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Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine, he is Kishimoto's
"Dattebayo!" -normal speech
'Dobe' -Thoughts
'{Shannaro!}' -Inner Sakura
"Ningen" -Boss Summon/Tailed Beast Speech
'Brat' -Boss Summon/Tailed Beast Thoughts
"Kage Bunshin!" -Ninjutsu/Genjutsu/Taijutsu move.
Beta'd by BigCC
Chapter 35: Forest of Death PT5: Sound of Silence
Dosu glared across at the little pink-haired bitch who had just given him air-time via a freaking springboard trap. He was going to make her pay for that one; those traps were not only painful but humiliating as well!
"Did ya have to fucking throw me?!" Zaku snarled as he pushed himself back to his feet.
The leader of the three Otogakure Genin shifted his glare to land on his only male teammate. Speaking of cold-blooded murder, after this mission was done, he was going to personally gut the fool with a dull kunai and strangle him with his own innards. What kind of arrogant moron tried to attack an Uchiha, who were known for inventing several Katon techniques, with a Fūton jutsu?
Apparently the kind he was being forced to work with.
Kin, who his personal biases told him should have been the weak link of the team, had actually proven to be the far more invaluable teammate on this mission. The girl had managed to eliminate the Inuzuka with a very well placed ambush and an application of her sound-based genjutsu. Not to mention how she'd been of great helping keeping The Moron (Zaku) in check since this exam began.
He absently made a quick mental note to apologise once they were out of this mess.
However his attention was quickly brought back to the battlefield when their target started running through more handsigns, obviously intent on doing some sort of long range firefight where he held the advantage. Not for the first time, Dosu really wished that they had a bit more generalisation in their skill sets. He was a taijutsu specialist, Kin was a Shurikenjutsu and Genjutsu specialist and Zaku was the ninjutsu specialist. On paper it seemed to be a well-matched design that covered all their weak points
The problem was that right now Zaku was less useful than a wall of tinder at the moment, due to elemental incompatibility.
"Kin, throw!" he barked out an order.
The lone kunoichi was already moving, drawing and throwing a hailstorm of senbon at the Uchiha in an effort to interrupt the boy's handseals and stop the jutsu before it could be formed. Only someone with a considerable amount of experience with a jutsu could cut down on or remove handsigns and Dosu doubted the Uchiha had that sort of experience.
Unfortunately, the pinkette at the back cut another vine, causing Dosu to growl in frustration (How many traps had that girl managed to rig anyway?) as a log suddenly swung in front of the Uchiha, acting as a shield and intercepting the wave of projectiles. And by the time the log swung away, the Uchiha had finished weaving handsigns.
"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" he snarled, spitting out a dozen small fireballs at the Otogakure team, who scattered to avoid them. At least Zaku seemed to have finally learned his lesson about using his fake Fūton jutsu against Katon jutsu and was now dodging admirably.
Too little, too late in Dosu's opinion.
Dosu growled in irritation as two more kunoichi dropped down next to the Uchiha. One was very obviously a Hyūga, while the other had the distinctive platinum-blond hair and pale blue eyes of the Yamanaka Clan. Unlike most of the Yamanaka he had seen in his brief look around Konoha, this one had a sword slung over her back and she seemed very comfortable with it as she drew the blade.
"Fuck me running." He growled in irritation. These Konoha shinobi were crawling out of the woodwork!
"Fuck. THIS!" Zaku roared and levelled his arms at the enemy squad. "Zankūkyokuha! (Extreme Decapitating Airwaves!)"
Dosu's visible eye widened. One didn't need the Sharingan to know what was going to happen next. Deciding to save himself and the one useful teammate he had, he leapt forward and tackled Kin out of the way of what he knew was coming.
A massive blast of wind erupted from Zaku's palm-mounted tubes, even more powerful than the Zankūha he had used before, as well as much, much faster. The Konoha genin who knew Katon jutsu wouldn't be able to make handsigns and fire one off in time to stop the fake Fūton jutsu from shredding them to pieces. So instead, they all used the Kawarimi no Jutsu to replace themselves with random pieces of cut-up trees whose locations they had memorised before the battle.
The Zankūkyokuha literally shredded the lumps of wood like a hot knife through butter. One second they were there, the next they were gone, leaving not even shavings behind.
