A.N: hi guys, new chapter is finally out along with the new picture which you can find in my devianart account. Big thanks to xxchirushixx for helping m edit this chapter along with all the other chapters she has done for me. Initially chapter 7 and 8 where going to be one whole chapter but i realized it would have been too long and there is just sooooo much explaining done during both chapters that i didn't want it to get too clustered and confusing. The picture for chapter 8 is a big one and i have little time on my hands so sorry if you have to wait a while _ but anyway as usual thanks for the favs and tell me what you think by leaving me a comment ;)
Previously:
Akari ignored the funny shuffling sound the machine made as she watched the two Cloud ninja turn around the corner out of sight. An audible gasp from Sakura and a whispered "No way" from Naruto made her turn around to look at them. They were both staring up intently at the television screen with bewildered expressions.
'Can it be that bad?' she thought as she moved her gaze over to the big screen. Her eyes widened when she read the words printed on the screen in bright green letters. Beside her Sasuke smirked holding his hand over the cursed mark on his shoulder.
"This should be interesting," he whispered.
"You've got to be kidding," said Akari in a low voice as her teammates turned to stare at her, their eyes flicking from the monitor to her face.
"May these two people please remain here," said the examiner in a low voice, "the first battle is about to begin."
Taking one last look up at the screen before moving to her designated place she couldn't help the cold tremor of despair that enveloped her as she read over the names once more:
Seishin Akari vs. Seishin Takahiro
Battle of opposites:
The air surrounding the room seemed to be getting thicker by the minute as the examiner and the two participants waited for the rest of the assembled Jounin and Genin to make their way up onto the two balconies situated on opposite sides of the room.
Staring into the eyes of the boy who looked roughly about her age, Akari could now distinguish the lilac ring surrounding his eyes, a genetic trait belonging to the Seishin clan. She had also managed to catch a glimpse of the clans emblem printed on to the back of his wine red shirt. He was undoubtedly a proud member of the Seishin clan, and judging by the hard look in his eyes, he already held a grudge against her.
Accommodating themselves on the right hand balcony along with their sensei, the rest of the members of team 7 looked down upon their teammate.
"Ne Kakashi-sensei, how come that guy down there has the same name as Akari-chan?" asked the blond boy inquisitively.
"Hm? He's from the same clan as her," he answered.
"Remember what Akari-san told is when we were in the Land of Waves, about how her dad was originally from Kumogakure and then he left to marry Akari-sans mom?" said Sakura offering him the information in the hopes of triggering his memory.
Naruto just scrunched up his face in concentration. "Hmm that was months ago how am I supposed to remember that far back?"
His three teammate's faces fell. He was honestly impossible to cope with sometimes.
"But a ninja can't leave their natal village just because they want to, if Akari's dad just left Kumogakure wouldn't he be named a missing Nin?" asked Sakura.
"It's true Kumogakure has had discussions with Konoha in the past, however, Akari's dad chose to leave because it was his clan that wouldn't permit blood mixtures in the hope of strengthening their own bloodline limit not because he held a grudge against Kumogakure. As far as I know he made an agreement with the Raikage to give up his ninja career to be able to leave peacefully. Naturally he was tabbed for quite a while, but living in Rice with Akari's mum didn't arise any suspicions so they were eventually left alone. It wasn't until Akari was due that they decided to move to Konohagakure to provide Akari with a better education. Having been born here, Akari is legally a Konoha nin even though her clansmen come from Kumo," explained Kakashi.
"They're about to start, Kakashi," interjected Gai, who was standing beside him looking down at his rivals eldest student with sharp interest.
On the opposite side of the field on the left balcony, Orochimaru disguised as a Sound Jounin smiled down at the battlefield. 'This couldn't have gotten much more interesting…to be able to see the power the Seishin clan holds to its full extent, Akari doesn't stand a chance.'
"Very well, you know the rules, only when one opponent dies or gives up will the battle end, however if I decide that a battle is over you will respect my decision as referee," said Hayate controlling his coughing fits as best as he could. "Start!"
"Before we begin I have a question to ask you," said the young teenage boy while pulling out a kunai from his back pouch. "What the hell is a member from the Seishin clan doing working for Konoha?" He growled his eyes glaring at the girl in front of him.
"That doesn't concern you," Akari answered back in a low voice her body getting into a position to defend itself if needed.
In the blink of an eye, the boy threw his kunai at the girl in front of him and disappeared. Reacting instinctively Akari lunged to the side just as her enemy appeared behind her forcing him to catch his own kunai to stop it from stabbing him.
The crowd watched amazed as the battle began to unfold in front of them.
"What on earth was that, how is it possible he's that fast?" Naruto asked mouth agape.
'It's just like that time,' thought Sasuke as he remember the first time they had trained together as a team and Akari had gotten between him and Naruto to stop them from fighting each other. 'What exactly is that ability?'
"Gai-sensei, there has to be a trick to that speed, I didn't even see him move," said Lee looking up at the older mirror image of himself.
"It's not speed Lee, watch more closely," he replied just as Kakashi lifted his forehead protector to uncover his Sharingan eye and Neji activated his Byakugan.
Tomoe's swirling lazily; Kakashi prepared himself to watch both his student and her rival's movements closely. It didn't matter how many times he saw that technique he never got tired of watching it.
