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Unarmed and the Ninja Academy

Chapter Seven-

The darkness swirled around me; I floated through it as one might do in water. My hair flowed freely. I didn't know what happened to my hair tie. I felt so cold. Pressure built on my chest, though looking down, the only things touching me were an icy blue gown and the nothingness that surrounded me.

Sasuke paced back and fourth in the hospital room, his eyes staying focused on Katai's unconscious form. She stirred and murmured something under her breath. Sasuke paused and walked over to her bed.

Her face was as smooth as porcelain. Her usual mask of scorn and mistrust was lost in her tanish-gold skin. Her raven hair fell limply around her head; some of it got tangled in her long eyelashes. She looked so small under the mountain of blankets placed on top of her for warmth.

Sasuke extended his arm and tentively, gently brushed Katai's hair out of her face. He gazed at her, admiring the beauty that she hides so well. He leaned over slightly, his lips closed the distance between them and hers.

The call of a raven rang out through the hospital. Sasuke sighed, recognizing the signal Kakashi used to call for him. Katai shivered, the skin under her fingernails started to take on a bluish hue. Before leaving, Sasuke placed another blanked on top of her.

Something made a noise in the distance. It sounded like…beeping. I started to move toward it, but, the only proof that I had moved at all was the increasing volume of the sound. Soon, I heard another, softer sound that intrigued me, more than the steady beeping. As I grew closer to the second sound I could tell it was breathing, deep and soft. And the closer I got to the two sounds, the more light flooded into my eyes.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a hospital room. The walls, sheets, and floor were pure white. I could see a courtyard outside the window, where many other patients were sitting in wheelchairs or on benches. A heart monitor was on the floor to my left, and a chair to my right.

Sasuke's head rested on his arms at the edge of the bed. His eyes were closed and his breathing was slow and deep. His ebony hair lay limply over his worried face.

I lifted my heavy hand and ran my fingers through his silky locks; brushing them away from his eyes.

Sasuke's eyes closed tighter and he mumbled a little, as wakefulness came back to him. I froze. His hand touched mine, still tangled in his hair. He opened his eyes and looked up at me.

"Hey." He said, moving my hand to the bed and intertwining his fingers with mine. "How are you feeling?"

I closed my eyes, enjoying the warmth of his hand on mine. "I'm fine." We sat in silence for awhile, our hands never parting. "How long was I out?"

Sasuke sighed. "Five days."

"Geez." I breathed under my breath as Sasuke squeezed my hand. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but he was cut off by a nurse walking in.

"Oh, you're awake!" she said with the bubbly enthusiasm that I hate. "That's great!" I gave her a weak smile, wishing that she'd go away. "How are you feeling?" she asked, taking my blood pressure and doing other things that nurses do.

"I'm fine." I answered. The nurse asked me some other questions then left.

As soon as the door clicked shut I threw off the multitude of blankets that covered my body and threw my legs over the side of the bed.

"Katai, what are you doing? You should be resting."

I rolled my eyes. "I've been resting for five days! I need to get up and move." I slid off my bed trusting my legs to hold me, but, the instant I tried to support my full body weight, I collapsed on the ground, my ice blue dress spread out around me, gently caressing the cold floor.

"Katai, are you okay? You have to be more careful!"

"You said that to me before you…" I couldn't finish my sentence, so I let my soft words linger and fade in the small room.

Sasuke sighed and walked over to kneel by my side. "I'm fine because of you, but you have to gather your strength. He gave the door a wary glance before slinging my arm across his shoulders and wrapping his hand around my waist. Together, we walked to the front desk and out of the hospital.

Sasuke walked along the forest floor, supporting Katai as her legs slowly strengthened."She's so thin." He thought, feeling her bony shoulders and hips bump into him with every step. Her wrists felt so fragile in his hand, as if they would break if he handled her too roughly.

As the minutes slowly passed by, the strength returned to Katai's legs, she depended less on Sasuke, and more on herself. By the time they reached their house, she was walking on her own, but she still held Sasuke's hand.

Sasuke opened the front gait for me then followed me inside the house. We prepared some tea and sat down in the living room. "So," I began, "what'd I miss?"

Sasuke stared down at the teacup in his hands and sighed. "Kakashi Sensei, Lord Hokage, and a few other jônin got together to analyze the attack at the bridge."