"It's going to hit the tree!" Sakura yelled as she spotted the next thing that the wind jutsu would strike.
"NO! Naruko-chan!" Hinata screamed. She and the rest were powerless to stop the jutsu from crashing into the tree in which Naruko rested. What happened then was a surprise. A great roar was unleashed at the moment of impact, one that sounded part human, part great beast and all rage. It was laced with a lot of dense chakra, so much so that it was visible as a red wave that exploded from the tree's trunk and slammed straight into the Zankūkyokuha.
Everyone, even Zaku himself, had to cover their ears at the discordant howl of rage that deafened even the powerful Fūton jutsu. They struggled against one another, the backdraft from their collision sending the genin stumbling back until they affixed themselves to the ground via chakra on the soles of their feet.
With a loud 'CRACK!' and an explosion of sawdust, the tree where Naruko had been sheltered in was shredded to pieces and both jutsu were cancelled out by one another. As the Konoha and Oto teams recovered, something appeared amidst the falling clouds of dirt, sawdust and shredded leaves.
A pair of slitted vulpine eyes glowing a blood-red crimson.
"Oh…my." Ino gulped.
"Not THAT jutsu again!" Hinata fretted.
"Fuckin' hell…w-what is that?" Zaku breathed. The boy stared at the glowing eyes with fear. The feeling of chakra in the air was oppressive and suffocating, reminding him of the presence of his benefactor, Orochimaru. He had been a street rat who had stolen in order to eat before the Snake Sannin had picked him up and trained him as a shinobi. The one time he had made the S-Rank Ninja angry, he had been hit with an oppressive presence not dissimilar to this stifling atmosphere.
Kin gulped. She had never been stupid enough to piss off Orochimaru, but she had felt his KI when Zaku had pissed him off. She had only caught the edges of it, but it had been enough to convince her to NOT piss off Orochimaru if she could possibly help it. This was…worse.
Dosu was more used to this sort of thing than his two teammates as he had been on a couple of high-level B-Ranks with Orochimaru, although the leader of Otogakure had been disguised. On one of them, the Snake Sannin had torn another S-Rank ninja apart as if he were made of rice paper and the battle, as short and bloody as it had been, had been coated with KI from both shinobi. It was something that Dosu had never forgotten.
"Fall-!" he started to order. It was too late, as another bestial roar erupted from the bearer of those evil-looking eyes and whoever it was charged forwards, revealing a redheaded girl wearing red, blue and black clothes, with an enormous pair of slash marks ripping her clothes into diagonal quarters. Thick scar marks marred her cheeks, her nails were long and sharp and the feeling of rage and that utterly foul chakra were emanating from her like a beacon.
She moved so fast that she was like a blur. She stopped in front of Zaku, who leapt back and raised his arms to blast her. "Zankū-!" he started.
With a snarl of rage, the kunoichi grabbed the ninjutsu user's left arm and picked him up, throwing him over her shoulder and slamming him onto the ground strongly enough to crack the ground.
"…! Guh!" was all Zaku could choke out in pain. The redhead wasn't finished with him yet though, as she picked him up and smashed him onto the ground twice more before throwing him like a lump of meat at a tree. Zaku coughed up blood when he slammed into it before falling to the ground, and was clearly down for the count.
With a desperate cry of anger of his own, Dosu charged in. His Melody Arm was practically humming as he charged it with as much chakra as it could handle, aiming to land an overpowered Kyōmeiken strike and hopefully disable the she-demon long enough for them to escape.
However, said she-demon turned to glare at him and, almost negligently, raised her left arm and slashed at him. He tried to deflect it with his gauntlet, so he could use the sound of the impact against her, but he noticed a little too late that the claw-like fingernails on her hand were shrouded in a mass of chakra so thick it was actually visible to the naked eye.
With a shriek of tortured and breaking metal, the Melody Arm was shredded into pieces, with the force of the blow throwing Dosu back several metres.
'What the fuck?!' he thought in shock. 'She barely scratched me and I'm fairly sure my Melody Arm is the only reason I still have both my arms! What kind of monster are we dealing with here?!'