"It seems you aren't able to teleport yourself," said Takahiro as he straightened himself up and pocketed his kunai, "that attack was a test."
"Just because I didn't doesn't mean I can't," replied Akari calmly.
"I've got a theory," he began, walking to one side watching as the girl he was fighting mirrored his movements in the opposite direction. "You're a half-blood, which means not only can you not perform most of the Seishin clan's techniques, but you are limited to the amount of times you use them… am I right?" the last part came as a whisper behind her. He had teleported in the last second and aimed a kick at her side.
Having felt the static surge of energy behind her after years of becoming attuned to the feeling of teleporting she twisted her waist just in time to block his kick before he vanished again and appeared crouched in front of her aiming a strong kick which hit her straight in the chin forcing her slightly sky bound before she cartwheeled a couple of times to put some distance between them.
Straightening up she glared at the blond refusing to rub the sore spot under her chin.
He chuckled lightly, a sound that in any other situation probably would have sounded cheerful and pleasurable to the ear, but under this context just made her sick with anger.
"I'll take that as a yes then," he said.
"Argh how the hell is that a fair fight, I'd so kick that jerks ass!" screeched Naruto grabbing onto the railings angrily.
'C'mon Akari get a grip on yourself,' thought Kakashi looking down at his student.
"Actually, I was just testing how good you were," Akari taunted, a small smirk playing about her face "the real fight starts now."
"Indeed, I'm gonna take this slowly and see just how cheap your abilities are," he said before vanishing for a second and re-appearing the next to her right. Ducking she avoided the punch, before disappearing and re- appeared above him instantly aiming a hard downward kick. Predicting her move he teleported and appeared behind her causing her to teleport before her foot could smash into the ground and appeared again beside him. Turning quickly he caught her fist as she caught his. Both glared intently at each other before separating slightly and teleporting to opposite ends of the room.
"Amazing, it's not high speed, its actual molecular decomposition and composition in a matter of seconds," said Neji who had been watching the battle closely.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Tenten.
"He means they literally disappear from an area to appear in another, it's a break through time and space only members from the Seishin clan can achieve," said Gai, "there are however a couple of disadvantages.
"How so?" asked Sasuke, gripping the cursed seal on his shoulder.
"It's the same as their ability to mind read, it has to meet certain requirements. The first would be that they can only teleport to places they've been to before and even then distance is an important factor. If the individual is too weak to do long distances and they attempt to do it irrationally they could easily die or end up gravely hurt," explained Kakashi.
"Without medical attention they wouldn't survive," nodded Gai.
"But why do they end up hurt?" asked Naruto.
"The Seishin clan pride themselves on not using chakra to perform their abilities. Instead they use the psychic power of the mind. A normal human wouldn't be able to access that power however the members of the Seishin clan are born with the right hemisphere of their brain which controls the psychic more developed than a regular human," said Kakashi in his teacher voice.
"That still doesn't explain how they get hurt," said Naruto furrowing his brow in confusion.
Kakashi sighed before proceeding. "If you over exert your body do you not end up hurting yourself? The same happens if you over exert the amount of energy your brain can release." The sound of kicks and punches had them all turning back to look down upon the match.
Akari was managing to avoid most of the blows but if she kept teleporting so much at this rate she wouldn't last. She could already feel a slight warning throb over her right eyebrow. She was going to have to be more meticulous than this. Readying herself for her opponent's next attack she entered one of the most basic defence positions. As long as he didn't manage to corner her she could avoid teleporting and even if he did manage to she could use another ability from the Seishin clan that required far less psychic energy than teleporting.
"Shall we take this up a notch?" asked the boy standing in front of her.
"Just get on with it already," she growled out. She watched as Takahiro smirked clearly enjoying himself as he created a set of hand seals before completely vanishing. Her eyes roamed around the area quickly in search of a sign of where her opponent could be hidden. It didn't take her long to realize he had completely disappeared from the sparring stadium.
Looking down upon their teammate in apprehension the rest of the members of team 7 watched as the blond teenager below was walking almost lazily towards Akari and she just seemed to be staring off into space.
"What's happening, why isn't she moving?" asked Sakura slightly apprehensive.
"That's…" Kakashi began as he observed the match.
"Genjutsu?" Akari asked herself out load. "No, Genjutsu; doesn't work on me. What the hell are you playing at, show yourself already," she yelled.
A low chuckle rebated off of the walls of the room making it impossible to pin point the source of the sound. "Of course you'd be immune to genjutsu, I'd be highly disappointed if you hadn't at least mastered that ability properly. You're barely worth a fight as it is…"
"What's he doing? Why can't she see him?" asked Sasuke.
"Meisagakure no Jutsu. It's a camouflage technique that completely erases ones scent. However Takahiro-kun's is different, if he were to be using the proper technique we wouldn't be able to see him, he's probably modified it slightly to suit his abilities," explained Gai.
"But if he wanted to become invisible why not just use genjutsu?" questioned Sakura.
"Because genjutsu doesn't affect members of the Seishin clan. An illusionary technique in its essence is a technique that fools the mind through ones senses to believe what they see is true. It's impossible to fool someone who has complete control over their mind. Takahiro-kun has opted to fool Akari's eyesight instead. He's not an opponent to be taken lightly," said Kakashi.
