Hello people! Hope you guys like this chapter and sorry for not updating in a while. I've just been busy lately since I'm a senior and I'm taking advanced classes. Oh well. Anyways, thanks to MistFairire93, ForeverInTheMoment, jjaynno1, lovingo0Kawaii0oGirl, Lyris88, Valinor's Twilight, ruler of dragons, Mizu Hime, Tsukinoyo, japcherryblossom14, and Hibiki-chan for reading and reviewing. Please review, the sooner you review the sooner I update and the more reviews I receive the more I write. Now on with the story!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but the lovely and clumsy Rei, the dashing, yet cowardly Okoru, the childishly charming Zakyo, and the arrogant, but loyal Yu.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Rei leaned against the railing and watched Sasuke as he stood before Gaara. She sighed and hoped he would be alright. From what he had heard about Gaara he was a formidable opponent to say the least. Although she hadn't shown it she had worried about Sasuke from the moment she heard about his opponent. She flinched slightly as she still felt the effects of the poison.
"You should lay down for a while."
Rei turned to the side and saw Okoru standing next to her. She grinned at him.
"I'll be fine, I already drank the antidote."
"Yeah, but you're still weak and tired. You should rest for your next match."
"Relax, I'll be fine." She said waving her hand in a dismissive manner.
Okoru just sighed and shook his head. He knew it was no use trying to persuade her. Once she set her mind on something nothing could make her alter her decision. She was just too stubborn. He smiled weakly at his friend as she watched the fight and wondered if that was one of the reasons he liked her so much. She turned around and looked at him strangely.
"What is it?" She asked.
"Nothing."
He turned around and looked back at the arena. He felt his cheeks getting warm and hoped she wouldn't notice, but of course she didn't. One of the things that both him and Sasuke were thankful for was of how utterly clueless she could be. He sometimes wondered how she had even become a shinobi.
Rei shrugged her shoulders and watched the fight below. She watched with interest as Sasuke dodged Gaara's quick sand attacks. She was surprised to see how much Sasuke's speed had increased, from what she heard from Naruto before he left to go see Kakashi and the others he was as fast as Lee. She looked on with interest as He ran up a wall and made some hand signs. She saw some chakra gathering in his hand and grinned. So that was what Kakashi had taught him. Still, she couldn't believe he had actually mastered the Chidori.
Sasuke smirked as the chakra gathered in his hand. He glanced up towards Rei and saw her grinning. His smirk widened as he saw this. Although he wanted to win the fight and become stronger, he also wanted her to feel proud of him and of how strong he had become. He ran towards Gaara who had now engulfed himself in a sand shell with an eye floating near him. He managed to pierce the shell and after a moment there was a loud scream coming from inside it.
From above, Rei watched as Sasuke struggled to get his arm out of the shell. As he succeeded a strange arm-like thing made of sand emerged. Although she didn't turn around, she noticed that the other two sand shinobi seemed nervous and surprised.
The sand around Gaara disappeared and they saw that he had been injured on his shoulder. When Gaara emerged, he seemed different and Rei sensed an increased bloodlust surrounding him. She frowned and watched as both boys stood in the arena facing each other. As she watched, a feather crossed in front of her, followed by many more. She began to feel drowsy and turned to Okoru, who was next to her.
"What is this?" She said before her eyes closed.
When she woke up Yu was standing above her along with Zakyo and Okoru. Okoru helped her up.
"What happened?" She asked.
"Someone cast an illusion. We fell for it too, but Yu dispelled it." Okoru said.
There was an explosion and everyone looked up to where the Hokage was sitting with the Kazekage. They watched as an ANBU squad went up to help and the Kazekage emerged from the smoke holding a kunai to the Hokage's throat. Rei watched as some shinobi from the sand village faced off against the ANBU and were taken down easily. She then remembered Sasuke and Gaara and looked down at the arena just as the sand nin left with Gaara.
Sasuke looked up at Rei after Gaara had left with the other sand ninja and saw the worry in her face. He frowned as he wanted to stay with her, but knew that he had other things to do. He knew that her friends would protect her. He sighed and turned to Genma, the proctor as he stood before him and told him to go after Gaara. Sasuke nodded and hurried after the shinobi.
