"It does look bad." She sounds a bit happier. Happier isn't the right word, she's less distraught. She's still a long ways from happy. "Are you going to be okay?"
Bye Gina. I'll miss you. SNAP!
The only thing left is a thick reddish brown chunky paste. I did that to a child!
...
Hell no I'm not going to be okay. Orochimaru is a vile sadistic creature that take great pleasure in testing me and trying to figure out how I work. Not only that he loves to torture me during training, he wears a crazed grin every damn time. It gets wider with every wound he inflicts.
I don't think I'll ever be okay again.
"Me? I'll be fine. It isn't anything I can't handle." I boast with false bravado.
"You're lying. You've always been a terrible liar." She saw right through my facade.
"Dammit. I can get away with spying on Orochimaru but I can't sneak a sentence past you." Please get distracted. I don't want to explain the horrible things I've been forced to do. I want them to be buried forever.
"You're spying on Orochimaru?" She sounds skeptical. I'll give her that, it is a hard pill to swallow.
"Yep. Tsunade gets weekly reports from me and everything. Actually you should talk to her when you get back. She can fill you in on some stuff, clear some things up that I don't have time to explain."
"I... wow. That's actually really cool."
"I know right? If hell freezes over and I make it back to Konoha this better be a damn S-rank mission!"
"Leader-sama! We have a problem!" Hiro calls out to me from the clearing.
"That isn't good. I've got to go, sorry about causing you to fail the exams, but I do need to pass."
"Yeah whatever. Just go." She huffs in annoyance.
"Remember, don't tell anyone about me."
"I promise to not tell a soul. No one will find out from me."
"Good, because if people knew there's a good chance I'll be killed or have to kill everyone you tell. I really don't want that to happen. I'm taking a huge risk with letting you know about me." But I can't bring myself to silence you. I can't. I won't.
"I know, I know. Don't tell anyone I've got it!"
I rush back to the clearing. I wonder what the problem is?
"I'm back. Fill me in." I order.
"My seals are going to fade soon. They were never made for prolonged usage, they're reaching their limit." Ikki informs me.
"That's the problem? Hiro and I know earth jutsu, we'll box them in so they can't go anywhere. Simple."
"How didn't I think of that?" Hiro face palms. Huh, I didn't know that was a cultural thing in Taki. "As amazing as usual Leader-sama!"
"I'll box in the Ame kunoichi. You get the Kiri shinobi." I make my way over to the kunoichi.
"Earth Release: Triangular Prism!" I slam a hand to the ground and three walls or earth rise up and form a new cage around the still imprisoned kunoichi.
I rejoin Ikki and Hiro next to our flagpole.
"There, all done. Like I said, simple."
"So, how do you think our attackers are doing?" Ikki asks.
"They'll be fine. I'm confident in Leader-sama's plan." Hiro boldly states.
"We can always find out. Summoning Jutsu!"
POOF
"Sup Green. How's everything been on your end?" Shirokumo asks once the smoke clears.
"Good. We've caught two different groups. How goes the offense?"
"Two groups? Not bad! Glad the Weavers came through, they're a finicky bunch. Anyways, the rest of your group should be here in about ten minutes. They had some difficulty getting to the White team's flag, but in the end they came out on top."
"White team? That's one of the groups we caught." Ikki adds to our conversation.
"Sucks to be them." I feel bad for Ino, her team had it rough. Not only did the offense fail but so did their defense.
"Yeah, it was a good call to have a seven/three split. I really should go meet up with them, they have no hope of getting through the webs on their own." Shirokumo says.
"Go ahead. We'll be fine here." I assure him. He scampers off into the forest.
We wait in silence for the rest of our group to come back.
...
"Did you miss us?" Temari cockily asks the moment she's back in the clearing. She's wearing the White team's flag like a cape. She's really full of herself.
Her group is a little worse for the wear, they've definitely been in a fight. There's cuts, scrapes and bruises on everyone, but they also have the most ridiculous grins plastered onto their faces.
"Not really. It was a lot quieter when you were gone." I jest back to her. "I take it everything went well? No problems?"
"Nothing major. They were really disorganized, there was no teamwork at all."
"Well that sounds boring."
"It was. Kind of a let down really. I expected this grand showdown but we spent more time traveling than we did fighting. How'd your side go? Any problems?"
"Oh, you know nothing major." Just had my secret identity revealed to two people and had to convince one of my friends to not tell anyone else and I got a letter from the leader of Konoha's underworld black ops division that I still need to read. "We did catch two teams."
"That explains the yelling we heard coming back through your webs. Really glad we're on the same side for this, I don't think I could have gotten through them without a guide."
"What, if we weren't on the same team would you have come for my flag?"
"Probably. You have a bone to pick with Suna, I would have loved to knock you out." She nonchalantly says.
"There's no way in hell I would choose to go against this guy." The Kiri shinobi on my team says. "I was near him in the first exam."
"I wouldn't want to either." The Ame gennin adds. "Sound sent two gennin, they've got to be good. Really good. Orochimaru is a lot of things, but stupid isn't one of them."
"Good doesn't do Leader-sama's skill justice!" Hiro happily chimes in. That kid is obsessed with me. "He's crazy fast! You should have seen it, he blew past everyone to attack White team's leader. And when he got there all he did was throw him into the forest!"
"Really?" Temari asks. "That sounds..."
"Lame?" I don't think I like the Ame shinobi anymore.
"Lame." Temari agrees. "You just tossed him in the forest?"
"Well... yeah. My webs more specifically." Everyone is looking at me in disappointment. "Did you expect me to use high level jutsu on them or something? I didn't want to kill them, I just needed them out of the way. I went to all that work setting up the webs, how could I not use them? Besides, tossing them into a web is way easier than knocking them out."
"It's still lame." Temari isn't convinced.
"Hey, Hyuuga. Tell me how many people are caught in my webs. Go on, tell me." I deserve to gloat about my summons.
Hinata turns beet red. Huh, she must not like the spotlight. She activates her Byakugan and meekly replies, "Seven. You've trapped seven shinobi." She pauses. "Is that Ino and Sai?"
"See! Eight shinobi caught by myself! Impressive right?" My summons are amazing! Could I have taken all eight gennin alone without using something that would give me away? Probably, but this way I never have to face them! They're defeated without a single punch.
"Did you hurt Ino and Sai?" Hinata's voice has a bite to it. That's new, she found a backbone. "Green. Did you hurt them?"
"Who?" I have to pretend I don't know them. Why would a Sound gennin know Konoha gennin?
"Green!" Hinata falls into the Gentle Fist stance. She's going to attack me. What did I do?
"Whoa, calm down. The only person who is remotely hurt is the unconscious Kiri shinobi over there and that wasn't even me!" I turn to the Kiri shinobi on my team. "You're not going to lash out at me for that, are you?"
"Nah, we're good. Those twins could use a beat-down, they're full of themselves." The friendly Kiri nin replies. I should really learn their names. Referring to people by their village is getting annoying. Meh, the second task should be over soon, there's no point now.
"Great! Back to the crazy Konoha kunoichi. If you're so worried about your friends, go check on them. I left them conscious, feel free to have a nice chat."
Hinata rushes off towards Ino. I can't blame her for wanting to make sure her friends are okay. I would do the same thing.
...
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