A/N: Okay, so I know all of the rookies are 12 - I am changing that to 13. Honestly, it is weird enough to have them flirting right now as 13/14 and 12 is just.. No.
I would feel more comfortable waiting until they were older, but in the show Rock Lee had already showed interest in Sakura, Sakura and Ino were basically in love with Sasuke, so I know it would not be weird for Ren to be crushing on Shikamaru.. Also, they are basically treated as adults once they graduate the academy, but it still feels weird. Just.. bare with me here, there will not be any explicit acts while they are this young though I'll tell you that right now.
Also, I know they went straight from the first exam to the second but I thought they deserved a little break; so they were told to meet them there the next day instead. Enjoy!
Chapter Three
"Hey, Takeshi-sensei." I greeted, shooting Rafu a smile as well as I appeared in front of the tea shop we had agreed to meet at. I looked around the dimly lit room for Akari, but did not see the dark-haired girl at all. "Where is Akari?"
"Late, as usual." Rafu responded dryly
"When you two get married, you are never going to show up on time anywhere." I told him, enjoying the way he sputtered and turned a lovely shade of crimson. "Oh calm down, Raf, I was only joking with you."
"About the being late part, that is." Takeshi interjected, smirking at us both. "Let's go ahead and grab a table, she can just come over when she gets here."
"Okay." I said, heading over to one of the booths instead of the tables with pull out chairs. I will never understand people who would rather sit at a table than a booth; on a mission, I get it, you want all of your team members to be able to get out and react as fast as possible, but in our own village and for comforts sake? Booth will win every day of the week, hands down. I looked over the menu as I slid into the booth, Takeshi sitting beside me. Usually Takeshi sensei sat next to me so that Akari and Rafu had to sit next to one another. Never let it be said that our sensei was not a closet romance junkie, because he ate this shit up like it was dango.
"There she is!" Takeshi said jovially, waving at Akari who had just walked through the curtained off door. She lifted a hand and waggled her fingers at us to let us know she saw us before making her way over.
"Sorry, okaasan made me help move a bunch of stuff out of your old room today." Akari said, directing the room comment to me with a glare that lacked any real heat. "Thank's for helping."
"What am I?" I asked, cocking my head to the side and smirking "A mind reader?"
"For someone who can see the future, you sure do miss a lot." Akari quipped back snarkily
"Maybe it was on purpose." I said, winking at her. "I am sorry though, I meant to come by and pick that stuff up ages ago. Tell oka-san I will come get it after the exams are over."
"Tell her yourself, she keeps saying since you moved out she never see's you anymore." Akari told me, and I felt guilt sinking into my stomach. Most of my childhood had been spent living with Akari's family, her parents might as well have been mine as well, and since I had moved out I had not been over as often as I should have been.
"I'll go back with you after dinner." I promised, looking forward to seeing my foster family. In truth, it had only been a couple of weeks but when you go from seeing someone almost every day (even if it was only for an hour or so) to every couple of weeks, you do tend to miss them. "Maybe she will make me food to take home!"
"Oh kami, you know she will." Akari said, rolling her eyes and picking up the tea that Rafu had thoughtfully ordered for her. "If you aren't careful, she'll be over at your apartment half the time just making sure you eat well."
"I wouldn't mind." I laughed, easily imagining the sight of the willowy woman with red hair flitting around my kitchen and complaining about my lack of organization and supplies.
"So." Takeshi-sensei said, cutting off any response Akari might have had as he looked at the three of us seriously. "I wanted to wait until all of you were together to ask, but how was the first exam?"
"It was a breeze." Akari said easily, gesturing with her hand as she read the menu. Rafu and I murmured our agreement, with Rafu going into detail about the hard questions but the obvious signs that we were supposed to cheat. He explained it had not been hard to cheat off the person next to him, who he had found out later was a Chunin planted in the exam for that exact reason, and then relay the information to Akari and myself.
"The tenth question almost had me sweating though." Rafu commented, and I smirked at the thought of how mad those who had left would be when they found out that the answer was honestly just to stay to hear that we had passed.
"I worried for a second as well." Akari agreed, looking at me with a fond smile. "Luckily, our little crystal ball over here took a sneak peek and knew it wouldn't be a problem."
