Akari didn't know how long she'd been out for or what had actually happened. She stirred from a dreamless sleep as memories started to escape the depths of her sub-conscious and splash about in her mind.
She remembered an explosion, a big one. She remembered locking blades with the Yoru Nin too.
At the thought of the Night Ninja she had fled the blast with Akari came awake suddenly, her eyes opening wide to the light of the world as she tried to sit up.
Pain coursed over her body as she tried to rise and a hand held her down. The sun spots in her vision stopped her from making out who it was but their voice was deeper than Azuko's or Taki's and the hand was firm but gentle too, unlike either of her team mates.
She panicked and tried to fight it, but the person above her held her down. "Calm down!" They said.
Her vision cleared and she realised she was looking at the Yoru Nin she had been fighting before.
She also noticed that her shirt and sleeves were gone, replaced with bandages. She looked down at her chest then back to the Yoru boy in front of her, her eyes blazed with anger and indignity as she made to rise, ignoring the pain completely.
The boy in front of her moved back, a look akin to panic on his features as he staggered back. She managed one solid punch, sent strait into his jaw before her head felt light and her vision blurred. Her feet betrayed her as she began to fall, her equilibrium gone.
Yin got to his feet to catch her, but as he caught her Akari glared at him.
"You perve!" She shouted, sending a particularly powerful kick into the boys' ribs. Yin's eyes went wide and his lips pressed together in a thin line as he suppressed a scream of pain over his broken ribs.
He sent a glair at the girl and – feed up with the unjustifiable abuse he was receiving – sent her sprawling.
"Look I know you're a bit out of it right now, but I don't appreciate the broken ribs." He said hotly as he walked over to her.
Akari's head was throbbing as everything began working again and she groaned as she stumbled to her feet. Her hand went to her head, and for the first time she noticed she was bandaged there as well as her arms.
Her heart began to races as she stumbled around looking for water. She found some fell to her knees to get a better look at her reflection. She had bandages to most of her upper body as well as a few medical patches.
She heard Yin coming up behind her and stood up, the sudden motion causing her to sway uncertainly. Yin sighed and held a hand out to steady the girl.
Sensing no bad intentions, Akari finally allowed herself to calm down, forcing herself to take deep breaths.
"You calmer now?" Yin asked.
Akari nodded and sat down on a tree root. She moaned into her hands as she tried to remember anything past the explosion, but it just wasn't happening.
"What happened." She asked.
Yin sat down on the tree branch next to her. "Well," He began.
FLASH BACK NO JUTSU!
Akari and Yin jumped into the trees as the paper bombs exploded. They were unbelievably powerful. Unlike the paper bombs she had used before. Even one of them would have killed the six of them. Whoever their attacker was they weren't trying to injure them or take their scrolls, they were trying to kill them out right.
The force of the blast caught them and sent the two Shinobi sailing through the air amongst the treacherous maze of hanging branches. Several more paper bombs went off and the two fleeing Shinobi stumbled as they tried to keep their footing.
There was a rush of wind as the fires of the explosions intensified sending white hot flames through the trees chasing after them.
Akari looked back as they ran, noticing a stream of fire tailing their every movement as they ran through the trees.
"It's a guided jutsu!" Akari roared as the flames chased them. Yin looked back as well, he nodded.
"We gotta move it!" He shouted over the roar of the fire. They nodded at each other and sent even more Chakra to their feet, making each jump harder, carrying them further with each push.
Still it all seemed to no avail as the fires chased them relentlessly, gaining with every second that passed.
"We won't make it!" Akari shouted as she glanced back at the flames, scarcely a meter behind them now. The dark forest was illuminated before them and both of them could feel the intense over bearing heat of the white fire behind them.
"If it hits either of us we're dead!" Yin shouted back to her. "So unless you have a particularly powerful Suiton jutsu to combine with my one we'll just have to hope whoever is guiding it runs out of Chakra before it catches us!"
Akari grunted in frustration, but agreed all the same, she only had Raiton just at her disposal right now, and her other techniques wouldn't help, not here anyway, if she tried she'd probably split her skull on a tree.
