponent was a Sanin, but she wasn't going to let him get away with hurting her brother.

She sent a kick to his head and got blocked by his hand. He grabbed her ankle and threw her into a tree. Yuri and Tifa got in the fight and dueled him. Vincent and Barret stood off on the side lines and fired their guns at him he his back was to him. The Sanin hissed in pain when he got shot.

"My, my. You have some very interesting friends, little Mikomi"

She ran at him sent a chakra filled punch to his jaw.

"Don't call me that!"

He went flying into a tree and caused it to indent.

"It looks like I won't be able to fight so well when you have so many people attacking me at once"

He bit his thumb and smeared it on his arm.

"It looks like I'm going to need a little help"

He slammed his hand on the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

He summoned up a giant snake that was nearly as big as the trees. It barred it's fangs at the group below.

Yugito looked at her boyfriend as she saw Bakuto's eyes change from blue to gold.

"Bakuto?"

The dragon host shook as he eyed the snake.

"Snakes" he hissed. "I HATE SNAKES"

He let out a battle cry and charged at the reptile.

"Bakuto! No!"

It didn't help him as he jumped up the snakes back and charged at Orochimaru.

The Sanin grinned at him.

"Aww, is someone afraid of snakes?"

Bakuto just slugged him hard and made him fall of the snake. Orochimaru rocked his jaw to see if it was broken.

"You're a lot stronger than you look, boy"

Black and silver chakra covered Bakuto's body as he got closer. His mind was out of control as he had flashbacks to his mother.

"I'll never forgive you for what you've done to her" he growled.

Orochimaru got to his feet and dusted himself off.

"I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about, boy"

Bakuto growled again.

"Because of your species, I lost the most important person in my life"

The Sanin didn't know what he was talking about until it clicked into his head.

"Ah, you hate snakes because they killed someone you love. And you think I'm a snake because I look like one. Aww, that is too cute"

Bakuto preformed a set of hand signs.

"You will pay for taking her from me"

"I'm afraid you have it all wrong, boy. I wasn't the one who killed your mother."

"It doesn't matter; you're still one of them!"

"Now you think I'm a snake? Now that's just being silly"

Bakuto went into action.

"Fire Style: Impure Dragon Flame Missile!"

Black flames spewed out of his mouth and took the shape of a dragon.

Orochimaru was suspired and though t that it was Amaterasu for a moment.

"What is this?"

"Fire Style: Pure Dragon Flame Missile!"

While flames followed after and took the shape of a dragon.

The two fire dragons floated. Bakuto made another hand sign.

"Fire Style: Chaos Dragon Flame Missile!"

The two dragons roared and charged at Orochimaru. Black and while flames covered his body and burned him to bits.

Orochimaru screamed in pain as the flames licked his body. He had enough strength to jump out of the flames with only a few severe burns.

"You" he hissed at Bakuto.

He ran at the Sanin and pulled out his Katana's

"Die!"

Orochimaru flashed stepped and did karate chop to his neck. He went down like a sack of potatoes and couldn't get up. Orochimaru picked up his swords and stabbed them into his hand. He yelled out in pain as the blades pierced his flesh.

Orochimaru got close to his face.

"That was a pretty impressive trick you had there" he hissed into his ear.

"Since you gave me such a show, I'll let you live. But if I ever run into you again, you'll wish that I didn't"

He got up and walked away from him.

"Get back here! I'm not finished with you!"

"Learn to become stronger and then I'll fight you. That Jutsu you used was powerful, but not powerful enough. If you want to kill me with that, then learn how to use it better"

He walked away and left Bakuto to scream in frustration.

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Orochimaru's snake proved to be a challenge for our heroes. Since they were in such a tight area, it was hard to dodge and move around without getting hit by its tail.

"How are we suppose to beat this thing!" Yuffie shouted as she threw her giant shuriken at the beast. Vincent transformed into Chaos and fired off Death Penalty as he flew. Barret got banged up and had blood running down the side of his head.

"These summons are as bad as the ones at home!"

"Yeah, well at least they aren't genetically enlarged animals" Yuri said as she fired her bow.

