Chapter 10 - Taking Action
A/N: I do not own Naruto.
I do however own Mari Kaede and any other OCs mentioned!
Also, a side note, I've added a little more to Kaede's speech pattern, I felt she wasn't unique enough, so I just added some more types of words I think she'd connect together.
FYI I just edited a small line within my story, someone pointed out that my OC sounded more scared than frustrated, which is a problem because if she isn't scared of Orochi, she wouldn't be scared of Sasuke.
So here's the slightly altered chapter.
Warnings: Contains dark themes, such as depression, murder, experimentation, emotional, mental and physical torture, possible attempted suicide and mentions of sexual activities!
Please read responsibly.
I hope this chapter is good, I was really worried about the quality as I wrote it, but I tried my best to make it a good read for you all!
Enjoy!
"Hey...Hey, wake up!"
Akari groaned as she heard an obnoxious voice within her ear, whatever time it was, she wasn't interested, she was tired after having kept watch most of the night, so she'd decide when she woke up. However the persistent droning continued in her ear until at long last, she swiped her hand out and her wrist was caught. Opening her tired, brown eyes, she saw Dosu staring down at her, no amusement or any form of emotion in the one eye he kept visible.
"It's almost time."
With a deep sigh, the Ninjutsu Expert yanked her wrist from his grip and sat up, running her hands down her face to refresh herself. "Yeah, yeah. I know." She told him, peeking between her fingers to find that Zaku was still snoring away. "Get that lazy ass up, I'll scout the area for any other unwanted guests."
"No need, I did that a minute ago." Dosu told her, causing her to hum with slight surprise. Dosu was more useful than Zaku at least. "There are no other teams nearby, and by the looks of things, Sasuke is asleep. The only person who's awake from their cell is a girl named Sakura, but she's no problem."
"How can y'be sure?"
"I've been watching for about three hours now, and every so often, she'll drift in and out of consciousness." He said, pulling apart the brush to show Kaede the pink hair girl fighting desperately against sleep. "Unlike us, they don't seem to do many nightly missions, so their bodies can't cope with the long hours."
Akari had to grin then, unable to keep her seriousness up when she had at least one capable 'ally.' "Nice work Dosu." She said, standing and stretching, hidden by a tree. "I'll wake Zaku then, you get the trap ready."
Their plan was to send in a harmless animal armed with an explosive tag and blind their enemies before taking them all out without so much as a scream between them. With the three of them sleep deprived, this would be far easier.
Walking over to Zaku, the older woman stared down at him, knowing his type, if she tried to wake him normally, he'd tell her where to shove it and just go back to sleep. Smirking mischievously, she slammed her foot into his ribs, waking him with a harsh gasp. "Up. It's time t'start the attack."
"Ack! Ya bitch!" Zaku coughed, gripping his bruised ribs while Akari just placed a hand on her hip proudly.
"I know~ Now get up."
Dosu entered the trees just a minute later holding a struggling squirrel with the tag on it's back. "This was the most harmless thing I could find in this forest." He explained. The older woman felt a sense of guilt overwhelm her at the sight of the poor creature, knowing it would die once the tag exploded. However at this point, she was getting good at suppressing her morals, so she just took the small rodent and crouched down into the brush.
"Let's get this over with." Was all she said before she was joined by her two comrades and she let the creature loose out into the field, towards Sakura and her teammates.
The poor Pinkette froze with fear as the bushes rustled, pulling out a kunai for protection. Akari was amazed that she was still here, considering how frightened she was. However, the older Jounin had to stifle a laugh when the girl turned and her expression switched to disbelief when she spotted the squirrel sitting there, chewing on an acorn. "Geez, don't scare me like that." She whined.
Both Akari and Dosu raised their eyebrows slightly with surprise when the girl suddenly let out a startled noise and tossed her kunai at the squirrel, making it panic and run off in the opposite direction and into the bushes.
"That was close."
"Did she figure out that there was an exploding tag on the squirrel?!" Zaku asked, dumbfounded by the underwhelming Genin.
Akari's eyes scouted the area for anything out of the ordinary while Dosu replied. "No, that's not it." He had the same feeling as Akari, something wasn't right, that girl wouldn't have turned back to check on Sasuke and Naruto if she had noticed the squirrel was rigged.
Just what had caused her to react like that?
"Yeah? then why?" Zaku continued, not the brightest of the three as he struggled to figure out what was going on, while his two other allies were starting to have their suspicions.
'The only way she could stop our attack was if something else caused her to react...' Akari thought, drowning out Zaku's voice as she ran her fingers through her hair. 'Maybe to protect the squirrel from an unknown danger...Like...' Without warning she gasped, getting both their attention as she looked at the terrain around the trunk.
A smirk curled her lips and she returned her attention to her two comrades. "We'll find out when we get closer." She said, and Dosu's sharp mind clicked onto her deduction as well, nodding with agreement.
The bandaged Genin pulled the brush apart to peer at the weakened Genin inside the large tree. "So let's get going, soon."
"Can someone tell me what's going on?" Zaku complained but received no answer as Akari and Dosu stood and stepped out from the bushes, walking up to the unarmed Genin as she struggled to stay awake.
Akari's bandaged teammate chuckled darkly at the sight of her nearly falling over with exhaustion, she was trying so hard to save someone who was destined to die. "Not sleeping and taking watch for the entire time." He started, making the girl gasp and turn to face them.
Zaku hopped up onto a rock and got comfortable while Akari stood there with a hand on her hip and a smirk on her lips, but her eyes held complete seriousness, she knew her goals and hated them. "But y'didn't need to do that~" She said, shaking her head with a mocking sigh. "Y'have teammates t'help you, y'know! Speaking of which, can you wake Sasuke up for us?"
"We want to fight him..." Dosu finished.
Sakura's eyes sharpened with determination, if she had been stronger, she probably would have made a good kunoichi. Standing, she reached towards her shuriken holder. "What are you talking about?" She demanded strongly, despite her fear. "What is your purpose? We know that a guy named Orochimaru is behind all of this."
The cell from Oto all froze with soft gasps of surprise when she mentioned their leader's name. 'What the hell? No one's supposed to know that, he's in disguise for a reason!' Their Jounin Squad Leader thought to herself, glaring at the girl as she tried to make sense of this new information.
"What's that weird bruise on Sasuke-kun's neck?" The pink haired rookie asked, desperate for answers, even if she was outnumbered. "You want to fight Sasuke-kun after you did this to him?"
"I wonder too..." Dosu spoke softly, unsettling the young girl as she could see their lips moving, but not hear the conversation. "What is that person thinking?"
"You're not the only one who's confused..." Akari mumbled, her eyes sharpening with distaste. "If he's done something reckless, then we might end up paying the price for it." She knew his methods firsthand from her time in the glass containment cell, he wouldn't think twice about putting them in danger just to test one of his new experiments.