Taking a couple of steps back Akari took deep breaths to calm her nerves. She wouldn't let the situation get the better of her. "You're using a camouflage jutsu," she said. It wasn't a question; she was stating what she already knew.
"Indeed. With this technique I become invisible to your direct sense of eyesight. Frustrating isn't it? Not being able to see something that's right in front of you," chuckled the boy, once again his voice was magnified to bounce off of every surface in the room.
"That's stupid, as long as I can't see you it just means you're directly ahead of me," spat out Akari.
"Or behind," came the low whisper right next to her left ear. Eyes widening she turned and swished her arm in a side motion hoping to make contact with something but the light laughter dancing around the room told her he had long teleported from the area.
"I see, it makes sense not to waste chakra on making himself completely invisible, as long as he's in front of her she can't see him," stated Neji crossing his arms.
"What do you mean?" asked Lee.
"With the ability to teleport wherever he wants to in the room he doesn't need to be completely camouflaged, as long as he stays out of her peripheral view he's got the upper hand," explained his female teammate.
"He's had the upper hand since the start of the match," mumbled Sasuke.
"Oi teme, what kind of a way of supporting your teammate is that?"
"I'm just stating the facts," he replied calmly.
"Stop your bickering and watch the match," said Kakashi, smoothly intervening before they started shouting down each other's throats.
"Right, let's get started," said Takahiro. The minute he finished talking a fist came into contact with Akari's stomach. Not giving her time to even gasp, he made contact with her jaw throwing her backwards slightly where he then proceeded to kick her in the back causing her to stumble forward. Using her forward movement to his advantage he delivered another swift kick to her chest and then teleported behind her.
Akari could only receive the blows one after another but she couldn't stop the slight yelp of surprise that left her when she felt a round kick to her ankles causing her to land flat on her back on the concrete floor. Predicting his next movement before it occurred she placed her arms in front of her body; eyes glowing brightly a pinkish shield appeared around them interjecting the stomp that had been aimed at her ribcage. Rolling onto her front she raised to her feet quickly, as Takahiro became visible again twenty meters away from her. It ticked her off that he had teleported so many times in such a short amount of time and wasn't even breathing heavily.
"That's your force field? Seriously?" he asked trying to not burst out laughing.
"Force field?" asked Sakura looking up at her sensei.
"The members of the Seishin clan have the ability to control the flow of psychic energy through any part of their body enabling them to create a shield made out of raw energy," explained the older man.
Dusting herself down Akari stared the boy straight in the eyes. "You're constantly making fun of my abilities. What the hell was wrong with my shield?" she asked. The laughter that preceded her question really irked her. She hadn't felt like slapping someone so bad for a long time.
"Please that hardly constitutes as a defence, let alone a psychic shield. This," he said as the outer area of his eyes glowed a bright blue, "is a proper shield."
The gasp that resounded around from the watching crown barely served to hide her own. She watched wide eyed as a perfectly oval pink shaped light surrounded the boy opposite her.
"What is that?" asked Naruto his voice a whisper barely audible even to himself.
Kakashi gripped the railings with his hands hard, his knuckles turning white due to the amount of force he was using. This kid was no laughing matter, he was the real deal.
'That boy has the full talent I tried to find in her,' thought Orochimaru as he licked his lips, 'you're lucky I'm after Sasuke-kun right now, Takahiro.'
"Full body shield," Akari whispered her voice cracking slightly.
"You see the difference between our power? It'd be easier if you just gave up, walked away and acted as if none of this had happened. You don't have a hope in hell of defeating me," said Takahiro quietly dispelling the technique, his eyes returning to their natural topaz blue.
"You don't know that…" she began.
"Just look at yourself," he spat out, "you've barely touched me since the match started. I have nothing personal against you, but I won't let you stain the Seishin clans reputation any further with your-"
"To hell with the clan," Akari growled out making everyone look at her surprised.
"What?" asked Takahiro not daring to believe his ears.
"I said, to hell with the clan. The clan this, the clan that, that's all you lot ever talk about boasting your egotistic rubbish without taking into consideration an individual on their own! Talent, skill… they don't mean a thing if you lack determination," said Akari fiercely her hands bawled into fists.
From the balconies, Sasuke and Neji clenched their hands into fists of their own.
'She doesn't know what she's talking about,' thought Sasuke fiercely.
"You're gonna regret having said that," said Takahiro calmly as he retrieved a kunai from his holster. As he finished talking he once again used the camouflage technique and teleported around Akari delivering punches and light scratches up her arms, tearing small cuts in her shirt and sash before sending her flying across the floor with another powerful kick.
He watched, invisible as she rose slowly to her feet. "I told you you'd regret it. Those cuts will just keep getting deeper and deeper. I wonder how long you'll hold out before begging me to stop," said Takahiro, using a dispersal technique so she couldn't pin point his position through sound.
Meanwhile the crowd above watched everything clearly. It was hard not giving in to the temptation to shout out to their teammate where her opponent was, but if they did she'd be disqualified.
'C'mon Akari, what can you do in a situation like this,' thought Kakashi.
