Disclaimer: No ownership rights anywhere in sight even though I'm looking very hard
Chapter 26: A walk in the forest
Yakumo observed the genjutsu Aoba had cast with great interest. It was truly a work of art, almost on par with the high-level genjutsu Kurenai had shown her on occasion. Not only was it an area genjutsu; it was a moving zone and interacted with the chakra constructs looking like crows to boot. She couldn't see the jutsu directly of course, but the interactions with her chakra were truly fascinating.
Single target genjutsu were the easiest. You cast it on a single target, either in a cast-and-forget manner or (for the more adept) maintaining a connection the entire time, constantly regulating, adjusting and compensating. Needless to say it was far harder to break a genjutsu cast in the latter manner.
Ensnaring an entire group of people simultaneously was more difficult, especially when you wanted to use the second method. Splitting your attention over so many targets required very good ability at multi-tasking.
Then there were the area genjutsu. Just as the name said you didn't cast it on a person or a group but on an area. Everyone who entered the range of the jutsu would be affected. Even if a person snapped out of it the genjutsu would try to reestablish its effect. It necessitated the creation of a robust, stable chakra construct that could connect with the victims on its own. Retaining control boosted the efficiency massively but required a lot of concentration, often to the detriment of other tasks. Making a moving zone added an additional layer of difficulty.
Of course there were countless alleviating circumstances, techniques and modifications that could make things easier or harder. Genjutsu was a true art. On the higher level it was less about the individual techniques you used and more about the user's creativity and skill to adapt. At this point her clan's bloodline came into play. What would have meant years of study and training for other, less talented genjutsu users required only a few months or even less for Yakumo. Weaving complicated chakra patterns to ensnare a victim's senses was child's play. She just instinctively knew what she had to do to make genjutsu work perfectly. They were stronger, more robust and convincing while requiring less chakra and effort than if cast by someone without her bloodline.
A slight itching on her hand caused her to look down. Several kikaichu had landed on her flesh and were now forming words.
Stay away from adult Grass team. Enormous but veiled chakra reserves detected. Sound Team requires special measures. Avoid contact without me.
A moment later the bugs flew away in the direction of Shino. Yakumo verified with a sidelong glance to Ino that her female teammate had received the same message. She didn't know what this was about, but unexpected developments were par for the course. There wasn't much time to ponder it; they had reached their destination. It was a heavily wooded fenced in area.
"Welcome to the stage for the second test; Training area 44. You will soon find out why it is also called the Forest of Death." Aoba announced. All around them the crows landed, staring at them from baleful red glowing eyes. Together with the noises coming from the dark primeval forest it served to further unsettle the weaker-hearted of the genin. Yakumo loved it and was mentally taking notes. Showmanship was important for genjutsu users to create convincing illusions, after all.
"Now before we start the second test there's something I have to pass out." Aoba revealed a stack of forms. "You must sign these agreement forms. There will be deaths in this one and if I don't have you sign these it will be my responsibility. I'm going to explain the second test, and then you can sign it afterwards. Then each team will check in at the booth behind me."
The man continued to give instructions. Training area 44 had a diameter of 20 kilometers with a tower in the middle. Each team would receive one out of two types of scrolls. To pass the test a team had to reach the tower with both types of scrolls. They had five days to reach the tower. The tower would only open at dawn of the fifth day and stay open until nightfall. Entering earlier or later would disqualify a team. The same thing would happen if a team lost a member.
"Excuse me, but is it necessary for all members of a team to arrive in fighting condition?" one of the genin asked.
Aoba shook his head. "No. The only condition is that all team members have to be present and alive. One more rule: You must not look inside the scrolls until you make it to the tower. That's it for the explanations. Exchange the three forms for your scrolls. You will be randomly assigned a gate. You may enter it at nightfall. A final word of advice: Don't die or my little pets will feast on your flesh."
Yakumo quickly read the form before she signed it. It said exactly what Aoba had claimed it would, but better safe than sorry. Random starting locations would make things more difficult. Originally they had planned for their teams to meet and act as a unified force if they had to brace the Forest of Death. It was one of the possible locations they had been able to learn of before the exams, after all. Neither Team 8 nor Team 10 had ever entered the forest before, but Naruto had given them a good description. Unfortunately he was only familiar with the outer regions.
'No matter; we will manage. Depending on our gates we'll have to move to each other. At least this isn't a joke like the first test.'
The minutes passed until it was finally their turn to get a scroll. They wouldn't even have to move; their gate was the one at their current location. Team 10 left quickly, but Team 11 approached them for a last short chat.
"We're several gates counterclockwise away from you guys." Choji said. "We should be able to meet up on the next day."
"Our two t-teams have Scrolls of Heaven; Shino got a Scroll of Earth. Unfortunately his t-team starts on the opposite side of the forest." Hinata added.
Naruto gave Yakumo a last kiss. "Good luck and don't take unnecessary risks. Just find a good place to spend the night and move towards us in the morning. We'll find you."
Yakumo nodded. "See you tomorrow."
She watched them disappear in the distance until Ino put her hand on her shoulder. "Come on, you aren't normally that emotional. They'll be fine and so will we."
A small sigh escaped Yakumo. "I guess you're right. How are you holding up, Shinji?"
Shinji gave them a smile. "I'm doing ok. I only wish the creepy crows would disappear."
"Really? I find them cute and interesting. Just ignore them." Yakumo answered.
Then it was time to wait. Some of the teams had to travel quite a distance to reach their gates, but the terrain outside the fence was easily traversable. Finally the sun touched the horizon and the gate opened. They were barely ten minutes underway when they encountered the first enemy team. Yakumo recognized them from earlier. They were a fellow Konoha team, but the members were all male and several years older than them.
"Well well, what have we here? Looks like a lost team of rookies." one of the black-clad men said.
"Kids like you have no place in the exams. Hand over your scroll and run back to hide behind momma's skirts." another added.
Ino took a step forward. "We're all Konoha shinobi, aren't we? Couldn't you just let us go?" she asked in a pleading tone, playing the harmless rookie girl to perfection.
The three laughed. "Aww, how cute. I have an idea. Give us a good time and we might be persuaded to leave you alone."
One of the genin eyed them with a malicious grin. "I agree. They look like fine pieces of ass."
Yakumo's eyes narrowed. She didn't especially want to hurt fellow shinobi of the Leaf, but these three were really pushing it. Keeping partially hidden behind Ino she made a quick string of hand seals.
'Illusion: String Bean Binding'
The three genin immediately stopped laughing and started struggling against bonds only they could see. Yakumo waited a moment but it didn't seem like they could break her genjutsu.
"Shinji, search them." Yakumo commanded.
Said boy obeyed immediately and searched their pockets. "Nothing really valuable. In fact their gear is rather substandard. They have a Scroll of Heaven just like us." he reported when he returned to their side, pocketing the scroll.
