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The Story of Us

'For those who never gave up'

Naruto x OC

Friendship, Adventure, Romance

Chapter 24: In The Dark

It is in the darkness that we become blinded by ambition.

Odd Future- UVERworld

'Damn,' Akira thought, dodging another strike from Kenji that almost hit. It was a fire style now, the third element he had used against them since the cloud ninja had arrived. Kid was strong, Akira would give him that, but Akira was far more stubborn.

"Reiji!" He called, and his teammate answered by taking the lead. Akira used Reiji's shadow to extend his range on the Shadow Possession Jutsu, capturing two of the teammates in his grasp right off the bat, but Kenji was just laughing at them as he fought off Reiji like it was nothing. Reiji was caught off guard at the boy's speed, having not approached an opponent of this size that could move quite like he was. The guy was practically grinning as he fought them, but suddenly he stopped moving.

Akira smirked, having connected his shadow to Kenji's.

"Got you, you bastard." Akira felt triumphant as he held all three of the ninja in place. Reiji took this as a chance to strike Kenji, hitting him in the left and right shoulders on multiple chakra points. Kenji just laughed as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. both boys were stunned.

"A shadow clone?!" Reiji was beating himself up as he realized that there were more bodies behind Akira. He turned to look at his teammate. Said teammate realized at the same time when he felt the presence of the larger boy looming over him. He ducked and rolled away, but the movement distracted him enough that he lost his hold on his shadow. He growled, pissed at himself.

Reiji landed next to Akira, and the two were in the centre of the three enemy ninja. They stood back to back, with Akira glaring down at Kenji. Said boy stood tall, looking quite proud of himself. However in the next moment his eyes weren't looking at them, but rather off to the side. Akria looked over as well. It was hard to say whether it was a curse or a blessing with he saw none other than Neji Hyuga and Tenten crouched on a tree branch nearby.

For several tense seconds, nobody moved. Not until one of Kenji's teammates spoke.

"Kenji, we should leave. She's not here." The girl said, clearly looking nervous about a suddenly reversed battle. Akira sneered.

"What? It's fine to attack two against three, but now that the odds aren't in your favour you run? Typical Cloud ninja." Akira snapped, enjoying the glare he got from the girl. Kenji snickered, and shrugged.

"You're right, it's not fun wasting my time on a bunch of weaklings. Guess I'll see you in the finals, if you don't die out here."

The three left, Reiji confirmed they did. Only after they were a mile or so away did Akira turn to the new arrivals.

"Don't expect a thanks Hyuga." He snapped. Tenten sighed, knowing that Akira hadn't changed much since the academy at all. If anything, he might've gotten worse. Neji wasn't bothered though.

"Wasn't expecting any, we're just looking for Lee. We expected him to have gotten in another rival competition with that teammate of yours, but clearly both have been lost." Neji explained, Akira nearly busting a fuse at the insinuation of Hikari missing because of their inadequacy as teammates. Reiji stepped forward, and Tenten was very glad considering he had always been the easier one to talk to.

"Hikari was helping another team when she went missing. We were supposed to rendezvous here. Perhaps if we work together we could find them both. I have a feeling that if both are missing there is a strong chance they found each other."

Ah yes, always to the point and clear. Tenten knew there was a reason to talk to Reiji instead of Akira. The Nara was still steaming about Neji's earlier comment and incapable of a response.

"Let's get going then! We're bound to find them easier in a large group!" Tenten insisted. Reiji looked over to Akira, who was still steaming.

"Hikari may be injured, and that is why she isn't here yet." He explained, and to both Neji's and Tenten's fascination the boy's anger melted away as he took a deep breath.

"She's not here." It rang in his head. Those cloud ninja had been looking for someone when they came here. This wasn't as by chance as they thought. They'd been looking for Hikari.

"Then we better get going."

The flames rushed past Hikari, burning a path towards Zaku. The sound ninja responded in time with a sound wave, but it had been Sasuke's intent to fail that strike. Hikari flinched as an arm wrapped around her and pulled her along. She sensed the Uchiha and attempted to prevent herself from struggling, but the speed at which they were moving was edging on her max speed. The fact that Sasuke was racing like that after just waking up was surprising.

He placed her down, soon Naruto and Sakura were both next to her as well. The Koissui only got a good look at Sasuke once he had brought the other two teammates. They had moved fast enough that the sound nin looked like they were standing still, but Hikari had only gotten a good look at Sasuke's back before he resumed his fighting.