Panting slightly and holding her chest where she had been kicked she looked down at the scratches she had received. 'They aren't deep but if he stays invisible while attacking I won't even be able to defend myse… wait could this be?' she thought while looking closely at every bruise and scratch she had including the ones that had only grazed the fabric of her clothing. 'It can't be a coincidence…next time he attacks, will be my turn to react.' Getting to her feet she placed herself in a fighting stance waiting for her opponent's next attack.
"Hn, you just don't learn do you? Very well here I go," said Takahiro teleporting beside Akari again and slashing her back, then her arm, then teleporting to the right to graze her leg.
'Concentrate…three attacks so far, four…five,' she thought, counting down the blows as she received them, gritting her teeth against the stinging feeling of flesh being torn open, 'NOW!' opening her eyes they shone brightly and she teleported out of the area just as Takahiro aimed his last attack.
Becoming visible again he watched surprised as she appeared near the referee her hands flying through a series of hand seals. Landing on the floor she skidded slightly against the concrete before slamming her palm down hard and shouting, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
A cloud of smoke surrounded the imminent area around her ankles as she got to her feet staring down at the boy on the opposite end of the room whose brow was furrowed in frustration. When the smoke dissipated the only thing that remained between Akari's feet was a small ferret standing on its hind legs wearing a purple coat and a smaller version of the Konoha headband attached around its neck.
"Ah, a ferret!" said Sakura her eyebrows rising to her hairline in surprise.
"I really don't see the use of summoning a ninja ferret," said Sasuke staring down at his teammate in disbelief.
"Akari, when you said you might summon me during the Chunnin exams I was expecting to be called out before the third part of the exam you know," said the ferret looking up at his summoner.
"These are preliminary rounds, Kaito, I'm sorry but I'm going to need you to lend me a hand," said Akari promptly ignoring the chorus of "It talked" coming from the balconies.
Nodding the small animal jumped up onto Akari's arm and placed itself on her head. Eyes widening slightly when he noticed their opponent he looked back down at his master.
"We're up against a member of the Seishin clan," he mumbled.
"How dare you," began Takahiro in a low voice making everyone stare at him, "how dare you possess the Seishin clans summoning animal and adorn him with a Konoha headband! You were lucky to get away from my last attack or else I would-"
"It wasn't luck," interrupted Akari.
"What?" he spat out after a brief pause of bafflement.
"It wasn't luck," she repeated calmly, "I noticed the second time you attacked me you left me with six marks," she explained lifting up her right arm to show some of the scratches to him, "six marks that coincided with the same amount of punches you gave me with your first attack. I figured it couldn't be a coincidence that you attacked me six times before backing off to taunt me. You were resting weren't you? In other words, even you a pureblood member of the Seishin clan can't teleport to your heart's content while keeping up a camouflage jutsu, I'm I right?" she asked a small smile adorning her features.
'Nice, Akari,' thought Kakashi while nodding.
"So what if that's true?" asked Takahiro.
"Do you know why the Seishin clans summon animals are ferrets?" she asked. "It's because ferrets lack what the Seishin clan possess, keen eyesight. They make up for it with an incredible sense of hearing and are trained to be able to synch their mind to the mind of their summoner."
"I know all of that, what's the point of telling me this?"
"I'm telling you this because you don't seem to realize your little invisibility technique won't work on me anymore."
Takahiro remained quiet for a while before he smirked and pointed his kunai at the girl. "You're on," he said. Running quickly through the hand seals he made himself invisible again.
'I can't mess this up, concentrate. Using the summoning jutsu has left me with about 20% of my chakra…no, probably 16% seeing as I didn't have all of it to start with. I've got to end this soon.'
"I'm counting on you, Kaito," she whispered closing her eyes and placing her hands in the position of a prayer. Even with her eyes closed the distinct light blue glow could still be distinguished under her eyelids.
Nodding the ferret let the energy run through his body naturally while his little ears twitched around picking up all the small inaudible sounds.
The crowd above watched as Takahiro appeared beside Akari and made a powerful round kick which she dodged by ducking. Gritting his teeth he carried on aiming attacks teleporting after every one to gain a new angle, however Akari still managed to avoid getting hit. After six futile attacks he teleported away and shouted out across the field, "I'm still not done!"
Akari opened her eyes the glowing slowly dying down. Kaito jumped down off of her head and gave a small nod.
"Thanks, I'll take it from here," she assured him before he vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Ne ne, Kakashi-sensei, why'd she let her summon go, she was doing just fine with him?" asked Naruto perplexed.
"She's synched her mind with his, distance isn't an influence because they have a blood contract with one another. For a short period of time Akari has acquired Kaito's characteristics. It's time to turn the tables," he said holding back the tremor of excitement that ran down his spine. It was turning out to be a good fight.
"You're gonna regret having let him go if you haven't managed to succeed in synching, I won't allow you to summon him again!" Takahiro exclaimed as he teleported behind his opponent and drove the kunai towards her kidney except Akari dashed to the side in the last minute avoiding his attack.
"He missed!" exclaimed Naruto a grin slowly creeping onto his face.
"No, she made him miss," said Lee bawling his fists together in his excitement.
Akari continued to avoid one attack after another. Before she had been able to feel the static energy surge around the area caused by his transportation but it hadn't been enough to know where his attack was coming from. Now she could hear him as clearly as if she was seeing him. After avoiding his last attack, not giving him a chance to get away she turn her waist sharply and made a swift round kick hitting him right in the jaw.
