Round Two!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; however I do own Akemi, Yukiko and Rukia. And the Shīringu is mine and mine alone!
Summary: "When I died and came into the Naruto universe, I didn't think that I would be able to change much. I also thought that if I told anyone that they wouldn't believe me and I definitely didn't think that I could get a Kekkei Genkai either. But I was wrong on all accounts and I could not be happier." SEQUEL!
NARUTO SHIPPUDEN
The next day had arrived, and a half hour before noon, we left. In each of our bags was the essentials, like water, dried food, a sleeping bag, weapons and all the other things needed. We wondered how many people would actually figure out the puzzle. I hope it wasn't many, less competition. As sneakily as we could, we slipped out of our apartment and made our way to the Southern Border of Suna. Sasuke had his Sharingan activated while I had my Shīringu activated, no one was going to get past us. As a diversion just in case, Naruto made up three sets of Shadow Clones disguised as us to lead people astray.
As we ran to the Southern Border, Sasuke looks around, "No one is following us."
I nod my head, "They're following the Clones, nice thinking Naruto-kun."
Naruto grins, "No problem!"
Sasuke sent Naruto a scathing look for being so loud, but Naruto ignored the Uchiha.
It wasn't long before we made it to the Southern Border. We snuck past the guards and made our way outside of Suna. It was there that we found a few other teams waiting there too. Most were under the shade away from the sunlight. I looked around to see how many people where here, there were twenty-one people here, including myself and my team, which meant there were seven teams that passed. Following their example, we stood under the shade that a three provided. There weren't many trees in the Suna terrain, but I was thankful for this one. The only other shade there was from the wall of Suna, which was getting taken up my more people as the time passed.
"Who do you think passed then?" Naruto asks us in a hushed voice.
I shrug, "I don't know, I hope Konohamaru made it though." I couldn't see him though which worried me.
"Look," Sasuke says getting our attention, "it's that girl."
Both I and Naruto look and see Rika and her teammates. The girl that for some reason hated me. Rika seemed to feel our gazes and turned to look at us. I smiled and waved at her, the shocked look on her face was enough to satisfy me.
"Why did you wave and smile?" Naruto asks me confused.
Sasuke smirks, "Mind games."
"Bingo." I say, a small smirk making its way onto my face.
Naruto laughs slightly, "You're evil Akemi-chan."
I grin at him, "Thank you for noticing."
Another few minutes passed, and the second part of the exam was going to begin soon. Naruto was looking around for Konohamaru and his team. I don't blame him for being worried, I don't know if Konohamaru understood the information he got and Naruto said that Udon and Moegi didn't really understand the information they got either.
A minute before the exam was going to start another team made an appearance and not too far behind, Konohamaru and his team crash through and land in a pile. When they saw everyone looking at them, they blushed and looked away. Konohamaru looks around and spots us. "Hey!" He shouts and runs over with his teammates following behind.
"I see you made it then." I say with a sigh of relief. With them in the exams that made it nine teams that had passed.
"It was really hard to find though." Moegi says with a pout.
"But we just followed someone." Konohamaru comments with a grin on his face.
Sasuke and I share a look. That means they probably didn't bring any provisions with them. Naruto just chuckles and pats Konohamaru on the back, "Almost thought you weren't going to make it."
Konohamaru pouts at Naruto and huffs.
Suddenly, a dark shadow flew above us. My head shoots up immediately as everyone else's does to have a look. A dark shadow flew down and made its way in front of all of us. The shadow seemed to be riding a large fan. The person jumped off the fan to reveal Temari. Temari was now eighteen years old. She stood taller than either of her brother and she skin still held a light tone. She now wore a short-sleeved, black kimono that reaches down to her legs, with slits along the side and a more revealing neckline. Around her waist she wears a red sash and wears fingerless black gloves. Temari now wore her black Hitaiate on her forehead.
Temari grabbed her fan and placed it on her back, "Listen here! This is the start of the second part of the Chunin exam!"
If she didn't have everyone's attention with her entrance, she definitely had it now. "Your next test will be about survival. Chunin will be thrown into hostile environments at any time, you need to be prepared." Temari warns us all with a sharp look.
Unlike Satoshi, no one sassed Temari. They all stayed quiet and waited for her to be done. I don't blame them to be honest. I have a feeling that Temari is more ferocious then Satoshi ever could be.
"Your task is to survive three days in a hostile terrain, if you survive then you win." Temari continues with a hard look.
"So the test is to survive this desert?" Someone asks Temari.
Temari smirked and laughed, "That would be too easy. No, your task isn't to survive this desert. It's to survive this." Temari looks up and nods her head. I follow her line and sight and look on top of the wall. Gaara was standing there looking down, when he saw Temari nod her head, he outstretched his hands and moved them upwards.
The ground began to shake beneath us. Konohamaru jumped onto Naruto for safety while I grabbed Sasuke to steady myself on the shoulder. Sasuke also gripped onto me to steady himself. There were a few screams or terror, mainly from Konohamaru as the sand behind Temari rose. The sand behind Temari was lifted into the air until it stood nearly as tall as the walls around Suna. The sand began to be moulded until it stopped. When the shaking had stopped, Sasuke let go of me immediately and I let go of him.
My eyes widen as I look at what was in front of me.
"This is what you'll be trying to survive." Temari says with a smirk on her face. She kind of reminded me on Anko a bit.
"What is it?" Someone asks.
"This my dear is a maze made of sand." Temari answers, "You have two days to make it to the end or go down with the sand when it's torn down."
Konohamaru jumps out of Naruto's arms and looks at the maze in awe. I hear cursing from other teams. They didn't sound too happy.
"Will there be anything in there with us?" I ask raising my voice so I would be heard.
Temari turns to me and grins. "Maybe."
I'll take that as a yes.
Temari looked at her brother again and nodded her head. A door appeared behind Temari, this was the entrance to the maze. "Any volunteers?" Temari asks with a sly look.
No one stepped forward.
"You will begin the test when I say go," Temari says looking at us all. She then turned her attention to her watch.
Naruto, Sasuke and I share a look. We stood up straighter and we get ready.
"I hope you all have enough provisions because this maze doesn't offer any food." Temari tells us all with a stoic look.
Some teammates have a worried look on their face while others looked confident.
"On my mark!" Temari yells taking her fan off her back.
