Chapter 53

All Alone

-(*)-

Tri had severed his connection with them. He had done so as soon as he'd sent them away, maintaining that link required constant attention, attention he would otherwise need to battle Orochimaru. But now the Sannin was gone with the wind he re-established the mental link, he allowed his anger and frustration to permeate through it.

The amount of emotion they were being exposed to concerned them both as their flight in pursuit of Gatapishi continued.

Furthermore with the connection re-opened they could sense where Tri was and he was gaining on them fast. Closer and closer he drew before eventually, at a speed they could never hope to match, he shot past beneath them.

Meshikamaru was still hesitant in what to do, to see Gatapishi stomach what must have been absolute agony to focus on getting out from under the tree she'd brought down. She was hesitating, she hadn't moved and instead watched on with dread as Gatapishi's venom went to work breaking down the fibrous material of the tree.

A figure shot into the clearing sliding to a halt in front of her. They showed their back to her but she recognised their hair, a mix of black and red. "Tri-san?"

He didn't say anything, he just stood there. His silence doing nothing to alleviate her anxiety.

Bringing his hand out to his side, palm down, he held the snake's lidless gaze. He took a step forward, then another. Gatapishi watched on suspiciously, the immense pain he felt fought down for now. He opened his maw as wide as he could, bearing his fangs to try and warn this individual off. Tri's slow march continued.

Gatapishi's jaws slammed together but found nothing but air. He felt a hand against his scales and he was taken aback. A warmth spread through him, it felt almost pleasant.

But while the frog could jump out of the boiling water, the snake could not escape. The heat he felt emanating from that hand grew and spread. He began to writhe as it became uncomfortable but Tri had, through the use of chakra, 'glued' hand to scale. And unabated the rising heat continued to spread.

The havoc wrought on Gatapishi nervous system inhibited his ability to coil his body properly, he couldn't reach this Shinobi.

Discomfort gave way to pain as heated scales began to sear the flesh below. Gatapishi hissed as the burning sensations spread through him. He tried to reverse-summon himself, he tried to go home – but he couldn't. Panic began to set in.

Tri stood unmoved as Shakuton chakra continued to flow into the giant snake's body, he didn't need to ignite it, Shakuton always provided a blazing heat. He had hijacked Gatapishi's chakra network by flooding it with his own chakra, he was going nowhere.

The risks to himself were nil, he wasn't straining his own chakra network. There was no application of shape transformation nor was he condensing the chakra.

He never relented as Gatapishi's hisses grew louder and more desperate. Wisps of steam began escaping from the snake's mouth as the water in his cells boiled. And as poison used blood to spread, Tri's Shakuton used Gatapishi's chakra network to spread further.

It dragged on for minutes and Meshikamaru could only watch on, aghast, when Gatapishi finally collapsed and stopped moving, steam now forcing its way out from between scales. The light faded from his yellow eyes and then the entire corpse vanished.

The vanishing startled her. Only a pool of blood remained. "When a summon dies, the body returns to their clan's realm. It will serve as warning." Tri was looking at her as a cloud seemed to lift from his facial features. "Warning?" she asked but any answer was interrupted by two clones dropping down from the trees above, Sasuke and Rezano over their shoulders.

She hurried over as the clones gently put them down before dispelling. Both were still unconscious. She tried to rouse them with a few light slaps to the cheek but neither stirred. Pulling back Rezano's eyelid his pupil wouldn't focus while Sasuke was covered in a cold sweat.

Lifting his Hitai-ate she placed the back of her hand against the Uchiha's forehead, it felt as if he had a fever. Then she noticed it, three-tailed circles on his neck. "Tri-san… What is this?" she asked.

The instant he laid eyes on it he was knelt down next to her, "Move aside," he ordered and she couldn't have jumped out of the way quick enough. He lightly tapped his index and middle fingers against the seal, nothing happened and he growled lowly. The seal was almost completely hidden.

Placing his index and pinkie fingers and thumb against Sasuke's neck he formed a triangle around the seal and applied chakra. He felt the resistance immediately as his quarantine barrier formed around Orochimaru's 'gift'.

Closing his eyes he tentatively pushed further only to be stopped by two separate chakra signatures, he immediately recognised the first as Sasuke's but it felt different, tainted almost. He couldn't be sure but he envisioned the second signature belonged to Orochimaru. He growled again, this was going to be a problem.

"Is he going to die?"
"I don't know," he answered quickly trying to keep his attention focused on the seal. "What's wrong with him?" she immediately followed with. "I don't know…"
"What's is tha…" she was cut off mid-sentence by a sharp glare he sent her way.

"Remember, she isn't you, Tri-kun," Huginn reminded him, "Her emotions aren't as cut off as yours." The Uzumaki sighed and looked at her again. Being chased around the forest by a massive snake and her two teammates being KO'ed had shaken her up. Talented or no, she was still just thirteen.