Upon contact the camouflage technique disappeared and Takahiro was sent rolling across the floor a good distance away.
"YATTA! She hit him!" exclaimed Naruto jumping up and down.
"Good job Akari-san!" Sakura cheered.
'That girl has definitely refined her fighting style. Does she honestly resolve everything by kicking people in the jaw?' thought Orochimaru with a grim look on his face. Turning he looked over to where the rest of her teammates his eyes resting on the man that had been looking after her for the past few years. 'Kakashi must have had a hand in this; she didn't display this determination when she was with me.'
"I just told you, that technique of yours won't work anymore," said Akari as she watched the boy get to his feet slowly and click his jaw back in place.
He stared her down for a while before smirking. "Very well, you asked for it." Eyes shining brightly he focused energy in his right hand.
Akari watched in awe as psychic energy collected in his fist until his whole hand was glowing as bright as his eyes. "W-what is that?"
"Never seen anyone mass energy in their hands before?" he asked genuinely curious. 'She's really been cut off completely from the clan, but one of her parents must have come from Kumo at some point, why didn't they teach her?'
'This is bad, if he touches me with that… I don't even want to think of the possibilities,' thought Akari feeling the air tightening around her due to the pressure of Takahiro's attack.
"Shall we?" he asked before disappearing and launching his attack from the air. Jumping out of the way just in time Akari swayed and turned avoiding his fist as best as she could.
'I can't stay on the defensive all the time, I'll just wear myself out, I'm gonna have to wait for an opening to strike,' she thought whipping out a kunai and gripping it tightly. During the process of avoiding another attack, Akari's eyes roamed up to the balconies and she found her sight clashing with Kakashi's lone eye. In the fraction of a second they made eye contact Akari remembered the past two years living and training with him and joining Team 7.
-"You did well training today. You managed to last longer using your bloodline limit than you did the other day, but you know you could last even longer if you combined it with…"
"I'm not using my mother's gift Kakashi. Ever. My teammates…my family… they were all killed because I posses the same gift as her."
-"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."
-"You talk big… but you're weaker than the last time we met. D'you really think you can keep Sasuke-kun away from me?"
-"Repressing them won't make them go away you know, and one day, you'll have teammates you'll want to protect and you'll be stuck at a crossroads because you can't accept who you really are."
"Don't go getting distracted now!" shouted Takahiro aiming at the girls side.
Snapping out of her daze she watched the attack come with wide eyes. It was too late to avoid it. Instinctively placing her arms in front of her she created a shield to receive the blow.
When the boys hand clashed with the small shield, pink and blue meshed together creating bright whisps of purple light before both teenagaers were sent skidding across the floor in opposite directions. Sending chakra to their feet they slowed down eventually coming to a stop. Taking aim Akari threw the kunai with a great amount a force sending it flying at the blond haired boy before he had time to get his senses back.
Dissapearing in the last second, Takahiro appeared crouched down in front of Akari aiming a sharp upercut at the girls chin again.
Reacting quickly Akari placed her arms in a cross to block the blow except in the last moment her opponent kicked her round the ankles and once again she found herself loosing her balance against gravity. He had tricked her.
Appearing above her as she fell the young boy locked his legs around her hips, grabbed her forhead and took her down slamming the back of her head against the concrete as he landed on top of her in a stradling position.
White lights jumping in front of her eyes due to the impact, Akari made an attempt to get out from underneith her enemy when a cold warning blade at her neck made her freeze and glare up at him.
"No teleporting now…you know what happens when there's contact," he whispered to her panting slightly.
"Argh she had him, damn it he's so slippery," groaned Naruto. The suspense throughout the whole battle was literally killing him. The two teenagaers kept taking turns on who had the upper hand in the battle and when it seemed Akari was winning Takahiro turned the tables again by whipping out another technique.
"What happens if she teleports while in contact with someone else?" asked Sakura
"I don't know," replied Kakashi quietly, "I've never asked but I suppose it's another condition to be able to teleport properly.
"Not gonna hurry up and finish me off?" Akari asked him breathing heavily.
"I didn't corner you to finish you off. I told you I was gonna take my time and even though I've seen more than enough I'm curious. I cornered you because I want to know who you are," he ansewered sincerely not releasing her forhead.
"Who am i? What do you mea… you wouldn't?" she asked fear threading her voice as her blue eyes widened slightly.
"I'm sorry," he whispered before concentrating energy in his hand again.
"N-no don' ," she began but was cut off by someone screaming. It actually took her a while to realize the screaming was coming from her as she gripped the boys arm tightly fighting back the searing pain she was feeling in her head.
Takahiro backed off slightly gripping his face with his other hand and panting. 'What kind of mind has she got? Someone's tampered with her before,' he thought as he watched the girl below him panting heavily, 'if that's the case I'm gonna have to release the same amount of energy I receive from her." He looked down at the girl who seemed to have somewhat regained her composure and opened her eyes to stare at him and for the briefest of seconds he found his body wrecked with guilt before he shut his eyes to block out that piercing blue that was driving him crazy and once again listened to her screams as he attempted to enter her mind. Gritting his teeth against the blunt force of feeling himself pushing her bonderies he concentrated on releasing the energy he was receiving slowly from his left hand.