Other teams lean forward, getting ready to run.
"Go!" Temari yells jumping up on her fan and flying away to her brother.
I and Naruto were about to run in, but Sasuke grabs our arms. I look at him confused, "What?" I ask him.
Sasuke shakes his head.
I and Naruto share a look, but we decide to trust Sasuke's decision to wait. We stood back and watched. One team, one from the Rain charged forward. Konohamaru looks at us when we didn't move, "Aren't you going in?" He asks us.
Sasuke shakes his head, "Watch."
And that we did. The Rain team ran into the maze, they didn't even get ten steps into the maze before a Sandworm appeared from the wall and ate the Rain team. My jaw dropped, I didn't even know that they existed! It was like something you'd see in a movie. The Sandworm wasn't that long, but it was definitely wide and had five sets of teeth. With them gone, that made put the numbers down to eight teams.
"Holy shit." I whisper in shock.
"What the hell was that?!" Konohamaru shouts.
Naruto looks to Sasuke, "How did you know?"
"The ground started to shake slightly before it struck. I wouldn't have noticed though if Akemi hadn't asked if there was anything in there joining us." Sasuke explains with a stoic look.
Konohamaru looks at us, "C-can we stay with you?" Moegi and Udon were nodding their heads in agreement. They didn't want to be left alone with that thing out there.
"Of course." Naruto answers with a large grin.
"It looks like we aren't the only people who are making alliances." I say looking around. Other teams were joining up with people. People from Suna were teaming up with Rain ninja and other Leaf ninja were teaming up with Sound Ninja.
"They think there is safety in numbers." Sasuke says.
I look to Konohamaru, "Did you bring any provisions?"
Moegi looks down guilty, "We did, but only some to last one day…" She was the one who got the provisions information, but she hadn't understood properly.
Konohamaru pats her on the back, "Its fine Moegi, you didn't know."
"We wouldn't have known either if it wasn't for Naruto-kun." I say also patting Moegi's back.
"Besides, we brought enough for five days." Naruto says to reassure them.
"Why five days?" Udon asks wiping his nose.
Sasuke answers him, "Just a precaution."
I roll my eyes at his short answer, "What he means to say is that last time we had to survive five days in a forest. We used that as an example and brought food for that many days."
"So it was an easy mistake to make?" Moegi asks hopefully.
I nod my head, "Sure it is."
I could see that Sasuke disagreed with me with the way he was scowling. I elbow him in the gut, "Don't you dare say anything." I whisper over to him.
Sasuke grumbles but doesn't say anything.
"It'll be fine, don't worry." Naruto says to reassure Konohamaru and his team.
"I don't think we should be discussing this though." Sasuke says suddenly.
Konohamaru and his team look to Sasuke, "What do you mean?" Udon asks.
"We don't want to become targets. If other teams find out we have more food then we could become targets." Sasuke explains to us.
I nod my head in agreement, "That makes sense. Without food and water you aren't going to last in this maze, in this heat especially."
"That's why people will try and complete it within a day." Naruto says after some thought.
"And if there was any ambushes, it would be now or tomorrow." I say looking at the people entering the maze. This would be the time other teams would ambush for food. They're at full strength and the food they need hasn't been eaten yet. Or, they would ambush at night, when everyone was asleep and steal the food.
Konohamaru looks confused, "So what do we do?"
"We send Clones in our place to snuff out any ambushes." Sasuke says, "And then we either slip past them and attack or just run."
"I think attacking them. It would be best to get rid of the competition and take what food they have, if they have any." I say. Choji would have hated this challenge, I think he would have killed people for food. I look around and see that we were the only people left who hadn't entered the maze yet.
With a plan agreed, we ran into the maze. When we were in, the sand door closed, sealing us in.
NARUTO SHIPPUDEN
Third person's POV
Temari landed on top of Suna's wall gracefully. She hooked her fan into her sash behind her and turned to face her brother. "What's with the face?" She asks placing her hands on her hips.
Gaara turns to face his sister, "What face?"
Temari sent him a knowing look, "You're worried."
Gaara sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I am."
"Is it about the Akatsuki?" Temari asks stepping closer to her brother, "because we're here to protect you."
Gaara shakes his head, "I'm not worried about the Akatsuki."
Temari looks at Gaara confused, "Then what is it?"
Gaara doesn't answer. He just stares down into the maze that he had just created. Temari was confused until she followed his line of sight. Temari looked down into the maze were Gaara was looking at so intently. She saw Naruto, Sasuke, Akemi and three other people fighting. There had obviously been an ambush from the Grass Ninja, probably wanting their provisions. But Naruto, Akemi and Sasuke obviously had the advantage with the way they were fighting. It wasn't long before they defeated their opponents and ran off.
"You're worried about them?" Temari asks again.
Gaara still stayed quiet and continued to stare down.
Temari looked at what he was watching. She was confused at first, until she saw Akemi look up at them and wave at them. She saw as Gaara blushed and looked away, but not before waving back at her very shyly.
"Oh I see." Temari smirks crossing her arms.
Gaara looks up to his sister, "What do you mean?"
"You like Akemi." Temari says with a teasing smirk.
Gaara blushes. "N-no"
Temari laughs slightly at her brother's behaviour.
"Temari!" Gaara tries to scold, but the blush on his face only made Temari laugh slightly harder. By the time Temari calmed down, she had tears running down her face.
"I-I'm sorry." Temari says calming down. She wipes the tears away from her face, "It's just fun to tease you."
Gaara huffs and looks away from his sister.
"Are you worried about her then?" Temari asks.
Gaara nods his head stiffly, "I'm worried that she may get hurt."
"Wow." Temari says, "I just never thought you'd like her."
Gaara looks to her, "And why's that?"
Temari shrugs her shoulders, "I just didn't think you'd go for someone so…loud. I thought you'd go for someone quieter."
"She's not that loud." Gaara grumbles under his breathe. He could name loads of people that were louder than Akemi, like his sister.
Temari rolls her eyes, "I'm only teasing, don't worry."
Gaara sighs, he didn't think he'd be able to handle her teasing.
"So when you going to tell her?" Temari asks suddenly.
Gaara's usually composed nature was out the window. "T-TEMARI!"
Temari throws her head back and laughs at her younger brother's reaction. "Oh my god that was so good!"
