Chapter 12...not much else to say...but ENJOY!!!
Disclaimer: I don't own any anime, much less Naruto...wah!!!cries
Sasuke shifted uncomfortably for the umpteenth time that night; trying to get sleep with this pendant on, was like trying to sleep on a bed made of blades. Personally, Sasuke preferred the latter.
Even when he was about to doze off, Sasuke was forced to shift because he knew by staying still too long, his body functions may slow, and eventually fade. He grumbled to himself, Sora had never really specified how long he should allow himself to rest before having to move again, so he stuck with napping for time spans of 30 minutes and then waking himself again.
Finally he forced himself to sit up straight as he gazed tiredly at the pendant, all he needed to do was lift it over his head for the night.. just tonight.. so he could rest a little bit..
...No. I can't do that... Sora-sensei told me not to remove it... So I won't remove it...
As Sasuke would later find out, it was a good thing he did not attempt to remove the pendant. "...Ugh.." he muttered unhappily; this was a most annoying predicament indeed. ...I wonder what would happen if I did take it off... no... Sora-sensei would be disappointed...
As Sasuke's thoughts gradually reassembled, his eyes slowly widened in shock, he forgot to tell Sora that that old woman needed to meet with her.. He glanced out the window; it was still dark, and he hadn't gotten even a wink of sleep.
He let out an aggravated sigh and slowly plopped back onto his bed, he could probably get more rest moving around than he was at the moment. "... uughhhh..." he let out a slow mournful moan and carefully dragged himself out of bed.
Time itself seemed to drag as Sasuke forced himself to move around his room; he gazed at the window, it was still dark. He knew this was the only way to prove himself to his new-found sensei, so although he was tempted to rip the damned pendant off his neck; he decided better.
Instead, he stepped outside into the darkness in hopes of relieving his mind from the physical and mental strain it was going through. He inhaled slowly and exhaled even slower as he walked, but eventually his steps regained their normal stride length and speed. The streets were, needless to say, bare, and no one except for himself was stupid enough to go out during this late a night.
It was unusually peaceful without the normal rush of the village, and he was almost glad that he was out and about... almost. He stopped suddenly in his steps and narrowed his eyes in the darkness; someone was nearby.
"Sasuke? What are you doing out here at this hour?!" It was his sensei.
Sora grinned and waved hi at Sasuke through the darkness, and he carefully nodded his head in recognition. She expertly balanced the several ramens that she had ordered in various spots on her body and walked calmly over to Sasuke.
"So what are you doing out right now? Not trying to take off the pendant I hope."
"...no..."
Sora's eye twitched slightly. ... well it seems his speech isn't any slow than usual.. which really isn't saying much...
She noticed his eyes were beginning to slowly work their way closed, so Sora nodded her head towards the direction of her apartment. "You tired? I can help you get through the first few nights with that pendant, come on over to my new apartment."
Her smile sparkles through the night with the proud air of having her own apartment at long last. Sasuke even allows a tired smile to grace his lips at Sora's childish display, he nods and begins to trudge behind her. It was silent, but the silence wasn't forced in any manner; it was a comfortable silence between two close (and extremely tired) friends.
Sora arrived shortly and asked for Sasuke to slide the door open for her; which he did as quickly as he could.
She entered with a smile on her face. "I'm baaack!"
Everyone stared oddly at Sora , except for Kakashi, who merely chuckled and held his hand out for some food. "... Give me some..."
"Nyah," She stuck her tongue out at him, but placed the bowl of soup in front of him. Glancing back at Sasuke, Sora motioned for him to help her pass out the soups.
"Oi.. What's Sasuke doing here..?" Kakashi mumbled softly while slowly bringing the broth to his lips.
"Training purposes." She stated with a joking tone, as she turned and began to give out the ramen. Some of the Jounin were already resting. Sora then turned to Sasuke and smiled. "Inside or out?"
A look of slight confusion flitted across his eyes, but it was obvious he was too tired to react to anything anymore, so he merely stayed silent. "I mean, would you like to rest inside, or outside?"
