Hey guys! So, just because I love you all so much, I am posting this chapter early! Yay for that! I am also going to start looking at posting the D Gray Man fanfiction. Hopefully it will receive just as much love as Snow Falling on Konoha. ^_^
8. Yuki and Sakura vs. the Sound Three
Yuki woke up on a strange cave with a wet towel on her head. She rose up from her place on the ground to observe her surroundings. Naruto and Sasuke were lying next to her with towels over their heads as well. "What the hell happened?" she asked herself. She suddenly remembered the events with the strange woman and quickly maneuvered herself into a defensive position. What happened to that woman? What happened to us? She turned her gaze to Naruto and thought, When did you finally show up?
"Ger off of me you little brat!" A voice came from outside of the cave. Yuki grabbed her weapon and stealthily snuck toward the mouth of the small cave. She peeked around the corner and noticed that Sakura was pinning a strange shinobi to the ground and Rock Lee was unconscious close to the cave. "What the hell…?!" Yuki shouted.
"Well, what have we here?" said another strange ninja in a straw cape. Yuki laughed inside because he looked like a farmer mummy. Yuki gave him a disgusted look saying, "I am a justifier!" she growled. "You will pay for what you all have done to Sakura-chan!" Yuki swung her weapon around her body and sneered, "Bring it on, nancy!" As the man began to walk toward her, accepting her challenge, Yuki yelled to Sakura, "Sakura-chan! You can pull back! I can take care of these jokers. You've done enough."
Sakura quickly rolled away from the boy and stopped next to Lee. "Be careful, Yuki-chan!" she cried. "They're a lot tougher than they look!"
"Heh, that's right, girly." Laughed Sakura's victim. "You'd better give up if you know what's good for you."
"Just try it, scumbag!" Yuki glared. "I'll rip you and your friends a new hole if you don't hand over your scroll and leave!"
"My, my." Said the mummy. "She's quite spirited, Zaku. This should be fun."
"Yeah." Laughed Zaku. "We haven't had a good challenge in a long time, Dosu." The boy charged forward in an attempt to punch Yuki but she disappeared before the impact was made. Yuki reappeared behind him and tornado-kicked him in the head, sending him flying. Dosu was next to try an attempt but Yuki effortlessly blocked the attack with her arm and flipped over him. Dosu raised his sleeve revealing a strange instrument with holes. He tried to punch Yuki but she leaned back so much that her head almost hit the ground. She sprung back up and laughed, "Ha! Maybe you should uncover that other eye 'cause you were way off!" Yuki suddenly felt sick and she hunched over regurgitating. What the hell?! She thought. What was that about? Is it because of that weird woman?
"This is a special instrument of mine." Said Dosu. "You remember it from you four-eyed friend don't you?"
Yuki suddenly remembered seeing the weapon before the exams started. That's where I've seen it before! She rose to meet him and laughed while wiping her mouth. "You think you'll win this exam through cheap tricks like that? You've got to be kidding me." She raised her fingers to her lips while closing her eyes. After a short while, she opened them revealing the Soshigan laughing, "How do you like this!?" She put her hands to the ground and shouted, "Earthen Element! Quake of Fear!" The ground from underneath Dosu began to climb up his leg. Dosu noticed that the earth was not trying to swallow him, he was become one with it. While watching the show Yuki smiled and thought, its working! When I flipped into the air I was able to implant soil onto his cloths. With that soil, I was able to draw my chakra into his body and use a genjutsu to make him think that he was petrifying! Ha! That should stall him for a while. Yuki turned on her heels and walked back toward Sakura but was suddenly sent flying toward her. Yuki landed on top of Sakura and looked back at what had pushed her. Zaku was standing in front of Dosu with his palms wide open. Small holes could be seen in the middle of each palm.
"What the heck is that?" asked Yuki.
"My special power." Zaku sneered. "Ready for more?" Another burst of energy was fired and Yuki tried to dodge it but the attack still grazed her arms. "You can't dodge what you can't see, babe!"
