"So now what?" I said an hour after the second part of the Chuunin exam had began. Sasuke, Naruto and I had found what seemed to be a safe dense area of the forest surrounded by large rocks to hide out and make camp. "We wait?"
"I can't believe we found this spot," Naruto was muttering excitedly, peeking through a crack in the rock to see beyond the rock mound. "This is perfect. I knew we should've listened to Ai and went left in the beginning! She was totally right! I mean, she said to go left, but she was so right!"
Sasuke's eye was already twitching from being around Naruto for an extended period of time. "I wonder if any teams are out of the game yet," he wondered out loud, looking up at the sky for some reason.
"This isn't the Hunger Games," I said, rolling my eyes. "They're not gonna broadcast the fallen tributes in the sky."
Both of them stared me with puzzlement. "What the hell are the Hunger Games?" Sasuke demanded.
Naruto's stomach growled. "I sure am hungry..."
World mix-up. Oops.
"Forget it," I mumbled, looking away.
Suddenly, we heard loud moaning like guys were in pain, echoing throughout the trees. The moans turned into louder screams of torture. It was so loud it reached us in our cove. We all shivered, trying to ignore it until it finally faded away.
"What was that?" Naruto asked, holding his head. "That sounded terrifying."
"Someone's already been scouting out scrolls," I whispered, instinctively putting my hand to my belt to rest on a kunai.
"Five days of this," Sasuke groaned. "Constant fear. Constant anticipation. Constant stress." He looked at Naruto. "Constant him."
"Who has the scroll?" Naruto asked. "I definitely didn't have it so if it's lost already, it's not my fault."
"I'm gonna hold onto it," Sasuke said, tucking it in his shirt.
"Why you?" Naruto barked. "It should be Ai. They'll check her last...because no offense, Ai, but people were telling me back there in the crowd that you looked more like Ms. Konoha than a ninja."
My blood boiled. "Give me the damn scroll," I growled. "I will skin them alive."
"Ooh, scary," Sasuke said. "But there's no way I'm letting anyone but me hang onto it."
Naruto and I exchanged an annoyed look.
"And why is that, Mr. Conceited?" I shot at him.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Come on. I'm the leader here, and you guys know it. I'm the best."
"OH, NO, HE DIDN'T!" Naruto shouted, snapping angrily in the air in front of Sasuke's face, as I shouted at the same time, "OH YEAH, PRETTY BOY?"
"WE DIDN'T REALIZE WE WERE IN THE PRESENCE OF ROYALTY!"
"YEAH, OH GOD, NARUTO, WHAT WE WOULD DO WITHOUT PERFECT PRECIOUS SASUKE-KUN?!"
Sasuke yelled out his frustration. "SHUT UP!"
I had just realized how loud we all were being. I slowly, with pit of dread in my stomach, looked up into the trees above us. Three ninja wearing what looked like oxygen masks were hovering about six feet above us in the trees.
"Oh, hello," I said, wiggling my fingers, and then yelled, "RUN!"
All three of us immediately jumped up and out of the rocks right before the Rain ninja jumped down on the spot we had just been. Close one.
"I told you," the Rain ninja said to his teammates. It was the one who had sat next to me during the exam.
"What?" Naruto barked.
"That your teammate here is extremely pretty," he said.
"Let's smoke them," I grumbled.
Sasuke already had his Sharingan activated and summoned a fire jutsu without hesitation. Damn, the boy did have good reaction time.
The Rain ninja dodged the attack, but it caught them off guard. I threw a kunai making them split apart, and Sasuke rushed in to attack. While they were focused on Sasuke, I quickly leapt up into the trees while Naruto threw shurikens at them. Sasuke laid a hit on the one in the middle, swiftly dodging the attacks from the other two.
"Where's the girl?" one of them suddenly yelled while Sasuke positioned himself for more jutsu.
"RIGHT HERE, SUCKAS!" I yelled, jumping down from the trees, kicking two of them with a flying roundhouse.
I also summoned a fire jutsu, and Sasuke and I simultaneously completed a phoenix flower jutsu, sending balls of fire in a cloud towards them. They retreated immediately, treating their burns. Sasuke and I high-fived, both of our skin hot from our fire jutsu.
