I searched for hours that day for Sasuke and Naruto in the Forest of Death. I didn't even know how much of the exam was even left. I couldn't have been out more than a day, right? How bad had that seal jutsu been? Were Naruto and Sasuke also searching for me?
I crouched down, panting, taking a break around late afternoon. I was beginning to feel hopeless and I knew that wasn't going to help me get anywhere.
I started looking again, trying to guide my direction by my instincts from inside. After twenty or so minutes, I suddenly spotted a humungous tree that had large roots crawling all over the ground. I jumped to the ground to check it out, getting a strange feeling about it.
When I got closer, I gasped. I could clearly make out the orange and navy clothed bodies of Naruto and Sasuke under the tree, unconscious and side-by-side. Had Sasuke been able to get them to shelter in his condition?
All of a sudden, I heard voices behind me. I literally came here just in time.
"There she is," and I whipped around to face the owner of the voice.
Three Sound ninjas stood in front of me, two male and one female. The girl shouted, "There's Sasuke!" pointing under the tree.
I began to feel myself heat up, summoning my steam from within. My encounter with Kokuo had been strange, but it had increased my confidence for what I was capable of. With a tailed beast, I had almost unlimited chakra if I could learn to harness it.
"We're here for Sasuke-kun," said one of the male Sound ninja. "Kindly step aside."
He stepped forward threateningly.
One...
"No," I said, my thoughts elsewhere, summoning my chakra and getting ready to strike.
Two...
"Then face the consequences," the female Nin said, putting her hands together for a jutsu.
NOW!
My steam rushed from my body at once, hitting all three Sound ninja with a loud whoosh. They were blown backwards, off their feet. They hit trees with a loud thump and didn't get up right away.
One was groaning in pain; the other two had their eyes closed, silent. I had let go of expectation and limitation, and the chakra had exceeded all of it. This is amazing. And scary. But mostly awesome.
Suddenly, another figure jumped down from the trees. Rock Lee got to his feet quickly, grinning at me. I stared at him incredulously.
"TASURA AI! I HAVE COME TO HELP YOU! I SENSED YOU WERE IN DANGER!"
"Rocky, what are you doing here?" I asked, bewildered.
Rock Lee turned bright red. He looked kind of...nervous. He was suddenly shuffling his feet and not meeting my eyes.
"Tasura Ai. I have decided...that I am in love with you."
"WHAT?" I shouted incredulously. "THE HELL, ROCKY!"
"Yes. I cannot lie any longer. I confess to you my undying love. Forever."
He kneeled to the floor dramatically, bowing his head.
"Oh my God, just stop!" I shouted. Then I reconsidered. I took a deep breath, glancing at the now stirring Sound ninja, "Look, I'm sorry, but I'm bad with this love stuff. You don't have to do this.
"But your name is Ai, that literally means love," Rock Lee protested, bowing slightly in respect.
"I know, I know," I said, putting my hands in front of me, palms facing him. "Look, I know. But I have a situation here. I have to save Naruto and Sasuke."
"Good luck with that," growled a Sound ninja, slowly climbing to his feet.
The other two were slowly sitting up, and in a matter of seconds, all three of them were up and walking back towards us. They were weaker, but they hadn't given up.
"Ai...may I fight with you?" Rock Lee said, extending his hand. "It would be my honor."
I grinned, taking his hand. "Sure, man. Let's do this."
"Is this a date?" Rocky asked me excitedly.
"No, it's better. This is war and we have an alliance."
Rock Lee pumped his fist. "I'll take it!"
The Sound ninja approached. One of the men held up their hands – there were two small metal holes in the middle of them – and I felt a strong vibration in the air around me.
"It's their jutsu!" Rock Lee shouted, then fell to the ground, clutching his left ear. A trickle blood fell.
"HOW DARE YOU!" I shouted, trying to summon a fire jutsu, but then I fell to the floor too.
It was intense, the pain. I felt like I couldn't hear. There was a loud ringing sound, and then it slowly faded away. My vision was blurred. I hadn't expected this. I clutched my right ear. It was in a lot of pain, but an awful pain, not tangible on the outside, but on the inside where I couldn't reach it or treat it...
I was recovering more quickly than Rocky, thanks to Kokuo. Rocky was still on the ground twitching in pain from the impact of the sound attack. I needed to counter attack now or it was over for all of us.
I thought the Sound ninjas would try to do me in as I struggled to get to my feet, but suddenly three more figures appeared in front of Sasuke and Naruto's tree.
It was...Shikamaru. And Ino. And Chouji.
No way.
"What are you doing?" I shouted, my right ear still not hearing as well as my left.
"It's no good being cowards," Shikamaru reasoned out loud. "But man, this looks troublesome. Remind me again why we did this?"
