Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor any of the characters, beside the main OC. All credit for creating this amazing series goes to Mr. Kishimoto
Author's note: Thanks to everyone for reading!
So I finally found my way back on the internet and here I am with another chapter.
Thanks to Naginator for reviewing. =)
Neo Amon: thank you again for reviewing. Once again, you made some very good guesses.
In my story Naruto can sense other Jinchūriki on a subconscious level, he cannot understand what is wrong with Gaara, but he recognises the look in Gaara's eyes as one very similar to his own. He sees the loneliness and pain in Gaara and on an instinctive level is scared of him.
About the mysterious man, I was purposely being a little obvious about who he was, but I just wanted to show to the readers he is still alive and plotting (what and when this is still unknown).
The Loyalty Seal is very much permanent and you may be able to glimpse a part of its role in a few chapters. And about Orochimaru... well, you'll see.
CHAP 8 – The Forest of Death
They were in front of a very high metallic fence, covered with warning signs that promised death and pain to those fool enough to enter. Some high trees with gigantic roots could be glimpsed behind the protections and a very grim aura came from the place. It was not the ideal place for a picnic, that's for sure.
"Welcome, kids, to training grounds number 44," Anko announced, "also known as the Forest of Death..." She smirked, hearing several shocked and scared gasps. "I'm sure you will all experience why it was given this nickname very soon."
The proctor basked into the squirms of the scared genins, overjoyed. Until...
"Sugoi!" Naruto jumped in excitement. "This sounds like fun. Not sitting for hours on a bloody chair."
"It was only one hour." Akimi observed, turning a page on her book. "Drama queen."
"Details."
Shino smirked at his teammates usual banter, while Anko looked in surprise at him.
"You are either crazy or very courageous, boy." the proctor said, tossing a kunai at him with a sudden, quick movement. "Those like you die first."
The blonde didn't even falter, but simply stepped aside. The kunai flew past him and, as it neared Akimi, she simply caught it without even raising her eyes from the book."He is both." she said, throwing the kunai back. "You dropped this, Mitarashi-san."
"Why, thanks." Anko pocketed the kunai, smirking. "You are really an interesting bunch of kids." 'They must be Kakashi's brats... I heard they were even in A rank mission and performed greatly.' "Well, let's go to business now. Before we can start with the real exam, you all need to sign these forms..." as Anko spoke, the chūnins who assisted her started to hand out papers. "Failure to do so will result in your and your teammates disqualification."
"What are they for?" someone asked.
"Oh, nothing much" Anko replied causally. "From now on, people will die. We need you to sign your consent, so I – nor Konoha – will not be held responsible for your possible early demise..."
There were many gulps of fear and everyone – even Naruto – looked very serious. It was not time to joke anymore.
As they started to sign the papers, Anko showed them a small map of the training area. It was a circular enormous forest, surrounded by high fences, that was crossed by a river. A tower stood in the centre, ten kilometres from the entrances gates.
"Well then, if you have the stomach to sign your waivers return them to the booth over there... and you will in turn receive a scroll. There are two of them." she showed them two scrolls: one white-blue with the kanji for heaven and a dark brown one with the kanji for earth. "To pass to the next session, you must collect and bring to the central tower a full set. I don't care how you acquire your missing scroll, it just needs to be intact." Silence. "But there are some very important rules: first, if one of you is severely hurt or killed the entire team is disqualified; second, you cannot open the scrolls before you reach the tower. Clear?"
"Hai!"
"Excellent!" Anko exclaimed, happily. "The time for this exam is 120 hours... in other words five days. Those of you who can't make it to the tower before the deadline will fail."
"What about food?" Chōji asked.
"Well, there is plenty of it inside." Anko smiled sweetly. "Just be careful not be eaten by it first. The flora and fauna aren't really friendly, you know..."
"Thank the Kami you are paranoid and sealed away tons of supplies, mi-chan." Naruto whispered.
The Akimichi, instead, groaned. "Oh, no...!" he exclaimed.
"Well, it's a survival test, you know." Anko shrugged. "Off to get your scrolls now, maggots!"
Akimi closed her book. "So a maximum of thirteen teams can pass." she mused. "But it's very likely that only an handful actually will..."
"The difficulty of the exam has raised exponentially" Shino concurred. "Shall we?"