"Well, better than nothing." Yakumo modified her genjutsu a bit to allow the three trapped genin to perceive their surroundings before she began weaving two additional illusions. "Thanks for the scroll, suckers."
"Let us go, you brat!" one of the three shouted.
Yakumo smiled. "I intend to. Have fun with my parting gift. Oh, and do mind the wolves." Ignoring their shouts she turned towards the deeper woods. They wouldn't have light much longer. "Ino, Shinji, we're finished here."
The shouts of the three grew more and more distressed and pained. When she thought the distance large enough she dispelled her first illusion, freeing the genin. A panic-filled shout of "Watch out! Wolves!" later they heard rapidly receding footsteps.
Yakumo shook her head sadly. "And I didn't even have to use the advanced stuff. Pathetic, really."
"What did you do to them?" Ino asked curiously.
A malicious smile lit Yakumo's face. "I got a few illusionary wolves to chase them out of the forest. We don't want them running around and trying to ambush us later. Oh, and for their disrespect I made it as if their undergarments were filled with fire ants. Quite difficult to dispel, that last one." She giggled. "If you try the normal dispelling technique the number of ants seems to double and their bites get more painful."
Shinji shuddered slightly while Ino laughed. "They deserved it. Anyway, let's find shelter before it grows completely dark. I can barely see the hands before my eyes."
Shikamaru hit the training dummy with his fists a few more times before he stopped. His knuckles were beginning to hurt and he didn't want to overstrain any part of his body. That would only serve to hamper his progress in the long run. Instead he ran a few more rounds around the academy training yard before sitting down on a grassy patch to cool off. The sky was already turning dark and the first stars were becoming visible.
Today marked the first full month of his return to the academy. A month full of half-hidden glares, snickers and attempts at bullying by his new (and in some cases old) classmates. It was almost paradise. Yes, it wasn't exactly the nicest of environments, but it was infinitely better than Kakashi's team. No steady danger of dying and the insults weren't really any worse than what Sasuke and occasionally Sakura threw at him. The pranks were annoying, but he could deal with them. In contrast to his time on Team 7 he was actually learning something. It wasn't fast and he had a lot of catching-up to do in the physical subjects, but he was slowly improving now that he trained with all he had.
'I really have to thank Ino, Choji and Naruto when I find the opportunity.'
He had never been so thankful for something as when he had received their warning about the chunin exams (well, except from Team 11 saving his life on the Wave mission). Unfortunately with him returning to the academy during the term and them busy with preparations he just hadn't found the opportunity. Just this afternoon he had seen them enter the academy building used for the chunin exams. He knew Team 7 was there too; around two weeks ago a genin named Idate Morino had sought him out and questioned him about the team. The poor guy was his replacement. He really had dodged a kunai there.
A voice caused Shikamaru to look up. "Hello Shikamaru-kun."
"Hey Mizuki-sensei. What are you doing here?"
Shikamaru hadn't spoken with the man since his graduation. Even after he returned to the academy there was practically no contact until now. Mizuki didn't teach any of the classes Shikamaru was enrolled in and the buildings and yards were spacious enough that they hadn't met on other occasions.
The white-haired man sat down beside him. "I was just finishing some work. Now that the participants of the chunin exam have left the building we had to go over all rooms with a fine-toothed comb. After all, there's always the possibility that the genin left something dangerous behind. I was just heading home when I saw you sitting here. How are you doing?"
"As good as I could reasonably expect."
Mizuki sent him a glance that clearly indicated he knew how it really was for him. "Glad to hear it. I try to keep track of at least some of my ex-students."
They continued speaking about this and that. Shikamaru had never been close to any of his teachers, but he really needed to speak with someone besides his parents and clansmen. Mizuki was surprisingly well-informed and understanding. Since the happenings of the Wave affair had been declared a secret shortly after him leaving Kakashi's team he couldn't even properly explain his reasons for going back to the academy. It was obvious that Mizuki knew more than the average shinobi.
Finally he asked Mizuki directly. "Do you know what truly happened during our mission to Wave?"
"Yes. I know everything."
"How?"
The man chuckled. "I'm dating Team 11's sensei. Besides, I still keep regular contact with the members of the old study group. Naruto, Hinata and Choji told me every detail."
Well, that explained things. He was aware of the old study group and that the six members had a close-knit friendship. Mizuki had supervised it for years and always seemed friendly so it was plausible for him to be on very good terms with the now-genin.
"Do you think I did the right thing?" Shikamaru finally asked.
Mizuki leant back. "At that point in time? Yes. You did what was best for you; maybe even for the village. I heard how things were on your team. Now the authorities at least were forced to take notice. That isn't to say you shouldn't have done something earlier or invested a bit more effort during the academy time. Kami knows I tried often enough to get you to take your education more seriously."
Shikamaru felt somewhat embarrassed. It was true Mizuki had tried. The same was true for his old friends Ino and Choji or some other classmates.
"Sorry about that. I made a lot of bad decisions in the past."
Mizuki smiled in a friendly manner. "My door is always open if you need advice, Shikamaru-kun, even if I'm no longer your teacher. I know you can become a great shinobi. I don't have much time, but I'll happy to give as much help as I can."
Special jonin Aoba Yamashiro waited until all the genin had left the vicinity before he dispelled his genjutsu and the crows. Then he began laughing loudly until tears spilled from his eyes. The proctors in the vicinity joined him in his merriment.
After almost a minute of laughing Aoba got himself slowly back under control. "I did it. I really did it. Did you see their faces? I almost got that pink-haired girl to puke. Several of the others looked ready to faint."
One of the proctors shook his head bemusedly. "I take back what I said. You were creepier than Anko during the last exam."
"I said I could do it, didn't I?" Aoba held out his hand. "Now pay up."
Some grumbled, but everyone paid. That would teach them to underestimate him.
"AHHHHH!" came a cry from the forest.
"Sounds like it's started." remarked one of them.
A minute later three genin came sprinting out of the forest, jumped over the fence and rolled over the ground while crying in pain and scratching themselves furiously.
Aoba approached them. "You three are disqualified."
"Ouch! I don't care! Ouch. Damn that girl for siccing these wolves and ants on us."
"Wolves? There aren't any wolves in the forest." one proctor wondered.
One of the genin pointed towards the forest. "Don't you see them? They're prowling just behind the fence."
Looking back at the forest Aoba didn't see anything. Narrowing his eyes he bent down to one of the genin and sent a surge of chakra into his body. Judging from the resistance there were two genjutsu layered one over another. The first one broke under his chakra's pressure but the second only changed somehow. For a moment the genin relaxed before his eyes widened in pain.
"Get them off me! GET THE DAMNED ANTS OFF ME!" he shouted while furiously scratching himself.
