Kimiko's P. O. V:
We'd found a hiding place in a hollowed trunk and after I'd healed my wound, I'd helped tended to the boy's wounds. While I was tending to Sasuke, I'd noticed the Curse Mark he'd received was the Heaven Curse Mark, the same as mine.
I watch as Sakura places her hand on Sasuke's forehead and murmurs, "He's still got a high fever."
"They'll be okay, Sakura," I tell her. We watch them for several hours, and I could see Sakura beginning to nod off to sleep. I wanted to sleep too, but I think she needs it more than I do. By now, the sun had gone down and the forest was blanketed in night. "Sakura." She jerks awake to look at me. "You should get some rest. I'll watch over them for now."
"Are you sure?" Sakura asks.
I nod my head. "You need to get some rest. I'll wake you up the second there's any change in them."
Sakura gives me a grateful smile as she says, "Thank you, Kimiko."
Sakura goes to sleep in a corner as I sit by the boys, keeping watch in Sakura's place.
I just couldn't believe I'd failed in protecting Sasuke. It's all my fault he's like that.
🗡🗡🗡
It was morning as I sit and watch over Sasuke and Naruto. I know I'd promised Sakura to wake her up, but it's not like the boys had changed, either.
So far, there's been no attack from other Genin teams.
I go still at a vaguely familiar chakra signature, and my violet eyes narrow. I shake Sakura as I say, "Sakura." She jumps awake.
"K-Kimiko?! Wait... have you been up all night?" Sakura asks to which I nod my head. "Why didn't you wake me up?!"
"The boys are still ads unconscious and you needed sleep," I respond.
Just then, we whip around to see the bushes rustle, the pinkette freezing as she grips a kunai knife in her hand. We both deadpan at the sight of a squirrel, chewing an acorn.
"Awe, man! Don't surprise me like that, little guy!" Sakura breathes, only to gasp as the squirrel starts runner by towards us, she throws her kunai and it hits the ground right at the squirrel's feet, startling it. The squirrel scampers off into the bushes as Sakura breathes a sigh of relief.
Then, the three Sound Genin from the first exam come out from the bushes. I keep chewing my cookie even as I get to my feet.
The hunchback says, "At least you don't have to keep watch anymore. What's the point, when we've already found you. Now, wake Sasuke up. We want to fight him."
I ask in annoyance, "What do you idiot threesome want?"
Sakura demands to know, trembling hand reaching for her kunai as she too gets up, "I know Orochimaru is calling the shots from the shadows." This shocks them. "What's that strange bruise on the back of Sasuke's neck? You're behind this, too, aren't you? And now you wanna fight him when he can't defend himself?!"
Hunchback muses, "What in the world could he be thinking?"
The raven haired male says, "I can't stay quiet after hearing you talk like that. First, I'm going to kill these girls, then I'm going to kill Sasuke."
He stands up on the boulder he's sitting on, but the man is stopped by hunchback. "Wait, Zaku."
"What? Why?!"
Hunchback says as he steps forward, crouching by a light patch of earth and putting his finger before it, "zits so obvious. This is the colour of dirt that's recently been dug up, and this type of grass doesn't grow in a place like this. You know, if you're going to lay a trap, there's no point unless you make sure it's actually hidden."
I say to Sakura, "Way to make it obvious to the enemy! How much more obvious could you make it for them?!"
"I-I'm sorry, okay?! I was under stress!" Sakura exclaims, turning to me.
Hunchback stands up as Zaku scoffs, "Heh! You're just a joke! You threw your kunai knife so that squirrel wouldn't spring the trap you set, huh?"
"Now we kill them," Says hunchback before they launch themselves at us.
I notice the green eyed girl smirking as she cuts a rope next to her. A log tied to a rope swings down from the trees to the Sound ninja.
"A log?!" Zaku exclaims. No, shit!
Hunchback says in shock, "She also laid a trap above?! Watch out! Nice try, little girl!" He puts his right hand on the log and it explodes from a blast of sound waves. Sakura and I gasp, seeing the three Sound nin falling towards us. "Because clearly you have no talent as a ninja. Someone like you needs to make a little more of an effort, don't you think?!"
Sensing a new but familiar chakra, I tell Sakura, "Don't worry. Backup has arrived." She looks at me in confusion as the Sound nin do.