"That is great to hear, you guys." Takeshi said, smiling proudly at all of us "It sounds like you really pulled together as a team, as usual, and that is what made the test so easy. If you just keep relying and trusting one another, you are going to be just fine."
"Thanks sensei." We all chimed, exchanging amused looks between the three of us. Sometimes it seems like Takeshi sensei was more anxious about us on missions and us going through the exam than we were.
"Alright, now let's eat!" Takeshi exclaimed, grinning as he waved over a waitress. "This one's on me. You are going to need your strength tomorrow, so eat well but don't overdo it - for yours and my wallet's sake!"
We laughed and quickly ordered our favorite dishes, the tea shop in the middle of town was somewhere that we frequented quite often. It was one of Takeshi-sensei's old haunts and where we met as a team for the first time while we discussed our goals and Takeshi introduced himself to us. We had a lot of fond memories of this place, that was for sure; when the waitress brought us our food, we tucked in and had easy conversation, the anxiety for the test tomorrow temporarily non-existent in the company of our little family. When we were done, we stayed and drank a couple of glasses of tea before we left. It was then that we asked Takeshi about what we should pack, and he advised us to do what we normally would on a mission but maybe with some extra surprises if we had any. I made a mental note to add a couple of explosive tags to my weapons pouch that night while I was packing my stuff, and before I knew it, it was time to leave and head to Akari's house for a quick visit before heading home. After the three of us split up, Akari and I ran across the roofs, racing one another to see who could make it there first.
I came to a stop, grinning at her when she showed up a couple of seconds later on the roof of her family home. Akari pursed her lips but didn't say anything, jumping down from the roof and into her bedroom via the window where I quickly followed. The room hadn't changed since we were ten years old; it had the same purple walls, dark bed sheets, and closet overflowing with laundry that was a mix of clean and dirty. Akari walked through the room and down the stairs, with me close on her heels eager to see her parents.
"Okaasan!" Akari called out, walking through the living room and into the kitchen where I could hear her mom bustling about. "I'm home! I found a stray, it followed me home, so I was wondering if we could keep it."
"Akari, you know your father detests anima-" Yama turned around, a stern look on her face until she saw me grinning behind Akari. Her eyes widened and a smile broke out on her face, and she strode forward after drying her hands before she enveloped me into a hug. Yama gave the best hugs, they were not too loose and not too tight, they radiated love and comfort. "Ren-chan! Oh, it's so good to see you!"
"It's good to see you as well, okaasan." I responded, my voice slightly muffled from being pressed into her apron. "I'm sorry I haven't stopped by recently, I've been very busy training."
"You always work too hard." Yama scolded lovingly, moving the braid out of my face as was her habit. "How are you? Have you been eating?"
"Not as well as I do when I'm here." I replied, grinning and ignoring Akari rolling her eyes.
"Well, we will have to fix that, won't we?" Yama said with a laugh
"Absolutely, okaasan!" I agreed enthusiastically, grinning at the older woman. "Akari said you had some of my things laying around?"
"Oh yes, dear, I finally got Akari to stop being lazy and we cleaned out your room." Yama said, ignoring Akari's yelp of indignation at being called lazy. "You don't have to get it all today. I'm thinking of turning that into a sort of craft room, I've been thinking about picking up sewing so I can repair all of the rips and tears Akari manages to get while training or out on missions."
"I bet you'll be great at it." I told her smiling. Behind Yama, Akari mimicked me silently and made a face that was clearly meant to say I was kissing ass; I couldn't help it though, I loved Akari's parents as if they were my own. I honestly don't know where I would be now if they had not taken me in when they did.
"Well thank you, Ren-chan!" Yama said, before a slightly worried look came across her face for a moment before she smoothed it over. "That will always be your room if you need one though, don't forget that, okay?"
"Thank you, okaasan." I replied gently, smiling "You know I love you all, I greatly appreciate that. It's only normal for you to use it for something now that it is empty though!"
