Chapter 13 - Unsettling Atmosphere


A/N: I do not own the Naruto Franchise!

I do however own Mari Kaede and any other OCs mentioned.

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.

This is a shorter chapter than usual, but I've been lacking inspiration towards this story recently. Luckily I found a video called Finished, Not Perfect, which told me I shouldn't worry about my projects being perfect, they just need to be finished, since in a year's time, I'll be better than I am now anyway. So I finally knuckled down and finished this chapter!


It had been a fair few matches since Sasuke fought Yoroi and so far Akari had seen Zaku lose, the two girls; Sakura and Ino, have a hissy fit and knock each other out, and Tenten who was in a cell with Rock Lee, lost to Temari, which wasn't at all surprising.

Now the next matches were being announced and Akari sighed, leaning against the railings with a bored expression on her formerly tanned features, if only she had her Icha-Icha book, she'd be able to enjoy this a little more. That and if she wasn't at a much higher level than her opponents. When the screen beeped and showed the names, her eyes widened ever so slightly with surprise.

Nara Shikamaru Vs. Akari.

Well, well, looked like her mission was finally about to start. With a serious frown, she pushed off the railings and went to head down. "Be careful of the shadows..." Dosu said behind her, causing her to huff with a smirk.

"I already know." She said, glancing at him from over her shoulder. "I was there during the fight, remember...And I know far more about Shinobi Clans than you do...Don't underestimate your superiors."

The underling himself huffed in a similar manner. "Then I expect an easy win." He taunted, but instead of making her laugh, like he assumed she would, this only soured her expression.

'Trust me, if I was allowed to...It would be.'

Without another word, the copper haired individual made her way down onto the battlegrounds and looked over Shikamaru with narrowed eyes. She remembered him, he was the irritatingly lazy one with the powerful shadow jutsu. As long as she kept her distance, watched her shadows and attacked while he was trying to form seals, she'd be fine.

All she had to do was wait until the match lasted a fair amount of time, then she could fake losing her energy and resign from the match. Orochimaru wouldn't be pleased if she revealed her true strength here. Not that she cared what he thought, but the more he trusted her, the easier her goals would become.

"How troublesome..." Shikamaru grumbled with complain as he looked Akari over as she stopped a far distance from him. "On top of that, it's going to be tough dealing with a girl."

Akari laughed slightly and smirked, crossing her arms with sharp eyes, her seriousness a little unnerving to the young teen. "Just 'cause I'm a woman, doesn't mean I'm not superior t'you in strength..." She sneered, narrowing her eyes at him, not too pleased with his view on women. "This ain't my first Chuunin exam, after all..."

The examiner saw an opportunity then to begin the match. "Sixth match...Shikamaru VS Akari..." He stopped to cough, before swiping out his arm. "Begin!"

Akari didn't move from the place she stood, her brown eyes watching Shikamaru's movements as he stood there, assessing her abilities from their last fight. When it became apparent he wasn't going to make the first move, she huffed with a grin and began to form her beloved fire seals.

"Crap!" Shikamaru gasped, quickly kicking off into a run as the Jounin in disguise inhaled deeply and shot out several fireballs to follow his path, he dodged most of them easily, and actually had to bend himself back at a painful angle just to avert the last one. "Man, that was close..."

"If you're not going to take this seriously, then quit." The redhaired Ninjutsu Expert said, jumping into the air as she formed more signs, this time spitting out several wind bullets.

Shikamaru rolled away from the bullets as Akari landed and quickly he got to his feet, moving his hands with rushed tension as he prepared to use his shadow jutsu. Suddenly the dark silhouette attached to his feet began to stretch out towards her and she jumped back again and again to avoid it.

With a gasp, her back hit the wall and her eyes widened, she didn't hesitate to form some fast signs, too fast for Shikamaru to see clearly. He narrowed his gaze and just as he attached his shadow to her's the figure vanished from sight. "Wh-what?! Bunshin no Jutsu?!"

"Up here!"

Pineapple snapped his head up so he was looking right above, at the ceiling, where Akari stood with her feet attached to the stone structure above their heads. "Peekaboo!" She called out with a sneering grin. Without waiting another second, she forced more Chakra into the soles of her feet and was sent hurtling towards Shikamaru, yanking a kunai from her sleeve in preparation to attack.

Unable to do much else but dodge, he quickly dove back and Akari flipped in mid air, landing carefully on the ground before she rushed at the young Genin with her weapon in hand. However just as she was about to land a blow, which he couldn't do anything against, she vanished from sight.

"Again?!" He gasped, looking around, where was she now?!

Someone cleared their throat behind him and he spun just in time for her to spit out a giant fireball. Unable to get away from it, he let out a pained cry as the flames engulfed him and Akari hopped back to avoid them herself.

"Shikamaru!" Chouji and Ino cried out from the railings and the Oto 'Genin' relaxed her posture, crossing her arms as she awaited him to come back out. She hadn't used enough Chakra to fatally harm him, he would have a few burns, but should still have enough energy to fight.