Kin didn't even try to fight; she turned around and fled, grabbing the insensate body of Zaku as she went and throwing him over her shoulders as she left the clearing. Deciding that she had the right idea, Dosu turned tail and fled right behind them. He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day, after all.
With Hinata
The Hyūga Heiress gulped as the savage and feral form of her girlfriend ripped through the Otogakure team with an ease that bordered on frightening. Was this the backlash from that Kinjutsu that she used?
Once the three enemy shinobi fled from the clearing, Naruko swung around and growled at her teammates and friends.
"I-Ino…what's wrong with Naruko?" Sakura asked, her mouth dry.
"She used a Kinjutsu a while back." The Yamanaka Heiress answered with trepidation. "She never said what the negative effects were but…this…could be it."
In a flurry of movement, Naruko was standing nose to nose with Hinata, who squeaked in shock. Lavender met crimson as Hinata tried to see any trace of lucid thought in Naruko's eyes. All she saw was feral instinct.
"Uhhh…ow…my fucking head…" Kiba groaned as he regained consciousness. Pushing himself up, he saw Akamaru still out for the count. "I hate fucking Genjutsu…"
Looking up he saw Naruko emitting some kind of intimidating aura and staring into Hinata's eyes. He saw the feral stance and actions and knew what had to be done here.
"Hinata!" he called. "Stare into her eyes, blink once slowly, look away and expose your neck!"
"What?" she squeaked.
"Just fucking do it!"
Gulping again, the bluenette followed his instructions. She slowly blinked once, looked away from Naruko and tilted her head slightly to expose the skin of her neck.
The feral Uzumaki Heiress leaned in, opened her mouth and lightly bit Hinata's neck without breaking the skin, getting a small moan out of the petite girl. Then…Naruko purred, actually purred, before leaping in front of Ino.
"K-Kiba…?" the blond girl asked nervously.
"Do it." The Inuzuka Heir nodded.
The whole process repeated itself, with Ino enjoying the bite just as much as Hinata had. Then Naruko's eyes turned blue again, rolled up and she collapsed, unconscious again.
"What the hell was that all about?" Ino asked, rubbing the hickey that her lover/teammate had left on her skin softly.
"Naruko is an Alpha and what you two just did was a kind of…ritual submission to her." Kiba shrugged. "She drove off the males sniffing around her territory and then marked you, basically staking her claim on you. Basic canine behaviour."
Both Hinata and Ino flushed bright red, with Sakura blinking in disbelief at Ino.
"So…what was it all about? This…submission thing." The Yamanaka asked after getting her face back to a normal colour, her hand absently rubbing the still-tingly bite mark.
"Alphas occasionally have to fight challengers to their position." Kiba stated. "Kaa-san does it all the time. She's won every match for years now. When the fight is over, if the loser is still alive, they look away from the winner and bear their neck to them or roll on their back to expose their belly. It's an act of submission, as the winner could kill them if they do that. Sometimes they have to fight for the respect of a female, in which case the bitch does the same thing. With us humans it's a bit different, but mostly the same. We usually leave hickeys on our mates to show they've been claimed."
"So it's an Inuzuka thing?"
"There are other Clans in the Elemental Nations who have bonds with ninja animals, y'know." The Inuzuka frowned before conceding, "But, well…it is mostly relevant in pack animals like wolves and dogs. Dunno what the hell happened to Naruko, but she was acting like a territorial Alpha. Good thing Sasuke and I were out of her line of sight; otherwise she might have attacked us as well." Given the way she had looked, Kiba certainly didn't want a quarrel with that alpha bitch.
That and it had killed any lingering attraction Kiba might have felt for the redhead. She reminded him way too much of his mom for any of that.
"Why?" Sasuke asked with his arms crossed in irritation.
Kiba looked at him with a 'DUH!' look on his face. "Uh, dude…you are someone Ino's been chasing after for years. You would have been an obstacle to defeat to claim Ino. I would've been a rival Alpha. Either reason would have been more than enough reason for Naruko to attack us in the state of mind she was in."
Ino looked at the Inuzuka Heir appraisingly. This kind of logical and well-thought out argument was not something that she would have expected from him. But she supposed that when it came to pack animal urges and behaviours, Kiba was from the canine equivalent of the Yamanaka Clan.