"You two have grown up so fast!" Yama said, wiping her eyes which had gotten a little misty. This was, unfortunately, a pretty frequent occurrence so neither Akari nor I were surprised at the overly emotional face her mother was wearing. "Now, how were the Chunin exams? Did you destroy your competition?"
"I already told you about the test, Okaasan." Akari said, snatching a piece of fruit from the cutting board her mother had abandoned to talk to us.
"Akari! You just ate, that is for later." Yama said in her 'I mean business and I am your mother' tone, wagging a finger at her. "I know you did, but I want to hear it from Ren so I know you aren't hiding anything."
"We passed!" I said cheerfully, grinning at Yama "It wasn't too difficult, I think the next part will be much worse. I almost enjoyed the test, it made you think."
"Oh, I'll bet you did enjoy your seat." Akari muttered slyly, laughing a little
"What do you mean, dear?" Yama asked, glancing between her daughter and myself curiously. I felt my face heat up and sent Akari a glare, refusing to say anything to her mother.
"Ren sat next to a boy that called him cute and now Ren-kun likes him." Akari said teasingly, making me hit her shoulder right after the words came out of her mouth.
"I don't even know him, Akari." I hissed, the flush on my face refusing to go away but I was going to blame it on anger instead of embarrassment.
"Oh that's wonderful!" Yama said, way too cheerfully and I groaned, knowing what was coming next. "What's his name?"
I muttered a response, but too low for them both to hear me. It was only after Yama scolded me for mumbling and avoiding the question that I told them. "Nara Shikamaru."
"One of the Nara clan, huh?" Yama asked rhetorically, a teasing smile playing at the corners of her lips. "Well, it's a good thing you like deer!"
"Okaasan!" I complained, ducking my head "Not you too! We exchanged five sentences, if that."
"Are you denying you think he is cute?" Akari asked, an eyebrow raised at me
"He's a rookie fresh out of the academy, he's only thirteen." I said, avoiding the question.
"You're avoiding answering." Akari pointed out, as merciless as usual. "Besides, you're only fourteen; what's a year? Okaasan and Otosan are four years apart."
"Alright musume, that's enough teasing Ren for now." Yama said, swatting at her daughter playfully.
"Thank you, okaasan!" I exclaimed gratefully, sticking my tongue out at Akari behind Yama's back.
"Anytime, Ren-chan. I wouldn't want you to die from embarrassment before I got to meet your new friend Nara Shikamaru." Yama replied, winking and making my face heat up all over again and Akari to bust out laughing. It wasn't that I honestly liked the boy, I did think he was kind of cute, but I hated this kind of attention and they both knew it; it made me blush. I tried to play it off and act cocky, but I just felt really awkward in those kind of situations.
"Where is Otosan?" I asked, going with my normal tactic and obviously changing the subject. Yama gave me a knowing look but allowed the subject to drop for now, although I'm sure that was not the last I would hear of it.
"He is on a mission." Akari explained, stealing another piece of fruit behind Yama's back. "Won't be back for three more days."
"Oh, we will be in the second part of the exam." I said, leaning against the counter and cocking my head to the side to look at Yama. "Will you be alright on your own, oka-san?"
"Excuse you, Ren-chan." Yama huffed, wagging that finger in my direction now. "I was taking care of myself before you were even born, I think I can manage a few days by myself; in fact, I may actually get some real work done around here without all you rascal's underfoot!"
"Alright, alright." I said placatingly, holding up my hands "Just asking, jeez! You know you love having us underfoot though, Yama-san!"
"I do wish you would come around more often." Yama admitted, smiling fondly at Akari and I. "It used to be such a full house with you two and Rafu running around! I get to see Akari less and less, Rafu is with her fifty percent of the time, and I'm lucky if I see you twice every two weeks Ren-chan!"
"I'm sorry, I'll try to visit as often as I can." I promised, feeling a little guilty at how little I had truly been around. "If I am in the village, I will try to visit at least once a week for a little while."
"I'd love that, Ren." Yama said gently, brushing my braid out of my eyes lovingly again. "I understand you are all growing up and becoming more and more busy though, so don't feel bad! Just don't forget this will always be a home for you as well, okay?"
"Promise, okaasan!" I agreed, hugging the woman tightly.