Naruto nodded. "Ohi, Shino, time to use your tracker prowess..." he whispered.
The Aburame simply smirked.
Team 7 made his way to the booth, being actually one of the firsts to get there. A grey clad chūnin took their waivers and gave Akimi a fair coloured scroll. "Good luck." he said.
"Thank you." she smiled dazzlingly, before she tripped for no apparent reason and made the scroll fall.
"'mi-chan, everything fine?" Naruto went to support her, while the chūnin looked a little taken aback.
"Yeah, sorry... must be the nervousness. I feel a little faint."
"Are you sure you don't want to give up, kids?" the chūnin asked, picking up the scroll and giving it back to them.
"Nay. I'll eat a cookie or something on my way out. Don't worry." Akimi bowed. "Thank you, chūnin-san."
The three genins left the small booth. "Success." Shino said. "Good acting."
"Why, thank you." Akimi bowed to an invisible audience. "Let's see who gets an earth scroll, now."
Shino had used the distraction Akimi and Naruto created to sneak some Kikaichū inside and all around the booth, so to see which Team would get which scroll.
"Ouch, the Sand Siblings received one."
"Rule them out." Akimi quickly said, even though she didn't really need to.
"Team Ten also got one." Shino continued, listening from the feedback of his tracking Kikaichū. He waited. "As well as Team Gai and Yakushi-san's one."
"Bad choices all of them." Naruto murmured, cursing. "I would hate to fight Chōji and Shika... and let's not forget how smart that lazy bastard really is."
Akimi nodded. "And Yakushi-san is experienced... not to mention he knows our abilities. We must avoid him, I don't like him... at all. He is too kind. Gai's team also seems though."
Shino closed his eyes. "Right, my females sneaked on a couple of Ame teams and o the one from Taki. Also a team of Kusa, but they look old..."
"Which means they tried a lot of times and probably have experience, but also that they couldn't make it. Let's keep it as a last resort." Akimi reasoned.
"How long can they last?" asked Naruto instead.
"They are newborn females. If they manage to steal chakra to feed, even up to two days. I would say fourteen hours average."
"That should be enough to track down at least one of them." Akimi observed.
"Right. I suggest we wait until we enter the forest. Why do you ask? We will then hunt the nearest team..." Shino replied.
"I like the plan, dattebayo. I can't wait to fight."
Akimi placed an hand on her forehead. "Oh, dear."
"All right, everyone has got a scroll." Anko shouted. "We'll begin in thirty minutes. Follow the chūnin to your starting gate. Once inside, you are on your own. You will stay in the forest for five days... and a last piece of advice..." she grinned wickedly. "Try not to die!"
April, 13th 214 – Forest of Death, gate 14
Akimi used the thirty minutes of respite to seal away their heaven scroll and hide it in her bra. Very effective hiding spot. Naruto actually got a funny face when she said it. Probably going somewhere with his perverted mind. Then she proceeded to create a decoy scroll and gave it to Naruto.
"It may come in handy."
The blonde nodded. "What formation are we going to use?"
"'to-kun up at the front. You'll create six clones and have them surround us for protection. I'll take the middle, while Kaera scouts ahead. Shino will cover our rear with his Kikaichū and will also be providing direction to track the earth scrolls."
"Hai."
Naruto then said: "If we are engaged in a surprise attack, then we'll use the standard smoke escape. I will cover us with Kage Bunshins, giving us time to regroup and plan. If not possible, give them hell."
Team 7 was accustomed to have Akimi do the long term plans and follow Naruto's orders instead in the mist of battle – unless he specifically asked for help. Shino was the reconnaissance specialist of the team. They all worked well together, so there was no really an official leader outside of Kakashi.
"Now!" Anko's voice came from nearby speakers. "Let the Second Chūnin Exams begin!"
As the gates swung open, more than twenty teams rushed forward. Some hesitantly walked in, as if they were afraid. Team 7 calmly strolled in, instead, their expression determined but relaxed. The forest looked as dark and as menacing as its name suggested.
Shino put his ear on the ground and closed his eyes. "The nearest one is a team from Ame, north-east." he said. "The one from Kusa is farther, west from here. In that general direction there is the one from Taki and another from Ame as well. I feel other two teams approaching our position, probably the ones from the nearest gates."