The special jonin and the proctors watched in bemusement as the young man frantically got rid of his clothes and tried to remove something invisible from his body. The other two were in a similar state, but they seemed to be in less pain.
"What happened?" one proctor asked one of the other genin.
"Konoha rookies… two girls, blond and brunette, one boy… thought them easy targets… played around… bean vines suddenly binding us… then wolves chasing us and ants all over us." he gasped out.
Aoba shook his head sadly. How pathetic. These idiots didn't even recognize it was a genjutsu. From the description he thought the group had encountered Kurenai Yuhi's team. There weren't that many genjutsu specialists in Konoha and he loosely kept track of other practitioners of the art. From what he heard Yakumo Kurama was a prodigy, not really surprising considering her clan. He recognized what the girl had done. The one with the ants was especially nasty even if he hadn't known the concrete technique. Pain and the basic genjutsu release wouldn't work. The three must have angered the girl for her to use something so nasty. Aoba could dispel it, but the genin didn't know that. In his estimate the technique wouldn't last that long and it would be a lesson to the genin not to underestimate rookies or genjutsu again. It wasn't as if it would really hurt them.
"Sorry guys, nothing I can do. It's a complicated illusion. You'll have to wait until it wears off naturally." He turned towards the proctors. "And this is why you don't piss off genjutsu specialists."
The ANBU codenamed Cheetah suppressed a yawn when he stood up and relaxed his muscles. Finally his shift was over. Watching over the Uchiha was tedious work. With three squads of four present they could at least use a shift system. During the night they had to subtly deflect two hostile teams, but it was child's play. He considered this a waste of manpower and skill. Why did they send the Uchiha into the exams if he wasn't good enough to hold his own? A sudden burning pain caused him to look down. A very small, brightly colored snake was slithering away and already blurring into its surroundings, turning invisible.
Cheetah took a step forward and tried to take another, but his leg gave out from under him. His heart was hammering rapidly. He tried to shout an alarm but his throat didn't react. His nearest comrade Snail had noticed that something was happening to him and turned towards him. Cheetah could only watch helplessly as a kunoichi wearing a Grass headband emerged from the tree trunk behind him, broke Snail's neck in a fluid motion and disappeared back into the tree. His vision was going dark.
'We should have taken this more seriously.' was his last thought.
Shibi Aburame had a reputation as stoic, calm and silent man who never did anything hasty. All of this was completely true. When two of his son's messenger kikaichu found him last evening he had only raised a single eyebrow before he sent an affirmative answer back and turned back to his paperwork. The news was surprising, but there had been no point in hurrying. When he was finally finished it was already too late to request an audience with the Hokage. Instead he consulted with the clan elders. The time would just be enough to create a convincing fake body out of the skin cells his son had sent along.
The next morning he entered the Hokage tower and politely requested an audience with the village leader at his earliest convenience. Since he was a clan head there was a surprising lack of waiting time and he was ushered into the Hokage's office only a few minutes later. All the elders and the special jonin responsible for overseeing the second phase of the chunin exams were present and heatedly discussing something.
"… the bodies found this morning didn't have faces. It seems as if someone melted them off. At the current time we assume they have been removed to create masks." Aoba reported.
"That's one of your wayward pupil's skills, Hiruzen. We have to assume he has infiltrated the village as well as the exams. Should we interrupt them?" Homura asked.
Koharu shook her head. "We can't do that. The loss of face would be too great. Besides, we don't know if he is going after the participants or if this is only a ruse to draw forces away from other locations. It would require dozens of men to properly search the Forest of Death."
The Hokage puffed his pipe. "Our forces are already stretched thin because of the twelve ANBU you insisted on for guarding young Sasuke and all the foreign jonin we have to keep an eye on. Any additional men we send would open up new holes. We would have to involve the normal forces and that might start a panic."
It seemed the elders and the Hokage didn't even notice his intrusion. People had the annoying habit of forgetting him and his presence, but at times like this he couldn't bring himself to be unhappy about it. Shibi filed the information he heard carefully away. His son had sent him notice of the presence of a person with kage-level chakra reserves, but apparently there was no longer any need to divulge that information. It seemed the Hokage already knew about the now identified Orochimaru's presence. That left only his second objective. He cleared his throat. Loudly.
Seeing the venerable Hokage and the honored elders jump in surprise amused him to no end, not that any emotion was visible on his face. "I apologize for this intrusion, Hokage-sama, but I have urgent business."
"What can I do for you, Shibi-san?" the Hokage asked.
"Hokage-sama, we have a possible defector from the Village hidden in the Sound. I invoke the sanctuary clause of the Aburame treaty. Please see to it that my son and the target are pitted against each other in the preliminaries should they take place. We will take it from there and pass on all pertinent information."
Shibi could plainly see that the Hokage didn't especially like that proposal, but the old man had no choice but to agree. The treaties the great clans had signed upon the founding of Konoha still held power despite all attempts of the Hokage to chip away at the shinobi clans' privileges. After giving the name and description of the person in question Shibi left again.
'This infiltration is worrisome. Someone like Orochimaru running wild could do a lot of damage. At least Shino is aware of the threat and will stay away from him.'
'Something is wrong.' Idate thought. His team had spent the night rather uncomfortably in a clearing. Just a few minutes ago they had broken camp and were now making their way through the forest. A movement to the side caught his attention. A small object was falling from the canopy above. It was a severed head wearing an ANBU mask, still spraying blood. The matching headless torso was just entering his field of vision from above.
Suddenly Idate noticed a massive buildup of chakra in the vicinity. He didn't even have time to shout a warning before hurricane force winds hit him and he was sent flying. Tumbling through the air he completely lost track of his surroundings. Several muted impacts indicated he was hitting things, but the winds carrying him away seemed to cushion the impacts.
'Crap, I can't break out without going splat against a tree.'
His speed was already slowing down in any case. He just had to get the tumble under control.
'Fire Release: Fire Whip'
The whip made of fire found its target, a conveniently located branch. It almost immediately burned it through, but his flight was now slightly more controlled. A few applications later Idate was no longer tumbling. The winds were now losing strength quickly. When he felt himself falling he used the whip for one last time to change his trajectory. Jumping from tree trunk to tree trunk at a flat angle he slowly shed the remaining momentum until he came to a stop in a small clearing.
He breathed a sigh of relief. The flight had been shorter than it seemed, but he was at least several hundred meters away from his team. He was still trying to regain his bearings when he sensed danger and jumped to the side. The jaws of a giant snake closed around the spot he had just vacated. Three other snakes of the same size, a multitude of smaller snakes and two Kusa shinobi were coming out of the woodwork.
"Oh shit."
Idate did the only sensible thing in that situation: He turned tail and ran. The snakes and ninja gave pursuit and the chase was on.
