Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or else I wouldn't have killed my favorite ninja like Kishimoto-san! T-T
A/N: Look, I did it! First comeback update. There are no flying pigs, I promise. I present to you a story so far synopsis and Chapter 4, a long action filled chapter with Karin and Emiko!
I decided to recap a synopsis for you guys who haven't read in a while. To save you the trouble of re-reading, unless you want to.
Story so far: Emiko is Orochimaru's servant who has an odd secret relationship with him. A Stone Village/Iwagakure kunoichi whom he injected snake DNA into as a wild gamble test.
Orochimaru has become fixated on her snake like abilities, and healing abilities, which somewhat help his sealed arms. She's even giving Sasuke a run for his money in terms of capturing Orochimaru's interest. Sasuke could care less about his position, but he's become overly concerned with Emiko's, even cornering her in the hallway one night.
Emiko proves her worthiness of being Orochimaru's new prodege by defeating him in a spar. Emiko doesn't seem to reciprocate Sasuke's sudden interest, but she reveals it to Orochimaru who finds it interesting. The Sannin has a meeting with Team Hebi and Emiko about Emiko's pursuers coming from Iwagakure and are told to protect Emiko. Sasuke makes a bold move by apologizing to Emiko in the middle of the parlor and touching her. Afterwards, Kabuto and Orochimaru discuss how useful they find Emiko to be, and Kabuto questions his master's motives only to get scolded.
Karin and Emiko head out to take a refreshing time at the river. Karin accuses Emiko of seducing Sasuke and becomes suspicious. Will the girls have a good time without biting each others heads off? And what about Sasuke who seems to know more than he shows.
Chapter 4
"Karin!" Emiko exclaimed, marveling at how easy a sensor type shinobi could be caught off guard. Karin released Emiko's locks, and slowly put her hand back to her side, reaching for a weapon. The assaulter immediately caught onto her intentions and pressed the sword close enough for the kunoichi to feel the cold metal.
"I take it you're one of Orochimaru's underlings. No worries though 'cause we're just here to take back something he took from us." A male voice announced from behind Karin.
Emiko, who momentarily forgot that she was exposed due to the sudden confrontation, grabbed her kimono and tights. In most circumstances Emiko should not have been worried about clothing when a comrade's life was in danger, however she hadn't experienced situations in which she had to fight or flee in the nude. Doing something of the sort made her not only uncomfortable, but made her feel more vulnerable.
She felt that the shinobi might be more willing to talk as his first action rather than attack. Luckily, that bought her some time to throw on her clothes, disregarding her underwear in her haste.
"Something that belonged to you guys? Maybe I'm mistaken, but I thought Emiko was rightfully Orochimaru-Sama's." Karin remarked.
"Don't be snide, woman." The shinobi twisted Karin's arm around behind her back. Karin grunted, but didn't allow herself to seem weak. "Let her go!" Emiko hissed. The male shinobi turned his attention to Emiko, taking in her disturbingly snake-like appearance. "Y-You...what has that monstrous ninja done?" He questioned in shock.
"That monstrous ninja has given me new abilities and power." Emiko stated calmly. "How can you say that so easily when you were kidnapped from your village?" The shinobi asked in an almost scolding manner.
Emiko was quick to rebut, " The methods may have been dirty, but...but I admire the power he's given me." She declared. "Power? Since when have you been caught up with power?" The male asked.
"I haven't been. It's just a bonus though. Besides I still have a long way to go." Emiko stated, looking down at the dirt underneath her.
Leaves rattled as three more shinobi landed around them. "You found her! I guess this will be a breeze, contrary to what we thought." One shinobi commented. "Don't get too excited. It seems like she's quite reluctant." The male that was restraining Karin responded. "Emiko, so are you saying you enjoy staying here and serving as an underling to that ninja?" He questioned.
"I'm not an underling...I'm a disciple." Emiko stated firmly. Karin laughed at this. "So confident in that belief!"
Emiko didn't respond to Karin, but stood up to properly voice her point. "You do understand what you're saying is no better than treason, right?" The man inquired, warning in his voice.
