Here's a new chapter for you guys. I don't own Naruto though I wish I did.
Chapter 6: An Unwanted Mission (Part 3)
I opened my eyes to the sounds of birds chirping as the sun shone directly at my face which was unpleasant. I gave out a deep yawn and turned to my side, only to get the slight heart attack. Kabuto was laying down just inches away from me, sleeping peacefully. His body rose and fell by his soft breathing as his tanned lips were parted from each other. I laid there frozen as I gazed deeply at his sleeping state; considering he wasn't wearing those nerdy glasses, wearing a more fitted shirt, his perfectly tanned skin was exposed, he looked dreamy.
I couldn't believe that I actually thought Kabuto Yakushi was dreamy. But I couldn't help myself.
In fact, as I gazed dreamingly at him, I began having thoughts of what his lips would've felt like if they were locked with mine.
Suddenly, said male's eyes snapped open which made me jump a bit. My cheeks turned light pink in embarrassment; he just noticed that I was staring at him and drooling over him at the same time, and it was just so embarrassing. Then it hit me: Kabuto wasn't wearing his eyeglasses, meaning he was basically blind. If that was the case— and I prayed it was – then he wouldn't have ever known that I was staring at him in his sleep like a complete weirdo. But that doesn't take the awkwardness away due to the fact that he hadn't move since he opened his eyes. He was wide awake and had the freedom to get out of the tent and enjoy the morning sunshine, but no, he remained resting there on his side gazing back at me.
After having a long staring contest, Kabuto lifted himself off from his side as he reached for his glasses. Once he put them on, he sat cross-legged as he looked down at me as I laid there on my mat. I waited for him to say anything to me, but instead he just got up and exited out of the tent leaving me to lay there confused. Why was he silent all of a sudden?
Of all the times I told him to shut up, the memo finally reached to him and he decided to shut up for once.
But on a serious note, I was a little disappointed that he didn't say anything. I didn't know why but I just did.
Shaking that thought out of my head, I got up myself and slowly walked out of the tent. Once I stepped foot out of the exit, my eyes was caught on the sight of Kabuto who was already dressed and ready to go at any minute. His back was facing me as he was in a crouching position doing something that I had no clue of since I couldn't really see from where I was standing. He looked over his shoulder as his eyes were glued to me with no expression. I waited patiently for him as he stood up, not leaving his eyes off of me. He walked over to me with something he held in his hands. He stopped in front of me and handed whatever he was holding, which was three rice cakes prepared just for me. I glanced at him and he said nothing nor made any type of face to hint me what was going through his mind. Meanwhile, Kabuto remained standing there as he still held out the plate of food for me.
I had to take it or else this would be awkward for the both of us.
I awkwardly took the cakes out of his hands and he slid past me without making a single sound. I felt his shoulder slightly brush mine and I slowly peaked over my shoulder to see what he was going to do. I watched him place an empty scroll on the ground and made a few hand signs as I felt him focused strongly on his chakra. Suddenly the tent disappeared in a puff of smoke— explaining how he set up the site so quickly the first night – and then a seal on the scroll that read "tent" magically appeared in dark ink. I ate my rice cakes as I watched him rolled up the scroll securely then put it in his bag. It was that moment when he turned to me and I was eating my last rice cake. I had already packed my stuff in my small knapsack I was currently carrying on my back; I was ready whenever he was ready. He marched past me yet again without saying anything to me, and I chewed curiously. His attitude had changed since last night and the reason for that was drawn a blank. Nevertheless, I had to catch up to him because I was basically screwed if I was left alone in this forest so I hurried off after him as I bit the last part of my rice cake.
It was the fourth hour of herb hunting and we were doing a good job finding them despite them being super rare; at this rate, this mission would be completed in two to three days guaranteed, no promises included. However, four eyes doesn't seem as relieved as I was since he hadn't really said anything since this morning. I wasn't going to lie, that was a downer. I mean, I had ordered Kabuto to shut his mouth and crawl in a hole and the usual response I received was a witty comment or him just being straight-up annoying. In all honesty, I had said harsh things to him partly because he never really took it to heart. I wasn't saying that I missed his voice because I could live a normal, happy life without hearing his voice at all, but the fact that he wasn't talking to me like he usually did made me both curious and sort of concerned. I would've never thought that Kabuto on mute would be dull and boring.
