Blood Paid
The impact left the tree quaking, my fist buried in the wooden flesh.
"Where are you, Dosu?"
Two hours of searching and still nothing! Several other students had come into sight but neither hide nor hair of the elusive genin to be found. Other battles have already been decided and he wants to play hide and seek!
Moving - always moving - I lost the edge of frustration in the rush of wind and gentle caresses of passing leaves. Landing briefly on a branch only to leap to another ignoring the thirty foot drop beneath me. Coming to a rest on the underside of a limb before jumping to the next tree.
All accomplished through a technique taught to us by Nakano-sensei.
"The secret is to mold the chakra in the soles of your feet to match the chakra of the tree. In essence to extend yourself into the tree's surface and thus cling to any part of it as if you had grown there." Nakano-sensei paused "Any questions?"
No one said a word. Maybe they all actually understood his explanation or maybe it was because he had given the lesson whilst standing horizontally on the tree trunk.
Dangling from the bottom of a branch I stopped to think, my frustration having played itself out in my run.
Dosu...I don't believe you have hidden yourself. Why do that? Unless...
My eyes widened.
He's shadowed me from the beginning!
Releasing the technique I dove towards the forest floor. Quickly tumbling to soften the impact I ended in a crouch with a perfect view of my former position. A single kunai lay buried in the branch.
Readying several of my 'treated' throwing needles I cried out "Come out, Dosu!"
The bandaged Sound-nin shambled out of the brush some hundred feet away, head cocked to the side. Arms hung limply in billowing sleeves hiding any held weapons from my sight.
"Are you ready to play, medic?"
How did he know I'm a medic?
A flick of the wrist and three needles shot for him. A sleeved arm swatted them away with a metallic ting and, for a second, obscuring his sight.
Now's my chance!
I charged hands forming the seal of my newest jutsu - Nezumi, Usagi, Saru, Ryu, Hebi. Phantom lines of chakra ran along the inner coils of my hands as the Joint Freezing Technique took shape. Dosu lowered his arm in time to see the fang strike speeding for his heart.
"Too slow."
He leapt backwards evading the attack by a hair's breadth. My stomach took the full impact of his kick but I hardly felt it. The side kick that followed it did little more damage but it did succeed in sending me on an inpromptu flight.
The flight quickly turned turbulent as I crashed against an oak tree. From my new position the gleam of victory shone clearly in his eye. Struggling more than needed I rose to my feet, letting a slight tremor permeate every motion. The worse I look the better.
It's going well so far.
"You should give up now, Kikurame. Why Orochimaru sent me to test you..." his left arm seized up mid-sentence and dropped slackly to his side.
Probing with his good hand he found the needle I had placed in his chest. Staring increduously at the offending thing he tossed it aside.
"When did you hit me?"
Too calm still and what was that about Orochimaru sending him?
"You stopped my hand from hitting you it's true but you failed to notice the needle." No need to tell him that the Kikurame Clan's healing jutsus - including the Joint Freezing Technique - can be transfered using needles.
The bandages quirked over his mouth as if he smiled "One good shot does not a victory make when you face a true Sound-nin."
Raising his good arm he let the sleeve gather at the elbow. An odd device covered Dosu's forearm in a metallic brace. Small holes braced evenly over the surface gave it the appearance of a wind instrument.
Springing forward more quickly than I gave him credit for he swung at me. I didn't even have to dodge as he stopped half a foot from my face.
What in the hells...I thought before the world turned upside down and my stomach emptied itself upon the ground.
Kneeling, nauseous, and dizzy I could barely hear him talking.
"No one can stand against my Harmonic Ghost."
Tokagero POV
Zaku dodged my kunai seeking refuge in the sheltering arms of an oak tree directly across from me. Nearly a hundred feet and the Kikuman River seperated us but the surprise on his face...
I laughed. Loudly.
"Didn't think you could hide from the Lizard, did ya? You village boys are a little daft."
The wild haired boy just shook his head as he crossed his arms "You talk big for a kid about to die."
"Kid?!"
Propelled by muscles too strong to be human I almost flew across the river. Dropping near the once again surprised shinobi I unleashed a flurry of blows. Zaku ducked and weaved with the best of them but made the mistake of trying to block my crescent kick.
Never try to block the attack of a man who trains with a hundred and fifty pound sword.
The impact launched him towards the tree's trunk, and probably thru it, but he caught a branch in a swift movement. Amazingly, that grin looked wider despite the pain lurking in his eyes.
"If that's the best you can do you should give up now."
Damn! How arrogant can you get?
In the blink of an eye he charged in ducking beneath my guard. With his right hand he planted a kunai in my leg and his left hand went flat against my chest. A soft whistling rose to a keening howl as I was flung back across the river. Frantically I formed the seals of a personal jutsu.
O-ushi, Ousu-buta, Ryu!
The newly formed scaly carapace of my Dragon's Hide Jutsu absorbed most of the impact as I tore a twenty foot long furrow in the loamy forest floor.
What the hell was that? Everything aches like I've been beaten with a hammer.
"You still alive?"
Here's the hammer now.
Zaku stood at the furrow's head, cracking his knuckles and grinning madly "I don't hink your armor will withstand my Wind Cannon."