He took a breath and summoned a shadow clone. "Meshikamaru-san, direct any questions to me and quietly please, the boss needs to focus." She nodded glumly as Tri handed the clone a stack of small journals which the clone quickly began leafing through.

"What is it exactly?" she quietly asked in as calm a voice as she could manage. "It's some kind of invasive Fūinjutsu. Boss is trying to nail exactly which one."

"It's far more advanced but it's definitely Ten no Juin," (Heavens' Curse Mark) Tri said a few moments later and the clone spat in disgust discarding the journal it held, and picking up another.

"I-is that bad?"
"Yes," the clone said honestly. "What does it do?" The clone lifted its eyes to look at her, "You don't want to know," they said grimly.

The Ten no Juin could perhaps best be described as an 'addiction'. It corrupted the host's chakra in an attempt to meld with them. If the meld failed, the host died. If successful it would attempt to force the host to depend on the power boost it provided. If the seal won out they would be bound to Orochimaru's whim and will.

But unknown to all was that upon a successful meld, this updated variant of Ten no Juin would begin to eat away at Sasuke's mind and soul. Eventually, nothing but a physical shell would remain, just as Orochimaru intended.

"Do you know how to fix it?" She received no answer. "You do know how to fix it, right?"
"I don't know, Meshikamaru, maybe. Look, why don't you try and find somewhere we can move these two where they'll be hidden and safe." She glumly nodded.

"Boss?" the clone said as Meshikamaru left. "I can't get at the arrays beneath Orochimaru's chakra, it's actively fighting back. Does my journals have anything?"
"Make the Triangle Stasis Seal permanent?" was its first suggestion but Tri shook his head. "Won't work, Orochimaru's chakra would eat at the seal and it'll eventually fail if I didn't constantly recharge it."

The clone flicked over a page. "Use the Fūja Hōin?" was the next suggestion but again Tri shook his head. "The melding is incomplete, it might kill him."
"He already has a 9/10 chance of dying," the clone quietly reminded him. "I am aware!" Tri snapped back.

Gah, he'd have loved to have more up to date information on this damned seal but Anko had steadfastly refused to let any of Konoha's pre-eminent Fūinjutsu experts inspect it since she'd first gotten it. But with Sasuke now afflicted by it, Tri had half a mind to get a Subpoena from the Hokage to force a detailed inspection of Anko's variant.

The clone hurriedly leafed through a few more pages, their options were running low. "Hmm. How about burning out or destroying Orochimaru's chakra imprint?" This latest suggestion left Tri grumbling, "I'm hesitant to try that. The imprint already replenishes itself on Sasuke's chakra. It might replicate itself faster than I can destroy it."

"You could try using small quantities of Shakuton?" Something Tri immediately rejected, "Kami no!" he briefly glanced over at the large pool of blood that had drained from Gatapishi. Sasuke was far smaller than the Snake but even tiny amounts of Shakuton might yield the same results.

"Could you leave a piece of your own chakra to counter-balance Orochimaru's?" the clone said more out of curiosity than as an actual suggestion.

…

Tri had been ready to dismiss it but he held and thought a moment. "Possibly," he said, "But my own chakra would have to leech off of Sasuke's to maintain itself. He'll have a small but constant drain to his chakra until the seal can be removed. And there's no guarantee it will stop the melding."
"No, it probably won't. But it might prevent the addictive element."

Tri blew out a breath. Removing the seal, for now at least, was out of the question. Mitigating the negative side-effects did seem the best option. "Ok, let's do it. You'll have to take over the Triangle Seal," he instructed his clone.

Carefully his doppelganger replaced Tri's fingers and thumb to ensure the seal didn't fail. With the switch-over complete Tri focused chakra into a single fingertip.

As they worked Meshikamaru returned from her brief search. She remained silent following a finger on the lips gesture from the clone. The silence allowed Tri to concentrate. Slowly he lowered his finger and made the lightest of contact with the skin between the three tailed circles.

The effect was immediate, the seal morphed slightly. The three black circles, formerly filled in, now featured a thin spiral the same colour as Sasuke's skin. Something Tri hadn't expected but it didn't seem to have destabilised the seal at all. "I believe it's worked," he said quietly. The clone released the Stasis seal, as he did Tri couldn't shake the feeling that this was going to come back and bite him.

"Did you find somewhere to put them?" The Uzumaki asked Meshikamaru as the clone dispelled. Looking down at Sasuke's curse mark she gulped nervously but nodded. She hefted Rezano up into a fireman's carry as Tri picked up Sasuke. Without a word she led the Jōnin to what she'd found.

They didn't have to travel very far and it was as they did that Tri realised that the sun had already set. It was difficult to see at the best of times but it'd soon be pitch-black. Meshikamaru came to stop in front of a weird looking tree. The tree itself was fine but its thickest roots were visible, the earth it had grown in had subsided sometime in the past leaving a space between the tree's base and the ground. It made for a bizarre sight but it seemed stable.