I just had to know what was wrong with him.
"Hey, Kabuto." I called his name to get his attention.
But I received no response from him as he continued walking as if he never heard my voice in the first place. That made me irritated; I didn't like people who ignored me, especially if they had no reason to.
"Hey, four eyes!" I called him again, this time a bit louder and more demanding.
Four eyes remained silent as he walked on the path we were on. He looked on ahead, pretending that I didn't exist which now made me frustrated; he wasn't going to ignore and he wasn't going to start now. I tsked displeasingly and stomped ahead of him, getting no reaction from him. I abruptly stopped and stood in front of his way, resulting in him pausing his own steps. He stared at me expressionless which meant two thing: either he wasn't really looking at me but was zoning out to avoid the situation, or he had no thoughts whatsoever as to what I was doing.
I narrowed my eyes irritably. "Look, I tried my hardest to pretend nothing is off here but clearly you're not making this any easier for the both of us." I pointed out solidly.
Kabuto said nothing in response as he stood there like a robot. That wasn't okay with me and I moved myself closer to him, invading his personal space.
"You've been acting really weird, more than usually and I can't help but think that it has something to do with me." I implied thoroughly then I jabbed my index finger on his chest accusingly. "I don't like being ignored, especially by the likes of you."
He proceeded in keeping his mouth shut, but he did furrowed his eyebrows on my accusation.
"Whatever your deal is with me, you can't just dismiss me like a fly and expect me to go away because I obviously can't. Now spill it, tell me what's your problem, and I don't want an answer that's full of bullsh**t." I demanded solidly, sharpening my glare.
I was taken aback when he soft swatted my hand from his chest.
"First of all, I don't like being poked." He finally spoke which felt like forever since the last time he said something.
But, he still hadn't answer my question.
"Bullsh**t." I spat in frustration. "Just tell me already, you jerk!"
"Why should I? It's not like you care anyway." He refused, furrowing his eyebrows.
I crossed my arms. "Actually, I kind of do." I admittedly grunted. "Because I know it has something to do with me."
Kabuto responded with silence; he was being stubborn and I saw no reason why he should.
"Is it the stuff I said last night?" I guessed curiously in a demanding tone. "Is that's what's bothering you?"
Kabuto's mouth remained shut, however his shoulders did twitch just a bit. That was probably what was bothering him because there was no other reason for him to react like he did other than the fact that I guessed the problem.
If that was the case, then that meant he was offended when I said those things last night which explained why he was so quiet and dull.
"I was right, you're like this because I offended you." I proclaimed smugly. "Huh, who would've thought… that Kabuto Yakushi's feelings are hurt by me?"
Said person's only response was his offended glare he threw at me; this solidified the fact that he was hurt.
I sighed as I dropped my shoulders. "Look, I wasn't really trying to hurt your feelings last night, okay? I didn't know those things would affect you that bad."
Hearing this, Kabuto's glare softened a bit but still stared at me hardly.
"But on my defense, I've always said things like that to you all the time and you've never took it to heart. I wasn't aware that you're—"
"You're wrong." He cut me off at an instant.
I took in his interruption as I waited for him to continue.
"The main reason I don't take your insults or your hatred for me to heart is because the things you say are true… because you know my intentions. Since you're aware of my actions towards you and your guard is always up, you know the kind of person I am. You're a very blunt, but honest person at the same time and I know you dislike me for the things I've done in the past to you and your friends, so I don't blame you…" He explained briefly as he placed a dull look on his face.
I blinked at his explanation. 'I kind of never looked at it in that way. I knew there was a reason why I don't necessarily like him. But I still don't understand his offense to my words.' I thought, slightly confused and curious.
"However, what you said last night…" He grumbled as I sensed the hiss in his voice. "You simply crossed the line for a couple of reasons. Firstly, you immediately attacked me by mocking me and Lord Orochimaru, when it had nothing to do with our conversation. I simply wanted to advise you to talk to Sasuke, but you got defensive and went onto a different topic. Secondly, you said that I have no life and I'm just Orochimaru's slave as if you knew everything about it."
