A/N: Okay guys, chapter 3 is finally up :D along with another picture which you can view in my DA gallery here: .com/ if the link doesn't work my username on DA is mangacookie too so check me out ;) Anyway, many things are revealed in this chapter to get you thinking and hopefully to keep you entertained until i upload chapter 4 ^-^ BTW when i cut of a scene abruptly from here on out like a fight for example it's because it ends the same as in the anime, i just wasn't going to write the whole thing out and like i said before, i didn't completely ditch this chapter because I want to work up to Akari's talents and her interaction with her teammates but i didn't want her being the main focus in the zabuza battles because the Zabuza arc are when Naruto and Sasuke really improve, i wasn't gonna take that off of them. Hope you enjoy it, don't forget to fav, rate and review please ;)
"Speaking"
'Thoughts'
~To the land of waves, Akari's Kekkei Genkai~
The sun shone down brightly upon the six travelers as they made their way to the land of waves. Their client, a carpenter in his early sixties that went by the name of Tazuna, had asked them to escort him back to his hometown and protect him from bandits until he finished the bridge he was building. It was a simple C-rank mission that was enough to keep all the members of the team happy. Naruto was happy to be going on a real mission as he liked to put it, Sakura was excited at the prospect of visiting another village and Sasuke, although he didn't show it, was eager to put his skills to the test. Akari, like the rest of her team, was really happy to be spending some time away from her hometown in the company of her teammates. She smiled to herself as the landscape twisted and changed the further away they got from Konoha until her eyes zoomed onto a puddle. Frowning slightly she carried on walking alongside her friends but kept herself weary of their surroundings.
'Kakashi, that puddle…', she thought, her voice ringing through his head.
'You noticed? Good job.'
'What are you going to do?'
A grunt was the only reply she got. Sometimes the man could be so taciturn it was infuriating. What was a grunt supposed to mean? She didn't have much time to ponder on it as at that precise moment the clanking sound of metal had all of them turning around to see Kakashi's arms stuck to his sides by chains that had sharp edges around them, perfect for slicing through objects. Or in this case, people. Sakura and Naruto's eyes widened as they watched their sensei get ripped to shreds.
Whipping out a kunai from her pouch Akari ran over to Naruto whose face grew wide in terror as the two Ninja made their way behind his back preparing to attack and kill. Just as Sasuke intervened by jamming the enemy ninja's chain against a tree slightly halting their attack Akari grabbed Naruto by the collar of his jacket pulling him down to the ground narrowly avoiding a sharpened finger blade to the head. Looking up at their forehead protectors, the shinning emblem told her they were Hidden Mist nin.
"Naruto get up!" Came the quick order from his female teammate as she got into a fighting stance. He heard her words but his body wouldn't move. He was trembling with fear and was completely paralyzed.
As the two ninja separated from the chain that was preventing them from moving they split up. One made his way towards Sakura and Tazuna at an alarming speed while the other dashed towards the blond cowering on the ground. The battled ended just as quickly as it had started when Kakashi jumped in effectively knocking out the two surprised ninja. Dumping their limp forms on the ground unceremoniously he looked Naruto up and down before sighing.
"Sorry I didn't intervene before now, you ended up getting hurt. I didn't think you wouldn't be able to move though" he said while turning on his heel to assess the other three members of his team. "The rest of you good work."
'I wasn't capable of doing anything… Sasuke didn't doubt jumping into the battle even though it was his first real fight as well.' Thought Naruto; a shocked look adorning his features. He could hear his team talking about how the enemy ninjas blades were poisoned and how they were going to have to go back home to get him, Naruto, to a hospital but he was only half listening to what was going on.
"Tazuna-san, the mission you requested was for a team to protect you from any bandits while you built the bridge. These two," he pointed towards the two mist ninja that Sasuke and Akari were currently tying up to a tree "are Chunnin ninjas from the village of the Hidden Mist. If you're being targeted by enemy ninja then this mission is out of our hands, at the very least this would be an expensive B-rank mission, maybe even an A-rank. To top it off Naruto's been poisoned so we're going to have to go back." The sound of a kunai being withdrawn had them all turning to face their blond teammate and watch him stab his injured hand. Turning his back on them he started to mumble under his breath a promised to never run away ever again and to never lose against Sasuke.
"I swear by the pain in my left hand I'll protect that old man with this very kunai." He turned to face them and gave a dark chuckle. "The mission continues."
They all stared silently dumbfounded for a couple of seconds before Kakashi spoke up in his lackadaisical voice as if he didn't really care.
"You know I'm glad you decided to remove the poison from your wound like that, but if you don't cover that wound you're going to bleed to death." Watching the boy go into a panic fit Akari chuckled, as she removed her first aid kit from her bag and walked over to hand it to Kakashi who was currently inspecting the amount of damage caused to his student's hand. Her eyes widened slightly when she realized the cut was healing itself.