"YEAH, GUYS!" Naruto shouted. "HELL YEAH! WE SCARED THEM OFF RIGHT AWAY! THEY DIDN'T EXPECT US TO FIGHT BACK SO STRONGLY!"
"Do we follow them? We might be able to take them," I said, high off adrenaline from the fight, my heart pounding.
"No," Sasuke said. "We stay here. We have the advantage here. We can sense enemies coming."
"Can you?"
We all whipped around and came face-to-face with the last person I wanted to see: that creepy, Grass-nin woman with the long black hair and abnormally large, long tongue. Totally gross.
"Found you," she sang. "This is gonna be fun."
"You're creepy as hell," Naruto said.
No filter on that boy. No filter at all.
In no time at all, the woman had rushed in and kicked Naruto. Naruto flew up into the trees and a distance away where we couldn't see him anymore. I immediately knew something was wrong, and Sasuke tensed up, thinking what I was thinking. That was way too much force, and it happened way too quickly. Who...or what...was this girl?
"Naruto!" I screamed into the forest. But he didn't answer. "Damn!"
"What scroll do you have?" the woman said calmly. "Because I have the Heavens scroll."
We didn't answer. We had the Earth one. She pulled it out of her pocket slowly and started laughing. We were frozen in place as she tilted back her head and lowered the white scroll to her mouth. Her lips expanded, and the scroll slid right in, swallowed within five seconds.
"OH, GROSS," I shouted, gagging. "THAT IS MESSED UP!"
Sasuke looked horrified. "Was that really necessary?" he agreed.
"Life or death," the woman said, licking her lips.
The next few seconds of my life were the most horrible seconds of my life. Ever. A million shurikens piercing every inch of my body, leaving deep gashes. A kunai stabbing me right in the middle of my forehead, piercing through my skull. My stomach sliced open, exposing red and purple organs. My arms and legs being skinned alive. All of these gruesome things happened one after the other, an annihilation of my sanity. I could feel the pain so intensely, sharply aware of everything happening, my mind fully conscious yet fading from myself.
Then it was over.
Sasuke and I doubled over, falling to the ground on all fours, hard. I threw up, feeling sick to my stomach. Tears were in my eyes, and I had no power to stop my body from experiencing any of this sudden discomfort. I tried to gain back control of my head.
What the HELL? Was that Genjutsu? That was horrible... That was most horrible thing I could ever dreamed up... Just who was this chick, for real?!
"I'm sorry," she said, breaking the miserable silence. "I'll make it painless as possible from now on. I promise. But I had to have some fun first."
She walked closer to us, as we lay panting and weak in the dirt.
"I dare you to try to hurt us without the mind games," I said, shaking all over but managing to smile evilly. "I dare you, you b*tch."
"Ai..."
Sasuke looked at me wide-eyed until he saw the sweat pouring from my face. I was so hot, so warm, so worked up, that steam was visibly emitting from my body, rising up into the trees.
"We are safe," I assured Sasuke.
The woman furrowed her eyebrows and threw a kunai at us. The kunai was immediately deflected by a hiss-ing sound, more steam flowing to the tops of the trees. She had more sense than some to throw a weapon rather than approach me and burn herself.
"What," she said flatly, her eyes in slits. "Chakra?"
Sasuke let out a huge breath. "Thank God, Ai."
"How convenient," she said, her lips curling. "But there's a flaw in the system, right? A weakness? You only have so much chakra, babe. And that chakra's gonna run out before long."
I mean. She was right. I got déjà vu from when Sasuke and I were fighting Haku. I wouldn't be able to hold out for long – the shield used a lot of my chakra, and I wasn't good at conserving it yet. And when it failed, I couldn't let Sasuke protect me again.
What to do? We needed another plan. We needed—
"HEY, GUYS, I'M HERE!" came the voice of Naruto from above in the trees. He stood proudly, dripping wet in some goo, but arms crossed in a confident stance. "YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED TO ME! THERE WAS A HUGE SNAKE AND IT ATE ME AND THEN I CUT MYSELF OUT AND DEFEATED IT – IT WAS SOOOO COOL, Y'ALL SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE, I AM SO FREAKING BADASS!"
We glared at him.
"Glad you're having a kickass time, but can you help us out?" I yelled. "We're stuck fighting this weird tongue girl."
