Chapter 26: The Rest of Rookie Nine
A/N: Hello my darling fans! Here is another glorious chapter to our favorite story. Why don't we see how the Rookie nine are doing in the exam? Sit back, relax, and enjoy the chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Final Fantasy 7. I do own Mikomi, Yuri, and Usagi while Bakuto Masaki owns Bakuto, Taimat, and Myou.
"Talking"
"Thinking"
"Usagi Talking"
"Taimat Talking"
"Aerith talking"
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Everyone camped out under a giant tree. Night had fallen and meant that danger was among them. The sound of the nocturnal animals awaking and roaming through the forest kept everyone on edge.
Yugito tended to Mikomi while she was still out. That seal that Orochimaru had bad effect on her. Cat Sith helped her out and placed a wet rag on her forehead. Everyone took turns to watch over Mikomi. So far, she was out like a light. It was weird to see the active Jinchuriki out like this. They wished that she would wake up soon and ease their worries.
Yuri came back from scouting the area. She placed seals around the area that they were at so no one could come by.
"How is she?" She asked as she checked on her goddaughter.
"Still the same. I don't think she'll be up by tomorrow"
Yuri sighed.
"If I ever see that vile snake again, I'll turn him into a wallet"
She sat by the fire that Barret made with a glum expression. Everyone seemed to be in low spirits. Yuffie messed around with the Materia she had in her hand. It was like a stress ball to her when things were wrong.
"That snake made us look like total idiots"
Bakuto had to agree with her. He felt like a fool to lose to someone like Orochimaru.
"Did you see the way he fought?" Cid said. "He made Sephiroth look like a rookie compared to him"
Cloud flinched at the mention of his enemy.
"We're lucky to be alive right now"
"Orochimaru wasn't taking you seriously" Yuri said. "If he did, you would be dead the moment he saw you. You're lucky that you don't know how to fight like we do"
"No we're not, Yuri" Tifa said.
"That fact that we don't know how to fight like you means that we're hopeless when it comes to danger. We can't just let you and Mikomi do all of the fighting while we're here. We need to know how to defend ourselves as well in case something like this happens again"
Yuffie added her opinion.
"Yeah, I wanna fight like 'Komi-chan and show that snake man up. I'm a ninja too. I can't afford to be puny"
One by one, AVALANCE added their opinion to learn ninjutus.
"We can't let Mikomi do all of the fighting"
"A man can't afford to be weak"
"It'll help against Sephiroth"
"It's not wise to have us here and know nothing about your fighting style"
Yuri sweat dropped as they closed in on her. They weren't backing up on this with the way they were talking.
She waved her hands in front of her.
"Guys, guys, think about this. You're considered as guests while you're in Konoha. There's no need for you to learn ninjustu while you plan on staying here. You don't expect to fight or do missions, do you?"
"Are you saying you would rather have Mikomi do all of the dirty work while we relax and do nothing?" Cloud asked.
Yuri sweat dropped at that.
"Well, no. I'll get my hands dirty too, but I don't think Mikomi will like hearing that her friends decided to learn ninjustu while she was out. She'll definitely say no to this when she wakes up, trust me"
"Don't worry about what Mikomi will say" Cid said. "We'll just say that she owes us for teaching her how to use materia and how to fight the way that we do"
"You mean black mailing her?" Bakuto said.
"If that's what you want to call, sure"
Yuri looked at Mikomi for a moment.
"I have a bad feeling about this"
"Don't worry. She'll see it our way. She can never say no to us anyway"
"That's what I'm afraid of" Yuri muttered to herself.
Yugito simply shook her head as she went back to tending her friend.
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Everything was white in Mikomi's mind. All she could see was a vast about of emptiness. She didn't know where she was or how she got here. All she knew was that this place was blank and depressing.
"Geez, you think someone would make this place more lively"
Just as she said that, flowers bloomed everywhere and covered the ground with vibrant colors.
"Well…this makes it a little better…somehow"
She walked in no particular direction and started looking at her surroundings.
As she looked closer at the flowers, she felt a sense of déjà vu.
"It feels like I've been here before. But why would I hang around a field of flowers"
Laughter filled the air.
"Who's there?"
"I'm glad to see you again, Mikomi?"
A woman suddenly appeared in front of her. Her back faced her.
