I look around, the trees are close and dense in this area, I need to get to an open part, but to do that I have to pass them three. Asami, and the other two ninja are strong, I can already tell. I curse under my breath, if I stay here my lack of mobility will be the end of me.
“You don’t want me, you want the power I hold. Isn’t that true Asami?” I ask her. If I die today, I don’t want my final moments to be false, I want her to be honest. If she wants the beast I hold, then she’ll have to touch me and remove the seal. I couldn’t let that happen, the Leaf Village would be in danger, and everyone inside. I promised I would protect them, and this time I will fulfill my promise.
“I won’t lie to you, big sister, but your right.”
One of the boys behind her has a big jar, he pulled out of the scroll. Their planning on sealing it in there. I produce then shadow clones, any more and they’ll only get in the way. Maybe with the confusion I can slip through them, and get away from them. That’s my only way of survival. The cats are fast to run, they’ve noticed my eye movements and blocked the widest open space, they are smart, blocking my exits. My shadow clones form a circle, the two male ninja are ready for attack, and Asami has a blood thirsty look in her eye. I don’t know what my father said to her that made her this way, but she doesn’t look human. I form tearing torrent in my hand, and my shadow clone follow my lead. We all have tearing torrent in hand, and I attack Asami personally, while my shadows attack the others.
I see her smile, before she weaves her hands, I try to land a blow on her, but it skims her hair, trimming the part my sharp water touched. I’m moving too fast, to stop and turn around immediately. The earth beneath my feet begins to rumble, I focus my chakra on my feet, keeping me steady as the ground shifted. I see Asami, heading straight at me with her hand, earth surrounding it. She must be an earth user, water is weak against earth.
“Earth flow spears.” She says, the earth near me begin to protrude the air, sharp, and closing in fast. I dodge one spike of earth, and then another. It’s like playing with fire, you don’t want to touch it, in fear that it’ll burn. I don’t let it touch me, in fear that they’ll capture me and seal the beast inside the jar. I can’t let them have this power, they’ll only use it for evil purposes, I know it. Why else would my father want it? To bring peace to the world? He can’t even bring peace between us. My back slams into a tree trunk, damn it, I’m cornered. The only way to get out, is to force myself out, but water is weak against earth. Maybe if I concentrate chakra at higher pressure and rotation, it’ll go through the earth, its worth a shot. I make three shadow clones to cover me, while I concentrate on creating the powerful jutsu. The wall of earth was getting closer, the chakra control was harder but I can handle it. I release the clones, receiving back the chakra I used. I gather little momentum with the little space I have, and run toward the wall of earth that was cornering me. I have to believe I’m stronger than the wall, I’ll get through it. I stretch out my hand, making the jutsu push, I use my toes and dig into the ground, pushing the ninjutsu into the wall. I grit my teeth, it wasn’t making much progress. I add more chakra, making it faster than I ever made it go.
My wrist that holds the jutsu, bends in an unusual way, the bone cracks, sending painful waves up my arm, but it goes through. It breaks the wall, making a gap big enough for me to escape. I jump and jump away from Asami, my shadow clones have disappeared, I was where I started. Three cats and three ninjas. To make things worse my right hand is no use to me, it’ll take a while to heal, and without basic first aid, it’ll take even longer. I grab my kunai with my left, it feels uneasy, I’m right handed, but fighting with my left.
“I see that earth can’t keep you down, even if you use water. I didn’t want to use this jutsu but I have no choice.”
The cats disappear, and I see a conversation between them three with their eyes. They must be close enough to know what to do with the movements of an eye. The two other ninja hop to a tree near by leaving Asami and I in the middle of a small opening. The trees location was making this harder, I position my right hand so if I move it won’t hurt as much. She weaved her hands, my eyes couldn’t keep up with them. Her movements are much more aggressive now.
“Wood release: Great Forest Technique.” Asami’s right arm begins to thicken and change color. It looks like a tree trunk, and it was moving towards me. Wood? What kind of jutsu is this? I dodge it, and land on the trunk. I throw the kunai at Asami, but the branches extend and block it. Its a perfect offensive and defensive jutsu. I grab paper bombs from my pouch, and begin to lay them down her arm. I grab a smoke bomb, and let them explode first. In the confucian, I’ll substitute a shadow clone, and that’s when I’ll escape. The paper bombs explode, and I throw the smoke bomb right afterwards. The smoke covers my presence, and I try to remember which direction I am facing, I wish I was a sensory ninja. I cradle my broken wrist, and run to my right, where the ninja left unguarded.