Cloud ran down its spine and dragged his Buster Sword into its flesh.

They weren't really doing much damage to the snake, but it was better than nothing.

Orochimaru got on its head and laughed at their struggles.

"It's hopeless fighting like that. Only ninjustu can't beat it"

Mikomi jumped off the snake and landed next to Yuri.

"Hey, Yuri. Can I use that Jutsu?"

"If you mean that one, then by all means"

Mikomi grinned.

"It's show time!"

She held out her hand and sent her chakra to her palm. The charka swirled in her hand like a mini tsunami. It went faster and faster and she gathered more chakra.

"Ok, dad. Let's show this snake your signature Justu"

She ran at the snake and rammed the little ball right into its stomach.

"RASENGAN!"

The snake crashed through the trees and left a mark where it was at.

Mikomi pumped her fist at her work.

Yuffie cheered at her friend.

"Way to go, "Komi-chan!"

She did a little victory dance for her friends.

"Thank you, Thank you"

The ground around her shook and out came the snake's tail.

"What the?!"

The snake swatted her body away and she crashed into a tree. Blood spilled out of her mouth on impact. She slid to the ground and felt her head throb.

"Mikomi!"

The snake slithered back to the group with Orochimaru on top.

"That girl was always annoying"

Yuri aimed her bow at her old teammate.

"You're going to pay for hurting my godchildren"

Orochimaru just brushed his hair out of his face.

"If you could consider those Jinchuriki brats to be children"

"Don't you dare call Mikomi that!" Tifa shouted.

"She's more than just a host you know. She's a dear friend to us and we won't let anyone treat her like that"

"Oh really? You mean to tell me you would want to be friends with that?" he said as he pointed to Mikomi.

She staggered over to her friends.

"'Komi-chan! You're ok!" Yuffie cried.

The grin fell from her face when she looked into red eyes instead of green.

Usagi's chakra could be felt as Mikomi' body started to change. Her red eyes went cat like and her hands started to grow claws. A set of fangs poked out of her mouth as she walked by her friends.

She held her head when Usagi's powered became too much for her. She fell her knees and held her head.

"Mikomi!" Tifa cried.

"Stay back!" She said in a demonic voice.

She looked at her friend with a pleading look in her eyes.

"I don't want to hurt you"

Tifa gulped down her nerves but nodded.

Mikomi struggled to her feet and faced Orochimaru.

"Well what do you know. The Konoha guardian really does live inside of you"

Mikomi growled at him.

"Shut up"

The Sanin wouldn't let it go and kept goading her.

"Tell me, how does it feel to have everyone in the village hate you?"

"Shut up"

"It must be hard having everyone treat you like garbage and wishing you were dead"

"Shut up"

"I bet your parents are so proud of you right now. Their little girl is all grown up as a full fledge monster , that's what any parent would want"

"SHUT UP!"

She jumped at him and got him in the face with her claws. Blood splattered her face as she kept getting him. She didn't care if she looked like a monster at this point, all she cared is that she wanted to kill"

Yuri pulled her back and made her stop. Blood dripped from her hands from the mess that she made.

Orochimaru choke on his blood as he sat up. His face was unrecognizable from all of the cuts he got from Mikomi .

"It's like I said" he rasped. "You're nothing but a monster. You'll never belong with anyone"

Tears pooled in Mikomi's eyes as she looked at her hands. The scent of blood filled her nostrils and the red liquid that painted her hands were warm. She thought that she was looking at someone else's hands, but she realized they were hers.

She fell to her knees and shook.

"I'm not a monster" she said.

"Don't deny your existence" Orochimaru said. "You harbor a deadly monster inside of you and you can't even control it. Your whole purpose in life is to kill"

Mikomi covered her ears.

"Stop it"

"Your father made you into the most feared being of Konoha. If he really loved you, he wouldn't have made your life a living hell for the past 13 years"

Tears ran down her face as she shook her head.

"Just shut up"

Yuri held her and rocked her a bit.

"Don't listen to him, Mikomi. You're not a monster. You're a sweet caring person who would do anything for her family. You are anything but a monster"

"Don't sugar coat reality for her Yuri" Orochimaru said. "this world has no use for beings like her"

Yuri gave her former teammate an icy glare.