"Who are you? How do you know my name?"
The woman laughed again.
"I've known about you for a long time" She said. "I've been watching you from the very beginning"
"What, you mean like stalking me?"
"No, no. Nothing like that"
She turned slightly so she could see her face. Her long braid swayed as she moved her head.
Mikomi was at a loss for words as she looked at this woman. It was like looking into a mirror or something. She had the same brown hair and green eyes as she did. The only difference was that her face was more femine and held an air of wisdom around her.
She held a shaky finger up and pointed it at her.
"W-who are you? And why do you look like me?"
The woman just laughed at her.
"Let's just say that I'm a close friend of Cloud. As to why I look like you…I'm afraid even I don't know that"
Mikomi lowered her hand back to her side.
"You know Cloud?"
"Yes, or I knew Cloud while I was alive"
"You're dead? Wait, does that mean I'm dead?"
"You're not dead; I'm just a spirit who tends to visit her friends in their subconscious"
"But I never knew anyone who wore pink and looked like me. How am I friends with you?"
"We're not friends yet, but I would like to be friends. I just wanted to meet the person who managed to make Cloud happy. I thank you dearly for that"
"Um, you're welcome… I guess."
She kicked her feet a bit.
"So…if you know my name, how come I don't know yours?"
She received another set of giggles.
"I was hoping you would figure that out on your own. I'm sure AVALANCE has told you about me"
Mikomi racked through her brains to see when her friends told her about a girl in pink.
"Come on. Think, think. When have they told me about some chick wearing pink? The only people they have ever told me about were Zack and –"
It suddenly dawned on her who this woman was.
"Are you Aer-"
Suddenly the scene vanished before her eyes.
"Wait, don't go!"
"Don't worry; we'll see each other again soon"
She was thrown back into the world of consciousness and heard voices.
"Hey, I think she's waking up"
"It's about time; I'm tired of carrying her sorry ass"
"Bakuto! Don't talk about her like that"
"She is going to have one major head ache when she wakes up"
"I hope she likes out idea"
"Shhh!"
Her eyes felt like lead as she opened them up. The faces of her friends were the first thing that she was as everything became clear to her.
"Mikomi! You're awake!"
Yuffie pounced on her and gave her a giant bear hug.
"We were so worried about you! I hope that mean snake guy didn't hurt you too bad I promise to beat him up if we see him again"
Vincent pulled her off so Mikomi could sit up. She groaned as she held her head.
"My head"
Yuri got into medic mode and tried to cure all of the aches and pains that she felt"
"How are you feeling, honey?"
"I feel like I was hit by an over sized snake, who do you think I feel?"
"Sorry, I'm just worried that that seal Orochimaru put on you did something"
She looked at her stomach where the seal was usually at. It wasn't visible at the moment but she had a feeling that was messed up somehow.
"Hey, Usagi, can you hear me?"
She got no response.
"Usagi?"
No reply was made by her furry companion.
"Orochimaru must have done something to the seal. I can't hear Usagi at all or feel her chakra"
Yuri flicked her in the forehead to grab her attention.
"Ow! What the hell was that for?"
"You were spacing out"
"Well duh, I was trying to figure out what happened to me"
"Orochimaru placed some sort of seal on you and you've been out for 4 hours"
"Gee, even I can figure that out. I mean where are we? How long have we been in this forest?"
"It's already night time and we're almost near the central tower. We'll leave when it's morning and when it's less dangerous"
Mikomi rested her head against a tree.
"Great. I've been out for 4 hours while you lead my friends through a scary forest. How lucky can I get?"
"Relax, Mikomi" Tifa said. "Yuri made sure that we were safe while you were out"
"When you mean safe, do you mean leading you though spider infested forests and nearly getting killed by an S-ranked criminal?"
"Hey!" Yuri protested.
Bakuto rolled over from the spot he was laying at so he wouldn't face anyone.
"Save it for tomorrow stupid fox. We're all tired and we have a long day ahead of us so shut up"
Mikomi glared at him but didn't say anything.
Yuri yawned.
"He's right. I'm tired as hell. I'll take my nap now and keep a look out later"
She fell fast asleep.
Mikomi sweat dropped at her godmother and sighed.
