Saturday, February 23rd, 2013.
Hello, peoples! New chapter! This one's almost 3.5k words. Kinda long, but I REALLY want to get the fights over with cuz I have a lot planned after! Today, Karin and Ino & Chouji's fights are ending. The next chapter will end Tenten & Neji's and start another one. Kay?
I don't feel like doing birthdays.
Really, I don't.
Dedication: my friend yeahthat'sme . At least, that's her username on TeenInk. READ HER STUFF! It's awesome! She's 100x better writer than me. Also, aalc95 and Jasmine-.-Momo-chan: this chapter's dedicated to you guys, too. Also, to all you readers, and reviewers. :D
Disclaimer: Shikaku-san is going to do it. His birthday is tomorrow, and if you read the last like 10 chapters of the manga, you'd know the second reason.
Shikaku: Do you honestly believe EOC own Naruto is she's writing fanfiction about it? And has to put a disclaimer in every chapter?
Me: ...
Anyway, READ ON, my loves!
Chapter 22: Desperation & Friends
Ino POV
"Ch…chouji…" I rasped out.
I coughed, trying to rise myself from the ground, only succeeding into falling onto my torso again.
Ouch. The pounding in my head reminded me of the blow Jirobo delivered to me after he transformed.
I tried again to sit up, and I succeeded.
"Chouji! Where are you?" I looked around frantically. How did Chouji beat him before?!
After Jirobo had transformed, Chouji immediately took one of the Three Colored Pills, which I didn't know he had. I wish I knew he had those! And why does he have them?! He wasn't in the finals, so why would Choza-san give them to him?
I tried to stop him, remembering what they had done to him before. It was fruitless – he was already attempting to push Jirobo into a large tree, their hands locked together.
Chakra was swirling round Chouji, and I had renewed hope that we'd win.
Then, Jirobo overpowered him and threw him into a nearby tree, sending him through them. Damn! This isn't good...
He charged me and for a moment, we were locked in a mini-battle of taijutsu. Don'tgethitdon'tgethitdon'tgethitdon'tgethit...
Sick of it, he quickly thrust his elbow into my skull, and I heard a crack and felt blood trickle down my face. Those weird spikes on his arms cut me!
I had managed to stab a kunai into his stomach, at least. YES!
But all it did was irritate him! He pulled it out (wincing, might I add) and threw it away, a tiny blood pool forming at his feet. Well, damn.
At least it hurt him.
This bring us to how I ended up on the ground, looking for Chouji: he charged at me again and, without thinking, I had put chakra into my fist and punched him in the gut, just as he punched me in my face.
Good news: the punch sent him flying, and I have yet to see him get up, with the dust swirling. I can't hear him either. It worked!
Bad news: There's a reason Sakura punches with chakra and I don't – I'm not as strong as she is, nor do I have such exact chakra control. Don't get me wrong – I have good chakra control, just…*gulp* not as good as Forehead. I'm NEVER telling her that.
Therefore, that punch also broke my fist – my knuckles cracked, my wrist twisted slightly, and my fingers broke. Not pleasant. Sakura can handle such punches, and is good at it, which is why she does it. I'm not suited for it, so I don't. I guess after seeing her fight like that for so long, I did it on reflex.
More bad news: Jirobo's punch sent me to the ground too, as you can see. Right now, I'm struggling to walk to where I last saw Chouji, healing myself silently and inwardly with every step I take. Thank God for Tsunade, for teaching us that technique before the war!
We totally need to thank her with some high-quality sake when we see her sometime. Remind me.
It's added to my "mental" To-Do List!
"I-Ino…" I ran toward the voice, finding my childhood friend leaning against a tree.
I immediately sent to healing the most serious and most important parts of him as fast as I could, aware that Jirobo could show up any second.
"Ino? What's that?" I had forgotten Chouji and Shikamaru had never seen me heal before.
"It's medical ninjutsu, Chou. I'm healing you. Now shut up – I need to concentrate."
I also had forgotten that my new, young-again, body hasn't healed anything serious (other than a couple little scrapes) before either, so it was unused to the strain I was putting on it.
Shit! Outer, I'm going to try to make our body last as long as possible, so make the battle as short as possible! I mind be available for the Mind Tranfer technique if you use it, but try to stall it as long as possible, kay? Or we're all screwed!
Alright. I don't know how you'll manage to do that, but do the best you can! I'll try to make the battle short.