"But now that we heard that, we can't ignore it." Zaku reasoned, not moving his eyes from Sakura, still smirking, he was slightly slower than the others but seemed to have full trust in his leader.
Ugh, mindless sheep.
"I'll kill this girl, too." He continued, sneering at his target. "I'll even kill the Sasuke guy." He stood up and went to hop down from the rock when Dosu shot out his arm.
"Wait, Zaku."
"What?"
Akari huffed out a snicker and lifted her chin with an air of knowing as Dosu walked over and crouched down on the ground. "How unoriginal." He said mockingly as he pulled the grass out of the way to look at the dirt. "The color of the dirt indicates that it has just been dug up. This grass doesn't grow here."
Sakura tsked as Dosu grabbed the grass and looked directly into her determined, if not aggravated green eyes. "There's no meaning to a trap if it isn't made well." With that he peeled away part of the layer, causing her eyes to widen.
Zaku huffed while Akari looked around for any more obvious traps. "So she threw the knife so that the squirrel wouldn't get caught in the trap." The pre-teen commented, glancing at the offending dagger as his older teammate smirked and looked at him.
"I ain't much better at this than you, kid..." Akari started as she slipped into a battle stance. "But as a fellow Genin, I'll give y'some advice. If you're going t'set a trap, set it well. No matter how long it takes."
"Enough." Dosu said, tilting his head to the side as he stood up, saying the words Akari was dreading but knew had to be followed. "Let's kill her right away."
And in that split second, the three of them jumped into the air, to avoid the trap and begin their assault. Of course, none of them were prepared for the smirk Sakura gave them as she used her kunai to cut a thin wire, invisible from a distance.
"Another trap?!" Akari called out as the wire snapped and a giant log was sent hurtling towards them.
"So there was a trap above us too? Crap!" Dosu called out as the trunk took out some of the trees on the way down. However, instead of making impact with the three of them, Dosu just placed his hand on the log. "Not." With a hum of strength, he formed a seal and sent Chakra down his arm, using the resonating sound to shatter the log, saving himself and his allies from harm.
"Nice one, Dosu!" Akari called, grinning at him. She wasn't fond of them, but it seems each of them had their uses. She would praise those who used their head in a tough situation, no matter which side they were on.
"Mm." Dosu hummed, accepting her praise as they tilted their bodies to fall towards the shocked Genin below. "To be blunt." He started, directing his words towards Sakura. "You have no talent at all. People like you need to work harder!"
Just as the pinkette's eyes filled with tears and she could see her death coming...
"Konoha Senpu!"
A rushing shadow passed her form and kicked Zaku, sending him landing on his back against the solid dirt. Without giving the others time to react, he gave each of them the same crushing blow, sending Akari flying back until she managed to use the Chakra to stick her feet to a nearby surface, standing horizontally against a wooden tree trunk mere feet away. She watched as Dosu flipped mid-fall and landed on his feet, scraping back from the impact.
"Then the three of you also need to work harder." the mysterious Genin countered, using their own words against them after appearing in front of a terrified Sakura, the little squirrel they stuck a bomb tag to, sitting on his shoulder.
'This guy's good...' The copper-haired Jounin thought, wiping the blood from her lip, glaring at the big-browed boy standing before here. He was a unique individual, to say the least, but not someone to mock for his power. "What's your name, kid?"
"Konoha's Beautiful Blue Beast..." The boy started, his eyes, though strange, were filled with a sense of honor and pride Akari had only ever seen from the most loyal of shinobi. "Rock Lee!"
Silence filled the area as the three Oto Ninja assessed the situation and Lee awaited their next move. This silence didn't last very long when Sakura spoke with uncertainty. "Why are you here?" She asked the unique boy before her.
"When you are in danger, I will appear at any time," Lee answered, petting the squirrel before taking it off his shoulder and leaning down to the floor. "It was thanks to you." He told the rodent gently, as it hesitated in leaving. "Now go."
With that, the little squirrel dove off his hand and ran away to safety.
"But right now, I am your enemy too." The pinkette reasoned.
"I told you before. I will protect you with my life."
Sakura's eyes widened as she realized what he meant, and a soft tone of gratitude left her. "Oh, thank you..."
'We're going t'have t'be more careful now...' Akari thought as she glanced at Dosu, who pulled out the Earth Scroll which she had given him the night before so she could fight easily. 'I can't increase my strengths too much without causing suspicion, and this child seems about the same level I am pretending t'be..."
'We have no other choice...' Dosu thought, both he and Akari on the same wavelength and unaware of it. "Zaku, I'll give Sasuke-kun to you." He said, tossing the scroll behind him to the more immature of the three. "Akari and I will kill these two."
The older woman posing as a nineteen-year-old Genin smirked and shifted further into a fighting position, still latched onto the bark she had landed against. "Now we can party!"
Without waiting another moment, Dosu pulled up his sleeve to reveal his holed barrel contraption, both of them rushing at the taijutsu fighter without remorse. Akari had pushed aside her morality temporarily, she had no choice in this fight. Her mission and revenge were riding on the results of this battle.
Sakura tossed a kunai at Dosu, who dodged it and jumped up into the air to dive onto Lee. However, the boy was clever as he dug his hand into the dirt and shocked their opponents as he yanked out a giant root and used it to stop Dosu in his tracks.
"Your attack has some sort of trick to it, right?" Lee asked, focusing his attention on Dosu, who was, in his opinion, the biggest threat right now. "I won't dodge it in a normal way."
"Yeah?"
The pre-teen let out a startled noise and looked up to see Akari stood on the very tip of the root, her fingers intertwined to form the sign of the Tiger.
"Dodge this!"
Without giving him even a moment to blink, she inhaled and spat out a large ball of fire, unable to see what Lee had done as it instantly scorched the area the two younger Genin were stood. When the smoke cleared however, she wasn't surprised to find them both gone and a large black crater where her fire jutsu had delved into the ground.
Hearing a whoosh behind her, she and Dosu turned to see the two Konoha comrades a fair distance away, Lee holding his slightly charred arm, with a surprised Sakura close behind him.
"You're a fast one, aren't you?" She taunted, humming with curiosity when the boy began to unwind his bandages.
While Akari stayed back with caution, Dosu turned and ran at the teen with his best speed. However, Lee held his fingers up as if performing a seal and with his inhuman speed, vanished from sight. The Oto Genin gasped and skidded to a stop with startled realization, but it was too late, the boy appeared beneath him and kicked him in the chin, sending him flying into the air.
"Dosu!" Akari called out, forming seals, as the Konoha Genin dove into the sky behind him.
"I'm not done yet!" He said with determination and without hesitation his bandages unravelled, The Jounin below stalled for a single moment in shock as the cloth tied around Dosu, rendering movement impossible before Lee's arms linked around him.
Zaku shifted slightly, alert and ready as the two Genin of different villages came barelling down towards the ground, their Oto comrade tied up in such a way that he couldn't stop it. "That's not good." Zaku said, preparing to assist. "He can't break the fall like that."
