A/N: Oh...my...God...I just read this fanfic all over again to gain some inspiration and...four words: It. Is. A. Crap. Seriously, no wonder no one wants to review! It's sooo bad...I'm seriously considering putting it on hiatus or deleting it. Tell me what you think.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
„Are you sure, Reiko?" Tsunade asked, resting her chin on her palms. The young man in front of her, nodded. "Yes. I'm positive that it was him. There's no mistake. You see, Hokage-sama, those eyes..."
"Yes, I know. Those eyes..." The blond woman nodded thoughtfully and sighed. "You are dismissed." She stared gloomily at the glass filled with alcohol on her desk, then looked outside the window, where the whole village was grey with the falling rain.
"Tsunde-sama, did something happen?" Sakura asked, pausing in her training. The technique she was about to learn was the most complex she had ever seen, and Haruno couldn't concentrate while her teacher was constantly sighing with distress.
"Actually, yes." Hesitating a little, the older woman carried on. "There were some serious...rumors. If they are true, Konoha is in great danger. To make matters worse, Naruto, Shikamaru and others are on a jounin exam in Suna. Who knows how long it'll take them to come back..."
Dread gripped Sakura's heart. "Is...is it true what Kakashi-sensei said? That...that it's so dangerous?"
Looking at her with sympathy, her tutor nodded. "Yes. Each jounin exam depends on the ninja's chuunin test. They are very similar to compare how much shinobi's have improved over the years. In this year, it's probably the most dangerous ever. First part takes place on the desert, where about fifty various warriors have to survive until only ten of them are left. Of course, you may give up any time. The second part is less difficult, just a tournament. However, Leaf is in disadvantage here. We're not used to the sand and conditions of the wilderness. I'm afraid that some...may not survive." With those words, the woman looked away, with a guilty look in her eyes.
"Ino went there too. Do...do you think she'll be alright?" Suddenly remembering her friend, the young woman asked, already fearing the answer.
"I'm not sure but I suppose that Nara won't let her get hurt. We'll have to wait. Remember the eleventh rule, Sakura. Right now, I'm more concerned about Konoha condition. Without our political strategist and Naruto in case of any attack, we might not last long. Especially, if the attacker was...we have to have faith in them."
None of them were sure if those words were spoken to Sakura or to the Hokage.
As the leader of her beloved village, Tsunade understood that it was their life path. However, that didn't mean that she will ever accept the cruelty of the world around her.
"Ouch!" Kiba winced, twitching his arm in reflex. Hinata paused, looking up to him from her knees.
"I'm sorry, Kiba-kun. But it's a really deep cut and maybe you should go and see a better..."
"No," Kiba protested rapidly. "I'm fine. Though, lately the attacks on missions became more and more violent. I'm afraid that Sound is preparing some nasty surprise for us..." He wriggled his nose in disgust. Akamaru barked in agreement, rising his head.
"You don't think that there'll be a war, do you?" The Hyuuga girl asked worriedly, gently caressing his bandaged knee. The boy sighed, relaxing for a moment. "Of course not! I mean, a war is the last thing we need now! It causes too many destructions...Even those idiots from Sound have to understand that." Nodding to emphasize his words, Inuzuka closed his eyes.
The Ninth rule of a Konoha ninja: Denial is self-destruction
The boy snapped his eyes open. "I mean, " he corrected himself, bowing slightly his head, "Even if there's a war, we'll just have to face it! And win!" To ensure both, him and the girl, he smiled a wolfish grin.
Hinata also smiled with shy confidence. Inside both of them knew the truth. Soon, the two lovers will be torn apart again, just like many other people.
Meanwhile, on the desert...