"Well, if Iwagakure was more attentive and careful I wouldn't have gotten into this fix in the beginning. So it's safe to assume who's fault it is." Emiko hissed.
"What?! How dare you speak of your own village like that?!" A shinobi snapped, leaping from the trees at Emiko out of anger.
"Don't Uso!" The man who seemed to be calling the shots, and doing all of the talking warned, but to no avail. Instead of aiming at her attacker, Emiko sent a snake flying towards Karin, which wrapped around the male shinobi's arm, constricting it to a point in which the sword was moved slightly away from Karin's throat.
Karin elbowed the man in the stomach, causing him to release his grip on her, then tossed a kunai at Uso, the ninja heading for Emiko. The kunai pierced his shoulder, earning a groan from the shinobi. He then used his other arm to swipe a kunai at Emiko. The kunoichi deflected it with a kunai of her own. She gave the man an uppercut to the jaw and more snakes appeared to restrain him.
"How rash. That's what you get for being hotheaded, Uso!" Their team leader scolded. The leader repositioned the sword in his grip, giving Karin a stare down. "Karin! Let's move!" Emiko exclaimed.
Without hesitation the two kunoichi took to the trees behind them. "Don't let them escape no matter what! Take her back by force if you have to!" The leader demanding earning rogers of approval.
"Karin, let's try not to kill them." Emiko said, as they leapt from branch to branch. "Tch, easier said than done." Karin scoffed, and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Please, Karin. Even if we aren't on good terms because of that misunderstanding. I'd like to not shed blood unless absolutely necessary." Emiko reasoned.
"Misunderstanding? You just won't admit it will you?" Karin chided. "We need to work together Karin. I'm sure I can take them but we don't need either of us to get captured." Emiko stated.
"I know that. Are you doubting my abilities?" Karin asked, skeptical of Emiko's intentions.
"No. Just making sure. I'm trusting you then Karin." Emiko huffed.
"Hmph. Same. But only because Orochimaru-Sama ordered this." Karin spoke. "Listen up Emiko. I'm sure they're after you, but I'm positive they want to find out where the hideout is. They're itching to get intel on Orochimaru-Sama. So, let's lead them as far away from the hideout as possible. But don't make it obvious, create a maze between us and the hideout."
"Got it." Emiko replied. Just as she finished speaking a large fuma shuriken appeared, going straight in between the two kunoichi, missing them both. However, the shuriken cut through the tree branch, causing Emiko was on the outer part to fall.
"Emiko!" Karin exclaimed. "I'll be okay!" Emiko reassured. Karin dodged as she was swung at by a fist and a kunai, running out of room on the broken branch, she took a hit to the face. She carefully side stepped the next hit, as to not fall off and kicked the other shinobi in the stomach, causing him to collide with the tree trunk. She leaped to the next branch, and threw a shuriken at the ninja's feet as soon as he stood, causing him to loose balance and fall. Acting fast Karin threw kunai, hoping her arm was as good as she needed it to be and pinned the shinobi to a tree, using his clothes as leverage.
Karin smirked at her clever plan, then tried to locate Emiko. She found Emiko leaping through trees several meters away, exchanging attacks with an Iwa nin. As they moved further, they moved lower in the trees and closer to the ground. Suddenly she was bombarded with several kunai and shuriken at once. She did her best to dodge as many as she could, but some grazed over her skin, only two were impaled though; one in her thigh and another in her arm.
Emiko sent a snake flying towards the Iwa nin, striking him on the side. The ninja fell to the ground in pain, the height enough to hurt but not enough to seriously wound him. "Don't worry." Emiko consoled. "The bit won't kill you. But you may find it hard to move." She said, and was right, as the ninja tried his best to get to his feet but failed.
"Why are you doing this?" He asked, his face resting on the soil. "Because I don't wish to be captured. Whether it's to be taken back to the village or to be killed as a traitor. But I don't wish to kill you all." Emiko spoke, leaning down and prying her infant snake off of the man's body.