"The tower is north from here." Akimi observed. "But I'll send Kaera to scout west for us. Just in case... We have a longer range of communication now."
Naruto nodded and immediately formed Kage Bunshins to cover them, before leaping north-east.
Team 7 was very fast. Akimi and Naruto had trained with weights for years and had also introduced Shino to them after the formation of the team. Hence, the three had no qualms flying through the high trees of the forest of death, chasing their designed victims.
"My Kikaichū feel the presence of poisonous giant leeches half a kilometre forward." Shino announced.
"Right or left then?" Naruto asked.
"Right for only few hundred meters, on the left there is the liar of some giant spiders." the Aburame answered.
They kept leaping tree from tree.
"How far away is our target?" Akimi enquired after a while.
"If we keep this pace up, we should catch up with them in five minutes or so."
"Good." she said.
"If we increase our speed we can go past them and ambush them." Naruto said. "We are nearing the river, I can smell the water." The blonde did have a very good sense of smelling.
Akimi focused chakra in her ears. "Yeah, I can hear it too."
"It's logical. Ame-nin are often adept at Suiton." Shino agreed. "We should stop them from reaching a water source. It could turn the battle in their favour."
"We fought Zabuza and Haku, I doubt they could be much worse." Naruto said. "Besides, I also know Suiton. However, it's best not to take a chance..."
"I agree as well." Akimi concluded. "Let's speed up."
Of course, they hadn't been using their maximum speed, because they wanted to be able to fight without problems, but they could afford to accelerate for the last short trait.
The three Konoha genins easily surpassed the Ame team, arriving in front of a large and menacing looking river, whose water almost looked black.
"Would that be potable?" wondered Naruto.
Akimi ignored him. "Shino, which direction are they coming from?"
"Four o'clock."
"Naruto-kun, send clones to scout the terrain. We'll slowly made our way towards that direction as well. Same formation."
The blonde send the clones he already created to the task. He had lots of chakra, but both Kakashi and Akimi had drilled him not to waste it for nothing. It was not infinite, after all.
"Mmm, there are no particular landmarks ahead. Only trees. What's the plan?" Naruto said. "They are coming, my clone saw them. The girl may be a genjutsu user, I didn't see any weapons on her. The other genin is a tad short, maybe a close ranged fighters from his muscles. Oh, and the last one had an umbrella. What's that supposed to do anyway?"
"Throwing device." Akimi explained.
Naruto nodded. "Right, the quickest way to do this is using Kikaichū, this will also allows us to keep our energies... should we meet trouble on our way to the tower."
"Ambush." Shino curtly said. "If you use your smoke, Akimi, I can incapacitate the one carrying the scroll."
She nodded. "Good, and I can also use Doton to block another, while Naruto-kun takes care of the last one. I can hold the jutsu up to... say two minutes, would that be enough?"
Shino smirked. "Plenty of time."
"Right, Naruto-kun, can you provide a clone to stop them?"
"Sure thing, dattebayo!" he exclaimed.
So it went, Team 7 patiently waited for the unfortunate Ame team to cross their way.
"We should start hunting teams." the shortest of them said, darkly.
"We'll follow the river towards the tower. The other teams are bound to come and look for water, then we can ambush them." The taller, umbrella armed genin said, smirking.
"I say we go for one of the rookie teams." the other said. "I don't know what those jōnin were thinking allowing them to..."
"I'm not sure about the others, but my sensei was only concerned about the poor fools we would meet." Naruto jumped from a taller branch, halting their sprint. He waved. "Hello!"
"What? Who are you midget?" the shortest genin asked. "Are you crazy facing the three of us alone?"
"Sure, why not? You don't look like much." Naruto shrugged. "I can defeat you alone..."
"I'll show you, brat!" the same genin shouted, enraged.
"... but then again, why should I?" Naruto concluded, disappearing with a small puff of smoke.
"What? How? Where did he go?" the umbrella wielder asked, warier.
"Kemorekagure no Jutsu [Hidden in Smoke Technique]." Akimi whispered in that moment.
"What hell is this?" squealed the girl, seeing the dark, thick smoke descending towards them. It covered a very large area, making impossible to see beyond their nose. They soon discovered it also made difficult to breath, but luckily they did have re-breather with them. What they fail to notice, was the swarm of black insects going towards them.
