Wake Up

by 2018217

"I'm dead," said the body. Lifeless eyes bored hard into his. "I'm dead!" the blue lips repeated, this time more forcefully. "There's nothing you can do about it! So get over it! Why would you want to help me anyway? It's not going to work. Give up already." More blood soaked his hands. "I'm never going to wake up again, and you know that." Warning: Many character deaths.

13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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Hidden Room, Bandit Camp, 20 Hours After Bandit Raid

Yukan felt the man's pulse. It was dropping. The poison was close to killing him.

I have four more hours until Big Brother returns. I have four hours to save this man.

He'd seen medical ninja before. When Big Brother had done that raid on a caravan guarded by jounin, several of the jounin had been medics. The medics had tried to heal their injured comrades, but Big

Brother had just laughed and killed all of them.

"Cowards. Soft and weak. Not suited for fighting. You should have fought like real men instead of staying behind," Big Brother spat in their faces. "And you. Yukan. If I see you ever turning into one of those ninja, you'll meet the same fate that they did. Got it?"

Yukan had nodded meekly and swore not to become one of those ninja.

"Sorry, Big Brother. I guess I am a coward after all." Yukan formed a hand seal and began gathering chakra.

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Kikai Heights, 20 Hours After Bandit Raid

Temari was already running out of chakra. The Ten-Tails picked up a boulder and threw it at her. She sidestepped, almost losing her balance.

"Tired already? Pitiful."

Temari had to lean on her fan for support.

"Sunagakure is truly the weakest shinobi country. You are supposedly one of their best jounin, which is why I picked you to fight. I thought we might have some fun. What a disappointment." The Ten-Tails pounded the ground, causing Temari to fall.

"Sunagakure is led by a council of corrupt and power-hungry people. Its economy is barely supported. Their ninja are the weakest of the Five Great Shinobi Nations. They are led by a foolish excuse of a Kage—"

"Shut up."

"Yes, you're right. It probably is time for you to die." It opened its mouth and sent a blast of chakra in Temari's direction. The Ten-Tails scanned the area for a body. Nothing.

"Where are you, my pitiful jounin?" It sent out another blast of chakra. "I'M HUNGRY! COME OUT SO I CAN EAT—"

The Ten-Tails whipped its head around to see Temari, who blotted out the moon for just a second. Just a second.

"Kirikiri Mai!"

Temari did a flip backwards and landed twenty feet from the cliff. She collapsed in exhaustion.

"I…I did it."

Silence.

A figure emerged from the wreckage.

"Impressive. But you think that was enough to beat ME?"

Temari struggled to lift herself off the ground.

"TRY AGAIN!"