A New Path

Ch. 19 First Bases Destroyed

Ino and Choji stood in front of the angry Sound ninja, her staff forgotten inside of the base. She had a look of pure fury on her face since she hadn't expected kids to give her too much trouble. It was a kind of relief to be able to feel something after all that she had been through but she didn't care much, not anymore at least. Right now she would kill the brats that dared to, not only hurt her but to show her horrible face. She was only an experiment but she still hated showing what was behind her mask, it reminded her that she was nothing but a tool.

"Choji…" Ino whispered to her teammate, getting his attention, "How much chakra do you have left?"

Choji looked thoughtful for a second before giving her a firm nod. "I have more than half right now since I haven't used a lot. How about you?"

"I'm about the same as you," she responded with a small smile on her face, "We might be able to stall her long enough so let's give it everything we have and don't let up."

Choji chuckled. "You're really starting to act like Naruto," he observed with a grin on his face. Seeing the glare Ino was throwing at him, he added quickly, "B-but that's not a bad thing."

A chuckle broke the two ninja from their conversation. They both turned to the source to see the woman with a smirk on her face. "Oh, don't mind me I was just thinking of ways to kill you," the Sound ninja said in a deeper voice, "Should I play with you a little bit or just outright kill you?"

"Let's go Choji," Ino whispered to her friend as she ran through hand signs before putting a hand around her mouth, "Water Style: Raging Waves!"

As soon as the shot of water escaped Ino's lips, Choji ran at the woman with his fist held back. The woman sidestepped the shot of water but her eye's widened when a giant fist came her way. Using her tail, the woman knocked aside the punch and broke into Choji's defenses. The Genin's eye's widened as the woman punched at his face but before it could make contact she was knocked away by a couple of liquid bullets.

"Did you forget about me?" Ino taunted with a smirk on her face.

Choji put some distance between himself and the woman before throwing a glance at Ino. "Thanks for the save," he said with a grin.

"You damned brat…" the woman muttered with a glare as she walked towards them as if nothing had happened, "Did you really think that such a pitiful attack could hurt me?" Before anyone could react she appeared next to Choji with a smirk on her face, "Die." The woman's tail quickly wrapped around Choji's neck, making him choke and gasp for air.

"Choji!" Ino exclaimed in worry as she ran through hand signs, "Water Style: Raging Waves!" A shot of water came out of her mouth and launched at the woman in a fast speed. The woman simply smirked and took the attack as if it were nothing, making Ino gasp in disbelief.

"Foolish girl," the Sound ninja said with an amused smirk on her face, "I am invincible thanks to Lord Orochimaru." She tightened her grip around Choji's neck, making him struggle against the hold but to no avail. Choji was losing consciousness at this point and tried his hardest to find the slightest amount of air to breath.

A whistling sound echoed through the area. The woman looked to her right to see a kunai making its way to her. By the speed of the projectile she could tell that it would be capable of hurting her. With no other choice the woman let go of Choji and jumped away in order to avoid the kunai.

Choji instantly gasped for breath as he landed on the ground and broke into a fit of coughs. His neck was already starting to bruise from the grip the woman had had around his neck. He turned to see his savior and gave a small smile when he saw Neji standing on a tree branch with a kunai on hand. His clothes were a bit tattered and light pants came out of his mouth, showing that he had been on a fight of his own.