"I'll leave the landing to you, Zaku!" Akari called out, performing her own seals, prepared to send the kid flying.
The two of them performed different seals for different purposes just as Lee called out the name of his jutsu, the Secondary Locus and put a topspin on his move to cause more damage. Zaku shoved his hands into the ground just as Dosu made impact, and when Lee jumped into the air to avoid harm, Akari send out a stream of fire, which scorched him from behind.
The talented hand-to-hand fighter let out a pained cry as he was sent forward a little and landed on his side, a large, bloody burn mark on his back. However his major concern was not his wound, he slowly lifted his torso and looked at the Dosu's legs sticking out of the dirt. 'That feeling.'
The dirt felt too soft, usually, it was rather solid with such impact, but this time it wasn't, it was like it had been cushioned somehow.
"Oh boy." Zaku breathed out as a sigh of relief, smirking as Sakura ran back over to Sasuke and Naruto to protect them, and Lee managed to get to his feet. "Looks like I made it in time."
Where Zaku stood, his hands burrowed into the dirt, were two raised trails of mud, like something had dug under it, leading to a rather odd hill that Dosu was burrowed into. The ground wasn't like that before the Secondary Lotus was used, therefore the less intelligent of the three Oto Shinobi had used his head and done something to counteract the strong Taijutsu attack.
The teen in question moved slightly before pulling himself out of the mound, shaking the dirt and pain off his head. "That can't be!" Lee called out, shocked that Dosu was alive after such a hard blow.
"That's a terrifying move..." The injured boy said, as he waited for his throbbing headache to dim down. "I was dropped onto this sponge ground, but it still hurt like hell."
Eyebrows stood up slowly, gasping for breath as his body reached it's limit. Akari knew then that he'd used his trump card, and had run out of moves. 'That's the only problem with being a Genin...' She said, crossing her arms as Dosu stood up. 'Your move pool is limited at best, and you barely have anything worth using in battle."
Her comrade covered in bandages pulled up his sleeve and revealed the sound barrel he kept hidden beneath it. "Now it's my turn." He said, desiring his revenge for that near fatal assault. "Akari, don't intervene...I can take him alone."
"Heh..." The red-headed 'Genin' scoffed, placing a hand on her hip with a bold grin. "Alright, I'm going t'enjoy this!" Walking back, she hopped up onto a rock and settled comfortably.
Dosu ran at Lee without hesitation as the boy struggled to move much with the weakness in his muscles. Unable to dodge the unconventional way, he jerked back when his enemy swiped at him and the strange effect that bothered Kabuto came to greet him as well.
"Your movement is indeed fast." The bandaged shinobi told Lee as he struggled to keep his balance and the ability to see straight. "But our moves are the speed of sound, and exceed your's."
"Well, their's are." Akari said, pointing between Zaku and Dosu. "But I ain't nothing t'sneeze at either! I control both Katon and Futon, with the right seals, I can take down this entire forest."
"And you called me a show off." Zaku sneered, earning a grin and middle finger.
Lee's legs finally gave out and he collasped onto his knees, using a hand to keep himself from faceplanting the floor. "I will teach you that there is a wall that you can't pass, just by working hard." Dosu said, he and his allies smirking at their enemy's struggle. Well, Akari was just smirking because her carefree nature had kicked in, she had no fight right now, so she was just enjoying the show. After all, any morality she felt come forward she just pushed right back.
Nothing would stand in her way.
The dizzying sensation Lee felt suddenly intensified when he tried to move and instead vomited on the ground in front of Dosu, who wasn't fazed at all.
"Lee-san!" Sakura called out, making Akari realize she was still there. Honestly, she wasn't even trying to help, if anything she was just part of the furniture at this point.
'Seriously, this is what the kunoichi of this generation are like?' She thought, looking thoroughly dissapointed. 'Useless kid. I'd think someone who could set the traps she does would have the bravery t'help at least...'
Blood trickled down Lee's ear and he gripped it with both hands, Akari, being the team leader in this mission, knew about Dosu's abilities and sighed. The boy wasn't going to hear anything in that ear for a good while.
"There's a little trick to my attack." Dosu told him, lifting his arm to drop his sleeve before gripping the metal barrel which was riddled with holes. "Just dodging it won't help." He laughed darkly, entertained by the thought of his weapon working so well. "It's sound. You dodged my fist, but the sound attacked you."
Realization shot through both Lee and Sakura at the same time, now they knew their enemies strengths, and why they could so easily deafen and harm them without actually landing a physical blow. "Do you know what sound is?"
"Vibrations?" Sakura stated, though it sounded more like a question than an answer.
"Correct." The Oto Genin raised his hand to tug on his ear, using it to make his point. "Being able to hear something means that your eardrum catches the vibrations in the air...And the human eardrum will shatter at anything above one hundred and fifty decibels. On top of that, by applying a shock to the semicircular canals...The opponent will lose his sense of balance."
Lee took in a sharp intake of air, knowing why his balance was lost and why the sudden change had made him sick. Dosu had purposely attacked his ear, so he would become defenseless.
The cruel Ninja laughed again, amused by the unique boy's reaction. "You won't be able to move your body well for a while."
"Your outdated taijutsu moves won't work on us." Zaku called from behind, his hands still buried into the ground, enjoying the show. "It was effective for a while, but I showed you my jutsu. So it's not going to go as smoothly as you thought it would be." Finally, he pulled his hands from the ground, smirking all the while. "I can control supersonic waves and air pressure...And I am capable of destroying even a rock."
"That explains the big mound there." Akari said, pointing to said pile of centre-less dirt.
He nodded, confirming her curiosity. "I can send air into the ground and make it a cushion, as well." He turned his hands around to show two holes which shot out air at such a speed, it looked like currents of wind. "It's different from your dumb moves."
The look of frustration on the eccentric pre-teen's face made a slight dip of guilt stir in the former Suna Jounin's stomach, she didn't want to harm someone who had so much potential, but she had no choice.
Sadly, for her to find peace, she had to sacrifice her old mentality, even if it meant hating herself and others.
"Okay..." Dosu spoke, snapping both Akari and Lee from their thoughts. He kicked off in a run towards Sakura before the male Konoha Genin could react. "You're next!"
Shock passed both their features before they steeled and Sakura yanked a kunai from her holder. Her eyes set on Dosu's movements.
What he didn't expect was Lee running towards him with vim and vigor. "That can't be!" The Oto Genin called out in shock, however, he had nothing to fear.
"Konoha senpu!" Lee roared, however just asd he was about to make contact with his enemy his ear suddenly throbbed in pain and caused him to falter, giving The evil teenager time to grasp his falling leg for balance. "Looks like my previous attack was effective!" he jumped from Lee's leg and lunged at him. "You surprised me a bit...But I don't see a trace of your chain combo that was executed in a flash!"
The Konoha taijutsu user raised his arms to protect himself from the blast, and Dosu's eyes narrowed. The barrel made contact with his arm and a high pitched ringing filled the small area surrounding them, causing Akari to grimace at the shrill sound of it.