"I'll keep watch since you were all up trying to take care of me"
"Are you sure Mikomi? We can stay up and let you rest a bit"
"Don't worry, Tifa. I've had enough sleep. Just go to sleep and save your strength for tomorrow. You never know what we'll run into with Yuri leading us"
The martial artist nodded and went to sleep. One by one, they all lost conscious and drifted to slumber land. Cloud pretended to sleep just in case Mikomi feel asleep.
Mikomi was lost in thought as she stayed up. Her mind went back to that woman she saw while she was out.
"Was that…was that Aerith?"
She pushed it to the back of her mind and went back on watch. She would think about it later when she was out of a deadly forest.
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The forest was just as thick here as it was near the front gates. The trees looked like they wouldn't clear up any time soon, which meant that they were nowhere near the tower. Walking as a large group really wasn't helping at all either. They would have stop every now and then because someone would get tired or would get caught in a trap and needed to be saved. With the way they were going, it would be a week before they reached the tower.
Mikomi sighed as Yuffie was once again freed from a trap.
"We're not making much progress" She said.
Bakuto gave her a look.
"Really? I couldn't tell"
She just gave him a tired look.
"How far are we to the tower?" She asked Yuri.
The medic pulled out her map and checked their location.
"According to this, the tower should be right up ahead"
"That's what you said 2 hours ago" Bakuto said.
"Really? Then why haven't we seen the tower?"
"Maybe we're going in circles or something?" Yugito suggested.
Mikomi took the map from her godmother and looked at it.
"Yuri" she said "this map is from twenty years ago. The reason we haven't seen the tower yet is because we're looking at an inaccurate map and there has be stuff added since the last time you stepped into this forest"
She handed her the map.
"Oh, I see. No wonder we ran into things that aren't marked on here. That explains why I didn't see the flesh eating slugs on the map"
Cid was currently trying to pick the slugs that were stuck to his skin.
"Oh that really helps out. I almost got eaten because we're looking at an old map. That makes me feel so much better"
Yuri laughed nervously.
"Sorry guys, I thought the forest would be the same as it was twenty years ago"
"Things change over time Yuri, you should know that"
Mikomi went up to a tree and started to climb.
"What are you doing, Mikomi?"
"I'm going to see how far we are from the tower. I should be able to see it through the trees tops"
She tried using her chakra to climb, but couldn't do it well with the seal on her. She would climb up a tiny bit, and then slide back down. She kept doing it until it got into Bakuto's nerves.
"Here, let me help you"
He grabbed her and threw her up into the branches. He could hear her screaming as she went up.
"That ought to help her" he said to himself.
Yugito shook her head as she looked at her boyfriend.
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Mikomi clawed at the branch that she was trying to hold on to. Bakuto managed to get her to the top, but now she had the task of trying to stay on the top without falling. It was difficult to do without chakra, so she had to do it the old fashion way.
When she finally managed to get her footing, she scanned the area until she saw the tower. It wasn't really that far, but it would take them a while if Yuffie ran into another trap.
"If we want to get there soon, we'll have to split up"
She carefully started to climb down, but lost her footing and plunged to the ground. Leaves and twigs hit her as she flew down. She tried to grab any branch that she could get her hands on. She managed to grab a stray vine, but it slipped through her fingers and somehow wrapped itself around her ankle.
"Oh, perfect"
The vine acted like a bungee cord as she hit the ground. She banged her head on the ground and hit a couple trees as the vine bounced a bit.
Bakuto laughed as he saw her dangling like that.
Mikomi just gave him the finger and tried to pull the vine off her ankle.
She gave up after a minute and just hung upside down for her friends.
"Are you ok, Mikomi?" Yugito asked.
"I'm just peachy" she replied as she swung around.
Yuri took out a kunai and cut the vine. This resulted in Mikomi hitting her head again as she was free.
"Did you have to do that?" she asked as she rubbed her head.
Yuri shrugged.
"I couldn't just leave you hanging there"
She picked her up and dusted her off.
"Did you see the tower?"
"Yeah. We're not that far from it, but with the way we're going, it'll be night fall by the time we reach it. If we split up, we might be able to get there faster"
"Why would we split up now when we could have in the beginning?" Bakuto asked.