"Huh?! What's she talking about?" The woman asks.
"Leaf Hurricane!" There's a green and black blur in front of us and the Sound nin were kicked a punched to the ground, right before Rock Lee lands before us. With the same squirrel from before on his shoulder.
I say, smirking, "Didn't I tell you?"
"Wh... What's he doing?" Sakura stammers in surprise.
"It looks like you also need to make more of an effort," Lee retorts
"Who are you?" Hunchback wants to know.
"I am the Handsome Devil of the Leaf Village, and my name is Rock Lee," Lee answers.
As I sit beside her, I ask, "What are you doing here, Lee?"
"I will always appear, anytime and anywhere that you need me, Kimi-chan. I told you that the first day we met, remember," Says Lee. He then sets the squirrel down and it steps off his hand. "This was really all thanks to you, little one. But now, it is time for you to run along."
The squirrel trots off as I tell him, "But, right now, in this test, we're your enemies."
"Kimi-chan, I already told you: I will protect you until I die!"
It all comes back to me now.
I murmur so no one else could hear, stunned, "Yes. Thank you, Rock Lee."
"It looks like I have no choice," Hunchback says, holding up a Heaven Scroll and chucking it back to his male teammate. "Zaku, I'll let you have Sasuke. I'll take care of these three." Sakura reaches back for her weapons pouch as Hunchback pulls up the sleeve of his right arm. "That guy with the bushy eyebrows is pretty good at Taijutsu. It looks like I get to have some fun!"
As the Hunchback runs at us, Sakura throws her kunai it he dodges. Lee punches the ground and rips out a giant tree root. It smashes apart when Hunchback punches it.
Lee says, "I am positive that there is some kind of trick to your attack. Therefore, I will not waste my time trying to dodge it. After all, I have seen your Jutsu before."
Lee starts unwrapping the bandages before looking up at Hunchback and saying through gritted teeth, doing a hand sign, "To protect the life of someone precious!"
Then, Lee uses his incredible speed to vanish. "He disappeared...?!" Hunchback gasps, right before Lee reappears before him and slams a powerful kick in his chin, sending the Sound nin flying upward. Lee immediately follows, appearing right behind Hunchback.
"Not yet!!" Lee wraps his bandages around Hunchback as I finish my cookie and then latches his arms around him. Then Lee sends the two spearing head first for the earth.
"Oh, no, Dosu!" Zaku says worriedly. "There's no way he can break his fall!" Zaku then performs hand signs.
"Take this! Primary Lotus!" Lee and Dosu begin spinning rapidly. Zaku punches his fists into the earth just as Lee leaps away from Dosu, and Dosu crashes into the ground, head-first.
"Heh! Got you just in time," Says Zaku. "That impact could've been much worse for you."
Lee lands on the ground in a crouched position as Dosu pulls himself out of the earth, shaking his head. "What?! This cannot be...!" Lee gasps.
"That is a frightening Jutsu," Says Dosu. "It nearly took me out, even though I landed on this soft dirt." Lee stands Ryo as Dosu faces him, pulling his sleeve up. "Now, it's my turn!"
Dosu dashes forwards and swings his fist. Lee steps back to avoid it but is hit with a blast of sound waves,
Sakura murmurs worriedly, "Lee, no...!"
"Your jutsu is fast, but ours is even faster because it travels at the speed of sound," Says Dosu. Lee drops to his knees as he breathes heavily. "Effort by itself does nothing. Now, watch. We're going to show you a little something called The Wall."
Lee suddenly vomits as blood leaks out of his ear.
Sakura calls, "Lee, what's wrong?!"
"Oh, I forgot to mention this little gadget I wear." Dosu grips his right arm, showing us the instrument. "You might be able to dodge my blows, but you can't get away from it." Lee clutches his bleeding ear. Dosu chuckles. "I don't need to strike you with my fists! I can hit you with the power of sound!"
"Sound?" Lee gasps.
"What makes it possible for the ear to hear things? What is sound, really?" Dosu questions.
Sakura says hesitantly, ".......... Vibrations."
"Give the little girl a prize! Yes, the vibration of molecules in the ear creates a sound wave. These vibrations are collected by the ear then directed to your eardrum. The human eardrum, it's tympanic membrane, ruptures when exposed to sound levels in excess of 159 decimals. Moreover, if the sound is powerful enough to upset the fluid within the deepest inner ear canals, it becomes impossible for you to maintain your balance."