That was loud.
"This arm amplifies the sound that is generated inside to it's maximum, like a speaker." The Second in Command said, his voice almost unheard through the squeal of his weapon.
"Lee-san..." Sakura gasped with concern, the poor boy was completely powerless in the face of those three.
"But the sound of impact is not limited to the direction of my hand..." He continued, slowly, the whistling wind coming from the circular holes of the contraption turned and forced themselves straight into Lee's ear, shattering his eardrum without mercy. "I can use my chakra and join it into the target!"
Akari let out a sympathetic hiss, as if she herself was feeling Lee's pain, but knew it was only a reaction to how he must be feeling, like when someone hit their head off a door, or slammed something on their hand. Even the boy's expression itself was fueled by agony and startled beyond comprehension, and the disguised Jounin knew she wouldn't want to be in his shoes in that moment, if his screams were anything to go by.
Dosu stepped back and moved his arm as Lee lost his balance and hit the floor with a hard thud, unable to find the strength to move anymore. "Now to finish you off." He said to the semi-conscious Genius of Hard Work.
"I won't let you!" Sakura called out, reminding everyone once again that she was there as she tossed three kunai at Dosu, who reflected them using the barrel on his arm.
"Geez."
He knew he should have killed her the moment Lee fell to the ground.
The pinkette didn't let the deflection faze her, pulling out a few shuriken and tossing them at Lee's opponent, Akari watching as Zaku appeared and used his air pressure to send them right back at her.
Akari sighed with irritation, especially since she'd just gotten comfortable, knowing she would have to join the fight now. With a quick flick of her wrists, she formed the signs for Shunshin no Jutsu and appeared behind Sakura, grabbing her hair so she couldn't fight anymore. "C'mon, d'you think I want to be here, fighting?" She asked the immobalized girl.
Her hair was glossy, too glossy for a kunoichi. So this is why she didn't help, didn't use her strengths. She had none, she had spent her time making herself look beautiful instead of training.
Honestly, for a kunoichi, that was pathetic.
"Hey, Zaku. Just kill that Sasuke kid." She called to her 'teammate' who looked a little confused. "This one ain't worth killing. Let's just finish the job and get out of here."
"Heh, showing mercy again?" Zaku taunted as he started walking towards the giant tree behind them.
"How many times are y'going t'keep saying that?" Akari sighed and used her hand to hug the opposite side of her body, a make-shift crossing of the arms. "If anything this is more merciless, we'll be killing her comrade in front of her own eyes. Plus I ain't going t'kill someone who'd rather spend their time dressing up than training. It'd be just like killing a civilian."
The teen laughed as he got closer to the two of them. "That sounds good. You're more of an Oto Ninja than you like to admit!"
"Don't make me punch you."
"Hey, now..." Dosu let out an exasperated sigh at their irritating banter. Now was not the time for a fight. Well...A fight among them, at least.
Sakura tried her very best to stop them, pulling against Akari's grip, but it was futile as the older woman just yanked her back, making the girl freeze in place from the sudden pain shooting through her skull. "Don't move. It ain't going to help anyone if y'rip your own scalp off."
She could see how helpless Sakura felt as she dug her fingers into the dirt and tears dripped down onto her lap. The once kind Jounin felt a twinge of guilt and regret, she understood why Sakura was crying, the poor girl felt useless, weak and pathetic. Akari herself had been in a situation similar back when she was a Genin, when her entire team became Chuunin and she was left in the dirt.
The older woman shook the memories away and subconsciously gripped the Pinkette's hair a little tighter. She couldn't allow her emotions to flood in now, a strong kunoichi held her emotions back for the sake of the mission.
Always.
"Then let's do this." Zaku said, breaking the two of them out of their thoughts as he neared the tree where the two unconscious Genin lay. None of them were aware that right now, small wisps of purple chakra were flooding from the strange mark on Sasuke's neck.
Sakura suddenly moved, pulling a kunai from her holder. "Stop kidding yourself." Akari said, tightening her grip and yanking hard to stop Sakura in her tracks. "I'm in a completely different league t'you. I ain't going t'fall for that."
However, the woman's eyes widened when the weakest Genin looked back at her with a dark smirk. "What are you talking about?" She asked with a confident tone, and Akari let out a noise of surprise, only just moving her hand out of the way as Sakura sliced through her pink hair.
Akari stumbled back, watching the strands float through the air as the pre-teen's forehead protector fell from the top of her head, no longer supported by the volume her hair once had.
She couldn't believe it, even this child, who's hair was in perfect condition, no where near as strong or competant as her teammates, would rip out her own hair to save them. Honestly, she was more ashamed of herself for not realizing the girl would do this, especially since she would have done the same thing if the tables were turned.
Even now, she watched as Sakura stood and clenched her fist, a look of pure determination in those green eyes that once held nothing but regret and tears.
Zaku tsked with irritation and yelled as loud as he could. "Akari, kill her!" He said, waving he arm out, emphasizing his point. "Don't you dare hold back!"
Akari registered his words and tsked, yanking out a kunai and running at Sakura with high speed, she didn't have time to form a jutsu, she just had to hope her attack landed. However, she saw Sakura's hand signs and smirked as she stabbed her in the back.
Of course, as she expected, the Genin's body transformed into a log, no longer in her vicinity. "Heh, Even Zaku wouldn't fall for that!" She said, glancing back at Zaku, who had already seen her jutsu and formed the seals needed for his own, as the predictable Pinkettw ran towards him.
"Akari, stay back!"
"You got it!" Akari called out, jumping into the air and onto the branch above, just as the enemy threw several kunai at Zaku, who deflected them easily with his wind jutsu.
"Air Cutter!" He snarled as the attack caused the kunai to hit her dead on. However she performed the same signs as before and when hit, transformed into a replacement.
'So obvious. She's above.' Zaku thought as he looked up to see her falling towards him, performing the same obvious signs, yet again. "I'm telling you, it's not going to work more than two or three times." Yanking out a few of his kunai, he tossed them at her with a merciless sneer. "This is good enough for you!"
Sakura crossed her arms over her face and the small daggers dug deep into her flesh, Zaku huffed and looked around. "Now where did she go?" He asked, only for his eyes to widen as blood dripped onto his cheek, even Akari and Dosu were shocked at this strange turn of events.
"Zaku, look out!" The woman perched in the tree called out as her 'ally' quickly looked up with an exclaimation of disbelief. Sakura was quickly falling down towards him, holding one of his own blades as her weapon.
'That's pretty clever...' Akari thought with praise as the girl landed on Zaku and embedded the kunai deep into his arm with an unshakable strength in her once weak eyes. 'She used the replacement twice to fool the enemy into thinking she had little intelligence in battle, then risked hurting herself just to catch him off guard and attack from the inside.'
