Chapter 7: Fathom

Sakon makes the first attack, eager to finish the job in a second. He activated his cursed seal and jumped to a branch closer to Moriko. "Don't think I'll go easy on you." Sakon smirked at her and Moriko just glared back at him.

"I wasn't asking for anything--" Moriko's quick reflexes saved her from Sakon's powerful kick. "S-strong!" Moriko winced at the pain on her forearm and expected a bruise forming already. "He still has that much strength after fighting with Kiba?"

Moriko wrapped her hair around Sakon's leg and flung him against a tree. She quickly dug her hand in her pocket and squirmed her fingers until she got a handful of the material inside. Moriko strew the seeds in her hand below her. It landed on the soil and on random branches. This might be tougher than I thought.

Sakon blinked when Moriko clenched both of her fists and whispered something to herself. "I'll crush you." He flinched as he suddenly saw two gigantic vines on both of his sides and several smaller ones sprouting from the ground and boughs. They slithered around Sakon's body and tried to squeeze the life out of him. Moriko ignored Sakon's growl in agony and worried more on the situation she was entangled in.

"I have to knock him out before he gets the chance to attack. Once he has the chance to assault, he'll make sure I won't have the opportunity to strike back." Moriko could feel a bead of sweat roll down her spine. Sakon struggled to break free as she tightened her clenched fist to control the vines' force.

Moriko blinked when Sakon stopped struggling and suddenly shot her a contemptuous smile. She saw a flash slice across the vines before they fell down on the ground with a loud thump. "Taren ken!" Sakon advanced on her with his agile multiple punches. Moriko was startled but was able to duck, only to find out that nothing passed above her head. She felt the branch she was standing on shake a little.

"Heh." Moriko quickly turned her head and saw that her opponent had purposely landed beside her. Sakon delivered an asphyxiating kick to her stomach before she could even react. Moriko hit her back painfully against the trunk and Sakon pressed on with a kunai threatening her throat. "Too weak…" Sakon whispered in her ear.

"Oh geez…" Moriko sighed inwardly and gasped for the air that was taken out by the kick carefully, avoiding pressing her flesh against the sharp edges of the metal on her skin.

--

An hour and a half had passed already and both ninjas were down on the ground, out of breath. Moriko hung from a branch and dropped herself down on a lower offshoot. She looked at the fresh bruises on her arms and legs and felt the cut in her neck widen and a new gash on her cheek open up. Blood trickled down and Moriko wiped it with a handkerchief.

Sakon was on a higher branch, kneeling down on one knee. He wiped off the blood at the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and looked at it. "Damn it… I inhaled too much of her poisonous gas." Sakon hadn't known that Moriko was capable of emitting deadly gas and accidentally inhaled a lungful of it while captured in her tresses. He had only found out about it when he started coughing up blood and realized that he was in a genjutsu.

He glowered down on Moriko and saw green chakra emanating from her hand. The lacerate on her skin healed and closed up. "A medic-nin…" Sakon scowled and slammed a fist on the wood he was kneeling on. Moriko jumped off from her branch and landed beside Sakon. She crouched down and extended her leg to her side, attempting to knock Sakon's feet.

Sakon evaded it easily but he was caught off-guard when Moriko brought her body upside down and twirled her body, bringing her legs into a series of spinning kicks. Her feet hit Sakon on the head and pushed him back a few meters away. Moriko took the chance to lengthen her hair and capture Sakon again but he was sharp enough to expect that and threw several shurikens to cut her hair.

Sakon brought out a kunai and ran straight to Moriko's direction. She was confused whether it was a direct attack or a diversion. "He can't be using a kunai for a direct attack but if this is a diversion… where would he come?" Moriko wondered to herself as she scuffled through her weapons' pockets. She expected to get a kunai and a smoke bomb but when she brought her hand out she realized she got her fan instead. Moriko made a face as she looked at her fan and then to Sakon's smirking face.

"Heh."

Moriko couldn't make a move, as Sakon was already a strand of hair's breadth away from her. Her reflex brought the fan in front of her as a shield. The kunai pierced through it and Sakon sent her flying with a kick to her side. Moriko rubbed her hips with an annoyed expression and took off the kunai from her fan. "I really like this fan, it was pretty expensive too."

"Too bad, maybe you can get one in the next world." Sakon remarked sarcastically. "There's no need for me to go to level two. I can beat her with just this." He told himself with pride while looking at his spotted stained hands. "I need to catch up with Ukon." Sakon quirked an eyebrow as he saw Moriko slowly stand up then fall on her knees.