"Heh. So even when turned into a creature you still have feelings." He commented. Emiko narrowed her eyes, but didn't respond. She spun around and blocked a punch. Another one of the ninjas had arrived. "Think about us! You traitor!" It was Uso, from earlier.
"I do, but that doesn't give me the urge to return. Just let me do as I wish for now. I don't hold any ill intentions towards Iwa. But, I must do this first." Emiko said as she jumped to avoid a low kick, delivering a kick of her own to Uso's face just a foot away.
"Don't be so selfish!" The male shinobi screamed. He put his hands together to form hand seals and created an earth release technique. His entire body began to petrify and turn to stone. A piece of stone extended towards Emiko and she jumped out of the way as the heavy stone hit the ground.
Another aimed at her, this time from a different side. She got up to dodge, but found her feet stuck inside of a pool of mud. Glancing behind her she saw the Iwa Team's leader had caught up to her. "I apologize, but maybe the transition will go smoother if you're out for just a bit." He spoke smugly.
Emiko noticed that she could touch the ground around her, it was just her feet were stuck and immobile. Pulling out a kunai she slashed her finger open. She made a few hand
signs then grabbed hold of whatever ground she could. Annika appeared just in time, shielding her mistress from the shinobi's attack.
"Annika. I'm not sure how much I can do against that armor of stone. So I'll have you take care of it. Only do enough to get him down, nothing more." Emiko ordered her serpent. The serpent obeyed, charging in to take on the shinobi.
Emiko felt a body hit her, as she flew to the side. She opened her eyes after regaining her breath and saw Karin laying on top of her. She had pried her from her muddy prison, at the cost of sacrificing Emiko's shoes.
They both stood, standing on guard. "Yo!" Emiko greeted Karin. "Looks like I ended up protecting you after all." Karin mumbled. "Looks like it. Thanks." Emiko said, managing a smile. Karin however couldn't return the gesture, she only nodded.
The kunoichi exchanged glances and then as if reading the other's mind, charged at the male shinobi before them. The shinobi dodged Karin's kunai, punching her in the stomach as payback for earlier. Emiko punched him in the jaw, causing him to stumble back. He grabbed Emiko's wrist and jerked her forward, letting her face collide with his fist. She fell onto her back, but quickly regained her composure.
Emiko sent a trio of snakes flying out of her sleeves, towards the male shinobi who had his back towards her. He noticed them, grabbing Karin he spun around, using Karin as a shield. "Karin!" Emiko cried. She had sent venomous snakes at the man to compensate for his size in order to leave him paralyzed, but if she hit Karin there's no doubt she would be affected.
Karin somehow managed to spin in the man's hold and deliver a knee in between his legs. She skid out of the way on the ground, but was nicked by one of the snakes fangs. "Karin!" Emiko ran over to the kunoichi. "I'm fine." Karin reassured. Emiko sighed in relief then let out a hiss.
"Using your enemies comrades to gain the advantage is low!" She looked towards the male shinobi who only shrugged. Another snake extended from Emiko's sleeve and wrapped itself around the leader's body, she picked him up and threw him into a nearby tree.
Glancing up at Annika she saw the snake had successfully broken the stone armor and brought her opponent to his knees. Emiko heard the leader mumble something incoherent and turned to question him. "What was that?"
"I said, that Orochimaru has turned you into quite a creature, hasn't he?" The Iwa Team Leader responded. Emiko stayed silent and looked over at Karin. "Let's go, Karin." She said. Karin nodded, getting up they both returned to the tree tops.
'Creature, huh?' The thought ran through Emiko's mind.
"So that makes four. Is that all?" Karin asked, almost staggering to keep up. "That's all we saw, but we can never be too sure." Emiko responded skeptically. Emiko felt herself having no problem with Karin. In their short venture together Emiko felt that Karin was really trying to work together with her and protect each other. Maybe she had forgotten all about that Sasuke theory.
Emiko began to voice some of her thoughts on what just happened. "I do find it odd how they think I'm such a creature. I think I'm pretty human in most ways. I haven't gone cold to the world like Orochi-" Emiko was caught off by Karin.
