Chapter 3 A Snake in the Grass
I stared up at the Forest of Death. The trees tangled and intertwined with each other like the vines that hung from their branches. The trees and plants were so clustered together that you could barely see the sky.
"So this is the forest of death." I looked over at my teammates. "I like it."
"Of course you do." He said as he looked over. "Hey, check that out."
I looked over as well to see Anko licking some blood off of Naruto's face.
"Looks like someone else I know" Kyoya continued and looked at me.
"Shut up, Kyoya-san! Leave me and my blood obsession alone!"
Anko began to explain some stuff about consent forms. She handed the forms to Naruto, who began to pass them around, and continued on about the exam. Basically, it was a survival, fight to the death version of capture the flag. I grabbed consent forms for my teammates and myself as they passed.
"Heh, teams with missing members can't pass. You guys better not die on me." I joked.
"Same goes for you, Izayoi!" Kyoya shot back.
"Hah!! As if!" I said, laughing. "I've trained under Itachi-san of the Akatsuki!! There's no way these morons can beat me!!"
I later regretted those words.
Our gate number was 22 and our scroll was heaven. The scroll was small and you could tell it had been used before. I couldn't help but wonder what was on the inside. I was curious, though, but not stupid. We didn't wait long before they released us.
"Our aim is the jinchuuriki, correct?" Mikami asked, a bit of excitement crept into his voice.
I nodded. "That's out top priority. The scroll is just an after thought."
We ran around for what seemed like hours but we didn't even catch a glimpse of Naruto. Although we couldn't find our target, we challenged quickly.
"Hey!" A voice called out from behind us.
The three of us turned to see a group of nasty looking Konoha shinobi. The tallest one had a huge scar across his face and the other two had stitched up scars on their arms and face.
"Yeah, you Amegakure brats." The tallest one said, he must have been in his late teens or early twenties.
"What do you want?" Kyoya asked, not sound interested in the least bit.
The shinobi smirked. "We want your scroll and to see your blood stain the forest floor!"
He was obviously the ring leader of the group. He seemed to be the only one talking and the other two stayed ever so slightly behind him.
"You've certainly got balls saying that to us!" I said, amused by his confidence.
"You're pretty cocky, huh? And you're not half bad looking. It'd be a shame to kill you. I'd give up your scroll and we'll let you off easy."
I laughed. "Are you gonna talk us to death or what? We don't take orders from asses like you!"
The leader's smile vanished. "Fine, kid, you asked for it!"
He reached back to get a weapon but my knee met his face before he could grab one. His whole body flew back and he slammed, head first, into a tree. His companions stared at me, their mouth gaping open. I ignored them at walked towards there leader. I reached down, grabbed him by the collar of his robe, and lifted him into the air. I glared up at him.
"A sharingan!?" He choked out. "N-no way!"
I let him go and planted my fist into his stomach. He slammed into the tree again, and, to be honest, I felt sorrier for the tree than him. I took hold of the dagger attached to his arm and slit his throat open. He body crumpled to the ground like a broken marionette. I tossed the dagger and licked off the blood that splattered onto my arm. I turned around to see that my teammates had already finished off the underlings. Mikami held up their scroll.
"It's heaven, no use to us." He said.
"Oh well, grab it anyway." I said shrugging and he pocketed it.
I stared back at the person I had just killed. I hadn't been able to let lose in a while and I wondered if I had overdid it.
--
"Izayoi-sama." A voice called out to me.
I opened my eyes slowly and looked over. Mikami was sitting next to me. I rubbed my eyes.
"What time is it?" I asked groggily.
"12:00" He responded.
I sat up. "12:00!? In the morning?!" I looked around but saw no signs of Kyoya.
"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?! Where's Kyoya-san?!"
Mikami pointed up. I looked to see Kyoya seated on the branch above me. He tossed me an apple and took a bite out of his own.
"We'll look for the jinchuuriki soon, Izayoi-sama." Mikami said, smiling his sweet smile.
I smiled back. Mikami was quite but over all he was a nice kid. I finished up my apple and stood up. I gathered up my equipment and looked back up a Kyoya.
"Alright," I said. " let's go look for the nine-tails."
"So, you are looking for Naruto-kun." A voice said from behind me.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and my skin began to crawl. I broke into a cold sweat and my pulse began to echo in my ears. I turned slowly.
"O-Orochimaru." I breathed out as I stared into those eye that I utterly hated. Utterly despised.
He was smiling that sadistic smile that never seemed to leave his face.
"It's been a long time, Karasu-hime." He greeted.