"We'd better move campsites." She said aloud as she knelt down and scooped up Naruko in a bridal carry. "Sasuke, search the three Kusa-nin we immobilised for whatever scroll they have. Everyone else, start packing up shop. We move in five."
With Sarutobi and the Jonin
"Well that was interesting." A certain cyclopean jonin drawled.
Kurenai glared at Kakashi. They had just watched, via the Tōmegane no Jutsu, Naruko tear through the team from Otogakure in a fit of savagery. Then there had been the little business with marking Hinata and Ino before she collapsed again.
"Could it have something to do with the Kyūbi, Oyaji?" Asuma wondered.
"Highly likely." Sarutobi nodded. "Naruko likely invoked the Kyūbi's chakra at some point to burn the poison from her body. And with her conscious mind unable to counter the effects, the chakra likely interacted with the more primitive areas of her brain and awoke her in a feral state. Judging from what happened, the two main areas that were affected were 'protect territory' and 'claim mates' respectively."
"So…she's claimed the Yamanaka AND Hyūga Heiresses?" Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow at that.
"Her primal, instinctive side has." The Hokage acknowledged. "Naruko's conscious mind had no say in what just happened. Kiba-kun's explanation was rather good, I'd have to say."
"But foxes don't run in packs." Kurenai pointed out.
"Some species do, actually." Anko, of all people, corrected her. When everyone looked at her, she shrugged "What? I did a bit of research when I started teaching her Injutsu, just in case Mr. Fuzzy had any effect on her."
"Moving on." Sarutobi said brusquely, not wanting things to get bogged down by that mental image, "Orochimaru has likely already withdrawn from the Forest by now, but we must maintain our guard. He obviously intended to mark Uchiha Sasuke, and I know my old pupil. He will not have given up so easily. We will also have to keep an eye on Team 8 as well, since I agree with Anko that he would likely try to hurt them to get to her."
A strangled growl of anger came from the Tokujō.
"They are currently being look over by a couple of teams of ANBU, but once they get inside the Tower, we will be more limited in our methods of protection and observation." The Hokage continued. "I will have Teams 7 and 8 placed on their own floor to prevent easy access by impersonating other genin on their floor."
"This is assuming that they pass the Second Stage." Asuma pointed out.
"Asuma, one thing I have made a point of doing over the years is never underestimating Naruko." Sarutobi smirked. "Once she's up again, she'll drag her friends through the forest by the scruff of the neck if need be. I have high expectations of her."
Later
Team 7 & 8's Third Campsite
Naruko groaned as she woke up. Her head was aching like someone had tried to user her as a battering ram against the main gates of Konoha. "Ooohhhh…anyone see what the hell stampeded over my head?"
A soft giggle from a familiar person made her blink her eyes open to see Hinata kneeling next to her. Relief filled the Uzumaki Heiress at the sight of her girlfriend safe and sound.
"Hey." She said softly. "You OK, Hinata-chan?"
"I am." The bluenette nodded. "How do you feel?"
"I feel OK." Naruko said after pausing for a moment to check. "Still got those damn scars though. They'll take forever to get rid of. What happened after I got fainted?"
"Hokage-sama fought Orochimaru off; we fled to a tree and were double-teamed by a Kusagakure team and the Otogakure team earlier this morning." The Hyūga Heiress answered steadily. "Ino-chan and I took down the Kusa team fairly easily, with Team 7 holding off the Oto team with some difficulty. Then…then you attacked the Oto team."
"Huh?" the redhead raised her eyebrows at Hinata in confusion. "Hinata-chan, I think I'd remember fighting those three."
"Your eyes were red, Naruko-chan." Her girlfriend answered steadily. "You attacked with some sort of chakra-laced sonic roar to stop a Fūton jutsu, threw the ninjutsu-user around like a rag doll, shredded the taijutsu-user's gauntlet like it was made of paper and then gave Ino-chan and me hickeys!"
Naruko's eyes bugged out of her skull. "I did what?!"
In answer, Hinata tilted her head to one side and pulled her jacket away to reveal a faint series of tooth marks where her neck and shoulder met. A part of Naruko was shocked that she'd done that, but a far more primal part of her purred in approval.
"Um…I'm sorry?" she tried.