'K-Kakashi is that…'
'Yeah, looks like the Kyuubi powers heal any physical wounds he obtains.'
'Amazing. I've never seen anything like it.'
After resting for ten minutes and discussing what they were going to do it was decided that team 7 would carry on with the mission. Building the bridge would join the Land of Waves to Fire Country making it a wealthy community and if risking their lives to protect Tazuna was what they had to do, they would do it, even if they were only a squad of Genin.
"Very well, it's decided then. Akari and Sakura you will stay by Tazuna's side no matter what happens, as for Sasuke and Naruto you will aid them and fight under my orders. Understood?" Receiving four nods of approval he hoisted his pack on his back and set of leading them to their destination. 'Next time someone's sent they will be Jounin instead of Chunnin' he thought to himself solemnly.
XxX
Heavy mist surrounded the Land of Waves making it easy for the team of ninja to be escorted into the village without being detected. It was a curious fact that once one was far enough away from the shore the mist dissipated making visibility much easier. However luck didn't seem to be on their side today as it was soon made clear that Tazuna didn't live in the actual village. Instead, he had built himself a house years ago near a lake that was surrounded by dense pine trees claiming that freshwater fish tasted better than salt water fish any day. Hoping to get started building the bridge the next day and to not run into any unwanted enemies Team 7 where making their way to Tazuna's house by following the very distinct sound of a river. Ever since their last fight Naruto hadn't stopped prattling on about how next time for sure he would be the star of the battle and he was really starting to wear his teammates out. Sakura drew the line when he nearly killed a rabbit by throwing kunai in his excitement and started shouting at him while Naruto hugged and begged the poor creature for forgiveness.
Akari reacted before she even heard the telltale whistling of a weapon slicing through the air, shinobi instincts kicking in, she dived dragging Tazuna to the ground with her as her teammates did the same all of them watching with speculative eyes as a huge sword incrusted itself in a tree and a man in his early twenties landed gracefully on the blade. One look at him told her he was at lease a Jounin maybe even an elite and the very thought had cold sweat trickling down her back. They were treading in deep water here.
It, only took Kakashi another second to realize who was attacking the group. Lifting up his head band to reveal his concealed eye, he let the tomoe spin wildly for a few second as they adjusted to the change of light. "Sharingan."
"Sharingan, what's that?" Naruto asked staring up at his teacher's uncovered eye.
Sasuke froze at the sight of the red eye that was glaring up at their attacker, "It's a bloodline limit," he answered uncertainly, 'A bloodline limit that belongs to the Uchiha clan, just what is going on here?'
Their enemy disappearing into a hazy cloud snapped the Genin's attention back to reality as they quickly formed a tight circle around Tazuna. Sasuke upfront with Akari protecting the rear while Naruto and Sakura flagged the sides. Due to the technique Zabuza was using, heavy mist was quickly forming around them, impending their sense of sight. If that was the case they were just going to have to use their other senses and try to track his chakra down, a feat which was easier said than done.
'Akari get rid of this mist' Kakashi ordered from somewhere in the haze behind her. It was more than unnerving to have her back turned towards everything and the fact that she could barely see what was two meters in front of her only made matters worse.
'What? You know I can't do that.'
'This isn't the time to be questioning your morals about using your mother's gift just get rid of the mist.'
'No seriously I can't, its chakra infused I can't do anything to it.'
The cursed reply she got was short livid as Zabuza jumped into action by appearing in their formation's only weak spot, right in the middle. While her teammates where knocked aside as Kakashi intervened by jamming a kunai into Zabuza's stomach, Akari quickly tossed Tazuna over her, sending him rolling on the ground a good distance away from the middle of the battle. She turned to see Zabuza dissolve into water and appear behind Kakashi slashing him right through his torso with his sword, wielding it with one hand as if it weighed no more than a butter knife. All students watched with slightly wide eyes as in turn their teacher too turned into water and appeared behind Zabuza once again. A battle of water clones.
It was then that Akari sensed something behind her, a dark presence with a cold powerful chakra signature. Whipping out a kunai she ran towards Tazuna, gritting her teeth in irritation as she jumped over his slouched form on the ground just in time to misdirect the heavy sword that would have effectively decapitated him had she not reacted so quickly by jamming it into the ground when she landed on it. Weapon firmly gripped in her hand she blocked a right hook with her left fist, feet scraping slightly against the huge blade due to the force of the impact. She jammed the point of the sharpened blade into her attacker's right under arm but instead of drawing blood, once again he turned into a puddle of water at her feet. Turning she shouted into the mist.
"Kakashi it's another water clone look out!"
Sharingan reacting rapidly giving him the momentum needed to duck to avoid a sharp kick to his side he turned and gave a swift upper kick to the clone in front of him making it disappear effectively just like its predecessors.