"Because I didn't think it would take us this long to get to the tower, we need to report to Sarutobi before Orochimaru does anything else"
"Ok. And how are we going to get to the tower when we don't even know what it looks like?"
"That's where Yuri and I come in. I'll lead one group while Yuri leads the other. It'll be faster this way if we split in two"
"Oh, that's genius. We follow you as you lead us to our death"
"Hey, I wasn't the one who lead us into the spider infested forest. I know where to go, so you can trust me"
"I don't trust you with my life. I'll get myself killed if I follow you"
A tick mark appeared on Mikomi's forehead.
"Then go in Yuri's group. See if I care that you get killed because you didn't trust me"
"Fine, I will"
"Fine"
"Fine"
Bakuto went over by Yuri with Yugito following him.
"Sorry, Mikomi. I don't want to get separated from Bakuto"
"That's fine. He needs someone to look after him anyway"
Bakuto gave her the finger.
Cloud grabbed her when she went to attack him.
"Give it a rest. I want to get out of here as much as you do, so save it for later"
She just grumbled as she walked away to form her group.
"Whoever doesn't mind being with a Jinchuriki, step on over"
Cloud, Tifa, Vincent, Red Xlll and Cat Sith walked over.
Yuri looked at Cid, Barret, Yuffie, Bakuto and Yugito.
"I take it you're with me then?"
"It would seem so"
Yuri pumped her fists.
"Well have no fear! I'll make sure we have fun on this trip"
"I've had enough fun in this forest to last me a life time" Cid said as he stuck a cigarette in his mouth.
Yuri ran into the forest while she did a little victory cheer.
"This is not going to be good" Barret said.
Mikomi waved at them as they walked.
"We'll see you at the tower…hopefully" she said the last part to herself.
She looked at her group.
"Alright. Let's get the hell out of here and away from those evil spiders"
She used her sword to cut through the thick branches as they walked. Now is where things got interesting.
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Yuri's group
Bakuto held the bridge of his nose as Yuri continued to sing 'Sexy Back' as they walked.
"Why did I go with her?"
"Because you won't stop being mean to Mikomi and this is what you deserve" Yugito said.
"It's not my fault that the stupid fox annoys me to no end. I thought I would get a break if I went with Yuri, but it seems that I was wrong"
Cid put out his cigarette as he walked.
"None of us were thinking. I should have known that Yuri would be acting crazy. She makes Yuffie seem calm"
"Hey!" Yuffie retorted
"It's true and you know it"
The Wutai ninja just crossed her arms.
Yuri finished her song and looked at her group.
"Alright, judging from the gap of trees, I would say that we're almost to the tower"
"Are you sure? You could be leading us to another area that's filled with deadly animals" Bakuto said
Yugito elbowed him in the gut.
"Don't worry, I'm positive that we're going the right way this time" Yuri said with confidence.
"If I see another spider up ahead, I'll kill you" Cid said.
Yuri just laughed at his empty threat and pressed on.
"I have a bad feeling about what lies ahead" Barret said.
"Same here" Yuffie added
A girly scream was heard up ahead.
"Yuri!"
Everyone ran to help their friend, only to find her alright. I turned out that Yuri ran into Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru.
"Hey, it's Asuma's kids" Yuffie said.
Ino got into a fighting stance.
"Who are you and why do you look like Lady Yuri?" She said.
Yuri waved her hands in front of her.
"It's me, Ino. I'm not a ninja in disguise"
"Liar. You just want to steal our scroll"
Shikamaru placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Relax Ino, this is the real Yuri. I can tell"
He waved at the others when he spotted them.
"What are you guys doing here?"
"There was a slight problem here and we had to take care of it" Yuri said.
She didn't know if they knew Orochimaru was around, so she didn't want to give away too much information.
Cid walked over to Shikamaru and ruffled his hair a bit. He had taken a liking to the lazy genius since he was Asuma's favorite student.
"So how are the exams for you?"
Shikamaru shrugged.
"It has its ups and downs. We ran into a little trouble with a couple sound ninja earlier, but we're ok"
This caught Yuri's attention.
"Sound ninja? When?"
"A little while ago. They were after Naruto's team earlier so we tried to help them. Sasuke took care of them, but he acted a little strange"
"Strange? How?"
"Well, his chakra went all weird and he had these strange markings covering his face. It creped me out, but he's fine now"
Yuri had a feeling that this tide with Orochimaru.
