Sasuke's new Chidori or the strange arm that came out of Gaara's cocoon of sand wasn't the thing that caught Akira's attention the most. It was something far more dangerous. Thousands of white feathers were floating down onto the people into the stands and onto the battlefield, passing mere inches from Akira's nose. She began to feel drowsy, the feathers lulling her to sleep, but she put her hands together in a basic handsign and dispelled the Genjutsu that had settled upon everyone else. She had no time to look over to the others when there was a loud crash above her and a terrible rumble sounded and shook the ground beneath her feet. Akira immediately jumped down to the battlefield and ran to her brother's side; the both of them together could cause some serious damage together. Sasuke and Akira looked up to the Hokage and Kazegake's seats; there was a large cloud of dust that was settling, from which the Kazegake emerged, holding the Hokage hostage with a kunai to his throat. Numerous members of the Anbu Black Ops were on the roof where the Hokage was being held, however, four of them suddenly ripped themselves from their costumes and came out as four ninja bearing the Sound Village insignia on their forehead protectors. From what Akira could see, one of them had six arms and another had two heads. The girl frowned: nothing good was going to come out of them, especially since she knew the sketchy Jōnin of their village.
Suddenly, just as the four remaining Anbu Black Ops member jumped up to help the Hokage, the four Sound Village ninja performed a jutsu at incredible speed, making a large purple barrier surround them, the Kazekage and the trapped Hokage. Then the barrier extended and a roof was made above it, preventing anyone from coming in or out of the purple light prison. One of the Anbu Black Ops tried to go through the barrier, but when he came into contact with it all he could accomplish was bursting into flames. Akira growled. The Anbu Black Ops were outsmarted by the Sound Village... and they were supposed to be the best. The girl's eyes then drifted down a little, to where someone dressed as an Anbu was standing alongside four Sound Village ninja. Without a second of hesitation, Akira left her brother behind and released her Katana just after throwing a dozen kunai and shuriken at the enemy. She sent Chakra to her feet and jumped up, slicing through two of the ninja. She then skidded passed the rest of them and stood alongside Kakashi-sensei and Guy-sensei that just so happened to be nearby.
"I can see why she is a top contender, Kakashi," Guy-sensei said in a stern voice for once as he glanced down at the cut down ninja.
"I'm afraid to say that you haven't seen much of my ability yet, Guy-sensei," Akira said, staring at the fake Anbu member. "Kakashi-sensei, where do you need me?"
"Down there. With Sasuke," Kakashi said sternly.
As Akira went to run back down, Kakashi grabbed her arm and made her face him. Neither of them were showing emotions upon their faces, but Akira could tell that Kakashi was nervous from the strangle gleam in his eye. The girl frowned.
"Can I trust you?"
"What? Of course you can trust me! Who do you think I am, some -"
"Akira. Can I trust you?" Kakashi repeated, stressing every word.
"Yes," the girl replied, nodding firmly.
"Then do anything to keep your brother safe."
"Sasuke? But -"
"Akira that's an order."
Akira exhaled quickly and nodded once. Then swiftly passed the fake allies and jumped back down to the battlefield where Sasuke and Gaara were. The second she landed beside him, she noticed that Temari and and Kankuro had joined them. They were hunched over a crouching Gaara, who was holding his head in pain and growling. Akira gripped her Katana tighter and stepped in front of Sasuke, confusing the boy even more. It seemed that, just like Akira, Kakashi knew that Gaara was a Jinchūriki just like Naruto. Though she still didn't know why Kakashi insisted on whether she could be trusted or not. She'd cut down enemy ninja right in front of him. Was that not enough proof?
"What the hell is going on here, Akira!?" Sasuke asked, rather angry
"I only know what I can deduce from what I have seen." Akira looked over her shoulder at her brother. "The Sand and Sound Ninja have seemed to ally themselves, regardless of the new treaty, to destroy the leaf village; The Hokage is being held captive by the Kazekage on the roof inside a giant purple force field; The entire crowd is asleep because of Genjutsu performed by fake Anbu Black Ops members; and Kakashi-sensei has asked me to do anything to protect you."
"I can take care of myself and you know it, Akira!"
"Apparently not."
"Stop that, Gaara!"
At the sound of Temari's voice, Akira turned back around to face the three Sand Ninja. Gaara was trying to walk to Sasuke, no doubt to finish their duel.
"I must kill him," Gaara tried to argue.
"There's no point in continuing this fight!" Kankuro told him, trying to block his path.
"That's right. Don't forget our mission!" Temari added.
"Mission?" Akira whispered to herself.
"Out of my way!" Gaara shouted.
With a flicker, the three Genin's team leader popped in, shielding them from Akira and Sasuke. Moments later, the proctor who was overseeing the matches earlier also flickered before the rest of them, this time directly in front of Akira. The two Jōnin glared at each other until Gaara fell to his knees again. The Sand Village team leader looked back at him, seemingly concerned. Akira glanced at the proctor. He was staring at the four Sand Ninja, silent and unmoving, watching and listening to what they were discussing. She thought it best to do the same.
"What's wrong?" Kankuro asked, sounding a little panicked.
"His wound is worse than I thought," Temari said, crouching beside Gaara. "And his Chakra is almost all drained away."
