Six- Sharingans and Strangulation
Those that recognized it (namely me and Sasuke) gasped. The revealed eye was deep red with three tomoe circling the pupil.
"Ah, I am honored to see the famous Sharingan I have heard so much about." Zabuza said.
At this point, I could tell that Naruto had no idea what was going on- and I couldn't blame him. The only reason I knew anything about the Sharingan was because I had been taught about the clans when I was younger, and I vaguely remember the Uchiha. They used to be all over the place, since they were Konoha's police force at the time. It was hard to believe that Sasuke was all that was left.
"Sharingan, Sharingan! You keep on saying that, but I have no idea what you're saying!" He yelled in frustration. I opened my mouth to explain, but Sasuke beat me to it.
"Sharingan… the eye creates it… and it is the power that the pupil generates.. Those who use doujutsu are said to be able to see through all genjutsu, ninjutsu, and taijutsu, and cancel their effects. Sharingan is one of those doujutsus. But, that's not all the Sharingan can do…"
"Correct." Zabuza started.
"Perhaps the scariest part of the Sharingan is that it can understand how the opponent's technique works and copy it."
"Woah.." I said under my breath. I knew that they could track movements, but copy them? That was… amazing.
As Zabuza finished talking, the area filled with mist. I couldn't see anything. The nukenin's voice came from a sourceless location, making every hair on the back of my neck stand up.
"When I was part of Kirigakure's assassination squad, you were listed in the bingo book." Zabuza started, and my eyes grew wide. My perverted, lazy sensei was in the bingo book? I realized that I really knew nothing at all about him.
"It also noted this… That you are the man who has copied over 1000 jutsu, Kakashi the Copy Ninja." At this point my mouth was agape.
"No way… Kakashi-sensei's that good of a shinobi?" Sakura said, shocked.
I looked over to Sasuke, who was on my right. His eyes were wide, and he had a deep frown. It was actually a funny looking expression, and I might've laughed if the situation wasn't so tense. He was probably as confused as I was about Kakashi-sensei's doujutsu.
"Enough chatting. I really need to kill that old man." Zabuza said, and we immediately surrounded Tazuna. The others had their kunai out, but my hands were on the handles of my katana. We could keep Tazuna safe while Kakashi-sensei fought with the nukenin. We had to. It was our duty, as shinobi.
The mist thickened, and then he was gone.
"He's gone!" Sakura exclaimed.
"Sensei.. just who is this guy?" Naruto asked.
"I suspect that Akemi could tell you, but Zabuza Momochi was once in Kirigakure's ANBU. He was known for his silent killing techniques." Sensei explained, and my eyes grew wide with terror. Earlier, with the chuunin, I wasn't that worried. But this guy…. He was out of our league. Way out of our league. I gulped. I stole a quick glance at my teammates. Even Sasuke, usually indifferent, looked on edge.
Eventually the mist grew so thick that we couldn't even see Kakashi-sensei.
"Sensei..?" I asked quietly. No response.
"The larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular vein, collarbone, kidney, and heart." Echoed a voice around us. The air was thick with mist already, but it seemed to get denser from the amount of killing intent floating through the air. I felt as if I was choking.
"Now, what vital organ do you wish to be struck at?"
The mist was so thick, I couldn't see anything. And it was only getting denser. Sensei had used some of his chakra to help clear up the fog, but I still felt suffocated. I couldn't breathe. All I could smell was blood, and the mist was heavy with the assassin's killing intent. I had heard of killing intent before…. but this was insane. I'm going to die here… I thought panickedly. I can't stand it… If I stay here for any longer I'll go insane…. This feeling… One wrong move and I would be dead, just like that. The clearing was silent, but I felt as though I was screaming. I couldn't take it.
"Akemi." Said Kakashi-sensei, and I stared. I had forgotten about Sensei.
"Don't worry. I'll protect all of you with my life. You won't be harmed. Put down the kunai." He said, and I looked down at myself in shock. While I had been panicked, I had poised a kunai to stab directly into my gut. I took a deep breath. So this was the power of a jonin. Insane….
I looked over and saw that Sasuke had a similar terrified, hopeless expression on his face. His kunai was gripped tightly in his shaking hand, and his pale knuckles were white. Naruto had a tense expression, and his jaw was clenched tightly. Sakura stood, eyes wide in open terror. I'm not going to lie; I was glad that I wasn't the only one affected.
"Don't worry, you four. No one on my team will die." Kakashi-sensei said, and he smiled at us. But what about you, Sensei? I wanted to ask. Zabuza spoke before I could say anything.
"Now, I'm not so sure about that."
He appeared right behind at that moment. I gasped in shock and quickly dived away from him as Kakashi-sensei came barreling towards the nukenin, Sharingan flashing. I dug the heels of my feet into the ground and pulled out my twin katana. But Kakashi-sensei had already struck. Liquid poured out of a stab wound in Zabuza's gut. Only it wasn't blood. It was water.
"Mizu Bunshin.." I said to myself.
"Sensei! Behind you!" Naruto yelled.
"Die!" The real Zabuza yelled, and slashed Kakashi through the middle with Kubikiribocho.
"Sensei!" I yelled. But it seemed Kakashi-sensei had already planned ahead; he had been nothing but a clone. Now the real Kakashi was behind the real Zabuza, a kunai to the assassin's throat.
"Wow.." I said breathily. Sakura shrieked in amazement. And then Zabuza did something unexpected. The bastard started laughing.