The young Nara lay Rezano down as Tri looked around. The roots while thick and strong were few in number, you'd be able to see anyone hidden under it with ease, wherever you were looking from.

He had already devised a solution but he'd really be pushing the boundaries in regards to 'helping' Team 7. He thought a few moments more as Meshikamaru took Sasuke from him, laying him down next to Rezano. 'Team 7 are still suffering the after-effects of Orochimaru's interference. That's justification enough.'

His Doton wasn't that great, especially when compared to the likes of Naruto, but it was sufficient for this as he wove a few quick hand-seals. Placing his palm on the ground he let loose his chakra, grasping at the earth around him he pulled.

The moving earth began piling around Meshikamaru. It encircled her hideout, a wall of earth hiding the space within leaving only a narrow gap by which she could enter and exit. With it all in place Tri willed the soft earth to harden locking it all in place. He quickly inspected it for any flaws or gaps and nodded when none were found.

Looking inside it was hardly spacious but the three of them weren't crammed together like Sardines in a tin. Meshikamaru was laying a damp cloth over Sasuke's forehead. "I have to leave shortly," he said abruptly. The look on her face screamed anxious and Tri mentally sighed, 'She isn't me…' he said repeating Huginn's words from earlier.

"Look, the person who attacked you was not a participant in the exam, so I intervened. But now they're gone I have to leave too." Strangely enough that look of worry didn't lessen and he sighed again, vocally this time.

Drawing from one of his storage seals he held out his hand and deposited half a dozen glow-sticks in her lap. "These should last several hours each," he said picking one up and cracking it. A pale green glow filled the confined space. The glow really helped illuminate the worry in her eyes at being left alone here.

She was going to need more than glow-sticks to keep her fear at bay. He sent out a mental request and held up his arm, a few seconds later two birds landed on his outstretched limb.

"Meshikamaru, this is Muninn and Huginn. They are my personal summons and the reason why I knew you were in trouble. For the remainder of this exam, they go where you go. Everything that happens to you I'll know about. If that person from earlier comes back I'll be here immediately. I'm going to head to the tower so I won't be far away, okay?"

Tri hoped his words helped calm her, he knew he was rubbish at this stuff. He was therefore relieved to see the muscles in her face relax a little as she nodded.

The two Ravens took off again heading for a high branch to keep watch from. Tri replaced all the equipment she'd lost fighting Gatapishi and warned her to be wary of the Otogakure team before he too departed.

Silence fell and Meshikamaru looked out at undisturbed darkness beyond her hideaway. The glow stick provided enough light for her to see around but it didn't even a foot outside the narrow entrance.

She didn't know how long it would for either of her teammates to recover. She sighed as she looked back out into the night, she was going to have to set traps before daybreak. She wasn't looking forward to that.

It was going to be a long night.

-(*)-

There was no one alive who knew these trees as she did. She knew the absolute no go zones and she knew the 'safest' routes through the forest. But all that accumulated knowledge was worthless right now because she had no idea which direction to go. Should she head north? Perhaps South?

Landing on a branch she let out an exacerbated breath. Where could he be? She and the ANBU teams had been searching for hours now and found no trace. She was fairly certain it was past midnight, Orochimaru surely had made his escape by now… Her senses picked up the faintest of… something. Something that made her grin.

"I need to find him and keep him occupied long enough to draw the attention of an ANBU team or two. This is my responsibility, my duty. it's what I learnt from the man who taught me." Two kunai with special tags slipped into her right hand.

"Isn't that right, Sensei?" she said menacingly.

Orochimaru chuckled, the same condescending chuckle Anko remembered. "My, my, little Anko, is that you? Goodness, how you've grown."

All talk was cut off as Anko spun releasing the two kunai in opposite directions. The tags triggered immediately bathing the surrounding forest in bright white light as white phosphorous burned. Orochimaru's extendable tongue shot from his mouth coiling around her left wrist as a set of senbon dropped between her fingers.

Its grip was tight so she dropped the senbon and grabbed the tongue with both hands, a pair of snakes emerging from her sleeves and biting down as well. Then she pulled hard.

Orochimaru had disguised himself as part of a tree trunk just before Anko had arrived. Now he was violently yanked forward, then up and suddenly back down as Anko performed a two-handed overhead swing that brought the Sannin down heavily.

Bark fractured under the impact but Orochimaru immediately countered. Planting his feet he filled his leg muscles with chakra and pushed off sending himself straight at Anko. He slammed into her stomach head first knocking the wind out of her and driving her back into the tree trunk.

Releasing her grip on his tongue a kunai dropped from her sleeve as she spun them around and grabbed his wrist. Driving his wrist against the tree she held her hand over his and drove her kunai through both. Both growled with pain as Anko leant her forehead against his. "Well Sensei, appears I've got you," she grinned. "Can I borrow your hand?"

His eyebrows furrowed as her fingers interlaced with his. Her index finger shot up and his eyebrows furrowed further. Then she raised her pinkie and he understood, "You wouldn't!" he said in alarm. "Oh yes I would! I'd happily die if it meant taking you with me."