He's right. I can't take another hit like that.
Breathing shallowly to relieve the pain of my cracked ribs, I stood.
Can't play games with him. He's too good. It's time to unsheathe Sorrow.
Gripping the leather clad hilt I lifted it free and flung it end over end into the air. Zaku's eyes betrayed him, following the five foot blade's flight as I formed the seals of another unusual technique - Lizard Tongue Transformation.
Tora, Inu, Tori!
My tongue lashed out - now over thirty feet long! - straight for the distracted shinobi. He dropped into a crouch beneath it as Sorrow fell into my waiting hands. Swinging low the blade hissed as it sought it's prey. Zaku activated the Wind Cannon against the ground propelling him up and away but not before Sorrow tasted blood.
"I underestimated you." the Sound-nin leaned against a tree, crimson ichor flowing freely down his right arm "You will pay for making me bleed!"
Raising the injured arm in a shaky gesture of contempt he held it palm flat towards me. A metallic opening shown brightly in the afternoon light. A metallic opening in the flesh of his hand.
That's where the Wind Cannon comes from!
Grinning maliciously the whistling noise began to build and then -
"Wind Cannon!"
- nothing happened.
Zaku's eyes widened even as I began to move. Naota's poison gave me all the time I needed. My first action was to fling Sorrow point first into the tree just above the Sound-nin's head. Springing after it I almost caught the Wind Cannon from his left hand. Almost.
Baka. My other technique is still active.
My tongue latched onto a low hanging tree limb vaulting me above the attack and down - forcefully - onto his outstretched left arm. The sharkskin boot drove his hand into the ground with a satisfying crunch pinning him in place. Gripping Sorrow's hilt and ripping it free sent me into a spin carrying me a step backwards. A shock ran through the blade as I came to a stop before the now standing Zaku.
For his part he just stood there with a confused look on his face before falling into two pieces.
Wiping Sorrow clean on his shirt I sheathed and stared hard at the boy I had killed - a boy slightly older than my own fourteen years.
"You fail, Zaku Abumi. I will remember your name."
Now here's hoping no one says that to Naota.
Naota POV
Nausea, dizzyness, light-headed...it's an inner ear imbalance, I thought as I caught another in a long line of kicks from Dosu.
Pretending to hold my stomach, my body shielded the hand seals being performed from his prying eye. The hand seals of my favorite jutsu - the Bodily Regeneration Prana.
O-ushi, Hebi, Uma!
Nausea swept aside by carefully applied, and somewhat limited, chakra Dosu's next blow hit empty air. Ready for the attack I buried a kunai in the flesh of his thigh.
Bounding back he regarded the kunai and myself with an astonished stare. Pulling it free he flung it away before growling at me.
"How did you counter my Harmonic Ghost, little medic?"
A dragon's smile crept across my features - proud and confident - at the last word. One does not train for nearly ten years in medicine and learn nothing about the body's weaknesses.
Dosu swore.
How many tricks do you have left? Your Ghost has never failed you before and now you must contend without it. And without your left arm as well.
It is time to end this.
Standing straight I assumed the stance of my taijutsu style - the Path of Diamond - one hand extended forward, the other resting behind my back, and my feet spread shoulder width apart. Unlike my normal stance, my hidden hand held more needles than most pine trees.
Rushing forward, straight at the discomfitted shinobi, I kept him busy dodging the low kicks and open palm strikes of my style. The other hand kept itself busy flinging 'treated' needles into the four largest trees around the clearing. Dosu never took a hit.
Vaulting upwards I calmly attached myself to the very spot I had been in when he first flung his kunai at me. Four kunais, thrown in mid-air, pinned explosive tags to the needle covered trees.
He chuckled at my efforts "You missed, medic."
"No, I didn't."
Dosu tried to scan the clearing but I gave him no time swinging to the branche's topside and igniting the tags with my chakra. Four explosions filled the air with a hissing gale of needles. This gale lasted only a moment though.
Landing in the clearing to find a wooden log peppered with needles did not rank highly on my favored moments list.
Where did he go? The Body Replacement Skill can only take you so far.
Almost in response a muffled crash came from the brush to the left.
Dosu lay at the base of a willow tree too weak to stand or even crawl. Blood loss from the leg wound and a dozen poisoned needles had done my job for me. Seeing him my elation faded leaving only a bitter taste in my mouth.
"Orochimaru is right about you, Kikurame. You are a genius." he coughed weakly blood staining the bandages over his mouth.
"It will not hurt much longer, Dosu. Soon you will simply fall asleep and..." my voice failed.
"And never wake up? You are too merciful, Kikurame Naota."
His words grew softer and softer till finally his head sank against his chest, eye closed.
I will not forget you, Dosu. May you rest in peace as was denied you and I in this life.
Now for the final task of this Exam. Burying the dead.
Something I have far too much experience at.
Author's Note: I know Zaku and Dosu both have a role yet to play in the Naruto world and they will fulfill that role. If you want to know how keep reading.
If you liked this fic check out my other fics.
For anyone interested in such things I have created a Naruto roleplaying game. It's free and in the testing stages. If you want to test it yourself contact me.