"So you're not Orochimaru's loyal subordinate?" I questioned confusedly, still not comprehending what his problem was.
"Yes, I am and I'm not afraid to admit it. But I'm not his lapdog and I'm certainly not his b***h; that's how you perceive it when really… you don't know the depths of it." He answered accusingly.
The depths of it? What does he mean by that?
"Well then, what is it that I don't know?" I inquired coldly; my patience was growing thin.
Kabuto was silent for a moment, probably processing his answer for my question. He avoided eye contact with me as he glanced away. I squinted my eyes to catch a glimpse of his facial expression; I could've sworn I saw him biting down on his lower lip.
"You're not the only one who went through hell in the past… believe me…" He mumbled lowly, trying his hardest not to let me hear.
To his unfortunate, I was able to distinguish what he said to himself.
I furrowed my eyebrows in curiosity. "What do you mean by that? What are you trying to say?" I asked eagerly, wanting to know.
Once again, the jerk decided to keep his mouth shut once again. It got annoying to the point where I wanted to rip his lips from his face; there was no point in having a mouth if you decided not to use it.
"Kabuto, answer my question!" I snapped in exasperation.
He snapped his gaze back at me and threw me a sharp look. I was waiting for his response; hoping he would answer my question.
"This conversation ends here." I declared sternly, to my unfortunate.
I gaped at his sudden command as he proceeded in walking in the intended direction. He walked past me like I was a pole in the way. I gritted my teeth and glanced over my shoulder at the jerk. No way in hell he was getting the last word. I scurried towards him and reached over to grab his hand, which was a success. This stopped him from walking any further however he didn't bother looking at me the slightest; either it was because he didn't want to talk about his past or he was simply being stubborn.
"Hey, I told you not to ignore me didn't I?" I snapped in annoyance. "What did you mean when you said 'I wasn't the only one who went through hell'?"
Kabuto stood there still, not answering my question. I grew impatient and tightened my grip on his hand, urging him to cough up the truth.
"I'm not asking just because I want to know." I admitted. "I genuinely want to hear you backstory and… get to know you more."
Kabuto's body slightly relaxed when he heard my words. He side-glanced my way, trying to read my face to see if I was telling the truth which I was. I mean, I never thought twice about his past— in fact I honestly thought he never had a past because in my mind, he forgot it. I wasn't sure because I never thought twice about it, or because I thought he was basically adopted by Orochimaru— would've made sense.
But now that he hinted his past wasn't all that great, my curiosity got the best of me.
"I promise I won't judge you…" I added honestly, assuring him as he semi-turned his body towards me giving me a look.
"But it's none of your concern, so you shouldn't—." He was suddenly cut off by the sound of metal, which resulted us to react quickly.
All of a sudden, a barrage of kunai and shuriken were thrown towards our direction. Both Kabuto and I flashed out our own kunai, blocking and dodging every single one of them easily. Once the enemy halted its attack, we stood there with our guards up very high; consider the fact we almost got caught in that jutsu, the enemy shouldn't be taken lightly. Kabuto glanced around our surroundings, trying to find the enemy. Meanwhile, I was using my sensory ninjutsu to find the enemy. It didn't took that long to find the enemy since they were dumb to not disguise their chakra.
"Kabuto, they're over there!" I exclaimed as I pointed my finger towards our left.
Nodding, said person immediately threw his barrage of weapons in the direction my finger was pointing, forcing the enemy to reveal themselves. They dodged his attack and landed in front of us, and I instantly noted that they were from the Hidden Leaf Village, my birth village. I gritted my teeth in distress; what the hell was the Leaf want with us? I gazed deeply at their headbands, remembering the memories of myself being one of them.
"Snap out of it, Katsumi!" I heard a familiar voice call out, snapping me out of my thoughts.
I rotated my head and saw Kabuto staring at me hardly; his eyes told me to stay focused. I comprehended this and glared at our enemy. By the looks of it, there were eight Leaf shinobi in front of us. But I wasn't certain because the Leaf always planned ahead so there was probably more of them still hiding somewhere around here; either as reinforcement or as ambush.