"That's enough!" the umbrella wielder screamed, grabbing his weapon and rotating it around. He managed to create enough wind to disperse the smoke. Well, that and Akimi chose the moment to dispel the technique.
"Just wait until I find you!" the shortest genin screamed. "I will..." but he never finished the threat, collapsing on the ground.
"What the hell, Kuruka?" the girl asked. "What's wrong?" Then, she heard a hissing sound.
She immediately ducked, jumping on the ground, while a Fūma Shuriken sliced where her head was standing a second before.
"Just think," the taunting voice of the blonde said in that moment, "we are rookies...wonder what could we do with a little more experience. Eh?"
"Damn you, bastards!" the umbrella wielding genin shouted. "Show yourself, coward!"
From his hiding spot, Naruto seethed. He had a short temper anyway, but the only thing that infuriated him more quickly that calling him a coward, was someone insulting Akimi-chan. The last idiot who tried still had the sign of his feet on his ass, after he kicked him into the next millennium. Yeah, a wonderful story for another time.
"Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu [Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique]!" Akimi screamed, yanking the girl underground, just as Naruto leaped towards the remaining genin.
"As you wish, loser." Naruto shouted, going for a sweeping kick at the Ame nin's head. The boy ducked, but was hit from the invisible Fūton blade the blonde sent him.
Crying out in pain, the Ame genin jumped on an higher branch and threw his umbrella upwards.
"Ninpou: Jouro Senbon [Ninja art: Senbon Shower]!" he exclaimed.
What looked like hundreds, if not thousands, of sharp looking senbon needles literally rained down from the umbrella. Naruto realised that he could not dodge, for the range of the technique was too wide. "Damn it!" he shouted, starting a sequence of handseals. 'In this moments I'd love to be a quick as 'mi-chan with them...' "Fūton: Daitoppa [Wind Release: Great Breakthrough]!" He shouted, hurling the jutsu forward. The strong blast of wind scattered the senbon and the umbrella away with a second to spare. Naruto didn't even give his enemy time to respite, jumping and punching him straight in the gut.
The Ame nin was so surprised his attack failed, he could not dodge or block him in time. He fell down from the tree, right in front of a smirking Akimi. "Hello." she said, smiling sweetly at him. "Goodbye." and she kicked him in the face, knocking him out.
"Well, that was easy." Naruto jumped down, immediately followed by Shino. "We'll tie them up. Why don't you hide the Earth Scroll and prepare a decoy for this one as well, mi-chan?"
"Sure thing."
"What now?" asked Naruto, yawning, as they landed once again in front of the river.
"I suppose we could head to the tower." Akimi said. "We can simply follow the river, Shino can help us avoid both enemy teams and the natural inhabitants of this lovely forest."
"What about eliminating other teams? That would make things easier for us in the next exam."
"It could – or it could wear us out too much. We ought to be careful..."
"What if we do take a pondered risk? If we meet a weak looking team we engage them and... Shino, your fine?" Naruto stopped his banter with Akimi at once, as he noticed the pale look on his teammate's face.
"That... Kusa team... my female was killed by a overwhelming chakra from one of them." Shino touched his head, as if in pain. "It was even worse than... Nami."
Naruto and Akimi both gulped. "Where?" the girl asked.
"South-west from here."
"Then we go north..." Naruto said. He may have been an energetic and reckless type most of the time, but even he was so stupid to face something worse than the Kyūbi. Just then Akimi cursed.
One thing you could be sure of with her... she only cursed when something was seriously bad or wrong.
"'mi-chan?"
"Kaera has found a giant snake south west. Kiba and Akamaru are fighting it... and are soundly losing."
"How far?" Naruto asked, his eyes narrowing.
"Two-three kilometres." Akimi looked at Shino. "Is it close to the chakra you felt?"
"Yes." the Aburame said.
"Right, I'm sending Kaera to investigate right now." Akimi said. "We know what we have to do. We drop our weights for this."
"Yeah." Naruto's face was a fierce mask of determination. "Those who break the rules are trash..."
"... but those who abandon their comrades are a worse than trash." Shino concluded for him. "Make way, Akimi."