"Alright, now let's get you some food packed up and then you need to go get ready to get a good night's sleep for the exam tomorrow!" Yama said, gesturing to the cabinet that held the containers to store food in. "You three will do well, I'm sure, but good luck anyway!"
"Thanks!" I said, smiling and feeling my body thrum with the excitement and nerves thoughts of tomorrow brought.
Yama packed me a few days worth of home cooked meals, which I was especially excited for, and told me to come back after we were finished with the exam and she would make me a full weeks worth to take home. After that, Akari helped me bring a couple of my old boxes (mostly pillows, a blanket, and a photo album from the academy I had left over there) to my apartment. I unpacked them fairly quickly and without further ado, double checking my bag one more time before falling asleep, I closed my eyes in an attempt to get a good night's rest.
I woke up that morning and dashed to the field, my mission bag on my back and ready to go. We were to spend five days in the Forest of Death and I had brought my bow and arrows, a couple of explosive tags, and of course my shuriken. I was as prepared as I could be, but I was nervous as well; there was a reason this training ground was for Chunin level and above, it was full of difficult wildlife and not to mention the other teams as well.
When we got there and were standing in our teams, Anko-sama told us each team would get either a heaven or an earth scroll to carry throughout the duration of the mission. The goal was to get both scrolls and get to the tower in the center of the forest with all of your teammates, and not to open the scrolls under any circumstance.
"That means half of us at least will be getting eliminated." Rafu muttered to us both, a wary expression on his normally cheerful face. Takeshi-sensei was standing behind us with his arms crossed, an impassive look on his face as we listened to the rules. Anko-sama was.. Certainly a bizarre person, proven when she cut Naruto's face and licked the blood off before cheerfully telling us that we had to sign a waiver that basically said we understood we could die in here and that the village hidden in the leaves was not responsible for our deaths.
"Alright! Once you have signed these forms, step into this booth and exchange them for a scroll, then report to a gate to wait for them to open and the second part of the Chunin exams to begin!" Anko-sama called out, gesturing enthusiastically at the booth right behind where she was standing.
"We need a strategy." I said, the three of us standing together in a tight circle. "Who should carry the scroll?"
"I think Rafu should." Akari said with a contemplative expression on her face before she explained her reasoning. "He is the only one of us who knows medical jutsu, so he needs to stay out of the fight as much as possible. You and I will be in the thick of it for the most part."
"I agree." I said, nodding along to myself. I was honestly thinking along the same lines before I had even asked, but wanted to make sure it was a unanimous decision before saying anything. "Any objections, Rafu?"
"Just be careful." Rafu said, agreeing in his own way. "I think we should find a team and ambush them as soon as possible, get the scroll, then double time it to the tower. Teams who lose their scrolls will be waiting to ambush people at the tower the longer we stay out there in a last ditch effort to stay in the exam."
"Agreed." I said, and as we signed our forms and got our Earth scroll from the Chunin behind the curtain at the booth, we made sure it was well hidden on Rafu's person before exiting. I saw a group of Sand Ninja, thankfully not the one with the redhead in the group because he gave me the creeps, and noticed they stopped at a gate somewhat near our own. "Any groups look appealing to you guys?"
"Some of the rookies would probably be our best bet." Akari said instantly
"I would prefer to avoid other leaf shinobi." I said, looking between her and Rafu.
"Don't wanna eliminate your boyfriend?" Akari said with a teasing smirk
"Not now, Akari." Rafu said, giving her a sharp glance. "We need to be focused, save the teasing for the winners circle. I agree with Ren; the more leaf shinobi in the last exam the better for our village, so we should try to avoid it if we can."
"If we are desperate and the opportunity arrives, then we can think about taking out another team of leaf genin." I agreed, waiting for the others to nod in agreement before waiting patiently for the time for the exam to begin.
As soon as he gates opened, we dashed through them, hoping to gain ground on some other team and be able to lay an ambush. The forest was big and dark in some places because of the large trees, so we stayed near one another as we ran. Akari took point, with Rafu in the middle, and I was bringing up the rear. Akari was our heavy hitter, so she usually took the lead, while I had range because of my bow, and Rafu needed to be in the middle since he had the scroll. It was a couple of hours that we ran, not truly stopping for much rest until we came upon a clearing that seemed safe enough for a quick breather.