Avoid eye contact, I told myself, avoid eye contact. Hell, I wish I could avoid him all together.
Kyoya jumped to the ground and Mikami stood up.
"What the hell do you want, Orochimaru?!" He growled.
"Well, I was curious as to why the Akatsuki would be mixed up in the chunnin exams, but know I know." He answered simply.
I gathered my nerve together. "Why are you here?" I asked. "Are you still planning to destroy Konoha?!"
Orochimaru began to slowly advance towards us. Normally, I would have backed up but there was a stupid tree behind me.
"Actually, I am but the reason I'm here is to leave my mark on a certain child."
I searched my head for someone who might catch Orochimaru's interest. I gasped. "Uchiha Sasuke!" I whispered.
Mikami looked over at me, then back at Orochimaru. He pulled out a tanto and took on a offensive stance.
"Something tells me you're not here to say 'hi'"
I pulled out my sai and Kyoya put on his brass knuckles. Orochimaru laughed.
"Yes, you are quite correct." His hair fell across his face so that only his right eye was visible. "I'm here to make sure Akatsuki doesn't interfere with my plans."
Kyoya was the first to charge. He thrust a fist at Orochimaru's face but Orochimaru calmly spun to the side on his heel, avoiding the attack. He then took a firm hold of Kyoya's arm and held it in a way that showed he meant to break it. Mikami attacked, aiming his blade at Orochimaru's stomach. Orochimaru effortlessly swung Kyoya at his attacker, sending to two of them straight back to the tree in a crumpled heap. It wasn't until then that he realized I was gone.
I was about to drive my sai into Orochimaru's back but he spun around, aiming to kick me. I blocked the attack, disappeared and reappeared behind him once again. I trust my right blade forward. Orochimaru turned, grabbed my arm and slammed me into the earth. I felt blood gather in the back of my throat and I coughed up when I gasped. I quickly wiped the blood from my mouth and tried to grab Orochimaru's leg when I turned onto my stomach. He moved his leg and brought it back down on my hand. I cried out in pain.
A recovered Kyoya tackled the bastard in the side, causing Orochimaru to lose his balance for a split second. Mikami appeared behind him a managed to cut his shoulder. Orochimaru jumped back, bit his thumb and smeared the blood across his summoning tattoo. Two snakes about fifteen feet long, a foot around appeared. One slithered up a coiled itself around Mikami.
"Mikami-san!!" I called out.
I stood up and ran to help him but the second snake restrained me. I watched as Orochimaru continuously beat Kyoya, not giving him a chance to fight back. With much effort I managed to free one arm. I reached back into my utensil pouch and pulled out a kunai with a letter bomb attached. Just as I threw it the snake recoiled around my arm, throwing off my aim. Orochimaru saw the bomb and moved.
"Kyoya-san!! Get out of there!!" I called out too late.
Kyoya barley had enough time to move when the bomb exploded. The trees and plant life around us lit up with the light of destruction. When the smoke cleared, Kyoya was lying face down in the dirt. He wasn't breathing.
"Kyoya-san…." I whispered.
I looked over at Mikami, only to see the snake bite him in the throat. He began to scream but it wasn't long before he fell silent. The snake disappeared and Mikami feel limply to the ground.
"Mikami-san!!" His sweet smile flashed through my mind.
Kyoya was dead because of me and Mikami because I couldn't help him. They were under me which meant I had to protect them but…..but…..
Heh, teams with missing members can't pass. You guys better not die on me.
I felt tears spill down my face.
"I didn't mean it…" I whispered. "I didn't mean it!!"
What seemed like slow motion to me, Orochimaru turned towards me with his sadistic smile. He started toward me. I wondered how he planned to kill me. I didn't care, though, as long as it was quick. I had never feared death. I glared up at the man I hated when he came to a stop in front of me. He brushed my bangs away from my face and I flinched.
"I don't plan on killing you." He said soothingly as he ran his hand along my cheek (ewwwwww).
I barley had time to get out a "what" when I felt fangs sink into my neck. I gasped. Then snake that had restrained me slowly began to uncoil itself. I felt all my energy, all my chakra drain away. Orochimaru pulled back and my legs gave out.
Where he had bite me began to hurt. The pain spread, crawling through my skin like a million needles. I tried to ignore it, tried to will it away as I bite down on my lip but it was too much. I began to scream out in agony. I wriggled on ground screaming and clawing at earth and air alike. I watched as Orochimaru's feet turned and walked away. I dug my nails into the earth, still screaming. Maybe he had meant to kill me after all. Then finally, I passed out.