Sasuke was silent for a moment, so she decided for him, "You can sleep inside then, neh?" He shrugged slowly, and Sora stood up from her kneeling position. "Then come on, I'll show you where you can rest."
She led him down the hallway and slid open a door. "Here, rest in this room. Just go to sleep, I'll make sure you don't 'accidentally' die in your sleep," Sora grinned and then patted the futon next to the door. "Now get some rest, okay?"
Sasuke didn't even reply as he collapsed onto the futon, obviously completely drained from the pendant. She quietly slid the door shut and then returned to Kakashi, who was placing his bowl down and staring stoney eyed at the wall. Sora let out a small sigh and squatted down beside him hehe, squatted down?! Get it?... okay...
"What's wrong?" She whispered quietly, and Kakashi merely shook his head.
He shifted and moved slightly closer to her , and a look of puzzlement spread across Sora's gentle features. He shut his eyes softly and all she could do was gaze downward at her knees, until he quietly mumbled. "... The shinobi who ambushed us... looked exactly like you..."
Reluctantly Sora let out a sigh, "... Somehow I knew it would come to this.."
Kakashi's tired eyes opened and glanced into her disappointed hazel ones, and she chuckled softly, "... Funny huh... How you can care so much... that you can give it your all to someone... and still... it's not enough to get them to trust you?"
"Mmm..." Kakashi murmured. He wrapped his left arm around Sora and squeezed her reassuringly. "It's alright.."
Sora wasn't one to hold any grudges, all she ever did was feel disappointed. The reason why Kakashi didn't need to explain anymore than saying, 'The shinobi looked like you'? Simple, there was a group of shinobi who had ambushed her once when she was with Kakashi, and had stolen her ability to clone an image.
Kakashi and Sora had thought that she eradicated all 5 of them, but apparently one lived on, and was wreaking havoc across the villages and making her look like a villain. Not even the Hokage knew that this had occurred, but neither Sora or Kakashi bothered to clue him in.
"... How bad did I look..?" She questioned, carefully eyeing the room to make sure no one else was awake.
"...Pretty bad.. you're going to have to work some of your charm magic on these Jounin if you ever hope to regain their trust.."
"Oi," Sora sighed and gently shook her head, before standing up and then smiling at Kakashi, "Get some rest, the Hokage is going to want to see you tomorrow at the finals of the Chuuin examination!"
Kakashi smiled tiredly and leaned down on the tatami mat with a blanket, quickly dozing off. Sora smiled at her friend's sleeping form and then glanced out the window; she could let Sasuke sleep a little before waking him up.
Until then, it was nap-time for Sora as well. For the rest of the night, she slept for 30 minute time periods and then proceeded to wake Sasuke up. It was a tedious job, but she'd rather lose sleep than lose a friend. By the time morning came, and the Jounin in the room began to stir, Sora had gotten up at least 10 times, but she still held a sunny disposition.
"Goooood morning everyone!" Sora chirped happily, while tying her headband over her forehead. "Listen, Sasuke and I need to leave for the Hokage's, but the rest of you are welcome to rest a little longer in my apartment. Just remember to come back down to see the final battles of the exam."
Everyone nodded sleepily, and immediately plopped back to bed. Sora sighed and made a 'tsk' sound, before shuffling down the hallway to check if Sasuke was ready.
"Come on now, we don't have all--"
"I'm ready." He stated bluntly; he looked more rested than he did yesterday for sure, but he certainly held a look of tiredness in his eyes. "Well then, come on."
The two stepped out the front door and into the already blazing sun.
"Tired Sasuke?" Sora asked while striding quickly forward. He merely glanced straight ahead and shook his head, "No."
She sigh, and after a long time of walking, stopped, and sent Sasuke towards the arena. "Sasuke, I have something to do really quickly, tell the Hokage I'll arrive shortly."
He nodded and began slowly walking away, leaving you with your thoughts. ... I'll just visit Yukiko for a moment, that won't hurt the examination at all!... will it? Sora leaned on one side of her body and tilted her head to the side, debating whether or not to visit Yukiko, but just as quickly as she decided, her training kicked into action.