"Well, well, well. Not a bad punch, girly. I see you're a healer, too. What else do you have up your sleeve?"
Looks like my healing time is up.
I stood up and turned toward Jirobo -who had come from behind us- , getting into a fighting stance. "If I told you what I was hiding, that would be no fun."
He laughed. "I think I'll have lots of fun killing the both of you. The sooner, the better. No stalling." He almost whispered the last line, already running to us.
"I'm ready, Ino," Chouji said, reaching for his pocket.
I knew what he was going to do. "Chouji, no!"
I tried to snatch the pill capsule, but he held both my hands in a tight grip with one of his, and with the other hand, popped open the capsule and swallowed the yellow pill, leaving the red one the only one left.
"Chouji!" Before I could say anything else, Chouji had pushed me away, onto the ground.
I realized why when Jirobo tackled him. I had forgotten he was running toward us.
"I'm going to kill you!" Jirobo shrieked, his voice inhuman.
For the next couple of minutes –I assume, it felt like hours – the three of us were caught in a flurry of ninjutsu and taijutsu, 2-on-1, trying their best to incapacitate/kill the opposite side.
Finally, Chouji, with his new strength, pinned a slightly weak Jirobo to the ground. Looks like he's running out of stamina…I guess he could only keep the curse mark for so long.
Even as I looked on, coughing blood, the curse mark began to recede, he only had the marks around his body, rather than completely transformed.
"Hey! Get…off!" Jirobo said, trying to wrestle Chouji off.
"Hurry, Ino!" Chouji said his face straining. "I can't hold him much longer!"
"Got it!" I said. "Ninja art: Mind Transfer Jutsu!"
I found myself looking up at Chouji, then a I felt a burning sensation around my body. Must be the curse mark.
With all the strength I had, I forced the mark back into my/Jirobo's shoulder.
Chouji slumped away, exhausted from using the 2 pills. Luckily, he didn't need all three.
Finally, I raised my/Jirobo's hand high behind my back, swinging it towards a spot near the nape of the neck that would knock the body out for at least 6 hours, with this kind of exhaustion.(1)
I released the jutsu, returning to my body, knowing momentum and gravity would continue and finish the job for me. As Forehead would say, "simple physics".
Back into my body, my Inner spoke to me again, reminding me it didn't take over our body while it was gone, busy trying to keep my body functioning.
Now all we need to do is tie him up.
Yeah…
First, I dragged Chouji to a nearby tree, telling him to rest. The snores right after told me he had no objections.
Then, I grabbed some chakra strings from my ninja pouch and wrapped them all around Jirobo as tightly and swiftly as I could.
Then, with another roll of string, I re-tied him to a tree.
Now for the flare.
I pulled out a mini flare gun from my pouch, aiming it above the clearing we fought in.
I shot towards the sky, sending a pure violet trail of smoke into the sky.
The girls and I had agreed, that when we finished our battles, and were safe but unable to go to a hospital or move from our location, to shoot a flare gun into the sky, signaling our position.
Temari agreed to (somehow) deliver this message to the sensei. I'm not sure how, honestly. For all I know she could give them slips of paper with our name and designated color (of the flare) and leave it for the sensei to guess what they mean.
That's probably part of what she did.
Why not flare grenades? They could catch the forest on fire.
Why not flare rockets? Too much work. Pulling a trigger is much easier.
That was what Temari said, by the way. Maybe Shika rubs off on her more than she may admit.
And honestly, guns look so much cooler than grenade or rockets. And mini-flare-guns fit in our pouches.
I wonder how Sai-kun's doing…
With that as my last thought, I feel into a deep sleep against Chouji's shoulder, snuggling into his warmth.
Karin POV
I'm really getting sick of this bastard regenerating, I thought, as I dodged another fist from Kabuto.
Our fight seemed really repetitive, and I hated it.
Punch. Kick. Dodge. Swipe. Jump. Get cut, half the time. Smirk. Regenerate. Swear. Punch again.
A really repetitive cycle. And I felt weak in it; it made it all the more obvious that he was playing with me.
Why, oh why, couldn't I have trained more in the future?!
Since my combat experience wasn't very diverse, and certainly not suited to fight someone like Kabuto, I was pretty much going of gut will and instinct rather than planning and focus.
I tried that, and obviously, if I changed tactics, it didn't work.
"Is that all you got, Karin? Seems like Konoha made you soft!" Kabuto taunted.