"Do you know where Naruto's team is now?"
"Nope. We left them 15 minutes ago. They could be anywhere by now"
"I see. Well, good luck with your exams and stay out of trouble"
"Easier said than done. We almost got killed here because of Choji" Ino said.
Choji got all defensive.
"Hey! It was not my fault that we stepped into that quicksand! That was your fault!"
"Not blame it on me, fatty. We could have been done with this exam if you weren't stuffing your face the whole time we were here"
"Fat!? I'll have you know that I'm just Chubby. And besides, cubby's rule!"
The two started arguing with each other.
Shikamaru sighed.
"Not again"
Cid handed him a Haste materia.
"This ought to help you get to the tower faster. I'm sure you know how to use materia since you've seen me use it against Asuma"
"Yeah. You said it was like a giant ball of chakra. Thanks for the help"
"Just don't tell anyone that you got outside help with the exams. I'd hate to see you fail because your teammates couldn't get their butts in gear"
"I'll be sure to use this well"
"Good. You take care now"
Shikamaru waved at him as he pulled his teammates along.
"He's a good kid" Cid said.
"He sure is" Yuri agreed. "Now let's move it before it gets dark out. I want to find out what happened to Sasuke before we leave"
She went off with a slight skip in her step.
"We're going to die" Bakuto said.
"Bakuto. Stop being so negative" Yugito argued.
"What? We're following a 40 year old who has the mind of a 5 year old. If we get out of this forest, it'll be a miracle"
Yugito just sighed at her boyfriend.
"I wish we went with Mikomi. At least she would be thinking positive"
"If you call her childish mind to be positive"
"Stop being so mean to Mikomi" Taimat chided. "She doesn't deserve the cold shoulder"
"Yeah she does. All she ever does is annoy the living crap out of me. She thrives off of it, I just know it"
"You're being silly. Mikomi is just showing that even Jinchuriki can have fun. If you would just lighten up a bit, then I'm sure you would have so much fun with yourself. I bet Yugito would like to see that too"
Bakuto groaned at the mention of Yugito. Leave it to Taimat to pick at his one weakness. He glanced at his girlfriend for a moment. He had to admit, she seemed a lot happier since she meet Mikomi. Maybe it had to do with the fact that she knew another female Jinchuriki and wasn't alone anymore.
"She does look a lot happier when she's around that stupid fox"
"Well, duh. It's because Mikomi's fun and you're no fun at all"
"I am too fun!"
"You're too serious. Try to lighten up a little, will ya? We're not in the Cloud village anymore and we don't have to worry about people giving us the cold shoulder. Konoha is a pretty nice village. They have nice food, nice hot springs, and even nice looking girls"
"You're a pervert"
"Hey! I'm a legendary dragon trapped inside a moody teen. I need a hobby!"
He just rolled his eyes as his dragon whined.
"Can you please lighten up to Mikomi? She is the first friend that you made since you meet Yugito"
"She's not my friend. She's my rival. You can't be friends with your rival"
"Sure you can. Just look at Naruto and Sasuke. They're rivals, but they're still friends…sort of"
"'sigh' if I agree to be civil with that annoying fox, will you stop lecturing me?"
"Yep. I want you to have friends, Bakuto. You've been without one for too long"
"I'm fine with it that way"
"No you're not, you liar"
Bakuto frowned as Taimat saw right through him.
Yugito glanced at her boyfriend.
"Is something wrong, Bakuto?"
He shook his head.
"No. I'm just trying to think of a way to make Yuri stop her god awful singing"
Yugito giggled.
"I'm sure Mikomi may know a few things. She's put up with her longer than we have"
"That is true. I guess she can be useful for once"
Yugito playfully smacked him.
"Don't be mean to her. She just wants to be your friend, just give her a chance"
She gave him the puppy dog look that he couldn't resist.
"Very well, since you asked me"
She hugged him tightly.
"Thank you, Bakuto. This means a lot to me"
"Yeah, yeah"
"Oi!" Yuri hollered. "Hurry up or you'll miss the best part of the song I'm singing"
She started to do a rap song as she danced.
"I'm going to have a serious headache when we get out of here" Cid said.
"If we get out of here" Barret corrected.