Naruto nodded. "Let's smoke this chick."
Sasuke was shaking his head. "We can't defeat her. Guys, my Sharingan can sense things you can't. We seriously can't beat her." Sasuke was shaking...he didn't look good. "She's...on a whole other level."
"REMEMBER TEAMWORK!" Naruto shouted from above. "TOGETHER, WE CAN!"
"Take the scroll," Sasuke told the Grass nin, removing it from his shirt. "Take it and let us go."
"ARE YOU CRAZY!" I screamed and tried to grab the scroll from him.
He tightened his grip on it. We grappled for it a bit, and the woman laughed.
"He's smart. Hey, pretty girl, you should listen to your teammate. He's trying to save you. You're gonna waste all your chakra protecting your team and then you're just gonna die anyway. This is your only way out and he knows it."
While she was talking, Naruto jumped down to join our group. "The Sasuke I know wouldn't give up so damn easily," Naruto said, pushing Sasuke with both hands.
Sasuke tensed up like he was going to push Naruto back. "Dude, chill out," he growled at Naruto.
"No, you're being a little b*tch!" Naruto yelled. "YOU THINK SHE'LL LET US GO AFTER WE JUST HAND IT OVER? DON'T BE AN IDIOT! WHERE IS THE SASUKE I KNOW?"
"Naruto's right!" I said, getting in the middle of them. I turned to Sasuke. "Stop freaking out! We're doomed no matter what, but we can't just hand over the scroll. That's pathetic."
The woman sighed loudly. "I'm bored as hell right now. Let's just get this over with."
She raised her left arm's sleeved, revealing black marks and writings all over it. She licked her lips, exposing blood, and ran her fingers over her tongue, spreading the blood down her arm. "Summoning Jutsu."
A strong wind current surrounded her, and she appeared on the head of a humungous brown serpent.
"DAMN!" I shouted as the tail whipped towards us. "She CAN DO SOME KIND OF BLACK MAGIC! GO BACK TO HOGWARTS, YA WITCH!"
My chakra deflected the blow by the tail, but it was taking a lot more now to defend against a fifty-foot long, ten-foot wide snake.
"I can't last for long. We'll need to split up and dodge the snake's attacks."
The snake kept trying for us, and each blow weakened me to the core.
"Guys," I said, my voice shaking after a few minutes of the snake dealing us blows. "I can't do it anymore. I'm sorry."
"NOW!" Sasuke yelled, and we all jumped in different directions.
The snake went wild, flailing its tail and head around, breaking trees in half, sending branches, leaves, and other debris flying, destroying the rock mound nearby, and biting its large snake teeth at anything that appeared to be moving.
Naruto all of a sudden stabbed the snake square in the face, with force that none of us expected from him, sending the snake burying its head into the dirt, completely out. All at once, the snake's huge body sunk to the ground, vibrating the area around us.
Sasuke and I landed on the ground by Naruto, stunned, looking at the knocked-out snake.
"Naruto..." I whispered. "That strength..."
His eyes were glowing red, but not like the Sharingan, they looked...evil. Savage. Beast-like. But damn, that was badass. Naruto had some type of power, alright.
"You okay, man?" Sasuke asked, panting.
Naruto growled, "Are you okay?" he retorted at Sasuke, and Sasuke looked impressed and embarrassed.
The woman started laughing. Hard. Hysterically.
"Let me show you something."
Her tongue spilled out of her mouth, longer than I could have thought, reaching around Naruto's middle and sending him towards her.
"FIVE PRONGED SEAL!" she shouted, exposing his stomach, the Nine-Tails black seal, and slammed her hand into it.
Naruto flew backward at the impact, landing hard on the group in a crumpled heap.
"NARUTO!" I screamed to see if he was okay, but he didn't respond. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?"
My heart was pounding. I was shaking violently, steam rising and emitting through every pore of my skin. "YOU EVIL WITCH! I WILL ABSOLUTELY DESTROY YOU!" I screamed, unaware of what I was even saying.
I felt like I was losing myself and succumbing to a higher power. My vision blackened and zoomed back into focus several times. I was vibrating from the anger, and the steam rushed upwards from the pores in my skin.
The woman was staring at me. Then at Naruto. Then at me. "You...you are also...could it be?" She started laughing again. "NO F*CKING WAY!"