Someone attempted to throw a shuriken at Sora , but she neatly side-stepped it and glanced back at the direction from whence it came.
And there, from out of the shadows, came a figure with a snake-like elegance to it. Someone, that even she could hold an abhorrence for; it was Orochimaru. The third legendary sanin, the one that had gone bad.
"...Why Sora... It seems as if your training.. has done you well..."
"What do you want Orochimaru?" Sora demanded skillfully, not wanting to tip the boat.
"Hm.. Isn't it simple? ... You've known what I wanted all these years... stop denying me it."
"Give me a break!" She exclaimed, all these years, Orochimaru had wanted one thing; power. He wanted power to live immortally, the power to kill relentlessly, he wanted it all, but she had denied him every time.
"A break?" he inquired suspiciously, "That can be arranged dear Sora..."
With that he launched himself at Sora , his entire body weight came crashing down across the wall behind her, but luckily she had leapt far above him and already began kicking him across the ground.
"Orochimaru! This is the last time you will see the sunlight!"
Sora skidded on her heel and then gathered her hands in the air, while glaring intently at Orochimaru. "Wind no jutsu!" She cried out, causing the wind around your to twirl in different directions, creating a small tornado. (I know! a REALLY lame jutsu...sorry!)
Sora gestured out at Orochimaru and instantly, the small tornado grew, and began to chase after Orochimaru, who in return jumped high into the air, in an attempt to escape it.
Luckily for him, he was able to escape it with only a few scratches, but she wasn't satisfied. "Die Orochimaru!" Sora charged at him, while he was disoriented and threw a fury of punches at his chest, then finishing it off with a roundkick.
"Wha--?!" he caught her leg in midair and smirked, while wiping some blood off his face, "Not so quick Sora.." he held tight to her leg, causing it to go numb with incomprehensible pain.
Sora let out a small groan, before ripping her leg out of his grip, and flipping backwards. "What the hell was that.." She mumbled softly, allowing a moment to glance down at the pain inflicted on her leg.
"...Do you like it Sora..? It's a new jutsu you've never seen from me... It's a rare snake poison... soon it will spread across your entire body.."
Sora glared at him and launched off your good leg, while at the same time yelling. "This is the END Orochimaru!"
Her punch aimed right above his head, but instead of hitting there, she fainted low and round-kicked him across his stomach. He was sent flying across the ground, but instead of staying down, he recovered and glared at her. "Sora, I think you underestimate me."
"Keh," Sora scoff, "Hardly." And with that, she cracked her neck and close her eyes for a moment, allowing time to try and heal the poison in her leg; but it wouldn't heal! She had to keep the look of confusion off her face as she defended one of Orochimaru's attacks.
"So," he threw a left hook towards her jaw, which she caught and wrapped behind his back, "You still haven't figured out how to heal the poison... pitiful.."
Sora took a deep breath and closed her eyes, simply standing there, waiting for him to attack.. waiting for that one moment where she could--- there it was! He lifted his hand to perform a jutsu, allowing her to throw a sphere of conjured wind at him; knocking the wind out of him, and blood to seep out of his mouth. He glared furiously at her, but when he tried to open his mouth to speak, only blood seeped out.
"Internal bleeding," Sora stated without emotion, taking a slow step to him, "Goodbye Orochimaru," She murmured quietly, bowing her head slightly at his fallen form. The internal bleeding had taken a heavy toll, since she had hit him not only in his lungs, but also three specific points on his neck and chest.
Yet he was still moving! Sora let out a sigh, and clapped her hands together, ... I know I shouldn't use... any tactic.. that he taught me... but this will finish him off... "Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"
Yup, the jutsu that Itachi had taught her when she was younger, and now Sora was using it. The flame enlarged to over 50 feet high, and then engulfed Orochimaru's body, yet he made no sound as he burned, he merely narrowed his eyes at her, and mouthed his last sentence. 'I will come back'.
Dun dun duun!!! HE HE HEHE!!! Cliffy!
Hope you like the fighting scene! (though, I don't think I'm any good at them..oh well)
And we are now coming to the end of the story!!! but don't worry! I plan to have a sequel!
REVIEW!!!