'What did I do to deserve this?'
While doing his utmost to outrun his pursuers Idate tried to make sense of the situation. The giant snakes were a foolproof sign that Orochimaru of the Sannin or one of his apprentices was here. Taking the decapitated ANBU and the massive wind jutsu into account the odds were pretty good that the big man himself was paying Konoha a visit.
'What does he want here?' Idate asked himself. Then the answer hit him. 'Of course, Sasuke. From what I remember Orochimaru was always crazy about bloodlines and there are only two Uchiha left.'
Apparently Idate ranked highly enough as a threat to justify all the snakes and two shinobi. If he hadn't been busy running for his life he would have felt flattered. Apparently he wasn't scheduled to be killed immediately since the Sannin only separated him from his team, but that didn't make him feel any better. He knew the stories about Orochimaru's laboratories. If they did catch him he was better off dead. From the corner of his eye he noticed that some of the snakes were already overtaking him. While he was a very good runner he couldn't sustain that speed for much longer. The little buggers were fast!
Unexpectedly the woods opened to a clearing. Even more surprising was the lone figure standing in the midst. Surprising, but very welcome considering the circumstances. At least he hoped so.
"Temari! Help!" he shouted with burning lungs.
The young woman from Suna turned in his direction, her eyes widening as she saw the army of snakes behind him. In a fluid motion she grabbed her giant fan and unleashed a powerful blast of wind in his direction. Idate threw himself flat on the ground, narrowly avoiding the slicing winds and skidding on his belly until he came to rest at Temari's feet. A quick glance back showed that the visible snakes had been killed or dispelled in clouds of smoke, but the way the vegetation was rustling he could tell there were a lot more remaining.
"Idate? What the hell is going on?" Temari shouted.
Idate got to his feet, breathing heavily. He was about to answer when he saw something. "Watch out! Behind you!" he shouted and tackled Temari.
They barely managed to get out of the way of the rotating column of water that dug a deep trench through the clearing. The big ball of lightning that was coming at them wouldn't be that easily evaded.
Temari's eyes narrowed for a moment when she saw it despite lying half under him. In a surprising display of strength she threw him to the side, sprang to her feet and unleashed another wind blast from her fan. The techniques collided barely two meters away. For a moment they hung in balance before the wind dispersed the lightning harmlessly. By then Idate had jumped to his feet and was standing back to back with Temari. They couldn't afford to leave any avenue of attack uncovered.
Idate cursed while trying to bring his breathing under control. "Shit. As if the snakes weren't enough. A lightning and a water user, both high level from the looks of it."
"What crap did you get me into?" Temari asked, sounding clearly annoyed.
As if to answer her question man wearing a skull mask and a Kusa headband entered the clearing. "Our master has ordered you to be detained. Give up and we will spare your life."
"Fuck you. I'd rather die than end up a test subject for Orochimaru." Idate spat out while forming a fire whip. He managed to take off the shinobi's head despite his attempt at dodging, but unfortunately the torso dissolved into water while his whip sizzled out. The clearing was suspiciously silent after that.
"Did I hear you right? Orochimaru? Of the Sannin?" Temari inquired.
"I think so. Dead ANBU guards, a massive blast of wind that separated me from my team, hordes of summoned snakes in the landing zone. Orochimaru seems a reasonable guess. By the way, some of the snakes were really big."
"Why would you have ANBU guards?" He could feel her hair brushing his back when she shook her head. "Never mind. How do we get out of this? The vegetation is too thick for me to cut down with wind. Not in all directions at once anyway and I don't have the chakra to do it often enough."
That was a difficult question. Being in the midst of the clearing allowed their enemies to take potshots at them while they stayed hidden in the foliage. Unfortunately they couldn't leave it. The woods were crawling with snakes and they would be overwhelmed in the cramped forest.
'Well, Temari is a wind-user and I'm fire. Working together we should be able enlarge the clearing somewhat. Even the water-user should be unable to counteract that.'
"Can you create a whirlwind around us? If I add my fire we'll create some space when we push it outwards." Idate suggested.
"Okay, that should work. I have to turn a few times to get the winds right. Ready?"
True to her word Temari rapidly turned to her left, swinging her fan. Idate matched the movement, keeping her back covered. The winds picked up speed and were forming a veritable whirlwind. Leafs and branches were cut off when it reached the edge of the clearing, but the enormous trees and thick undergrowth of the Forest of Death resisted quite successfully.
'My turn. Fire Release: Running Fire'
A small but growing flame appeared between Idate's hands. A second later it was a ball of fire. After another second a veritable stream of flames was spewing forward, following his direction to join with Temari's whirlwind. Their techniques united as if they were meant to be together. In the next moment they were in the eye of a blazing cyclone. It was beautiful in an eerie sort of way. The heat was so immense that he feared for a moment they would catch fire themselves. Normally he could control his running fire freely, but now he had to share control of the firestorm with Temari. It was quite strange to feel her chakra in the combined technique.
"Push it outward! Now!" Idate shouted.
Temari didn't react outwardly, but the conflagration spread away from them giving them more room to breathe. Bushes and most trees turned immediately to ash upon contact with the raging inferno. The really big trees turned into blazing columns of their own in a sea of fire. An immensely loud cry of pain pierced to roaring of the flames for a second before disappearing.
'Good; that must have been one of the big snakes. One less enemy to take care of.'
"It won't hold much longer." Temari yelled. "We'll lose control in a few seconds. It's getting too big."
"Not a problem. Our enemies will probably attack as soon as the firestorm dies down." Idate shouted back.
True to Temari's words their combined technique wavered and finally died, leaving a smoldering wasteland behind. The big trees were still burning, but the fire had been hot enough to turn everything else into cinders. For a moment he had a clear view through the clouds of drifting ash and smoke. It didn't look like as if the forest outside of the immediately affected area had caught fire. There was too much humidity for that in the earth and plants.
Idate separated from Temari when he saw a disturbance in the smoke. In the next moment one of the giant snakes became visible and lunged after Idate. He jumped away… only to end up in the path of the second giant snake. A quick glance showed him that the third one along with one of the shinobi was engaging Temari, giving her no time or room to properly use her fan. No trace anywhere of the second shinobi. Dodging frantically Idate tried to come up with a battle blan.
'I can't take on two snakes simultaneously in close combat. Neither can Temari. They just dodge my attacks and cover each other. Time to take a risk.'
'Fire Release: Fire Whip'
His whip shot out and dug a burning gouge through the face of the snake attacking Temari, destroying one eye in the process. The snake writhed in uncontrolled pain for a moment, only to be cut into pieces by wind blades in the next. Temari had capitalized on the opening. Unfortunately he didn't have time to enjoy his success. The tail of one of the snake fighting him hit him in the side with enormous force and sent him flying. Idate was sure he heard his ribs creak under the impact. He collided painfully with the ground, the other snake already approaching before he could get up again.