"What are you Leaf ninja doing here, lurking around this area?" Kabuto questioned demandingly, holding out his kunai.
"By orders of the Hokage, we are here to gain information about Orochimaru's whereabouts and his motives." One of the Leaf chunin declared. "We are here to capture the one known as Katsumi Uchiha for Intel."
I raised one eyebrow confoundedly; why did the Leaf only wanted me for information on Orochimaru? It made no sense because I don't really have a clue what he was up to since he was always secretive, and also I couldn't really care less since I would rather be in the dark than get busted by the enemy for plotting schemes. That said, it would've made more sense if they were after Kabuto and not me since he was his loyal assistant. I don't see any reason why they were after me.
Or maybe that wasn't their true ambition.
"And why does the likes of you Leaf shinobi want only Katsumi?" Kabuto proceeded in questioning them, his patience growing thin by the second.
I had never seen Kabuto so snappy before; he was always cool and collected and smug when he was facing an enemy. But his attitude right now changed, making the temperature drop a little.
"Considering how she was forced out of her own village by her brother, we figured that she would willingly come back with us and give us all the information we need to take Orochimaru down." Another Leaf chunin replied, taking out a kunai of his own.
Kabuto moved his attention towards me, probably thinking if whether I would actually consider going back to the Leaf. I knew that my heart would always be with the Leaf Village, and that I missed my family living within it. Besides, I was alone since leaving the village and it sometimes made me feel depressed, and Kabuto knew that. He knew that I didn't want to live in the depths of darkness any longer and I would do anything to get out but I couldn't all because of Sasuke. Why would I sacrifice so much for Sasuke anyway? All he was doing was hurting everyone who cared about him so much, including me. We barely talked and he doesn't really acknowledge me anymore; he probably wouldn't mind me leaving as long as he got his revenge on Itachi.
Still, I don't think it was a smart move to willingly give in and go back to the village. Firstly, Orochimaru despised the Leaf and he would do anything to bring it down along with its people; if I were to head back, he would despise me too and possibly kill me for my betrayal. Secondly, even if I were to return to the Leaf, I would have to face consequences for leaving the border without the Leaf's consent; knowing Lady Tsunade, she wouldn't hold back any punishment at all. Thirdly, I wouldn't be able to face all of my closest friends and mentors since I backstabbed them for Sasuke, especially Squad 7. Kakashi might understand my circumstances but would still be disappointed in me since he told me to be my own person. Sakura was a forgiving person, but she would probably not trust me again for ditching her. Naruto, on the other hand, had a heart of gold and he wasn't the type of person who would hold anything against his friends; his spirit and personality was so pure and I don't deserve his friendship. And finally, I highly doubt living there again wouldn't be the same because I lost almost everyone's respect.
I wasn't really considering it, to be honest. But I wasn't refusing either.
"You're right, I was forced out of the Leaf by my own brother." I confirmed their theory, gaining everyone's attention.
I also gained Kabuto's attention, waiting to hear my decision nervously.
"But that doesn't give you the right to think that I would go back willingly." I proclaimed hardly, glaring at the team in front of me. "Whether I like it or not, I'm no longer with the Leaf; I'm considered a rogue ninja now so I'm not going anywhere."
I could feel Kabuto's eyes slightly widened after hearing my response; surely he wasn't expecting this coming out of my mouth. I glanced at him briefly, seeing his blank but stunned look on his face as he returned the glance.
"Where did that come from?" He asked curiously, still taken back by my response.
"Regardless my grudge against you, Kabuto." I glanced over at the enemy as I threw a cold glare. "I don't betray my companions, especially a fellow medic ninja. That's what I learned from living in the Leaf."
"Katsumi…" I heard him breathe my name in awe, gazing at me.
"Lady Katsumi, the Hokage ordered us to do whatever it takes to get you away from Orochimaru, even by death." The jonin of the team stated firmly; possibly the captain of this mission. "If you don't surrender, we won't hold back."
"That's awfully cocky coming from the likes of you." I slightly scoffed, narrowing my eyebrows. "Do you have any clue who you're dealing with?"
The captain gasped when he caught a glimpse of my hands cloaked with my chakra. He knew what was coming, I thought as I smirked.
