Kaiyuga: {Pulls herself from the ceiling} Oh, you gonna get it now!
{Kaiyuga lunges onto Kohaku- san, biting into her shoulder}
Kohaku- san: GAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Kaiyuga: And now, my dear….
{Kaiyuga rests her long black talons on Kohaku- san's shoulder, and roaring with feral intensity, tears flesh and blood from Kohaku- san, rendering her arms immobile}
{Kaiyuga bites down on one of her claws, tasting the blood}
Kaiyuga: {Smacks tongue against the roof of her mouth} Hmmm…Amber- tasting…
{Kaiyuga grins as she raises a clawed hand to strike the final blow when a hand grips her wrist}
?????: Your fight is not with her, but with me, remember?
Kaiyuga: {Softly chuckles to herself}How right you are, KakashiLvr.
{Shoves the other set of claws through KakashiLvr's forearm, squirting blood and making KakashiLvr let go}
{KakashiLvr falls to the ground, gripping her bleeding arm}
Kaiyuga: {Mockingly worried voice} Oh my, I think I struck your artery…{grins}
{KakashiLvr glares as she ties a handkerchief to her bleeding forearm, coming close to tourniqueting it}
{Slithering one of two poisonous blue tongues, Kaiyuga licks the blood from her claws}
Kaiyuga: {O.o?!} Blood…
{Eyes dilate}
KakashiLvr: Oh shit…
Kohaku- san: {Struggling to get up} Whut?
KakashiLvr: Well, whenever she tastes blood…
{Kaiyuga squalls as she grips her head, her eyes slowly turning black}
KakashiLvr: Oh crap…RUN!!
Kohaku-san: But..?
KakashiLvr: RUN!!!
{KakashiLvr grabs Kohaku-san, and they try to make it to the door out when a cage of bone spikes ram upwards, blocking their escape. Not only that, but they're incased with chakra electricity}
?????: Oh no, my dears…We've only just begun…
"There." Aki stood back, grinning as she looked over Kage.
She turned in circles, checking her Naruto-ed outfit.
She wore a water blue T- shirt, a white vest protector strapped on top. Her red scarf was wrapped around her neck several times, creating a makeshift "caol" on her shoulders. She had black, fingerless gloves with plating nailed to the back. A ring of protective ninja fabric was wrapped around her lower torso, a shiny green pair of skintight shorts covering most of her thighs. A waistcloth with the Konoha emblem was tied in the center of her waist and trailing down to her shins. Aki had woven a shin- guard of bandages and threw a pair of ninja sandals on to complete the mix.
Aki slowly nodded in approvement before she noticed a crucial part of the outfit was missing.
"Hang on!" Aki slid the female Grass nin's headband off of her forehead, "You'll need this."
Aki tied the headband under Kage's bust since that was the only open space on her and she didn't like things tied to her forehead for some odd reason that Aki had found out the hard way.
"There we go. Now you'll fit." Aki beamed.
Kage looked down at the waistcloth and eyed the Konoha emblem. It took her a few minutes, but then it clicked.
"Hang on! We're in the Naruto world!" Aki sweat dropped big time, and sheepishly smiled.
"Didn't think you'd catch on the quickly…" Kage suddenly fumed at Aki.
"Are you saying I'm stupid?!" Aki shook her head vigorously.
"Nononononono!!" Aki waved her hands.
That sudden motion was what struck Kage.
"Oh! OH!! Aki, Aki!" She looked up.
"Hmm?"
"I practiced those hand signals you taught me!!" Indeed, Aki had taught Kage a few hand seals back in her reality.
Kage started to do a quick session, getting lost on the Dragon hand seal for a moment. Aki suddenly recognized the order of hand seals, and knew it was too late to stop Kage.
"HOLY SHI- DUCK AND COVER!" Aki flung her self behind a boulder as a giant waterspout shot from Kage's opened palms.
