A/N: OK, guys, couldn't leave you on such an ending for an entire week, so here's the next chapter a little early. (: Again, please, no major spoilers in your reviews—if you reeeeally need to get it out, feel free to PM me. :D :D :D Can't promise I'll reply right away, but I WILL read it. :D Speaking of replies, I am refraining from replying to anymore from the recent chapters for the time being… I realized I'm getting dangerously close to spoiling stuff in my replies… ;;; So if I get time to respond to my wonderful reviews (love you guys :D), it's gonna be to the old ones, k?
Btw… this chapter 45… kinda exciting, eh? :D
-o-
"Abura-kun, she is this way."
"Cheh." He didn't seem to believe me. "I'm going this way."
"Why? We can't split up, we almost got ki—almost lost when we were all together. We can't split up!"
"Cheh, we have more of a chance of finding Sensei if we take different paths."
"Abura-kun, we don't have to find her. I know where she is. I found her already."
"I'm going this way," he said firmly, and walked away.
I stared after him, jaw working, trying to say something that would bring him back. I didn't want to get him killed, too. That would be… too much.
"Abura!" I yelled, not very stealthily. "Don't end up like Eiri!"
He stopped dead, turned around, eyes smoldering. I caught him in a Shadow Possession, held him there, walked up, knocked him unconscious with a punch. Then I left him in his jail, hidden in the darkness with the body of his best friend.
-o-
In my shadowy network of sight, Chie-sensei was locked in an intense battle with someone whose explosions kept hiding his face. The bursts of light and fire caused the gloom in their battlefield to fluctuate too unpredictably, and my head was going to explode; I let the shadow-sight go.
Just in time to trigger another trap.
Actually, it was a flurry of interconnected traps; I ducked one pair of flying kunai only to find myself practically face-to-face with a circle of spinning shuriken. With a quick chakra manipulation, I melted to shadow and avoided those—by triggering a rope that coiled hungrily around my legs and sucked at my chakra.
Several cuts, bruises, and chakra losses later, the blizzard of steel died down, and I found myself staring up at a blonde shinobi who was grinning ear to ear.
"Isane?!" I said, suitably surprised. "I—eh—it was you?!"
Her grin widened. "Yup! Kumo orchestrated this—and, well, village before friends. Speaking of friends," she added, before I could say anything, "where's Eiri-kun?"
"He's injured."
"Oh swoon! He's—" She caught sight of my ashen face, the downfall of my act.
"Kori-chan," she said quietly, "just how badly is my swoon-worthy opponent injured?"
I was silent for a moment. "…Abura-kun thought he was dead. I—" I choked. "I thought he was dead."
Shuriken fell from limp fingers, clattered to the floor. "Where is he?" she demanded, the most serious I had ever seen her. "Where?!"
"He's hiding," I mumbled. "I have to go get Chie-sensei before we go save him."
She moved slightly, and I thought she was going to let me pass, but she settled into a fighting stance, drawing another shuriken from its holster.
"I'm sorry, Takara-chan," she whispered. "Village before friends."
"I understand," I said, then thought of Gaara and wished I did.
She fought well, but she didn't fight hard. Each and every attack was blocked—not difficult, considering I was battling not only her but several injures—but not a single one was reciprocated. Only worry filled her bright blue eyes, not determination or heat-of-battle bloodlust.
I disarmed her with probably one of the weakest blows I had given the entire battle and held the kunai halfheartedly to her throat.
"Oh, just go," she said wearily.
I nodded and walked on, leaving her kneeling on the floor.
"Kori-chan!" she shouted after me, waiting until I was almost out of earshot. "Kori-chan, where is he?"
"Hiding," I said firmly, and moved on.
-o-
It really wasn't much of a surprise when I crept up on Chie-sensei's battle and her opponent was the explosive Haruka Hitomi, Isane's teacher. Chie-sensei's azure hair was singed, her clothes scorched and smoldering. Despite this, she didn't appear to be tiring—at least, not anymore than her opponent, because you couldn't be fighting for that long and not be tired.
What really shocked me was when Abura walked up behind me.
I jumped about a foot in the air and stared at him. "How did you get here?" I hissed, guessing Eiri had remained separately hidden, or else Abura would either look at lot more angry or a lot less alert.
"Cheh, I took the other path."
I rolled my eyes and sank into the shadows, preparing a sneak attack, but Abura didn't let me get that far. Silently, coldly—oh, I had never seen such cold fire in his eyes—he flung three raging fireballs at Chie-sensei's opponent.
All three struck her in the side, sending her right half up in flames. Miraculously, she let out no sound of pain, though her flesh burned and writhed.
Flying through the seals, Chie-sensei doused the fire with a quick water style jutsu, then slipped forward to threaten Hitomi's life with her blade.
The fallen jōnin scowled. "I can't yield to you."
"Of course you can't," Chie-sensei agreed, and put her to sleep with one burst of chakra.
"Where's Eiri?" the azure-haired jōnin demanded on turning to us. She was breathing erratically, but it seemed to be calming now that she was no longer fighting.
"He's injured," I said, looking into her eyes and hoping, for once, that she would see through my words. Of course she did. "Really badly. I've hidden him, but we have to go back and hurry or else he won't make it."
These words seemed to kindle a new spark in Abura's eyes. "Cheh, let's go now."
"Yes, let's," agreed Chie-sensei, and disappeared.
I looked at Abura, who looked back at me. "I don't have enough chakra left to do that," I mumbled. "I don't know how she does either."
"Cheh, neither do I," he muttered, irritated.
"I guess we'll have to walk," I said with false cheerfulness. "Let's take my way back; I already triggered all the traps."
-o-
We didn't make it more than a few steps before Isane showed up, face pale and eyes worried. Grabbing Abura's wrist, I tugged him back out of the way; the trapmaster trudged over to her scorched sensei and leaned down, shaking her awake. Apparently, Chie-sensei hadn't put much chakra into the jutsu that put her to sleep in the first place.
The sandy-haired jōnin's green eyes slid open; she sat up, mumbling something about too short a nap. Abura was tugging at my arm, wanting to leave, but I wanted to know how this would turn out.
Isane looked her sensei in the eye, then deliberately untied her hitai-ate from around her waist and dropped it on the ground.
Then she turned and walked back toward us. "I'm coming with you guys," she said quietly, while her sensei looked thoughtfully at her retreating back.
-o-
A/N: Normal chapter schedule will resume on Monday… The day after my birthday! Yayz! :D And Abura's is coming up, too. :D :D :D