The red-headed Ninjutsu Expert jumped down from the trees and arched a brow as Sakura bit into Zaku's arm and refused to let go, immobalizing him...Well, almost. He was still beating her within an inch of her life just to get her to release her grip.
"Let go, damn it!" Zaku roared, his punches hard on the back of her head, somehow she held on though. "Dammit, let go!"
"Typical..." Akari called out mockingly as she walked towards the two of them to help remove the girl. "Y'can't even defeat a woman who's only good move was t'bite y'on the arm!"
"Shut up, Akari! Just get her off me!"
"Yeah, don't worry, I ain't going t'let her eat you!"
She walked up to Zaku, who had made Sakura bleed profusely, and frowned, forcing back an apology as she kicked Sakura hard enough in the jaw to cause her to detach herself from the male's arm. Landing hard on the ground, he huffed and stood, holding the bleeding bitemark. "Cut it out, already!"
Akari crossed her arms as she watched the girl try to stand. "Y'could've avoided this by letting us do our job." She said, walking over and grabbing her arm, lifting her so she was on her knees. "I ain't a fan of pointless bloodshed...But I also ain't a fan of jeopardising a mission." She looked back at her injured teammate. "Zaku, feel free, I'll keep her still."
Zaku grinned maliciously and pointed his air jets at Sakura, who knew she couldn't fight anymore, she had tried so hard, but in the end, it had been pointless. "You bitch." He told the young girl angrilly as he calculated which jutsu to use.
However before Zaku could kill Sakura, Akari was suddenly punched hard in the face and sent flying, only just able to flip herself so she landed on her feet and skidded to a stop a small distance away, with a bust lip. "Nnng!" She ground out as she wiped her chin free of blood, though it was a weaker punch than she was used to, it didn't mean it didn't hurt. "Now what?!"
Before her stood three other pre-teens, all from Konoha, all rookies from the first exam, the blonde one, the pinapple haired one, and the fat one, who didn't look too keen to be there.
Oh great, just what she needed, more distractions.
Everyone looked mildly surprised by the sudden turn of events, even Sakura herself, who really needed a hand at this point. Zaku was the one to break the tension with a huff and a smirk. "Some new weird ones are here now."
"Ino..." The pinkette breathed, looking up at her friend, who didn't look back once.
Her smirk widened though at the surprise in the injured girl's voice. "Sakura, I promised that I wouldn't lose to you, remember?" This caused Sakura to gasp in shock, now remembering that moment, when she and Ino were no longer best friends, but rivals.
While she continued to stare, unsure what to say or how to thank the blonde Genin for the help, Ino settled into an alert stance, along with her pinapple haired teammate, who managed to pull off looking bored and serious at the same time.
"Why are you here?" Sakura asked.
"I'm not going to let you take all the good parts in front of Sasuke-kun!"
Akari let out an annoyed chuckle and stood up, dusting herself off and wiping her chin again as a little more blood leaked down from her wounded lip. "I let my guard down." She said, smirking, her eyes serious. "I never even knew you were nearby. Guess this mission's going to take a little longer now."
"Konoha's bugs have wandered in here again." Dosu said with a bored hint in his tone, even he wasn't too keen on having another set of people to fight. His eyes narrowed dangerously and to no one's surprise, the fat Genin froze up.
He quickly turned to his teammates and spoke with a whimper, truly a coward. "What are you two thinking?! These guys are too dangerous!"
"Y'should listen to your friend, kids." Akari said, placing a hand on her hip. "I ain't known for my patience..." It was true and this turn of events was starting to strongly test it's limits. She didn't even want to do this mission in the first place, now it was being dragged along by Genin she could wipe out in a second if she was at full power.
She hated having to limit her strength for the sake of keeping herself from being recognized.
The pinapple boy glanced to Akari with an irritated look in his small black eyes, before he focused on his friend once again. "It's troublesome, but we have to do this. Since Ino revealed herself, we men can't just run away."
Ino let out an awkward laugh. "Sorry to get you two involved, but we're a three-man cell, we do everything together."
Even the lazy Genin smirked at that. "Oh well, whatever happens, happens."
"No!" The chubby kid cried out with fear. "I don't want to die yet!" Akari watched with sweat sliding down her cheek as the pre-teen tried to run away, but failed miserably. "Let go of my muffler!"
"Shut up, stop moving!"
Zaku looked at the lot of them with an arrogant, amused smile. A dark chuckle leaving his throat as he let that smile twist into a grin. "You can run if you want..." He jeered. "Fatty."
It was in that instance that Akari felt a change in the atmosphere as the fat Genin's ear twitched. The air felt heavy, dangerous and very unsettling to those who were just spectating.
"What did that person just say? I couldn't hear him too well." The boy asked softly, breaking the silence, but not the tension. Geez, Akari could feel his anger from her place near Zaku. Hell, she was tempted to move so she wouldn't be caught up in the fight.
Her temptation was only fueled when Zaku got irritated at the Genin's ignorance and started yelling insults. "I said that you can go jack off in the woods if you want...You fat ass!"
It was almost as if the tension snapped as those words were left hanging in the air, before the boy turned with a viscious snarl. "I'm not fat! I'm big boned!" chakra spilled out from under his feet, already twice his normal strength and he hadn't even tried to mold chakra yet. "Hurray for big boned people!"
Even Sakura sweatdropped as he turned to his comrades with more determination than the Damsel in Distress had ever seen. "Okay! You two understand that this is a fight between Konoha and Oto, right?!"
Ino only smirked at her friend's attitude, while Pineapple huffed and looked off to the side with a pout. "Geez, this is going to be troublesome..." He complained.
For once, Akari had to agree with him, this was getting rediculous now, all she wanted to do was finish this mission and start on her own personal one, was that too much to ask?!
"That's our line." Zaku said with irritation, voicing Akari's thoughts. His expression harshened with a silent curse. 'Dammit, we were told to kill Sasuke before the exam ended...'
The immature Oto-nin glanced behind Sakura to see some strange purple smoke coming out from Sasuke's curse mark, spreading out to the different chakra points in his body. The Pinkette seemed aware of his stares as she too turned to look at the Uchiha brat and her eyes melted into concern. "Sasuke-kun..."
"Sakura."
Sakura hummed and looked back at the familiar voice of her former best friend. "Take care of the two back there." She said with the utmost confidence in the wounded girl's abilities. Sakura felt gratitude bubble beneath the surface as her confusion turned to determination and she nodded at Ino.
"The Ino team is going to go with everything they have!"
"Roger!" Ino's two teammates called with the same sense of pride and confidence, honestly, it was getting boring now.
Akari had actually become less serious than before, her hands on both her hips as she let out a deep sigh of exasperation. "Oh c'mon guys! We've taken out that Lee kid, Sakura and now we've got beat you up too?" She complained, running her fingers through her hair as she tried to find a solution that didn't involve killing more people than necessary. Sadly there wasn't one. "Can't y'just mind your own business and go find some other team to ambush?!"