"We might be running into another team soon." Akari said, taking a small drink out of her canteen of water before passing it to Rafu, who did the same.
"Yes, should we wander until we come across someone or wait to ambush them?" Rafu asked, passing the water container to me. The forest was humid and muggy, the cool water tasted amazing going down my throat and I had to remind myself to only drink sparingly. We didn't know when we would come across a stream, so we had to play it safe; there were five more days after all.
"I think we should wander." I said after a moment of thinking with my head cocked to the side, pondering the best way to go about it. "There is no guarantee that a group will pass this way. I'm confident if we fell into a trap, we could most likely get out of it. I think it will be faster to scout out the area as if it was a grid and systematically make our way towards the center."
"Whatever makes allows us to leave this kami forsaken forest the fastest." Akari muttered, taking the canteen back from me and stowing it in her bag once again. "I get a bad feeling from this place."
"It puts me on edge as well." Rafu admitted, looking around warily for any signs of trouble.
"Something does feel off about it." I agreed, activating my dojutsu for a moment to see if there were any signs of trouble that may be in the near future. My two comrades waited for my eyes to turn from the icy blue back to the clouded gray once again before I shook my head, confirming that I saw nothing, and we were off once again to tree hop through the forest.
We traveled at a more sedate pace throughout the day, doubling back periodically to ensure no one was following us and to make our trail harder to see as well. We did not run into another group on the first day, so we made a cold camp that night and took turns watching. The forest was even more eerie at night time; sometimes, it was far too silent for a regular forest and sometimes it seemed as though unnatural noises were surrounding us. We had not seen much in the way of wildlife yet besides a few birds and insects. I was glad when it was time for me to sleep, I trusted my Rafu to keep a sharp eye on everything and I welcomed the peace of sleep over the uncannily silent forest.
The forest was mostly dark, there was a small fraction of pink and orange at the very top of the trees from the sunrise. Akari was pacing quietly around the campground, as silent as a shrew, her eyes constantly scanning to make sure she did not become complacent in watch. This was one of the techniques Takeshi-sensei had taught us, to ensure your eyes did not lose focus and to make sure you did not become accustomed to the same sights all night.
A branch snapped somewhere to the left of where Rafu slept, curled onto a thin sleeping pallet, and Akari's hand darted automatically to her weapons pouch to grip a shuriken. Cautiously, she made her way over to where the noise had originated from before lifting the shuriken and throwing it with expert precision, hearing a dull thunk as it connected with a log unseen beyond the foliage. Her shoulders lost some of the tension, but she was rooted to the spot, her hand still close to the weapons pouch on her waist. She seemed to think for a moment before grabbing her light out of the pouch and stepping a little closer to the edge of where we had made our camp, up against a massive tree that was semi hollowed out.
As soon as she took a step and had almost lit up the flashlight, a small rodent darted from the bushes where she had been staring at. She tensed for a moment, then smiling wanly to herself, shook her head and rolled her shoulders before pacing again. As soon as her back was turned, that was when the bushed exploded with action and a rock the size of a small boar came pelting towards her. She whirled around and tried to dodge, almost successful but her arm was twisted in an unnatural way. The Iwa ninja came out of the bushes then and her yell had woken us both up, and the fight was on.
I awoke with a gasp, seeing Akari had just stopped pacing to look over to the left before she saw me wake up. I shook Rafu to wake him up, being as inconspicuous as possible, and his eyes snapped open to meet mine. He stayed lying down, eyes on my own, and I gestured for him to be ready for a fight nonchalantly before doing our own signs, scratching my left thigh and twisting my neck as though to pop it twice, my eyes flickering over to the bushes I had seen the Iwa ninja's jump out of. Akari nodded imperceptibly, and I held out my fist in a silent countdown.
3
2
1
Go.
Akari went through the hand signs quickly and shot a ball of fire into the bushes, ducking when a rock came flying back out at her and avoiding it completely. We heard a hiss of pain and that accompanied with the smell of burnt flesh let us know she had gotten at least one of them. I rolled over to my side, slinging my bow across my chest, before I got my hands up in a defensive position with my back facing Akari and Rafu's backs. We were in a triangle, waiting to see if they would step into our little clearing and face us.