"This...this is unbearable." Ino sighed, wiping sweat from her forehead. She was hiding under a sharp rock, it's edges providing shadow from the burning sun. She looked at her hands, covered in bruises and burns. Putting traps all around her cost a lot of strength and resistance, not to mention constantly alarmed senses. What's more, they were all already discovered and used by various creatures. None of them were good enough to eat, unfortunately. She was starving, even though the woman should be used to extreme diets. Instead of nice meal, scorpions, snakes and other lethal creatures waited for her at the desert, when night fell...
Ino wasn't good at handling heat. She was naturally pale and her skin was sensitive to heat. At Konoha summer it was already bad, but this...
Already going drowsy with warmth, she felt the beginning of sun strike and so, she didn't notice the figure above her.
I wonder...how are the others?
Few days earlier...Flashback
„Hello, Konoha wimps!" A voice with a strong hint of bossy attitude yelled to them. Soon, everyone saw a young, blonde woman running in their direction. She put her hands on her hips. "So, these are the representatives of the Leaf village, eh?" She asked, eyeing them critically. "Anyways, your rooms are in the Gaara's quarters. He apologizes, but he won't be able to meet you, Naruto, before the exams. Only after. If..." Her lips curled in a sarcastic and a little sadistic smile, "...You survive." Her gaze stopped on Shikamaru. "Oh, it's you, Deer-Boy. What're you doing here, doesn't our genius think that the jounin exam is too troublesome?" She mocked him. The asked boy half smiled, half scowled. "Sure it is, Temari. I'll probably fight against a girl again." He sighed theatrically. "How troublesome."
The girl wagged a finger in front of his face. "Oh, but I so hope you'll go against me again; This time I'm going to kick your ass good!" She smiled teasingly and bid them a quick goodbye by slapping the poor boy on the behind, ignoring the scandalized look on his face. She continued to wave at them until she and her brothers were out of view.
"Temari really has no shame." Shikamaru announced, massaging his ram. Ino nodded energetically, after glaring in the direction the older girl strolled away. She kept mumbling something about perverted sand nins for the entire time when the whole group was heading to the Kazekage's residence.
"This is really nice!" Ino twirled in the apartment. She and Shikamaru were accommodated together, just like Lee and Tenten. Naruto was in a special room, near Gaara's. The Sand leader still hoped to have a little talk with the blonde before the exams. As for the rest of the pairs, they requested to be put like this.
"Hn." Shika barely acknowledged her presence. He already occupied the huge bed in the middle, not bothering to even take off his shoes. He closed his eyes, hoping to get to magazine some sleep before the test. He knew he'll need it.
Ino pouted. "Shika, you're no fun." With that, she proceeded to the bathroom, slipping of her shoes. The examination started tomorrow in the morning and she wanted to be refreshed and clean. The boy on the bed slowly lifted one eyelid, hanging his gaze on her legs, before he closed it again, having a painful sigh.
The cold water streamed down her body. Slowly, she took a sponge, poured some soap on it and started to scrub her body. From every unwanted touch. From every lewd glance.
When she was younger, the thought of her body creating lust in a man, made her feel really excited and appreciated. Now when she experienced it, it turned out to be something opposite.
Like she was an item, something to fuck with no feeling.
Idly, Ino wondered if Shikamaru saw her in the same light. She doubted it- Shika was a sensitive, loving and caring man, someone who respected people for who they were, not what they look like. Take a look on his friendship with Chouji, for example.
Ino knew the risks. She heard the tales of many candidates for jounin that never came back. She was thinking about taking one more step further in their relationship for a long time, and it seemed a perfect occasion. Besides, Ino didn't want to die, being a virgin. It sounded so...unstylish for a nineteen year old woman.
Of course, she wasn't desperate; she just wanted to wait for a perfect opportunity.
Her hand encountered something familiar on her skin. It hurt, a small twinge of pain. Wincing, she inspected it. Just like she thought, it was her old cut, the one that left that small scar on her previously flawless skin. She cursed loudly, annoyed.
Shikamaru heard her raised voice and his left eyebrow slightly raised above his closed eye. Absentmindedly, his hand went to the long scar on his muscled chest, tracing it slowly. He scowled slightly and groaned. "How troublesome..."