The chakra surrounding him made her bones chill again, the curse mark having taken effect and covered half of his body. She wanted to believe that it was just Sasuke defending them, but all her instincts told her otherwise, the energy emitting from that curse mark was dark, much like the ninja from before who marked him. Hikari's spine tensed, and she felt the pain break free from where it had been compartmentalized. She flinched, the sound of pain being Zaku's only clue that Sasuke had moved them to the opposite side of the blast. He spun around, only to be met with a fist from Sasuke. The taller boy went flying across the clearing, both Choji and Shikamaru were on each sides of the fight, but the moment they saw that fire they had the sense in them to move.

Sakura tried her best to get up, but the range of movement was so difficult she could barely get onto her elbows. Her neck hurt from being struck, her back, her arms. She was exhausted, but the sight of Sasuke brutally beating Zaku was enough to get adrenaline rushing through her body once again.

Hikari was shocked when Sasuke didn't stop at a simple attack on Zaku. Normally she would have no qualms of him fighting the enemy, but this time was different. This wasn't like the time they fought together against Haku, it was almost like Sasuke was playing. Like he was a cat chasing a little mouse. Zaku would strike and Sasuke would dodge, followed up by a brutal hit or fireball jutsu.

It was the laughing that got to Hikari the most. Sasuke was laughing as he chased Zaku around. The sound ninja didn't seem to understand the danger he was in, but the other two sure did. She looked over to see Kin and Dosu slowly backing away from the battle.

"What's the matter? Too fast for you?" Sasuke drawled as he easily deflected a strike before kicking Zaku away. Hikari watched a moment longer, before she finally found her voice.

"Sasuke, you-"

She cut herself off as Sasuke got behind Zaku and caught both his arms. He placed a foot on his back and pressed. Hikari stared in shock as Sasuke began to pull.

"You're proud of these arms, aren't you? I'll take them as collateral for what you've done to what's mine." Sasuke pulled even harder, a distinct snap could be heard coming from both appendages before Sasuke finally dropped him. Zaku barely let out a scream before his face hit the dirt. A groaned hardly escaped his lips, the boy was out cold. Sasuke stared at the fallen ninja for a moment, then his gaze turned to the two remaining sound ninja.

As his body turned, Hikari was finally able to see his face. Sasuke's Sharingan was on full display, but his eyes held a darker light to them. The anger, the rage, the lust to kill. It was all written across his face, and it was all Hikari needed to realize she needed to stop him.

She meant to get up, doing her best to get her feet under her in a crouch, but as she did, Dosu began to beg.

"Wait- Please!" Everyone could hear the panic in his voice. He was frozen to the spot, and Hikari knew that if Sasuke killed Dosu and Kin he would be starting down a path that he couldn't return from. Hikari began to stand.

"Don't grovel, it's unbecoming." Sasuke spoke so dismissively that Sakura almost couldn't believe it was him talking. She lifted herself up more, expecting Hikari to have jumped into action by now, or at least the best she could in her current condition. However Hikari was still in her knelt position; she had barely moved since Sakura last looked at her.

"Hikari?" Sakura called, but the girl didn't move. It was then that Sakura realized Hikari was trembling. A closer look at her face and Sakura saw the utter terror in her eyes.

"Don't grovel, it's unbecoming." His bone chilling voice echoed in my head. His eyes had such a dark intent that even I could tell what he had planned.

"Don't grovel, little girl," he repeated, cutting through Mother's chest. She stood, stunned, then dropped. Just like that. Down. A deep groan came from her throat. One that I had never heard from someone. It sounded like a squelch, like someone walking through the mud. "Oh! I punctured a lung. This should be quick."

He kicked her over with the same energy of someone kicking shut a door. I didn't realize I had been screaming until he pointed his blade into my face. My throat closed, I couldn't breathe, but I was breathing so hard. I couldn't focus on anything but the squelching sounds from my mother, and the silent screams coming from me.

"Do you want to die?" He asked me, like asking of the weather. I didn't move, he chuckled.

"Then imagine this as a reminder. Everything will leave you. Everyone will be taken from you. And as much as you try, no one will be there to save you when you need it most." I stared at the same spot the blade had been, my mind going blank.

Was I going to die?

I looked up, seeing the blade raised over his head. I didn't know what I could do. What was I supposed to do? No one had come when I screamed.

No one was going to save me.

"Hikari-"

No one was coming.

"Hikari!"

"Hikari!"

I flinched, yanking my shoulder away from the perpetrator. Warm eyes stared back at me; Choji didn't seem bothered by my defensive attitude though. He carefully took his scarf off and wrapped it around my shoulders. It took me a moment to realize that I was shaking. Why was I shaking? I clasped the scarf tighter around me, giving a small weak smile.