"Stick close to Tazuna-san" he said sharply, the order coming out as a calm low rumble making sure to keep an eye on his students while not dropping his guard. Akari came running forward with Tazuna alongside her to join her teammates who all had different degrees of surprise on their faces. A quick movement by the riverbank caught their attention and Kakashi sped towards it hoping to catch their victim by surprise by using the water as a means of cover.
The group watched him run towards the stream of water, water that in Akari's mind felt too heavy almost as if…
"Kakashi don't!" she screamed out but was too late. As soon as his body came in contact with the wet surface a water bubble surrounded him trapping him inside. Standing in front of the bubble keeping it active by filtering chakra into it through the hand that was in contact with the wet surface, Zabuza gave out a low dark chuckle.
"Seems like you should listen to your underlings more often Kakashi, at least a couple of them aren't completely useless, shame they're all going to have to die" he drawled out staring at the group ahead of him.
Beside her, Akari could feel Sakura shaking with fear while Naruto clenched his fists in despair. Even Sasuke seemed shaken if the tormented look in his eyes was anything to go by. She could understand them as she too was fighting down the tremor of fear that was threatening to engulf her.
"You guys, take Tazuna-san and get out of here, he can't follow you while he keeps me trapped!"
'What the hell is he talking about?' she thought to herself desperately.
"Running stopped being an option the minute you were caught!" Sasuke shouted out trying to erase the feeling of uneasiness that was slowly creeping up on him like a predator preparing for the kill.
Gripping her kunai fiercely to stop her hands shaking Akari tried to still her thoughts as her breathing became erratic and heavy. If she didn't calm herself down she was going to start hyperventilating but for the life of her she couldn't stop the screaming that was ringing incessantly in her ears as the few images of memories she had flickered in front of her eyes like a badly played movie tormenting her.
Blood was splattered everywhere she looked, on the ground, the leaves, and on herself. Daring a glimpse at the lifeless corpses that lay on the ground still warm in the freshness of death in front of her she felt her gut churn uncontrollably. More screaming could be heard but she knew for a fact it was just her mind playing tricks on her, taunting her. Those screams would never be heard again as their owners were now lying splayed on the dirt track at her feet. She hadn't made it in time. The next thing she knew she was running in the opposite direction, her short legs and small frame flailing wildly against the dense canopy of forest, tears threatening to fall from her long lashes. Fighting down the urge to be sick she ran into her house not caring about the fact that she wasn't supposed to be here right now and that she should have probably warned a teacher but then the sight she saw made her stop cold in her tracks. More blood.
'Not again' she swallowed hard, sweat trickling down her brow as she clamped her eyes shut to stop the onslaught of nasty images 'I can't lose another team like this.'
"Sasuke" Naruto's voice startled her removing all the thoughts from her mind. When had he moved from her side to stand in front of them? When had Zabuza made another water clone? Had she really been that distracted?
"What?"
Grinning, the blond turned his head slightly to direct his face towards his teammate without taking his eyes off of the man standing mere meters away from him. "I have a plan."
XxX
The fight didn't last long once Kakashi was freed thanks to Sasuke and Naruto's incredible burst of teamwork and now they were all standing, exhausted as they watched Kakashi converse with an ANBU black op who claimed to have been hunting down missing ninja Zabuza for some time and it was thanks to them he was able to be caught. Hoisting Zabuza's limp form over his shoulder, the Mist ANBU took his leave.
Turning to face his students he regarded their worn out expressions. Sasuke and Naruto had received a few good hits but didn't look gravely hurt while the two kunoichi looked shocked and worn out. He could tell by his roommate's expression that something had unnerved her. Maybe it was the fact that she had been forced to stay by Tazuna's side not being able to help her teammates. His gut instincts told him it was something else; she wasn't the type to complain about having to do guard duty while she watched others fight. He was just about to comment on the fact that they all looked like they had just made it out of a thunderstorm when a sharp pain shot all the way up his back making his legs stiffen and before he could stop himself he fell on the ground face first into the dirt. With a few startled cries of 'Sensei' his students ran towards him all looking at him worried and unsure of what to do.
"Sensei, are you alright?" Sakura asked tentatively.
"Yeah fine, I've been worse. Just used my Sharingan for too long that's all" he replied halfheartedly. He heard his other female companion give an exasperated sigh as she plopped herself down on the ground, her arms propped behind her back to keep her upright.
"One if these days Hatake Kakashi you're gonna sign your own death warrant." He found himself unable to stop the deep chuckle that vibrated from within his chest. They hoisted him up between them and slowly made their way to Tazuna's house hoping to get there before nightfall and praying they didn't run into any more enemies.