Finally, Ino was finished with drying her long hair and the annoying buzz stopped. He could rest.
...Or not.
Shikamaru's eyes just wouldn't close, no matter how hard he tried, when Ino was sitting on the opposite side of bed, wearing only a blue, cotton bathrobe. She was turned with her back to him, and he thanked her silently for that because he could ogle her without any second thoughts. Her actions were hypnotizing; both hands moving, brushing the long, blond ponytail.
One hand was holding a brush, which was stirring slowly through her strands, once in a while exposing a pale, slightly wet shoulder, while the other was holding the braid in place. Someone, probably Kiba or Naruto told him that girls looked sexier with damper hair and Shika agreed wholeheartedly with that.
Somehow, his body moved on it's own when he sat, his arms slowly encircling her frame, his legs spreading on both her sides. Gently, as to not frighten her, he pushed her back to his chest, pressing it tightly. She didn't stiffen instinctively like before; almost instantly she relaxed and leaned into him, slightly cocking her head to listen to his heartbeat. He could feel water slowly seeping from her hair through his shirt, wetting it gradually.
Ino didn't know how, but she could sense it. And when he started to kiss her neck gently, slowly, very slowly, slipping of her bathrobe, she was sure that he wanted her. The sensations he created were really pleasant and excitedly new. Unlike those pigs she had to deal with, he was going little by little, and what's more, it was really feeling nice and pleasurable, so she could gather her thoughts and concentrate on what she should do. On her missions, those perverts literally ripped her clothes off her and she could barely stop them before they took off her underwear. Not to mention, there was no human feelings in it, nothing what that lazy genius put in his every, even the smallest kiss. Shikamaru...she could think all those things and he still hold her robe above her breasts, right now concentrating on her neck and face, gently caressing it with his other free hand. He was still sitting behind her so she couldn't see his expression on it, but she could at least feel it as he pressed his face into her shoulder. Thanks to that, the Yamanaka could be aware of the heat emanating from it. He traveled up to her neck, his lips stopping at her ear, his other hand resting on her waist probably for a long time before Ino noticed it. He whispered shyly in her ear, his deep voice shaking with uncertainty and desire:
If we do this, I won't be able to let you go, ever.
He managed to hear her answer through the noise his heart was creating, her own voice matching his.
I don't want you to.
Her arm wandered to his head, pushing it down so it met hers in a heated kiss. When she opened her eyes again, she was lying on her back, her robe, all ruffled though still on her, with the young Nara's both legs on her one side, while his torso was hovering over her. Both his hands were placed on the two sides by her head. When Shikamaru bent down once again, she felt a wave of heat go through her veins, giving her heart a faster pace, making her light and so warm...
When Shikamaru's large hand hungrily traced her bare arm, she managed to think one more sensible thought before her mind got blank, with only her boyfriend inside.
"I think I understand, Tenten...What makes it beautiful, it's the feeling..."
End Flashback
In other part of the forest...
"Damn, these guys are tough!" Tenten gasped, trying to defend herself from the other, nameless ninja. It was already the third day and her weapons needed to be sharpened, badly. She won't last long, like this...
The sand kept making her lose balance and waves of high temperature worsen her sight. Thank god for those few trees, growing here for some miracle...
Aiming a high kick right in the shinobi's chin, she threw a kunai to end this. However, it slipped of the barrier that the ninja implied and went straight towards her. She could already see it in her face, right in the eye...
"Konoha Wind Strike!" A familiar kick pushed the weapon out of her way and scared the unsuccessful killer.
"Well, Ten-chan. Seems like you need help, eh?" The girl nodded, gasping for air.
"Is it just me, or are they really only attacking my person?" She half asked, half complained. Lee gave her a small laugh. "It's just you. I killed about two in the last three days and it was only in self-defense. But, Ten-chan don't give up!" He gave her a good guy pose and pumped fist in the air "You can't give up! We have to show Sand how good Konoha warriors are!" A terrifying scream interrupted their conversation. The pair looked at each other, stunned.