Yuffie shrugged.
"Well…at least Yuri is making this trip entertaining"
Everyone just gave her a look and kept on walking.
"I wonder if that fox got lost yet" Bakuto said to himself
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Mikomi's group
"ACHOO!!!"
Mikomi sniffled from the sudden sneeze that came over her.
"Are you coming down with something, Mikomi?" Tifa asked.
"No. Someone is probably talking about me. I bet it's that damn dragon"
She Kougiken to cut down the trees that were in her way. Every now and then, she would kick one down.
She had a slight chip on her shoulder from the events from earlier. She was still upset with Orochimaru calling her a monster. Sure, she was use to it, but it still hurt.
"Are you ok, Mikomi?" Tifa asked.
She gave her friend a fake smile. She didn't want Tifa to worry about her, she worried about her enough.
"I'm fine Tifa. I just want to get out of this forest"
"Oh, you don't want to run into anymore spiders, do you?"
"You could say that"
Red Xlll could see through her lie right away. He wasn't the smartest in the group for nothing.
"You're still upset about what Orochimaru said about you?"
Mikomi stopped in her tracks. Her bangs covered her eyes.
"What makes you think I'm upset?"
"You're radiating a depressing aura off of you"
She sighed deeply.
"Sure, I'm upset. But so what? I'm use to it. That's the first thing that comes to everyone's mind when they see me. They don't see me as Mikomi, they see me as the demon that nearly destroyed the village and killed my dad"
She walked away without saying anything else and continued chopping down trees.
Tifa looked at her friend sadly as she walked away.
"Mikomi" she said sadly.
Vincent walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Mikomi"
"I know what you're going to say, but it's not alright"
She looked at her vampire like friend in the eye.
"I've had to deal with this for 13 years. You would think that the village would get over with the fact that I'm a Jinchuriki, but no, they take one look at me and they run for cover. I never did anything to them, so why do they have to treat me like this? What did I ever do to them?"
Tears filled her eyes.
"What did I do that made everyone hate me so much? I do what Sarutobi says. I fulfill every mission I'm given. And what do I get for all my hard work, nothing. Not a 'thank you for all that you've done' not a 'nice job', just the cold shoulder and public humiliation"
The tears fell from her eyes. She rubbed her eyes quickly. She hated it when she cried. It made her look weak. It was a disgrace for a ninja to cry openly.
Vincent took his cape and wiped her tears away.
"I know how you feel, Mikomi" he said with that deep voice.
"I understand your pain so well that I can feel it myself. I know how unfair it is to be treated so badly when you haven't done anything wrong. It's like fate is messing with your life for its own entertainment. No one knows what it's like to have a demon living inside of you on a daily basis. They don't understand the sacrifice we go through for them."
He ruffled her hair with his clawed hand.
"People just don't know what a true hero is anymore. Your father was a hero for sacrificing his life for you and the village, and you're a hero for harboring the demon that destroyed it. You have to be one of the bravest people I have ever met, and I'm honored to call you my friend"
Tifa came up to her and gave her a hug.
"We love you just the way you are, Mikomi. Don't ever change that."
Cloud just gave her a nod to show that he agreed. He wasn't good at these mushy moments.
Cat Sith jumped into her arms.
"Don't be ashamed about yourself. We're as different as you are, so you're not alone"
"It's like what Yuri said" Red Xlll said "people like us need to stick together"
Mikomi wiped the tears from her eyes.
"How did I get so lucky to have friends like you?"
Tifa shrugged.
"Who knows? Maybe we were all meant to meet each other"
Mikomi smiled at that.
"I hope that's true"
Red Xlll suddenly sniffed the air.
"I smell blood"
Everyone looked at him.
"Where is it coming from?"
"Up ahead. I can't tell whose it is, but at least it isn't Naruto's"
Mikomi walked ahead.
"I'm going to check it out"
Cat Sith waved his arms as she still carried him.
"Wait, Mikomi. You can't just go and check out some spot because there's blood. It could be a trap"
"I know, but since we've dealt with the worse already, then it can't be too bad. There's nothing as bad as Orochimaru"
"But you're still hurt! You should be avoiding danger, not going towards it!"
"I'll be fine. I can handle anything that comes in my way"
She looked over her shoulder to face Red.