XxX
Tazuna's house was cozy and welcoming and all the team members were grateful for the warm fireplace they could sit in front of languidly after a hard days travel, and even though most of them wouldn't admit it openly, with the exception of Naruto's hearty groans of pleasure and Sakura's sighs of relief they were all thoroughly worn out. Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter was a lovely cheerful woman who instantly offered them food, even though they were a poor family living off of what they could afford and what nature could give them, and a room to sleep in claiming it was the least she could do for them if they were going to protect her father. That's how the five ninja found themselves cramped together in a room due to the small amount of space available, all lying peacefully in their sleeping bags easily drifting off into light sleeps as was mandatory on missions, letting their bodies rest after a hard day's work.
Sighing Akari turned on her side and stared out the window up at the black sky with its glistening stars scampered haphazardly across the blanket of darkness.
'I didn't do anything today to help them. I let fear block me and could have gotten myself killed. Stupid, instead of wallowing in the past I should have helped.' She looked over at the sleeping figures of her teammate's one at a time before glancing at her team leader who was furthest away from her. A shiver ran down her spine as their eyes clashed, dark gray staring into deep blue. She hadn't realized he'd been watching her. Of course he would, whether they were camping outside or inside was irrelevant they were still in enemy territory and as a team leader he was looking out for them. Turning on her back she stared up at the wooden pattern of the ceiling pushing down the queasy feeling of guilt that was building up in her stomach. It was her fault they were here. She had been the one to suggest they get a better mission. If any of them died it would be entirely her fault. She promptly ignored the voice in the back of her head that told her shinobi died on missions all the time. It was part of their job after all to fight for their country and in the case of inevitable death they were to take as many enemies down with them as possible.
'Sleep' she herd spoken in a warm masculine voice inside her head. Smiling she knew it was foolish to think Kakashi would let any of them die on his watch, he had after all, told them that very afternoon that he would die to protect his comrades. Her smile faltered a bit. That was the problem though, they shouldn't need protecting. They shouldn't be doing this goddamned mission which required them to be protected. Even if teammates looked out for each other all the time, this was different because their enemy's skills were much more powerful than theirs. Shutting her eyes and with those thoughts still roaming the back of her mind she let herself drift off into a dreamless sleep.
Kakashi sighed as he closed his good eye for a while, refraining from rubbing it in his tired stupor before opening it once again and looking around the room. If they were camping outside he could distract himself by reading Icha Icha Paradise with the help of a small fire but as things were he could barely move let alone use his Sharingan to read in the dark. Instead he entertained himself with replaying the way Naruto and Sasuke had fought against Zabuza to free him only a couple of hours ago. In the course of the mission they had grown more than he would have expected them to, especially Naruto. Fear of death normally did that to a person. He also thought about the ANBU op from Hidden Mist that had conveniently appeared to take Zabuza's body away. Conveniently being the key word. Eyes widening slightly while he stifled a groan having realized exactly what was going on he thought he might as well as get some sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a long day if he was going to start training his team for the upcoming dangers.
XxX
Chakra control was something all ninja had to learn eventually. It was mainly learned through years of experience and intensive training until it became second nature, however there were certain exercises one could attempt in order to speed up the process. That's why three members of Team 7 currently found themselves tree climbing.
After gaining little to no sleep Kakashi had decided that working on his teams chakra control was the best training they could do. It helped them perfect the amount of chakra they put into their techniques, aiding them in wasting as little as possible, and they didn't need his help for it seeing as he still couldn't move properly. In the off chance that they did need any help Akari was there with them although he had to admit Sakura's impressive chakra control had surprised him. Where she was more of a burden that a help in a battle, she had the brains and chakra of a pro. It was clear to him now that she was a Genjutsu type which was something that balanced out the team well seeing as it was the complete opposite to the rest of her teammates fighting styles. She just had to work on that. However the sad truth was he wasn't the perfect candidate to teach her being more of a combat fighter himself than an illusion artist. Kurenai was a more adept teacher but she had her own team to handle so that ruled her out. Sighing and slowly limping out of the forest on a pair of crutches he promised himself if they made it out of this mission alive he would find her a teacher more suited to her talents.
XxX
Scratching the back of his golden locks in frustration he looked up the length of the tree he was supposed to be climbing. Sakura had made it more than halfway on her first try and Sasuke had managed to run up a good quarter of his tree too and yet somehow he only managed to take two steps up before falling flat on his back. It was irritating to say the least. Why was there this big a difference between their abilities? Akari he could understand, she had years of experience to back her up but how the hell had Sakura managed to run so far up? Turning around to face the only member on the team that wasn't tree climbing he found her sitting cross-legged on a rock, her brow furrowed in concentration as she meditated. Deciding he might as well as give it a shot he walked over to her and kneeled down.
"Ne ne Akari-chan? How can I mold my chakra better to do this stupid exercise?"