Naruto!
"Come to me, girl...come to me..." The ninja chanted, drawing her out of the hideout. Unable to control her movements, she rose, intending to follow the order...
Fortunately, a scorpion bit her in the leg, causing pain and poison flow in her veins. She snapped back to the reality. With sudden fear she looked at her opponent, who cursed.
"Damn, I wanted to finish it calmly and quietly...But I guess a fight is necessary." He charged towards the still stunned girl.
Ino got a hold of her sword and ran towards him. Her legs felt like jelly and she had troubles concentrating, so it was no surprise when she was met wit a punch in her face and flew back.
The male smirked, dashing to her and kicking her continually in the stomach. Soon, she started to spit blood. She silently pleaded him to stop, eyes started to glisten on her eyelashes. He only smiled in return, adding more chakra to his kicks.
Ino spat more blood with saliva, feeling that very soon she would die, in such humiliating way. She bit back a sob.
And then, the pain was gone. For a moment, she felt relief until something big, very big stabbed her from the behind, making a hole in her abdomen.
The Yamanaka was so close to fainting, yet she found strength to look back and see one of the sharp edges right in her. She felt like a roasting chicken, the heat still causing damage on her concentration and body. Blood dripped in a small stream on the ground.
"You, Konoha scum." The man hissed grabbing her hair and titling her head up roughly. "I expected a better fight from you, little bitch. You are from the famous Leaf, aren't you? You guys are thought t be the best shinobi's; not even Sand could compare to you. Or so they say." He pulled her hair, all soaked in her own blood.
Her blood...
"Konoha is nothing, it seems. I'm going to eliminate you one by one. First you, rotting right here, slowly...then... I saw this pineapple boy, heading this way. I'll start with him. Let's hope he'll be some challenge."
Ino eyes widened. Shikamaru.
Her blood...
His blood...
She has to stop him.
Pushing herself up, the rock was forced out of her body. She glared with sudden and passionate hatred towards the slowly disappearing ninja.
Because you can be strong only when you defend someone you love.
She charged once again, not seeing anything, either from heat or that anger that washed through her. Although she saw herself dashing towards him, still feeling the blood dripping from her like a river. He threw some kunais and shurikens into her body, however her legs wouldn't stop running despite her pain and all her senses could feel was the characteristic wetness and the disgusting taste of blood in her mouth. And it was slowly fading...
The ninja smiled.
"You...bastard..." Naruto spat, lifting himself from the ground slowly. He glared in the man's direction. "How dare you do this to us...Sasuke!"
The said man smirked. "Calm down...friend." He flashed a cold grin. Naruto growled.
"I am not your friend...The Sasuke before me isn't my friend...He's just a bastard, trying to destroy everything I love. I swear, if you do this to Konoha, I'll..." The sharingan user raised his hand.
"We'll meet soon, Naruto...Then we'll talk. Right now, I'm busy. I have to return to Sound as soon as possible" He made a motion to leave.
"I'm not letting you go so easily, Uchiha!" The other boy shouted, causing the dark one to smirk.
"I knew you wouldn't. Kumo-Shibari!" A few hands seal and a web already flew towards the unsuspecting blond. Being immobilized, Naruto could only scream insults and cursing after the fleeing man.
Few hours earlier...
"Sir, this time I've found something to make him talk, for sure." The silver haired man said, entering the dimly lighted cell. Several corpses hang on the wall, many of them without some body parts, all with a haunted, terrified expression on their faces.