I tried a roundhouse kick in his direction.
He caught my leg and threw it back down, causing me to stagger and fall, failing to regain my balance.
In that time, he aimed a punch down, knowing I could hardly avoid it, as I was on the ground, on my back. "Where's the ruthless Karin from the labs? The one who didn't take crap from anybody, huh?"
Instead of responding, I focused on pushing myself onto my arms and back, using my strength to use both my legs to kick Kabuto away from me by his stomach.
It worked. I smirked as he coughed blood, flying through the air and landing against the wall of the arena. Serves him right.
"There we go. That's the Karin I knew." Kabuto said, standing up.
My eyes narrowed. "Stop talking about me as if we were friends."
He sneered. "That's right. You have no friends, do you?"
Uncontrollably, I winced. Well, it's not like he's wrong.
But…what about Sakura? And the others?
Are they my friends?
I thought about the time Ino took me to a small garden near the outskirts of the village, where very fragrant flowers were cultivated. With a few with them, I had made a new perfume (yes, I know how to do that) and she made ingredients for a new medicine for Sakura and Hinata to finish for her.
And the time Hinata and Tenten both took me around the village, showing me all the places I have and haven't seen, giving me a full-length and very fun tour. They talked about traditions and festivals and histories and rumors – everything they could that day. Hinata was quite talkative, even.
Temari sparred with me, then the two of us just talked and talked about nothing in particular. We found we were a lot alike in some ways - brutish at times, have a take-no-shit attitude, are quite intelligent to some level, (2) have/had an infamous reputation (my reputation as the "Iron Jail Warden" of the Southern Jail,(3) and her "Cruelest Kunoichi" reputation)
Matsuri told me all about her writing, and I told her about my hobby with collecting and making perfumes. (4) Then, we had dinner from Ichiraku's. It was there that I teased her about her obvious feeling for Gaara. She makes an interesting tomato.
I remembered when Sai came to me, asking about what love felt like for me, and what it felt to be betrayed by that almost-love. I didn't answer. He had told me the basics of his emotionlessness, and I had almost felt sorry for him. But we spent the rest of the afternoon just hanging out. He drew, while I watched. It was peaceful. I like peaceful.
Naruto even took me to Ichiraku's with him and Kiba, Chouji, Kakashi, Asuma and Sasuke, who was dragged. He (Naruto) talked all about the times he's eaten here, as well as his history with the owner, Teuchi-san and his daughter, Ayame. To him, they were like the grandpa and sister he never had, as they never refused to feed him regardless of the fact that he held the fox. He asked if I had any family, and I said I was raised an orphan, but have a couple family members around the world. I thought to myself, I might just tell him someday.(5)
Lee had invited me to training with him, his sensei Gai, Neji, and Shino, surprisingly. I simply decided to watch, but we talked after (Lee and I at least). After they learned about my sensory skills, Lee had come up with a game to test it – Shino would hide some of his bugs around the training field, in bushes. Neji and I would have a contest of who would find the most – him using the Byakugan to detect the bugs' chakra, and I would use my sensing skills. I won, and was treated to barbecue. I made sure to come to that eatery again - the food there was delicious.
I ran into Shikamaru while he was cloud-gazing. He told me to stay, saying he hadn't had yet to greet the new member of the now "Konoha 13", as dubbed by the sensei. (Team Asuma, Kakashi, Kurenai and Gai, minus the sensei, not counting Akamaru). We had discovered that we both like to plan things through at least a little bit, not wanting to just go into a battle without thinking. We also both discovered that I wasn't half bad at Shogi, though he still kicked my ass like nobody's business. The compliment helped deal with the defeat. A little bit at least.
Kurenai and Anko had taking me shopping, saying it was time they got to know me a bit, all the while getting some much needed clothes. "Every girl needs a full closet," Kurenai had said. I hadn't protested, seeing as I didn't have many clothes in the first place. Sometime during the shopping spree, the other Konoha 12/13 girls, excluding Tenten, had joined. (Tenten was training with Neji; Temari and Matsuri were busy.) By the end, I felt I had fulfilled my girlishness quota for the day, regretted shopping with Ino, but felt happy I had done it in the end.
Finally, I thought about the heart-to-heart I had with Sakura soon after I joined the village(6); the day I confessed my feelings about Suigetsu, despite our not-so-great relationship; as well as where my heart is on Sasuke.