"Sōjasōsai no Jutsu," (Twin Snakes Mutual Death Technique) Anko said with alarming eagerness.

"Oh ho, you actually mean to commit suicide – Just to kill little ol' me." That chuckle returned, "How precious," Orochimaru giggled. Anko heard but had been watching him, his mouth hadn't moved… "Oh no," she uttered.

"Oh yes," Orochimaru replied, "You were about to kill a clone."

Before Anko's eyes, Orochimaru's features liquefied and all colour drained away as the clone reverted to the mud it was made from leaving Anko dumbfounded, her hand still pinned to the tree.

She turned her head, the real Orochimaru was standing a few feet behind her. Grabbing at the burnt layer of skin covering his face he ripped it off to reveal flawless, pale skin beneath, purple eyeshadow surrounding narrow-slitted eyes.

Yanking the kunai out of her hand she turned to face him properly. "Why are you here? Why now?" she said glumly. He wasn't immediately forthcoming with an answer. Instead, he raised a hand to form the seal of confrontation.

Anko hadn't felt the slightest twinge of pain from her curse mark in years. But now it returned full-force, she dropped to her knees grasping at the mark on her neck as tendrils of white-hot pain lanced through her body.

"Why are you here?" she repeated through gritted teeth, desperately trying to hide her pain. "Are you after Sandaime-sama, still?"
"Oh heavens no," he said in a voice that almost sounded sincere. "I lack the means to go after him – for now," he added with a whisper. "No, not today. I'm here scouting out those with a special talent, those with extraordinary abilities, abilities few now possess."

He walked towards her and the pain coursing through her increased, beads of sweat ran down her face as she fought to stay conscious. 'Where the hell is a fucking ANBU team when you need them,' she thought angrily as he knelt down in front of her, his snake-like eyes staring into hers.

"In fact, I've left one with a parting gift." He grinned, "You should rejoice Anko, you aren't the only one to bear my mark anymore."

"So you've condemned them then?" she snarled but Orochimaru shook his head. "No, Anko. He'll live, I'm certain, he's too strong-willed, just like you. Besides, did you think I'd have taken the risk of giving him the mark if I thought it would kill him?"

He stood again, "No, Anko. He'll live and he'll make a fine vessel, perhaps the perfect one?" he said whimsically.

Anko was on the brink of passing out, her vision was narrowing, distorting. "I foresee interesting times ahead my dear Anko, interesting times indeed." He turned to leave but stopped himself, "Oh and when you see the Uzumaki, pass on my apologies for my early departure. I could sense he was quite angry when he realised."

The pain from her curse mark went up another notch and Anko blacked out, she fell forward. Orochimaru thought for a moment whether to simply push her off the branch and fall to her death but he shook his head. "No, there's no point. The end of her and this damned village will come soon enough."

He shunshined away as the final embers of Anko's phosphorous tags burnt away, darkness fell once more.

-(*)-

Morning dawned as a few scattered rays began to break through the canopy above.

Meshikamaru's night had been long and nerve-shredding. She hadn't slept a wink and her exhaustion was weighing her down. Her eyelids felt as if they were made of lead. She'd been skittish all night, on edge at the slightest breath of wind or rustle of leaves from the forests nocturnal wildlife.

It had taken until the early hours for her to summon the courage to step out into the darkness to lay her traps. And what a miserable experience that had proven to be. She'd left her glow-stick behind in the hideaway to minimise the chance of anything finding her. It seemed to take forever to set them all and because she couldn't see she almost set some of them off more than once.

But leaning her head out the entrance she looked up at the canopy, reassured that morning had definitely arrived. Scanning the high branches she couldn't see either of the Ravens Tri had left to watch over her. She wondered what they thought of her fumbling around when laying her traps, 'Wonder if birds can face-palm with their wings?'

She sighed and looked back at her teammates. Neither had woken at any point during the night, Rezano had barely moved and while Sasuke was breathing a little easier his fever hadn't broken.

She sighed again, unaware her start to the morning was about to get worse.

Come on, Dosu. It's dawn already, can we make our move yet?" Zaku said impatiently, his hands fidgeting ceaselessly. The sole Otogakure team's leader Dosu tilted his head to the side as he usually did while thinking. 'Our orders did say to wait until dawn…' he mused to himself.

He could hear the third member of their team, Kin mumbling to his side. Probably grumbling about Zaku again, she disliked his lack of patience, he didn't either but to honest, he didn't like either of them. He exhaled deeply, "Fine," he said quietly.

"Remember our target is the Uchiha," he said firmly. "Does that mean we get to kill the other two?" Zaku asked fervently. Dosu looked over at him, that stupid look on his face. 'Kami, it's like commanding a child…'

"I guess," Dosu shrugged not really caring what happened to them.