As the three genin leaped away, Kakashi felt a mysterious sense of pride. He eye smiled at the memorial stone. 'Obito, sensei, you would be proud of those kids.'
"Akamaru!" Kiba shouted, as his beloved puppy was thrashed away from a violent swap of the huge snake's coil. "Damn!"
Nothing worked on the bloody thing, not even the Jūjin Bunshin [Beast Human Clone] and Gatsūga [Fang passing Fang] had scratched the ominous yellow reptile. Kiba had no choice but try to escape, but he could not outrun the slithering snake.
Akamaru whined in pain. Luckily he was only a severe bruise, nothing was broken. Kiba hurriedly swept the pup into his arm, dodging an attack from the snake's head for a millimetre. 'Shit, shit, shit... this thing is going to eat me in no time.'
It was with horror, in fact, that the young genin saw the coiled point of the snake's tail suddenly break out from the ground in front of him, blocking his way. Startled, Kiba tripped and fell. It was over. With a satisfying and somehow evil hiss, the huge snake prepared to attack and eat its prey.
As it dashed forward, though, something happened. Kiba saw a blur of movement arrive in front of him and recognised the black and red outfit of Akimi. The girl flashed through handseals under his surprised eyes, going so quick he could not make them out. 'Damn, I knew she was good, but this is so much better than Sasuke's!'
"Doton: Doryūheki no jutsu [Earth Release: Earth Style Wall Technique]!" shouted the girl, spitting a small trail of mud from her mouth. Kiba gaped.'What?'. Just before the snake's head was about to clash with them a wall of solid dirt raised from the ground, about two meter tall, stopping it. The strength of the collision was enough to crack the wall.
The snake slid back, hissing in annoyance. He moved with less agility and speed, though, obviously dazed by the clash. Akimi jumped above the wall of earth, using chakra to propel herself. As she landed, her hands moved again.
"Come at me, you little head-shit." she roared. "Katon: Karyū Endan [Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet]!"
Kiba's eyes widened as the massive burst of flame left her mouth and formed a dragon head. Even more astonishing was Naruto's voice following hers, just before the blonde appeared beside her. "Fūton: Namikadou [Wind Release: Wave Vortex]!"
The wave of wind was so strong that the intense feedback blew their hair back. The jutsu fuelled the fire attack of Akimi creating a hot, blazing inferno.
"Holy shit!" exclaimed Kiba.
"Fūton/Katon: Toukai Konbo [Wind/Fire Release: Destruction Combo]!" shouted the two genin as the flames engulfed the snake that, being still confused from his concussion, could not dodge.
Akimi and Naruto stayed on guard, wary. As the smoke created by their attack cleared, the burned and now black corpse of the snake appeared... just before vanishing with a puff.
"What?" Naruto asked, surprised.
"Not good." Akimi replied. "That was a summon..."
"Orochimaru." Naruto had read about the Sannin. The three men were on a whole other level, no matter how talented his team was. "Bad."
Shino had in the meantime landed near Kiba, helping him on his feet.
"How are you and Akamaru-kun, Kiba-san?" asked the girl, jumping near them.
"A little bruised, but with a little rest we should be fine... thank you, guys." Kiba swallowed his pride. The close death call had really deflated his arrogance.
"What happened?" Shino asked. "Where are Haruno-san and Uchiha-san?"
"I'm not sure... we met a strange nin from Kusa. He separated us with a gust of wind." Kiba massaged his head. "Then, I had been busying trying not to be eaten by that thing."
"Akimi-chan?" Naruto asked.
The girl looked feint. "Such chakra..." she whispered. "The Kusa nin has paralysed your teammates with Killer Intent only. He asked for your scroll and then he destroyed it. Then he started taunting Uchiha-san about his brother and he snapped out of it, attacking. They are fighting right now. I'd say maximum five minutes from here, that direction." she pointed west.
"Let's go then."
"Naruto!" Akimi exclaimed. "It's Orochimaru! We can't possibly defeat him. And it's certainly not wise to jump into the such a fight without a plan."
"They are my teammates!" Kiba protested. "They may be annoying, but they are my friends!"
"And what happened to all your nobility, Akimi?" Naruto thundered, before leaping away, followed by a shaky Kiba.