Yin pulled ahead of her and Akari noticed that the fire was chasing him instead of her.
For a moment she felt relief knowing she wasn't the target of the jutsu. The relief quickly died away as she realised Yin's fate. She didn't know what urge guided her at that moment but she held her hands together and gathered her Chakra in her legs. "Come on!" she shouted to herself as she activated the jutsu.
Yin slipped on a moss covered branch and knew at that moment he was a dead man, there was nothing he could do to save himself.
He let out a muffled 'oof' as Akari shoulder charged him out of the way at the last minute. She brought her arms up to shield herself as the stream of fire slammed into her.
Yin watched with a mixture of shock and fear as he saw Akari lifted up and over him, the fire burning a way flesh and clothing alike.
"Fuck!" He shouted to himself as he regained his footing. "Suiton: Shinsen supuringusu!" He spat a torrent of water over her, quenching the flames immediately, but the damage was already done. Here arms were blackened from the fire and the damage had spread to her body and the last scraps of clothing she had was washed away by the water.
The fire following them had died the second Akari had taken the hit and Yin allowed himself a sigh of relief knowing that the worst of the danger was over now.
Akari slammed into a tree branch and Yin swore again as the girl began to tumble to the ground. He swooped down as fast as he could, just barely managing to catch the girl before she hit the ground.
He landed and looked about himself. The burns were horrific to say the least, her arms and sides were blackened and Yin was afraid her flash would peel off from a light breeze. He noticed a small whole in the ground and quickly filled it with water, lying the unconscious girl down.
He quickly pulled out a scroll from his jacket and unsealed all of the medical supplies he had. He made a series of hand seals and focused his Chakra into his hands. Not for the first time was Yin grateful to Ikino for making all three of them learn the basics of medical Ninjutsu, making sure each member of the squad could at the very least staunch all serious wounds. He wished he had Hina with him, the girl was a magical genius and he had no doubt that she'd be able to heal these wounds, but the best Yin could do was apply the most basic aid. He spent the better part of three hours kneeling over the burnt blond, burning through his own massive reserves of Chakra and then some as he went over every injury he could see.
He paid close attention to the back of her head as he noticed blood beginning to mix with the water. He forced himself not to panic as he quickly closed the wound hopping the girl wasn't too badly concussed.
When her skin looked like it wouldn't fall off at a touch Yin gently picked the girl up and began to apply a potent burn ointment to every inch of burnt skin. After making sure he hadn't missed anything Yin tightly bandaged her arms, head and chest to keep out the dirt. His eyes were heavy with exhaustion as he laid his jacket over the girl to keep her warm.
It was well past midnight by now, but he was confident the girl would live to see morning. He tried to think of his team mates and what had become of them, but his Chakra was all but gone and his mind was shot.
Without even noticing it the boy collapsed next to the bandaged blond falling into a deep sleep.
When he woke he was sure it was morning, the few rays of sunlight that made it down to the forest floor though the thick canopy was proof of that.
He looked at the girl in front of him. He couldn't help but smile as he saw that she was breathing and her skin had more colour in it.
Timidly the boy moved closer to her and began removing the bandages to inspect the girl's injuries and reapply the ointment. His jaw went slack as he removed the bandaging on her fingers to see they were bright red and raw.
He quickly and carefully removed the rest of her bandages and stared at her in shock as he saw that her blackened skin was now red and healing perfectly, he doubted they would even scar. He just stared in awe for a moment wondering how the hell the girl had healed him so quickly, the only other person he knew that healed like this was himself, and that was because of…
His mind came to a screeching halt as he looked at the girl. "She…She couldn't be…could she?" He sat there and thought about it for a moment before he realised that she was still naked from the waste up.
Forcing all other thoughts from his mind, Yin began to apply another layer of burn ointment to help with the healing before bandaging her up again. He had just finished when the girl began to ster.
END FLASH BACK NO JUTSU
"…And that's what happened." Yin finished.
Akari nodded and looked into his eyes, "That's everything?" She asked him "You didn't do anything else to me while I was unconscious?" She expected they boy to be insulted and start offering up excuses in his defence to 'prove' his innocence. Yin only nodded, never breaking eye contact with her.