Looking down from the balconies the crowd watched shocked at what was happening. Naruto was gripping the railings fiercely trying to control the impulse of jumping down there and punching the older boy half to death while Sakura stood beside him quivering with fear. When Sasuke let out an unexpected yelp pf pain and grabed his sholder his teammates turned to look at him expectantly.
Meanwhile on the opposite balcony the rest of the contestants from the Hidden Sand and Sound were looking bored out of their minds except for the Jounin leader of the Sound trio. Orochimaru was looking down at the battle with fixed determination his blood beginning to boil with a mixture of excitement and anger.
'That boy can't possibly break through the barrier placed on her mind. It was hard enough erasing her memories to have someone come along and make her remember… if he learns too much he's going to have to be disposed of.' To his utter horror through the energy being released from Takahiro's left hand, vague images and voices could be heard as if being transmitted through an old radio.
"That's true, but like I said I didn't lay.-"
"JUST BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T PERSONALLY KILL THEM IT DOESN'T MAKE YOU ANY LESS GUILTY!"
"Let me guess, you developed a premature bloodline limit?"
"I've been able to use my abilities for as long as I can remember."
"To a new team"
"To a new team"
Akari could see the images flashing before her closed eyelids as clearly as if she was reliving each and every one of them. Hearing them echoed outside of her head where everybody else was probably hearing them is what terrified her and the fact that all she could do was grip onto Takahiro's arm and scream made her blood run cold.
"Kakashi what the hell is that technique?" asked Gai watching the scratchy images forming in the bluish light surrounding the blond boy's hand.
"Robbed memory, the victim is forced to relieve past memories at the users will. Kumagakure uses that technique as a means of interrogation, but this…this is brutal, I never imagined it was like this…" answered Kakashi stuffing his hand in his pockets to hide his fidgeting fingers. Glancing over to where the Hokage was, their eyes met and the message to stay put was very evident in the older man's eyes. They had never been able to extract much information from Akari about her time with Orochimaru, if this boy could hack into her mind; they'd be given a lot of insight as to what happened. Reluctantly looking back down at the scene below them his eyes widened at the scenes that had started flickering amongst the misty substance amazed she still held that particular memory.
"Kakashi, she has a Konoha headband," said a male voice. That was definitely Genma's voice.
"D'you know her?" That was his own calm demeanour.
"Ah, she's waking up." And that was Kotetsu.
As soon as her eyes began to open, what had once been darkness amongst the seas of blue energy, now images were starting to form. Three blurry faces could now be seen looking down into the girls eyes.
"Where are you from?" asked Genma.
Too tired and beat up to do anything else the girl answered in a raspy voice the only word that struck her as home before everything went dark again; "K-konoha."
"What do we do captain?"
After a long pause a calm soothing voice pierced through the darkness; "Bring her along."
That had been the first time Kakashi had ever laid eyes on the girl and he hadn't seen her again until a year after that. He'd come home from a mission and she had already been in the Hokage's office he remembered as he tried to block out the girls frantic flailing.
Knocking on the wood sharply he entered upon hearing the voice of the aging Hokage behind the door. Seated in a chair in front of the Hokage's desk was a small brown haired girl who hadn't budged upon his entering.
"Kakashi what happened?" asked the older man pointing towards his lack of headband with his smoking pipe.
"Ah, the cloth got ripped and I have to get it replaced," he answered showing him the remains of the decrepit looking material before pocketing it again. "Izumo and Genma are in the hospital with minor injuries but other than that the mission was a success."
"That's good to hear," nodded the older man before turning to regard the small girl, "Akari, this is the man that found you stranded last year, I suppose you have something to say."
The thirteen year old girl turned in her seat before getting up and bowing slightly before stammering out a thank you to the white haired man.
"Iie iie, it was nothing," said Kakashi scratching the back of his head. He hadn't recognized her until he had seen her eyes. True he had only vaguely seen them when he and his team had hauled her to the hospital a year ago but that tone of blue and purple was a feature that he figured would be hard to ever forget.
Looking down at her she noticed the surprised look on her face.
"You're hurt?" she asked unsure staring at his closed eye.
"Oh this, it's just an old scar, see?" he said opening his eyelid to prove he still had an eyeball underneath it. The gasp she let out and the terrified look that crept behind her eyes wasn't what he had been expecting. Sure the colour of his Sharingan was quite intimidating but it couldn't be that bad. He extended his hand worriedly out of reflex when she sank back down into the chair she had previously been occupying with a far off dreamy look about her. "Are you oka-"
"I remember," she stammered out interrupting him.
The Hokage rose from his chair a look of keen interest on his face. "What did you remember Akari?" he asked her soothingly.
"It's not a something…more of a feeling," she began, trying to find the right words to explain herself. Taking a deep breath she carried on, "I've remembered, Genjutsu… is frightening."
After that incident Kakashi had found himself in front of the Hokage a couple of days later. It was clear to him he was going to be receiving news, and by the way the old man was pacing up and down he probably wasn't going to like it. Nevertheless he waited patiently in silence to be told what to do.
"I want you to look after Akari."
Whatever he had been expecting it hadn't been that. "When you say look after you mean…"
"I mean as her living with you and you being her guardian."
"No," responded Kakashi flatly.
"It wasn't a question Kakashi I'm telling you to look after her," said the older man taking a seat.