"The only being that has no use to this world is you. It's people like you that create hatred. You can only accept perfect any won't have anything to do with imperfect"

Cloud came up to them and squatted down next to Mikomi. She cried into Yuri's chest as she held her ears still.

He looked at Orochimaru.

"You know…I really hate people who think they're superior than others" he said as he remembered Sephiroth.

He turned back to Mikomi.

"Hey"

She looked at him and shrank back in fear.

Cloud took his sleeve and wiped the blood from her face.

"You are one slob, you know that?"

He wiped the tears from her eyes in the process.

"You need to be neater when you're fighting"

He went to clean her hands when she pulled away. She curled her fingers so he wouldn't see her claws. He simply rolled his eyes and gently pulled them out.

"You don't have to be scared, Mikomi. Don't listen to what that snake says. He doesn't know you like we do. You're not a monster, stop thinking like that. I've seen my fair share of monsters, and you don't fit the description"

He gave her a small smile.

"Now stop crying and give he a smile. You look better with a smile"

A grin found its way on Mikomi's face.

"Thank you, Cloud" she said quietly.

He pulled her into a hug.

"you're a good person, so don't think otherwise"

He riffled her hair in a brotherly way and stood up with her.

Yuri smiled as she watched Cloud taking care of her goddaughter. He really did act like an older brother to her.

"Aw, how touching" Orochimaru said.

They all looked to see that the snake was standing. Blood ran down his face from the cuts that covered his face.

"As much as I hate to interrupt tender moments like this. I'm afraid I have to ruin this"

His snake like tongue shot out and wrapped itself around Mikomi and pulled her back to him.

"It's time that I repaid you for ruining my face" he hissed.

He held her up to his face.

"Orochimaru, let her go!" Yuri cried.

He didn't listen to her and held out his hand.

"I'm going to be generous and help you with your little demon problem"

Chakra covered his fingers.

"If you don't want to be a monster, then I will gladly make it come true"

"Leave her alone!"

Mikomi thrashed out at him.

"Let me go you stupid snake!"

"In a second"

He slammed his hand into her stomach where the seal was at.

"Five Pronged Seal!"

Mikomi screamed in pain as the seal burned into her body. She could feel Usagi thrashing in pain as the seal covered her fathers.

Orochimaru laughed at her pain.

The pain was too much for her and caused her to black out.

Orochimaru flung her at Yuri.

"Useless girl"

Cloud slid and caught her before she could hit the ground.

Yuri ran up to her goddaughter and checked to see if she was alright.

"what did you do to her?"

"Nothing much, just gave her a parting gift"

He made a handsign.

"I look forward to when we will see each other again"

He disappeared along with his snake.

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Everyone was in a state of confusion. Bakuto slammed his fist into the ground.

"How could l let him get away!?"

Yugito grabbed his fist and made him stop.

Yuri held Mikomi's unconscious body. She didn't know what Orochimaru did to her, but it couldn't be good.

"Is Mikomi going to be alright?" Tifa asked.

"She should be"

"What are we going to do now?"

"We'll head for the central tower that's located in the center of the forest. We'll contact Sarutobi there and tell him what's happened"

She placed Mikomi on her back and started walking.

"Let's move. It's almost night time and I don't want to be out when the night creatures come"

They all followed Yuri and took turns carrying Mikomi. Their first run in with Orochimaru turned out to be bad. No one got killed, but they almost did with their lack of knowing any jutus. If they got out of this village alive, then they were going to ask Mikomi how to fight like she did. But for now, they were more concerned about her well being than their own.

Everyone learned something that day. There were people out there who were a lot stronger than Sephiroth, and that scared the hell out of them.

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A.N: And there you go, a really long chapter. Sorry if the fighting scenes sucked. I suck when it comes to writing action scenes, so you'll have to deal with it if you plan on reading further chapters.

Since I wrote such a long chapter, I hope to get long reviews. (not really but it would put a smile on my face, and I'll give you a cookie!)

Remember, sends me those reviews. I live off of them!