A few more minutes passed and the sun rose a little higher, a few more rays of light penetrating to the forest floor below. Meshikamaru could actually see the whole clearing now. She was pondering how much longer it might be before one of her teammates awoke when something drew her attention.

"Is that… a Squirrel?" she quietly asked herself. A furry little thing had just hopped into the clearing. With a long fluffy tail, large ears and eyes and what looked like clawed feet and paws certainly suggested it was a Squirrel.

"Why is it on the ground?" she wondered noticing what looked like a nut between its paws. Perhaps it had come down from a tree to nab it? None of the trees in eyeshot seemed to produce nuts though. And why hadn't it rushed back up a tree? Surely the forest floor wasn't safe.

Whatever the critters reason it was making its way towards her which set her on edge and left her suspicious, much closer and it'd start setting off her traps. And directly scaring it away would give her away if anyone was indeed watching.

Her mind, though slowed by fatigue, whirred as she concocted possibilities to scare it off until she found one she liked. Pulling out a few senbon she threw one, not at the squirrel, but at a bush on the edge of the clearing. She threw it hard, it's passing through the bush made it rustle. The Squirrels head shot round in a flash.

It sniffed the air, twisted its ears listening for a potential predator but it didn't run so she threw a second. Aiming for another bush closer to the furry intruder pushed the 'Fight-Flight' response into flight and it hurried away towards the nearest tree.

She breathed a sigh of relief as Zaku grumbled, "Gah. Did she spot the explosive tag we stuck on the stupid thing?"
"No, I don't think so," Dosu shook his head. "I couldn't tell if she scared it away or if something else did."
"So what now?"
"I guess we get a little closer." Zaku seemed to like that plan judging by the wide grin on his face.

He jumped down to the ground and simply walked out into the clearing. "That's not what… Oh, what's the use, I'm surrounded by idiots," a crestfallen Dosu said quietly. He followed his headstrong teammate out into the clearing, Kin right behind him. At least she'd retained enough common sense to not simply give herself away.

It was pretty obvious they knew she was here, all three of them were looking right at her. "So… Are you going to come out yourself or do we have to flush you out?" one of them shouted over. She looked down at her two still teammates, 'Splendid.'

With a sigh of resignation, she stepped out of her hideaway and into the open, careful not to step on her trap triggers just yet. She got a proper look at the three of them, she frowned, "Who wears the word 'death' on their clothes?" That earned her a growl of annoyance from one and what sounded like chuckles from the other two.

"You two can fuck right off," Zaku shouted at them before returning his ire to Meshikamaru. "And as for you, I wear this so people who get in my way know what to expect." Meshikamaru raised an eyebrow, "Really?... That is tragic," she deadpanned, Zaku's teammates descended into chuckles once again.

Zaku looked ready to snap so Dosu reined him in, "Compose yourself Zaku, they're only words – even if they're true." The bandaged Shinobi could see her comments for what they were, attempts to anger Zaku, standard procedure for Shinobi. But of course, Zaku was a fool as he'd just demonstrated.

"Alright, times a 'wastin. Now Nara, go wake Sasuke." She didn't move. "Please?" Dosu added in addendum tilting his head slightly. "And why would I do that?" she now answered in a casual tone. "Because the three of us want to take him on."
"What? All three of you? Goodness, how brave. Do you normally have to go three on one?" Zaku and the girl's faces darkened at her insinuation.

Dosu grumbled to himself, neither of his teammates could see the attempt to wind them up. "Are you going to wake Sasuke or not?" Dosu asked. She seemed to think on it for a few seconds but ultimately shook her head, "Nah.

"He's currently indisposed thanks to your associate leaving a curse mark on his neck," she explained and the Oto trio actually looked shocked.

Tri had briefly explained the association between these three and the one who'd attacked them yesterday before leaving. But her reference to the curse mark seemed to have been responsible for their looks of shock. Did they know what it was?

Seconds ticked by and two of them still looked shocked but the third, the one with wrappings around his face seemed to have composed himself. 'Curse mark… Is she lying – no, she can't be, she wouldn't know about it otherwise. What is Orochimaru playing at? Why order us to kill the Uchiha if he was going to give him the curse mark?'

And then it clicked into place and single visible eye narrowed. 'So that's your game huh. Thanks, but no thanks. I am not some Shogi piece to be sacrificed.' An idea formed in his head that made him grin behind the wrappings. 'What a shame it would be if Orochimaru's newest toy actually died.'

Zaku meanwhile had exhausted what little patience he had left. He stepped forward only for Dosu to raise an arm out to stop him. "Use your brain for once in your life," the team leader chastised before stepping forward himself. "You would do well to pay attention, Zaku. There's a reason she hasn't stepped out into the clearing proper."

Dosu knelt down in front of a patch of grass that to a Shinobi's eye clearly didn't belong. "Freshly upturned stones and exposed soil, irregularly placed grass. You aren't very good at hiding traps Nara. And Zaku, you're an idiot for not noticing them."
"So we need to take her out first then?" Zaku said, displaying once again his one track mind. But this time Dosu agreed with him, "I think we do."