"With all due respect Hokage-sama, I'm really not cut out to look after a teenage girl-"
"Kakashi," began Sarutobi in an authorative voice, "we've made no progress at all with her since she got back here. Even under strict supervision in case she was one of Orochimaru's spies we've tried helping her regain her memories, Anko has been trying to get her to open up a bit more with no success and she takes one look at you and her memories are triggered. I'm not passing this opportunity up," he said with a note of finality.
"Actually she said she remembered being afraid of Genjutsu," started Kakashi slouching slightly, "I don't really see how that's relevant."
"It's relevant because she is practically immune to it. I want her moved in with you by the end of the week. Have I made myself clear?"
"Perfectly…" he grumbled, "but what exactly am I supposed to do to help her?"
"I'm sure you'll figure something out," he answered sitting down, smiling slightly, balancing his pipe between his lips, "for now I just want you to keep an eye on her…although there is one more thing I would like you to try and find out…"
He hadn't managed to trigger Akari's memories again after that. All she seemed interested in was perfecting her immunity to Genjutsu and keeping to herself. He himself was some sort of a loner but her state of seclusion clearly hadn't been healthy so after a few months he opted to train her in other areas and learnt a lot about her fighting style and a few bits of information from her past she cared to share with him. But it was nothing the Hokage didn't already know. 'I was never able to properly help her…' he thought solemnly looking down at the girl.
'Just a bit more,' thought Takahiro as he travelled along the dark corridor that had flickering images all over the walls. He finally came to a point where he couldn't carry on because of a barrier. Placing his hand on the jelly like texture he punched straight through it hoping to create a hole. Instead it just stretched to accommodate to the intrusion. Smirking he looked up at the see through rubber wall. The memories he wanted to access were on the other side. And he was going to get through no matter what. Channelling energy through both hands he pushed against the barrier, slowly walking along the corridor, stretching the material with every step he took. Even without having gone through it he was starting to see and hear the memories he wanted to reach.
The images shinning off of Takahiro's left palm became even fuzzier than what they had been before making it really hard to distinguish anything other than voices.
"Otou-san," said a cheerful young voice.
"Akari, don't run near the edge of the lake," came the worried cry of a women. She had long brown hair that was loose and dark green eyes and Sakura found herself vaguely wondering if that was her teammate's mother.
"Calm down Miko, her teacher at the academy says she has excellent chakra control," interjected a man with jet black hair, "let her enjoy herself."
As the scene changed yet again Naruto made a mental note that Akari looked nothing like her dad, in fact, the only thing that she resembled him in was his eyes. They were the same intense blue and purple. Very different to the light sky blue and lilac Takahiro possessed.
"She's absolutely useless; the clan will never accept her." This time the voice belonged to an ageing lady in about her mid-forties.
"Mother why did you even bother coming, Akari belongs here, she's being raised to become a Konoha kunoichi."
"We couldn't afford her to be a threat, if by any chance she did have remarkable skill; the clansmen were willing to take her in to work for Kumo but as it is there is nothing to worry about, she can barely even levitate things."
"Akari, stays here, it was never your choice to make, so get out," shouted the younger man, anger threading his voice. There was silence for a while as the older woman walked away, until a small voice made him turn around.
"Otou-san, why does obaasan hate me so?"
The scene changed once again as Takahiro delved further through the barrier. It was getting harder and harder to keep pushing and it didn't seem like it was going to break anytime soon. This time the onlookers found themselves looking at what seemed to be an old abandoned lab.
"Akari, this place was sealed off, we shouldn't be here."
"Shush Kaito; I'm trying to decide whether this place is safe enough." The ferret, which was considerably smaller than the one they had seen a while ago, just hung his head low, his small eyes glancing around the room.
"Safe enough for what? Akari, I don't like it here, I feel like we're being watched."
"Safe enough to train of course, my teammates keep picking on me because I'm younger, so I'm going to train real hard in secret to prove I can be a valuable asset to the group…"
The scene dissolved again and changed. The crowd found themselves staring back at the same lab, the only indications of it being a different time were that the girl crying in the middle of the room was older than before, and her summon wasn't with her.
"They were all killed and now they're coming after you." Sasuke and Sakura gripped the railing hard as Orochimaru came into view.
"W-who are you?"
"I can protect you, give you power and make you stronger but as long as you're in Konoha you're not safe… will you come with me?" he asked extending his hand out towards the girl. She made to grab onto his hand but everything went pitch black before she could and this time only voices could be heard.
"Great job Orochimaru-sama, seems like the Body transfer Jutsu was a success."
"This is the ultimate step to immortality," he said laughing his voice switching from a feminine sultry chime back into his normal masculine timbre. "Do you have the results on the girl?"
"They aren't good news I'm afraid. Her ability passed on by her mother was taught to her not inherited. I've tried figuring out how it works but without it using chakra it's beyond me."
"But her bloodline limit is still useful though," he hissed.
"True, but she only inherited half of the potential the Seishin clan has to offer. If you take over her body… you'll find yourself dealing with the same trouble she puts up with to be able to use techniques." For a while the blue mass of energy remained silent until Orochimaru's voice penetrated across the battlefield.
"… I see no reason to keep her around then."