I felt I had created a bond with her that night, and since, I haven't felt it break. I guess I do have friends...
"Done daydreaming?" Kabuto's voice shook me out my reverie.
"It's too bad you wouldn't agree to serve under Lord Orochimaru again," Kabuto said, slowly walking toward me, cocky. "If you renew your allegiance to him now, I assure you that you'll have a full and plentiful life under Lord Orochimaru, as his secondary medic. Maybe we could even figure out a way to get rid of the bite marks all over your body."
He said the last part on purpose, knowing how much I abhorred the marks on my body. Now, even after leaving Orochimaru, both in the past and future,(7) my hatred for these marks rose.
I felt used, dirty, and worthless when I saw them. That's why I started wearing collared and long-sleeved shirts again(8) – my marks from the future are showing up on this body. They are much more plentiful than the ones I had already.
But I wasn't going to fall for the bait – I'd rather die than go to Orochimaru again.
And that's just what I told him.
"I'd rather die!" I charged Kabuto, and once again –damn that bastard!– we were locked into a battle of who taijutsu, as none of us were not really experts in anything else but medical ninjutsu.
Then, he unexpectedly used his Chakra Scalpel technique. I barely dodged. Shit! One wrong move and I'm a goner!
The fake cheeriness in Kabuto's expression was gone, leaving a cold, dare I say it, scary 23-year-old(9) in front of me, his right hand glowing chakra with the aforementioned jutsu.
"I think it's time we end this, shall we?" I gulped, and forced myself to remain calm. I can beat him! I lasted this long, didn't I? That says something, right?
"Yeah." I said. Lucky for me, my voice was far more confident than I hoped. "How about one move to end it?"
Kabuto looked at me, observing me for any deceit.
I assumed he deemed my plan -whatever it may be to him- futile, because he smirked. "I like that idea; one, final, attack. All or nothing. Dramatic."
I took my stance.
He took his. "Here we go!"
We charged each other, our right hands raising.
His, towards my heart. My own towards his gut.
While running, I felt a crack in my ankle, and I staggered, slightly, quickly regaining my balance.
Fuck! It was already fragile, and now I think I at least fractured it! Why now of all times for it to crack on me?
I tried to ignore my other injuries, –a slight concussion, a couple broken ribs, a bleeding back wound, a bruised upper arm, cracked glasses– putting the success of my plan first.
However, I hadn't regained my balance fast enough, as Kabuto's chakra-scalpel-hand cut through my skin and muscle and sliced my ribs -and possibly, my liver- and straight through my back, right through the same slash he had given me with a shuriken earlier.
The only bright side to the situation was that I still managed to sock him in the gut, as weak as the punch was.
I screamed through my pain. This hurts like a freaking bitch! DAMN HIM TO HELL!
"Heh," Kabuto snickered, satisfyingly pulling his bloody hand out of my body and stayed standing as I fell onto the ground.
"How foolish you've become, Karin, thinking you can beat me with a single punch. Looks I win." He sneered. "And best of all, I can walk away from here without a scratch, while you bleed to death. What an ending, huh, Karin?"
I smirked as best I could. "That's what you think," I whispered to myself.
Kabuto didn't notice and simply laughed as I laid here on my back, unable to get up again; bleeding out, like he said.
However, he abruptly stopped laughing. "Wha-what? Why can't I heal myself?!" I assume he must have been trying to regenerate while he was laughing at me like the no good asshole he was.
"Looks like it did the job," I said, as I raised a syringe had hidden in my sleeve, into the air. It was void of anything but a few drops of a green liquid.
"W-when did you…" He sputtered.
"Half of it into your neck, when I tried to stab you there with a kunai a while back. Then again when I punched you in the stomach earlier, into a major vein leading directly through your liver to your heart."(10)
He pulled up shirt, revealing a very small puncture hole. "But how did I not feel it?"
I coughed for a moment, but continued to speak quickly after. "The tip of the syringe has a numbing substance, so it wouldn't be felt. Not to mention, the needle is very small.
Before you ask, the poison is something I made with help Kankuro, my perfumes, and your very own teachings. Also, I swiped the vial of poison in your ninja pouch when you weren't looking and mixed it with some of that. Then, I took your emergency antidote and chakra supplement liquid, threw it out on the ground, and replaced it with water, when you were in a scuffle with my clone. That was some time back as well. (11)"
That poison is slowly lowering your chakra levels, and will put you into a coma-like state when it reaches your heart and mind. The stomach implant to your heart, the neck one to your mind. Even after you wake up in at least a week, you won't be able to use any jutsu for a month, or you'll kill yourself – your heart will combust. Pretty good for a fool, huh?"