"Is that so, Kabuto? I'm surprised that you managed so quickly, it took you only, oh, six months?" Orochimaru replied, with sarcasm evident in his voice. Kabuto shook the little bottle. "I didn't want to use it, but I guess we have no choice. It's made from a deadly shinobi plant, Shilimahlo Judakuma. It causes several damages to the body and we're still unsure how it works. You may drink little drip and lose all your senses or swallow a bucket and nothing will happen. Sometimes, the symptoms may show very late. What's more,"-once again, he shook the bottle-"This half of the drink is prepared from it. Not to mention, the poison of your snakes, Orochimaru-sama." He bowed slightly, eyes shining behind the glasses. The man with long hair smiled, nodding towards the limp body sprawled on the floor.
Kabuto hesitated. "Are you sure, Orochimaru-sama? Remember what it had done to our last experiment." Both of them glanced at the heap in the shadow corner.
Once you look closer on it, it will prove to be a truly horrendous sight. It was a dead body of a creature, which not so long ago was man, like us. The sex was impossible to recognize as it was missing various parts of body. There were giant holes with bones pocking outside and rotten red meat, full of white worms. The larva's were wriggling, preparing to lay new eggs in their putrid paradise, feeding with human meat.
Neither of the three alive, conscious people present in the cell seemed to be even a little bit disgusted. Once again, the tallest nodded towards the Hyuuga lying on the floor.
Slowly, Kabuto approached the white-eyed man, grabbing his chin and forcing him to drink everything in the small bottle.
Neji didn't even feel someone touching his burned skin. However, when he sensed the flaming sensation go down his throat to his stomach, his pale eyes snapped open. His own body sat up, without him doing so. He wasn't in control of it anymore. On his very own eyes, the skin on his arm started to melt, showing raw meat. The blood was flowing streams from this wound as well as from the others that started to form on his body. The meat started to thaw, demonstrating his white bones. His eyes widened horribly when he could look through the bone on his arm on the wall in front of him.
He didn't even know when he started to scream and squirm on the floor, covering it with blood and adding dirt to the already filthy and moist ground. He didn't know if he was yelling out of fear or pain; it was too much for him to feel at once. He came round when he was already on his knees, both his arms only bones with hands still untouched by the moisture, hugging Orochimaru's legs and spilling every secret hideout and plans to the traitor. He tried to shut his mouth but it was no use; his body and mind had enough. It threw out every shinobi rule he treasured and lived by since his early days and acted on animal instinct. Finally he gave up too, and crying at Konoha, himself and every corpse in this room, begged for something, anything to make the agony go away. On the last brick of sanity, he could feel only a strong kick in the face, right into his visible cheek bones and then, he fell into darkness.
"Finally." Orochimaru smirked, a inhuman glint sparkling in his eyes. "The time has come. In about three-four days, Konoha will be ours. I've waited so long...collected force...faithful soldiers, weapons...The day of revenge will soon come. I will prepare plans to attack that bloody Leaf village right in it's heart. Firstly, the Hokage monument and then the memorial...Everyone will die, not knowing what hit them. A bloody village it will be, indeed." A cruel smile spread on his face.
The Tenth rule of a Konoha ninja: A way of a ninja, is stealth.
"I know every secret passage. every hideout. They can't escape...No one will survive. No one, you hear that Sarutobi? Everything you loved, all your family will be dead! By the hands of your very own student, all thanks to you!" He was yelling now, his voice still ringing in the room. Suddenly, he turned, quickly heading to the door. He paused at the door frame, not looking back. "I leave the Hyuuga under your care, Sasuke. I don't need him anymore; do as you please with it." Saying those final words, he emerged out with Kabuto leaving soon after.
Dark, emotionless eyes with sharingan, rested on Neji, who was breathing slightly. Slowly, the Uchiha stood up, nearing the byakugan user.
Soon.
The Eleventh rule of a Konoha ninja: In a shinobi's life, only death is certain.
A/N: This chapter is so bad because it was written on writer's block. I'm seriously considering putting it on hiatus and stopping this writing buisness. I'm no good...Actually, I'm in such depression, despite Easter, that probably only 30 reviews would shake me out of it... never is going to happen.