Gaara's face was as red as his hair. He looks down and uses the Kazekage's hat to cover his red face. "S-shut up."
Temari calms down, "But seriously, when?"
"W-well did you tell any of your crushes that you liked them?" Gaara asks trying to get the attention from him.
"Sure I did," Temari shrugs, "but they never liked me back because I was either too much of a tomboy or because they were afraid."
Gaara lowers his head.
"B-but that was okay!" Temari says quickly to reassure her brother. "There are people out there that accept me!"
Gaara lifts his head, "And you think she will?"
"Gaara, her best friend is a Jinchuuriki too, I don't think that matters to her." Temari says with a smile.
Gaara nods his head slightly feeling more reassured.
"So, when you going to tell her?" Temari grins and leans forward.
Instead of freaking out like last time, he thinks. "Before she leaves." Gaara says.
NARUTO SHIPPUDEN
Back to Akemi's POV
Just as we had predicted, there was an ambush as soon as we stepped into the Sand Maze. They were Grass Ninja, which left a sour taste in my mouth. Just thinking about the events that took place in the Forest of Death hadn't just left its mark on me, but Naruto and Sasuke. When the Grass Ninja ambushed us, I sent Konohamaru and his team to hide until it was dealt with. Only when the ambush was finished did I tell Konohamaru and his team to come out of hiding.
"Did they have any supplies?" I ask Naruto who was routing through their pockets.
Naruto shakes his head, "Nothing."
"That's why they attacked us, to get our supplies." Sasuke says giving the unconscious Grass Ninja dirty looks. He felt a wave of hate looking at the Grass ninja, remembering how the snake masqueraded as one.
"That was awesome!" Konohamaru shouts with a grin filled with glee.
Naruto laughs and tells him how it was easy. While Konohamaru and his team were entranced by Naruto, I look to Sasuke. "Why were you so hard on them?" I ask him.
Sasuke crosses his arms, "I don't know what you are talking about."
I roll my eyes at him, "You know exactly what I'm talking about."
"Hm."
"Is it because they didn't bring any supplies, because we have plenty." I say to Sasuke.
Sasuke sighs, "It's not that."
"Then what is it?" I ask slightly frustrated. Why is it that the Uchiha's find a way to make me mad or irritated.
"They didn't figure it out on their own." Sasuke mumbles with an unhappy look on his face.
I was confused at first, but then it dawned to me. "You think they're getting an easy ride while we went through hell last time, isn't it?"
Sasuke clenched his fists.
I sigh and place my hand on his shoulder, "Sasuke, last time was different. Usually there isn't a homicidal maniac in every Chunin exams. If we could have got some help, would you have taken it?" I ask him.
Sasuke shakes his head, "I would want to get through the exams through mine and my teams merit, not because I was in a larger group."
I understood what he was saying. If it wasn't Konohamaru and his team I wouldn't have joined with them. I would have told them to do it themselves, so I understood. But it was Konohamaru and his team, and this exam seemed a little harder than normal. I'm surprised this amount of people turned out with the first test being so difficult.
"I hear what you're saying, but just be civil, please." I plead with him.
Sasuke purses his lip and sighs, "Fine."
I smile at him, "Thanks."
Konohamaru looks in mine and Sasuke's direction. He urges Naruto down to his level so he can whisper in his ear. "Are they together?"
Naruto laughs slightly, "No, Sasuke and Akemi-chan are not together."
The hairs at the back of my neck went up. I whirled round, "Who said we were?!" I shout at Naruto. I was embarrassed more than anything, I mean why would he assume that?! However because I was turned, I failed to see Sasuke blush and look the other way.
"He was just asking." Naruto says with a sheepish grin.
I calm myself down. I look to Konohamaru and smile slightly, "No, me and Sasuke are not together. We're teammates and that's it." On the inside I was still panicking though, but I couldn't show that side of me, Naruto would never let me live it down.
Konohamaru nods his head in understanding, "Oh okay."
Sasuke clears his throat a little awkwardly, "We best be going then."
I nod my head stiffly, "Right."
NARUTO SHIPPUDEN – First Night
Night had fallen in the Sand Maze, thus ending the first day of the Chunin exams. Ours and Konohamaru's team had travelled quite a bit of distance, if I had to guess I would say that we had made it to the middle of the maze. We were hoping to find the exit tomorrow and get out of this place. We had been attacked by some ninja, we were attacked by Suna Ninja, but they weren't successful. You'd think that since it was their own county that they would have come prepared, but apparently not. Luckily we had found a hole in the Sand Wall to give us coverage. We hide under there for the night, the winds had picked up again. Luckily Naruto had brought a lantern with him, so that was our light so we weren't completely submersed in darkness.
We had eaten the dried food and drank some water, so at the moment we were content. Before we slept though, Naruto and Sasuke had both gone out to set traps so we would have a peaceful sleep. Of course we were still sleeping in shifts, Sasuke was going to have the first shift, then Naruto and then me. We had agreed that Konohamaru and his team didn't need to do this. Sasuke didn't trust them and he wouldn't sleep if they did the might watches so there was no point.
I sat crossed legged and looked out of our little den. I wouldn't like to be out there. My attention was drawn away when my name was called, "Akemi?"
I look over and see it was Konohamaru and his team, they were all looking at me. "What's the matter?" I ask them.
"Why's Naruto and Sasuke so tense?" Konohamaru asks confused.
"Tense how?" I ask.
"Like how both Sasuke and Naruto won't let you out their sight." Udon says.
Moegi chips in, "How at the slightest movement they spring into action."
"And Naruto's been so serious." Konohamaru finishes with a pout and crosses his arms.
I put a hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing. Honestly I hadn't noticed these signs, but they would make sense. The boys didn't want what happened in the Forest of Death to happen in this Chunin exam.
"Well you see we didn't exactly have an easy ride last time we did the Chunin exams." I started to fiddle with my fingers as I spoke.
Moegi has a thoughtful look, "What do you mean?"
I sigh. "Well we had Orochimaru slip into the exams."
The three Genin gasped. Konohamaru cast a dark look for a second, but it didn't even last long. I blinked and then the dark look was gone. I saw Moegi cast Konohamaru a worried look, but I looked away and looked at the exit of our hideaway, I still couldn't see Naruto or Sasuke.