Opening her eyes she looked at his determined face while thinking of a suitable answer to give him. Deciding simple explanations were the best way to get through to him she answered his question with a question of her own.
"You know how to jump from tree branch to tree branch don't you?"
Face scrunching in confusion he replied "Well yeah that's easy you just channel a little chakra into your feet to stick to the branch every time you jump. What's that got to do with tree climbing?"
"Tree climbing is essentially the same thing. You channel chakra into your feet to keep you stuck to the bark of the tree, however too much breaks the bark and not enough makes you slip. I like to think about tree climbing as jumping from tree branch to tree branch except try to imagine the trees as if they were on a hill. To reach your next branch you need to channel more chakra into your kick and then you need to make sure you've got the right amount to land up straight on the next branch instead of going straight through it" she grinned sheepishly once she was finished explaining "I dunno I'm not very good at explaining, maybe Sakura could explain this to you better than I can."
Grinning he nodded and thanked her for the advice as he skipped over to his pink haired teammate who was currently splayed across the floor looking completely exhausted.
"So how did you undergraduate at the Academy?"
Turning her head she looked up into the dark ebony eyes of her other male companion. Her eyebrows rose up to her hairline in surprise. The Uchiha Sasuke was attempting to start a conversation with her? The world must be coming to an end.
"I dunno, I was just a fast learner," she started while handing him the canteen he was holding his hand out for, "I trained with my parents for a while after that and about a year later I was placed on a Genin team. Both my teammates were undergraduates as well, although they were a year older than me."
"Let me guess," he said while taking a swig of water, "you developed a premature bloodline limit?" Her smile answered most of his question.
"I've been able to use my abilities for as long as I can remember."
"Abilities as in more than one bloodline limit?"
"Your still babbling on about that, just tell me already what the hell a bloodline limit is!" bellowed the blond having made his way over with Sakura to take a quick brake alongside his fellow teammates.
"I already told you Dobe, a bloodline limit is a technique or special ability passed down from one generation to the next within clans."
"Teme I told you not to call me that!"
Ignoring the blonds incessant screeching he turned back to regard the eldest member of the group. "Well? Is that even possible?"
Nodding her head slightly while playing with a stick in the dirt she answered him. "It's possible. Uncommon, but definitely not unheard of. But no I don't have more than one bloodline limit. I have my dad's bloodline limit and a 'gift' I was taught from my mum however that in itself is my greatest weakness and the fact that neither of them needs chakra to be used is also a weakness."
"Weakness? That sounds like an advantage to me," Sakura said.
"No, it's not. It means I can't last in prolonged battles. I'm a team fighter. On my own I'm actually not all that good. In fact if we were to compare our chakra levels, out of the four of us I've probably got the least chakra."
At that Naruto started choking on the water he had been currently downing earning himself a couple of pats on the back by Sakura. Once he recuperated he stared at the girl in front of him. "B-but you graduated early! You've got more experience than us how can you be the one to have the least chakra?"
Chuckling she answered him while she handing him a tissue to wipe himself "Being an undergraduate doesn't make me the best on this team you know. The reason I have less chakra is because I hardly use it. The exercise I was doing just now was to stimulate the flow of chakra within me to eventually produce more, but between us, I'll probably always have the amount of chakra any normal Genin would."
They stared at each other in silence for a while regarding the words spoken before Sakura spoke up. "So what are your bloodline limits, abilities or whatever the heck you wanna call them?"
"My father's bloodline limit is actually produced by a mutation in the DNA sequence in the brain and my mother's gift is… kind of special I suppose."
"So you've got a bigger brain than us?" Naruto asked clearly puzzled. For some reason Akari found the question highly amusing and burst out laughing. Once she regained control over herself and wiped the tears that had formed at the corners of her eyes she looked up at him.
"No that's not it. It's just that a part of my brain that is normally dormant in regular humans is more active than it should be. The fact that the gene that produces the mutation isn't dominant made the Seishin clan forbid any mixture of blood with other clans. That's why my father eventually left Lightning Country to hook up with my mum in Rice Country and years later they moved to Konoha where I was born."
"Dominant gene, blood mixtures?" began Naruto clamping his eyes shut in his foxy manner, "Argh I don't understand a thing!"
"God Naruto you really are an idiot," said Sakura.
"So you're only 'half-blood'?" asked Sasuke.
"You could say that. The fact that I have mixed bloodlines makes my dad's bloodline limit really hard to use sometimes, or to be more precise I can't use it to the extent any 'pureblood' member of the Seishin clan could."
"So just tell us already what your bloodline limit is?" Naruto asked eagerly getting on his hands and knees so as to look at her properly.
Akari just chuckled before winking at them and saying "You'll see when the time is ripe. Come to think of it the three of you should be tree climbing."