All three crouched before leaping into the air to begin their attack. 'Well, that was easy…' she thought looking up at a kunai hung perhaps forty feet above them. Under each of her feet was the trigger for a trap, she merely lifted her right leg.

Dosu spotted a glint of light from further up. Lifting his head he spotted a kunai, it looked like there was a tag attached to it, it was a little difficult to tell.

Then it vanished. And in its place appeared a huge log perhaps as long as the clearing was wide and surely weighed tonnes. Nothing held it up, it began to fall towards them, "The Trap was above us all along!" Dosu shouted in alarm before he started laughing.

"Only joking," he chuckled lifting up an arm revealing some kind of metal device around his forearm, Meshikamaru couldn't tell. Whatever it was it made contact with the log and it exploded instantly.

The three of them landed safely amidst a shower of wooden fragments, big and small. They'd only covered perhaps half the distance to Meshikamaru who in response lifted her left foot.

Two short spring loaded metal canisters leapt out from the ground. Dosu recognised them instantly, they were nasty little things called Jumping Senbon Mines, or JSM's for short. When tripped they jumped up and unleashed hundreds of senbon in every direction.

Thankfully Zaku recognised what they were too. Raising a palm to face each of them he shouted, "Zankūha!" (Decapitating Airwaves) The swarm of senbon fired were met by a wall of dense air pressure. The sharp metal implements were scattered all over. The sudden burst of wind kicked much of the smaller wooden shrapnel back into the air forcing the four of them to cover their eyes.

"Not bad, not bad at all," Dosu almost congratulated when the cloud of wooden debris cleared. "Didn't think a Konoha Shinobi had it in them to use JSM's, vicious little things. But it looks like you've played your hand. Zaku, get rid of her."

The Oto nin grinned while something caught Meshikamaru's attention out of the corner of her eye. It was a shadow, and it appeared to be… 'Oh, I see.' Zaku aimed his palms at her.

Then there was a second shadow, she looked up. 'I recognise that outfit,' she thought. All three Oto nin saw it too but only Dosu moved fast enough to dodge.

"Konoha Senpū!" the new arrival shouted as the blows rained down on Zaku and Kin sending both skirting across the clearing collecting senbon as they rolled and skidded across the ground.

Stood in front of Meshikamaru was Rock Lee, one arm tucked behind his back, the other held out in front of him in a Taijutsu stance. And on his shoulder… the Squirrel from earlier.

"And who are you?" Dosu asked lamely. Spoken only for matters of punctuality rather than any actual interest in their name.

"I am Konoha's Handsome Blue Beast, Rock Lee!" Meshikamaru cringed slightly as Dosu tilted his head again. As he did his teammates picked themselves up, both hissing in pain as they pulled out senbon.

"I won't complain about your timing Lee-san, but why are you here? And what's with the Squirrel?" Meshikamaru asked moving to stand next to him.

"Actually, it was thanks to my new friend here that I came across you at all. I had challenged myself to a game of 'Catch all the leaves before they touch the ground'. And as I went to catch the final leaf I overheard this one in distress." He paused for breath as he put the Squirrel down on the ground, it quickly scurrying off.

"Someone had attached an explosive tag to the poor thing, a tag with a short fuse too. It was after I'd removed the tag that I heard a commotion which led me here." Dosu's head looked like it was going to roll off his shoulders and Meshikamaru raised an eyebrow. "That's nice Lee… But it doesn't explain why you intervened."

Lee turned his head to look at her. He gave her a toothy smile, winked and held a thumb up for that asinine 'Good Guy Pose'. But he said nothing which spoke volumes to the young Nara. 'He didn't have a reason… *Sigh* whatever, I'll take the help where I can get it. Speaking of help…,' she thought, her eyes briefly glancing back at that hedge.

"So. Do we get to kill this one too?" Zaku angrily demanded to know. Dosu picked his head up, "I guess…

"But unibrows mine," he quickly added which earned him a few choice words from Zaku.

"You alright dealing with this one, Lee-san? I'm not really suited to close-quarters combat."
"I'd be delighted!" he said joyously before simply vanishing. No one had time to react before he was through Dosu's guard landing a heavy kick to his stomach. Kin found herself pushed back under a hail of kunai and senbon from Meshikamaru before she could counter Lee's attack.

Lee unleashed a furious chain and punches and kicks on Dosu. The Oto nin couldn't keep up with the speed of Lee's attacks. For each move he dodged or blocked another one would get through and he was quickly beginning to feel the collective punishment he was receiving then in a flash Lee was through his guard again delivering a heavy kick to his chin snapping his head back and lifting him off the ground.

He was still seeing stars when he heard Lee's voice in his ears, "I'm not done with you yet." His voice seemed to carry much more menace that it had earlier as bandages began to constrict around his body. 'What is he doing?'