The girl cursed. "Damn, damn, damn! Will you ever learn to stop and think?" She looked at Shino. "I don't think Kikaichū will work on this enemy. Stay back, we'll need support after the fight. Kai!" and cancelling the weight/resistances seal that remained, she pursued that mad fight.
Few minutes later...
"Take Sakura to safety. I'll distract him... and hopefully Sasuke will get the hint and run as well" Naruto ordered. "You are hurt."
Kiba didn't even think about protesting. This was not an idiotic dead last, but a serious and proud shinobi.
Apparently, Orochimaru had just shred the skin of the Kusa kunoichi, revealing his own pale, snake-like face on her body. It was both disgusting and terrifying.
"That has been entertaining, Sasuke-kun. Ku-ku-ku." Orochimaru mocked. "But if you don't put a little effort into this, I'll have to kill you."
Naruto braced himself, his hand on his shoulder, over the seal that contained his tantō. Then, he leaped, mentally calling out: 'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!'
Orochimaru was a little taken aback by the sudden appearance of a swarm of a blonde, tantō wielding genins. "I'll kick your ass, hebi-teme!"
The Sannin narrowed his slit-like yellow eyes. "And who are you, brat?"
"That doesn't matter." Naruto shouted. "What matters is that you leave my comrades the fuck alone!" the mass of clones clashed down towards Orochimaru.
The elder ninja smirked. 'Maybe this will be entertaining.' He thought, bending at impossible angles to avoid the quick swipes of Naruto's tantō. "Not bad, brat, but not good enough. Sen'eijashu. [Hidden Shadow Snake Hands]:"
A dozen of snakes came out from his sleeves, biting and hissing around. Naruto didn't expect this, so several of his clones were easily destroyed. The other nin didn't even look bothered.
"Is this the best you can do, brat?" Orochimaru taunted.
"Damn it!" Naruto jumped back and used chakra flow to enhance his sword, using it to try and surprise Orochimaru. He smirked when one of his wind blades hit the man, severely hurting him, but his victory was short lived. Very short lived.
'Mud?' he thought. 'But he could use jutsu! That was not a simple Tsuchi Bunshin.' His musing was interrupted by a violent punch in his guts, that send him flying towards Sasuke.
"You amuse me, brat. Maybe I shall choose you, instead."
'Choose me? What the hell does he mean?'
Orochimaru smirked. "Or maybe I'll kill you before you become too much of a nuisance." Then, somehow, his neck rushed forward, lengthening it in a very inhumanly way.
"Shit!" Naruto exclaimed, leaping back.
It was not use, because Orochimaru simply bended further his neck. Naruto, sweating, decided to try and attack as a defence. "Fūton: Kaze Kunai! [Wind Release: Wind Kunai]" and he shot out several blades of wind.
Orochimaru chuckled evilly, easily avoiding the jutsu. "Interesting. You are indeed adept at using wind, are you not?"
Sasuke was watching with wide eyes the so called dope while he kept up with the monster who had easily defeated him. But he was a Uchiha! He was not about to be outclassed by that idiot of Naruto.
"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu [Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique]!" Sasuke screamed, after flashing handseals. His eyes were red from his swirling Sharingan, but he could not match the Sannin's speed. The small fireball all missed, as did the shurikens he hid in them.
"Ah, so you join the fight, Sasuke-kun?" Orochimaru mocked. "How nice of you. You know, I wonder... why should I choose, after all?" His neck shot forward again, this time directed to Sasuke.
"Duck, teme!" exclaimed Naruto.
Sasuke wasn't stupid and was already trying to, but Orochimaru was tired of playing games. No matter where he jumped, the damn snake-like face followed him. "Argh!" he screamed as the Sannin bit him on the left shoulder. Sasuke registered a searing, hot pain all around his body, before falling back with a heavy thump as darkness took him.
Orochimaru chuckled. "Ku-ku-ku! Now it's your turn, brat!"
Naruto made to leap, but found he was bound by snakes that had shot out from the ground. 'When did he...?' He focused on Fūton chakra to get rid of them, but once he was free it was too late: the bastard was almost over him.
"Doton: Doryū Engo no Jutsu [Earth Release: Earth Style Protection]!"
Orochimaru stopped his sprint just in time to avoid collision with the small shield of earth that suddenly grew in front of Naruto. But then Akimi shot out from the ground, her folded Fūma Shuriken on hand. She slashed at Orochimaru, who dodged easily.
