As the cheers continued, Akira looked down to the battlefield hoping to find that Kakashi was still there with Sasuke. However, he was nowhere to be found. She swore loudly and glanced around the area, hoping to see a head of silver hair, but there was nothing. Shikamaru was surprised to see Akira's Sharingan activate simply to search for Kakashi, but then again, he'd never seen her more scared in all the time he'd known her. He watched as her eyes darted everywhere in the stands, panicked, desperately searching for Kakashi. Even Naruto had stopped looking down at Sasuke and Gaara taking positions for their battle, and he was looking on, concerned.
Suddenly, Akira dashed off. She ran down the stairs and through the hallways to the stands. She weaved through dozens of people, her Sharingan searching through them for the chakra signature she was looking for. However, it was about to become difficult. Thousands of white feathers began floating down onto the people in the stands and onto the battlefield. Some passed mere inches from Akira's nose, and the glow of chakra within them told her that this was Genjutsu. She put her hands together and dispelled the jutsu, then resumed her search. However, there was a large crash above her. A terrible rumble sounded and it shook the ground beneath the entire stadium.
Akira's eyes went from her search for Kakashi and up towards the Hokage's and Kazagake's seats. There was a large cloud of dust settling from which the Kazkegake emerged, holding the Hokage with a kunai at 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 away their costumes. Akira's stomach sank. Emblazoned on their headbands was the insignia for the Hidden Sound Village. Rage suddenly gripped her insides. How could she have been so stupid to put any sort of trust in Maru?
Just as the remaining Anbu Black Ops members jumped up to help the Hokage, the four Sound Village ninjas performed a jutsu at incredible speed. A large purple barrier surrounded them, the Kazekage, as well as the Hokage. Then, the barrier extended and a roof was made above it, preventing anyone from coming in or out of the purple prison. One of the Anbu Black Ops tried to go through the barrier, but when he came into contact with it, he burst into flames.
Akira's eyes suddenly drifted over to the stands again. One Anbu Black Ops member was stating amongst a few Sound ninjas. Without a second's hesitation, Akira left her position and released her katana after throwing a dozen shuriken at the enemy. She concentrated chakra in her feet and jumped up several rows of seats. As she landed, Akira sliced through two of the Sound ninjas and she skidded forward. Her eyes widened when they landed on Kakashi.
An overwhelming feeling of guilt made her sick to her stomach. Her eyes were wide and her eyebrows gave away the fact she was overtaken with worry.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't know."
When Kakashi's eyebrows didn't furrow in confusion, when the look in his eye didn't change, Akira could tell that he already knew what she'd been up to.
"Sorry about what?"
Akira's gaze broke from Kakashi's and she looked over, finally spotting Guy-sensei who'd spoken.
"Nothing," Kakashi said sharply.
He took a few steps forward and grasped Akira by the shoulders. Kakashi looked directly into her eyes. He could see fear. She could see nervousness.
"Can I trust you?"
"No! Kakashi, I—"
"I don't care. You would never knowingly put anyone in danger. Can I trust you?" Kakashi repeated, stressing every word.
Akira nodded firmly.
"Yes. Unequivocally," Akira said sternly.
"I need to ask a lot of you."
"After what I've done, I don't have the luxury of saying no."
"I don't trust Sasuke. You need to do anything to keep him safe."
"Sasuke? But—"
"Akira, that's an order."
Akira's eyebrows furrowed as the confusion mounted, but she nodded in agreement all the same. Without a second glance at Kakashi, Akira went past the false allies and jumped down to the battlefield where Sasuke was standing. Temari and Kankuro were hovering over Gaara. There was sand bubbling around him and he was holding his head in pain, growling. Though there was a concerned look on her face, Akira's movements were confident and assertive. She gripped her katana tighter and stepped in front of Sasuke. Whether Kakashi knew Gaara was a Jinchūriki and that Sasuke needed protecting from him, Akira didn't know. There was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind, however, that told her there may be something else Akira needed to protect him from.
"What the hell is going on here, Akira?" Sasuke asked, sounding rather angry.
"I can only give you guesses, Sasuke," Akira said sternly. "From what I've seen, it looks like, regardless of the new treaty, that the Sand and Sound Villages have allied themselves to take the Hokage hostage. He's being held by what looks like the Kazekge inside a giant purple forcefield. Not only that, but the entire crowd is asleep because of a genjutsu."
"And why're you standing there protecting me?"
"Kakashi gave me an order."
"Kakashi!? I can take care of myself!"
"Apparently you can't."
"Stop that, Gaara!"
At the sound of Temari's voice, Akira turned back to face the three Sand ninjas. Gaara was trying to walk to Sasuke, no doubt to finish their battle. There was no malice in his eyes yet, only a great deal of suffering.
"I must kill him," Gaara tried to argue.
"There's no point in continuing this fight!" Kankuro tried to reason.
"That's right! Don't forget our mission!" Temari added.
Akira's eyebrows furrowed. What could their mission be? Did it just involve the Hokage, or was there more that Maru had been hiding from her?
"Out of my way!"
With a flicker, the Sand ninjas' team leader jumped in, shielding them from Akira and Sasuke. Moments later, the proctor who was overseeing the matches stepped in as well, 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's eyebrows furrowed and her jaw set. She knew what happened when Naruto's chakra was low. The same was probably for Gaara. However, unlike Naruto, the demon inside Gaara wasn't sealed and he was already having trouble keeping it under control. She couldn't imagine how much longer he could hold off the demon without any chakra left.
"You fool," the Sand's leader scolded. He was 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. 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 nearly went after them, but she remembered Kakashi's orders, and she wasn't about to disappoint him any more than she already had. Sasuke needed protection, whether the threat was Gaara or not. Besides, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to get past both the proctor and the Sand Village ninja.