Meshikamaru kept Kin moving, she didn't know what techniques and abilities she might possess and she had no interest in finding out so she kept up her relentless attacks. She knew she couldn't keep it up though, her store of weapons would run out soon and despite the adrenaline boost her body provided her she still felt her exhaustion weighing her down.

She noticed Dosu was airborne out of the corner of her eye, 'Is that the same move Lee tried to use on Sasuke?' she wondered as Lee locked his arms around the Oto Shinobi. As they barrelled towards the ground Lee began rotating the both of them.

Faster and faster they span, Meshikamaru and Kin came to a complete stop and just watched them both draw closer to the ground.

"Omote Renge!" (Forward Lotus) Lee shouted as he slammed Dosu into the ground head first, Lee leapt clear at the last moment to make his escape. The impact sounded hard as a cloud of dirt and dust plumed around the impact shrouding Dosu for a few moments.

That shroud cleared as Lee touched down. Dosu was half buried in the dirt but the ground didn't look right to Lee's eye. There should have been a small impact crater a few inches to a foot deep but instead the ground seemed to have swelled up.

"Whew, looks like I just made it," Zaku said and Lee winced. Not only because that raised earth emanated from a knelt down Zaku, his palms pressed into the dirt. But because of the short, sharp pain in his abdomen, performing this technique took a lot out of him.

It took a few moments, but Dosu started to move and he was able to pull himself free with little trouble. Dusting himself off he stood, "Wow. What a technique! Zaku softened the soil and it still almost did a number on me." He locked his gaze on Lee as he pulled one of his long sleeves up to reveal that device on his forearm.

Lee tried to stand up straight as Dosu began moving towards him but his abdomen refused to loosen as the muscles ceased up. 'Oh, this isn't good…,' Lee thought. "But now it's my turn!" Dosu said with a cackle as he swung.

His swing wasn't all that fast, so Lee was able to avoid it by stepping back a little and to the side. A moment passed then his senses went haywire. His vision distorted and his ears rung as his balance failed him. He was forced to drop to one knee.

"You're quick kid, there's no denying that but we're faster. You could say we're supersonic," he chuckled as Lee suffered the same fate as Kabuto the day before and emptied his stomach onto the ground.

Throwing up seemed to help as his senses slowly began returning to normal and as they did he felt something wet dripping down the side of his face and he could feel a growing pain in his ear. He placed his bandaged left palm against his head, pulling it back he saw the wrappings had been dyed red. His ear canal was bleeding.

He placed his hand back against the ear as the pain briefly spiked before subsiding.

"It's this device on my arm. No matter how fast you are, you can't avoid or block my attacks. Do you know why?"
"Sound," Meshikamaru answered after a few moments of Lee remaining silent. "Precisely. And you surely understand that the fundamental nature of sound revolves around vibrations… yes?"

Dosu turned to face Meshikamaru," When you hear a sound, what you hear are the vibrations meeting the Tympanic Membrane, your eardrum. Apply a powerful enough vibration and you can rupture that membrane and upset the fluid with the semi-circular canals that control balance."

"So you see," Zaku picked up as he pulled his hands out of the ground. "Physical techniques just won't work against us. You did start out well though," he finished in a patronising tone. "But the tide had turned now," Dosu said ominously, "Zaku, will you get rid of the girl."

And Zaku was at Meshikamaru's side, his palm aimed straight at her head. She just grinned at him, "You ever played Shogi?" she suddenly asked. Zaku found himself locked in place.

A few moments earlier out of sight

"What do you mean?" a female voice hissed quietly. Her teammate sighed, "Look, Meshikamaru knows we're here. The moment she gives the signal use your mind transfer Jutsu on the girl, ok?" She scowled at him, "Fine," she harrumphed.

They could hear one of the Oto nin talking about sound or something, Shikamaru only had ears for his twin as he awaited her signal. He had to give it to his sibling, she'd positioned herself well. The girl Ino would be aiming at was mere meters away and Shikamaru was no more than ten feet from his sister when he heard it.

"You ever played shogi?"
"Now, Ino," Shikamaru whispered.

"Shintenshin no Jutsu." (Mind Body Switch Technique)

"Kagemane no Jutsu." (Shadow Imitation Technique)

In the blink of an eye, Ino slumped over, she was caught by Choji as Shikamaru's shadow weaved across the ground to connect with Zaku's.

"Well… Zaku? What are you waiting for?" a confused Dosu asked. He was in a position to blow Meshikamaru away but he hadn't done anything. "I-I can't," he said through clenched teeth, to Dosu his voice sounded strained. "My body won't do what I tell it to."

Dosu levelled a glare at a smirking Meshikamaru, "Nara," he said coldly as it clicked. "She's controlling you through your shadow." He was about to tell Kin to intervene when he realised she hadn't already. She already held a Senbon between each of her fingers but she hadn't moved.

"Kin?"
"Kin's not here anymore asshole," Kin replied and Dosu levelled his gaze at Meshikamaru once more, the look in his eye demanding an answer. "Yamanaka," she said with a nonchalant shrug of the shoulders.