"TO SAVE SASUKE-KUN!" Ino shouted, looking obsessively under the tree at Sasuke. "MY FUTURE HUSBAND!"
Chouji wrinkled his nose. "You really think you stand a chance with that guy?"
Ino balled up her fists and screamed in his face, "WHAT DO YOU KNOW, PORKY?"
Shikamaru banged his head against a nearby tree trunk a few times while they continued to argue until the Sound ninja female interrupted.
"Who the hell are you guys?" she shouted at them angrily.
They all turned toward her in unison.
"THE TERRIBLE THREE!" Chouji shouted, turning into a humungous ball of spinning human, threatening to run her down. He rolled back and forth, gaining momentum.
"INO-SHIKA-CHO FORMATION!" they all shouted simultaneously.
Chouji shot towards Kin, who jumped out of the way, but she had been distracted and couldn't defend herself from Ino's mind-transferring jutsu. Shikamaru had trapped one of the guys, Zaku, in a shadow jutsu. It gave me time to recover a little more and prepare for battle.
Shikamaru's team occupied them as Rock Lee had opened his eyes but still could barely move. My hearing was coming back full force, and the noises of the voices in the fight sharpened back up.
Chouji was losing quickly with the other male Sound guy, Dosu, so I summoned a fire jutsu. Dosu had to dodge it and while he ducked to the floor to avoid the fire, Chouji was able to run him down, leaving his left arm and leg crushed.
"DAMN!" the Sound ninja yelled out in pain.
Shikamaru's shadow jutsu suddenly disappeared and Ino was forced back into her own body to defend herself. Both of them looked spent, much of their energy depleted. The situation was in no way good. Rock Lee was still out of the fight, and Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji seemed like they had reached their limits.
I didn't know if I could do this all on my own. But damn was I going to try.
"Guys! This isn't your battle. Thank you, but get outta here," I told the four of them, jerking my thumb backward towards the forest. "I got this."
Shikamaru and Chouji shot me a worried look, but Ino said tearfully, "Please protect Sasuke-kun!"
And then they left the scene, retreating back into the wooded area.
Rock Lee shook his head. "I will not leave you, Ai!"
"You're crazy..." I told him, shaking my head.
"Crazy...for you."
"Uh—watch this! PHOENIX FLOWER JUTSU!" I screamed, and man, it was a good jutsu.
The girl and the other Sound guy were burned, but Dosu sent more sound my way, and I was instantly doubled over in pain again, my ears ringing loudly... I felt paralyzed, unable to move.
When I regained my senses, I noticed there was a purple mist surrounding a body who was standing. The body was glowing...and had a really negative aura. I felt power, but it came with a stronger vibe of danger.
It was Sasuke, I realized, and he was standing right over me.
"Who did this to you?" he asked me, seeing my eyes open wide, and it didn't sound like Sasuke.
I looked up into his eyes, his glowing red eyes, and noticed his face and entire body were marked with black curse seals.
Is that what Orochimaru (that creepy, cross-dressing asshole) did to Sasuke?
"Sasuke? Is there something wrong with you?" I asked timidly.
"Au contraire, Ai. Everything is so right. This power, you see, this is what I need to...what I told you about: seek revenge. I feel great. Powerful. On top of the world. It's lonely up here."
Omg. I shook my head.
"You need some more processing time so you can see how STUPID YOU'RE BEING! YOU'RE CURSED, SASUKE, THAT'S WHAT UP!"
"Cursed, maybe, but blessed with the opportunity to do what I want to do most... I see now. This is the path I need to take."
"Oh no, he hurt himself in confusion!" I exclaimed, quoting Pokemon from the old world. Then I shook my head again. "Can we have a D.C. about this later?"
"A D.C.?" Sasuke asked, puzzled.
"A difficult conversation," I said naturally but then realized that again, a "D.C." was something my friends from the old world used to say when we were upset with each other about something. One time, Becca had a "D.C." with Marissa because Marissa bought the same white coat Becca had bought two weeks prior. I was distracted with flashbacks, remembering the two of them for the first time in a while.
Luckily, Sasuke also distracted the enemy. The Sound ninja were staring at him, surprised.
"He survived," Kin said, bleeding from her mouth.
"Orochimaru will be pleased," Dosu said, grinning.
I snapped back to reality, and watch as Sasuke released his energy, looking angrier and eviler than I've seen anyone look before, and at that point, the Sound ninja didn't stand a chance. Sasuke looked ready to kill, and it scared me. The Sound ninja were pushed back by the strength of the chakra.
"Sasuke, let's—" I started forming hand signs on my knees to synchronize our fire chakra like we've always done together. But Sasuke totally ignored me and had already summoned a different fire jutsu on his own. "Wow...okay..."