Two of them came from a little higher up, and Akari engaged one while the other went straight for Rafu. I did a high kick at the guy as he dropped down, but he quickly blocked it and went to engage Rafu.
"I got him, find the other." Rafu said, pulling out a kunai and throwing it at the Iwa opponent. I looked around the clearing, seeing that Akari obviously outmatched her opponent, I felt confident she would be able to help Rafu if he needed it. I jumped up into the tree, starting to go into a circle to see if he was hanging around and waiting to jump in and help his friends. While I was searching for him, I kept my eyes on the fight slightly below me as often as I could to ensure neither Rafu nor Akari were in trouble.
It was on the opposite side of where the original attack had come from that I saw him, going through hand signs quickly, and as soon as our eyes met I had the sudden feeling as though I was falling.
It was like my eyes jerked open of their own accord, I was lying on a bed with my hands tied down as well as my legs. I was wearing restraints in a pure, white room; my clothes were white and I didn't have any of my weapons at all. My eyes darted wildly around the room, wondering what the hell was going on, before realizing this must be a genjutsu - that was when the door opened and the Iwa shinobi walked in with a lab coat on.
"Patient 920, how are you feeling?" The other shinobi said, an almost gentle smile on his face
"Like I am going to kick your ass when I get out of this genjutsu." I said through clenched teeth, trying to focus on releasing the illusion. I hated these stupid mind tricks and I hated how bad I was at getting out of them - there was something so inherently wrong with someone messing with the mind like this.
The Iwa ninja sighed tiredly, coming to sit on the corner of the bed and looking at the clipboard in his hand again. "You're suffering from these delusions again, aren't you?"
"What the hell are you on about?" I said, spitting at the brown haired guy sitting on my bed.
"That you are a ninja and I'm one of the 'evil shinobi' who you are against." He responded, his tone practically dripping condescendingly. "When will you learn to face the real world? We don't enjoy locking you up like this, you know."
"Oh, so I just made up Akari and Rafu?" I asked, rolling my eyes at how much of an idiot this guy was to think I'd fall for something like this. "Where are they?"
"Akari is your roommate here at the Asylum." The Iwa ninja said, shaking his head almost sadly at me.
My heart froze for a minute, a cold dread washing over me; No, there was no way he knew about that. How the hell did he know about this? I never got admitted. Akari rescued me, she was never going to let them put me in one of these. He's lying, it's a genjutsu; just remain calm and release yourself. Breathe, don't panic, release.
"Release." I said, closing my eyes and willing myself to break the hold he had over me.
"I'll show you." the fake doctor said, going to the door and pushing a button on a speaker before he began talking into it. "Could you bring Patient 921 in here as well as Nurse Moki?"
"Yes sir." was the response, a voice so devoid of emotion it should have startled me.
"Look, I want to help you - I really think we were on the verge of a break through until the delusions started back up." The Iwa man in the lab coat was saying to me, approaching my bed with an encouraging smile on his face. "Just tell me where you hid your medicine - I think you called it a scroll or something of that nature. Once we have you on your medicine, we can get you on the way to being better again."
"Like I'll fall for that." I said, looking away from him and struggling against the stupid restraints holding me in. I couldn't break this genjutsu, I wasn't good enough so I just needed to wait for Akari or Rafu to come help me. They would help me, there wasn't a genjutsu any genin could do that would be able to hold Rafu, I was sure of that.
"I'm not the enemy here, Ren." The doctor said, an almost pained expression on his face. That was when the door opened and in walked Akari, white pants and a white blouse on. Right after her came Rafu, wearing the kind of clothes they do at hospitals.
"Hey Ren." Rafu said, smiling at me cheerfully. "The doctor said you could come outside with Akari and I once you get your medicine. Where did you put it this time?"
"Rafu, it's a genjutsu. You have to break it." I said, my eyes pleading with his warm, glossy eyes.