"This is an interesting state of affairs we find ourselves in, isn't it Dosu-san," Meshikamaru said diplomatically taking a few steps towards him. "Now if you want your teammates returned unharmed. Then you should hand over your scroll and…"

She was cut off by Dosu's laughter and this time she tilted her head. "What, may I ask is so funny?"
"It's just…" he tried to say, the words tripping over his laughter, "It's just, I don't give a damn about either of them," he explained. 'Especially since Orochimaru deems us as disposable,' he mentally added.

"What? But they're your teammates?!"
"And? All three of us don't like each other, I actually dislike them both. And we're only a 'team' for convenience sake so we could slot into this exam.

"So you see, little Nara. I don't care what happens to them," he said lifting the arm bearing his noise amplifier, chakra beginning to circulate through it. "I guess I could call them… Collateral damage," he said in far too casual a manner for Meshikamaru to think him bluffing.

"Cover your ears!" she instructed with a shout as Dosu swung at the air in front of him, a wave of invisible super-charged air-waves raced towards them at a frightening speed. Shikamaru and Ino were forced to release their respective techniques in order to protect themselves. But in doing so delayed their reactions a little. Meanwhile, Choji got caught in two minds whether to cover his own ears or Ino's.

A now freed Zaku at least had been consciously aware of what was coming, Kin wasn't so lucky after Ino's consciousness had suppressed her own. Zaku through his own techniques was able to blunt much of the energised sound-waves, Kin got hit full force.

She went down amid a torrent of pained screams, not that anyone other than Dosu heard them. They were subjected to a ringing sensation that shook the very foundations of their minds, their very bones seemed to shake. But Kin's senses were exposed to a sound of such pitch and volume that her eardrums almost immediately succumbed and ruptured. The pain of them rupturing was preferable.

Meshikamaru was dazed, a ringing echo lingered. Unfortunately for her someone else recovered faster, she turned to face the sound of footsteps somewhere behind her where she found herself staring down Zaku's palm, an evil grin on his face. "Zankūha!"

It was difficult to describe, it was like being hit with a sledgehammer everywhere at once. The force catapulted her across the clearing uncontrollably. She hit a tree and rag-dolled off it landing on the ground on a heap.

It felt as if she blacked out before her eyes flickered open. Her teeth clenched as the searing pain in her shoulder reached the Somatosensory Cortex of her brain. Every other sensation, sound, touch, smell and taste were blocked out by the pain in her shoulder as she doggedly tried to rise.

Struggling to stand she felt a wet sensation running down her face, it dripped from her nose and chin staining her clothing. Putting a hand through her hair it came back stained red. She frowned, she couldn't actually remember anything between her shoulder hitting the tree and her waking up on the ground.

She kept her head tilted slightly down to keep the blood out of her eyes. She could see two slightly blurry figures ahead which she presumed to be Dosu and Zaku.

"Oh will you shut your trap Zaku, you'd do the same in my position, don't deny it," Dosu irritably snapped having quickly grown tired of Zaku's complaining. "Oh fuck you Do… How the fuck is she standing!?" Zaku said in bafflement.

Meshikamaru couldn't hear them, the pain from her shoulder still drowned everything out, she had to deal with it now. Gently grasping her right arm by the wrist she slowly pulled it out straight in front of her. The grimace of her face worsened parallel to the pain and after seconds of building agony, she heard a 'pop'.

Dosu had turned to see the Nara was indeed still standing and she looked an absolute state. He and Zaku both just watched in silence as she put her shoulder back in its socket, both wincing a little at the sound. The cut on her head must have been deep and wide because her face was covered in blood, the drops that didn't catch in her clothing left a trail on the compact dirt. She gingerly held her right arm close to her body and she walking with a slight limp. She didn't even seem to have noticed the senbon buried in her leg just above the ankle.

But through all that he couldn't miss her bloodshot eyes burning with a steely determination.

"You're made of tough stuff I'll give you that but why? Why do you get up?"
"Because you'll kill Sasuke if I don't," she said in a weak but fierce voice. Putting her shoulder back in place had allowed her other senses to return. Her ears still rung a little, her eyesight slightly blurred, the metallic taste in her mouth.

"But I watched the three of you, you seemed to get along about as well as me, Zaku and Kin." Dosu genuinely couldn't wrap his head around the concept of fighting for someone else. Meshikamaru spat a mouthful of blood and saliva on the ground in disgust. "Yes, you're right, I don't like him. In fact, I actively dislike him, he's arrogant, stubborn and wholly self-serving. But it doesn't matter because he's my fucking teammate."

She bared her blood-stained teeth with a snarl. "And that's what Konoha is, no I, no Me, only Us, only We. And whether I like it or not, Sasuke is my teammate, Sasuke is…" her voice trailed off

Dosu and Zaku were facing her, and now stood behind them was Sasuke.

End Chapter