A few dead seconds passed before Aki warily raised her head up from behind the boulder. Five sturdy trees were uprooted from the blast, soaked in water. Kage stood there in the wake of the destruction, gaping as her hands were still open.
"What the-?! How did I-?! What was-?!" Aki slowly approached her.
"That…was a Suiton Suiryuudan no Jutsu. But where was there..?" And then she remembered.
There was a river running through the Forest of Death. That's where Kage got her water source.
"What did I do? I just did this, then this…" She began the session again.
Aki's eyes popped out of her head as she hurtled herself into Kage to stop her from doing another.
"Careful! Do you want to hurt someone on mistake?! What if it was ME?!" Kage bowed her head, making a small dog- like whimper.
Aki rolled her eyes.
"Oh, come on. Get up." Aki held out a hand as she sighed.
Kage grinned, and Aki pulled her up.
"Well" Aki cleared her throat, "Um, can I make a deal with you?"
Kage innocently cocked her head to one side.
"If I teach you how to control those hand seals, can you…oh, God, this is stupid…"
"What? What is?"
"Could you…continue teaching me jujitsu?" Kage was flabbergasted.
"Aki, I mean, I'm only a blue belt! I only got it a month ago, remember?"
"Yeah, but you know all of what's before you, and I'm still only yellow, even after seven months! You topped the charts when you were considered for yours, right? A WEEK early?!" Kage nodded, remembering that night of her life.
There she was, giving it her all on the mat, jabbing the air with all her might in Zukis. As her sensei cried out numbers in the Japanese language, she could see Aki scrunched in the corner, marveling at her performance and of those around her. At the home stretch, she could hear Aki cheering her on, saying, "COME ON KAGE, YOU CAN DO IT!" After three sentences, her ears locked down, and her mind was fixed on getting her yellow belt. NO way in HELL would she mess it up NOW! And there she was, kneeling in front of her sensei, bowing to the mat as the fabric trophy was handed to her. Her body swelled with pride, and could not suppress the growing smile that dominated her face. Aki was there, clapping and beaming. The last time before her frame had shattered completely.
"Kage?" Aki's voice snapped her back into reality.
"Huh?"
"Would you do it?" Kage gave it some thought.
"I'll have to be as tough as sensei."
"I don't mind." Aki went to her knees, bowing her head to Kage's feet.
"Please, sensei. I ask you of this." More buttering for Kage.
"Sensei?! I'm not even a SEMPAI yet!"
"To me, you are a sensei. You deserve the title; I swear it."
"Would you be up to the task?"
"Hai."
"Would you put the same dedication into this as I did?"
"Hai."
"Are you willing to hear criticism from me? It could be harsh sometimes."
"Hai."
Kage gave it one last thought.
"Okay then. I'll do it." Aki bowed again and rose.
"I'll hold up my end of the bargain too!" Aki pointed a thumb at herself, grinning similar to Naruto.
"Right then, we need to ingest some chakra skillz into that brain of yours!" Aki tapped Kage's forehead.
"Hai, sensei." Aki looked humbly pleased.
"OoOoOoOo. This is gonna get interesting…" Aki grinned craftily.
"Right, we need to give you some skills that are associated with your name, so first, I'm gonna teach you some killer shadow moves that I created and some that have already been made, kay?"
"Hai, sensei!" Aki smirked, getting used to the sensei bit.
…………
"Did you muster up enough chakra?" Kage's hands were pressed together in a Tiger seal, trying all her might to create chakra.
"Whoa, don't blow your head off. Here, remember Ki in you jujitsu class?"
"Hai…"
"Think on those lines, kay?"
"Hai, sensei. Areigatou, sensei."
"Meiki sanba, grasshopper!" Aki's eyelids curved in a googly smile.
"Right, have you got it now?"
"I…I think so."
"Okay, let's try it out again then." Aki squatted down, staring that the shadow of a nearby tree.
"Ready?" Kage nodded, her eyes closed in concentration.