Of course, the three pre-teens just ignored her, much to her distaste. "Formation Ino-" Ino started.
"Shika-" The pineapple haired teen continued.
"Chou!" And the fat Genin finished off.
Ino-Shika-Chou?!
'Oh right, so they're part of the Akamichi, Nara and Yamanaka clans I've heard about. I think I fought these kids' grandparents during the Second Great Shinobi War.' Akari mused, her fingers combing through her copper strands, a habit she had whenever she was thinking. 'Heh, maybe I'll have some fun after all. I want t'see how much the generations have improved over the years.'
The three Oto 'Genin' prepared their battle stances as the fatter enemy stepped forward with determined narrow eyes. "Go for it, Chouji!" Ino called out, a bold grin on her lips. Seems she was quite confident.
"Okay!" Chouji called out, lifting his hands to form a seal. "Baika no Jutsu!" Within a split second, the pre-teen's torso and waist expanded into the shape of a rather large ball. "And Konoha Style Taijutsu..." His hands, feet and head disappeared into the large bubble he had made himself into, and a large funnel of chakra left each of the holes in his clothes where the limbs had once been. "Meat Tank!"
Akari gasped when the large ball dove into the air and began to rotate, hurtling towards them without mercy, hitting the ground with an intense topspin and coming at them with rubble flying through the air behind him. "What the hell is this?" Zaku sneered, Akari preparing her strongest wind jutsu in the process. "It's just a fat-ass rolling!" The arrogant, hotheaded teen lifted his hands and sent a large torrent of air shooting at the rolling tank, stopping it in it's tracks. "Air cutter!"
However, despite using all that power just to keep it still, the meat tank continued to roll, not stopping, only making it harder for Zaku to keep it steady and away from the pair of them. "Why you...!" He snarled, adding as much pressure as he could to the jutsu he had cast.
Screeching was heard, like tires drifting on an old road, and suddenly the ball was sent flying into the air. "It flew up!" Captain Obvious exclaimed, and Akari rolled her eyes, inhaling deeply.
'With his rotation, the air pressure from the Air Cutter doesn't work very well.' The more reckless of the three Oto Shinobi thought, as he watched the large Genin hurtle towards them. 'But even if I wanted to send supersonic waves into him, my arms would break touching that thing.'
'Futon: Daitoppa!' Akari thought silently as she mixed chakra within her lungs and sent a large torrent of piercing wind at the ball above them, stopping it in mid air. Zaku looked at her and she nodded her head towards the ball, indicating for him to join the frey, and the teen grinned.
"Alright!" He called out, lifting his hands once again. "Let's try this one more time! Air Cutter!" Another jet of piercing wind left his two hands and was sent into the breath of heavy gust Akari had created, the two of them melded together and created a strong torrent of air that could not be defeated.
Chouji roared with determination, which soon warped into fear and pain as the wind broke his rotation and send him flying away from the battlefield. A moment later, a large cloud of dust errupted over the treetops and everyone knew the landing had been a rough one.
"Chouji!" Ino and Shikamaru called out in alarm as Akari took a deep breath to relax her empty lungs and Zaku laughed arrogantly, making her huff. If it weren't for her, he'd have been crushed.
However, her irritation was short lived when she suddenly heard Dosu gasp and the two of them spun to face him. Pineapple was stood there with a serious smirk on his face.
"Hey, what're y'doing?!" Akari snapped as Dosu made a stupid sign with his arms, shaping them into an M above his head. "This ain't the time t'be acting like a fool!" She looked from Dosu to the young Konoha teen and had to do a double take, he was standing in the same stupid pose.
Was this a new jutsu from the Nara clan?!
"This must be the Kage Shibari no Jutsu..." Dosu managed to say as his hands were forced to point outwards.
Zaku growled and kicked up in a sprint towards Dosu, but before he could do anything to help, Chouji reappeared in his tank form and forced the teen into battle with him once again, setting up a rhythm of the fatso attacking, while the more agile teen could do nothing but dodge.
Akari was stood there, looking between her two comrades, trying to figure out a strategy to help them out of this situation, when Pineapple's voice reached her ears. "Ino, now it's up to you women."
"Okay." Ino said, and Akari's eyes narrowed, raising her hands in case she had to make some fast signs. "Shikamaru, take care of my body!"
"Sure."
'What the hell is she talking about?" The Rogue Jounin thought as she watched the girl make a sign with her hands. "The Yamanaka jutsu can't be used in battle, it's not stable enough! She's bluffing!"
However, the woman knew standing still would be her downfall, and went to move, when suddenly, she too was forced to remain still. "Ah crap!" Akari called out as she looked down, her shadow was connected to Shikamaru's. 'I underestimated him! I only thought he could capture one person at a time! He has more chakra than I thought!'
Shikamaru grunted when Akari tried to force herself to break away from the jutsu, but it was too late. She tsked sharply and watched as Ino's smirk deepened. "Ninpou, Shintenshin no Jutsu!"
The two women's eyes locked and something in the older woman gave way, her eyes softening as she lost control of her body. Shikamaru made a noise of effort as he caught Ino's unconscious body and Dosu copied his movements. Meanwhile, Zaku was still occupied avoiding Chouji, who was putting up quite a fight. "Damn it..." He ground out, looking back at their squad leader. "Akari!"
The Ninjutsu Expert herself did nothing but lower head to the floor, eyes closed, not one muscle moving to respond to Zaku's calls. "What's wrong?!" Dosu tried, his eyes wide.
Suddenly she walked over to a kunai sticking into the ground from the earlier attacks made by Sakura, and snatched it up, pointing it at her own neck with a cocky smirk. "This is it." She said, her voice the same, but her words different.
Akari's speech pattern was different, she usually melded words together for easier sentenses, that wasn't Akari.
"If you move, this Akari girl is dead! If you don't want to retire here, leave your scroll and get out of here."
Definitely not Akari.
The girl, who they assumed was Ino, since the blonde Genin wasn't conscious at the moment, saw Zaku and Dosu smirk as she tried to negociate with them. "Once you two back off far enough where we can't sense your chakra, I'll let this girl go."
'Why are they laughing...?'
"Chouji!" 'Akari' called as the boy let out an acknowledging shout and dove towards them. However, Sakura's voice broke through the assault.
"No, they're trying to...!"
However, it was too late, as Zaku raised his hand and sent a powerful barrage of wind at the Ninjutsu Expert they called their comrade. Chouji didn't make it in time to stop the entire blast as she was sent barrelling into the nearest tree and Ino let out a pained cry through the woman's lips, while her original body started bleeding from the mouth.
"Ino!" Shikamaru yelled with concern as Chouji tried his best not to throw up from all the spinning. 'Akari' hit the floor, stomach first as a very similar trail of blood trickled down her chin and dripped onto the dirt ground below.
Slowly the girl possessing the woman's body raised up using her arms and glared at Zaku and Dosu. "What's wrong with them...?" She ground out as pain continued to wrack her form. "They hurt their own teammate."