"Oh, another joins the fight! How delightful. Ku-ku-ku."
'Damn it, he is playing us!' Naruto realised. 'This is what Akimi meant...'
Akimi unfolded the Shuriken with practiced ease, launching it forward. As Orochimaru shirked again, she used strings to manipulate the weapon, contemporarily activating the chakra flow on it. Orochimaru was very surprised to see the blazing Shuriken rotating back towards his main body, so much that the bloody thing did manage to slightly burn his clothes. 'The girl is good!' he thought, returning his neck to normal size.
Akimi caught the Shuriken again, jumping back in a semi crouched position. She looked a little strained, but her breath was even.
"Interesting. You almost got me." Orochimaru licked his lips. "Looks like Konoha bred some powerful genins this year."
Akimi took a deep breath. 'Right, he is an S-rank nin. We may shine among genins, but we are clearly outclassed. Defeating him with taijutsu is impossible... and ninjutsu? It will be only a waste of chakra. And if I use my seals not even Naruto has enough chakra to paralyse him. Shit!' she considered. 'Right, this is so not the time to over-think.'
"Are you scared, girlie?"
"Tsk. I've seen worse." 'Yeah, Kuroken's was probably worse. But he is very close. And nobody is here to help us.'
"Oh, you have got spirit as well!" Orochimaru exclaimed, delighted, before rushing at her with his neck.
"Damn, this is getting annoying." Akimi exclaimed, flashing handseals. "Doton: Doryū Dangan [Earth Release: Earth Flowing Bullet]!" she did not stop though, starting another series of them. "Katon: Kouen Tora no jutsu! [Fire Release: Flame Tiger Technique]"
Orochimaru was surprised. 'A combination jutsu by herself! How interesting.' He retreated his neck, ducking the earth projectile engulfed in flames at the last second by jumping in the air. He was surprised, though, to see the tiger shaped-flames follow him. Quickly, he used Kawarimi to escape.
Akimi was panting. 'Not good. My chakra is almost exhausted. I'll have to use the storage seal.'
"'mi-chan, behind you!" Naruto shouted.
The girl turned and parried a kick with the metal plate of her gloves with a second to spare. 'He is strong as well. Fuck!' "You are good, ku-ku-ku, but you are also tired."
She was. She had used three B-rank techniques and had pushed herself to the limit to reach Kiba and then chase him and Naruto to help them.
"Your movements are getting sloppy." Orochimaru went for a punch to her unguarded stomach, again bending at an impossible angle. He hit squared his target. The only thing Akimi could do, was activate her protection seals, somehow absorbing some of the blow's force. She was, however, sent flying against a nearby tree.
"Damn." she slowly raised, only to see the bloody man close on her. He was fast. He was ruthless. "I think I'll try with you first, girlie." And his neck snapped forward once again.
Akimi eyes widened. 'I'm not letting him do whatever he wants to do.' "Kaiin" she whispered and as the sudden rush of chakra surged into her, sinuous lines of ink appeared on her face and shoulders. She had placed the tattoo of her chakra storage seal on the neck, so to have it hidden by her hair. With her newfound energy, Akimi crossed her fingers on the tiger seal. "Hi no Tate! [Shield of Fire]" A complete dome of fire surrounded her. 'The simplest jutsu, if mastered, can save your life'. Her grandfather once said.
Orochimaru eyes widened and he had to shred his body to save himself. His badly burned face was replaced a new one, as his skin became slippery almost like white mud. But damn, it hurt! "You little bitch!" he exclaimed. "Sen'eijashu! [Hidden Shadow Snake Hands]"
Akimi forced her body to roll over, so only one of the snake got her, biting her right forearm. Still, the bite caused her a numbing, painful feeling. 'Poison.'
Orochimaru smirked. "Now, you will stay still..." he murmured, darkly, preparing again to bite her. Then, he felt the killing intent. Surprised, he turned to see the blonde boy engulfed by an hissing, malign and orange chakra.
"I'm going to fucking kill you!"
"Naruto, don't!" Akimi shouted, coughing.
The blonde leaped at a very high velocity, almost double his usual and hit the nunkenin straight into the gut. He sent him flying, far from where Akimi was. The orange chakra surrounded him like a cloak, which formed a sort of tail behind him.