"Come on Red. I need your nose to follow the scent"
Red sighed tiredly.
"She's going to get herself killed one of these days"
"Just lead the way, Red. We'll make sure nothing happens to her" Vincent said.
"Very well then"
He went to the front and started sniffing the scent of blood.
Cat Sith clung to Mikomi.
"I don't like this at all"
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Red sniffed the air for a while until he came to a sudden stop.
"This is as far as the smell goes"
Mikomi looked around the area.
"There's probably a body around here or something"
Sure enough, she found three bodies in a bloody mess.
"Geez, somebody went all out on these guys"
Vincent nudged one with his foot.
"I take it that this was done by no ordinary ninja"
"It could be, but then again, people tend to lose it when they enter this forest, so someone could have snapped and went on a killing spree"
A couple bushes rustled behind Mikomi.
Vincent pulled out his gun and pushed Mikomi behind him.
The bushes rustled some more before a dog came out and ran to them. It yelped a couple of times before jumping into Mikomi's arms. Upon closer inspection, the dog turned out to be none other than Akamaru.
"Akamaru? What are you doing here? Where's Kiba?"
The poor dog just shook as Mikomi held him.
Kiba came out a few seconds later.
"Akamaru, why did you run off like that?"
He saw Mikomi holding him and realized why.
"Mikomi-sensei? Is that you?"
"Yep, the one and only. Who else would Akamaru run to?"
Kiba sighed with relief to see a familiar face. He looked back at the area where his teammates were hiding.
"Shino, Hinata. It's ok"
Seconds later, the two teammates came into view.
Hinata fiddled with her fingers as she spotted Naruto's older sister.
"H-hello Mikomi-Sensei. What are you doing here in the exam?"
Mikomi gave her a soft smile. She knew Hinata well since she was Myou's younger cousin. She was also the only girl in the village who had a huge crush on Naruto.
"Hi, Hinata. If you must know, there was a slight situation that was going on in the exams that needed to be fixed"
"What kind of problem was it, if I may ask?" Shino said.
"Well, let's just say that someone was not suppose to be in the exam and they needed to be found"
"Was it that Sand ninja?" Kiba asked. "Because if it was, we just saw him. He killed those ninja over there like it was child's play"
Mikomi frowned at that.
"Did he have a giant gourd on his back by some chance?"
"Yeah, and he was controlling sand without using any hand signs. It was like it had a will of its own"
She didn't like where this was going. She had a feeling that this Garra character was going to be bad news. This just proved her right.
Akamaru jumped from her arms and went over to Re Xlll. He sniffed at the red beast with slight interest. Cat Sith freaked out and hid behind Red's hair.
"AH! He's going to eat us!"
Red just ignored him and looked at Akamaru.
"Hello little one"
Akamaru barked at him in response and waged his tail. He ran around him to show that he wanted to play. Red complied and nudged him with his nose and caused him to roll around. Akamaru yelped happily as he played with his new friend.
Kiba was awe struck as he watched his dog play with the strange beast.
"Whoa, what kind of animal is that?"
Mikomi decided to the introductions.
"Kiba, this is Nanaki, or Red Xlll. He's one of the friends I made while I was away. Red, this is Kiba Inuzuka. He's that guy I was telling you about who takes care of the ninja dog"
Red held up a paw.
"Pleasure to meet you"
Kiba shook his paw awkwardly. He wasn't use to greeting a dog this way.
"So…you're from a different world or something?"
Naruto had told the rookie nine about his sister's travels and how she ended up on a different world.
"That is correct. I am not form Konoha at all, nor have I been here before"
Kiba scratched his head.
"So…do animals from your world talk? I've never seen a dog talk before like you. Usually they have to be trained to know how to speak"
"Nope. I am a highly intelligent animal and I have been able to talk from the very beginning"
"Cool"
He crouched down as if he was talking with a friend.
"So, do you know how to fight or something? Most animals know how to fight here and you look like you've seen your fair share of battles"
"Yes, I have. I'm capable of fighting, but I don't know the ways of your fighting skills. From what Mikomi has told me, dogs are capable of performing jutsus"
"What? You don't know how you perform any jutsu?"
He rounded off on Mikomi.
"What the heck are you teaching this guy Mikomi-sensei? Everyone should know who to perform ninjustsu once they step foot in Konoha"
"Yeah, they should" Cloud added.