Zaku sneered, his smirk only widening at the confusion the enemy Genin held on their little rookie faces. "You took us too lightly." He told them bluntly, glaring at them over his shoulder, like the villain he was.
"Our purpose is not a dumb scroll or to get through this exam." Dosu continued, lying through his teeth. Yes, they had to make it through the exam, but their first priority was Sasuke's death. Plus they had a spare scroll for insurance purposes.
The gasp that filled the air made all the Konoha Ninja's eyes widen with shock. "What?!" Ino gasped, voicing her surprise. Honestly, how she hadn't figured it out yet, after watching them in the bushes would be beyond Akari if she was even slightly conscious right now.
"It's Sasuke-kun." Dosu finished, his one visible eye almost unseen as the pupil shrank to the size of a pin's head, a sinister, deadly expression made even more unsettling by the way the rest of his face remained hidden. However there was a slight panic in there as well, he could see purple streams of Chakra floating from the Uchiha boy's body behind Sakura and knew whatever happened when he awoke would be very, very bad for them.
They had to end this fight and kill him before they could find out exactly what this 'bruise' was capable of.
Just as the intelligent Oto Ninja thought that, he felt some of his movement return and glanced down to see the shadow connecting him to Shikamaru waver and met the teen's eyes as he saw Pineapple's expression warp into frustration.
Seems like his time was up.
Dosu moved his arms and flexed out his hands as the feeling came back to them. "I see that your Kage Shibari no Jutsu can only be used for five minutes at most."
"It's not Kage Shibari no Jutsu, it's Kage Mane no Jutsu." Shikamaru called back with a correcting tone, he was in no place to criticize them now.
"And that girl's jutsu...It seems that she is able to slip into another person's mind and take control of the body." The Sound Based Shinobi continued, completely ignoring Shikamaru's obnoxious words. "Seeing that blood from her mouth, it looks like that if we kill Akari, that girl will die too."
"You're going to kill a teammate?"
This time it was Zaku who responded, raising his hand to Akari's pain wracked form. "If we have to, yes." He knew Orochimaru wouldn't be pleased, but like them, she was disposable.
Both Ino and Shikamaru shared looks of frustration, and finally, it was Pineapple that relaxed with a deep sigh. "This is over." He whined, which would have irritated Akari, had she, once again, been conscious.
"Damn it..." Chouji whined too, trembling with the ache of defeat.
The spiky haired Oto Genin straightened up with a dark smirk. "Close." He complimented them, though he still managed to sound like he was mocking them at the same time. "You almost had us."
"You let your guard down." Dosu added on.
Suddenly a huff was heard in the distance and everyone looked up into the trees. "How disgusting." Before them, on a high branch, stood another young teen with brown hair and pale lilac eyes, his arms crossed as if passing judgement on them. Beside him, was a girl with two buns in her hair and brown eyes, wearing a Chinese style dress and an amused smirk.
"A mere minor Oto Shinobi." The male finished, frowning down at them with a look of pure dissapointment. "Acting like victors by beating those second-class Ninja?"
"What?!" Dosu ground out, irritated and surprised by the sudden appearance.
The only one who didn't express a sound of surprise was Sakura, who shed some light on their identities. "They're from Lee-san's team..."
The female of the group looked down at their fallen comrade. "Lee!" She gasped, her high pitched voice laced with concern.
"Looks like he screwed up." Her teammate confirmed with condescention in his eyes.
Zaku let out a sound of irritated amusement as he glared up at the newer Genin's in their little party. "You guys just keep coming out, like roaches..."
"That bobbed haired kid there is on our team..." The white eyed Genin called back, just completely brushing Zaku off. However the two Oto Shinobi felt their hearts sink when his eyes suddenly turned intense and veins spread around them, the view made more unsettling by the anger swimming through them. "Looks like you went overboard with him!"
Dosu was frozen in place by the sight that befell him, unable to look at anything but those dangerous irises. 'What's with those eyes?' He thought to himself. 'It looks like he's able to see everything with it...'
"If you're going to continue to fight, we will fight with everything we have." With the stronger boy's words, his female teammate picked up a kunai in preparation.
However, she was sidetracked when he gasped. "What's wrong, Neji?" She asked, confused to see that his eyes had returned to normal.
"If you don't like what we're doing, stop showing off and come down here." Dosu interrupted, an oddly juvenile response for a man who was almost as cautious and intelligent as their senior.
What was stranger, was the smirk that covered Neji's expression as he closed his eyes. "No." He said simply, his tone fueled with amusement. "It seems that there's no need for me to do that."
The Bandaged Teen had to share an expression of confusion then, following the former path of Neji's eyes, his own widening with shock, everyone else following suit.
Before them, was an unconscious Sasuke spewing a vicious purple chakra from every chakra point in his body. Before it was just wisps, but now it was flooding out of him like steam, spreading through the air like an ominous cloud of power.
While inside the boy's head, his memories played out in front of him, warped by one devilish man in particular.
~BHBL~
Sasuke stood in front of an image of his former self, an image he had been facing since before the fight he was unaware of, began. The younger version of himself just stayed frozen in place, trembling uncontrollably with his hands clenched into his short cosmic blue hair.
"If you don't have power..." He started, his older self's eyes widening slightly with a startled step back as the strange yellow space they floated in changed into an image of a house with two bodies laying dead on the floor. This was the night his parents died. "You can't do anything!"
"Because I didn't have power..." Young Sasuke continued, his saddened tone warping into something dark and cruel. "Everyone was killed!"
Older Sasuke let out a startled sound as his younger self raised his head with a sinister smirk on his lips, the look in his eyes maddened as he raised his fingers and dug them into his left eye. "No, you let them die. You just watched them die."
The real Uchiha survivor felt terrified trembles flood through him and his eyes filled with deep horror. "If only I had power..." Little Sasuke tore away his eye and underneath, was the eye of a man who terrified him almost as much as the one who killed his family.
It was the eye of Orochimaru.
"If only you had more power..."
Then without another word the entire area flooded with purple chakra, drowning out the voices and the images that plagued Sasuke's mind.
~BHBL~
'Akari', Shikamaru, Dosu, Zaku, Sakura, Chouji, Neji and his teammate all watched as the purple chakra enveloped Sasuke and slowly the teen rose to his feet. Purple mist swirling around him like a dangerous aura that meant death.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called out with a sense of cheer and relief. "You woke up...?" However, she stopped suddenly, her eyes widening as the strange sensation of evil came over her. Sasuke both looked and felt deadly, like any words would send him into an uncontrollable blood lust. He only had to stand to make everyone feel uneasy and ready to run.
"That's...Sasuke-kun?" Ino breathed through Akari's lips as she and her pink haired friend stared at the Uchiha Prodigee as red marks started to cover half of his body.
The teen stepped forward, sending a rush of purple chakra into the ground. "Sakura..." He spoke, his tone sinister and deep. The light of the purple chakra faded slightly, revealing the sinister eyes of her comrade, red with the Sharingan and surrounded by the now black markings. "Who did that to you...?"