"I don't mind that you did this, Naruko-chan, but…next time, not in f-front of other people?" Hinata muttered out, her face flushed. She was still shy about showing affection in public.
Naruko patted her on the leg. "Promise. Now, any water for a thirsty girl?"
After drinking some water, Naruko greeted the rest of the genin in the clearing. It turned out that the Kusa team had had a Heaven Scroll, which put Team 8 in a good position. The Uzumaki Heiress sealed the scroll away in a seal on her right thigh. No point sealing both scrolls together.
"So, to sum it up, we got our asses kicked all over the damn forest yesterday and today." Naruko said with irritation in her voice as she waited for the food on the campfire to cook. "Damn that Snake Bastard." she muttered under her breath before sighing and looking at the rest of her team. "So do we have a plan moving forward?"
"We haven't had time to discuss anything; we just finished moving camp a few minutes ago." Sakura admitted. She had been eying both Ino and Naruko thoughtfully since the redhead had woken up.
"Well first we have to get you three an Earth Scroll." Naruko pointed out. "Before Snake Features showed up, my clones found all the teams and their bases. They're still tracking them and I can point us in the direction of a Tsukigakure team that has an Earth Scroll."
"Wait, how are all your clones still intact?" Ino blinked in mild surprise.
"The only jutsu they've been using are the Henge no Jutsu, a single Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and the Tree Climbing Exercise." Naruko shrugged as she pulled Hinata into a one-armed cuddle that made the Hyūga Heiress blush, though she raised no objections. "Plus they have chakra pools about the size of Kurenai-sensei. Fairly low for a jonin, but more than enough for mid-term spying detail."
"Right. What about the three checkpoints?" Sakura asked.
"I can lead you to them too." The Uzumaki Heiress assured the pinkette. "A word of warning though; they've not repeated a single test in the entire time that my clones have watched. No clue exactly what kinda tests they'll give us, but each one has a theme. One focuses on mind games; tactical scenarios, mental gymnastics, that sorta thing. Another gives challenges based on physical ability; running an obstacle course and the like. The last involves challenges that are basically impossible situations."
Ino snorted. "That sounds like Shikaku-sama alright. Mind, Body and Spirit challenges."
"Yeah. Another rule he 'neglected' to mention? We only have two chances for team member to complete the challenges." Naruko nodded. "As in, each member can try the challenge issued twice. Once the third member fails the second time, a member of ANBU will show up and withdraw the team. Happened three times while I've been watching, once at each checkpoint."
"Just great." Kiba said sarcastically. Akamaru yipped in agreement.
"Let's break camp and head to the Tsukigakure team's camp." Sakura decided. "We can worry about the challenges after both our teams have a full set of scrolls."
"Sounds like a plan." Naruko nodded in approval.
As they were tree hopping to the camp, Kiba pulled up next to Naruko and asked quietly, "Why'd you decide to help us?"
"You guys could've turned on us once Ji-chan scared Orochimaru off." The Uzumaki Heiress answered just as quietly. "You didn't, so one good turn deserves another."
Nodding, the Inuzuka Heir kept moving forwards.
"We're here." Naruko whispered as the landed on a particularly large branch. They had halted a few trees away from a small clearing where a trio of genin were huddling in the centre.
Tsukigakure was in the centre of Arechi no Kuni (Land of Wastelands), a country with very few trees outside of strictly controlled plantations in between Kaze no Kuni and Iwa no Kuni, so the fact that they eyed the trees with a great deal of mistrust was to be expected. Most Tsukigakure shinobi never left their country, which also held itself apart from most of the wars that had wracked the other nations.
The Konohagakure shinobi, however, had extensive experience in and around trees.
Between Sakura and Naruko, they managed to cobble together a workable plan and implemented it. Several clones of Naruko Henge'd into the large tigers that filled the forest and started roaring. This, obviously, freaked out the three genin, two kunoichi and one shinobi, and they started to panic, all drawing weapons and focusing their attention on the direction the roars were originating from. While they were distracted, Ino and Hinata snuck up on them and took them down easily thanks to Hinata's increasingly high skill in Jūho, as well as Ino's use of the Shinranshin no Jutsu.
Naruko made a note to not get her girlfriends mad with her.