"What happened?" Udon asks me.
I turn my head back to them, "No one knew that he was in the exams of course. He targeted our team though." Of course this was a lie, but I wasn't exactly going to tell the truth, that would cause more questions.
"Why's that?" Moegi asks.
"He wanted Sasuke's Sharingan for himself, so he attacked us to get it." I explain to them.
Udon frowns, "But Sasuke's safe, so what happened?"
I bit my lip before I answered, "Orochimaru turned his attention to me instead when he saw that I had an ability that he wanted." I hadn't told these three about my Shīringu and I definitely wasn't going to say anything in open spaces, I couldn't give away too much information. The only person who knew about my Shīringu was Konohamaru and that was because he listened in on a conversation between myself and Tsunade. Let's just say he left with a few bruises.
"Then what happened?" Konohamaru asks edging closer.
"Luckily for me, ANBU appeared in time to save me. If they hadn't I would have been dead." I tell them convincingly. They seemed satisfied with this information because they stopped asking. I let out a silent sigh of relief and relaxed.
We sat in silence for a few more moments. But that silence was ruined when I felt the hairs at the back of my neck rise when I sensed unfamiliar chakra signatures. I immediately stood up and had my Sais at the ready, I looking out into the darkness.
"What's wrong Akemi-chan?" Konohamaru asks looking up at me with a look of confusion.
I look around, "Someone's watching us."
Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi tensed and each brought out a kunai to protect themselves while I continued to look. With my normal eyes I couldn't see anything, but I knew that if I used my Shīringu I would be able to see, but I didn't want to give anything away about myself so early in the competition.
"I know you're there! Come out you cowards!" I shout out to provoke whoever it was out there.
It seemed to work. A kunai was sent my way, but I easily deflected that kunai with my Sais. A loud scoff could be heard as three shadows made their way into the light that lantern provided. They were Suna Ninja, two males and one female. They all had grins on their faces looking very smug.
"What do you want?" I ask with a blank look.
The first male answers, "We want your supplies of course."
"Hand them over and we won't kill you." The female says with a smirk on her smug face.
I arch an eyebrow, "And what makes you think I'm going to hand over our supplies to you?"
The second male snickers, "You're out-powered. We saw your male teammates leave. Bad move making your strongest teammates leave."
I felt annoyed, he thought that I was weak. Oh well he's in for a shock, "What makes you think I'm the weak one?" I ask him as calmly as I could.
The smirk was still on his face, "Isn't it obvious?"
Putting away my Sais for a second, I make hand seals and make four Shadow Clones. I sent one to protect Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon. I them sent the other two to fight two Suna Ninja, I left the second one to me though. I would definitely show him that I was not weak in the slightest. The second male Suna Ninja looked in shock as he watched his teammates fight the clones.
"Bring it on?" I taunt him with a smirk.
He scoffs and jumps to attack me. I easily sidestep his obvious attack and aimed a punch of my own, however he jumped away at the last second. I scowled at him as he jumped away, "Scared are you?" I taunt with a grin.
He glowers at me, "Not on your life girly."
My eye twitches at the nickname. I sped up to him and punch him with a chakra infused fist in the gut. He coughed up blood before plummeting into the sand wall.
"Call me girly once more, I dare you." I growl at him with a dark look.
His response was a groan of pain.
"Kenji stop being lazy!" I hear the female of the Suna Team shout in our direction. I took this opportunity to look around, my Shadow Clones were putting up a really good fight, Kenji's teammates tried to get to him, but they wouldn't let them pass. I look to Konohamaru and his team, my last Shadow Clone was still protecting them.
I move at the last second when Kenji threw a kunai at me, when dodging I took notice that it was an explosive kunai. My eyes widen as I jump away so I wasn't caught up in the explosion. Unfortunately, I couldn't save my right ear drum, my ear drums rang loudly and my vision blurred. I fell to my knees and held my right ear. I look up and glare at Kenji who was standing in front of me with a smug look.
I couldn't hear what he was saying, but I just saw his lips move. He was gloating, that much I was sure. I heal my ear while glaring at Kenji, when he saw my hand glow green he stopped gloating and attacked me before I could finish healing myself.
Unfortunately I hadn't finished and had to stop to defend myself. I jumped away but nearly fell over when I landed. Damn my balance had been affected by explosion. I jumped away again as I sensed Kenji's chakra signature. While I was jumping away I finished healing my ear, making my vision so much better.
I smirked looking at Kenji who looked confused at my smugness. I performed some hand seals, "Wind Release Slash!" A gust of wind attacked Kenji sending him flying into the sand wall again, while he was occupied I threw in several poisoned needles into the wind. Most of them didn't hit Kenji much to my disappointment, but one did. That one was all I needed. Kenji fell to the floor in minutes, the poison taking effect.
Now that he was immobilised, I turned to face his other two teammates while making my shadow Clones disperse.
The Suna Ninja looked confused, "Why the hell did you do that?!" The female Suna Ninja shouted. They both looked tired, obviously my clones had given them a work out. The other male Suna Ninja was soundlessly glaring at me.
"Your teammate has been poisoned, if you want to save him you will leave and not bother us again." I say with a hard look to the female. It was obvious from the way that they had introduced themselves that Kenji was leader. The girl was then the mouth of the group with how loud she was. The other male though was a mystery but a little cocky.
The other male scoffed, "Like we care."
I arch an eyebrow at their indifference. Was my analysis of the team wrong?
"But he's your teammate?!" Konohamaru shouts incredulously.
The guy sneered at Konohamaru, "That makes no difference, he was weak."
'He wasn't that weak.' I thought to myself. In all honesty, he was a good match. He analysed the situation and threw me off with the exploding kunai. I was surprised that the explosion didn't bring down the cave we were in. It could have went the other way by bringing the cave down but it didn't so I was thankful for that.
"Not everyone values their teammates." I say to Konohamaru and his team.
Udon frowns, "But you're his friends."
The girl ninja barked out a laugh, "We aren't friends! He's a nuisance."
I felt a pang of sympathy towards Kenji, I gave him a sparing glance before looking back to the Suna Ninja.
"Then you are weak." I say bluntly.
The Suna Ninja glower at me, "What did you say?" The girl says trying to act menacingly, but it didn't nothing to me. Her glare was nothing compared to the Uchiha's glare or Haku's glare.