"Nothing at all." He told her.
Akari's eyes narrowed and she searched the boys' eyes for any sign of guile. She was glade when she found none, despite her situation the boy had only her survival in mind and no indecent thoughts had crossed his mind, nor did he act in an inappropriate way.
"T-thank you…" She said hesitantly after a moment. "And, I-I'm sorry…for the way I reacted." She said with a blush and she finally dropped eye contact with him.
Yin took the apology with a silent nod. "I'm sorry too." He said.
She gave him a look and the boy clarified before the girl got the wrong idea, she really did have a short fuse. "About the whole punching you thing, you were panicked and confused. I shouldn't have."
Despite it all Akari managed to smile.
"It's okay," She said with a fait embarrassed smile. "Sorry about your ribs." She said again giving the boy a playful shove.
Yin laughed and immediately wished he hadn't. "Eh, I'll be fine in a few hours." He told her. Like Akari, Yin had an incredibly high rate of healing.
They moved back to the make shift cam sight Yin had set up and Akari noticed her Weapons pouches, along with her Shuriken and Wakizashi. She rushed over to them and began looking through her stuff. She was glade and somewhat surprised to see the Life scroll she had been holding for her team was still there.
"Why didn't you take it?" She asked, looking back at Yin. The boy offered her a shrug. "Well my team needs an Earth scroll and right now my main concern is them, not the exam." He said. She nodded and put the scroll back in her pouch.
She strapped on her pouch, her leg holster and her Shuriken before she looked at her Wakizashi, she usually clipped it too her jacket but that wasn't an option anymore. Realising she was still in bandages she began to think of what to do for clothing before Yin, who had been thinking along similar lines as her, draped his long coat over her shoulders.
"That should keep you warm." He said, noticing the girl was shivering slightly in the cold morning. "It's more modest than some bandages." He said with a grin.
Akari found herself smiling with him as she pulled the coat on. The sleeves were longer than her arms and it trailed around her ankles instead of the knees like it was supposed to. With a shrug she rolled the sleeves up to her wrists and buttoned up the jacket.
Her stomach began to growl and both of them realised they were starving.
"Don't suppose you have any food?" Akari asked.
Yin shook his head as he stood up. He had strapped his combat blade to his waist as Akari fastened her Wakizashi to her back.
"Well I say we find some." Akari said. Yin nodded in agreement and the two began walking into the forest looking for something edible.
After a good twenty minutes of foraging they managed to find some berries and other fruits that were safe for consumption and began to eat. Unfortunately their meagre findings still left them hungry and they looked about themselves.
"I need some meat." Akari said.
Yin nodded. "Yea, good piece of steak would be good right now." He agreed. They began their search a new and after only ten minutes Akari found tracks. "Hey, over here!" She called to the Yoru Nin.
Yin nodded and came over to her. "My names Yin by the way," He said as he joined her.
Akari looked up at him and nodded, "Akari," She told him. The two nodded at each other before turning back to the tracks Akari had found the girl pointed deeper into the forest. "I'm guessing that whatever made this will be big enough to eat." She said.
Yin nodded in agreement.
The two followed the trail; employing the basic tracking and survival skills they had learnt during their Academy days.
After a few minutes the two of them found the creature they were looking for. It was a lion, similar size to the one's Sai had summoned at the beginning of the second exam.
Quietly the two Shinobi crept closer to the sleeping creature.
It stirred as they got close and at a joint nod the two rushed forward delivering a death blow to the hulking creature before it had truly registered their presence.
The two quickly butchered a small section of the carcase and stripped off some large stakes.
"Next question." Yin said. "How do we cook them? If we start a fire well be signalling out position to every one for miles around." He said.
"Like our team mates." Akari said in an upbeat tone.
"And whoever attacked us." Yin said. "I doubt he'll give up before he's found the remains of my body,"
"You know who did it?" Akari asked. Turning an eye to her companion, Yin nodded.
"I have my suspicions," He said.
"Who?" Akari asked, all other thought had left her mind, Yin could see that she wouldn't let it go until she had her answers and Yin reasoned that she should know who she would be dealing with.