At her words Sasuke got up seeming to have tired of their chit chat and started walking back towards his tree. When Sakura spoke up he turned around slightly to see the reaction to her question.
"So what about your mother's gift? Can you show us that?"
Whatever he had been expecting it was not the way her eyes turned to look at the ground nor the way her knees came up to her chest as if to offer more protection.
"I promised myself years ago I wouldn't ever use my mother's gift again."
Something about the way she said it had Naruto looking at her sadly as he remembered the conversation he had had with Iruka the day prior to them leaving for this mission.
"After that incident five years ago she left the village for a couple of years and when she came back she was different. Sad, lonely and serious, I hardly even recognized her when she returned."
"Eh but why not?"
"Sakura-chan we really should get back to training" said Naruto while getting up. The look he gave her left no room for arguing and as she got up and left, Akari found herself giving him a silent 'thank you' for having dropped the subject. Getting up she stretched her arms before picking up the empty canteens.
"I'm just gonna go fill these up. Be right back," she said while walking off. Right now she felt like being alone for a while. However once she reached the lake outside Tazuna's house she realized that that silent wish had gone ignored. Sitting on the shore with his back propped against a rock and reading his book was none other than Hatake Kakashi. Resigning herself to his company she walked up to him, took her sandals off and stuck her feet in the cool water.
"So how are they getting along?" he asked while turning a page of his beloved book.
"Better."
If her lack of interest in the subject had bothered him he didn't give it away. He just kept on reading his book and for a while they just sat in comfortable silence not looking at one another. Or at least that's what she thought. Kakashi being the stealthy ninja he was kept giving her side wards glances every now and then. He could see the tension in Akari's body and the internal battle in her eyes. Something was up.
"Sasuke asked me about my bloodline limit." Ah so that was what was wrong. He hummed to let her know he had heard her while he flipped another page. "I didn't tell them anything anybody else wouldn't know, but then Sakura asked me about my mother's gift and I needed to get away for a while."
"I think you're acting like a hypocrite" was the curt reply she received. She looked up at him completely surprised, brows furrowing slightly in anger and eyes flashing dangerously, silently asking him to explain himself. Without looking up from the words he was reading he carried on, talking more to himself than to her. "You claim you never use that gift and yet in our fight against Zabuza you knew the water had chakra in it which means you were attempting to control it, if you're going to use your gift for trivial things and then proclaim to the rest of the world you aren't then you're acting like a hypocrite."
"What the hell would you know? Just because I'm sensitive to nature doesn't mean I was attempting to control anything so don't go spouting nonsense about things you don't understand!" The stern look he sent her way made her bow her head to look at her feet and mumble a barely audible apology for her outburst. Putting her sandals back on and picking up the canteens she started making her way back towards the forest. The day she felt like being alone he decided to converse more than what was necessary. She stopped momentarily when he carried on talking to her retreating figure.
"You can't attempt to run away all your life, one day you're gonna have to open yourself up to who you really are. Your parent's wouldn't have wanted this."
Without turning back she carried on walking away from him. He was too much to deal with right now.
XxX
A week went by and Team 7 made great progress with the tree climbing exercise. Nobody had attempted to attack them again and Kakashi was back to walking without the use of crutches. In fact if all went well the bridge would be finished in two more weeks.
"We'll leave Naruto to you, he probably won't be able to move today from over exertion so just let him sleep" said Kakashi cheerfully to Tsunami as the rest of the team prepared to escort Tazuna to the bridge. She nodded and waved goodbye to them as they all walked down the dirt track into town.
"You think Naruto will agree so easily to just staying in bed?" Sakura asked.
"I'd be surprised if he could even move after the way he pushed himself beyond his limit yesterday" replied Sasuke. Akari nodded in agreement, their hyperactive teammate just didn't know when to call it a day. Arriving at the bridge they started making their way across it, Akari and Sakura talking animatedly to each other while the men just walked in comfortable silence, however when they reached the building point they stopped in their tracks when they saw all the constructers unconscious on the floor. Barely given any time to register what had happened mist started crawling around them lazily getting thicker by the second impending their sense of sight.
"Stick close to Tazuna-san, he's here" ordered Kakashi as his students took up their defense positions around the bridge builder. They each pulled out a kunai, ready to defend themselves from any upcoming attack.
"I see your still dragging those kids around with you Kakashi." Walking along the bridge towards them were two figures. One of them easily recognizable because of the unique sword he carried and the other disguised in an informal kimono with an ANBU mask covering his face. "That one is even trembling, pathetic" he drawled pointing at Sasuke as six water clones materialized around them.
Smirking, Sasuke gripped his kunai tighter and replied "I'm trembling with excitement." No sooner had he finished saying that than all the water clones disappeared having received fast and precise attacks from the Uchiha.