"What the— not now!" Moriko hissed. "I'm losing chakra already but I know I still had a small amount left." She whispered to herself in confusion. "Kagerou… Kagerou! She can help me." Moriko called out to Kagerou hysterically in her head.

"Kagerou! Hey—"

"What?! Can you tone it down a little?" Kagerou snapped back irately.

"Sorry but I need your help right now."

"Huh?" Kagerou slurred.

"Lend me some chakra."

"I already did." Kagerou stated casually.

"What?" Kagerou sighed at her.

"Why do you think you've been able to fight back this long? I gave you just the right amount of chakra so your body can contain it. You used your chakra carelessly and I bet you didn't even noticed how much you were using. Because of the large amount you carried, you've unconsciously drained it. You need to control yourself a little."

"We'll talk later, can you just please—"

"Fine." Kagerou gave out a defeated sigh. Moriko felt something cold touch her wrists before she blinked from a flash of light.

"Amazing…" Moriko breathed, feeling the cascading chakra in her veins. "Thanks."

"No more chances." Kagerou said sternly.

Moriko blinked and looked around for the enemy. She sighed out of relief, thankful she was not killed while pleading Kagerou for help. She jumped as she heard a devilish chuckle behind her. "Welcome back." Moriko turned around at the annoyingly familiar voice with a glare.

"You had the chance to kill me. Why didn't you do it?"

"Hm…" Sakon tapped his chin playfully with his index finger. "I just thought it wouldn't be fun."

"I'm Azami Moriko." Sakon quirked an eyebrow at her. "I just realized we've been fighting without knowing each other's name. You might've heard it a while ago from Kiba but I figured you would've been too stupid to remember it." Sakon frowned at this. "I'm gonna finish you here and now. At the very least… you should know the name of the person who's gonna send you to your death." Moriko smirked at him.

Sakon laughed at her. "You're pretty cocky but I think you've got it the other way around." He pointed his finger at her mockingly. "You're the one who should know MY name." Moriko rolled her eyes.

"Shall we start again?"

The fight has been going on for almost an hour and Sakon had already decided that he needed to activate level two. He thought things would've been much easier if Ukon was with him, they are strongest when they are together. Moriko jumped back away from Sakon and both gasped for air. They were both worn out and yet neither of them refuses to go down.

"What's with this guy?" Moriko was impressed by how much chakra he had. She even needed a fill from Kagerou in the first round while he was going on his own.

"Maybe I can do a surprise attack while she's out of breath. It'll be harder for her to move that way." Sakon disappeared from his spot and reappeared behind Moriko who tried to evade him as quickly as she could with little air. "That's right, run 'till you're out of air."

"This is bad…" Moriko whispered to herself. Her face grew pale at the same time as the leaves surrounding her slowly dried out. Her instincts told her Sakon was running behind her and desperately grew her hair in an attempt to capture him.

"Shit!" Sakon cursed under his breath for being caught off-guard while her hair quickly bond him. The deadly scent immediately wafted through his nose even though he was trying his best to hold his breath. Sakon struggled to bring his hand to his nose but failed.

"Don't struggle too much or you'll inhale more." Sakon shot her a death glare with groggily. His vision became blurry and was followed by dizziness. Moriko unbound him, a few minutes later, standing on a bough. Sakon couldn't stand properly and swayed while moving. He felt his knees shake in weakness.

Even in his vulnerable state, he approached Moriko slowly like a drunk. He dug his hand in his pocket to find an explosive tied to a kunai. "You're making things easier for me." Moriko said, apparently amused.

"Shut up…" Sakon slurred. He brought out the kunai he had wanted in a last ditch attempt to grab her and never let her go before thrusting his explosive kunai into her stomach.

"I'll knock him out with one last attack." Moriko thought, deciding where to attack him.

Unaware that he was stepping on Moriko's hair, he slipped and fell off when she moved back and leaned her head to relieve the stress on her neck. Moriko unconsciously lunged at him and quickly pulled him back on his feet. She exerted too much force and lost her balance. Still locked hands with Sakon, she inevitably grabbed him down with her.

They landed on a lower branch with a loud and obviously painful thud, Sakon's limp body on top of Moriko's. He quickly carried himself up but paused and stared when he saw Moriko's hitai-ate tied to her necklace, that was identical to his, like a pendant, leaving them in a compromising position. Sakon blinked and looked up at Moriko who was eyeing him suspiciously. Both looked at each other in awkward silence.