'It wants to swallow me.'
The snake was about to pounce on him when it was hit by a large black projectile and thrown to the side. An anguished scream followed. Turning his head Idate saw that the snake had been nailed to one of the still burning trees by the projectile and was now on fire itself. Then it dispelled itself in a cloud of smoke.
'That was Temari's big steel fan folded together. She must have used wind chakra to give it that much punch.'
Idate didn't have much time to contemplate his situation for the last remaining snake was upon him, but now it was one on one. Evading a lunge, he punched the snake in the jaw with his full strength. A very satisfying crunch signaled that he managed to break some bones.
"That's for my ribs, you overgrown worm!"
Taking a kunai in his hand he jumped on the back of the reeling snake. Its hide and scales were too thick for him to reach any vital organs, but he would kill it even if he had to carve it up piecemeal. Blood began welling up when he hit the same spot again and again. Naturally the snake didn't take that lying down and tried to crush him against the ground. He just managed to clear the snake's body in time. The snake didn't seem to realize that he was gone, giving him a short breather. A look to Temari showed him that she was still locked in combat with the Grass shinobi. Now that she had parted with her big battle fan she was using a much smaller steel fan to fight against several sword wielding copies of the enemy.
'That's a lot of clones. I don't think you can do that with lightning. That means he's probably the water user.' Idate turned back towards the snake. 'Okay, time to take care of that little beastie.'
As if hearing him the snake stopped trashing around and once again lunged at him, its mouth wide open. It probably couldn't even close it thank to the broken jaw. Idate decided to take advantage of this weakness and made hand seals as quickly as he could. It would be the last big technique for the day. After using the multiple fire whips and his best fire technique earlier his chakra reserves were already more than half depleted.
'Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet'
It was a beautiful hit. The snake was too enraged to care about dodging, meaning it came straight at him. The stream of flames spewing from his mouth hit the snake dead-on, scorching the creature's insides and outsides simultaneously. He had only to jump out of the way when the smoldering carcass landed.
A crackling sound from behind reached Idate's ears and caused him to dive out of the way of another attack at the last second. Unfortunately it wasn't in time to prevent him from receiving a nasty electric shock from the edges of the electric attack he had almost evaded. Gritting his teeth in pain he struggled to keep his twitching muscles under control.
"You have caused enough damage. I will kill you now, tree hugger."
The second Grass shinobi wearing a skull mask was walking towards him, lightning arcing between his hands. He looked a bit singed but otherwise fully combat-capable. In the distance Idate could see the reduced but still enormous host of small snakes massing anew.
'Shit. I hoped the fire would have taken care of them. We have to end this quickly.'
Idate managed to evade three other rather small lightning attacks, but time was growing short. When his enemy began making hand seals Idate sprinted towards him at his best speed, hoping to reach the enemy before he could complete the jutsu.
Just when the man was about to point his hands in Idate's direction he closed the distance enough to attack. Sometimes he was really really glad for the speed and strength training Ibiki had put him through. His first blow broke the enemy's arm at the elbow and caused the jutsu to fizzle out. The counterblow bruised Idate's arm, but did no further damage. Despite his broken arm the Grass shinobi was an equal match for Idate. He just couldn't seem to manage to land another decisive hit, but neither could his enemy. Kunai clashed with a metallic clang without finding their fleshy targets. Seconds ticked away and the young man grew desperate. The snakes would be here any moment. He needed to finish this battle now.
'Fire Release: Burning Hands'
Idate had to suppress a cry of pain when his hands caught fire. He still hadn't mastered that jutsu to completely prevent it from injuring himself, especially when he had to perform it seal less like now. From the feel of it he would suffer some first-degree burns at least. Using one hand to grip the enemy's good arm he grasped the enemy's head with his other. The kunai in the enemy's hand gave him a gash, but he didn't let go. Instead he increased the pressure of his fingers until he felt the mask crack and his fire reached the now unprotected face.
"Burn, snake-fucker, burn!"
"AAAHHHHH!"
They pain- and terror-filled cry of the man was music to his ears. A knee caught him in the stomach and forced him to release his grip, but it was too late. The man's head and arm had caught fire. He rolled on the ground in the vain hope of putting out the flames. A kunai to the throat put him out of his misery; Idate didn't want to take any chances today.
When he turned towards Temari he saw that the young, blood-spattered woman was busy eviscerating her enemy. As he quickly approached her he could see that she used her bare hand for slashing strikes that left deep gashes in the enemy's body without actually touching him.
'It has to be some wind technique.'
The arms had been cut off at the shoulders and the entrails were hanging out, but he seemed to be still alive. Idate had to admire the craftsmanship. Personally he wasn't that big on the torture part, but followers of Orochimaru deserved no mercy. A glance to the side showed him that the now uncontrolled horde of snakes was almost upon them.
"Temari, please stop playing around. We have a horde of snakes to take care of."
Temari glanced up, nodded, looked back down and beheaded the shinobi with her invisible sword.
"Spoilsport."
Then the snakes reached them. The fastest ones had been dispatched at the beginning of the battle. The remaining ones stood no real chance. They seemed to be completely mindless and attacked blindly. A few exploding tags took care of the biggest clusters. The rest was blade work. He didn't want to use his remaining chakra for techniques if he didn't have to; apparently Temari had similar thoughts. It almost developed into a routine. Carve a few snakes up, retreat and repeat. If the mindless swarm went after Temari he would kill the snakes at the edges; she would do the same. They worked together like a well-oiled machine. Idate lost track of time. Suddenly it was over. There were no enemies left.
"One thing is certain: You are never boring, Idate. I like your fighting style." Temari remarked.
"I can say the same, Temari."
Panting heavily he looked around, making once again sure that were no hostiles left in their vicinity. Practically all fires had burned out by now. They were standing in the midst of an ashen wasteland surrounded by the bodies of untold snakes. Then he looked at Temari. Covered in soot, blood and snake guts she was still one of the loveliest sights he had ever seen.
'Beautiful AND deadly. I think I'm in love.'
Coming to an adrenaline-fueled decision he marched up to Temari. The young woman looked at him curiously. Gathering his courage he engulfed her in a hug and kissed her. He had imaged quite a lot of reactions; everything from her melting into his embrace (hey, he had a well-developed ego) to her slapping him or becoming even more violent. Temari forcing her tongue into his mouth, jumping him and crossing her legs around his waist had not been on his list; not that he was complaining.
He wasn't completely sure how long they continued kissing, but it seemed far too short when they finally separated. Temari sensually licked her lips. "That was very nice. I think we'll need to have an… in-depth discussion later."
Idate grinned at her. "I'll be happy to explore your… hidden depths. I'm all yours as soon as the second phase of the exams is over."