'He's gotten a hell of a lot faster' thought Akari acknowledging her teammates growth.
"Haku, looks like you've got yourself a worthy opponent" said Zabuza to the masked boy that stood beside him. Dividing quickly into two groups Haku ran towards Sasuke who blocked his onslaught of attacks while Zabuza ran the length of the bridge aiming a side attack at Tazuna but being intercepted by Kakashi.
Grinning up at the face of the man he owed a good beating to Zabuza unclasped his sword from his back. "It's a shame you can't be in two places at the same time."
At his words Kakashi's eyes widened at the realization that he had been forced to leave the rest of his team's side leaving them exposed to attacks. Sakura gasped as five water clones materialized some meters behind Tazuna each grabbing a fistful of assorted weapons from their back pouches and throwing them at the three people huddled together.
'There's too many we can't block them' thought Sakura in despair as she watched the projectiles leave their owners hands. She watched as if in slow motion as Akari jumped to the front lines stretching out her right hand in front of her, palm wide open with no weapon to deflect the upcoming metal. Her eyes widened as she saw her female teammates eyes start glowing a light shade of blue and watched amazed as the projectiles, which had also started glowing, stop in their progress towards them, spinning almost lazily in midair.
"Seishinryoku" said Akari in a low voice glancing up at the missiles that had stopped moving towards them. Without warning and just as if she had thrown them herself they went back the way they came from at an alarming speed effectively tearing through their owners making them disappear leaving nothing but puddles on the floor. Turning around to face the real Zabuza that had witnessed everything with wide eyes while also making sure his enemy wasn't about to attack him she smirked. "Simple attacks like those won't work while I'm here."
"I see. So she has a bloodline limit" he snarled.
"Seishinryoku, the ability to move objects among other abilities with the power of the mind, that's her bloodline limit" said Kakashi confirming Zabuza's suspicion.
"Oh? Interesting, seems like I'm going to enjoy myself once I finish you off."
A pained gasp had all the party members looking towards Haku and Sasuke's fight to see what had happened. Shock coursed through them when they saw Sasuke surrounded by what appeared to be ice mirrors with Haku reflecting in them throwing senbon after senbon at the Uchiha mercilessly.
"But you see Kakashi, Haku also possesses a bloodline limit" Zabuza all but chuckled out.
'This is bad, if Sasuke doesn't get out of there he'll be killed' thought Akari gritting her teeth together. She couldn't leave Tazuna's side while Kakashi wasn't here and by the looks of things he had his hands full already.
"Tazuna-san I'm going to have to leave you for a second," said Sakura while picking up a stray kunai, "Akari-san, I'm leaving the rest to you."
"Be careful!" shouted Akari to the retreating figure of her teammate.
'I've got to do something' thought Sakura while running up to the ice dome, 'If I can just give this to Sasuke-kun he will at least be able to defend himself.' Gaining speed as she pushed chakra into her feet she jumped up high into the air and took aim before throwing the kunai. "Sasuke-kun, catch it!"
Just as the sharpened blade made it through the dome, Haku's hand shot out from one of the mirrors and grabbed the weapon by the handle. Sakura and Sasuke's hearts dropped at the sight of the amazing skill the boy, who was not much older than them, possessed. Suddenly appearing out of nowhere a shuriken slashed through the air and hit Haku's mask. Catching him off guard, he fell out of the mirror he had been peeking out from. A smoke bomb went off near the ice prison and once the cloud dissipated a ninja clad in an orange jumpsuit and blond hair was revealed.
"Uzumaki Naruto has arrived!"
XxX
By the time the battles were over everyone was looking worse for wear. Haku having sacrificed himself to protect his companion from Kakashi's attack, left Zabuza distraught. Once Gatoh, the mastermind behind all of Wave countries bad luck appeared with a small army of samurai, Zabuza, in a final attempt to clean his name murdered him, taking down as many samurai as he could before he too succumbed to death. The townsfolk having worked up the courage to fight Gatoh head on drove the remaining samurai out of their town. The only bad news was the loss their team had received.
"Go and be with Sakura-chan please, I don't want her to be alone right now" begged Naruto looking up at Akari who had remained behind to back up Naruto and Kakashi in the off chance of them needing any help. Nodding she set off across the bridge to the area where Sasuke had fought against Haku. When she arrived she saw Tazuna with his head lowered down grieving while Sakura cried her eyes out over Sasuke's chest. Not really sure of what to do she just stood beside Tazuna's side.
"S-Sakura, you're squashing me."
Everybody snapped their eyes up at the sound of his voice. Akari made her way over to them and kneeled down beside Sasuke's body.
"I thought he was dead?" she asked puzzled.
"N-Naruto said he was so I just assumed…"
"Oh so you didn't check his vitals?"
"He was cold what else was I supposed to think?"