By now, Kabuto was on his knees, using one hand to grip his chest, and the other to tighten around the fabric of his shirt above his heart, dry-heaving and coughing up blood.
Finally, he collapsed, hacking.
I had won.
"I'll…Orochim-maru-sama…we'll g-get you…for…this…b-bitch," he rasped out, before he fell unconscious. The poison had already reached his brain and heart.
"I believe I already won, shithead." I said anyway.
I raised my arm to my mouth, knowing it was the only way to save myself. I didn't have the strength to yell for help, and there was no one around to help me.
I sighed into my arm as my own chakra turned into healing chakra coursed through my body, healing myself and closing most of my wounds; enough to keep me from bleeding out and then some.
Better hurry.
I forced myself to turn on one side, so I could reach into my ninja pouch on the opposite side.
When I found what I was looking for, I let myself fall back onto my back, wincing at the pain I felt spread throughout my body once more. It's better than lying on my chest.
I shot the flare gun into the sky, watching as a blood-red streak plummeted into the air.
By the time my hand fell limp and it as well as the gun fell onto the ground, I was already fading into a hazy subconsciousness.
"Are you ready yet, Karin? Damn, you're slow." A shark-tooth grin appeared, a body with it. A male one.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, let's go." I ran on to catch up with him.
"Stupid Suigetsu…" I muttered, as I fully welcomed the dream world.
(1): It's something I made up, so don't expect to look it up and find it true. Basically, it's a pressure point that will knock him out, and the more exhausted he is, the longer he's out.
(2): Her bio says, like Sakura, though she doesn't use it, Karin's actually quite intelligent. I'm guessing not as much as Sakura if they had an IQ battle, but pretty smart nonetheless. And I always figured Temari to be pretty smart too - she had to grow up pretty fast, and was the strategist for her team. Also, to hang out with Shikamaru that much, you gotta be smart. Chouji's Shika's best friend, so Shika probably doesn't speak nerd-lingo with him. Not that I'm insulting nerds. I am one.
(3): Wasn't that what Suigetsu called her when they (he and Sasuke) went to get her in the anime? I'm pretty sure it was something like that...whatever it is, it isn't on her wiki page and I don't feel like looking for the episode and checking.
(4): Yes. Her hobby really IS collecting perfumes. I doubt she makes them in canon, but I made that up for the story. Her name also means "fragrance" in Japanese. (KarIn, not KarEn)
(5): I mean tell him that he's not the only Uzumaki, that she's one and there's one more out there. (Nagato/Pain)
(6): This part was in an earlier chapter. I think like #6 or #7. Around there.
(7): Okay, so she was sent back to the past right? Right. But in THIS past, she was kidnapped by Orochimaru at 7, then ran away and arrived back at Grass to become a ninja officially by about 10 or 11. In the Chunin Exams, Oro tried to capture her again but was stopped by Anko. I believe I explained this in earlier chapters, whether or not in Author's Notes.
(8): Her oufit that she wore in the Chunin Exams is here: . /_cb20110522144031/naruto/images/thumb/1/13/Karin_ /180px-Karin_ . She wore it in the actual Chunin Exams. Now, just make that shirt long-sleeved and change the headband to Leaf's. That's what she wears now. Not her old outfit.
(9): Yup. In Part 1, Kabuto's 23. Seriously.
(10): I don't think there's such a vein so close to the skin of your stomach, but it was made up for the story. Go with it, people.
(11): I didn't show the whole fight, as you guys must have guessed. The part she's talking about wasn't written, so pretend it happened while Ino and Chouji were fighting. I want to get these fights over with without making the chapters super long, okay?
Alright. That's all for now.
OH!
It SNOWED on Wednesday! While we were at SCHOOL! That's CRAY-CRAY! It like NEVER snows in our area. At the edge of town into the next one maybe, but nearly NEVER in Tucson! Some of my friends saw snow for the first time! YAY!
Also, it was 22°, which was a record for this time of year. It hasn't been that cold this time of year since 1936. BEFORE DEPRESSION & WW2!
Anyhoos, adios, mi amores!
Laters!
Love,
Cherry.