They fell to the floor, bloodied and bruised. Sasuke was super powerful...but somehow not himself. He appeared in less than a second behind Dosu. He grabbed his arms, rendering him unable to release his sound attacks.
"How dare you attack my teammate," Sasuke growled, "how dare you touch her!"
His voice grew louder towards the end, roaring in the Sound ninja's ear. Ironic. Then to my horror, he snapped his arm. Literally broke the guy's arm. Just like that. He was starting to frighten me. What the hell had Orochimaru done to him?
"SASUKE!" I yelled. "Let's just grab Naruto and go!"
He was gonna kill these guys.
"Does Sasuke also love you, Ai?" Rocky demanded, outraged. I had forgotten he was still here. "I WILL FIGHT FOR YOU TOO!"
Dosu realized the gravity of the situation, staring in amazement at Sasuke, and just dropped the scroll.
"We're out of here," he said. "Here's our scroll. It's our honor to give it to you, Sasuke."
The three of them fled, leaving their scroll behind. Sasuke dropped to his knees, exhausted, breathing hard. I had a feeling he didn't know what he had gotten himself into.
"WHAT IS WITH YOU?" I screamed at him. "I don't like this new you."
"I was trying to protect you," Sasuke told me, his black curse seal retracting.
"Bullsh*t. You're fulfilling your own agenda, honey." I looked away sassily.
Naruto is still unconscious, I thought, glancing over at him. Is he going to be okay?
Shikamaru's team jumped back out of the bushes. They're back?!
"We saw the whole thing!" Chouji exclaimed.
Ino rushed at Sasuke. "You're so awesome, Sasuke! I'M HERE, BABY!" she exclaimed.
Sasuke stopped her with only a hand when she was a foot away.
"Don't come near me or I'll kill you."
Ino froze, crushed.
"I think he's allergic to fangirling," I said, rolling my eyes, trying to make light of the situation for everyone involved.
Chouji reached forward and pulled Ino back in line. She complied, still looking shocked and hurt at Sasuke. Poor doll.
Naruto suddenly coughed, waking up. YES!
"Naruto!" I shouted, running over to him. "Are you okay? How do you feel?"
I leaned down next to him so he could see me.
"Yeah...what happened?" He blinked several times.
"We were all out for a while. Sasuke just drove away some Sound ninjas."
"How much time has passed?" Naruto asked.
Shikamaru answered, "It's almost the end of the second day... How long were you guys out for?"
"Just about a day," I said, my heart sinking.
We had already lost a lot of time. But we could still go through with our plan of waiting it out.
"That creepy, snake tongue girl..." Naruto said, remembering what had happened before he was knocked out.
"An evil creep named Orochimaru who marked Sasuke with a curse seal giving him this crazy chakra. And he sealed our chakra...."
And I'm a Jinchuuriki. And Orochimaru killed my parents. And Gaara of the Desert saved my life. But I couldn't get into all of this now. Too much news at once. I didn't know how to share it.
Naruto was about to ask more, but then Tenten appeared in the clearing.
"LEE! THERE YOU ARE!"
Tenten flew down from the trees and knocked him into a huge hug. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?"
"You were late meeting us," Neji said, also appearing. "Were you chasing Ai?"
"Yes, I was chasing love...and this beautiful girl here called Ai. She was in trouble...but she is even stronger than I thought. Plus it seems as though I have some competition," he said, narrowing his eyes directly at Sasuke. "It's on, brotha."
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I'm not in love with her."
"Thank God," I whispered to Naruto who nodded vigorously.
"Great news!" Rock Lee said, grinning. "Because you'd be an excellent suitor and tough competition!"
"We're leaving now," Neji said shortly and started walking away. "Rock Lee, we are not going to help any other teams out again. In this exam, we are nothing more than strangers. Try not to die, rookies."
"Goodbye, my love," Rock Lee said to me, his eyes half-closed. "I wish I had been able to protect you more..."
"Uh..."
"Oh my God," Neji said, rolling his eyes. "Let's jam."
And they were gone.
Shikamaru turned to us. "This is where we leave you. Good luck, guys." And then they left again too.
"I'm so happy I found you guys and we're all okay!" I said tearfully, grabbing them both in a hug.
It seemed like Sasuke was back to his original self, unmarked and not glowing purple...for now, at least. He pulled away from the hug quickly while Naruto and I continued to celebrate.
"Damn," Sasuke cursed, going over to pick up the scroll they left behind. "They had the same scroll as us. No help at all. We still need one. And there's only a few days left."
"Right now, we need to recover," I said. "Let's find a different spot. This was too busy."
We decided to camp out in trees based on my suggestion. From up high, we weren't as exposed, and we could see enemies approaching.