"They don't have a scroll on them." Ino reported after the others got down and she had finished frisking the three captured genin.
"No, they hid it…over here." Naruko pointed at the big rock that took up the centre of the clearing. She drew Himiko and nudged aside a rock at the base, revealing the scroll in question. "Smart idea, poor execution. First place someone would look."
None of the Tsukigakure shinobi could talk, due to the gags in their mouths, but if looks could kill, Naruko would be six feet under. Not that it bothered her. The villagers had given her far more deadly glares on an off day than those three were managing right now.
"Aw, hell yeah!" Kiba practically howled in glee as he put the scroll into his coat. "One more step down to earning our flak jackets!"
While he was celebrating, Naruko had sheathed her sword and stabbed a kunai into the ground in front of the three defeated genin.
"I'll leave this here so you can cut yourselves out." She said. "Don't come after us. Or next time, we'll strip you naked and hang you by your feet over the nest of those giant acid-spitting caterpillars that roam around here at night."
The widening and quickly darting alarmed eyes of the three genin reassured her that she was going to be obeyed.
"Damn." Kiba muttered with a shiver. Once again he was reminded of a lesson his mother and sister had pounded into his head from a young age, and had repeatedly stressed during his recent training. Do not mess with the Alpha Bitch!
With Team Dosu
"What the fuck do you mean we ran?!" Zaku roared in fury. The three Otogakure genin had found a cave to serve as a temporary base and were currently licking their wound. Unfortunately, the idiot seemed to have forgotten the basics of acoustics in a tunnel; it amplifies sound. Thus, Kin and Dosu were forced to grit their teeth as they were half-deafened by the loud boy's outburst.
"Shut the fuck up, you fuck up!" the kunoichi hissed angrily as she shook her head to clear the ringing sound from her ears.
"Agreed. Kin and I made a tactical choice to fall back after you were taken out and my Melody Arm was destroyed." The bandaged genin growled. Luckily, like any good shinobi who specialized in weapon-based combat, he always carried a spare and had replaced his destroyed gauntlet as soon as they had reached the cave.
"Fuck that!" the ninjutsu user raged. "These Hidden Leaf pussies shouldn't have been able to do this to us!"
"In case you'd forgotten, Orochimaru-sama was once a 'Hidden Leaf pussy' as well, Zaku." Kin sneered. "I double dare you to say that in front of him. No, whatever else these Hidden Leaf ninja are, weak is one thing they aren't. That girl with the crimson eyes had to be at least chunin-level, maybe even Tokujō-level, in taijutsu. Some variant of an Inuzuka maybe?"
"I'd put it halfway between, Elite Chūnin." Dosu nodded his agreement with his female teammate's appraisal. "This is beyond us. They had a second team as a backup, so not only were we outnumbered two-to one, but one of their allies is well above our weight-class. I do not want to have to face that feral berserker again."
"I can't believe this!" Zaku had a vein popping out as his rage grew. "So one stupid little attack goes wrong and you decide to run with your tails between your legs?!"
"Zaku, I'm going to explain this again, and this time I'll try using smaller words so your pea-brain can understand." Dosu stated slowly, as if talking to a particularly dim child. "Team 7 knew we were after the Uchiha before we even showed up. That means any chance of ambushing them again, which would be our best chance to score a quick win, has gone out the window. From now on they'll definitely prepare defences at their camps, probably ones far more extensive than what we faced earlier. They also have an allied team with them; which include a Hyūga and a Yamanaka if looks are anything to go by. Not to mention the redheaded she-bitch who fucked you over in less time than it takes to swat a bug.
"That means they have the defence advantage. They have the number advantage. Thanks to the Inuzuka having our scents now and the Hyūga they have a scouting advantage. They even have the fucking power advantage, Zaku. Which means We. Are. Fucked. We had most of the advantages this time; another team attacking from the other side to distract their backup, surprise, and the redhead down for whatever reason. And yet we still managed to fuck up. Now we have almost no chance. Not at taking down the Uchiha…and not at living once Orochimaru gets his hands on us."
Kin started cursing and the blood drained from Zaku's face. "We have to try!" the modified boy shouted out.