"Just as I thought!" I think.
"Feeling a little dizzy? Nauseous? That's right! Best that you don't even try to stand up for awhile."
Zaku mocks, "You see, buddy, that old fashioned Taijutsu stuff won't work against us! Not that you're not pretty good at it, it's just that what's the point? Compared to our Jutsu, that stuff's totally yesterday's news." He pulls his hands from the earth, holding them in front of his body. "You see, I can manipulate ultra sonic waves and air pressure! I can do things you've never even dreamed of! I can obliterate boulders or make the ground itself as soft as a feather cushion. Face it, little man! You're up against the Jutsu of the future!"
Zaku holds out his palms to reveal any sized holes in the centers.
"Now, then, little girl! It's your turn!" Dosu exclaims as he runs around Lee to me, sitting beside Sakura.
"N-No...!" Lee exclaims, looking back at me.
I sigh in annoyance and use my enhanced speed to disappear from beside the pinkette, startling her and Dosu. "She's about as fast as the other one!" He gasps right before I reappear right behind him with my body coated in crystal armor, though it's transparent unless sunlight hits it.
I flow chakra to my left elbow and crack it powerfully against Dosu's back. He lets out a cry of pain as he's flung onto his face, hitting the ground hard. Sakura winces at the impact of my elbow striking his back.
I straighten as everyone is gaping at my sudden show of speed and strength.
I say with a hand on my hip, "You say your Sound is fast? Well, it looks like I'm faster! I've been watching you Sound ninja, and I figured out the little trick behind your Jutsu way back when you first attacked Four Eyes."
"You mean, you already knew?!" Zaku gasps.
"Of course. Why else would your friend fail to miss Kabuto's ugly face?"
"Your skin... the sunlight light is glinting off of it," Dosu grunts as he gets to his feet. "What's that Jutsu?"
"Oh, so you've noticed my Crystal Armor. It coats my body in a thin coat of crystal that's transparent, unless sunlight reflects off of it. It can protect me from blunt attacks and it enhances my own physical attacks. Your Sound Jutsu can't break it, but lightning chakra can," I explain. "I use it by activating my Seishengan, my original Kekkei Genkai."
Dosu then runs at me again, right arm pulled back. When Dosu swings it for my face, but I jump up and throw my left leg around his neck which is followed by my right. I then twist around his neck before I throw him back first to the ground with a heavy thud.
I stand up as he stutters, "Th-The Lightning Empress!"
"Huh?" Sakura utters, raising a pink eyebrow.
"That's the name you're known by! The Lightning Empress," Dosu says, slowly getting to his feet.
I ignore the Haruno gazing at me in shock.
Dosu decides he's fought me enough and instead, runs straight for my teammate, making me gasp worriedly. Sakura pulls out a kunai knife. However, Lee appears before her, but he's struggling to even stand upright.
"No!"
"What?!" Dosu gasps.
"Lee?!" Sakura and I exclaim in surprise.
"Leaf Hurricane!" Lee goes to swing his leg but winces as pain shoots through his body.
Putting his hand on Lee's leg, Dosu mocks, "Not quite as effective as before, is it?" He lands on the ground before launching for the ravenette again. "Still! It's impressive that you can move at all! We'll have to do something about that!" Dosu swings his arm forward and Lee raises both of his to block, but a massive sound wave is emitted. "Do you hear that? This device amplifies the vibrations of the impact, transforming them into a wave of sound!"
Sakura and I say worriedly, "Lee, no...!"
"A sound wave I can channel with my chakra. Focusing all its energy on any target I desire!"
Seeing my comrade freeze in place like that, I cry, "Stop it!!"
Dosu drops his arm and Lee collapses. Dosu says, "Alright, little man. Time to end it!"
Before I could attack the Sound ninja, Sakura exclaims as she flings three kunai knives at him, "That's what you think!"
Dosu raises his right arm and the kunai bounce right off of it. He murmurs, gazing back at my pink haired teammate, "Ah. I'd almost forgotten you."
I gaze at Sakura as I realise she's willing to fight him to protect the boys, who are still unconscious in the hollow of the tree. I think in surprise, "Sakura..."