"And…?"

"And they weren't after the scroll."

"What were they after?"

He looked up from his cup, his gaze held mine, "Us."

My eyes grew and my breath caught in my throat. I don't remember when my cup slipped from my fingers, but when it crashed onto the floor, I came back to face reality. Sasuke jumped up to grab a towel as I picked up the shattered pieces of porcelain.

"We couldn't figure out who they were working for, though." Sasuke said, as he mopped up the tea puddle.

"Why would someone want to kill us?" I asked, fearing the answer.

"I don't know."

"I'll be back…I need air…"

Sasuke stood up with me. "You'll be okay by yourself?"

I smiled weakly at him, "Yeah." I walked out of the house, leaving Sasuke to clean up the tea. A storm of thoughts flashed through my mind as I walked slowly through the Mahou Forest, like pieces of a puzzle that I just couldn't put together.

"Who would want to kill us? Why? To break up the treaty? To restart the feud? Who hated our families that much? Is he one of Sasuke's enemies? But then, why would he want to kill me to? Because I'm married to him? Because we're friends? Who hates us that much? What motive is that important?"

I walked, lost in thought, trying to put the puzzle together. I didn't notice the pair of eyes following my every move.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, letting the peacefulness of the magic in the forest engulf me, surround me, fill and cloud my senses. And, in an instant, it was all gone.

Pain exploded over my back. I let out a pitiful cry as I tried to regain my composure. Reaching behind me, I pulled a kunai knife out of my back. Looking around me, I spotted my enemy to my right, fading out of the bushes. He laughed a little; a mask covered his nose and mouth, obscuring his voice so I wouldn't be able to recognize it later. He was clad in green and brown clothing, blending in with the trees around us. A ninja bandana covered his hair-if he had any- but I couldn't tell where he was from. The metal plate had no village symbol engraved on it.

All of my questions from earlier scattered furiously from my mind, I'll recall them later. I dropped my hand slowly to my leg, fingering for the pouch that held my weapons. I couldn't keep the fear and surprise from my face as the realization of reality hit me. I was alone and unarmed, facing an armed opponent. Sasuke would scold me for this later.

The man in front of me chuckled again before charging, he closed the small distance fast. I could barely keep my eyes on him. Unconsciously dropping the knife in my hand, I jumped out of the reach of his arm as it cut through the air. The pain in my back returned in another wave.

He came after me again, but this time I was ready for him. I blocked his punch to my stomach and followed it up with a knee to his groin. Faster than I thought possible, he lifted his knee to block my kick and at the same time, hit my sternum. I gasped for breath, as he grabbed my collar. He lifted me off the ground and punched me in the gut with inhuman strength. I flew out of his iron grip, my body slamming into a tree. I opened my mouth, allowing the bile and blood to spurt out. I slumped to the ground as my enemy charged at me again.

I put my hands on the ground on either side of me and leaned back onto the tree. When he was within reach, I focused my chakra to the balls of my feet and lifted myself off the ground; I shot out my legs and kicked him in the stomach. He flew backwards into a tree; but unlike me, his head whacked the trunk with a hollow thump.

Slowly, I stood up and glanced at the men. His chest rose and fell in rhythmic breathing. I started home, using the trees for support.

The beautiful forest that was always so tranquil before now loomed threateningly over me. A potential enemy hid behind every tree, every bush, and every rock as I stumbled along; my legs threatening to give out on me.

Finally, my house came into view. I looked with dread at the field that stood between me and the front gate. Exhausted, I took a step foreword, then another, then another. Years later, I made it to my yard; the gait was still ajar from when I left. My vision swam as I gripped a post, trying to regain my balance. After one more step foreword, I collapsed on the ground, too tired to move again.

After Katai left, Sasuke finished cleaning up the tea and sat down to read. He knew that she needed to be alone and allow her mind wrap around the information he just told her. He sat by the window to with a book, looking outside every few minutes anticipating her return.

"Grrr…Why am I doing this?" he thought, looking out the window again. "She'll come back when she's ready! Starring out the window wont help her return any faster! I'm acting like her boyfriend! We don't even like each other like that!"

"DO YOU REALLY?"

