Chapter 13: First mission (Part 4)
Team 5 was worried. They have been searching for fifteen minutes now yet they still haven't found their teacher. They couldn't risk enemy detecting them if they use Byakugan so they were forced to search the area blindly without clue. Akiko was getting frustrated with every seconds that passed. Just where the hell did that man child go? She was so worried that she even though about forcing Daichi to use his dojutsu, risk be damned.
Oh well, fucked risk.
"Hyuga, use your Byakugan, now." Akiko ordered. Daichi was slightly startled by the coldness of Akiko's voice yet he didn't questioned her as he immediately activate his dojutsu.
Daichi frowned when he saw a few silhouette lying on the ground a few metre in front of them, a puddle of something surrounded them which Daichi conclude as blood. He inspected the bodies from afar and found someone alive among them, though barely. He focused on the dying man and realized that his chakra belonged to their missing teacher. He immediately turned off his Byakugan to save his chakra and reported his finding to the girl in front of him. She somehow became a temporary leader for this team and Daichi was slightly surprised that he didn't mind it at all.
"We need to go fast! He's dying!!" Daichi informed, not bothering to lowered his voice. Akiko nodded her head without any questions and used her chakra to boost her speed, leaving the team behind. Shirota looked like he was about to ask something but decided to stay silent, knowing that the situation shouldn't be delayed with useless questions.
All of them use their chakra to boost their pace so that it match Akiko's. Her face was pale and sweats dripping from her forehead yet she still managed to stay calm. They were aware that the enemy may already sensed them the moment they use chakra but they couldn't care less about that. They need to save their teacher first then retreat. That was the best decision they can make in that situation.
They abruptly stop in a clearing after spotting bunch of dead bodies lay on the ground. Blood splattered around the area. Akiko was slightly relieved to see that there were no body of her teacher among those pile of guts and intestines on the ground. She couldn't find it in herself to feel disgusted by the scene. True that in her last life, her job never really messy like this because she tend to kill people without causing them unnecessary pain. A slit on the throat can do the job easily. She just doesn't feel the need to be disgusted because she was in hurry to find her missing teacher.
She continued her search when she finally spotted a lone body that was sitting under the tree. She immediately recognize his clothing as her teacher's and rushed over there, with her teammates trailing behind. Once she stood in front of her teacher's still body, she crouched down and look at his appearance. He was missing an arm and his other arm was laid on his bloodied stomach that was slice open. His face was pale from the lost of blood. She immediately reached out to his hand and checked his pulse to find that he was still alive though barely. She gritted her teeth to avoid sob from escaping her lips.
He couldn't make it. He lost too much blood.
Akiko felt useless. It was the same feeling she felt when she lost someone important in her last life. She hated it. She already swore to herself that she will protect everyone that is dear to her but she failed yet again. Tears involuntary slid down her cheeks as she bit her lips until the skin crack open and blood filled her taste bud. She was too lost in her thoughts to noticed her teacher's hand moving away from her's. She finally snapped out of her thoughts when she felt a weak squeezed on her shoulder by the hand that belonged to her dying teacher.
"...ru-run" Ryuu weakly muttered before his arm went limp and fell on the ground. His eyes lost any color in it and went dimmed.
"Uchiha...." Daichi called out, his Byakugan was turned on, "They're here." He tried to stay calm and avoid looking at the body that once host his teacher's soul. He need to be rational. Now is not the time to grieve. He will have to keep his emotions in check until they finally inside their village.
Shirota stared at the said girl as she stood from the ground before facing them. He bit his lips until it bleed and use the pain as a distraction so that he wouldn't lost control of his own emotions. As his eyes locked with Akiko's, a gasped escaped his mouth when he saw a bright red eyes staring back at him, two tomoe's spinning wildly in it before stopping.
"Prepare your weapon. We need to make a way to escape." Akiko cold voice ordered. The team immediately complied knowing that it was the best thing to do.