Dosu now knew what that bruise was, his eyes widened with horror. 'The Cursed Seal has covered his body...'
"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura managed to say, finally finding her voice amidst her shock. "Your body..."
Sasuke lifted his hand and looked down at the markings covering it with no emotion in his dangerous red eyes. "Don't worry." He said as he looked back at the three Oto Genin. "More importantly, I can feel power surging inside me." They could all feel his chakra escape his body as he clenched his fist, such a sickening sensation. "I'm feeling good right now."
The image of Orochimaru's eye passed through his mind. "He gave it to me..." Though he knew exactly what he meant, it was an enigmatic statement to anyone who hadn't met Orochimaru before. "I finally understand now. I'm an avenger. I must obtain power no matter what, even if I must let the devil take hold of my body."
Sakura and Zaku both held similar senses of speechlessness. Sakura because of Sasuke's strange behaviour, and Zaku because he could feel this boy's power, and knew he would be targetted first for attacking the brat's friend.
'I see...' Dosu concluded silently. 'Just as I thought. That bruise on his neck that the Sakura girl was talking about was that Cursed Seal. Still, I can't believe he woke up.'
Though he never took his eyes off the enemy, Sakura knew before Sasuke spoke that he would address her. "Sakura, say it!" He demanded sharply, eyes narrowing with a looming sense of bloodlust. "Who the hell hurt you?!"
Being the brainless fool he was, Zaku swallowed his fear and grinned dangerously. "I did!" He called out with pride, amused by this kid's reaction when he turned to him with absolute resolve in those Sharingan tinted eyes. Here comes a good fight!
'Akari' stared at Sasuke with a blank look of confusion, until she heard Shikamaru call out to her and looked in that direction. "Ino! You're going to get confused as the enemy like that!" The pineapple haired boy was actually hidden inside the bushes with Ino's body, ready for a tactical retreat. "Return to your own body!" He then turned to Chouji. "Chouji, you come here too, we're going to hide!"
"Okay!" Chouji accepted as Ino forced Akari's hands into the release sign for her jutsu and finally left her body, returning to her own. Akari was left to stagger on the spot as her mind slipped back to where it should, and she dropped to her knees with a looming desire to collapse.
However she managed to stop herself, planting both hands into the ground as she blinked and stared at the dirt beneath her, vision blurred and her head pounding, but just able to remain conscious. "Nnng, what...?" She gasped out, gripping her forehead with a hiss as pain throbbed through it.
She forgot all about it when she lifted her head and saw Sasuke stood there, a strange set of black markings slowly spreading over his face. Though she had missed most of the events leading up to this moment, she knew instantly that this was too much for them, just by the feel of his overpowering chakra.
'Great...Unless I go expert Chuunin or Jounin level with my skills, I ain't got a chance against this guy!' She thought as she managed to slowly get to her feet, unaware that Dosu was completely terrified, his body trembling as the chakra overwhelmed him more than anyone else on their team.
"Dosu!" Zaku called out, knowing what his teammate was thinking by the fear in his eyes. Quickly he formed a seal with his hands. "Don't be afraid of that half-dead guy!"
"No stop, Zaku!" Dosu called out, being the intelligent one of the two. "Don't you understand?!"
"I'll kill them all with this!" The teen roared, scaring Sakura as he aimed his hands at Sasuke. "I'll finish this in a flash!" Suddenly a large, painful looking torrent of sharp needle-like wind currents shot out of the small holes in his palms and towards the Konoha Genin. "Maximum Air Cutter!"
Akari grasped the ground, digging her nails into the dirt as she and everyone around the area of attack defended themselves against the residual winds, making sure they kept their footing, no matter what they had to hold onto.
The winds burned each of them as if being sliced with knives and slowly, that feeling began to fade, the currents of air changing to normal wisps of wind and everything turned silent as all sounds stopped aside from Zaku's deep breathing.
Akari opened her eyes to see the teen stood there with a groove in the ground before him and sweat dripping down his cheek with exertion. There was no sign of Sasuke, Sakura or Naruto anywhere. "Heh, they blew up into pieces." He huffed, surveying the area in front of him for any signs of them at all.
"Who did?"
Zaku froze with shock, able to feel a breath on the back of his neck and Akari gasped, getting to her feet once again and kicking off in a run towards them. Sasuke stood behind her 'comrade' sinisterly, his eyes murderous and intent on making them pay. "Zaku! Run dammit!"
However, he didn't have time as the Uchiha with his back to them thrust out his arm and sent the other black haired Genin flying away, rolling to a stop near Dosu, covered in dirt and bruises from the impact.
"Zaku!" Dosu and Akari called out as the foolish Shinobi forced himself to lift onto his hands and knees and glared daggers at Sasuke.
'So fast!' Akari thought as she stopped and formed seals for a jutsu. "Katon: Gokakyuu no jutsu!" She called out, inhaling deeply and spitting out a massive fire ball at Sasuke, before jumping up into the air above him and inhaling again, this time several smaller fireballs left her mouth and barelled down towards her target. Without giving him time to dodge those two, she landed behind him and made some new signs. "Futon: Renkudan!" finally she aimed and shot out several bullets made of concentrated air, the three jutsu flying towards that one teen in less than a second.
However Sasuke didn't move, the three jutsu enveloped him and errupted into a large explosion made of fire and stormy winds, rubble and debris from the ground around it sprinkling through the air as everyone watched and waited for the results of this strong assault.
Akari's entire body froze as she watched the fires fade and the smoke clear, only to see no one there, Sasuke had dodged all of her attacks, leaving behind a crater and nothing more. If he had been hit, a charred body would remain, or at least some shreds of clothing.
"But that's..." She managed to speak, looking around for him, unable to voice the rest of her sentense due to shock. 'That's the best combo I can pull off without causing suspicion...He's just too strong like this!'
And her words were proven right when she felt the air behind her change and she only had time to look over her shoulder before an elbow slammed into the back of her skull. Her vision swam and her entire body went numb before finally, she collapsed and her eyesight blurred.
Just as she hit the floor, everything around her went black.
A/N: Thank you for reading! If you feel the need to leave a review, go ahead, I love hearing feedback from you guys, it really helps me improve!
Also, another small comment, usually she would be able to wipe the floor with Sasuke, but can't risk showing off all her skills without letting everyone know what she's capable of and how to defeat her. Basically, she's keeping herself at a certain level to avoid disadvantages in later battles.
I hope this clears it all up.
Japanese = English
Konoha Senpu = Konoha Whirlwind
Baika no Jutsu = The Art of Expansion
Katon: Gokakyuu no jutsu = Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique
Futon: Rendukan = Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet
Ninpou, Shintenshin no Jutsu = Mind Transfer Technique
Kage Shibari no Jutsu = Shadow Bind Technique
Kagemane no Jutsu: Shadow Imitation Technique