"Without your teammates how do you expect to complete this exam? Or do any mission." I question with a blank look.
"Akemi."
I look to Konohamaru, he was looking so serious. The determination in his eyes reminded me of Naruto. At just one look at him and his team I knew what they wanted. I sigh and wave my hand, "Go on you don't need my permission."
They all share a grin and pounce to attack the two Suna Ninja.
While they were occupied, I dispersed my last Shadow Clone and walked over to Kenji. I knelt down beside him and got a better look at him. He was around the same size as me, his hair was black and held in a ponytail. His skin tone was dark, much darker then Naruto's tan complexion. I make chakra strings and begin to tie his hands and feet up so when he did wake up he wouldn't be a threat. When I was done I stood up and turned around.
Konohamaru and his team had won the fight, the other two Suna Ninja had fled leaving their last teammate behind.
"You sure took your time." I say suddenly looking into the direction of the exit.
Both Naruto and Sasuke came into view, Naruto had a sheepish look on his face while Sasuke was looking blank. As they walked closer, I saw Sasuke survey the area. He arched an eyebrow when he looked at Konohamaru and his team, he looked slightly impressed that they had taken out two Suna Ninja. Naruto was definitely proud, but then he looked at me. Sasuke also looks at me and his eyes widen.
"Why is there blood dripping from your ear?"
My hands immediately went to my right ear, and indeed there was blood. Sasuke's exclamation hurt my still sensitive ear.
"Oh its nothing." I wave off.
"But that explosion-" I send Konohamaru a dark look, when he sees my look he stops speaking and looks away sheepishly.
Sasuke crossed his arms, "What explosion?"
"He's speaking of nothing." I dismiss, "What took you so long anyway?" I demand directing the conversation away from my.
Naruto grins and scratches the back of his head, "Well, we kind of got attacked."
I sigh and rub my temples in frustration, why is it that we seem to be targets for all the other teams. This is like the fifth ambush we've come across, it's ridiculous!
Sasuke uncrosses his arms and looks behind me to see Kenji, "What is he doing here?"
I looked up, "I poisoned him trying to get his teammates to back off to save his life but they didn't take the bait."
"They called him a nuisance!" Konohamaru interjected suddenly with a saddened look.
I nod my head when Naruto and Sasuke look in my direction. "I told them how there aren't people like us that value our teammates."
Naruto frowns, a blank look fills his usually happy face.
"But it doesn't make sense," Moegi says in a distressed tone, "why wouldn't you value your teammates? They're your friends!" Konohamaru places a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. Moegi had tears in her eyes and was trying to rub them away, but they kept coming back.
Naruto walks over to her and kneels down in front of her. "Not everyone is kind like we are. There are some people out there that value power over teamwork."
I walk over to Sasuke and nudge him slightly, "Remind you of anyone?"
Sasuke huffs and crosses his arms again.
An unfamiliar groan was heard. We all turned around to see Kenji waking up struggling in his binds. "W-what the hell?" Kenji mutters looking around confused with wide brown eyes. The poison had really confused him, he didn't know which way was up and down.
I was about to walk over to him, but Sasuke grabbed my arm. "What's wrong?" I ask Sasuke looking at him.
"Get rid of him." Sasuke mutters lowly.
"But-"
"No buts." Sasuke interrupts, "he has no use."
I sigh and pout.
Naruto walks over hearing was Sasuke was saying, "He may be able to give us information. Maybe he could tell us we were getting ambushed."
A smile spreads over my face, I give Sasuke a victorious look with a little smugness. Sasuke scoffed at me and glared at Kenji, "Fine."
"Konohamaru, can you guys step outside?" I ask them looking in their direction.
"The area is protected so it will be fine." Naruto reassures them. Konohamaru and his team silently walk out with minimal complaint, they obviously knew that this was important. Only when they were gone did we turn back around to look at Kenji who was swaying from side to side.
"What did you do to him?" Naruto asks looking to me.
"I poisoned him, it was mainly to confuse him though." I answer.
"Well you've achieved that." Sasuke mumbles.
I turn to him and glare, "I do not need your sass okay!"
"Y-you're t-the bi-bitch that di-did this?" Kenji mutters trying to glare at me, but he just looked drunk.
Sasuke glares in his direction, his Sharingan activated instantly. I place a hand on his shoulder before speaking, "I am." I look to Kenji with an amused face.
"F-fix I-it." Kenji demands.
"Only if you answer some questions for us." Naruto says with a blank look.
Kenji sneered.
"If I give you the antidote, will you answer some questions?" I negotiate.
Sasuke and Naruto send me questioning looks, "He'll die before we get any answers out of him at this rate." I explain to them.
Kenji's eyes widen at the prospect of dying, "Y-you c-can't d-do t-that!"
"Says who?" I arch an eyebrow at him.
Kenji chocked out a laugh, "I b-bet y-you h-haven't e-even k-killed a-anyone." He directed this comment to me, he looked me directly in the eyes as he said this. At that one comment, something inside me just snapped.
I grabbed Kenji by the throat and threw him against the wall. "Say that again, I dare you." I growl at him with a dark look. This was where he was wrong, I had killed someone, and it wasn't Kabuto or the Akatsuki. It was someone else.
I felt two hands on my shoulder, I knew it was Naruto and Sasuke. I take a deep breath and step away from Kenji who was now looking at me in fear. Kenji fell to the floor since I wasn't holding him up by his throat anymore.
"I-I'll t-talk." Kenji says quietly.
I silently nod and take out the antidote from my pouch. I inject it into his neck, not caring to be kind as I stabbed it into his neck. I step away and wait for the antidote to take effect.
"Talk." Sasuke demands, his Sharingan still activated.
Kenji took a few deep breathes, "What do you want me to say?"
"Why are the other teams ambushing us in particular?" Naruto asks.
Kenji grins slightly, "Could just be coincidence."
"Not this amount, you're about the fifth team that had ambushed us, there aren't many teams to begin with." I say crossing my arms.
Sasuke moved to get a kunai.
"Wait!" Kenji shouts in panic, "I'll tell you!"
Sasuke moves his hand back to his side.
"You better hurry up, he's getting impatient." I say nudging my head in Sasuke's direction. Kenji looks at Sasuke in fear as he gulps loudly.