"Thank you Choji," I looked around and saw that others were staring at me. Sakura was sitting next to Sasuke, while Shikamaru was knelt over Naruto, and Ino was helping Lee. "What... What happened?"

"You mean you don't remember?" I looked at Choji, he frowned. "You kinda froze up. Sasuke started to beat up the sound ninja and you went into a daze. We thought it was a genjutsu at first, but even after Sakura stopped Sasuke and the others retreated you were just sitting there."

He sounded worried, and I didn't blame him. I didn't think it was possible for me to freeze up. I had always been so good at shoving fear aside, but it hadn't been fear that I was working with, it was much darker.

Terror.

"I-"

Naruto jumped up, looking like he was in a panic. We all looked at him as he aggressively spun around.

"Where is she?! That crazy snake lady must be around here somewhere I-" His eyes locked onto me, and I'm not sure what he saw, but the next thing I knew Naruto was next to me with his arms wrapped tightly around me. I gasped in pain and he began to panic.

"Gah! Kari why are you hurt?! What are you doing here too? Where's your team?! You shouldn't be here by yourself y'know!" He started to fuss over me, and the sensation of him outwardly showing me affection was exactly what I needed. I leaned forward and rested my head on his shoulder. He stopped his rambling, quieting for a moment.

"I just really missed you is all." I sniffed. Naruto huffed, but gently held the back of my neck, afraid to touch anymore and hurt me.

"Jeez you two, get a room." Choji teased. Naruto sputtered, but I just pulled back while wiping my eyes.

"Sorry, I-... I just needed a moment I guess." I explained, trying to say it as confidently as I could. Naruto looked unconvinced, but Choji was kind enough not to focus on it. Shikamaru stared at me from where he had previously been monitoring Naruto. He too looked unconvinced, but didn't say anything as I stood with Naruto and Choji.

I looked over to Lee, who Ino was trying to wake up, then over to Sakura and Sasuke. The Uchiha tried to make eye contact, but I immediately look at the ground as a sudden vision of the dark Sharingan from so long ago jumped into my mind. Instead I started to walk towards Sakura. She looked surprised when I made eye contact with her, and even more so when I bowed to the best of my ability.

"Sakura... Thank you." I raised back up, seeing the embarrassment on her face. I gave a smile then, trying to convey my gratitude.

"You saved my life. If it wasn't for you... I'd probably be dead." I looked to the third team and bowed to them as well. "Same to all of you. Thank you for saving us."

Shikamaru kicked the dirt, yawning as if a battle hadn't just occurred.

"What were we supposed to do? Stand by and let the girls do all the hard work?" He huffed, scratching his neck while side-eyeing me. "Such a drag."

I cracked a small smile at that one, and he gave the faintest of smirks in return. We both looked to Ino when she rested Lee nearby. I came closer, looking him over a bit. Sakura came to sit beside me while Naruto was pacing the scene trying to figure out how we got there.

"Hikari, are you alright? You just- you froze." Sakura asked quietly, my shoulders tensed as we examined Lee. I focused on the boy instead of my problems, trying my best not to feel the tightness in my chest or the thickness of the bile in my throat.

"I-I'm fine. We need to focus on Lee first." I insisted, and Sakura seemed to understand that I wasn't about to elaborate.

"Well damn, looks like the fight's all over here too."

I looked up, surprised to see Akira and Reiji both in the trees. They weren't alone, Lee's teammates Neji and Ten Ten were with them. I made eye contact with Akira, he frowned before jumping down to the floor not five feet from me. His taller frame let him look down at me all in one sweep. He then looked over my head at the battlefield, and back to me.

"You look like you've had it," he said in a lower voice. I looked down to his shoes, silently agreeing with him. I didn't want him to see the rattled look I was probably still showing. "Where are you injured?"

Reiji landed nearby, coming up closer to us. Tenten and Neji looked at Lee who was beside me. I looked to both my teammates briefly, then away again.

"My back... I got slammed pretty hard into a tree earlier." Akira reached up, the movement caught my eye as I finally looked up at him. He cradled my head gently, surprising me as I stared into his eyes. He frowned, pressing hard on the base of my neck. I gave a cry and slapped his arm away.

"What-Why would you do that?!" I cried, covering the painful spot with both my hands. Akira snorted.

"Idiot! You were knocked out weren't you? What the Hell are you doing taking on someone that strong huh? And you!" It took me a moment to realize Akira was no longer talking to me. His gaze had shifted away to someone across the clearing. "Why the Hell weren't you helping out? Did you decide it was time to take a nap and let Hikari do all the work or something?"