Sasuke took a deep breath, "Do I really?...Could I really?" He shook his head. "Impossible."

"IS IT REALLY?"

"Shut up heart." He started to return to his book when movement outside caught his attention. He looked outside again just in time to see Katai collapse in a heap on the grass, a giant blood stain on her back.

"Katai!" the Uchiha protégé dropped his book and in an instant and a puff of smoke, he was by her side.

There was a hole in her back that was bleeding profusely. Various cuts and bruises littered the rest of her body.

"Katai…" he whispered.

"Ugnnnn…"

Hope alighted in his eyes. "Katai?"

"Sasuke…" he leaned closer to hear her, "there's a…enemy…in forest…he's…unconscious."

Sasuke nodded, understanding what she wanted him to do. He told her to rest before taking off into the trees, following the path of blood Katai left behind. Though he wanted to stay with her, he knew that she would chastise him if he didn't go after their enemy.

"Ow…be careful."

"Well, if you'd stop moving it wouldn't hurt so much. What happened out there?"

Katai looked down, "Nothing."

"And that's why your back is wounded?"

"Yes."

Sasuke and Katai sat on a roughly made bench in their yard; a first aid kit lay beside Sasuke. Katai's black shirt was pulled up on her back, as high as modestly possible. Her back faced Sasuke as he wrapped a strip of gauze around her midsection in an attempt to stop the bleeding. He tightened the bandage, trying to ignore the thumping of his heart because of being so close to Katai, causing her to wince in pain.

"Done."

Katai sighed with relief as she slowly turned around, "Thanks." She placed her hand on her stomach, feeling the wrappings through her thin shirt. Looking down, she said, "There's something I want to…do. Could you take him to Lord Hokage?" Her eyes looked over to her attacker, who lay unconscious on the ground at the base of a nearby tree. Confused, Sasuke nodded. "Thanks."

Sasuke jumped off the bench just in time to catch her as she stumbled foreword. "Will you be okay? You should rest. Do what you need to do later."

Katai shook her head, saying that she needed to take care of this as soon as she can. Sasuke sighed, knowing that no matter how much he protested, she'll leave anyway. So he picked up the attacker and headed off to Lord Hokage's home, but, not before telling Katai to be more careful.

I slowly walked into the administration office at the Konohagakure Ninja Academy. The receptionist looked up from her paperwork, a chunin headband hung limply around her neck. "May I help you?"

I took a deep breath, knowing my decision would both haunt and humiliate me. "I'd like to enroll in the academy."

She looked at me as if I were an alien, only children were enrolled. "You?"

I nodded.

She laughed a little, "Why?"

"I was enrolled when I was younger, but my family pulled me out. But I'd still like to become a ninja."

She looked at me suspiciously, but handed me an enrollment form. "Fill this out; we'll put you in a class that fits your skill level."

"Thank you." I took the form and sat in an empty chair to fill it out. Thirty minutes later I walked out, my class schedule clutched in my hand.

The following week, I took a deep breath as I stood in front of the Ninja Academy again; just this time, I was surrounded by a bunch of little kids between the ages of five and ten. I defiantly stood out.

A lot has happened since I enrolled. I was taken in for questing; the Ombu Black Ops were still trying to figure out the mysteries behind the attacks. The guy that attacked me died before coming out of his coma; we still couldn't figure out where he was from. I also told Sasuke the details about the attack and he never lets me go anywhere without double checking that I was well armed. And now, I had to deal with being the oldest student in history to ever join the Academy.

I sighed for the hundredth time that day and walked to class. Luckily, Iruka Sensei didn't humiliate me by introducing me to the class. He just treated me like any other student; except for the first few weeks, when he let my take it easy when we were doing physical exercise because of my wounds. I hated that though, it was holding my back from my true potential. Little by little, I used my Fikusu Jutsu to heal my wounds. I knew that if I tried healing myself all at once, Sasuke would notice and lecture me about how I should conserve my energy for when I really needed it.

Soon though, I was running laps around the kids in my class, pushing myself to do all I could. I could feel my previous training come back to me as I further taught my body and mind to defend me.

Though, during the first weeks I attended the academy, I could never bring myself to tell Sasuke where I went everyday. Besides, I didn't think he noticed because he was always so busy training himself.

End.

Konki Jutsu Energy Technique