Gaara and Chikako clashed as two destructive forces. While they fought, Temari and Kankuro got back up. The two of them began to fight together, making it a lot harder on the two males. Neji was trying to help, but Sasuke would mess up his attacks and blame Neji for being in the way. They began to fall on the loosing side.
"Sand tsunami!" Gaara yelled. Chikako used a very large version of her wind card jutsu to cut the sand tsunami in half, making it fall limp on either side of her. They fought for quite a bit before Chikako got distracted by Sasuke yelling in pain. The curse mark was taking over. Neji got thrown into the stone wall harshly by Sasuke. This gave Gaara enough time to trap Chikako in a sand coffin.
The crowd held their breaths as they waited to see what happened. Suddenly Gaara's team and the boys on Chikako's team began sink into the ground. The dirt had become mud and was sucking them down. Not a single one could get out despite their struggling. The sand fell from around Chikako as Gaara lost concentration.
"Forfeit now" Chikako warned. Temari and Kankuro refused, but Gaara stayed silent.
"Forgeit now" She repeated. When they refused again, Chikako sent a swift blow to Kankuro and Temari's necks and knocked them out cleanly.
"What's your choice?" Gaara could see a faint glow of red and pink from behind her veil.
"You win" He admitted.
The mud rippled before it hardened. They all broke out of the ground as Chikako escaped the arena in seconds.
She rushed to a quiet place as the test wrapped up. She didn't care about if she went up a rank or not. There was a good chance she would have to leave again.
Based on the tests she had done with Sasuke's blood, Chikako was sure she could transfer the curse mark to herself without failure. The only problem would be the pain. It was likely that she would be visited by some unwanted company due to the extreme pain. Chikako may have been hurt many times in her life, but pain was pain.
Hours passed before Chikako let herself in Gaara's teams room through the window.
"Ra-kun?" Chikako asked as she entered. All three pairs of eyes snapped to the girl instantly.
"Ra-kun?" Kankurō asked. Gaara sighed and walked over to Chikako.
"Chi-chan. I never introduced you to my siblings did I?" He asked more to himself then to Chikako.
"Chi-chan?" Kankurō repeated. Chikako bowed.
"My name is Chikako. I was friends with your brother when I was young. He saved my life" she said. Chikako lifted her head to see Kankurō's and Temari's eyes wide.
"I-is the the girl you used to talk about Gaara?" Kankurō yelled. Gaara blushed and nodded. Temari waked up to Chikako and grabbed her hand. She shook it furiously.
"Nice to meet'cha. I'm Temari!" She chirped. Chikako nodded. The four of them talked, well Temari and Kankurō asked Chikako questions and she answered with short responses.
"Ra-kun. I need to talk to you" Chikako said. She grabbed Gaara's hand and led him out of the room and into the hallway of the inn.
"Is something wrong?" He asked. Chikako pulled him into a hug. It surprised the male, but he hugged her back after he got his senses back.
"It was nice to see you again." She said. This worried Gaara. The way she said that gave him a bad feeling.
"What's wrong?" He asked again. Chikako released him.
"Nothing. Everything is fine" She murmured.
She made her way back to her room in the Hokage tower after she left Gaara's room. She took a nice hot shower before sinking into the bath. Chikako put on her black muscle shirt on and her shorts. She didn't bother with her kimono top and chest plate. Her normal shoes were abandoned in the corner of her room and instead she wore simple sandals. She wanted to be as light as possible. At the last second she decided to wear the red kimono top Sakura got her for the winter celebration. Chikako left it untied and open. With her silk veil being the last thing she donned, she left her room.
It was pitch black outside and no one was awake by now. Chikako made her way to the border of the village hidden in the leaves. The two guard were asleep making it easier for Chikako to slip past the gates. She jumped through the trees until she made it a far enough distance from Sasuke. With a small sigh, she then inhaled deeply and allowed the melody to leave her lips.
I tried to walk together
But the night was growing dark
I thought you were beside me
But I reached and you were gone
Sometimes I hear you calling from some lost and distant shore
I hear you crying softly for the way it was before
Where are you now?
Are you lost?
Will I find you again?
Are you alone?
Are you afraid?
Are you searching for me?
Why did you go?
I had to stay. Now I'm reaching for you, will you wait?
Will you wait?
Will I see you again?
You took it when you left
Theses scars are just a trace
Now it wanders lost and wounded
This heart that I misplaced.
Where are you now?
Are you lost?
Will I find you again?
Are you alone?
Are you afraid?
Are you searching for me?
Why did you go?
I had to stay. Now I'm reaching for you, will you wait?
Will you wait?
Will I see you again?
Oh ah~ oh ah~ oh ah~oh ah
It was the same song she sang at the inn before. Sasuke heard it and his blood urged him to follow the sound. She was now doing the same for Itachi.
Chikako waited in her spot for Itachi to appear. He was a lot more sensitive to her song due to the connection they shared. He couldn't help but come running every time she sang it. Even if he couldn't necessarily hear it. Itachi once told her that it feels like his blood speeds up and the song takes over his senses. He was convinced it was genjutsu at first.
It took an hour or two for Itachi to appear in front of her. She took off her veil and bowed on one knee.
"Hello master" Chikako greeted.
"What do you need Chikako? I have a mission tomorrow" Itachi tried to sound a bit annoyed, but his voice came off as soft.
"I can make Sasuke stronger, but I need to remove Orochimaru's curse mark. I would like your permission to remove it" Chikako asked, still kneeling.