"People heard about the Ninja's that got away from Orochimaru three years ago and there was a rumour that the same team was in these exams. It was rumoured that you guys were that team. We just wanted to see how strong you were." Kenji answers quickly.
"What makes you think that that team is our team?" Naruto asks with a confused look.
In all honesty I was a little confounded, how had people found out? I don't remember seeing any teams from the first Chunin Exams we took part in three years ago, so how could people know?
Kenji looks in my direction, "Her."
I blink slowly in shock, "Me?"
Sasuke glares at Kenji, "What about her?"
"W-word got out about her ability. No one knew what it was but people have been wanting to fight her. Apparently she fought Orochimaru and nearly won." Kenji says.
My eyes widen, "I didn't even fight him! If it wasn't for the ANBU I don't know what would have happened!"
Kenji looks at me, "So it was you!"
Crap. I sigh and nod my head, "Yes."
"That's so cool!" Kenji gushes. His personality had done a complete one eighty and it confused me.
"What else?" Naruto cuts in.
Kenji looks to him, "Well the other rumours have made your team quite famous. So people are wanting to fight you to see if you live up to the expectation."
"Well it explains the amount of ambushes." I say sighing deeply.
Kenji looks apprehensive, "Is that all?"
Naruto, Sasuke and I share a look. Sasuke wanted to get rid of him, but Naruto and I didn't see the point, so in the end we let him go. We called Konohamaru and his team back in and Sasuke started the first shift of the night watch.
NARUTO SHIPPUDEN – Second Day
As soon as the sun rose, we were out of the cave and began our journey, today we would hopefully find the exit and put an end this exam. Naruto and Sasuke had went out in the morning and disabled all the traps that they had made so we were safe.
We were now walking down the long pathway, at glance there it doesn't look like there are any turns but if you looked closely you could see that some parts of the sand were thinner than others. Slowly sand was breaking away from the mould, showing that time was running out. If you didn't find the exit soon then you were going down with the maze.
Konohamaru groaned, "Why doesn't one of us jump up and see which way it is?"
We all continued to walk onwards. Sasuke was the one who answered, "It may be trap, and that won't tell us where the exit is." He finished with a scoff.
Konohamaru grumbled but continued on.
"Guys, we have company." I say alerting my team of our company. Just as I finished saying this, three shadows appeared and stood in front of us. The team consisted of two females and one male. The male was from the Grass Village along with one of the girl, while the other girl was from Suna.
"Give us your supplies." The only male demanded.
"No." Naruto says getting ready to fight, but Konohamaru and his team took centre stage.
"Let us," Konohamaru insists looking determined. They had been itching to fight since yesterday, so they weren't going to let this chance slip by. Both Moegi and Udon looked determined too, their weapons out.
Sasuke looked unhappy with this development while Naruto grins, "Go ahead." Naruto says. Konohamaru and his team share a grin and off they went. Udon attacked the Suna kunoichi and Moegi attacked the other Grass kunoichi while Konohamaru attacked the only shinobi.
"It's kind of nice to have a break isn't it?" I say in a light tone.
Sasuke didn't seem to agree with me.
Naruto just shrugged his shoulders, "I wouldn't have minded." I too shrugged my shoulders and relaxed, first mistake.
Suddenly I felt something cold press against my neck. I tense as I feel a body press closer to mine. "Move and I'll slit your throat." The shinobi whispers in my ear. I stayed perfectly still, I knew that I should have activated my chakra shield before setting out.
I stood a little behind Sasuke and Naruto, that's why they haven't noticed what was going on.
"Walk back slowly." The shinobi orders quietly.
I slowly move back, my abductor moving with me. Inside I was confused, how hadn't I noticed him? That's when I noticed I couldn't feel any chakra from the person behind me. Clever bastard, I had my guard down too and since he didn't have an ounce of chakra on show I couldn't trace him.
"What do you want?" I ask quietly.
The blade was pressed harder onto my throat, "Did I ask you to speak?" He hisses into my ear.
"But I would like to know why I've been captured at least." I mumble, he obviously didn't appreciate my tone with the way he gripped my arm and pinned it to my back.
"If you're not quiet I will slit your throat." He growls in my right ear.
"If you were going to do it you would have already done it." I answer back relaxing in his hold.
"Hey Akemi-chan how do you thin- WHATS GOING ON?!" Naruto shouts noticing the situation I'm in. Sasuke whirled around and saw a blade at my throat. I was at least nearly three feet away when they finally noticed that I was 'captured'.
Sasuke glares at the man behind me, his Sharingan flaring, "Let her go." Sasuke rested his hand on his sword at his side.
I scoff, "Took you long enough."
Sasuke glares at me in response.
"What do you want?" Naruto asks with a frown. His gaze was on the blade at my throat.
The shinobi grins, "Give me your supplies and I'll leave you."
"And you let go of her." Naruto says looking to me.
The felt the shinobi smirk, "Oh I don't know, I think I quite like this chick."
"I thought you said you were going to slit my throat?" I say.
Naruto glares at me, "Akemi-chan."
"Sorry." I mumble.
Sasuke went to take his bag off from his back, Naruto following his example. However this was the time the ground started to shake. My eyes widen, the creature that ate the Rain Ninja was back. Sasuke and Naruto obviously noticed this too with the way their eyes also widened.
The shinobi holding me captive was getting impatient. He was oblivious to our concerns. "Well hurry it up!" The ground still continued to shake, but it got more violent. Only when the sand started to fall from the walls did my abductor notice. "What the-?!"
The ground in front of us burst open, the creature we saw at the very beginning making its appearance with a terrifying roar. Screams could be heard, but they sounded like Konohamaru and his team. The sheer force of the creature breaking out of the ground sent us all flying, even me. My vision went black when my head hit something particularly hard.
NARUTO SHIPPUDEN
The next time I woke up it was already midway. I slowly open my eyes and wince at the sudden brightness that intruded my eyes. I hiss in pain and cover my eyes with my arm. Slowly, I opened my eyes again and tried to adjust to the sudden brightness. I started to get my bearings back and noticed that I was lying down on something soft. As my vision came back to me so did my memory.
My team!
I shot up and regretted it instantly, my vision went blurry and I became aware of the banging pain in my head.
