Author's Note: My apologies for another late update. Got some personal things going on that takes priority, but I ensure you that I will always update until this story is completed.
Citations: This is completely original.
Chapter's Song: "Come Clean" by Hilary Duff
Chapter 15
Coming Clean
Team One stood before a Mist Jonin who had his arms crossed, behind him was a gate and tall trees covered in moss beyond that gate. "You will have twenty-four hours to make it through the Swamp of Death. You will have to collect the opposite scroll from what you have, there is a Heaven scroll and an Earth scroll."
Akina closed her eyes with a smirk gracing her face, her shadowed lips. "Forest of the death… Well, I think that one takes the cake. Huh, Yugao-senpai?"
"Seriously. I have a bad feeling about this…" Yugao murmured, glaring at Akina.
Akina became even more solemn than usual. "Why's that…? Is it the barbed fence, the creepy swamp, or our proctor?"
Yugao glared at Akina, annoyed, her bottom lip curling over his top. "Don't start with your humor."
Hisoka ignored his comrades completely, keeping his eyes peeled on the proctor as he raised his hand, the proctor pointed to him, Hisoka's uncanny voice ringing in Akina's ear. "Isn't a written test supposed to be first?"
"That might be how The Leaf does things, but here we kill off weaklings and then test intelligence amongst the strong."
Hisoka gulped, his brows furrowing. Akina watching her comrade, she placed a flat hand on his back. He looked at her with his white eyes. "It's frustrating that The Mist has even more disregard for life than The Leaf, but we have to focus here."
"You're right." He smirked. "I'll be sure to watch your back."
"And I've got your back, Hisoka-senpai." Akina nodded in sincerity.
"Just Hisoka." He shook his hand awkwardly, insisting to drop formalities.
Akina was taken aback and looked downwards in a blush. "He's sweet."
"C'mon, you two. Look alive." Yugao scolded, for them to look at the proctor who raised his hand straight in the air; bringing it out horizontally and stiffly to his side— The gates flew open; about fifty Genin took off into the swamp.
Akina and Hisoka followed Yugao as they jumped from tree to tree, branch to branch. "Hisoka," She threw the scroll back to him. "You're the fastest, so you hold onto that."
"Got it." He nodded, putting it in his pouch on his backside.
"We have an Earth scroll," Akina took notice. "So we need to find a team with a Heaven Scroll."
"And what's the plan to do that?" Yugao inquired.
"Maybe we should split up… We have better chances if one of us finds a team with an earth scroll. Instead of all three of us searching at once." Akina suggested.
"It does, but I think this is going to be based on teamwork. We should stay together as a team." Hisoka suggested.
"This isn't The Leaf." Yugao growled lowly.
Akina nodded.
"No, but still… We need to protect each other." Hisoka insisted.
"Fine. Let's move quick then." Yugao continued to lead. Suddenly, a fine grabbed Yugao's waist— "Akina! What the—"
"It's not me!" Akina and Hisoka landed on a branch next to each other. The Mochizuki girl then did a hand sign, trying to control the vine, but it resisted.
"Byakugan!" Hisoka announced as he followed the chakra in the fine to its source of a shinobi standing not too far off in the distance of the forest. "Get Yugao and follow me!"
"Got it!" Akina took out a scroll roll it open in the air and summon a giant shuriken. Grabbing it to swing back and throw it at the vine. Cutting it to release Yugao.
Yugao landed on a mossy rock in the muddy swamp, for a figure to rise out of the mud, and swing a sword that Yugao blocked with her own. Mud rolled off of the young boy, a Hidden Grass shinobi staring at her across their blades.
"Yugao!" Akina called out.
"Go! I can handle one on one sword fight." She insisted.
Akina nodded and went after Hisoka. Akina could hear kunai ahead of her clashing, and as Hisoka came into view— Akina caught sight of shuriken hurling towards her and she did an aerial cartwheel to land on the side of a tree, looking up to where the shuriken came from. "You're so young…" The monotone girl's voice emerged, a Grass Village kunoichi with hime-styled bangs.
Green eyes shifted down to her right to Hisoka, he was holding his own just fine— "Is he your boyfriend? I'd be keeping your eyes over here, love."
Akina's eyes returned to the Grass Kunoichi, glaring.
"Well, it's you and me now." The Grass Kunoichi kissed her shuriken in her hand.
"Gross." Akina rolled her eyes and then— Summersault up the tree to dodge the shuriken. She then did a hand sign for pink rose petals to fly at the Grass Kunoichi for her to back into the tree she stood on. Akina keened her eyes to wait.
