A/N: to anyone and everyone confused by the title, I put only the first letter of each word because it would've been way too long otherwise ( the whole title: Every Next One Is More Painful Than The Last )
Recap:
Feeling my eyes getting droopy and my head kinda heavy, I looked around to see people lying unconscious left and right.
"Oh no"I yawned, forming the right hand seal.
"Release"I mumbled. Just as the word left my mouth, my head snapped right up. Looking around, I rushed to my feet as soon as I saw a cloud of smoke rising from the Kage's balcony.
'*growl* I knew there was something wrong' I clenched my fist and was about to run to the rescue when ninjas from Sand and Sound started attacking the Leaf ones and only than did I realize what was happening.
"We are under attack"
Mai's POV
"Get down!"a yell rang through my ears as someone pushed me to the ground, a metal clash sounding from the background. Turning around, I met the bright emerald eyes of my teammate as she rolled off of me to lie right by my side.
"What was that for?!"I whisper-yelled as she shrugged.
"I saw a kunai flying at your head and saved you, a thank you would be nice"she said sarcastically, making me roll my eyes as I got up and peered over an unconscious person's shoulder. My eyes widen as I watched Yukie-sensei, Grandpa and Bowl Cut Senior staring at a group of sound ninja and a member of ANBU, all of their muscles stiff.
Ayane's POV ( really short )
"Kakashi, Yukie, look there, inside the barrier"the man in a green jumpsuit spoke as his stare fell upon the Kage balcony. The said pair's eyes widen as they look at the direction he pointed out and Yukie-sensei's fist clenches tightly.
"Orochimaru"she said through gritted teeth. As the single word registered in my mind, my blood ran cold and my eyes widened in horror as past memories flooded their way in.
'W-why the bloody hell did you come back?After everything you've done to me, to her, it still wasn't enough to satisfy your hunger?!' my mind raced as I fell onto my butt while clutching my head.
Back to Mai's POV
Trying my best to ignore the curiosity the unknown person's name sparked within my head, I look to the side to see Ayane in a panicked state.
'I hope she'll be alright, I hate to admit it but we need her help right now' I thought as I got up, scanning the rows for anyone who needed help before my eyes stopped on Cherry.
Reacting on sheer reflex, I leaped forward, my black sword already out and ready to slice the upcoming enemy as I shield the weakest of team 7. I cut through the ninja like they were nothing before looking at the white haired female.
"Watch that pink head of yours while we take care of them, Sakura"I smiled faintly at my sensei's words as she silently gave me the permission to fight.
Jumping away I fought some more of them before returning to the blond I came to know as my best friend over the last couple of month. Just looking at her current state made me cringe since I've never really seen her like this before. Having no other idea of what I should do, I crouched down next to her, patting her back awkwardly with a sad smile as her teary green orbs met my smiling face.
"It's okay, whatever happened before is in the past so forget it and lets fight together like we always do, alright?"my eyes shone with hope as she sniffed before smiling a little.
"You're really an idiot if you thought this is all that it takes to take me down"she spoke as I helped her back up before pressing my back to hers.
"Lets do this!"I grinned with determination, positioning the dark blade in front of me as she smirked.
"Whatever you say Idiot"she shook her head, taking out a few kunai.
Around 20 minutes of fighting later
"M-mai"Grandpa spoke from my right as the 5 of us stood in a small circle, all of our backs towards the middle.
"Hn?"I asked as I slashed through another Sound ninja.
"Out of the 5 of us you are the fastest, *poof of smoke* take Biscuit with you and go after Pakkun and his group"he commanded as a small ninken appeared at his legs. We ( Biscuit and Mai ) nodded before he jumped out of the hole in the wall that BCS made earlier with me right behind him.
"Biscuit"I said as we jumped through trees.
"Yeah?"he asked, not turning around.
"Get on my back"I spoke as I stopped in front of him.
"What?!"he shrieked.
"Look, I am, as Kakabaka said, the fastest ninja in our village and I can go A LOT faster than this but I can't track them down so *crouch* hop on"I sighed and after a few seconds, I felt him sitting on my back.
"Lets do this"I smirked, leaping into the trees much faster than before.
"Wow, you really are fast... "he trailed of, very amazed with my speed.
"Yeah, tell me wh-"
"Turn left here!"he yelled in my ear and I obeyed. After a few seconds of going on like this, I spotted a way oversized toad fighting a gigantic sand monster.
"Shukaku, the one tailed sand spirit" Kurimi growled as the puppy on my back shivered.
"You can go now, I can clearly see where my idiotic brother and his pirate crew are"I said and he disappeared after apologizing.
Shaking my head at the puppy, I ran into the clearing to spot an unconscious Duckbutt lying on a tree branch with Pinkie not too far away as the sand beast and the toad summoning fought high above the tallest branches. Taking out a weird looking kunai, I aimed it as precisely as I could before throwing it into the air with as much force as I could master.
'Time to try this out, hope it landed were at was supposed toI thought nervously as I performed the hand sign, closing my eyes.
"Sis, where the hell did you come from?!"a familiar voice screamed. My eyes snapped open, spotting a confused Oni-chan as he waved his arms all over the place.