"Watch out!" She cried, as they landed on a tree branch, Karin grabbed Emiko by the shoulders and leaped backwards with her. There was an explosion, engulfing the spot they were just at and pushing them backwards. The fire was blinding and Karin lost her grip on Emiko. Everything went deaf.
What seemed like a few minutes later Karin awoke to see an Iwa kunoichi hovering above her. Not having much time to regain her sense, Karin did the first thing her instincts lead her to do. She rolled out of the way and drew a kunai. She then stood and increased the distance between them.
"You're pretty defensive from someone who was just blow away." The kunoichi stated.
Karin examined herself and saw that the kunoichi was right. She had some bruises from the explosion. "That was pretty dangerous. I thought you were trying to capture her, not kill her." Karin said.
"That's true, but you guys were giving us a hard time. Evading this and evading that. So we decided to step it up a notch." The Iwa kunoichi giggled.
"A notch? I bet." Karin's voice was laced with sarcasm. "I had told Emiko I wouldn't kill you guys, but it seems like if you are gonna go this far I have no choice."
"Huh? How noble. Yet, cocky. Just because you defeated the others doesn't mean we will go down easy." The kunoichi spoke, charging at Karin.
'We? There's more of you guys?'
Karin took her stance, but felt herself suddenly in pain. She fell to her knees, trying her best to keep her eyes on the target. She was failing, as her vision was becoming more blurry with every step her attacker took.
'Shit.'
There was a crash as the familiar large snake appeared and rammed into the Iwa kunoichi sending her flying to the ground, unconscious. "E-Emiko...Glad to see you made it." Karin struggled to say.
"Karin, I'm sorry about earlier. It's because you were scratched by one of my snakes venomous fangs. Even though it was just a scratch and not a bite, you're probably not used to this so you're body is going to be a bit harder to control." Emiko said, sighing.
"It's fine. I won't die, right?" Karin quizzed the snake-like kunoichi.
"No, but I'm sure it won't be too comfortable." Emiko replied. Karin chuckled.
"Listen, there are probably some more Iwa nins out there. If I'm with you I'll only slow you down. I don't want you to get caught or hurt and I'm to blame. Orochimaru-Sama will be pissed." Karin concluded. "So just leave me here and keep hunting them. You can come back when they are all down."
"What? Are you sure about this? Will you be okay?" Emiko asked, feeling guilty for Karin's current state.
"I'm part of Team Hebi...of course." Karin let herself fall onto her back, her body weak and in pain.
Emiko smirked. "You're right. I'll go finish this."
Emiko disappeared. Karin was staring up at the clouds silently for the next few minutes. She heard a rustle through the bushes. She had been to out of it to keep up with her surroundings and nearby chakra. She wanted to reach for her kunai, but her body was stubborn against moving, so she just lay there.
"It's embarrassing to see you look so pitiful, Karin."
A voice sounded and Karin wanted to bolt upright out of embarrassment, ironically. Why did he of all people have to see her like this? Would he help her? Probably not. Sasuke stood over her looking not the least bit impressed. "Where's Emiko? Is she alright?" He questioned.
'First person he asks about is Emiko when I'm in his face in pain? Cold, Sasuke. . do I look that pitiful to you?' Karin thought, disappointment soaring through her body.
A/N: So, what did you guys think? Let me know! I do hope you like it. I pulled another all nighter just to re-read, plot out, and make this. Although it was more action focused with Karin and Emiko than romance focused with Sasuke or Oro, I wanted to give you something long to somewhat make up for the hiatus. Someone had commented that they would like to see Karin and Emiko work together, so they did. ^^ I wanna thank all you guys who have favorited and reviewed up until now. I want to give a special shout out to LuxLux1, smurfflynn, marauderslashlover, xXChirushiXx, AsiaHolics who all reviewed in 2012, years after my last update! Thanks guys, and everyone else! This chapter was dedicated to all those still reading. Expect the next chapter soon!
Ja ne
xXChirushiXx