Another Take (A Naruto Fanfiction) (Complete)

Ch. 23: Have Faith In Me

~Have faith in me, cause there are things I've seen that I don't believe, so cling to to what you know and never let go, you should know things aren't always what they seem~

Kiyomi's POV

This is in no way, shape, or form comfortable. Ever since I'd deactivated Yasei, pain had been bombarding my body in waves, sometimes all over, sometimes concentrated in a specific place.

Right now, the pain was concentrated in my lower back region. I seem to remember Fenrir saying I'd cracked one of my lower spinal plates, and that it would impede my movements. Just what I needed in a place where running away is one of my only defenses.

I don't know how long I've been here, but I hope my team gets here soon...

Third POV

The rest of Team Seven were seated around a small fire, waiting for their fish to cook. It had been a day since their encounter with Orochimaru, and they seemed to be healing.

"It's the fourth afternoon since the exam started..." Sasuke muttered, staring into the fire. "We've only got a little over a day left..."

"Where's Kiya-chan?" Naruto suddenly asked, looking around. "I haven't seen her in a while... Actually, the last time I saw her was before that guy tied me up. What gives?"

Sasuke grunted. "She left."

"WHAT?!"

"Not like that," Sakura hurriedly said. "Kiyomi and Sasuke-kun... Disagreed over what to do with the scroll. Kiyomi looked pretty angry, and then she left."

"She said she'd be back when she found the lone scroll," Sasuke said. "She's going to meet us at the tower, or sniff us out," he snorted disdainfully. "She'll be fine."

Naruto growled. "You just let her go out into the forest alone? What is wrong with you?" the blond looked furious. "Even as strong as Kiya-chan is, she can't survive alone in a forest of people trying to kill her! She'll die, and then we'll fail the exam!"

Sasuke flinched slightly. Then shook his head. "It's too late now. We'll grab another scroll, and then meet her at the tower. If she's not there, we wait. We can't pass without her anyways."

Naruto growled again, still angry, but Sakura calmed him down, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright, Naruto," the pink-haired girl smiled reassuringly. "Kiyomi's strong! She'll be fine!"

The jinchuriki clenched his teeth, and shook his head. "Not likely..." Naruto muttered. Sakura and Sasuke exchanged a look at Naruto's attitude, but right at that moment, a crackling noise was heard from the fire. The fish were done.

Team Seven still seemed disconcerted, but they dug eagerly into their fish. Each was silently assuring themselves that their quiet teammate would be fine. She always was, right?

.... Not really.

Kiyomi's POV

"Yay! It's a Heaven scroll!" Seriously people? I'm trying not to scream in agony here, and your yelling is not helping!

Wait a minute... That sounded like...

"Really Naruto? Now everyone knows where we are, and what scroll we have!" Sakura?

"Hn. Idiot. Now we just need to get an Earth scroll..." Sasuke?

My team was here?

'Yeah,' Fenrir grunted. 'They appeared within my range about twenty minutes ago. But they were fighting someone, and I didn't want you getting in the middle of that.'