I hear clanking, like wood against wood. Its near, Asami must be using her wood jutsu to locate me. But she is as blind as I am. I run into a tree, i feel the blood from an open wound run down my cheek. I must have hit my forehead hard enough to start bleeding. I move right, but hit a tree again, I try left, but end to the same result. I try to feel my surroundings with my left hand, but all I feel is wood. My heart begins to race, and thoughts began to overtake my head. The smoke thins out, and I finally see what I am touching.
Its like a cage, keeping me in. They’ve succeeded, they’ve managed to capture me. I hit the vertical bars with my left hand, putting my chakra into every punch, I had to get out of here, but I was getting no where. Wood is not like earth, I can’t break through this, not matter how much chakra I use. Asami walks closer, she seems out of breath, this must take out a lot from her.
“You're stronger than we expected. Looks like this time, you didn’t rely on the beast’s power? Is it because of the seal? Here let me help you with that.” Asami hold her hands in front of her, and slithers of wood begin to come up come from the ground beneath me, It wraps itself around me. The pressure against my broken wrist is too much, and I end up screaming in pain. It squeezes more, and I think my inside are going to explode. I taste blood in my mouth. Is she going to squeeze the beast out of me? I cough blood, and watch as it taints the ground in front of me. The cage buries itself, the only thing that restricts my movements is the wood that is wrapped around me. The two other ninja hop down from the branches, the jug in hand, Asami holds her hand out, red chakra lighting her fingertips. I spit in her face, its the only thing I can do. Asami wraps another wood limp around my right leg, bending it back. I scream in agony, my bone hangs limply. My right wrist pulses in pain, and my right leg is numb. Tears blur my vision, the pain made it hard to focus on reality. I close my eyes, I didn’t want to see the hand that was going to end my life, that was going to use this power I held.
Light flashes in front of me, the sound of electricity wakes me. I see a gray haired man standing in front of me. Kakashi. I turn my head to see Yamato with wide eyes, and I see five more ninja hidden behind animal masks. I smile. Hinata and Kiba were able to warn them, they are safe. Kakashi cuts through the wood, the lack of pressure lets my lungs finally take a deep breath.
“Try to keep at least one of them alive. They have important information.” One of the mask ninja says. I think they are ANBU ninjas, I’ve heard of them but I’ve never seen them.
“Ken, Kin, you know what we must do.” Asami says to the other two ninja. They nod, and summon the cats once again. They are going to fight, but Asami isn’t at her best, this won’t be much of a fight. The Leaf ninja get ready for the attack, but it doesn’t come. The cats unsheathe their claws, long and sharp. Instead of coming at us, it attacks the Moon ninja, and Asami, Kin, and Ken don’t put up a fight. They are willing to die, rather than be captured by the enemy. I watch as the cats slash through their bodies with ease. Blood spurts everywhere, some landing on my face, arms, and legs. They are ripped apart, beyond repair, the intelligent core can’t gather any intel from them now. Their bodies aren’t recognizable anymore, they are just a heap of blood and flesh. The cats disappear in a white cloud, but I can’t remove my eyes from what they left. I hate the Moon Village, but I admire their loyalty.
“Kiyoko, are you alright?” Kakashi bends down to my level, I shake my head. After everything I’ve seen today, I’m not alright in the least.
“Looks like you have a few broken bones. Lets get you to the infirmary.”
“But the challenge. I’m not done with the second stage,” I protest. Kakashi smiles a bit.
“Hinata and Kiba delivered the scrolls, you’re team goes to the third round.”
Those words are music to my ears. I let him help me back, I was getting closer. I have so many questions, but there are no answers. Why would father send her out of every ninja in the village for me? Why do they need the beast’s power? Yamato walks besides us, three ANBU ninja stay behind to investigate, the other two come with us. I don’t know why, but I feel somewhat secure with the four around. I reek of blood and sweat, and my head hurts from all the pain. I want to rest, but I can’t get the image of Asami’s eyes as she stared at the cat, her last seconds of her life she spent staring at the black fur.
“Kiyoko, I just need to ask you one question before I let you rest. Who was it that used Wood release?” Yamato asked from my right.
“The girl, my half sister, Asami.” I reply.
“Half sister? What do you mean? Does that mean you are a descendant of the senju too?”
My head hurts even more now. Senju? I’ve never heard of them. Descendants? My father and mother are born and raised in the Moon, and so were my grandparents, and my great grandparents, and generations after that.
“Yamato, let her rest. You’ll be able to ask her more questions later,” Kakashi says. I don’t see where we go, I just let my bed be dragged there. I feel my eyes close, and I drift into unconsciousness when my head hits a soft pillow.
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