"And is the host of this party, Orochimaru?"
A sharp stabbing sensation made Akira clutch her head in pain, forcing her to drop one of her blades to the ground. She lurched forward as nausea rose and forced her to vomit. Sasuke looked at her concerned and the proctor glanced behind him. Even the Sand Village ninja, who'd just seen a boy with a demon inside him clutch his head in pain, looked at Akira as if the same thing was happening. The girl's breathing became sharper and faster as the pain continued. And whether it was because the proctor had said his name or because of the stressful situation, Akira's memories painfully came flooding back all at once. She remembered what she'd done to Zaku in the Forest of Death, she remembered exactly how she got the curse mark on her shoulder, but most terrifyingly of all, she finally understood why Maru's voice had become so familiar.
"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."
"Yes, sir," Akira said sternly, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "What would you have us do?"
"Pursuit of the Sand Village Genin."
"Sasuke and I will go."
"Just be careful. This is the real thing, not a match."
"Understood."
Akira grabbed the katana that had fallen out of her hand and she put one of them away. In the blink of an eye, Akira pulled her brother by the wrist and dragged him halfway across the battlefield toward where Temari, Kankuro and Gaara were last seen. Sasuke tried to wrangle himself out of Akira's grip, but the adrenaline going through her body wasn't letting him out. She pulled him up and out of the arena and into the forest nearby, only letting go so he'd fall back and avoid a flurry of kunai thrown at them by the three Sand ninjas. But just as fast as she'd let go, Akira had grabbed his wrist again, pulling him forward.
Blurred visions of trees passed before Akira's eyes as she and Sasuke jumped from tree to tree at extreme speeds to catch up to the three Sand ninjas. Akira let go of Sasuke's hand so that they could cover more ground, but she made sure to keep an extra close eye on him. Wind rushed through her loose black hair and whipped it backwards, and while her red eyes were focused on the path she was following and the vague outline of three people ahead, Akira's ears were perked to pick up any kind of sound that could reach them. As they went from the ground and back up into the trees, Akira glanced over her shoulder.
"What is it?" Sasuke asked.
"There's a group behind us," Akira said. "Don't worry, I recognise them."
"Is that good or bad?"
"It's Naruto, Sakura and Shikamaru. There's a summon too, probably Pakkun."
"Pakkun? Jeez, why the hell does Kakashi think I need so much protecting!?"
Akira's eyebrows furrowed. Something about this stranger was somehow familiar and it was putting her on edge, pulling her concentration away from the immediate danger. Akira didn't have the time nor the energy to withdraw or even more as Orochimaru's neck elongated and his fangs pierced hers and Sasuke's necks. Pain seared through Akira's neck better than a branding iron. Her mind conceded to the torment, unable to bring a thought to completion. As the burning spread to the rest of her body, the pain increased in waves, small lulls giving false hope of an end. Each peak robbed Akira of her ability to speak or scream, sending her crashing to her knees. It was as though her blood had become acid, intent on destroying her from the inside out. Without meaning to, Akira's body curled into something fetal, leaving her weak to attacks, all the while the pain radiated throughout her entire body.
"Sasuke! Akira!" Sakura shouted. "You! What have you done to them!?"
"I just gave them a little parting gift," Orochimaru said. "Very soon, Sasuke will seek me out, he'll desire my power. Akira won't hesitate to follow her brother—he's everything to her."
Akira heaved a sigh and glanced over at her brother with a worried look.
"You heard what the proctor said, Sasuke. This is probably, at least in part, the work of Orochimaru. We both know how our last encounter went."
"I thought you didn't remember," Sasuke said, narrowing his eyes at Akira.
"I didn't. And I would have preferred it stayed that way," Akira said sharply. "Look, last time we saw Orochimaru, he put a curse mark on both of us, and there's only a slim chance he did that for no reason. Everyone who knows about these marks is probably worried that Orochimaru wants something more of us. I'm worried Mar—Orochimaru wants something more from us. Now, for once, Sasuke, listen to me. I've got my orders and I'd like to carry them out without having any more... complications."
Sasuke frowned and as he was about to protest, Akira's eyes flickered back towards the front. His eyes followed and they landed on Temari, Kankuro and Gaara who had just come within Akira's line of sight. She wordlessly signalled for them to accelerate and so they did, gaining more and more on the Sand Village ninjas. Akira could feel Gaara's chakra weakening by the minute, the same vile aura starting to come back as the demon began to take over. Suddenly, they stopped. Sasuke went to stop as well, but Akira dragged him forward, maintaining their speed.
"We can't stop or it'll give us away. They need to think we're still running around looking for them, especially if they're stopping to lay a trap. It'll give us time to catch—hey, Sasuke!"
Sasuke didn't listen. He advanced faster, claiming that they needed to gain some ground, and didn't pay attention to Akira's warnings about the trees before them. Sasuke stepped on the wrong branch and a multitude of paper bombs exploded. He began to dodge them as they ignited. Akira narrowed her eyes. In the light of the explosions, she noticed the gleam of razor-sharp wires ready to slice anyone that came into contact with them. Akira took out several shuriken and tossed them at the wires. They snapped just as Sasuke landed on the next branch and he turned to look at her in thanks.
"Listen to me," she insisted. "You're going to get yourself killed."
"Shut u—"
"No! Kakashi ordered me to keep your ass safe and I intend to keep my word! I need—"
Akira cut herself off and sighed.
"I can't disappoint—"
A loud cry interrupted Akira. She and Sasuke dashed straight for the sound and after a few more leaps through the trees, they finally came face to face with Temari, Kankuro and Gaara.