Damn it! Thought Yuki. I can't dodge these attacks no matter what I do! Is this the power of Sound Shinobi? In desperation, Yuki pulled out one of her kunai knives and charged at him. When she was about three feet away from him when she flipped into the air until she was staring at him from upside-down. She hurled the kunai at him but he quickly thrust up one of his palms and deflected the knife and sent her flying higher into the air. The knife flew and gave her a large gash on her side. She hit the ground hard on her side and she gasped for air. Damn! She thought. I got careless. She tried to lift herself up but her ribs hurt with every move and her ankle sent a shot of pain through her body. I sprained my ankle! She screamed inside. This isn't good. Now I know why papa was so concerned with not letting my guard down. Sorry, Father…I failed. As she watched her murderer come forward she closed her eyes and screamed inside, Sorry, Kocha, Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura…Sasuke.
She heard a thud and opened her eyes. Three people stood in front of her with their arms spread apart. "W-what the-?" said Yuki as she looked up at Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru.
"You didn't think we'd let you guys have all the fun, did you?" laughed Ino.
"Man, why do we have to bother with these guys? What a pain!" grumbled Shikamaru.
"Why are you guys here?" asked Yuki.
"We obviously didn't come for lunch!" said Choji.
"This is my only chance to one-up Miss Billboard Brow and win Sasuke's heart!" said Ino. "You guys just sit back and relax."
"He'd never fall for you Ino-Pig!" Shouted Sakura.
"We have to face three more clowns?" complained Zaku. "Man, what a nuisance."
"Well, you don't have to fight." Said their female companion. "If this is such a bore for you."
"Tch." Said Zaku. "Don't test me Kin. Let's just get their scroll and end this already."
"We're not here for the scroll," said Dosu. "We're here to test Uchiha."
"What do you want with Sasuke?" demanded Yuki.
"We were sent by our Lord to test his abilities." Said Zaku. "Since he's out cold, it would be in our best interest to take him out right now."
"Yeah." Said Zaku. "Eliminate the competition and win our Lord's favor."
"What do you mean?" asked Ino. "Who is your 'Lord?'"
"We didn't come here to chat!" roared Zaku. "Let's finish this and get what we came to do!"
The three sound ninja charged while Ino's team charged back. Yuki couldn't watch the battle, fore she was focused on Sasuke. Test his abilities? She thought. What the hell happened to Sasuke while I was asleep? After a long while the battle stopped and Ino's team was on the ground. Dosu readied another attack but a familiar voice came from the tree behind Sakura.
"That is enough." Sasuke walked from the grotto with purple flames dancing around him. He stopped at Sakura's side and looked at both her and Yuki. "Who did this to you?" he asked them.
"Heh!" laughed Zaku. "That would be me." Sasuke's eyes immediately turned cold and still. Yuki could feel a great evil coming from him. It's just like when we saw Keeta and that grass woman! She thought. What is this? Sasuke, what happened to you?
"It was a big mistake messing with my teammates." Sneered Sasuke. "Now you'll pay the price."
"Oh really?" laughed Zaku. "Let's see you do something about it!"
"Zaku!" shouted Dosu. "What do you think you're doing?"
"You worry too much Dosu." Laughed Zaku. "I'll have this kid down for the count in three seconds." Ignoring his teammate's plea Zaku charged at Sasuke and shot waves of energy from his palms. In the blink of an eye Sasuke appeared behind him with his arms in his hands. Sasuke held him to the ground with his foot and had an evil sneer. Yuki only watched in horror as black markings began to crawl around his body. Sakura looked just as horrified.
"Sasuke!!" shouted Yuki. "What are you doing!? Are you crazy?"
"W-what are you doing?" asked Zaku in pain.
"You seem to be attached to these arms of yours." Sasuke sneered and with a violent scream and pop from Zaku, Sasuke pulled Zaku's arms out of their sockets. Sakura cringed but Yuki continued to watch in anger. You're not the Sasuke I know. She thought.
"Sasuke!!" screamed Sakura. Sasuke snapped out of his thoughts and backed away from the unconscious Sound genin. Dosu and Kin walked toward Zaku and picked him up saying, "We recognize your abilities, Uchiha. Now we see why He chose you. Farewell."
When the sound ninja left Sasuke turned and looked at the others. They were all staring at him strangely. "What happened?" he asked.