"Don't you dare touch her, you bastard!"
'The Kyūbi brat!' Orochimaru realised, raising slowly. 'Damn, luckily I failed to put the seal on him'
"Fūton: Namikadou! [Wind Release: Wave Vortex]" Naruto shouted, the jutsu overpowered by the demon's chakra. Orochimaru's eyes widened and he quickly went underground to save himself. 'I've got to stop him before ANBU are alerted... considering they may be already on my heels.'
He emerged from the ground, behind the blonde, his hands crossed in a strange looking seal. Purple chakra shined on his right fingers, similar to little flames, and he hold his wrist with the other hand. Naruto turned towards him, sneering, but this time Orochimaru was ready for him and he easily ducked a sweeping kick, before slamming his hand into his stomach.
The blonde's eyes widened. "What did you do?" he asked, feeling faint. He saw the Sannin's satisfied smirk, before he collapsed on the ground, unconscious.
Orochimaru looked over, seeing that the mysterious girl was also still... probably dead. His poison was very lethal, after all. "A pity. She did show great talent. Well, no matter, ku-ku-ku. At least I got Sasuke's-kun." he said, as he disappeared into the ground with a last evil laugh.
And then everything was silent.
JUTSU NOTES
Ninpou: Jouro Senbon[Ninja art: Senbon Shower]: C rank, offensive, short-mid range, the user throws a special umbrella in the air, that releases a lethal 'shower' of senbon, controlled by chakra, that therefore can cover a wide area in all directions.
Doton: Doryūheki no jutsu [Earth Release: Earth Style Wall Technique]: B rank, defensive, short range, the user splits mud with their mouth, making a very high wall of solidified mud in front of them.
Fūton/Katon: Toukai Konbo [Wind/Fire Release: Destruction Combo]: A (borderline S) rank, offensive, medium-long range, this devastating jutsu is created by the combination of two powerful B rank jutsu (the Karyū Endan and Namikadou), it unleashes a blazing hot inferno towards the opponent.
Sen'eijashu [Hidden Shadow Snake Hands]: C rank, offensive, short range. The techniques allows the user to shot snakes out from their sleeves, surprising the enemy in a taijutsu battle. The snake are very poisonous, making the techniques extremely tricky.
Doton: Doryū Dangan [Earth Release: Earth Flowing Bullet]: C rank, offensive, short-medium range, the user launches a medium sized earth bullet against the enemy. With higher control is possible to make the bullet bigger or even launch several of them.
Katon: Kouen Tora no jutsu [Fire Release: Flame Tiger Technique] B rank, offensive, medium to long range. The user shots fire with their mouth in the shape of a tiger, infusing it with their chakra. The tiger charges head on the opponent, but the user can control its movement a little, to surprise the enemy. (secret jutsu of the Enkounkin, Akimi's clan)
CHAPTER NOTES
So yes, cliff hanger. Please don't hate me... I usually hate when I found them in other stories as well, but they do have a certain appeals as a writer. Well, I hope the fight with Orochimaru was realistic. It was mostly needed to make Akimi and Naruto interact with team 8 (especially Sasuke and Sakura), not to mention create a little tension between them as well.
I hope the chapter showed as well the role Shino has in the team. He is the recon expert and it's becoming pretty good at it, hence why it was so easy for him to track down so many teams just after entering the forest. I'm not sure how exactly do female Kikaichū work in canon, but I assume that the more expert the Aburame is the more he can leave around or something like that. Also, while it's true that Akimi has Kaera, you must consider that the tiger is only one, while Shino has thousands of bugs, making him a much more deadly tracker/spy.
Also, I've been thinking about Shino signing a summoning scroll and I have got two solid possibilities: Kakashi's ninken (tracking, student/teacher bonding etc) or butterflies, now I know that sounds a little ridiculous, but trust me I've got a couple of nice idea for them and they implement very well with Shino's fighting style (plus they fly and they are insects). So, I'll put a pull on my profile page, vote there if you want... if not I'll decide on my own.
Same way I've been thinking about giving Shino an elemental affinity and training, it will be different from the classic techniques that other characters use, but you'll see. I'm also going to put a pull on my profile page about this. Go vote if you want.
Until next time...