Ran stood at the entrance to the ANBU tower in full gear which had just been issued to her. She had tied her long braid back tightly and her hands were shaking with sweat. At fourteen she was nervous as hell. She was about to begin her entrance exam into the ANBU core. You either passed or failed. Nobody knew what the exam was because it was made to fit each new person. The tests were varied around your abilities and difficulties so that they could see how you handled different situations. A bead of sweat trickled down the back of her neck. Swallowing gently, Ran reached for the handle wrenching the large metal door open.
As she walked inside the shadows flickered from walls dancing across the floor. The entire compound was darkened hushed in preparation for this. Along the upper walkway that surrounded the base floor she could see ANBU with masked covered faces watching her. At any moment the test would begin; in fact, it begun the moment you opened the door. She fought the urge to grip the handle of her kantana at her back. She normally drew it instinctively when walking into a battle type situation. It was her weapon of choice. It had actually been her work on a recent mission with the kantana that had spared a higher ranked nin who had put her name up for ANBU training. However, she knew that if she drew it there may not be a chance to go hand to hand. She had to be prepared for whatever they did to her.
There was a brief movement behind her; the wind rippled the candle flames to the left. She tensed and stopped walking as the movement circled her. She could not see who was in the shadows hovering behind the pillars but she knew they'd make a move soon. She brushed her foot behind the other and took a defensive stance waiting. When the man came forward rushing her she was ready. She blew his arm away from her face with a countering blow and caught the other jamming it up with a blow of her own. He grunted and slammed a flat palm forward hitting her solar plexus. She wheezed trying to recover but he didn't give her the time. She was forced backwards towards the wall as his fist hit her jaw. She felt her body jerk to the side with the hit and used it. She twisted that way bringing her leg hard up fast catching him in the stomach. Ran then grabbed her kantana quickly while he was out of commission. She swung it listlessly and stopped it just against his throat as he was doubled over.
"Dead." She said. It was the calling word she was supposed to use to signify the defeat of the ANBU and for the exam to switch to the next stage. This one had been too easy. They'd only been testing her decision making. They had wanted to see how long it took to draw her sword.
The ANBU stood smirking down at her taking off his mask. He was much taller and older than she was and she instantly recognized his face. It was a member of the Hyuuga family, no wonder that hit to the chest had left her so winded. However, unannounced to him her shielding technique had deflected the majority of his special chakra. He touched her shoulder lightly nodding for her to walk further forward so that she could complete the exam. She rubbed her chest taking a long breath and re-sheathed her sword at her back. Suddenly a thickening screaming sound erupted throughout the base and she gripped her ears her eyes searching the room quickly for the source. Now they were trying to put her in a stressful situation to see how she'd eliminate the genjutsu and find the caster. It was so damn hard with that screeching high pitched screaming. She shut her eyes sighing and tried to let the noise filter out around her. She needed to keep her senses in order which meant ignoring that wretched sound so that she could concentrate on locating the user. Deep breathes. She let the breath out. Her chakra filtered out and around the base floor pushing outward from her stomach where it had always come from.
Since the moment Ran had found out she was an Iwaii the Hokage had come to her. He'd asked that this stay a secret and that she only use her powers when absolutely necessary. That for now, she had to conceal them because people weren't ready for her powers to be awakened again. If they knew, he was sure that they'd send her after Itachi. An Iwaii was a shield type ninja that worked well with the Sharingan, however, she could also immobilize them. Her shield could act as a restraint and restrain their bodies when they lost control. The village elders would have sent her after him, the Hokage was right. She'd also been very thankful though that he'd come to her and given her the advice. If he hadn't she might have already been sent out after the boy. Here though, in this unit, this ANBU team she was allowed to use her talent. It wasn't perfected but she could definitely stretch and mold it.
"Gotcha." She smirked and let her eyes turn to their special color. Instantly she could see the traces of chakra the man had left behind trailing around the base. She felt the shield inside her body project outward and she let it. She'd wanted to use her technique so badly, to let it go for once, that it actually emanated from her with a great wave of force. The blocked transparent wall of purple chakra exploded outward pushing through the base and caught the man shoving him against the wall. The screaming stopped and he grunted from the force of the pressure straining him against the wall behind himself. She was losing control of it and fast. She didn't use it enough and it was hard to bring it back inside herself. She had to stop it from crushing him. Her mind reflexed and curled sourcing it to trying to bring the shield back before she killed him. She was panicking because it wasn't responding like she'd wanted it too. Damnit.
"Take a breath, let it go. Come back to the here and now. Come back." A voice had spoken near her ear, close to her shoulder. It had been a male. An ANBU she wasn't used too.
"Come on Ran. Come back." Kakashi said gripping her shoulder tightly as they rolled her down the hall to surgery. "You have to come back…" he felt an immense worry building in his chest. If Naruto lost this girl there was no telling the amount of pain he would have. He could finally crack. The boy had lost too much over his life. He couldn't handle this. Kakashi couldn't handle it. It was much too familiar to the night Kushina had died, too much like the way his teacher had looked at her every day. He knew the look Naruto would have on his face if Ran died. He'd seen it etched into Minato's dead features. He couldn't see that again. Not on Naruto's face.
Ibiki had watched as the girl had lost some of the control over her technique. It was hard, he'd seen Uchiha become lost in their Sharingan, but he knew he could bring her back. She would be valuable for interrogation missions and stealth that much was for sure. He would need to train her though and for that he'd need the ANBU's help. She would become a source of great power for them to use once she learned. He'd ended the exam the moment the shield had started to crush the man against the wall. He appeared below reaching to her making contact with her shoulder. He'd leveled his voice to a steady level as he had many times with the Uchiha before her.
"Come back." He'd prompted her.
"Ran, come back." Kakashi said one last time as they'd rushed her through the metallic sterile doors.
Naruto and Sasuke approached his apartment and headed inside. He thought it was weird that Ran had left the place unlocked; it was very much unlike her. He continued talking to Sasuke who moved ahead of him into the kitchen to flip on the lights.
"You want something to dri…" Sasuke stopped his eyes growing wide. There was a questionable amount of blood smeared on the kitchen tiles. Naruto bustled in behind him.
"What's wrong?" he froze. His eyes found what the raven's had. Naruto felt his stomach drop out from his chest and his heartbeat all but stopped.
"Hey…Naruto…" Sasuke reached out just as the boy started to collapse and caught him. He held him tightly as he started to shake eyes wide with fear. Sasuke knew this feeling. He'd walked in on something this similar with much more blood.
"Ran…" Naruto was lost inside his own head. " We have to find her!"
"We will. We will." He said gripping his friend's shoulders before he shot to his feet panicked.
"Naruto, come with me." Sakura suddenly appeared at the window. She was in her gear from mission not her medical type.
"Is she…" Sakura's eyes softened swirling with pain.
"It's not good. Come on."