The flames flickered and faded, leaving a slightly charred Shikamaru still standing, his hands together in the form of his shadow jutsu. Akari gasped and suddenly she felt her entire body seize up and go numb. 'Crap! I underestimated him!'

"Heh..." The burnt Pineapple sneered, raising his eyes to meet her's, pain clouding them. "I stretched my shadow into the shadows caused by the light of the fireball, and followed them until it connected with your's..." He straightened up and dusted himself off, the redhead following suit. "Now I can make you give up."

"I won't allow that!" She lied, this'd be perfect, now she just had to pretend she was low on Chakra and not fight the weaker strength of the jutsu being used on her, then she'd be able to complete her mission at long last.

Shikamaru lifted her hand into the air and glanced at Hayate. "I think she's giving up, Sensei." He told him with a bored tone, and Akari cursed as she faked being breathless and made it look like she was fighting the power of his shadows.

Hayate hummed and looked her over, from where he was standing, it looked like she was struggling, with her current posing level as a Genin, it'd make sense that she'd be unable to fight from this moment on. With a sigh, he raised his hand and gestured to Shikamaru. "Shikamaru wins the match, Akari is forced to retire due to an inability to escape his jutsu..."

"She was doing so well, is she really out of Chakra already?" Sakura asked, looking up at Kakashi, who's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Akari was released from the jutsu and she faked a tsk, before storming off, back up the steps towards Dosu, who watched her every move.

"You could have taken him..." He said, and Akari shrugged, leaning against the railings once again.

"Yeah, I could've...But that ain't the plan, is it?" She looked at him with eyes overflowing with serious determination. "Win your match, the more people we have by the end of it, the better our chances of winning."

"So you acknowledge that you need us?"

"Hah!" Akari's lips curled back in a sharp, cruel grin. "Not a chance, Orochimaru needs you, not me! I ain't no weakling who needs backup like you!"

Dosu huffed at her burning insults but didn't have time to make a comeback as the next names were called, Uzumaki Naruto VS. Inuzuka Kiba.

Well, well, looks like the dropout kid with the loud mouth was up. She wondered how he'd do.

In a matter of moments, the fight was underway, Naruto faced both Kiba and his dog Akamaru with gusto, more than once being knocked down before standing up again. Throughout this, he surprised almost everyone when he showed how much he'd improved, but Akari only smirked in amusement.

Being the dropout in her class during the Chuunin exams, she knew Shinobi like Naruto tended to end up on top in the end. He'd win this in his own way and it would be memorable.

Of course, she didn't think that his memorable victory would be caused by a stray fart and almost collapsed in laughter as the fight drew to a close and Naruto claimed victory with his own take on Sasuke's Shishi Rendan.

The next fight was Hyuuga Vs. Hyuuga as Hinata and Neji took center stage and showed off the power of their Doujutsu, the Byakugan and Negi ended up defeating Hinata who worked hard to change herself and became bold if just for a moment in an attempt to claim victory. Honestly, for a moment, the Redheaded Avenger actually started rooting for her and was disappointed with her loss.

However, it was Lee's fight that had her gripping the railings and forcing back shouts of anguish and irritation as Gaara pummelled him viciously and actually rendered the boy, who had fought on par with the Jinchuuriki and almost won with his Taijutsu skills alone, unable to complete his dreams of becoming a world-class shinobi. If it wouldn't have given her away, she'd have gone down there and shown Gaara a thing or two, even if he was unstable and powerful.

Finally after hours of non-stop fighting, Dosu beating Chouji by a landslide, with very little else to do other than watch, the matches were over and Akari stretched out her arms with a heavy groan. Now she could sit down and relax at long lost.

"With this, the preliminaries for the Third Exam are complete!" Hayate called out, raising his arm in the air to get the attention of the more relaxed Genin. When everyone became alert and prepared for the next explanation, they all made their way down to the rather damaged battlefield and stood before the three examiners and the Hokage who now stood center stage. "To everyone who has advanced to the final round of the third test of the Chuunin Exams, there's one person missing, but congratulations."

Akari had heard enough, knowing full well what would happen next, and not caring either way, she turned and walked from the room with her arms hidden in her comfortable sleeves. For the first time since arriving here, she could relax and have a couple hours without a certain Snake-Eyed Sannin breathing down her neck.

It'd give her time to plan her own affairs more as well. Entertained by the thought, a smirk curled her lips and she stepped out into the hot sunlight and began her endless plotting.

~BHBL~

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Konohagakure, under the hiding shadows of a calm, empty building, a man whom needed no introduction stood against a pillar, looking out at the nearby pond with his white haired subordinate kneeling at his side. "The preliminaries have ended without incident..." Kabuto explained as the light bounced off his glasses, hiding his eyes from view. "It seems they're now entering the Final Round."

Orochimaru listened to his words without response, still staring out at the view, two birds sat on the railings at his side, going about their daily activities without fear of the Snake Summoner. "This land has become peaceful, hasn't it?" He asked with a smirk. "This peaceful time has put this country in slumber...While all the other lands are busy racing to build their military."