"Nice one Sakura some hell of a medic you'd make. He was probably cold due to the blood loss and having been lying on the ground" Akari said half amused half relieved. Being careful as she removed the senbon she placed her palms over the scratches and holes that ran the length of his body, green chakra flowing into them sealing them up.
"You're a medic nin?" Sakura asked bewildered refraining from hugging Sasuke in his weakened state.
Akari snorted before answering. "Hardly. I only know how to cure scratches and stuff. Real basic, so you may wanna drop by the hospital when we get back in case the senbon affected any of your nerves" she said her brow furrowing in concentration before she continued. "I don't have the chakra necessary to be a medic nin. If I was to venture a guess I'd say he collapsed due to exhaustion, pain and blood loss," grinning at the boy below her she added, "don't worry porcupine you'll survive." His grunt made them all burst out laughing.
Later that same day as the sun was setting they buried Zabuza and Haku together placing Zabuza's sword by his grave and Haku's scarf by his. All of them had learned a valuable lesson that day, a lesson they weren't likely to ever forget. A perfect shinobi was a tool used by its village when needed. They didn't need emotions that would burden them and they didn't need a reason to exist. For the sake of a mission they had to stop being human. That was the essence of a true ninja. A nasty truth that most shinobi suffered from. It was naturally, surprising for them all when Naruto declared he was going to find his own ninja path and live with no regrets. Smiling, they all set off back to Tazuna's house for some rest. Once the bridge was finished so was their mission and they would be on their way back to Konoha. Having been away for nearly two weeks they were all secretly looking forward to going back home.
"So you really can read minds" Sakura said to the brunette in the group.
Blinking a couple of times she looked at Sakura pointedly. "What are you talking about?"
"Your father's bloodline limit, Seishinryoku, the ability to use your minds power to achieve things such as moving objects and stuff. When we first met I was under the impression you could read minds but then you said you were just good at reading peoples body language when in reality you could hear what we were thinking right?"
Sasuke and Naruto stopped in their tracks abruptly not liking the idea of someone being able to read their minds. Kakashi who had started reading his book as they walked had to sidestep the boys to avoid bumping into them.
"Actually its true mind reading is an ability from the Seishin clan but even the most adept members find it hard to achieve. Without physical contact for many it is seemingly impossible. You see a person's mind is protected by their chakra as a means of defense. The amount of trust you have towards a person is also a big defense against mind reading so when an unknown entity tries to force its way through those barriers, a reaction is set off and the body fights to protect its owner's mind. Understand?"
Sighing at the blank looks she received she proceeded to explain it from a different angle. "A member from the Seishin clan can't just stand beside anybody and read their mind it's impossible, the human body has too many defensive mechanisms. However it is possible for them to read the minds of those people they know really well or are attached to in some way or another and even then there are certain difficulties."
"And what would those difficulties be?" asked Sasuke.
"Well it's a bit like Genjutsu, there are some people who are really good at recognizing it and therefor are immune and there are others that fall for the simplest tricks. If a person doesn't want their mind to be read they can attempt to block their thoughts. That way, unless the person has physical contact or unless they are extremely skilled they won't be able to read that persons thoughts. Hell if it was that easy to hear what people were thinking the Seishin clan would be much more powerful than what it actually is. No one would be able to lay a hand on them."
"I suppose that's true, as well as a relief," sighed Sakura. She'd die of embarrassment if her teammate could hear her Inner voice speaking.
"So can you read our minds or not?" blurted out Naruto, as he scratched the side of his face still trying to understand everything that had just been said.
"My father was never any good at it and in all my life I've only ever been able to communicate telepathically with one person. Besides a 'half-blood' like me doesn't have a hope in hell of using such complex techniques, you've really got nothing to worry about. Even if I could hear what you were thinking whenever I wanted doesn't mean I actually would sheesh what do you take me for?"
Chuckling and resuming their pace towards town there wasn't a doubt in their minds that Akari really wouldn't use her abilities to hear what they were thinking if she could. She was too honest of a person to do something like that.
"You said you could communicate telepathically with one person didn't you? Who exactly is that person?" inquired the blond teenager as he kicked a pebble into the lake enjoying the sloshing sound the waves made as they crashed onto the shore. He watched her turn to face him with an amused smirk on her face.
"Hi-mit-su."
A.N: Okay i know Half-blood sound very Harry Potterish but every time i wrote hybrid i just kept imagining Akari with lizard scales -_- Anyway now i can explain to you Akari's clan name. Her telekinetic abilities which i named Seichinryoku literally means 'spiritual power' and it's where Akari's fathers clan gets their family name Seishin from which means 'pure spirit'. I am actually quite pleased with the name Akari ended up with and with how i have managed to build her clan around that one simple word. Anyway hope you're anxious for chapter 4.