Rei watched as Sasuke left and frowned. She felt somewhat irritated at his wreckless behavior. She turned to the others.
"You guys should stay here. I'll be back soon."
"And where are you going?" Okoru asked.
"I'm going after Sasuke. He can't take Gaara on by himself."
"And you think you can?"
She frowned and sent a slight glare at the boy.
"I'll be fine."
Okoru sighed.
"Have you even thought about who it is that took the Hokage hostage?"
Rei looked at him for a moment and then looked back up at where the Hokage was. She was surprised at the chill that ran down her spine when she looked at the man holding the Third hostage.
"It can't be..."
"It is, Orochimaru is the one behind this."
Rei frowned and turned to her friend.
"Then what am I supposed to do? Do you think we should just stay here and hide while the village is destroyed?" She said calmly.
Okoru noticed the anger in her eyes and sighed.
"No, but I don't think that you should go after Sasuke by yourself. If Orochimaru is behind this you're in danger of getting captured. We don't know how many enemies are out there."
"Hey, look, Rei-chan." Zakyo said pointing at the stands.
Rei turned around and saw her teammates leaving through a hole in the wall along with Shikamaru and a dog. Kakashi and Gai could also be seen fighting against both Sound and Sand shinobi.
"They probably went after Sasuke as a team." Yu said.
"They should be enough help."
Rei sighed and as she stood there she noticed how weak and tired she felt from the previous fights. She knew her friends were right. As much as she wanted to help Sasuke she knew she was in no condition to face Gaara. Apart from that if she followed Naruto and the others she would just draw more attention to them. Still, she knew she couldn't just stay there and do nothing. She turned to her friends and grinned.
"Alright then, if you guys won't let me go after Sasuke then I'll at least help Kakashi Sensei and the others around here."
Okoru sighed and shook his head.
"Fine, but we'll help."
Rei grinned.
"Alright, Zakyo, Yu, can you guys fight?"
They nodded.
"Alright then, we'll split up into two teams. Okoru, go with Zakyo. I'll go with Yu."
They nodded and headed to the stands where the Jounin were fighting. Rei took out some kunai and as soon as they stepped out into the stands she threw them at some Sand nin that attacked them. She hit on eon his arm, but the others dodged.
"Okoru, I'll hold them back. You and Zakyo go to Kakashi and tell him we're here to help."
He nodded and left with Zakyo. The shinobi tried to follows them, but Rei stopped them.
"Earth Style: Earth Spikes!"
The spikes shot out of the earth and stopped the opposing shinobi. She ran towards them and jumped. She twisted in the air and kicked two of the men. She threw some kunai to hold them down. Yu snuck up behind the remaining shinobi and kicked him. Rei held him down with some kunai as well. She turned to Yu.
"It's your turn."
Yu smirked and made some hand signs. Rei watched as her friend cast an illusion on their opponents. She knew that it would leave them unconscious for a while. She really didn't want to kill them, at least not with the others around. She glanced towards the Hokage and Orochimaru and saw that there was some kind of barrier around them. Still, she could sense a battle going on. Suddenly, she jumped back and made some hand signs.
"Fire Style: great Fireball!"
Yu dropped her illusion on the shinobi and went to help Rei. She took out some shuriken and threw them at the men. Rei dodged a blow as the only shinobi that hadn't been hit rushed out of the smoke towards her. She grabbed the man's arm and pulled him towards her as she took out a kunai and sunk it into the ninja. She let him fall to the ground and landed next to Yu. She flinched slightly and Yu noticed.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I guess the previous fights really took a toll on me."
"Let's go with the others."
She helped Rei stand up and they went over to where the others were. Okoru and Zakyo hurried towards them. Kakashi followed closely.
"Kakashi Sensei, are there anymore enemies around?"
"Well, there aren't anymore in the arena, but I'm sure there are more outside in the town."
"Then, shouldn't we go help?"
Kakashi looked at Rei and then sighed.