"Huh, not you again! Get the hell off of me, you brat!" the sand spirit, Shukaku as Kurimi called him, growled as he tried shaking me off but I wouldn't budge. Swiftly, I found my way to the unconscious Panda-kun who was nearly completely covered in sand.
"C'mon Gaara, this is no time for a nap, get the hell up!"I yelled as I tried yanking him out by his arms, but it was to no avail.
"Haha, you think it's that easy to wake him u-" he started but was instantly shut up when I lost control of my emotions and a blue light illuminated from my hands that were pressed against the red heads forehead as the rest of my body was coated in a thick layer of red chakra.
"No way, haven't seen those in over a century!"he mused, not even noticing the fact that he was getting put back into his seal. Moments later, the sand monster's body started falling apart as the sea foam orbs I always get lost in opened to meet my tired ones.
"Good, you're awake"I grinned, a little weak from the amount of chakra I just used up. Just then, the ground beneath our feet vanished into thin air, letting us slip into a free fall. Turning around, I was met with the body of my brother as his summoning disappeared right under him.
"Ow, that hurt"I mumbled a few moments later as we hit the ground REALLY hard. I heard something shuffling to my right and turned around to spot Narubaka and Sandboy having a really serious talk about being monsters when the blond mentioned my name.
"-and Mai has the other half"he finished just in time to see Gaara looking at me with disbelief before blacking out.
"So, do yo-"
"Yes I do, I do have the female nine tailed fox inside of me"I sighed, answering his question and leaving him speechless.
"Aren't you go-"
"I may not be the sharpest tool in the box but once I saw Orochimaru in the Kazekage's robe, I knew that this whole attack is his doing and it had nothing to do with you"I cut in again, unable to not stare back at the orbs that wouldn't stop staring at me.
"What, is there som-"I chuckled but before I could finish, I felt his arms wrap around me, pulling me into his chest. I, of course, returned the hug immediately as I looked up at him.
"Is th-"
"For now, yes, but forever? I don't think I would last"it was his turn to cut me off as I felt something wet rolling down my cheeks while they burned from embarrassment. My heart felt as if it was torn apart as he fell limp in my arms, knowing fully well this is probably the last time he's going to look at me with something other than pure hatred.
"I'm so so sorry Gaara"I sobbed a little as I kissed his forehead for the first and last time before letting go and using the Thunder God Jutsu to teleport next to the still unconscious Haku.
"Mai, what happened?! Where's everyone else?"Yukie-sensei shot questions worriedly as she rushed to my side.
"Everyone's fine, they just blacked out from low chakra"I yawned, averting my eyes from my sensei to all the grieving people around us.
"What happened here and why does everyone look so sad?"I asked warily, honestly afraid of the answer.
"L-lord Third is gone"she said shocked as if it just now registered in her mind.
"N-no, that can't b-e, he i-is the s-strongest shinobi we h-h-have!"I stuttered, trying to keep in all the tears and sobs.
"I'm a-f-f-fraid not any-m-more"she smiled sadly as she hugged me tightly while crying.
Elsewhere
??? POV
"W-why would you do this to the Hokage, to your own sensei?!"I screamed as I stood face to face with the evil snake man.
"Because he would stop me from taking my little girl back home"he chuckled as I shook my head, tears burning the corners of my eyes as I stood strong.
"I'm not your little girl, never was or ever will be!"I retorted, trying to show no fear towards the men and woman that stood in front of me, but it was hard, knowing how strong they all were.
"But aren't you sick of the way that they treat you? Like an ordinary piece of trash when they should in fact all treat you like a princess?"the grey haired male injected as he took a step forward.
"It's better than serving as a guinea pig to that monster you call a Lord!"I yelled louder as they slowly but surely started approaching me.
"N-no, get away from me!"I shrieked, accidentally activating my kekkei genkai and immobilizing the shinobi in an instant.
"That, my dear, is exactly why you are way more interesting than your mother since, unlike her, you have 2 rare kekkei genkais and after getting so many suppressants, you are still alive and able to use both which, with her, wasn't the case, seeing as she died after around 5 of them"I heard the voice I recognize way too well to mistake it for someone else's.
Jumping away from the pale feminine man, I ran as far away from the group as possible, screaming for help as soon as I close enough to the village gates, using the advantage I was given to the fullest.
"Hey Ayane, what are yo-"Kakashi-sensei started put that's everything I heard since I blacked out the instant I thought I was safe, the instant I steppes one whole foot through the giant wooden construction.
Tan tan taaan! To those who haven't figured who the ??? was this time, it was Ayane and I'll be posting her information with a little more detail as soon as I can.
And they parted😭😭😭
And Gramp's died!!! ( to those who do not know, I get very emotional when it comes to reading and writing and I cried while writing both of these scenes )
Oh, I almost forgot! I made an instagram account where I will be posting my original art for this and my other stories! The account is also called maja_the_hero, just like this one and many others!
Well anywho, hope you have a nice day/night, see you next chapter annnd...
You're the best,
Don't let others get you down,
Stay awesome,
Love you all,
~Maja-chan