"NOW!"
"AKAKAGE NO JUTSU!" Kage's eyes flared open as a red mist shot from her hands and landed on the tree's shadow.
Slowly, the black mixed with the chakra, and started to turn red.
"HA! I did it!" Kage leapt into the air, "I did it! I did it! I did it!"
"You didn't."
"I did it, I did it, I- SHIT!" The tree's shadow was quickly morphing back to black.
Aki sighed.
"Kage, you have to have concentration on your chakra command. Otherwise, the jutsu won't work. You gotta relax. Chill. Act kewl." Aki started doing funny body language that made Kage snicker and smack Aki in the side.
At first, Aki laughed, but then her face was frozen in a stare, and her hand suddenly gripped her stomach.
"GUH! Dammit!" Aki fell to her knee.
"Aki? Aki?!" Kage gripped Aki's arm to keep her from falling.
"I- I just need to…GUH! Sit down…" Kage carefully placed Aki against a tree for back support.
Her hand slid into her backpack, and Aki pulled out a small vial and unscrewed the cap. Two red/yellow capsules clattered into her hand, and, hoarsely breathing, Aki chucked them into her mouth. Kage watched as Aki took a huge swig from her water bottle, and closed her eyes to concentrate on the pain.
"Aki?" Her voice had a hint of worry in it, "What are those?"
"Hnn? Oh, meds for my stomach wound." SHIT! She told Kage she was in a dream! Crapcrapcrapcrap!
"Huh?" Aki suddenly faked another blow to her stomach.
"Aki! Are you going to be alright?!" Aki slowly nodded, popping another pill into her mouth.
"How…many of those do you take? In a day?" Aki swallowed her water hard before answering.
"Two, maybe three a day…" she sighed, "sometimes even four if it's real bad."
"Is that what the doc prescribed?" Aki nodded as though it was obvious.
"I'll be fine, don't worry…" Aki took in a few breaths before she gingerly stood up.
"Right, you've gotten close. Now it's your turn, sensei." Kage nodded once, and assumed a different demeanor.
Half an hour later, Aki was running out of breath but still holding her own. She had already done up to six Choku Zukis a count, but was starting to falter.
"Come on, Aki! Put your back into it."
"Hai, sensei!"
"ROKKU!" Aki did seven rapid Choku Zukis, breathing hard in-between her hushed counts.
"SHICHI!" Another seven, losing strength.
Aki felt her stomach boil with pain and her arms screaming for mercy, but she would go on. Even when Kage reached nine, Aki didn't stop.
"KU!" Onetwothreefourfivesixseveneight.
"JU!" Onetwothreefourfive-
It was like something snapped inside of her like a piece of old twine. Aki felt a sudden blow to her abdomen, and keeled over, her back curled in repulsiveness. She quickly swabbed a bit off of her mouth, and realized it was blood.
"Oh, muh God!" Aki managed to gag, "I'm bleeding!"
Kage swooped down to help Aki up, her bottom lip and fingers covered in semi plasmatic blood. Aki coughed several times before reaching to her backpack.
"Aki. NO!" She stopped and looked at Kage.
"I don't think those are helping you out. Stop taking them."
"But-" Kage clasped Aki's shoulder.
"I don't want to see you get hurt. Not by yourself or by any other." Aki looked at the ground, her mind in a buzz.
"Please, stop taking those." Aki's lip twitched, and she rubbed her right arm.
"Alright." She whispered roughly.
"I didn't hear that."
"Hai, sensei." Aki coughed.
Kage looked up, seeing the sun almost setting down for the night.
…………
"We should stop for today and rest."
Aki would have invited that, but for one small detail.
"HOLY CRAP!!!" Kage twitched in shock.
Aki jumped, and was on her feet, how ever lethargic she was.
"We can't stay! Aw shit, why didn't I remember?!" Aki was pulling her stuff together.