"I'll be waiting." Temari answered, smiling seductively while tracing the line of his jaw with her finger. "I assume you want to return to your team now that your snake problem is taken care of?"
That brought Idate back to his problems. "Yes; if they are still alive that is. I have to keep those two idiots in the land of the living during this phase. My promotion ticket rides on them, so if you should encounter them please leave them intact."
"I can do that." She gave him another kiss. "If you give me… compensation for my forbearance."
"It will be my pleasure."
He was about to step back when a burning pain in his leg caused him to look down. A brightly colored snake was already slithering away, blurring into the surroundings. Before it disappeared completely Idate speared it with a kunai.
"Got you." he managed to get out before all his muscles seized up and he fell against Temari.
His vision was rapidly going dark, the panicked voice of Temari filling his ears. "Idate? Stay with me! Idate! Don't you dare to simply keel over!"
'At least I'm dying while being with a beautiful woman. Would have been better if we had been in bed together at least once, though.' was his last thought before he plunged into darkness.
Sakura Haruno was frightened. It was all going wrong. First Idate had been blown away by some wind jutsu, then that creepy woman… man… thing or whatever named Orochimaru had attacked them. They had been completely outclassed. After it had played around with them for a while it had bitten Sasuke-kun and disappeared. Her beloved Sasuke-kun had collapsed in pain and lost consciousness. It was all she could do to carry him to a makeshift shelter between some large tree roots nearby. She just didn't have the strength to carry him farther. He was sporting a fever and the strange mark on his neck worried her greatly.
All this had happened on the morning of their first full day in the forest. They had been travelling quite a distance on the first evening; too far for her to reach the edge of the forest with an incapacitated Sasuke. One day and one night had passed with no trace of Idate. She didn't especially like the older genin who called her brainiac and seemed to take pleasure in needling them, but he had provided a measure of safety. Now the second day dawned and she was still all alone, staggering with fatigue from fetching fresh water from a nearby spring.
"Hehe, up all night?" a raspy voice pierced her haze of weariness. "But it's no longer necessary. Wake up Sasuke-kun. We want to fight him."
Two of the three Sound genin that had attacked Kabuto during the first test were standing a short distance away. Both of them were male. Orochimaru had mentioned that the Sound were his allies as she now recalled.
"What are you talking about? I know that someone named Orochimaru is pulling the strings from the shadows! What is his purpose?" Sakura shouted. The genin seemed shocked when she mentioned the name. "What is that weird mark on Sasuke-kun's neck? You did this to him and now you want to fi-...?"
Suddenly Sakura noticed that she couldn't move. Strands of black hair had wound around her arms, legs and throat, slowly strangling her and preventing every movement. "You Leaf kunoichi are pathetic. I was standing behind you the entire time." a female voice said from just behind her. Sakura felt a prick on her neck before everything went loopy. Strange sounds and smells assaulted her while her vision contorted. She felt herself lifted before she was tossed aside. A sharp pain lanced through her when she collided with a nearby tree trunk, piercing her strange haze for a moment. She didn't seem to have any control over her body.
"I didn't know you could do that with your hair, Kin."
"What, did you think I kept my hair that long just for the fun of it? Heck, it would be full of twigs and other crap if I couldn't control it. Now get on with our task. Less talking and posturing, more fulfilling our orders. Since I took care of the girl I leave the boy to you."
Sakura could feel her mind slipping away. Suddenly some violet glow entered her field of vision and an oppressive feeling settled over her.
"Oh shit." was the last thing she heard before she lost consciousness.
Kin Tsuchi, not-so-willing genin of Otogakure and reluctant participant in the chunin exams in Konoha wondered if she had offended some higher being in her last life. The fourteen years of her current life had certainly been shitty enough. Not that it looked like as if her life would last much longer thanks to the rapidly approaching very big and very hot fireball that she couldn't evade because her leg was trapped under a tree trunk and the rest of her was hopelessly entangled in a scrub. Not to mention the other injuries she had suffered when the cursed Uchiha decided to play punching bag with her body, like her dislocated shoulder or the probable concussion that kept her from properly concentrating.
'I wish such things would stop happen to me every time I see a glimmer of hope.'
In the face of certain death her life began flashing before her eyes. Kin had been born in an extremely poor village in the ass end of nowhere of Rice Country. Her father had been a violent drunkard who slowly drank their meager lands and possessions away while her mother had hanged herself in the rafters when she was three years old. From what she gathered from the villagers' talk she had been a floozy who slept her way through the entire population of the young males of the village until her father had been unlucky enough to knock her up. Kin had never known her elder sibling; he had died shortly after his birth. When she was five her father had spent the last of their money and she was now sure he would have whored her out if there had been a market for such young girls in their village. As it was she had to endure more of her share of beatings and hungry days.
At seven years of age she had thought that luck finally smiled upon her. A wandering freelance shinobi master had come to their village and was searching for an apprentice. Almost the entire village youth had been desperate to get this chance to escape their lives as peasants. And the man had chosen her. It had been the happiest moment of her life when he handed her father a bag of money and took her with him to the inn. When they left the town on the next morning she had heard that her father had drunken all his new money away and froze to death during the cold night in a ditch beside the road to his hut. Kin hadn't been distressed by that fact; the bastard would have deserved a far more painful death.
Her elation at her new position in life lasted only a few days until the true nature of her master became clear, namely that of a drug-addicted pedophile who was barely chunin-level himself. Oh, he had taught her the basics, alright, but mainly she had been used as the man's personal sex toy. To keep her under his thumb he had tried to hook her on some highly addictive drugs, but somehow she had managed to avoid actually getting addicted and simply faked it after she recognized what her 'master' was trying to do. Hanging out with the mad but knowledgeable hermit near her village had finally paid off. The following five years had been very unpleasant, but at least she learned how the world truly worked. The shinobi villages didn't like the competition posed by independents, and jobs were often hard to come by. She had been used frequently to get potential clients into a better mood. Sometimes she thought it a miracle that she had been still a virgin in one orifice at the end of those years. Her master didn't want his little toy to become pregnant or permanently damaged, after all.
Then her master had made a grave mistake: He went after a bounty that the legendary bounty hunter Kakuzu wanted for himself. They met him just after he had incapacitated their prey, and her master had been so high on one drug or another that he ignored the man's warning and attacked. Kakuzu hadn't even looked up when black threads emerged from his body and ripped her master's limbs off. When she had made no move to attack Kakuzu herself the man had asked her in a curious tone "Aren't you going to avenge your master's death, little girl?"
Despite fear nearly paralyzing her she had still been able to answer. "The fucker bought and used me like cattle. Property isn't required to defend its owner. I'm neither stupid, suicidal nor being paid enough to attack you."
At that the man had laughed. "I like you, girl. I think I'll let you live."