Akira gasped a little, though not enough to gain the proctor's attention. The unsealed demon inside Gaara was already hard enough to control with his own Chakra alone, Akira couldn't imagine how long Gaara could withhold the beast without any left.
"Wait, what about using that-"
"It's impossible right now," Temari interrupted Kankuro.
"You fool," the team leader scolded, staring at Gaara almost fearfully now. "It's all because you tried to transform before the signal was given."
"So what do we do now?" Kankuro questioned. "We need Gaara for this."
"Gaara is the trump card of the Village Hidden in the Sand," the team leader said. "We have to get him to play his part, no matter what." The man sighed. "All right, for now, take Gaara away and tend to his wounds. As soon as his Chakra has been restored, the operation will continue."
"You got it," Kankuro stated.
"What about you, Sensei?" Temari asked.
"I'm going to take care of these guys," he said, looking back towards, the proctor and both Uchiha.
Akira heard the proctor scoff.
"Do you really think that things will go according to your plan?" he asked.
"I'll make sure that they do."
It took only a moment for the Sand Village Jōnin to yell at his students to make a run for it. Akira glared and nearly made a run for them, but she remembered that she had to keep Sasuke safe. Besides, she wasn't sure she would be able to get past the Sand Ninja that stood before the proctor.
"And is the host of this party, Orochimaru?"
Both Akira and Sasuke stared at the back of the proctor's head, scared. Sasuke's dark eyes were especially wide, and Akira's breathing quietly became faster.
"Don't know," the Sand Ninja said with a smirk. "And don't care. Now let's heat things up, huh?"
"Akira... Sasuke..." the proctor muttered after a moment. The siblings both looked at him. "The Chūnin exams are over. You are both of Chūnin skill level and you are both Hidden Leaf Shinobi. Now put your training to good use."
"Follow Gaara, Kankuro and Temari?" Akira stated more than she asked. "Sasuke and I will go."
"Just be careful. This is the real thing, not a match."
"Yes, sensei."
In a split second, Akira grabbed her brother by the arm and pulled him along with her as she made a run towards the last place they saw Temari, Kankuro and Gaara. Eventually he'd pulled from her grasp and attempted to accelerate, but Akira only pulled him back to deflect five oncoming kunai from the Sand Ninja with her Katana. She ignored the annoyed face of her brother as they both jumped up and over the battlefield walls and into the forest that surrounded the arena.
Blurred visions of trees passed before Akira's eyes as she and Sasuke jumped from tree to tree at extreme speeds and gained even more ground by sprinting on the forest floor on occasion. Wind rushed through her loose black hair and whipped it backwards, her midnight blue eyes were focused on the path she was following, and her ears were perked to pick up any kind of sound that could reach them. Akira suddenly glanced over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes.
"What is it?" Sasuke inquired.
"Three ninja and a summon just came into my detection range," Akira replied. "There is no need to worry, my range is very long and I recognize these Chakra signatures."
"Is that good or bad?"
"It's Sakura, Naruto and Shikamaru. The summon is no doubt Pakkun, one of Kakashi-sensei's dog summons. He and Might Guy were fighting fake Anbu last I saw them, and Sakura was watching. No doubt he didn't anticipate on you leaving the battlefield and is sending them to help me protect you."
"Why the hell does he think I need protection so bad!?" Sasuke said, outraged. "I'm beyond Chūnin level, the proctor said s o himse-"
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Sasuke. You heard what the proctor said; this is most likely, in part, the work of Orochimaru and we both know how your last encounter went." Sasuke glared at his sister. She sent him a side glance. "Last time we saw Orochimaru, he put a Curse Mark on us. No one puts a Curse Mark on just anyone, and for no reason, Sasuke. Kakashi, and most likely everyone who knows about these Marks, are worried that Orochimaru wants something more of us. Now, for once, I would greatly appreciate it if you stunted your pride and let me make the decisions for now."
It seemed as though Sasuke was about to protest, however Akira's eyes flickered back to the front and they widened ever so slightly. Sasuke's eyes followed. Temari, Kankuro and Gaara were only just within their sight line. Akira wordlessly signaled for them to accelerate, and so they did, gaining more and more on the Sand Village trio. Akira could sense Temari's and Kankuro's nervousness, and could feel Gaara's Chakra growing weaker by the second, the same strange aura starting to come back as she had felt it before. Suddenly she felt them stop moving and she told Sasuke, who almost stopped as well, but Akira signaled for them to keep going, hoping to give the illusion that they didn't know they'd stopped:
"We can't stop or it'll give us away. We want them to think we aren't onto them, especially if they're stopping to lay a trap," Akira explained. "We don't want to rush in eith - Sasuke!"
Though, Sasuke didn't pay heed to Akira's warning and he advanced faster. Sasuke set foot on the wrong tree, and a multitude of paperbombs exploded. Sasuke began jumping out of the way of all the paperbombs exploding. With a gasp, Akira threw shuriken at Sasuke. As he dodged them, he also dodged many nearly invisible cables ready to cut anyone who landed on them too strongly. Sasuke landed on a nearby tree and sighed, nodding in his sister's direction in thanks for the last minute save. Akira's head twitched to the left and the both of them ran a few more strides before finally coming face to face with Temari, Kakuro and Gaara.