"Ren, come on. You know your delusions aren't good for Akari here, she gets too wrapped into that playing ninja stuff with you. It isn't good for either of you to live in your fantasy world." Rafu scolded lightly, a sad frown on his face.
"It's not pretend!" Akari shouted, and my eyes darted to hers in relief when I heard her outburst. Thank god I wasn't the only one, we needed to figure out a way to break this or we could be in serious trouble. "We are really ninja! Watch!"
"Air Release: Cutting Edge!" Akari shouted, doing some kind of weird gesture with her hand before blowing out of her mouth as hard as she could towards the guy in the lab coat sitting on the corner of my bed. The Iwa ninja just frowned sadly at her, shaking his head, before turning to plead with me once again.
"Look at what you have gotten into her head now, Ren." the doctor said, shaking his head in disappointment. "Where is the medicine? Where did you put it?"
I refused to look at Rafu, even though I desperately wanted to so I could ensure the scroll was safe. God this felt so real; I could feel the circulation in my arms being cut off from the restraints. Rafu grabbed Akari around the waist and dragged her from the room, her kicking and screaming about fire release technique and how she was going to burn us all to a crisp. This was too close to what almost happened - what if? No. That is what they want, they want you to doubt yourself. Just wait. Akari and Rafu, the real ones, will come.
"Please, let me help you." The doctor pleaded, a slightly desperate undertone to his voice now. I shook my head vehemently, turning it to the side so that I could avoid looking at him as I waited. "Look at me!"
"Go to hell." I muttered, staring straight ahead at the plain white wall in front of me until I gasped, feeling hands around my throat and constricting the airway. I scrambled against the restraints, trying to gulp air that wouldn't come as I was strangled. I twisted my body hard, desperately, and tried to scream but no noise would come out.
Release. Release. I thought, desperate to escape the genjutsu as I felt myself slipping unconscious. RELEASE!
My eyes snapped open, back in the woods in the predawn light, laying against a thick limb of a great, big tree with the Iwa ninja's hands around my throat, squeezing the life out of me. I jerked ,twisting my hips, and kicked out with my left leg; It was only a glancing blow, but it was enough to loosen his grip for a second and I tore my fingers into his, trying to pry his hands off my throat so I could breathe. My vision was starting to fade, black was on the edges and everything was getting more and more narrow. I dug into his hands, I just needed a little air; my lungs were screaming with the lack of oxygen and I couldn't handle much more.
As sudden as I was snapped back into this world, I blinked and I could breath again, gasping in muggy, humid air as if it was fresh and crisp on an autumn morning. My throat ached from the fingers that had just been around it and I knew it would turn into nasty bruises, but hopefully Rafu could get rid of the worst of them. I opened my eyes once the world stopped spinning, still gasping a little and trying to get oxygen back into my system. I saw the Iwa ninja struggling as Akari had both of his arms and Rafu punched him in the face, getting ready to knock him out.
"Wait." I said, my voice throbbing with pain and more hoarse than it ever had been. Rafu stopped but Akari kept holding the Iwa ninja, both of them looking at me with anger in their eyes, looking at the bruises that were no doubt dark on my pale neck. I stalked slowly up to the Iwa ninja, my eyes never leaving his, and I know he could feel my killing intent because he started thrashing against Akari, desperately trying to escape her grip. I walked calmly up to the bastard and grabbed his head before jerking it to one side and then the other, snapping his neck easily and letting him fall limp.
I collapsed for a moment and drew in a ragged breath, my eyes watering in pain as I remembered the asylum I had almost been sent to as a child and the feeling of being strangled. Letting out one half sob, I felt Rafu and Akari wrap me up in their arms for a moment. I bathed in their arms only for a moment, taking in the comfort and familiar smells, before shaking them off and silently going through the Iwa ninja's clothes and picking up the scroll that was tucked away in his backpack. I held it up for them both to see, smiling grimly in satisfaction, before dropping down to the floor where our camp had been torn apart by the fight. We quickly packed our stuff up and left the site just as the sun rose enough to begin warming the air and yellow light was filtering through the canopy above to the forest floor.
I was ready to get the hell out of this forest.
A/N: A little intense there, right? Review or send me a PM and let me know what you thought!
Much love,
~Rache