I followed his gaze, my back tensing when I realized he was looking over at Naruto and Sasuke. I caught Sasuke's gaze briefly, his dark eyes completely unreadable from this distance, before I looked over to Naruto. He was upset, his gaze locking onto me then. I knew he didn't have a clue what had happened, and it wasn't his fault.

"Akira," Reiji warned, but the boy glared at him.

"Oh don't you start. Hikari sticks her neck out for these guys and it's our teammate that gets hurt the worst-" I grabbed Akira's arm then and looked at him in the eye. He stopped mid-rant, and I took a breath.

"It's not their fault, alright? I just... I was just a little too slow." I excused the entire situation, not wanting to think of the attack earlier, of the incident that just happened. All I really wanted was to get to the tower. So that the exams could end, and I could curl up in bed with Naruto and cry about it then. Right now I had to hold it together, I couldn't let myself slip twice in a row.

"Reiji, Akira, can we go?" I asked, but my voice came out weak. Akira huffed and shrugged my arm off. I let him as Reiji nodded. I turned to Choji and gave him back his scarf. I nodded to his team, then to Lee's that was helping to lift him off the ground, and finally to Naruto's team. The blonde stepped closer to me, looking so lost and confused.

"Hikari..." He wanted to know what everyone was saying, why everyone was snappy and here in the first place. I shook my head, and he stopped himself.

"I promise, I'll tell you my part, but right now you need to get to the tower." I explained, and Naruto grumbled but didn't argue. He went to touch me, but seemed to second guess if it would hurt as he lowered his hand into a balled fist. I wanted to assure him I was okay, but the pulsating pain in my spine told me otherwise.

"Wait!" I looked to Sakura as she approached us. She looked significantly better now that Ino was cleaning up her hair, though it was still uneven since the job was incomplete. I looked at the scroll she held out, surprised. "We would've died without your help Hikari. Please take the scroll as thanks."

I gently pushed the scroll back to her.

"Actually..." I began, looking at Akira and Reiji. Akira was already tossing both Heaven and Earth scrolls casually.

"Unlike you chumps, our team gets shit done." Akira said before hiding both scrolls again. I smiled to Sakura, and pushed the scroll all the way to her chest.

"I hope to see you all there. Reiji, Akira, you guys ready to go?" I slowly walked over to them both. Akira stared down at me, while Reiji said nothing. "What is it?"

He said nothing, just knelt down with his back to me. I stared.

"Hop on," he said, waiting another moment. When I didn't move fast enough he glared at me. "This is a one time thing so you don't run off doing something stupid again!"

I stepped up to him and got on his back. Akira stood, putting his hands on my thighs to make sure I didn't fall as I wrapped my arms around his neck. Akira sighed.

"Let's get going Reiji, before she comes up with more dumb ideas." I got a brief glance over to Sasuke, to see him watching us, before Akira took off. The last emotion I could see in his eyes was the look of complete confusion, and the distinct feeling of someone wanting to know the answers.

Ones I wasn't sure I could give.

Hello all. Sorry it has been a while. I sold my macbook and finally bought another computer. It's not just a normal computer though, i caved and bought a gaming computer. Only to find out that the internet at my house was slowing down for God knows what reason, so now I have to cart everything over to my parent's house and use it there. It's not that big of a hassle, it just means I can't hop on and write when I please anymore. I hope y'all havent forgotten this story! I've been working on an inuyasha fanfic now and honestly I think Hotaru and Hikari would be besties.

I almost forgot how much fun it is to write Akira. It's so much fun to write rude characters. You have no idea how freeing it is to just let 'em go. It's characters like Kakashi that I find the hardest since you know he never says anything he wouldn't want known unless it's somewhere he feels confident will be private. Who do y'all find the hardest to write? Or that writers like me never seem to get quite right?

Reviews:

Crimson G: Thank you! Yes I really wanted Sakura to have a better moment then 'omg she cut her hair!' and that's that. I think she's a character who just never got through the potential she needed to get to. She would probably be one of my favourites if she wasn't so bitchy to Naruto tbh. I think she could be badass.

laraceleste: Thank you! I get so excited when people say they like my story. Writing this kind of story takes so much brain power tbh that it is relieving to know people enjoy it. Writing essentially the first 17-ish years of Hikari's life is a lot of story to cover, and right now we're here and I'm pumped to write the next few bits!

There will be more back story filled in, but we gotta get through like 5 more chapters of the chuunin exams to really hit home on the big chapters for this arc. I cannot wait to write my biggest scene in this book, it's literally the pivotal moment in hikari's journey and we ain't even close to it yet!

I hope everyone is doing well! Please stay safe!

Iland Girl