"I did this all the time when traveling," I explained, strapping us all down on a branch for the night. "We won't move around and fall off this way. And we have the best hearing in the forest in this position."
We rested the next day, eating some berries from the tree we were in. I left to get us water at some point. In the evening, we decided to split up to scout other teams, find out who was left and try to see if we could find what scrolls they had. We agreed to meet back here in a couple of hours.
I soared through the trees, moving quickly and lightly. I overheard fighting when I was about twenty-five minutes out. I quietly flew towards the sounds of yelling, and I climbed as high as I could to watch it from above. I settled into a large branch at the tip of the treetop and looked down, crouching over.
It was Gaara. And his siblings. They were fighting three ninja who I couldn't see the headbands of to know where they were from.
"I'll kill you without a second thought," Gaara was saying.
His arms were crossed and he looked...blank. Emotionless. But ready for the kill. Yeah, definitely. Gaara was a killer – I had sensed that, but hadn't felt afraid in his presence when we met.
Should I be scared?
"Do you have to, Gaara?" Temari said timidly from behind him. "We already have the scrolls we need."
She shifted back and forth, and made nervous eye contact with Kankuro.
Gaara didn't respond, but suddenly his sand rushed at the three ninja. His arm was outstretched and clenched, controlling the sand at his whim. Shivers ran down my spine.
He was so powerful.
The sand instantly wrapped around them, consuming them in a mountain of hard sand, and then it contracted, and whoever was in that mountain was undoubtedly crushed.
The sand flew back to its owner, leaving only dust behind. My hand jumped to my mouth.
So this is what he was capable of. Killing without a second thought. Leaving behind no remains. Emotionless. Murderous. Dangerous.
But he had saved me back there. Why not just kill me then? I suddenly needed to know the reason why he didn't just kill me also.
So I jumped down from where I was, falling swiftly all the way down, and landing hard and loud on the ground in a crouched position, looking up at Gaara. Gaara glared down at me, his arms still crossed. He hadn't moved an inch, not at all shocked by my sudden appearance.
Temari broke the terrible silence. "What are you doing?" she asked me, confused.
"I saw what happened just now," I said breathlessly. "I saw you kill those ninja."
"So you come out to say hi?" Kankuro said loudly, slapping his forehead. "ARE YOU DUMB OR ARE YOU STUPID? BECAUSE IT'S ONE OF THE TWO!"
Temari quickly said, "Let's go, guys. No need to mess with this little girl. Right, Gaara? Doesn't even have a scroll." It was almost like she was trying to protect me. "She's basically harmless anyhow."
"I'm not harmless," I snapped.
"I'm trying to help you out, kid," Temari said, annoyed.
"I know, but I'm actually really strong," I protested, flexing my right arm. "GRRR! Gaara couldn't hurt me even if he tried."
"She's definitely a moron," Kankuro said, shaking his head. "She deserves to die at this point."
"You guys go ahead." Gaara didn't take his eyes off me. Like he already had marked me as prey.
Temari grabbed Kankuro. "She's as good as dead. We tried to warn you," Temari told me, shaking her head. "Let's move."
They jumped into the trees above and disappeared.
I still didn't feel scared though. Being around Gaara was exciting, not frightening. I wanted to know more about him. He intrigued me. Yeah, okay, he was a killer, and that was totally evil, but something about him drew me towards him inexplicably. My darker side awakened and stirred, begging for more.
"You saved me back there," I told him evenly. "I saw you. By the river. Why would you do that?"
Gaara didn't answer at first. He was just staring at me, his eyes cold like usual.
"Aren't you scared of me?" he said finally. "You saw what I can do. I could kill you."
"Don't change the subject," I retorted, crossing my arms. "Like I said, you couldn't kill me if you tried. Besides, why kill me after saving me? And don't you remember meeting me before by your village? You...and me..."
"...are nothing more than strangers," Gaara finished for me stoically.
"Are we though?" I asked tremulously, looking him in the eyes. "Don't you feel it too?"
"I am a monster! Don't you get it? I am destined for a life of solitude. I kill everyone in my path. When we met back then, I spared you because you made me stronger. But I realized after that, I can rely on no one to help me. I work and live alone, depending only on myself. My gratitude has run out, and if you cross my path again, I will surely show you no more mercy."
He was gone before I could respond, leaving only a slight wind in his wake and a ruffle of leaves falling to the ground. I stayed rooted to the spot until the last leaf touched the forest floor.
Then I ran the opposite way, my head spinning.
I went back to Sasuke and Naruto after that. When they asked me what happened, I said I didn't have any leads. I wasn't ready to share what had just happened with Gaara. I didn't really understand it myself after all.
"Tomorrow," Sasuke reassured me, mistaking my dismay as worry, and I nodded, lying down and drifting off into a very uneasy sleep.