I groan and this time decide to sit up slower. When I achieve sitting up I looked around and noticed that there was another person with me. Oh god I hope it isn't my abductor from before I blacked out. Before I did anything else, I healed the pain in my head away.
I look when I hear footsteps coming towards me. I look up to see who it was. "Kenji?" I say in surprise.
Kenji looks at me and grins, "Good to see you're up!"
Looking around I see a little make-shift camp. But it seemed like he was on his own, "Where are your teammates?" I ask him.
Kenji frowns, "I couldn't find them."
I slowly nod my head.
"Do you know what happened?" I ask him.
Kenji sat down in front of me and handed me some water. I took the water gratefully and sipped it lightly. "When I heard that monstrous roar I ran to see what it was. When I arrived I saw you passed out on the ground with a guy about to stab you with a kunai."
I sneer at the thought, that guy really was going to kill me.
"I killed him before he could do anything though." Kenji finishes with a grin, he looked proud of himself. He almost reminded me of Naruto. It was nice to see this side of him then the one we saw before.
"Thank you." I say.
Kenji looks almost shocked, "What?"
"I said thank you, what don't you hear that often?" I smile and laugh slightly but then I stop when I see the look on his face. Kenji looks down and almost ashamed.
"I don't hear that often." Kenji mumbles softly.
I stare at him with a saddened look.
"Do you want to go back to where I found you?" Kenji offers.
I nod my head lightly, "I would thank you. I need to find my teammates." I go to stand up but find myself tumbling over. Luckily Kenji caught me and steadied me.
"Looks like you saved me again." I say to him with a grin.
Kenji returns the grin with a slight blush on his face. "Y-yeah."
The walk was short, it didn't take too long however it didn't look the same. There was the gaping hole where the monster had come out of, but there was a wall in the middle of the pathway and there was a new exit to the left.
I stare at the wall with wide eyes, "What the hell?!"
"It changes." Kenji says.
I turn around to look at him, "What do you mean 'changes?'."
"This is the fourth time it's happened, the walls change and the exits change too." Kenji says to me with a thoughtful look on his face.
"Well then let's climb this." I say about to walk to the wall but Kenji grabbed my hand and yanked me back.
Kenji shakes his head when I look at him, "The wall can't be climbed."
"Why?" I ask.
"Just trust me." Kenji says letting go of my arm and walking to the left where the only pathway was.
I grumbled and followed after him. Luckily I still had my bag with me so I had supplies, but I was worried about Naruto and Sasuke. Where they okay?
THIRD PERSON'S POV
Sasuke groaned and sat up from his laying down position. He looked around surveying the area, he could see Naruto unconscious on the ground but he couldn't his Konohamaru and his team, and he couldn't see Akemi anywhere. Sasuke stood up and slowly walked over to Naruto, the blast had really done a number on him. He felt sore everywhere, especially in his head.
"Oi." Sasuke says trying to get Naruto to wake up.
But it didn't work. Naruto just rolled over as if Sasuke hadn't called him. Sasuke's eye twitches in annoyance. He sighs to calm himself down, they needed to find Akemi and get the hell out of this maze. They didn't have long left.
Sasuke did the only thing he knew would work.
He kicked Naruto.
Naruto screams and jumps up looking dazed and confused. When he sees Sasuke he glares at him, "What was that for?!"
"Shut up, we need to find Akemi." Sasuke says coolly.
Naruto looks confused and looks around. His eyes widen in realisation, "Akemi-chan's missing!" He shot up with a frantic look.
Sasuke sighed, "Yes, and we don't have long so we best hurry it up."
Naruto nods and they begin to run to find their lost teammate. They would hate to think something happened to her. Sasuke had a sense of dread fill him, he just hoped that they find Akemi before the maze caved in on itself.
AKEMI'S POV
So far with Kenji we hadn't come across any dead ends. I, Sasuke and Naruto had come across plenty which was off-putting. I look at Kenji as we continue to walk, "How do you navigate so well?" I ask him.
Kenji looks bashful, "Well I've grown up in Suna, so I'm guess I'm used to it."
I nod my head, this is what I expected from a Suna Ninja, not the ones that attacked us before many times.
We walked in silence until we came across an opening, we had found the exit. As we exited the maze, I saw Temari along with Gaara and a few other teams. There was about two teams that had made it out. They were the other Leaf Ninjas, with the girl that hates me and three Suna Ninjas. I didn't see Naruto or Sasuke though, or even Konohamaru and his team.
I looked around nervously, I was waiting for them to make it out and Naruto to run and be excited to see me.
"They'll be fine," Kenji says suddenly.
I look at him as we stood at the side, a little away from the other Ninjas. "What makes you think that's what I'm thinking about?" I ask him.
Kenji grins slightly, "I saw how close you were when you guys were interrogating me."
I give him a sheepish grin, "Yeah sorry about that."
Kenji shakes his head, "No, I should be sorry. I shouldn't have insulted you."
"Truce?" I hold my hand. Kenji looks slightly taken aback, but he soon grins and shakes my hand.
We stood and waited a few more minutes before the next team arrived. Unfortunately it was the rest of Kenji's team. When they saw him they glared at him. They stood way away from us with a disgusted look on their faces.
Kenji faces the ground.
I place a hand on his shoulder, "Don't take any notice."
Kenji nods, a weak grin on his face.
Temari looks at her wrist for the time. "Ten minutes left!" She announces. Nervousness filled my stomach, it felt like there were butterfly's in my stomach, where were they?!
That's when two more shadows exited the maze. It was Naruto and Sasuke. They both were looking around as though searching for someone. When they saw me, I saw relief in Sasuke's eyes and happiness in Naruto's.
Naruto ran over to me and pulled me into bone-crushing hug. "Akemi-chan!"
I return the hug with enthusiasm, "Naruto-kun!"
Eventually Naruto lets go of me. I turn to Sasuke who was busy glaring at Kenji, who was now looking quite fearful. He silently went to join his team with much reluctance.
"Do I get a hug?" I ask with a huge grin on my face.
Sasuke gives me a blank stare.
I sigh and drop my arms, "Fine…"
That's when I felt pain on my forehead. Immediately I reach to touch my forehead, I look at Sasuke, he just poked my forehead. Just like his brother had done to me before I left Konoha.
"Don't do that again." Sasuke says walking away from me.