The Medic Ninja stood from his spot by Orochimaru's side, his lips also curled back in a similarly twisted way. "Would it be possible for us to take it now?"

The Sannin, staring at his subordinate, huffed with amusement and looked away. "I suppose. Though I don't know how much fun it would be to take out that old man."

"Is that so?"

The tone of Kabuto's voice caused Orochimaru's serpent-like eyes to snap back onto his form suspiciously. "To me, it looks as though you're still hesitating about it. From now on, the power of each village will clash with one another in a long and violent manner. Otogakure is one of them...You intend to be the trigger for all of that..." The frown on his lord's face showed his displeasure in the younger Shinobi's analysis, but he didn't care as he adjusted his glasses and stared at his lord. "And use him for a bullet. Our Sasuke-kun...Right?"

Orochimaru's expression slowly warped back to its usual sinister self as he closed his eyes and turned his head away with a chuckle. "You're as perceptive as usual...It's a bit creepy."

"Not in the slightest. I still had no idea about Dosu, Zaku, or even Kaede...In gathering information about Sasuke, I desired to learn their skills...Well, Dosu and Zaku's, at the very least, and carried out tactless things like deliberately subjecting myself to an attack." His smile fell. "You overestimate me. It seems that...You don't trust me completely...Yet."

"Was it necessary to tell you, my right-hand man, about the likes of those three? You see, there lies the proof of my trust."

He accepted those words but altered the topic slightly. "Perhaps not the youngest two, no..." Kabuto stated, then met Orochimaru's eyes with suspicion. "However Kaede, at the very least, should be mentioned..."

"Oh? Why is that?" His amusement was evident.

With a sigh, the young Medic shifted his glasses as he thought up how to speak about their newest member. "She is a rash, unpredictable individual who shows no loyalty towards you, yet you brought her on such a dangerous, vital mission of your own choosing...My question is why?"

The chuckle he let out would shake even the Hokage himself to the core if he'd heard it. "She may be difficult, however, her Katon Jutsu rival even the Uchiha...She will be a good asset in the final battle against an enemy such as Sarutobi-sensei."

"If you can keep her controlled, that is."

"Do you doubt me?"

"No, I doubt her."

Another huff was heard. "Very well. Getting back to our original topic of conversation..." He watched the birds fly away at the sinister tone his voice took. "Because I trust you, I would like to leave Sasuke-kun in your hands. The Curse Mark that was given to him...Appears to have been sealed by Kakashi. Though that won't matter much. While there is still some darkness in his heart...I want you to abduct him."

Kabuto smirked, the light on his glasses hiding a single eye as he met Orochimaru's gaze. "That's an uncharacteristically hasty request, is it not?"

"There's a little something troubling me..."

"Is it Uzumaki Naruto?"

The Sannin's eyes narrowed as his grin widened. 'You're quite a sharp one, aren't you?' He thought, before shaking off the sense of being read, and continued out loud. "Sasuke-kun has lived for revenge against his older brother Itachi, and will not rest until he has achieved that aim." He remembered the fight he and Sasuke shared. "Nevertheless, in battle with me, he was aware there were things beyond his power and faced death without fear. I didn't think he'd be the type of person who would be in a hurry to die. According to your information, contact with that Kyuubi child has altered Sasuke-kun's heart and mind."

Orochimaru's eyes took on a sharp gleam as he pulled out an information card and lifted it near his face. "So much so, that he possesses some influence over Sasuke-kun. The best thing to do is to get Sasuke-kun away from him immediately..." He looked away and lowered his head as his voice took on a gleeful tone. "And stain him in my colors..."

Kabuto shuddered with discomfort as he watched his master lick his lips with anticipation over his brand-new vessel. "Well, then..." The Medic started, trailing off as he went to walk away, to do his duty.

"Kabuto...You..."

This stopped the young man.

"If you wish to stop me...You have no choice but to kill young Sasuke-kun, now." His eyes, though staring at the weaker man's back, burned holes into them, freezing his insides from the tone of his voice alone and the fear of what expression waited behind him. Unable to stop his human instinct and curiosity, he turned and visibly shook as those slitted pupils narrowed in width. "You can't possibly kill me...Though you are strong, you're only in the same league as Kakashi."

Silence passed between the two, along with a gust of wind, before Orochimaru's expression relaxed and he chuckled. "Just kidding..." He said, though his voice turned light, it was still creepy. "Now, run along I trust you."

Kabuto smiled in response, but his black eyes remained wide and fearful before he jumped up and dashed from roof to roof towards the medical unit in search of their prize.

'That face...I wonder what could possibly be going on in his head?"

Whatever it was, he knew Kabuto would never betray him, he was the only one within his village he could put his full trust into.

Speaking of which, he had other matters to attend to, and with that, disguised himself once more and left to find his 'Genin' and Suna comrades.


A/N: Thank you for reading, please review and let me know what you think!

English = Japanese

Clone Technique = Bunshin no Jutsu.