"Everyone, be careful of Katsumi's chakra scalpel! She's one of the few medic ninja who uses this as offense due to its high precision in fatal blows. Unlike others, she can cut through almost anything in her path, making this one of her deadliest jutsu. Even the slightest of cuts can kill you, so stay on your toes." The captain warned his comrades, causing the others to be more cautious.
Hearing the captain speak about my exceptional abilities made my smirk stretch wider. "I'm flattered that you praised me even after I fled the village." I sarcastically responded as my chakra sharpened my chakra scalpel, making my jutsu more erratic.
In a split second, I was standing in front of one of the chunin and I slapped my chakra-covered hand against his chest, resulting in blood flowing out of his mouth. His comrades watched in horror as I used my chakra to push him with force as his body flew until it crashed against a tree causing him to cough out more blood. He shouted and scream in pain as he hugged his chest tightly. His team stared at their injured comrades in shock and confusion, they had no clue what happened and they were lost as to what they should do to help them.
"It's hopeless now. There's nothing you can do to save him." I mused lowly.
"W-What did you do to him?!" One of the chunin yelled angrily, showing his newly found hate towards me.
"I simple pierced his airway in his chest, preventing him to breath." I answered willingly, seeing there was no hope for him. "He'll suffocate and choke on his own blood until he's dead."
"Katsumi, how you've fallen…" The captain seethed lividly. "You were once known and respected as one of the strongest kunoichi in the Land of Fire. And now you've teamed up with Orochimaru and partnered up with that damned Kabuto. There's no hope for you now that you killed one of your own."
I remained silent and I turned my attention towards the chunin I recently injured, watching him as he was desperate for oxygen.
"Just because I killed one person in which he was my enemy, doesn't make me a criminal. And I'm no longer with the Leaf, so it doesn't matter if he or all of you died in front of me." I replied firmly, sharpening my glare at the captain. "Besides, it's not like I care about being a criminal to begin with since you now mentioned it… but it's more like self-defence since you guys can't take the hint that I don't want to go back to the village."
The chunin who stood around their injured teammate watched in sorrow as they watched him take his final breath and died in front of them.
"Sir, he's dead! We've lost one of our men!" One of the chunin shouted in horror.
The captain briefly turned to his now dead teammate, then turned to me as he threw me a nasty glare.
"You will pay for this!" He growled as he flashed out his sword. "Get ready men!"
"Yes sir!" The team replied in unison, pulling out their weapons for battle.
I continued to stand there calmly as I released my jutsu, resulting in my chakra scalpel to disappear; there was no point to waste my chakra on people who don't stand a chance against me. As I waited for them to make a move, I winced in question when I noticed two of the chunin were taken down by the looks of nothing. Their comrades noticed this two and gazed down at their now dead men in horror. I could understand why since it happened out of nowhere, but I was more curious as to who was the culprit.
"Did you suddenly forget that you too have a teammate with you?" A very familiar voice chuckled softly in which the owner of the voice now stood beside me. "Or are you just so used to doing things on your own?"
I briefly glanced at Kabuto, who he had already activated his own chakra scalpel. Then I immediately figured who was behind of the death of two of those chunin who fell not too long ago.
"So, you were the one who magically killed those two?" I presumed nonchalantly, earning his signature grin.
"You catch on quick, princess." He commented playfully, lifting his hand to show off his scalpel made up of his chakra.
"So, I assume you decided to not hold anything against me for the stuff I said about you." I implied in wonder.
"I guess you could put it that way." He allowed dismissively, eyeing at our opponents.
The captain wasted no time throwing the first move, directly towards Kabuto. His team followed suit by targeting me; it was obvious that they were trying to outnumber me and keep Kabuto busy so they could capture me. That wasn't going to happen, so I decided to have a little fun with them just for my amusement. They all threw their attacks simultaneously, desperately trying to hit me, which they failed miserably as I dodged every single one of their throws easily and gracefully. I briefly looked over to see how Kabuto was doing and smirked to see him facing the captain head-on; I shouldn't be worried because Kabuto was quite powerful, and that was coming from me.