"A Shinobi from my Village." He told her. "His name is Toriko."
"Your village?" Akari asked, slightly stunned that someone from his own Village would attempt such a brutal attack on his fellow Villages.
Yin nodded, "It's only a theory at this point, though I will be surprised if it is someone else, seeing how that jutsu was targeting me." He said.
Akari nodded and sat down on a nearby tree root. "Well at least we have stakes." She said in an upbeat tone as she held her aloft triumphantly.
"Uncooked steaks," Yin added with a grin.
Akari pouted slightly and offered the boy a half-hearted glair. "Do you have to ruin everything like that?" She asked flatly.
Yin shrugged and the two began laughing again.
"Anyway," Akari said as she recovered. "I have a plan." She held her steak in between her palms as she summoned Raiton Chakra.
Yin raised an eyebrow at her as he watched, "You sure that will work?" He asked. Akari shrugged as the steak blackened in her hands.
"If it can cauterise a stab wound I don't see why not." She said.
Yin felt like asking further into how she had figured that out, but Akari stopped and threw the stake at him before he could ask. He caught it with his free hand and took a bite out of it. While the outside had been burnt quite heavily the meat was still a bit rare and it didn't taste all that bad.
"Not bad," He said as he tossed the uncooked steak at Akari, who repeated the process.
"Considering," Akari added as she tested her own.
The two sat there for a while, making small talk as they ate a few more steaks. Eventually they began to notice other predators closing in on them, draw by the scent of blood.
"Let's go." Said Yin.
Akari nodded and the two left the dead animal quickly, before anything too big came to inspect.
They made their way back to the make shift camp site before they stopped.
"So, next problem," Akari said. "How do we find our teams?" She asked.
Yin shrugged, "I have no idea." He said. "Personally I think until we have all got back together we shouldn't split up."
"Why?"
"Strength in numbers." Yin said. "If we come across another team we'll already be at a disadvantage due to numbers, so until all six of us get back together we should stick together," He said.
Akari thought about it for a moment. What he was saying made sense and even though she was rested and feed she was still sore all over from the burns and head injury. "Sounds like a good idea." She said. "Where should we start looking?" She asked.
Yin shrugged again. "Well I say we start with the initial attack sight." He suggested. "We all split up there so I think it's as good an idea as any, pulse if we're lucky we might be able to confirm my suspicions about the attacker." He said.
Akari nodded. "Sounds good, Azuko was always better at tracking anyway and seeing as I have the scroll you can bet he'll be hunting me down like a demon."
Yin nodded and looked to the trees, "Well we came from that direction," He said pointing.
Akari nodded. "Let's go then," She said.
The two leapt up into the trees again as they made their way back to the initial attack site. It wasn't all that hard to do; the fires had burnt a lot of the surrounding trees marking their path with thick black scars across the trees faces.
They moved down to the forest floor, making it easier to navigate the path, not having to worry about half dead branches breaking under foot.
They reached a small clearing a about half way to the attack sight when another paper bomb tagged kunai hit the ground. It began to smoke but before it could explode Yin put it out with a Suiton jutsu.
The two stopped dead and looked up into the trees. About twenty feet up another ninja stood on a branch looking down at them; he was an attractive young man a few years older than them with shaggy blond hair and dangerous dark eyes.
He sported a Yorugakure headband as well as the same outfit Yin and his team mates wore.
A growl escaped Yin's throat as he drew his combat blade. "Toriko." He said in a dangerous voice.
Sup Friendlies?
Isn't that a nice place to end the chapter, just when you though it was getting good. Never fear, we'll get to the super-beat-stickery of Akari and Yin vs Toriko in due time.
I'm also glade I finally had a chance to activate the 'FLASH BACK NO JUTSU!' I mean it's hardly a Naruto story with out a flash back. granted I don't have as many as the actual series, but I don't think anyone does.
All in all hope you enjoyed this chapter and the next one will be uploaded soon.
Jutsu used was.
"Suiton: Shinsen supuringusu - Water style: Fresh springs."
Until nest time I wish you all the best.
Yours truly.
Nicolai Grey.