I grumble under my breath but I don't heal my forehead.
Temari looks at her wrist again, "Three minutes!"
"Where's Konohamaru and his team?" I ask Naruto.
Naruto looks guilty, "I don't know, we tried looking for them but couldn't find them."
I look at the maze in concern, where were they?
"One minute!"
Suddenly, I saw three shadows get shoved from the maze and fall to the ground, it was Konohamaru and his team. I sigh in relief when I saw them, they were safe. Konohamaru raised his head and gave us a victorious grin. Dusting themselves off they came and joined us.
Temari looks to her brother, "Bring it down, time is up."
Gaara nods his head and brings his arms up. He slowly starts to bring it down, the sand walls rumble. I hear screams of the remaining teams in the maze. I saw one try and get over the top of the walls, a hand made out of sand appeared and grabbed him back down. His scream was the loudest out of all of the screams.
"That's what happens if you try and climb over." Sasuke mutter to me. He had seen it once when he was setting traps with Naruto, it was a sight he would never forget.
I just stare at the maze in shock. Within minutes the maze was gone, and I didn't see any heads pop up from the sand either.
Temari turns to us. "Those of you left have passed the Second Round of the Chunin Exam."
Our team shares at grin while others don't even look bothered.
After we had been dismissed, we headed back to our apartment. As soon as I walked in I dashed for the shower, something I desperately needed. We had been told that we had three weeks to prepare for the final round, this gave them time to bring in all the spectators. Haku and Itachi would be coming along with the rest of the Rookie Ten.
When I came out of the shower fully dressed and refreshed, Naruto and Sasuke were sitting down in the living room with serious expressions. They were sitting next to each other over a small round table.
"Why so serious?" I ask walking over and sitting down with them. I sat opposite them unaware what they wanted to talk about.
"We need to talk," Sasuke says.
I tense where I sat, this didn't sound good. Especially when Sasuke said it, I began to think of all the things I had done, but I couldn't think of any.
"In the maze," Naruto begins, "your reaction to Kenji saying that you hadn't killed anyone, why did you react like that?"
Sasuke turns to me.
I sigh and rub the bridge of my nose, "He was wrong what he said that's why." I say finally looking up to see my concerned teammates.
"Kabuto was a long time ago." Sasuke says. Flashes of what happened with Kabuto go through my mind, which I do not welcome in the slightest.
I shake my head, "I wasn't referring to him."
Naruto looks puzzled, "What about the Akatsuki?"
Again, I shake my head, "Someone else."
Sasuke arched an eyebrow, "Who?"
My hands reach for my shorter hair. My hair was wet from the shower and wasn't in its usual ponytail. My hair was now up to my shoulders and I refused to grow it past that length. Even Haku didn't grow his hair anymore.
"It happened when I was training with Yukiko," I begin looking to the floor. "She left us for one week and we ended up getting captured."
"You and Haku?" Sasuke questions.
I nod my head.
"And she just left you?" Naruto asks with an unhappy expression.
"I have no idea where she went. She just came back as if nothing had happened. We didn't ask." I say with a sigh.
"Who were you captured by?" Sasuke asks.
"Rogue Ninja," I answer in a low voice, "they were powerful. Neither I nor Haku could fight them off. We had been training so hard and didn't have a break that we didn't have enough power to fight back."
Sasuke watched as I ran a hand through my hair, "What happened?" He demands with a hard look.
"They wanted information," I answer.
Naruto's eyes widen, "They interrogated you, didn't they?"
I nod my head, "When me and Haku tried to escape, they ragged us by our hair and taunted us."
"Then what?" Sasuke asks.
"We regained our strength, and we fought back. Haku killed most of them, I only killed one." I answer in a small voice.
Sasuke and Naruto don't say anything at first. But Sasuke ended up being the one who broke the silence, "They deserved it."
Naruto nodded his head, "Yeah, you don't need to blame yourself."
I give them a weak smile. The scene replayed in my mind for months afterwards, but soon I accepted it. If I hadn't killed that man then he would have killed me. I still wasn't used to the thought of killing, but I knew I would need to get used to the idea, I'm a bloody ninja for Christ sake.
"After Yukiko came back I had never seen Haku so angry. I was almost scared." I say looking at the distance with a blank look.
Naruto looks to me. "What do you mean?"
"When Yukiko came back, Haku attacked her. He nearly killed her." I explain to them.
"What stopped him?" Sasuke asks, since Yukiko was still alive, something must have stopped Haku.
I sigh. "I stopped him. I was going to let him kill her, I was angry myself. I was scared, the nightmares wouldn't go away. I just wanted to come home. But I stopped him once I came to my senses."
Both Sasuke and Naruto nod.
"For some reason Yukiko wanted me to distance myself from Haku saying how I didn't need attachments." I say with a frown.
"And what did you say?" Naruto asks.
I scoffed. "I told her she needed to mind her own business. Just because she is alone doesn't mean I need to be alone."
Sasuke smirked. "I bet she didn't like that."
I shake my head and laugh slightly. "No she didn't. It's funny, I didn't used to be this mouthy in my old world."
Both Sasuke and Naruto's interest had been peaked. "You've never spoke about your old life." Naruto says. He was right. Every time someone would try and ask, I usually deflected it and moved onto something else.
I shrug. "Well its boring compared to the life I have now."
"Tell us." Sasuke says lightly.
I purse my lip to think of what to say. "Well, there's weren't any Ninja or any Chakra. My life was very boring. My parents were a bit controlling, but my younger brother was adorable." I smile remembering my little brother.
"So I see you passed?" Said a voice behind us.
We all turned around to see Kakashi balancing on the window's ledge.
I grin when I see him, "Yep."
Sasuke scoffed, "Would we be here any other wise."
Kakashi ignored his tone and smiled under his mask. "I think it would be wise to take a break for the time being then."
Naruto and Sasuke didn't look too happy. But for me, that break sounded delightful.
Remembering something, I jumped up and hugged Kakashi. He nearly fell of the window ledge but he balanced himself and me. I let go with a massive grin on my face.
"What was that for?" Kakashi asks looking at me.
The grin was still on my face. "For defending me." I was referring to Rika. Recognition shines in his eye, he knew what I was talking about.
He reaches his hand out and ruffles my hair.
Naruto and Sasuke look at each other confused.