The chunin I was facing held back on their attack and I watched panting in exhaustion as they were eyeing me hardly, seeing that their plan didn't work since they did lay a scratch on me; hell I wasn't even remotely tired, it was as if I just stood up and didn't move at all.
"Dammit, none of our attacks touched her!" One of the chunin huffed frustratingly, gritting his teeth.
"What are going to do now? She's outnumbered but she isn't even breaking a sweat!" Another chunin added worriedly.
"Here's a tip for you weaklings." I spoke up, grabbing everyone's attention. "Don't state the obvious out loud, it makes you guys look more stupid and it's sad. On a similar note, don't make your plans obvious… not that it matters anyway because you don't stand a chance."
"Shut up! We're not done yet!" One of them snapped angrily.
They moved themselves until they stood side by side and they all made the same hand sign then they did a series of other hand signs in unison, raising my curiosity. Once they did their last sign, they threw a couple of shuriken which didn't faze me at all. What sort of fazed me was the number of shuriken thrown towards me suddenly increased. Then it hit me, this was the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique; dodging this technique would be a bit trickier.
"Ha, we've got her now! There's no way to dodge all of them since they're travelling in all different directions!" I heard one of the chunin implied smugly, clearly getting his hopes up too high.
Since it was a spilt second, it was hard to tell what happened next since I was basically moving at the speed of sound. But the next thing I knew, broken shuriken pieces were scattered around me on the ground and I stood there still and unharmed, earning all the gasps of shock and awe from my opponents.
"How…? She was able to dodge and block every single one of them." The leaf chunin gapped appallingly.
I smirked to myself. "Clearly you've forgotten one thing about me." I then opened my eyes to reveal my activated Sharingan.
"It's the Sharingan…" Another chunin gapped in total shock.
"I'm one of the survivors of my clan's assassination… I am an Uchiha." I proclaimed proudly, causing all of my opponents to be more nervous than before.
"W-What are we going to do now!? Nothing is working on her… if this keeps up, we're done for!" A third chunin stated in a shaking tone.
"Indeed, you're right." I nodded in confirmation, making hand signs of my own in a spilt second. "You had your turn, now it's mine!"
"Everyone watch out for her jutsu!" One chunin shouted anxiously as they all watched me focusing my chakra until they were visibly cloaking my hand.
I grinned as I took out a small scroll from my pouch and summoned my favourite shuriken: the Demon Wind Shuriken. As I changed my own chakra into my own chakra nature, I infused it with my chakra nature as I spun the shuriken gracefully with one hand. I continued to spin the Demon Wind Shuriken as my wind chakra cloaked it making the blades fine and sharp for a fatal attack.
"Heh, Wind Style: Demon Wind Cutter Jutsu!" I called out my jutsu as I jumped high in the air and used my strength to launch the wind-infused shuriken at the Leaf squad.
"Everyone get away now!" One of them shouted in horror and all of them did so as they said, except for one idiot.
Instead of dodging my Demon Wind, he took out a kunai knife and blocked the shuriken from touching him. Unfortunately for him, his block didn't stop my precious weapon because of my wind chakra finely sharpening the blades as it spun; it couldn't be stopped unless I stopped it, he was good as dead. Apparently, his team knew of his and were worried to death about the situation he was in and couldn't get out of.
"You fool, what are you doing!? You'll die if you don't get away from that shuriken!" One of the chunin shouted at his companion's stupidity.
"Don't worry, it's just a shuriken. I'll be fine once its speed decreases." He assured his team as his attention was on the shuriken sawing on his kunai.
After a little while, I could distinctly tell he was confused and frightened because of the shuriken not slowing down at all.
"What the hell!? Why isn't it slowing down!?" He asked in horror, losing his cool and replacing it with fear.
"You just don't get it, do you?" I sighed tiredly as I used a bit of chakra to relieve the gravity on my body, causing me to float in air. "My Demon Wind is infused with my wind chakra nature, a chakra nature that makes chakra as thin and sharp as possible. This takes keen precision to cutting and slashing damage."
"No way, wind chakra nature!?" My soon-to-be victim repeated in a stuttering tone, watching his kunai slowly being cut through by my Demon Wind.