"I have to stay here with the others in case we are needed, but you four have shown that you are capable of handling things. Rei, although you are still young I know how strong you are, so I want you to help as much as you can. The battle should be starting outside in the village."
"Alright, we'll take care of it."
Rei turned to leave, but Kakashi stopped her.
"Just make sure that you stay in the village. I don't want you to go after Sasuke and if you run into any trouble get to a safe place."
"Alright then, we'll go into town and take care of things."
They left and as they headed outside Rei turned to the others.
"Well, you guys know how we do things. Take out as many Sound and Sand shinobi we can. This will be dangerous so if you guys think you can't fight to the best of your abilities, you should just stay here."
"Yeah right, like I would let a brat like you go out there all alone." Okoru said.
"I can still fight. I wanna show Okoru-baka how strong I am!" Zakyo said.
"Hn, like I can let you morons go out there and without me." Yu said with a smirk.
Rei grinned.
"Alright then, you know how we do things hide and wait until Okoru and I are done accessing the area. Then split up and regroup later. Make sure to stay close enough so that we can at least sense each other's chakra."
They nodded.
"Then let's go."
Rei and Okoru led Zakyo and Yu outside of the arena. They ran into a group of Sand shinobi and Rei and Okoru took out some kunai. Rei threw some at the shinobi who dodged them easily. However, there was some thread attached to the kunai and it wound up around the shinobi. Two escaped, but Okoru stopped them before they got to Rei and took them out with his kunai. Rei tightened the string around the shinobi's throats until they stopped moving. They kept moving and soon they were outside. They hid among some trees and Okoru turned to Rei.
"We should check things out before separating." He said.
"No, there's no time. The battle already started."
"Fine, but we should stay close."
"Yeah, you're right. Alright guys, Okoru and I will go first and take out the nearest opponents, then you two will follow. Stay as close as you can and stay hidden."
They nodded and Rei left with Okoru. They hid behind some buildings and took out some kunai. Rei looked around and saw some sand shinobi nearby. She signaled to Okoru and he nodded. She took out some kunai and thread and threw them. They surrounded the shinobi who were alarmed by the sudden attack. Rei smirked and pulled on the string, tightening it around the men. Okoru made some hand signs.
"Water Style: Water Snakes." He muttered.
The snakes moved quickly towards the enemies and took them out just as quickly. He made sure to finish them with one blow. Rei frowned slightly and wondered when her friend had become so indifferent to killing. She sighed and loosened her hold on the string. As she did this she felt the dead weight on the other end drag the threads down. She looked at Okoru and he looked away just as Yu and Zakyo arrived.
"Well, it appears these guys aren't too hard to take care of, our main concern should be the possibility of getting ambushed." Rei said.
"Yeah, but there aren't too many enemies around here. The main battle must be closer to the center of the village." Okoru added.
"So, what should we do?" Zakyo asked.
Rei grinned.
"We're going to see if we can help the guys take care of our little problem."
The others smirked.
"Well, stay on guard and stay quiet. Take them out as quickly as you can. The last thing we want is for one of them to get away and alert the others."
"Yeah, yeah, we know." Okoru said.
Rei smirked.
"Then let's go."
They left to go to the battle going on without thinking of the danger they were about to face. Rei just hoped that nothing would happen to her friends. She knew if her friends were in danger she would risk her life to save them. Still, she couldn't help but worry about Sasuke, even though she knew that the others were with him. She hoped he was alright. She just wanted everything to end so that she could see her friends again and so that she could see Sasuke again.
As they traveled she tried to ignore the fact that she didn't fell too well. She frowned slightly and wished in vain that Zakyo hadn't used that damn poison. She sighed as she knew she couldn't blame her, she was only fighting to the best of her abilities. She was also aware of how much her chakra had diminished and wondered how long she would be able to keep fighting. She guessed she would just have to stick to taijutsu and other techniques that didn't consume too much chakra. At least she wasn't fighting on her own.
End Chapter Forty-Eight
Hope you guys liked this chapter and please tell me if you see any errors, I didn't have a chance to edit it as I typed it fast and late at night. Please review, the sooner you review the sooner I update and the more reviews I receive the more I write. Sayonara!