The brunette kunoichi looked at the ninjutsu user in disbelief. "You fuckwit, how many times does Dosu have to spell it out: we've lost! Hell, I bet the snake bastard woulda screwed us over sooner rather than later anyway. You do remember the reason that Dosu has to wear those bandages, right? Orochimaru wanted to try a skin treatment of some kind and now most of Dosu's skin is so fucking sensitive that direct sunlight gives him a rash! And that's mild compared to some of the shit he's done to people who have 'disappointed' him!"
Even as she spoke, she could see the inability and unwillingness to comprehend in Zaku's eyes. Orochimaru had taken him off the streets, fed him, trained him and had basically been the first person in his life that gave any kind of shit about him. Zaku was a true believer and would not betray Orochimaru until it was too late to do anything about it.
Turning, she locked eyes with Dosu and made a small gesture with her head.
Abruptly, Dosu lashed out with his Melody Arm and struck Zaku with a powerful Kyōmeiken strike that landed almost perfectly, stunning the ninjutsu user. While he was recovering, Kin lazily drew and threw five bell-senbon equidistantly around him.
"Ongenjutsu: Suzu Onpa." She said softly.
As the ringing started up, Zaku tried to raise his arms, but couldn't. He was falling unconscious again and there was nothing he could do about it.
"F-Fucking…t-traitors…!" he choked out before his eyes rolled back. He was unconscious again.
"So now what?" Kin asked, somewhat subdued. This had been something she had discussed with Dosu after they'd managed to drag Zaku out of the clearing and across the forest until they found this cave. Both of them were smart enough to understand the type of person they were working for and how badly they were screwed now that they'd failed to accomplish their assigned goal. It hadn't taken long for them to decide that it was time to get the fuck out of dodge.
Zaku had been the main fly in the ointment because of his diehard loyalty to Orochimaru. Still, moron or not he was their teammate so they'd decided to try one last time to make him realize just what was waiting for them now.
Without him though…
"That's a good question." A female voice said from behind them, making the two genin jump in fright and spin around, weapons ready. Standing with her arms crossed was a member of ANBU, the cat mask staring at them blankly. "Stand down. We've had our eyes on you lot since your fight with our genin earlier. You've already realized that Orochimaru has screwed you over, correct?"
"What's it to you?" Dosu asked guardedly.
"Simple. Hokage-sama wants to know what his old student has been up to, which you can provide." Neko stated. "Surrender, give us all the information you have on Orochimaru that you possess and Hokage-sama will ensure that you live through what is to come. This is your only chance to accept this deal. Should you refuse, you will be captured and left to the tender mercies of Mitarashi Anko. She is very much not happy that you attacked her students."
Kin went white with fear. Mitarashi Anko, the Snake Mistress of Konoha, was Orochimaru's ex-apprentice and was infamous for her bloodlust and sadistic tendencies, both on the battlefield and as an interrogator. Some rumours said that she bathed in the blood of her victims, while others whispered about bloody orgies. In any event, Kin had no desire to be bound and helpless before her. No way in hell!
"We surrender." Dosu said after a moment. Slowly moving his arms, he unclipped his Melody Arm and dropped it to the ground, followed by his pouch of kunai and shuriken. A moment later, Kin followed suit with her senbon and kunai pouches.
"Hitai-ate too. You won't need them." The ANBU nodded at their forehead protectors.
Frowning, they begrudgingly untied their forehead protectors and dropped them to the ground as well.
"Tora, Tori." Neko said calmly, two more ANBU appearing at her words. "Take their hitai-ate and make it look as if they fell prey to the animals in the Forest of Death. We have their blood types in their registration forms, right."
"Hai, Neko-san." Tori answered.
"Good. I'll take them to Ibiki-san myself."
"Wait, we agreed to your terms!" Dosu protested.
"I know. That means you get interviewed by Ibiki-san. He can spot a liar a mile off, so don't think of trying to pull the wool over his eyes." She warned them as she strode over and placed a hand on one of their shoulders each. "Hold onto your stomachs. Side-Along Shunshins are not pleasant."
In a large puff of chakra smoke, two members of the Otogakure team vanished from the Forest of Death, leaving the third behind insensate. The visit of a hungry tiger later and he was gone as well, albeit in a more gory and visceral manner.
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Next Chapter: Forest of Death PT6: Mind, Body and Spirit
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