"What?" I hissed, steam surrounding me so thickly it made it difficult to see her.
"Do you even know what you are?" she giggled. "Oh, you poor lovely girl. This is unbelievable. To think I'd discover another right here. On the same team."
"She's totally nuts," Sasuke said. "Don't listen to her."
"Oh, you'll find out soon, my love! Listen, girl, I'll give you a choice. Cool down, take away the steam, or I will kill Sasuke-kun. Easily." She immediately appeared at Sasuke's side. "What's your choice, darling?"
"OKAY!" I shouted, trying to summon the steam back inside of me. It was difficult because my emotions were running a little wild, and I didn't feel total control over my own chakra. "I'm trying!"
"DON'T!" Sasuke yelled at me. "PROTECT YOURSELF!"
"Guess she can't save you. Oh, Sasuke-kun. I've waited a long time for this moment, and we don't have that much time together. When can I see you again?" the woman whispered and then bit his neck hard.
He yelled out in agonizing pain, and my insides churned and clenched, and I screamed, "STOP! STOP! PLEASE!"
Sasuke dropped to the floor, shaking violently and clutching his neck. He appeared in so much pain, I could barely function. He writhed and crawled and shouted out in pure misery.
"PLEASE STOP! I'LL DO ANYTHING!"
"Come here," she instructed, and I walked towards her, freaked the hell out. "Turn around."
I slowly turned around, facing Sasuke who was still moaning on the forest floor. The woman moved my braid to the side so she could view the back of my neck.
"Subtle... It's invisible. So you never knew. Oh, my special little girl."
"What are you talking about?" I asked, trembling. "Are Naruto and Sasuke going to be okay?"
"Oh, well, Sasuke will be more than okay," she said sweetly. "Naruto, however...and you, well, you're both in for a rough life, sweetheart. Don't worry; I won't tell them where you are. But they must already know..."
"I still don't—"
"Also...guess what?" She leaned close into my ear. "It's me...the one who killed your parents. FIVE PRONGED SEAL!" she shouted and punched the back of my neck with an open palm.
Overwhelming pain. A sense of loss. I felt blocked, out of control, weak. My eyes closed slowly. I was awake no longer, sucked into darkness.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I opened my eyes.
Oh, how lovely.
A light pink sky filled with the fluffiest, most beautiful lavender clouds. I was laying on white marble floor at the base of a short glass staircase. I didn't feel tired anymore or weak. I felt light...peaceful and dazed. I climbed to my feet and made my way up the crystal staircase, entranced by the beauty. Everything sparkled in a hazy dreamlike way.
At the top of the stairs was a tall, large, luminous, golden and glowing gate. I ran my fingers through the cold and smooth gold metal bars of the gate. Then I noticed what was behind the gate.
I gasped loudly, the peaceful feeling leaving me, replaced with fear, a deep pounding in my chest as my heart threatened to beat right through the skin and out of the ribcage.
A large creature...it had blended in with the white background behind the gate. It was pure white, shaped almost like a horse, with four legs and golden hooves, with a large head with wide-set blue eyes with red underneath. The head had five horns and the back...had five tails. Five, long white tails, flowing behind it. Everything about it was massive in size; it seemed not real.
The power I sensed from the creature was frightening enough, and as soon as my eyes had met its eyes, I was filled head to toe with dread. I am a ninja, I reminded myself firmly, and forced myself to stop shaking and face whatever nightmare this was. I didn't look away from its gaze.
"Hello...Ai," came a melodic, confident regal voice from the creature behind the gate. The tone was neutral, not surprised I was here, but also not overjoyed. The eyes held me captured; I couldn't look away. "So we finally meet."
"Who are you?" I whispered.
The creature moved towards me, the head rearing right up to the golden bars of the gate, never breaking our eye contact. I stiffened as it neared, and my hands formed white fists. I resisted the urge to run away.
"My name...is Kokuo."
"Your voice is familiar," I told her.
"Yes, it has been necessary to communicate with you at times. To progress or simply survive. You have a knack of putting us in deadly situations. What a careless and reckless girl you've turned out to be."
"You...you've been the voice in my head?" I said breathlessly. "All this time?" My head started to spin, but I forced myself to stay coherent. This felt too important to let myself be distracted by the strangeness of it all. "Who are you?"