"With this, I could infuse this chakra into my weapons to finely sharpen them, giving them the ability to cut through anything in its path." I concluded proudly, throwing a microscopic grin.
It didn't take long for my shuriken to completely cut through his kunai, resulting my shuriken to also cleanly slit his arms right off. His excruciating screams echoed within the treetops as blood squirted out of his wound where his arm was once there. He started feeling light-headed and he then fell onto the earth's surface. A moment past when he finally succumbed to his injuries, dying from extreme blood loss.
I watched his comrades stare blankly at one of their dead friend's body. "No not another one… this can't be happening…"
"Oh yes, it's happening all right…" I commented broadly and made another series of hand signs.
"Those hand signs, don't tell me it's…" A chunin gasped, already caught on to my next jutsu.
I inhaled deeply as I focused my chakra to my chest. 'Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!' I called forth another jutsu in my mind.
A huge ball of red fire was blown out of my mouth and launched down towards the rest of the Leaf chunin. They did nothing to block this jutsu; they just stood there in awe and dismay. I watched my fire jutsu burst into flames, burning the trees and bushes. It didn't take a long time for the fire to extinguish itself from existence, resulting in a wider, greater clearing the chunin once stood. I turned my slightest attention to where Kabuto and the captain of that team still butted heads; I also noticed that both men suffered only cuts and scratches.
"I wonder what's taking Kabuto so long to defeat the captain." I thought aloud to myself suspiciously. "Not underestimating him, but it shouldn't be difficult to take him down for Kabuto. What's going on?"
Then, I realized that there was no burnt corpses of my opponents. I don't sense there chakra well, but I assumed they were dead. Something wasn't feeling right. Then a light bulb went off in my head: their target was never me to begin with, their true target was Kabuto all along. It made sense because unless that was their motive, there was no point for the dominant ninja in the team to fight someone who wasn't their interest. Now that they thought that I believed I finished them, they were now going to outnumber Kabuto.
I had to warn him or else he was done for.
"Kabuto!" I shouted loudly which instantly gained his attention as he pushed his opponent off of him.
"The guys I was fighting just a moment ago, they're after you! Their plan was to keep me busy so they could gang up on you from the very beginning! Watch out!" I warned by shouting so he could hear since I was still in the air.
I could distinctly see the shock and newly-found horror in his eyes as he gasped. Unfortunately it was too late for him to process this information.
"It's too late now!" The captain smirked cockily and made a tiger-seal hand sign. "Everyone, do it NOW!"
The chunin that I thought I killed pounced out of the bushes, also making tiger-seal hand signs. They landed in their position, surrounding Kabuto completely. Said person looked back and forth at his surroundings as the stress and anxiety in his face increased; though he was still able to remain calm and prepared to defend himself. He laid his eyes on the captain, throwing him a nasty look in which he responded with a cocky grin.
"You're finish!" He chuckled as everyone surrounding Kabuto focused their chakra and activated their jutsu.
I gasped appallingly, sensing the change in chakra form around Kabuto, which raised my fear. "Kabuto, get out of there now!"
"Too late!" The captain shouted in response.
Kabuto too realized that he was screwed when he couldn't move due to being bounded by metal threads. He was good as dead.
"Lightning Style: Earth Shock Wave Jutsu!" They called forth their jutsu in unison and slammed their hands on the ground.
The next thing I knew, there were lightning bolt waves dashing on ground level directly towards Kabuto. He eyed the lightning in horror, seeing where this was going. The second the jutsu hit him, I could only hear his piercing screams of unbearable pain that could be heard miles and miles away from the clearing. I gazed down at him as he was literally being electrocuted helpless as I felt an overwhelming sensation building up in my chest.
"KABUTO, NO!" I shrieked in distress, watching him as he was being shocked hopelessly.
Kabuto proceeded in screaming his lungs out in pain. I could've never thought that witnessing this could be this horrifying, and I would've never thought that I actually cared about Kabuto's wellbeing. All this time, I always thought of him as a nuisance and I wished his presence would disappear from the face of this earth. But actually witnessing his possible death really hit me hard; I was surprisingly scared that I might lose him. And the fact that this made me so overwhelmed to the point where my tears were begging to pour out, made me realize that I genuinely want him around.