"Uchiha, we can't bring his body to the village without it slowing us down. Take his hitai-ate before we retreat." Ibiki suggested in which he received a nod from the said girl. Akiko crouched down again and untied Ryuu's hitai-ate from his head, all while desperately controlling her emotions so that she won't cry again.
"Looks like he wasn't alone after all. So this is his Genin team." Unfamiliar voice said before the owner step out from the woods, "Just a bunch of kids. This will be easy."
"Hyuga and Uchiha, their eyes will worth so much if we can get a hand on it." Another person entered the scene, smirking slightly as he was followed by a few more people from behind him.
Akiko scanned their appearance, noting that they were Iwagakure shinobi based of their hitai-ate. Despite the darkness surrounding them that was accompanied by a source of light from the moon, it was still quite difficult to see. But Akiko seem to see everything just fine because of her enhanced eyesight which she was sure from her newly obtained sharingan if Shirota's gasped was any indication. She can easily spotted smallest details with these eyes so she immediately saw the enemy's hitai-ate without even trying.
'Total three Jonin and five Chunin. Based on their chakra, all of the Jonin are lower rank, three lower rank Chunin and two high rank one. If we stayed here and fight them all, we won't survive. We need to retreat and let someone stay behind to distract them for a few minutes. That someone must be a person who can escape a dangerous situation if needed and have the abilities to hold Jonin for a few minutes. Among the four of us, I will have a high chance of surviving against Jonin, maybe Ibiki can too because he had experience but I can't have a temporary member dying on me.' Akiko thought, silently assessing the situation.
"What do we do now?" Ibiki asked, lowering his voice so that he can't be heard by the enemy.
"We need to risk someone here while the others retreat. If we all stay here, we will die." Akiko muttered.
"Who is it then?" Daichi inquired, still keeping an eye to the enemy. He was quite grateful that they still haven't attack them. Whatever the reasons is, he won't waste this opportunity.
"Ibiki and I have the highest chance of surviving this. Ibiki have experience while I have the skills so I wouldn't risk leaving him here. Just having experience won't ensure his safety after all. "Akiko explained, "So all that's left is me. I will be the one who distracted them while all of you retreat."
"You can't be serious. We need to make out alive, all of us. Especially you, Uchiha. You're the heiress of Uchiha Clan. You're much more important than us." Shirota argued.
"We already lost sensei! Who cares about titles?! We need to sacrifice someone in this situation and that someone will be me. Three survivors is much more better than none!"
"But--" Shirota was cut off when a kunai sailed toward him. He immediately raised his own kunai to deflect it.
"Are you brats done yet? No need to struggle so much when you know you will die anyway." The man chuckled, "The more you struggle, the more pathetic you look. Just give up."
Akiko took a step forward and regret it the next second when another kunai sailed toward her direction. She did the same thing as Shirota's and deflect it with her own kunai. Just when she thought that the assault has stopped, her reflexed immediately kicked in and bend her body backward to avoid a high kick from the enemy.
The fight ensued and the four children was having a hard time defending themselves against eight skilled ninja but they still managed. Even among their early graduated peers, Akiko's teammates was also considered as a prodigy for having graduated at seven years old. But she wasn't sure if they could last long. She need to find opening for her teammates to escape.
She engaged in a fight with two Jonin and a high rank Chunin. Her eyes was following their movement all while thinking up a plan for her teammates to retreat. She then locked eyes with the Chunin, using her newly gained Sharingan to casted a Genjutsu on him. She sighed inwardly when she saw the Chunin fell on the ground with their eyes closed, Chakra moving erratically as a signed that he was trapped inside a Genjutsu. She lost her focused for a moment and end up coughing from the impact she received on her stomach. One of the Jonin she fought land their knee on her body and she bit her lips to try and hold in the pain. She continued dodging every attack despite the pain and based of her opponent expression, they were frustrated with her ability to skillfully dodge their attack.
A sudden shout of pain caught Akiko's attention as she turned her head to looked at the source.