A tick mark appeared on her forehead. She had a feeling they were trying to tell her something.
Kiba ignored her and went back to Red Xlll.
"Don't worry, I'll teach you how to fight once these exams are over. You'll be ninja dog in no time"
Red grinned at that.
"I would very much like that"
"Alright then. It's settled"
He got up and walked to his teammates.
"Let's go you guys. I've had it up to here with this forest"
He jumped off into the trees.
"Take care, Mikomi-sensei" Shino said as he left.
Hinata stayed behind a little longer.
"U-um, M-Mikomi-sensei" She stuttered.
"Yes Hinata?"
Hinata gulped a bit.
"I-if you s-see Naruto…C-could you tell him I said good luck?"
She gave the girl a gentle smile.
"I sure will. Thank you for caring about him so much"
Hinata blushed deeply.
"I-I better go. Say hi to Myou if you see her"
She jumped off into the trees to catch up with her teammates.
Mikomi waved to her then rounded on her friends.
"So…you want to know how to perform Ninjutsu?"
Tifa laughed nervously.
"Well…we thought it would be a good idea to know how to fight properly in this world since we're staying here. And it would seem unfair if we made you and Yuri do all of the fighting"
"I'm use to fighting a lot. Why would I want to have my friends do deadly training and perform jutsus that could possibly kill you?"
"Oh, come on Mikomi. At least teach us a thing or about your fighting skills. I don't to see you get hurt again because I was unable to help you at all"
She grabbed her hands and pleaded to her.
"Please?"
She looked at the martial artist, then at the guys. They wore the same expression, minus the pleading look.
She sighed.
"I'll think about it. But for now, let's just get out of here"
Tifa nodded and let go of her hands.
"Follow me if you want to live"
Mikomi picked up her sword and pointed it to their future destination.
"The tower should be just up ahead"
She walked away while twirling her sword through her fingers.
"She's going to cut herself like that" Cloud said to himself.
Sure enough, Mikomi sliced her hand open as they walked through more trees.
"Told ya"
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In a matter of minutes, they arrived at the central tower.
"That wasn't so bad, but where's Yuri?"
Bakuto and Cid came running out of a clearing.
"Ah, she won't stop!" Bakuto yelled as he covered his ears.
"Yuri won't stop singing that stupid song! My ears are gonna bleed!"
Yuri came out while she was doing the Michael Jackson moonwalk and singing to Thriller.
Mikomi sweat dropped at her godmother.
"Yuri, could you keep it down? We're in the middle of a forest where there are enemy ninjas all over the place"
Yuri froze in the pose she was in as she realized this.
"Opps"
She just sighed at her godmother and opened the door that lead to the camera room in the tower.
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Scanning the monitors, she quickly found the video she was looking for. Camera 12 had caught Orochimaru killing the grass ninja's and using one of their faces as a disguise.
"Sick bastard"
Yuri peered over her shoulder.
"Did you find it?"
"Yep. He got in using the grass ninja's face as a disguise. It's no wonder he was able to get in so easily"
"Gross"
She went to turn the monitors off when she caught Naruto in camera 5. Rewinding the film, she saw him fighting Orochimaru and losing control.
"Naruto"
She turned the monitors off and looked at her friends.
"I had the footage we need to show to Sarutobi. We can get back into the village using the secret tunnel that it built here in the tower"
She went down the steps, not waiting if her friends were following her or not.
Yuri cracked her back.
"Well, this was an exciting trip"
Everyone groaned in protest.
"Your idea of fun is suicide to me" Bakuto said as he went downstairs.
Everyone complained as they followed Mikomi to the basement.
Her expression was grim as she opened the gate.
"This whole ordeal with Orochimaru" she thought "I can't help but feel like this is all going to get worse very fast"
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A/N: And there you have it. It wasn't the most glamorous chapter I have written, but it's better than nothing. And to make it all up, I'll be posting a special Halloween chapter for our story. Our favorite female characters will be partying and I am in desperate need of costume ideas for the girls. I'm looking for sexy, exotic ideas that will make the guys go nuts. So if you send your reviews, send in your costume ideas as well.
Thank you for sticking with me this far and I hope you stay with me still
JA ne