"You're a long-range fighter, just like me." The Grass Kunoichi's re-emerged, her eyes shifting down to Hisoka and her comrade. "Your teammates are close-range fighters. Balancing act."
Akina's eyes shifted down to Hisoka again. Just as the Grass Shinobi went to slice Hisoka, the Hyuga transported behind the Grass Shinobi— WHAP! Knocking him away with a kick to his back, sending the man skidding across the ground, to go unconscious as he lie on the dirt, that soaked up his blood.
The Kunoichi that faced off with Akina got distracted. "You little twerp—"
"I'd be keeping your eyes over here, love." Akina breathed with her smooth voice flowing calm like a wave. It mocked the Grass Kunoichi.
"Her eyes might not be a dojutsu, but they're just as frightening." The Grass Kunoichi thought this, clutching her kunai a little tighter, having Akina notice.
"Why hasn't she got the nerve to attack?" Akina thought and then smirked out, "You need to be sent back a rank, not going for a higher one. What, forgot how to attack with a kunai?"
"I'll show you an attack!" The girl shouted across the swamp, charging at Akina, underestimating who she was dealing with— Akina did a quick hand sign and waited as the girl was almost close enough to slash Akina with her kunai— "Rose style: Petal Paper Bombs." BOOM! Akina's body blew up, white red-tipped petals filling the air. Knocking the girl away in the wave of heat from the blast.
A scroll fell out of her pouch to the mud, for Hisoka to grab it out of the mud quickly, wiping it. "Akina?!" He looked above him trying to spot her. Akina reformed in her petals, piece-by-piece, until she was fully restored in her body's form.
"That was epic…" Hisoka smiled in relief.
"Yeah, but it used up most of my chakra… I haven't perfected it." Akina sighed in frustration.
"Let's get over to Yugao." Hisoka looked in the direction they came from with his Byakugan— He then turned around quickly to the body of the boy he had defeated as vines shot out of his body. Hisoka tried to jump back, but his feet were stuck in mud, him seeing chakra within the mud. "Akina! Stay out of the mud!"
"I've got your back!" Akina charged at the vines to slice them with knives and to be knife to knife with the Grass Shinobi.
"No, you don't…" The Grass boy smiled, as he disappeared in a pile of mud and Akina turned around, seeing shuriken hurling towards Hisoka's back. She did a hand sign for a vine to grow behind Hisoka's back for the kunai to imbed into the vine. Hisoka was scared and shocked as he glanced, the vine disappearing into the mud.
Akina ran back to Hisoka, doing another hand sign. "Water Style: Water Bomb Jutsu." Akina then spewed water out of her mouth to make the mud more watery for Hisoka to jump over next to Akina.
"They're not done…" Hisoka looked over Akina's shoulders as he watched the Grass Shinobi to re-emerge from the mud to form. "You got enough chakra?" Hisoka asked.
"Yeah!" Akina took off, running away from Hisoka's back as she spotted the Grass Kunoichi standing next to a tree. The girl threw another shuriken, and in that moment, everything seemed to be playing out in slow motion as it all happened so fast. "She purposefully missed me…?!" Akina thought, and glanced behind her to watch the shuriken propel towards Hisoka's back. "She's aiming for his blind spot!"
"Hisoka!" Akina turned and yelled, for him to turn— "Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation!" Chakra emitted from Hisoka's body to form a dome of chakra that blocked the shuriken.
Relief filled Akina's lungs, but it was quickly taken from her as wire looped in front of her neck as the girl ran passed her, the wire tightened, dragging her up off the ground. "Gah!" Akina struggled to pull the wire away and she did hand signs— "Rose Style: Indigo…"
Hisoka dodged and struck his opponent, missing, but finally striking chakra points on the thighs. The boy fell to the ground limp. Hisoka turned to see how Akina was doing— Choking. Her opponent holding the wire with one hand, and a kunai in the other that dodged indigo petals that flew at her.
Suddenly, Hisoka began running towards the grass kunoichi, Akina losing consciousness as her Indigo petals turned darker, from indigo to black. Thousands of black petals emerged in the air to go rushing at the Grass Kunoichi— She let go of the wire, as the black petals then hit Hisoka and the girl.
Akina took a breath as the wire let loose and she fell towards the ground; she was caught from hitting it. Akina felt arms holding her bridal style, her barely being able to think, but she managed to murmur, looking up to his. "Hisoka?"