"Hyuga!!" She shouted, eyes widened when she saw the said boy slumped on the ground, clearly unconscious. His body was littered with cuts and bruise. A huge gash can be seen on his back.
She tried to run toward her unconscious teammate only to gasp the next second when she felt a sharp pain on her arm. She skidded back to avoid another slashed from the enemy and glanced at her arm. There was a big gashed on her shoulder that end just below her elbow. Blood seeped through her clothes as she tried her best to ignored the pain and continue attacking her opponent as best as she can. She forced her bleeding arm to move, biting her lips because of the excruciating pain she experience.
She managed to slashed one of the Jonin chest, not deep enough but still managed to earned a pained grunt from him. She then jumped back to form a set of familiar hand seals with a speed she never knew she can do.
'Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!!' she exhale a breath of fire toward the Jonin, putting more Chakra in it to make it bigger, wincing slightly when she felt her lips crack from the heat. The flames died out and she saw the Jonin was no longer there, instead they have managed to avoid her jutsu in the last second but she spotted burns on their body meaning that they didn't avoid it completely.
They looked surprised that she managed to make a big fireball and Akiko took that to her advantage. She immediately form a hand seals to perform Body Flicker Jutsu and appeared behind her enemy, bringing her kunai toward the injured Jonin and pierced him on his back right toward where his heart located. The man spluttered before slumping his body on the ground, life draining from his body. The other Jonin break out from his trance and managed to avoid a kunai from puncturing him, crouching down and swiped his leg under Akiko's. Akiko managed to jump but was too late to avoid his elbow that hit straight on her stomach.
Akiko felt immense pain and fell on the ground clutching her body as she tried to ignore it. She was tired and bleeding, she didn't know if she can hold on any longer but she wanted her teammates to be safe so she pushed her limits and rolled to her side, away from the feet that tried to stomped her body. She immediately stood up, slightly shaky, and resumes her fight. Her move was slightly off because of the pain so she received more hit than before. She accidentally tripped her feet then received a punch under her chin, throwing her head back as she was send on the tree behind her. Her body impact painfully and she slid of the tree, too weak to try and stand. She watch as the Jonin brought his weapon on her slumped body. Her eyes watch his action, silently resigning to her approaching death when suddenly his body froze.
"Kage...shibari no...Jutsu com...plete" Shirota weak voice said from behind the Jonin. Akiko sighed then proceed to stand up shakily on her feet, using the tree as her support. She was confused as to how Shirota managed to used his Jutsu at night then realized that the moon was providing them lights and fortunately, there were no clouds to cover it.
Akiko looked at the man, struggling against Nara's special Jutsu, his body tilted slightly to the side when Shirota do the same thing, nodding his head on his bleeding teammates. His appearance was worst too, possibly much more worse than Akiko. A large gash was on his leg, his wrist was twisted in an odd way, pale face from the blood lost and some bruise can be spotted on his body. Akiko also noted that his head was bleeding because of the blood that slide down his face.
Akiko then proceed to plunged her Kunai on the man heart, blood dripping on her hands as she watched his eyes dimmed. At this point, she didn't even feel anything about taking a life. She was used to it already.
Shirota release his Jutsu and watched as the man body fell on the ground, lifeless eyes staring nothing. Akiko then widened her eyes she saw a man lurking behind Shirota. She immediately moved her body as she tried to push him away but she was too late. Shirota gasped when he felt pain on his stomach and looked down to see a tanto puncturing him. His body fell to the ground, unmoving as the man who stab him, slid out his tanto from Shirota's body.
Akiko stood frozen by the scene in front of her. It was the first man who taunt her team before, smirking at her as he stared at her horrified face. Behind him, stood more than ten ninja from Iwagakure.
'reinforcement....' Akiko though. She looked around the placed, spotting four dead body, two from the jonin she killed and two from the Chunin. The others was standing behind the smirking man, even the one who was trapped inside the Genjutsu before. 'we won't survive this....'