Finally, the jutsu was dismissed and his torture came to an end. Unfortunately for Kabuto, this resulted a lot of damage and I knew for a fact he sustained harsh injuries; he looked like he was on the verge pf dying. He stood there as his legs struggled to keep himself standing. I was caught off guard when the Leaf Squad threw a couple of kunai which stabbed almost every single part of his body, earning another painful scream from Kabuto. I watched anxiously as his body fell lifelessly on the ground. My mind literally went blank as I stared at his still body; I couldn't process what happened that moment because I didn't want it to sink in. I snapped out of my trance when I noticed that the enemy picked up his body harshly and bounded him with sealed ropes and tags so he couldn't dare move. When they finished bounding their victim by taping a seal on his mouth, the captain looked up and threw me a cold smirk.
"Remember, you're the one that caused this." He shrugged calmly. "You could've prevented this if you listened like a good little girl and return to the Leaf. Now, you're precious boy paid the price and you're the only one to blame."
"You… bastard…" I grumbled lividly, clenching my fists in rage.
He only snickered at my rage. "Listen, I'll make you a deal." He offered nonchalantly. "If you willingly give yourself in and return to the Leaf, we'll let your friend go."
"And if I say no?" I inquired suspiciously, seeing where he was getting at.
"Then, he'll die on your behalf." He answered simply with no expression.
"Who knew you Leaf ninja can play dirty?" I sarcastically hissed. "You're no good as I am."
The captain dismissed my insult and then made a hand sign with one hand. "We expect your answer later today. Once the deadline is reached, the deal's off." He concluded, notifying that he and his team was leaving.
I immediately caught on to this and glide rapidly towards them. "You bastards aren't going anywhere!" I spat as I instantly activated my chakra scalpel.
But alas, they got away the second I reached ground level. I growled in frustration towards myself, pissed off that I allowed them to slip from my grasp along with Kabuto. This was the last thing I wanted to happen, and to make matters worse, we were still in the process of completing this mission for Orochimaru in which I had no interest in doing it to begin with. Now my new mission was to save Kabuto from the Leaf ninja, which wasn't going to be a walk in the park.
The only reason they captured Kabuto in the state he was in was solely because their only person in interest was me, and not him. And they figured that if they took him into custody, I would willingly give myself up for him and return to the Leaf. But how could I be sure if he was telling the truth? If anything, he would break the deal and kill Kabuto right then and there and kidnap me and take me back to the village. I wasn't so certain about that either. If I believed that was the case, then I would be risking Kabuto's life, who had no part in this dilemma whatsoever; it wouldn't be fair for his life to be thrown for no reason. And in all honesty here, I actually started to grow fond of him. I don't know when, but it was probably when he mentioned to himself that he too went through a lot in his past, which made me feel both sympathy and empathy for him.
"You're not the only one who went through hell in the past… believe me…" Those exact words of his repeated in my mind which stuck to me as a reminder that I wasn't alone.
After hearing that, I felt that he and I felt a connection; a similar connection of pain and sorrow. He hinted that he knew how I felt, and I couldn't help but thought that he felt the same way I did and experienced things that shouldn't be experienced by anyone. We were both victims of this corrupted world and we couldn't get out because we ordered to stay and suffer in society.
Knowing that he felt the same way made me want to get closer to him and get to know him better.
Which was why I couldn't let him die. He too was a victim of ninja society, and he doesn't deserve to die. We could both start anew together and erase the events that had happened and only focus on the future; we both deserve to know our true potential in life.
I had made my decision.
I used my chakra to once again release the gravity on my body which caused my body to fly in the air. I then drifted briskly through the branches as I used my Sensory ninjutsu to locate the enemy who held Kabuto captive. I was prepared the consequences I might face if things didn't go the way I planned them to. The only thing on my mind was saving Kabuto from the verge of death.
'I'm coming, so you better not die on me… Kabuto…' I thought hopefully to myself, praying for my partner to stay alive.
My Sharingan automatically activated on its own as its crimson red colour flashed strongly.
And that's the end of Chapter 6! So the next chapter or the chapter after the next would probably be the end of their mission. We'll see. Well, until next time guys!