After that she had quickly raided her former master's corpse for anything usable before putting as much distance as possible between Kakuzu and her. For a few weeks she had enjoyed the feeling of being finally free. Then her money ran out and she was unable to find any work. No one trusted a twelve year old girl with any jobs, especially because she didn't have any skills besides being a shinobi and very good at sucking dicks, but she wasn't about to advertise the latter skill. It didn't help matters that she was only at low-genin level ability wise at that time, so bounty-hunting was out. She had supported herself with thievery for a while, but soon she received a warning from the local crime bosses that they wouldn't tolerate her hunting in their turf. Neither did they want to employ her for anything else than working in a brothel. Kin had faced the choice of going bandit (and soon be hunted down by either soldiers or shinobi) or whoring herself out, only this time on her own volition.
In that situation she had overheard the some recruiter speaking about a new shinobi village that looked for members. Kin had jumped at that offer, and after a short demonstration of her skills she had been accepted. A village was incredibly useful; it offered a safe place to rest and train as well as additional support. Not to mention that the pay was better and steadier and the risk of simply being killed by other shinobi for no reason was reduced if you had a village potentially backing you.
It was only when she arrived in one of the secret bases that made up the 'village' and she could no longer back out that she realized that something was very, very wrong with Otogakure. It took her several months to learn all the details, but Oto wasn't set up in the right way to create a lasting village. The sheer scale of the medical experiments was horrifying, and the training of the shinobi was mostly subpar. For her entire stay she had feared being dragged away to the labs, used in one of the all-out death matches or simply being killed. Most members seemed to have a fanatical devotion to their leader Orochimaru and didn't question his plans. The only way to leave Oto was in a body bag after they finished with the experiments.
The entire purpose of Oto was to destroy Konoha and provide scientific data along the way, not create a new political entity. The training schedules pointed to a date about two years after her joining as likely kickoff point for an attack. At that time the maximum number of shinobi would be available before the numbers began to degrade because of the self-destructive methods.
Later she learned another fact. It was almost funny. Oto's recruiters had visited her home village shortly after her erstwhile master. Only a few days difference would have seen her enrolled in Oto's ranks instead of that sick fuck of a man. She was unsure what she felt about that. Without her previous experience she would have bought into the propaganda hook, line and sinker, but she would have avoided years of sexual abuse. On the other hand, it was only too possible she would have ended up on an operating table. As it was she politely declined all offers of 'medical enhancement' and tried to learn as much as she could while keeping her head down and the exact extent of her skills secret. There was no way for her to accept one of these seals that Orochimaru's chosen sported. Who knew what sorts of things were built into that seal design?
In retrospect she might have made a mistake by keeping her skills secret. Apparently it had led to her being classified as cannon fodder.
That brought her to her current mission, which was suicidal any way you looked at it. 'Kill Sasuke Uchiha during the Chunin Exams' sounded nice and doable; until you considered that it was unlikely for Konoha to let them get away with it. Oh sure, there were waivers, but she was certain that if they managed to kill the boy Konoha would find out and they would have an 'accident'. They couldn't let some nobodies get away with killing the last member of one of the premier bloodline clans of their village, couldn't they? That didn't even touch upon the fact that clan shinobi with a bloodline were bloody dangerous.
If that wasn't enough she had overheard the big man Orochimaru himself discussing plans with one of his flunkies. Apparently some part of the acoustic isolation had failed without them noticing and Kin had been in the right spot under a vent to hear them. She really didn't like the mentioning of her and her teammates' names, 'sacrifice' and 'forbidden jutsu' in the same sentence. Nonetheless she had been forced to go along with the mission. There had simply been no opportunity to defect, just like in the two years before. They would catch her if she simply ran away, especially because Orochimaru himself had accompanied them. She had memorized a lot of valuable information if she ever got the chance. After all, she would need the protection of a true village if she was to pull it off successfully. Unfortunately she had found no opportunity to ditch her teammates while they were in Konoha and now it didn't seem like she would ever get it thanks to the approaching fireball.
Zaku was an unthinking brute who relied solely on the implanted tubes in his arms to produce his air waves, probably because he was too inept to master anything else. He was an orphan and fanatically loyal to Orochimaru because the man had picked him up and said he saw potential in him. Potential as disposable cannon fodder and medical test subject, in all likelihood. He was currently lying unconscious and with broken arms somewhere in the woods.
Dosu, their team leader, was more intelligent, but Kin didn't trust him one bit. His bandages covered the scars of a failed experiment, and he liked to cut people up in a very sick way. Additionally, if he was as intelligent and logical as he claimed to be he would have noticed that they were on a suicide mission. Strangely, he seemed to have a sort of friendship going with Zaku. Kin didn't know if he was still alive after Sasuke had chugged him head-first into a tree.
The idiots didn't even notice how outclassed they were. Both of them were more or less one-trick ponies, as was her public persona. In reality she was more about low chunin-level, with several ninjutsu, genjutsu, good taijutsu and weapon skills as well as poisons in her book, not to mention her hair techniques. A few carefully chosen and secretly applied drugs in combination with a few illusions and sexual favors had been enough for people to teach her without remembering a thing afterward. It was astounding what you could get away with in Oto if you didn't draw the suspicion of the higher-ups.
Unfortunately it hadn't been enough against an Uchiha high on the power spike of a newly applied curse seal. If she had entertained any doubts that Orochimaru had no interest in their survival they wouldn't have survived this encounter. Apparently they had only been intended as testing dummy for the Uchiha's strength.
Tears streaked Kin's face while she watched the fireball getting closer and closer. 'It's just not fair. I was so close to escaping this hell.'
While training with her genjutsu bells she had made an additional discovery: her audible range was greater than that of most humans, both high and low. It was probably some recessive bloodline resurfacing, not that it was terribly useful since the overall sensitivity of her hearing was still normal. Still, it had helped her with her sound genjutsu and led her to devise a plan of escape. She had known that dogs could hear a certain frequency, but humans couldn't. One of Konoha's major clans was the Inuzaka clan who could talk with their dogs. Her plan had been to use her bells to send a coded message announcing her willingness to defect at a normally inaudible frequency.
Unfortunately they hadn't gotten close to any Inuzaka during their stay in Konoha until the first exam. By then she had almost given up hope. To her considerable surprise it wasn't the Inuzaka who reacted but an Aburame. The insects forming words on her test sheet had been a sure sign. It hadn't entered her mind before that insects could perceive that frequency, too. The Aburame had confirmed her message and ordered her to act normal until she was contacted again. For a while she had been hopeful, but it didn't look like fate would take mercy on her.
'It would have been nice if at least one thing in this rotten life had gone my way. I guess I can only hope for better luck next time.'
Kin lifted her head to look her death in the face. She wouldn't survive anyway, but hopefully it would end quickly and without too much pain.