"What on EARTH are you talking about?!" Aki was stumbling slightly.
"The tower! We gotta get to the tower before midnight! SHIT!" Aki glanced at her watch.
It was 11:45.
She didn't even know how far away they were.
"Fuck it. I don't care how tired I am; we're taking the express route." Aki smeared off some of the blood from her mouth, and performed some hand seals.
"KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU!" In an explosion of blue clouds and chakra swirls, Aoihoshi appeared.
"Hmm? OH, hi, Aki!" Aoihoshi did his invisible grin, "Aki?"
She swayed slightly before falling. Aoihoshi caught her with his fin, and carefully slid her onto his back.
"Hmm?" He looked over to Kage, who was trembling in fear.
"You with her?" Kage said nothing.
"Hey, are you okay?" Aki whispered something to him.
"Oh. Okay." He glided over to Kage, and her only defense was a morote jodan uke.
"Hey, I'm not here to hurt cha!" Aoihoshi hooked his tail behind her shirt, and effortlessly lifted her into the air.
"GAAAHHH!!" Kage flailed and kicked, but to no avail.
Aoihoshi dropped Kage on his back, sighing as she tried every move possible to "take him down".
"Vindictive, isn't she?" Aki smiled weakly and nodded.
"Kage, calm down." Kage finally came to her senses and knelt beside Aki.
"Aoihoshi, we need to get to the tower in less than ten minutes. Can you do that?"
Aoihoshi bowed his flat head, and in three flaps of his fins, they were soaring off towards the hodgepodge tower.
…………
"But, thanks to you, we got both scrolls!" Naruto was still feeding off of his victory high.
So, he had kicked ass with some Mist Nins wearing pajamas; a hard day's work if you asked him. As Kabuto and his teammates walked through the doors, a circular shadow grew from above Team 7.
"Huh?" Naruto looked up to see a tattooed belly of a stingray almost land on top of him.
"UUWAAHHH!!" Naruto dodged out of the way in time.
Aoihoshi bent his fin down, and let Aki and Kage off.
"Huh?!" Sakura saw the stingray and her mind flashed images from Nami no Kuni.
She connected the puzzle pieces.
(It was AKI?!) Sakura couldn't believe it, but with Sasuke slightly moaning, her attention span grew short on the matter.
Kage slowly approached Team 7, supporting Aki, who was having trouble walking straight. Kage had be smart, and slid her scarf over her mouth and nose to prevent identification.
"Who- who are you?!" Kage remained silent.
"She's….a friend…of mine…" Aki was able to say.
"Aki, what happened to you?!" She smirked.
"Nothing much, Sakura. How did the Mist Nin fight go?"
"Uh…" HUH?! How did she know?!
"Fine…" Sakura gave Aki a weird look.
"OH MAN, YOU SHOULD'VE SEEN ME!!" Naruto went on and on about how he took on all three on his own, bragging and adding tall tale material to the loose ends, but he couldn't fool Aki.
"Aww…Darn, I can't get away with anything from you!"
"Well, that's because I know everything." Aki grinned, but she knew she had said that purposefully.
A sudden flash of glass, and Aki's eyes caught a pair of round glasses in the shadows. She glared, and snarled at the pair of eyes that were analyzing her.
"Are you sure she was the one you spoke of, Orochimaru- sama?"
"Yessss…" His cold voice left a sting at the end of his words like a hot poker.
…………
"YAY!! NINJA! NINJA! NINJA!" Naruto was hugging his former teacher, Iruka, elated that he passed the second test.
Iruka grinned, pleased to see that his once pesky and lonely prankster student was on his way to becoming a Chuunin.
Aki and Kage were huddled in a corner, watching it all play before their eyes.
"Stay close to me." Aki whispered to her as they sat down minutes ago.
Aki watched, and Iruka's gaze locked into her, and he felt a freezing tingle swirl up his spine.
(Something's not right with this girl…Where's Kakashi?)