Moriko thought back on what she did and mentally slapped herself. "I saved an enemy from dying?! I could've just let him fall and catch up with the others." Moriko's cheeks became tinged with light pink, much to Sakon's surprise. "Gah!" Moriko pushed Sakon back violently. "Get off, freak!" Sakon leaned against the trunk, panting, the poison he had inhaled still wandering in his body.

"Shut… up. You shouldn't have… grabbed my… hand in the… first place." Sakon said in between heavy breaths while digging his hand inside the pouch that was tied to his leg. He brought out a small bottle and drank from it. "This will help stop the effects of the poison."

"That antidote won't help." Moriko said calmly while looking at Sakon's helpless body.

"You… watch." Sakon gazed at Moriko's necklace before looking up at her face. "Where'd you get… your necklace?" He asked while he shifted his body with a grunt. Moriko lifted the red beaded necklace to her face and looked at it.

"Hm… where did I get this? All I know is that I've had it with me for as long as I can remember." Moriko scrutinized it before shifting her eyes lazily to Sakon. "I don't know, can't remember. Why are you asking?"

"… I just noticed our necklaces are… identical to each other." Sakon heaved heavily before coughing up blood.

"I don't know why you're talking about this but many necklaces are identical. It's strange to hear that from someone who's about to die, I told you that antidote won't work." Moriko stepped back a little, trying to be careful from being too close to her enemy.

"Check the beads if there's something written on it." Confusion was written all over Moriko's face, she wondered why her enemy was having a casual conversation with her. She wondered if she was playing into the enemy's trap despite her sureness of the poison flowing inside his body. But she did what he told her to do out of curiosity.

Moriko removed the necklace around her neck and scanned its every bead. Sakon stared at her intently, as if analyzing every bit of her face, while she was busy with her necklace. Sakon wondered what was wrong with him. He wasn't acting like himself. He pondered on the familiarity Ukon had spoken about earlier; it was almost like a déjà vu. The suggestion of checking the beads came from an unusual feeling of knowing her for a long time.

"Ah…" Moriko muttered which Sakon barely caught. She brought a particular bead closer to her face. It was darker than the other beads and small, barely readable, letters were engraved on it. "Something's written on it…" Moriko whispered to herself but audible enough for Sakon to hear.

Sakon shifted his body uncomfortably, looking at his own necklace. "This is hard to read…" Moriko squinted at the bead. "Whoa…" Moriko said under her breath a few minutes later.

"What?" Sakon asked weakly. He was ten times paler that he usually was. "Damn, I feel so weak. But… at least I'm not dead. When I get back I'm gonna ask Kabuto to do a better job with the antidotes."

"Why is my name here?" Moriko looked at Sakon. "I've never seen this before."

"Knew it…" He mumbled to himself. "My and Sakon's name are on the beads as well."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"How did you know there was something here?"

"I don't know, it was just—" Moriko's eyes suddenly went black and collapsed. "What the-"

"Oh God, this again?" Moriko looked around and found herself in the previously dark space. Her head throbbed and with every hammering pain, Moriko saw fragments of what seemed like a lost memory.

--

"Here, you can have this." The lad held out his hand with a crimson beaded necklace on it.

"What's this?"

"A necklace."

"I know what it is. I mean… what for?"

"Well… if you look closely, there's one bead that's darker from the others. Your name's engraved on that bead." He explained nonchalantly.

"Why?"

"I… I just thought that if we get separated, you'll always remember the person you owe a lot. You won't be able to run away because I'll know you're Moriko if you're wearing that. That way, you won't have the time to be lonely about anything because you gotta worry about paying back all the good stuffs I did for you." He "indirectly" explained the reason while looking away.

Flicker…

"Run! Keep running!" He shouted.

"But I--"

Flicker…

Moriko ran out of the house, feeling heavier with the guilt and anguish she brought with her. She clutched the necklace close to heart and mumbled, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry… Sakon."

--

Moriko woke up from her stupor and looked around quickly. "Where is he?" She stood up and leapt from tree to tree, trying to follow the trail of Sakon's faint scent. "Idiot didn't kill me again." Moriko sighed, pressing the beads in her hand.

"This remembering thing just gets me all the time. It's worse than I expected… why him?"

--

Rewritten: May 21, 08

Lame action shiznits, forgive me.