The men started to move but before they even took a few step forward, their body froze. Akiko looked at the source to find a panting Shirota, who sat on his knee with one of his hand on his stomach with the other hand made a seal. His face was twisted in pain and he look so much paler than before.
"Morino-san, please....take Uchiha and Hyuga away....from here. I will hold....them back." Shirota said, directing his gaze to the said boy who look totally exhausted. His cheek was bleeding and his chest was soaked by the blood. It seems that he was slashed there. He was having a hard time to stand straight and opting to use the tree as a support.
Ibiki want to deny him because like Akiko, he do want all of them to be safe but after seeing the desperate expression on Shirota's face, he immediately nodded then proceed toward Daichi's unconscious body to pick him up. He knew that he have no choice in this matter. If he were to deny Shirota's request, they will not survive this, not after sustaining so much injury just by fighting a few Jonin and Chunin. Shirota looked like he can't hold them much longer so he need to retreat fast, inwardly hoping that Shirota will catch up with them even after knowing that the chance near impossible. He still wished that some miracle will happen.
He slung Daichi's body on his shoulder and proceed to walk toward Akiko. His build was quite big so he was sure he can carry both of them for a while.
Ibiki took Akiko's wrist, only to be shaken off by her, her glaring eyes was set on Shirota, "No!! I will not leave you here!!" She argued yet she was ignored as her body was forcefully carried by Ibiki. "Put me the fuck down!! Let me go!! Release me!!!" She screamed, weakly hitting Ibiki's back. Her voice sounded desperate, not wanting to lose another member of her team. She looked at Shirota with her eyes begging him to let her stay.
Shirota smiled, pulling out something from his pouch. Akiko widened her eyes when she saw a familiar explosion tags that was made by Ryuu. Her eyes watered when his plan registered inside her mind, screaming pitifully as she continued hitting Ibiki to let her go. She cried and screamed, begging Shirota to stopped his damn plan.
"Thank you for being my teammates Akiko. Tell Daichi to not blame himself when he finally wake up. Also take care of yourself and don't blame yourself about this." Shirota spoke softly, a smile appeared on his lips and at that moment, he doesn't look as tired anymore. He just look happy, contented and calm, "At least now, my dream will come true."
Akiko eyes widened when she heard his last sentence.
"I....want to make an impact to the world. I want to be recognized as someone who died as a hero. Well, not exactly as a hero but you may know what I mean by that. This doesn't sound like a Nara but I wish that, even in my death, I will always be remembered as a good person. I know this sounds stupid and troublesome but this is what I truly wish for. The current me can't make any impact and if I were to die, I will always be remember as 'that one kid'. I don't want that. Even if it means losing my sleep, I will never stop."
"Stop!! No!! Don't do it!! Nara!!" Akiko screamed.
Shirota smiled slightly, "I'm sorry for being such a troublesome teammates. Please go now Morino-san"
Ibiki nodded his head and proceed to retreat, leaving behind two important person. He bit his lips as tear slid down his cheeks. He felt miserable for doing this but he knew that this was the best choice he could've made. He tried to ignore the anguished screaming from Akiko's as she stretched her hands out toward Shirota's distant figure. He knew that this must be especially hard for her so he kept quiet.
"Goodbye." Shirota said, his voice didn't reached Akiko's ears as she continued pleading him to stop his plan.
Shirota inserted his remaining Chakra into all of the tags he had, watching as it burn slowly.
"SHIROTA!!"
And soon, the sound of explosion filled the once silent forest.
«A/N»
•Damn, that was long. Sorry for late update, my exam just finished yesterday so I'm finally free. Gosh this chapter was hard to make. I want to make you cry while reading it but me myself didn't cry so I don't know if you will cry. The fight scene was shit and I hate it. I can't write it after all. I'm sure it didn't make much sense but I hope you still enjoyed it. I'm sure there are so much typo and it will be such a bitch to edit later. It's kinda rushed tho so I hope it didn't turn out bad.•
•I truly feel bad for killing my OC.•
°Random question: me and [Name] or [Name] and I? I'm honestly confused.°