"Thirteen years and you haven't been able to figure it out. Not too bright, it seems. I am the Five-Tails. You see, I used to run free. One of the only tailed beasts left to live in solitude and peace. But eventually I was found...captured.... And how lucky for me, I was sealed into you when you were very small."
"What? So that makes me...I'm a...Jinchuuriki? Like Naruto? But! How did I not know?" I demanded.
Kokuo literally rolled her eyes. "You can't take a hint. Like you'd really be able to produce steam by yourself. It's a mix of fire and water chakras. Did you really think you had both kinds on your own?"
She laughed, but I refused to feel small in her presence. Well, figuratively small.
"So...okay. I am a Jinchuuriki. Going to take some processing time, but I can roll with this. I know how strong the tailed beasts are...I'm gonna be so powerful." I looked up dreamily.
Suddenly Kokuo yelled, "Do not pretend to understand the power of a Tailed Beast! How dare you assume I was put here for your own purpose! Our power is great, but it is not to be played with, and I will not allow you to use me as a weapon for your own selfish purposes! I was sealed within you to keep the peace in this world, not to destroy it again. Do you know nothing? I keep you alive because if you die, I die. But I would never expect you to understand the gravity of the situation, the truth of the world. Your ignorance is to be expected of a naïve, flighty young girl like you."
I blinked a few times, shuddering. "That sounded like a lot of insults, not gonna lie. So I'm getting the vibe that you're, like, not thrilled to be paired up with me of all people. But listen, I super appreciate the stream, it totally makes sense now. And I just want you to know, I'm all about the peace too. Yeah, your situation isn't the greatest, being contained all up in some ninja girl, I get it. But I'll work with you! I'll try to make this okay for us both! Also. You're cool as hell. When can I see you again?"
I stared up at her dreamily. Couldn't believe she was mine.
Kokuo shook her head, but her expression softened. She faded slowly into the white background, and I felt like she was getting farther and farther away. As it happened, my vision was fading too. The last thing I heard before I left was her voice ringing through the white blank space:
"I'm sure it won't be too long. "
~~~~~~
Then I woke up again...but this time on the ground in a much less lovely place. I was laying in the dirt near a stream, the water hitting small rocks on its way down.
Was I in danger?
I could barely move. My chakra was still blocked from that seal. From him, not her. It had been Orochimaru the whole time. The b*stard who had killed my parents.
I realized I wasn't alone. I tried to sit up, only to be forced back down by my own weakness. The figure in front of me came into view slowly. A boy with red hair...bright, piercing blue eyes...oh, my God, it was...
"Gaara," I whispered.
My stomach turned. Gaara instantly backed away, putting distance between us. He looked ready to run. My heart started to beat quickly. He was like a bird that might fly away any second. He was like a dream when you're just about to wake up. He was like trying to hold water in your hands...impossible to make stay.
But he was here.
"You're safe," he told me, filling my body with warmth with just his words. His eyes darted around, like he was looking for the best way to escape. "You should find your teammates. I found you alone. Goodbye, Ai."
"Wait..." I rasped. "When can I see you again?"
"We're...better apart." And then he was gone.
It took me a while to regain my strength, but I felt my chakra come back little by little with every passing minute. Finally I was able to stand and to feel safer, I climbed the nearest tree.
I collected my thoughts. So I was a Jinchuuriki. That female Grass ninja had been disguised as Orochimaru. Naruto and Sasuke were nowhere to be found, and Gaara had saved me, moving me to a safe location.
Oh, my God.
Though my head spun, I pulled myself together and surveyed the area at the top of the tree. The forest was very dense, which made it hard to see, and no one seemed to be around. I needed to find Naruto and Sasuke ASAP.
I set off, running through the forest at top speed, feeling recharged. I would get my revenge on Orochimaru, someday, somehow. For what he did to all three of us. Normally, revenge wasn't really my thing; I wasn't an emo like Sasuke. But still...sometimes injustice needed to be served with justice.
And hey...why would Gaara have saved me? And then what had he meant by: 'We're better apart?'
He held a lot of questions I wanted answers to. He was a mystery I wanted to solve. He was an enigma of wonder and thrill and possibility I wanted to explore.
And all I wanted to do was see him again.