"What's so funny?" I asked in anger, but immediately regretted it as I remembered just who this man was.
"You don't understand. You can't beat me with just your cheap copies. But I'll admit, you're pretty good. Drawing my attention to your clone by making it talk, and then hiding in the mist… clever. However.." To our horror, another Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi-sensei.
"However… I'm not that easy to defeat."
"That one's fake too!" Exclaimed Naruto, and I growled.
"No shit, Naruto!" I yelled
And that's when the real fight began. Kakashi-sensei was launched into the air, and Zabuza began to pursue him. Sensei landed in the water, and then Zabuza started making hand seals. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but at that moment, Kakashi-sensei was trapped in a sphere of water. And then a water clone of Zabuza appeared right in front of us.
"The four of you have hitai-ates on as if you're real shinobi. But a true shinobi has been through numerous life or death situations. In other words, you can call yourself shinobi when I see you in my bingo book." The mist thickened again, and then Naruto, who was on my right, was sent flying through the air.
"You aren't shinobi. You're just a bunch of brats."
"Naruto!" Sakura cried.
"Everyone! Take Tazuna and run!" Kakashi-sensei commanded us.
"He can't move as long as he has me locked in this prison! Run for now!" He yelled. I just shook my head; there was no way to get away. I wouldn't leave even if I could. We had to save our Sensei.
Suddenly, Sasuke ran at Zabuza's clone. I pulled out my two katana and followed. He threw several shuriken at the nukenin and jumped. While Zabuza was distracted, I dashed in and aimed for a low slice along his abdomen, infusing the blades with chakra to ignite the metal. As Sasuke went downward towards Zabuza, the jonin reached up and grabbed the Uchiha by the throat. As he did so, Zabuza twisted and dodged my attack, hurling Sasuke into the earth several meters away. If I was more skilled, I would have been able to match his speed and attack again. But, I was only a genin, so I was slow and inexperienced. I had overshot on the attack, and I was about to fall from the momentum of my swing. Zabuza's foot swung out and knocked my feet out from underneath me.
I shrieked as I landed flat on my back. Immediately there was an intense pressure on my throat and I opened my eyes; Zabuza had his foot on my throat and was slowly pushing harder and harder. I couldn't breath. I reached my hands up and attempted to push his foot off my neck, but he was too strong. He pushed harder in response and I began to choke. I couldn't breathe… I couldn't breathe. My arms were getting heavier. Angry tears stung my eyes and I gritted my teeth. My vision was getting darker. I was going to die here….
My eyes closed and I heard muffled yelling. It was a familiar voice. Naruto? There was a loud noise, and then I heard the yelling of what sounded like a lot of Narutos. Kage Bunshin? Be careful, Naruto..
The sound of fighting was the last thing I heard before I passed out.
()()()()
When I woke up, I was in an unfamiliar place. I squinted at the bright sunlight that filtered through the windows. I tried to turn my head to look around the room, but immediately gasped in pain. My entire neck was engulfed in pain. It was only a dull throb when I lay still, but as soon as I turned it bursted into sharp pain. I sat up and immediately noted that my weapons were gone. Where were my katana? My kunai and shuriken?
I wearily stood up and placed a hand to my head. I was so dizzy… Taking unsteady steps, I walked out of the room. I passed one more door and then found myself at the top of a staircase and groaned; this was the last thing I needed right now. I placed my left hand on the bar and uneasily made my way down the wooden steps. At about half way, I heard voices coming from a nearby room.
"...When do you think Kakashi-sensei and Akemi will wake up?" That was Sakura.
"I'm not sure. Kakashi's probably tired from using the Sharingan… but Akemi…" Sasuke.
I stepped into what I assumed was the kitchen and leaned against the doorway.
"Hey guys…. Don't count me out yet." I wearily shuffled and sat myself down at the dining table across from my teammates.
"Akemi!" Naruto said with a huge smile.
"You're awake!"
"Seems so." I said with a small smile and winced as my neck ached. I raised a hand to my throat. My voice was hoarse and dry. I felt like I had inhaled sawdust.
"What did I miss?"
Okay, so here is the long awaited Chapter Six! As soon as I finish uploading this, I'll get to work on Chapter seven. I went back and read the previous chapters, and I feel like my portrayal of Akemi might be a bit different now, but she isn't. I felt like this was a really serious chapter, so Akemi wasn't going to be cracking jokes in the middle of a fight. Did the battle scene sound okay? I have little to no experience writing fight scenes. I tried to make Akemi seem skilled (for a genin), but not overly so. I imagine that Zabuza would have no problem handling her and Sasuke combined, even if they did do a quick attack like that.
I want you guys to tell me if she seems OOC or anything, or if she's starting to sound like a Sue. The last thing I want is to end up writing a mary-sue fic, so if that happens, notify me immediately.
Translations
tomoe: They're like these little swirls that look like commas. When Kakashi opens his Sharingan, he has 3 tomoe, or commas, that swirl around his pupil
doujutsu: like... eye jutsu. They're usually a Kekkei Genkai, and they can see through genjutsu and such. i.e, the Sharingan, Byakugan, and Rinnegan
Kubikiribocho: Zabuza's execution blade. Y'know, the freakin' huge sword Zabuza swings around
Mizu Bunshin: water clone. Physical, like a shadow clone, but not quite as effective
Kirigakure: The Village Hidden in the Mist
Kage Bunshin: Shadow clone