"It was nothing." Said Ino. She turned to Sakura and said, "Hey, Sakura! Let me fix your hair." As she walked away Sasuke turned to Yuki who stood there with her hands clenched into fists. Her eyes were cold as she stared back. He could see fear in her eyes but he knew she was trying hard to hide it. Yuki was never one to show fear or grief.
After a while Naruto awoke from his sleep and the others left them in silence. Naruto looked around asking, "What's going on? Why is Sakura's hair short?"
"Oh!" laughed Sakura. "I just wanted to try something different. Plus, it was getting in the way too much. Do you like it?"
"Yeah!" smiled Naruto. He looked over at Yuki who was staring blankly at the sky. "Yuki?" he asked. Yuki snapped out of her trance and stared at Naruto.
"Hm?" she said.
"You were just in a trance." He said. "What's going on with everybody?"
"It's just been a long couple of days." Said Sasuke, grabbing the heaven scroll that Dosu left behind. "We're all fatigued from fighting that grass ninja and the other ninjas."
"You got that right." Naruto agreed.
Yuki looked at the ground silent then stared up at the sky again. The hue was turning a bright pink as the sun went down. Kocha, what should I do? How can I help Sasuke? That power, it was frightening. What was it?
* * * * * * * * *
The sky was cloudless as Kocha stared down the stone faces of the past Hokage of the Leaf Village. She stared and examined each face to understand just what the Hokage meant to the people of this village and just what was next for them. After a while Kocha took a deep breath and sat down laying her sword next to her. She crossed her legs and just stared into the sky. She began to wonder how Naruto and the others were doing on their exams. Yuki is strong. She will be fine. She's had a strong teacher.
"Enjoying the scenery?" asked an elderly voice. Kocha turned her head to see the Fourth Hokage staring back at her. This was her first time actually meeting the leader of the village so, out of respect, Kocha turned onto her knees and bowed her head. "Kakashi was right." He laughed. "You really are as straight as an arrow."
"I believe this is the first time we have met, Lord Hokage." Kocha said. "Forgive me if I have portrayed any disrespect."
"It is quite alright." Said the Hokage taking his smoke pipe out of his mouth. "You may stop with the formalities. You are a rouge ninja, correct?"
"Yes." Kocha answered. "However, I wish no harm upon your village. In fact…" Kocha rose to her feet and picked up her sword. "Lord Hokage, if it is alright with you, I would like to join your ninja forces."
The Hokage stared long at the stone faces as he pondered her question. "You are a mother figure for the girl Yuki, am I right?" he asked after a while. Kocha stared at him and nodded. "As I thought." The Hokage turned his back on her and began to walk away. He stopped and stared up at the sky. "You know that by joining the ninja army, your life will be at risk every day. Should you die, Yuki will grieve for losing two mothers."
"I have trained in the ninja way ever since I was young." Kocha bowed. "I will not go down as easily as one may think."
"You also have a power that not many have acquired." Said the Hokage suddenly. "It is a forbidden jutsu that you possess is it not?" Kocha was taken aback by his knowledge. "I can tell by the look of your eyes. I know that it was His doing. Kakashi has told me about your sister and how she suffers a similar fate."
"I know now that it is too late for my sister." Kocha said clutching her fists. "All I have now is Yuki and this village. I will do everything in my power to protect this village, even if you neglect to take me in. I have seen the kindness of this village and it is not easily found in this land. I must protect that kindness at all costs."
"That is not all is it?" asked the Hokage smiling. "You wish to protect something else."
Kocha stared at him puzzled. He only shook his head saying, "Never mind. I admire your resolve to protect my village. I can tell that you posses extremely powerful skills that even most of my jounin only wish they could see. It would be my pleasure to allow such a skilled Kunoichi within the village's defenses."
"Thank you, Lord Hokage." Kocha bowed. "I will not fail you."
"It is not me that you will be protecting, but my people."
"Of course." Kocha slipped her sword back onto her back. "I shall stop by your office tomorrow for any missions you may have." As she walked away she could feel a sense of pride and belonging that she had not felt since her family fell. At last, Kocha had a place to call Home once again.