The Hokage bit down onto his smoking pipe hard. Had he really just heard Orochimaru say he'd found the key to immortality? What exactly had he been up to since he left Konoha? And why was he back now?
'So that's why he let her go,' thought Kakashi as he continued to watch the images flicker amongst the sea of blue, 'if he was unable to control her mother's powers and her clans abilities were of little use to him…that sick bastard using people like that.'
The scenery in Takahiro's hand unfolded into that of a dark forest.
Akari was running as fast as she could, the need to get away was evident as footsteps could be heard close behind her. Stumbling on a lose vine, she fell face first into the dirt. Turning around she saw a hand shoot out and grab her around the forehead before she found herself screaming pain. All that was visible through the mist was an evil smirk before everything went black, presumable because the Akari in the memory had fainted.
Takahiro jumped in surprise when he felt a hand wrap around his wrist. Her screaming and flailing had died down to a heavy panting a while ago. He hadn't expected her to start fighting again. "G-get out," she rasped.
"If you just stopped fighting I cou-"
"Get out," she said more fiercely this time, her eyes tight shut against the pain.
"Will you just liste-"
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" she screamed eyes opening sharply and glowing fiercely.
In her mind Takahiro lost his footing and felt the barrier push him right back from where he had come from. The crowd gasped as they watched him soar through the air and straight through the wall leaving a noticeable round sized crater in it.
Turning around onto all fours, Akari rested her forehead against the cold floor trying to control her breathing. The pounding in her temples was killing her. It had been a long time since she had experienced this much pain in her head and it was by sheer will and stubbornness that she was still conscious. Once she was breathing normally she got up steadily, knees shaking slightly, she watched the blond boy limp around the corner back into the room. 'Seems like he managed to create a full body shield in the last minute,' she thought.
'To have been able to create such a shockwave in that condition, I'm impressed. She's got more fight in her than I originally thought… but that doesn't change the fact that she's worn out,' thought Takahiro clutching his rib cage.
"What do you say we end this once and for all?" said Akari.
"You can't beat me… you should have realize-"
"I can win!" she replied fierce determination burning in her eyes. "I'm not fighting this battle alone anymore… I've got my friends to back me up," she smiled, her eyes twinkling.
"No one here is going to help you, this is a preliminary battle and I'm telling you, you can't wi-"
"I can! Because I've realized I can't keep running away from who I really am, I may not be a pureblood member; my abilities may be way below yours, but I have abilities my mother instilled in me when I was young too, I have the determination my teacher has taught me, my teammates faith and my own stubbornness," she said looking down at her hand before closing it into a fist, "I've been pushing my true potential aside for so long claiming to be protecting the people around me…the truth is I was just running away," she explained in a soft voice her palm travelling up to her left shoulder covering the area where the cursed seal was. Taking a deep breath she looked back into the eyes of the boy she was fighting.
"She isn't going to…?" asked Gai staring surprised at Kakashi. The silver haired man just stared down at the battlefield, not daring to believe his ears. Had she really gotten over her fears? Was she really going to use her mother's gift?
"Why are you fighting so hard?" asked Takahiro sincerely puzzled. Surely the misery and pain wasn't worth it.
"Because I've remembered," she smiled.
"Remembered? Remembered what?"
"My dream," she stated simply.
Sakura raised her head surprised slightly as she remembered meeting the brunette for the first time.
"Hmm well let's see, first off my name is Seishin Akari, nearly fifteen years old, I like reading and going out to enjoy Konoha's hot springs after missions. Hmm my dreams? I suppose I haven't really thought of that but my ambition is to become a top elite Jounin someday"
"What about it?" asked the blond boy slightly irritated now, "what is your dream?" 'What is driving you?' he thought to himself.
Akari smiled fondly as she remembered a memory that had been pushed to the back of her head for so many years.
"Otou-san, why does obaa-san hate me so?"
"She doesn't hate you sweetie," said the older man crouching down to be more level with the six year old, "It's just Daddy's family has a lot of internal conflicts, and because you aren't a proper member of the Seishin clan they don't think you are worth the name," he said sadly stroking the girls hair.
"Because I can't do techniques properly like you?" she asked watching her grandmothers back turn around the street corner and disappear.
"Yeah." The room remained in silence for a while before Akari began talking again.
"Well then I've just decided my dream."
Looking down at his six year old daughter he asked her what her dream was. She just looked up into his eyes and grinned. "My dream is…"
Looking back at the boy before her she raised her hand before pointing it directly at him; "My dream is to prove you all wrong. One day, I'm going to make the Seishin clan recognize me as a true member, I'll make you realize I'm a real kunoichi who'll rise to the top!"
A tremor of excitement ran down Naruto's spine at his teammates words and he couldn't help the smile spreading over his face. Kakashi nodded, a surge of pride creeping through him. These were his students' and none of them were going down without a fight.
'She's not lying, those eyes, there isn't a trace of a doubt within them,' thought Takahiro. Clenching his fists he smiled up at her. "I'm not going down, no matter what you say, I won't fall."
"We'll see," she muttered, "It's time I started using all my abilities full out, no more holding back, no more turning my back on those precious to me, just you and me, till the end."
Eyes lighting up and hand glowing Takahiro growled, "Let's go!" before running straight towards her. No more camouflage techniques, no more childish evasive games. This time they were both serious.