"Why? What would you tell those in the village?" He asked. Chikako narrows her eyes. She needed to be careful with how she worded this. If she says this wrong she could lose her masters trust, or her life.
"Sasuke will gain much more power if he learns to trust in others. I cannot say he will rely on them, but he needs comrades to make him stronger not hate" Chikako paused to try and gauge her masters feelings on the matter. He stayed silent, so Chikako continued.
"As for what I will tell them, I'll lie for you. I'll tell them that I encountered Orochimaru after he left the Akatsuki. Ill say he bit a ninja and I healed him" Chikako finished. She emphasized her words. She didn't want to guilt him into answering, but it was the best way to get this through his head.
"That won't explain how you know how to remove the mark" Itachi hissed. Chikako flinched. The male rarely took that tone with her. He knew it spooked her.
"I can say I tortured it out of him"
"Then they'll torture you for more information on him!" Itachi raised his voice. For all of Chikako's power and strength she was nervous. Itachi was someone who took care of her when she was younger. She was stronger than him and they both knew it, but they also both knew she would never hurt him. The same couldn't be said of Itachi.
"Fine. I'll say that I studied the mark and found a way to reverse it, but only I can do it" That was the best Chikako could think of. She was backed into a corner.
Chikako looked up at Itachi's sharingan eyes that glared down at her. His black hair got untucked from his Akatsuki cloak and it whipped in the wind.
"If he cannot kill me when the time comes you will be killed in place of him" Itachi said coolly before jumping away. Chikako could tell that he wanted what's best for his brother, but he was also trying to keep her wellbeing in mind. However, if she could help them both, help those important to her, she honestly didn't care for her own wellbeing.
Chikako let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding. She only hoped that Itachi understood its for the best. Another pang made its way through Chikako's chest. What was that? Chikako almost felt... hopeful. Chikako pushed that feeling so far down she was sure it would never return. She hated being hopeful. It only made things worse.
Making haste, Chikako went to Sasuke's house. When she arrived, she found him asleep in his bed. Good it would make this whole thing easier.
Gently picking the boy up so as not to wake him, Chikako carried him into a nearby field where there were plenty of plants.
"I wish to be your partner not master" she spoke quietly. The grass almost seemed to brush her hands as a small breeze blew across her.
Chikako set Sasuke down on the ground. She was about to practice a type of jutsu she had been working on for months. She wasn't completely sure if it would listen to her this time, but it had helped her during the tests she did with Sasuke's blood. As of right then, she could only wish for their assistance,
Chikako thought back to the months of hard work. It took several tries, but eventually she was able to make small progress. The first step was trying to get the earth to protect you with its chakra. Plant chakra wasn't strong, but there so much of it it made up for its lack of power. During the transfer she was hoping the nature around her would be enough to help.
Grabbing a kunai out of Sasuke's pouch, she sliced her hand open and allowed the blood to drip not only on Sasuke, but he grass as well. Using her clean hand, she smeared the blood all over her wounded one so it covered the whole thing.
With her thumb, Chikako pressed some blood over the curse mark. It began to vibrate on Sasuke's skin when it tasted blood. After that she opened his shirt and placed a fingerprint of blood on each of his chakra points. They were all muddled, like an infection had seeped into his chakra. Which it did.
The male began stirring under her, so she pressed a pressure point that would keep him out cold throughout the whole process.
Chikako knelt with a knee on either side of Sasuke's head. Placing her hands on the ground, she began to pulse her chakra through the ground. She would push some of her chakra through the ground and then pull it back into herself. This would mix her chakra with the plants around her. The grass grew thick into vines and began to wriggle around them. Some of them wrapped around Sasuke's limbs, securing him down to the ground. Another one wrapped around Chikako's neck. She took a deep breath and steeled her resolve. Thorns shot out from the plant and cut into her neck. The blood got absorbed into the plants.
The thorns dug deep into Chikako's neck as she touched her foreheads to Sasuke's. Pushing her chakra away from her body, Chikako sent it through the ground as well as through her finger which was touching the throbbing curse mark on the males neck.
Outputting as much chakra as she could, Chikako once again sucked it back into herself and took control of the plants around her. Now the first part wad done.
Chikako pulsed the chakra from the curse mark and used the plants as a connection between it and herself. The power from the curse mark began to seep into the plants like wet ink. The grass and trees and flowers around the two of them shriveled up and died. The curse mark infected the pure chakra the earth holds.
The chakra from the mark had been completely transferred to the earth around them. Using the same method as earlier, she sucked in the infected chakra while at the same time replacing it with her own.
Earlier when she pushed and pulled at her chakra, she mixed the earth's chakra and her own. Now that mixture was being pumped back into the plants that died due to the curse marks chakra. Chikako was replacing switched the chakras.
As the corrupted chakra surged and swirled through her body, her nerves began to be set ablaze. The curse mark was painful enough, but because it wasn't originally intended to be on Chikako's body, it was wreaking havoc inside. Her teeth clenched together as she endured the pain. The curse mark wasn't completely transferred into her body yet. Despite the unbearable pain, Chikako needed to hold on a bit longer. For Sasuke.
Blood spilled from her lips as Chikako suppressed her coughs. After what felt like an eternity, the mark was completely transferred to her.
Using the last bit of strength she had left, Chikako moved as far away from Sasuke as she could. She felt bad for leaving him there, but as of that mo