Suddenly the buzzing of insects filled her ears and a yellow barrier of some sort snapped into existence directly in front of her. In the next moment the fireball splashed against the barrier and expended its power harmlessly. As soon as the last flames had died down the barrier faded into nothingness.
"What was that?" the crazy Uchiha asked when he approached her. "You are still alive?"
She didn't answer. There was simply no point and she was too shocked anyway.
Sasuke drew a kunai and threw it at her, but once again a barrier appeared in front of her, deflecting it. A cry of pain brought her attention back to the Uchiha. He was convulsing as if someone was shocking him with lightning. Was that smoke rising from him? I couldn't have lasted more than a few seconds, but suddenly the cries ended, the curse mark receded and the Uchiha slumped to the ground rendered unconscious.
'What the hell is happening?'
"It appears my allies and I arrived just in time. Do you require medical assistance?" a voice sounded from the side.
Turning her head Kin spied a Konoha shinobi wearing a light green high-collared jacket and sunglasses. "Who are you?"
The boy knelt beside her and began examining her body. "My name is Shino Aburame. I am the one who reacted to your message before the first exam."
Relief flooded Kin. She wouldn't die. Her plan had been successful. "I'm Kin Tsuchi. I think my shoulder is disclocated."
The boy… no, Shino adjusted his glasses before he stood back up. "I will have to free you before I can treat your injuries. Try not to move."
He disappeared from her field of vision only to return a minute later with a long piece of wood in hand. Using it as a lever he removed the tree trunk from her leg before prying her free of the scrub. Kin blacked out when he set her shoulder.
When her consciousness returned she was lying on a bed of moss and she felt much better. Sitting up, she could see Zaku and Dosu lying on the ground a short distance away. On the other side the Uchiha and Pinky were propped up against a tree. It didn't seem as if any of them would regain consciousness anytime soon. Shino was examining Sasuke's neck. When he noticed her observing him he stood up and approached her.
"How long was I out?" Kin asked.
"About two hours. I have tended to your wounds and those of your teammates. You will be combat-capable in about three hours at the latest as will your teammates aside from the one with broken arms." The boy crouched beside her. He didn't seem to show any facial expression and the sunglasses made it impossible to see his eyes. It made it impossible for her to read him. "It is time to talk about you and your message. What do you want?"
Kin gulped. This was her big chance. She couldn't afford to screw this up if she wanted any chance at a life without constant fear. "I want to defect from Otogakure. It is a horrible place. I request sanctuary from Konoha."
"I see. What do you offer to us to make it worthwhile?"
"First off, my skills. I'm about chunin level. Second, information. In my two years in Otogakure I collected a lot of valuable information that is of interest to your village. For example, the leader of Oto is Orochimaru. The curse mark on the Uchiha is a seal Orochimaru uses on his most valuable shinobi. Otogakure is not a single village but a series of bases. Something big is taking place soon. There is more, but I'll need guarantees before I reveal anything else." Kin answered.
The boy with the bushy dark brown hair didn't show any reaction and simply continued looking at her. Or at least that was what she assumed; it was impossible to tell. A knot of fear began to settle in her stomach. Would he refuse?
"Very well. In the name of the Aburame clan I offer you protection. For now this only pertains to my clan, not Konoha as a whole. Your exact status will be determined at a later time. Betray us and we will make sure you will experience a drawn-out and extremely painful death."
Kin couldn't help herself. The relief and happiness upon hearing this was so strong that she hugged Shino and started crying. She had a new chance. It was only after a few minutes that she realized what she was doing. This was completely unprofessional. Luckily Shino didn't seem to mind and had even started to awkwardly pat her back.
"What happens now?" Kin asked.
"You will have to stay with your team for the time being. We have no way to extract you from the forest without rousing suspicion. In all likelihood there will be preliminary matches. Things have already been arranged. You will be pitted against me. Do everything in your power to provoke me. Why do you ask? I will make it appear as if I kill you in a rage. You will be in a state of fake death and your body will be switched with a replica." Shino explained.
"What guarantees do I have?"
"None. You will have to trust me."
Kin didn't have to think long. This was her only chance. "Okay, I'll do what you say. I'll take the two idiots of my team away and simply say I managed to delay Sasuke while dragging them along. We already have the right scrolls, so that shouldn't be a problem. What about your two Konoha friends? The girl shouldn't have witnessed anything incriminating, but she knows we work for Orochimaru. I don't know how much the boy will remember."
"I will remain with them. I have been separated from my team and won't reach the meeting point today. Sakura shouldn't be a problem. The cover story for Sasuke is that an additional enemy protected you before I arrived and drove you off." Shino replied.
"Good. That should work." Kin stood up and stretched her sore muscles. "Then it's time for me to go. Thank you for your help."
Shino just nodded silently. It didn't seem like he talked much, but when he spoke he was somewhat of a nitpicker. She could feel his gaze on her when she dragged her two teammates away. Somehow there seemed to be more than simply making sure she didn't turn around and attacked him.
'Don't grow paranoid, Kin. You're almost in the clear. Just a few days more.'
Karin knew she was going to die. The giant bear that had mauled her teammates was now turning towards her. She was out of weapons as well as chakra and had broken her ankle combined with a concussion. At least she thought so; her mind wasn't working all too well at the moment.
'I guess I shouldn't have followed Orochimaru-sama's command to infiltrate Grass. Or at least found some way to bow out of the chunin exams.'
Involuntarily she opened her mind's eye as wide as she could while closing her real eyes. Apparently some part of her wanted to perceive her last moments in complete clarity. Thanks to her almost chakra-exhausted state her range was practically non-existent, but she could clearly make out the bear. It wasn't malicious, just hungry; its chakra signature was small and jagged.
The bear was almost upon her when she heard something like a shout, but she didn't pay any attention to it. The breathing of the bear was much louder. Then the bear's chakra disappeared suddenly and was replaced by another, completely different one.
The chakra was so warm and friendly, Karin simply had to embrace it. It burned itself into her mind. Her mind's eye was opened wider than it ever had been. The closest association she could come up with was a fireplace that gave off a comfortable heat; just right to relax in front of it. She wanted to never let go and bath forever in its warm glow.
'It has to be an angel. I have died and just don't know it.'
A female voice pierced her daydream. "Why is that girl hugging you, fleabag?"
Karin's eyes shot open. She was wrapped around a confused-looking boy her age with red tattoos on his cheeks. After a moment she closed her eyes again and snuggled closer. It didn't matter that she was hugging a complete stranger who was a boy to boot. She would do anything to be close to that chakra.
Author's notes: Thanks for the reviews. Originally I wanted to wrap up the forest in one chapter, but the words just kept coming.
Regarding the last scene with Karin, I was tempted for a while to make Akamaru the target of her affections…