Seeing Red [Naruto]

Exams 4.6

Hisana could breathe again. Air rushed to her lungs, as blood slowly dripped down her neck. Strength rushed back into her limbs, and she managed to get the corpse off her. Her dress was soaked through with blood, and she felt it seep below. Trying not to gag at the smell, she brought down the barrier she had trapped herself and Orochimaru behind.

Then, ever so slowly, she stood. She leaned on her sword, shaking slightly as she got to her feet. The orange barrier disolved around her; flakes of chakra floating away like ash. Some of it brushed past her face, the once deadly energy now merely warm to the touch. Her Final Hurricane seal receded, once more a mostly empty red diamond on her forehead.

Karin was leading Team Seven and the mushroom guy back to her, and Naruto ran forward at Hisana. He caught her in a flying hug, and if he were only a little heavier she was sure she would have been bowled over.

"How - how are you even alive sis?!" Naruto asked, slowly releasing her from his hug.

"It was only some kind of clone - but he still basically let me go," Hisana replied sheathing her sword as Naruto beckoned the rest of their impromptu group.

"Why are you all covered in blood?" Sasuke asked, as his eyes faded from red to black.

"The body his clone left behind fell on me. It, uh, had been skinned," Hisana said, a look of disgust on her face as she pointed towards the corpse. The blood was seeping into the ground now, and it was all she could smell.

"We need to keep moving. If he could catch us with a clone, we're definitely in danger the longer we stay out here in the forest," Sasuke said, and Hisana nodded in response. She didn't think Orochimaru was likely to try again for a while - he had essentially just let them go - but Gaara, Kabuto and more besides were lurking around in the Forest. Hisana had no intention of staying in it any longer than necessary. Speaking of not wanting to stay in things, she needed to change into a spare dress before the blood started to soak through it.

"Can we stick with you guys? My teammates tried to kill me, and Hiroyuki here has lost a teammate and has another injured one to carry," Karin asked, as Hiroyuki - otherwise known as mushroom guy - picked up his unconscious teammate. His face was hidden behind a cloth mask, but Hisana could easily see the few, silent tears he'd shed with her still active Sharingan.

"Wait, your teammates tried to kill you?" Hisana asked, shocked. This was obviously not the Karin she remembered from canon, but that seemed like a departure even for this Karin.

"Yep, they're a couple of black-ops types the village assigned to do me in 'cause they had "concerns for my loyalty". Of course, had they not killed my mother out of greed and essentially straight up told me that they were going to do the same to me; I might be a bit more loyal. So since I have both scrolls, and my teammates are lying unconscious just a bit ahead, plus Hiroyuki's Earth scroll to your heaven; whatdya say we just head on straight to the tower as one big happy family?" Karin finished.

Team Seven looked at one another, and in some unspoken way decided as one to let the two Grass genin come along. Hiroyuki handed over his Earth scroll as Hisana went to change, sealing away her old dress as she did so. She still wanted to spend about an hour in the shower after having a skinless corpse fall on her, but it was better than nothing.

Karin was carrying two unconscious "genin" over her shoulders when Hisana returned. They'd been thoroughly disarmed, and were wrapped in more of the golden chains that Karin had seemingly figured out how to summon much earlier. They sealed their captive's chakra well, rendering them a non-threat whilst keeping them alive.

The makeshift group ran across the ground, their members from Grass not used to jumping between trees and weighed down as it was. Hisana and Karin were at the front and the back of the formation, respectively. Their sensory abilities were by far their best earlier warning option, and so they were placed to be as far apart from one another as possibile so as to establish the greatest sensor range. Textbook stuff, but textbook for a reason.

"What'dya mean by that cousin stuff back then? Are you an' Hiro related?" Naruto asked innocently, and Hisana had a hard time not smiling. This was a good turn the kid deserved.

"Ah... no, we're not related. I wasn't talking about him anyway, I was talking about, well, you," Karin said.

"I have a cousin?! I have a cousin!" Naruto shouted, a huge grin on his face.

"Well, we're not really cousin-cousins... I don't know how exactly we're related. But you're the only living Uzumaki other than myself that I've ever heard of, so I guess that makes us family," Karin explained.

"Duh, of course it does! You're gonna become a leaf ninja and stay with me an' Sasuke and sis and it's gonna be awesome 'cause you're related to me and -" Naruto said, only to be interrupted by two near simultaneous exclamations by Hisana and Karin.

"Contact, seven o'clock!"

"Incoming!"

"That boisterous sound team from the First Exam?" Hisana asked.

"Definitely them. Do we engage?" Karin asked, making running with two nearly fully grown teenage boys slung over her shoulders look easy.

"Sasuke, Naruto - you two escort Karin and Hiroyuki ahead. She'll be able to keep you informed on what's happening. I'll deal with these idiots myself." Hisana said, unsealing an old wooden practice sword and blurring off.

She emerged from her shushin in front of the rapidly advancing team of Sound genin. Hisana didn't look especially threatening to the untrained eye - a young girl, almost thirteen, wielding a practice sword was not the most intimidating sight. Yet, if one looked underneath the underneath one began to see signs that may well have screamed 'Danger, powerful shinobi!'.

Everything from her stance, to her dress, to her choice of weapon screamed it as loud as they could. But the three genin approaching Hisana seemed dead to their warnings. Their eyes almost physically let up when they saw her, leaping into combat. She had considered playing around with them, but she was in a hurry.

"Heh, a little girl too fuckin' scared to use her real sword! Just what we needed," Snarled one of the trio, though not Kin as it was a man's voice.

Hisana's practice sword broke Kin's leg like it was a twig. The girl screamed and went down, the first to fall. Hisana's second strike knocked Zaku unconscious, the third dispatched Dosu. Quietly, she picked up their scroll and rushed to return to the group. Then she felt it, and knew what was wrong.

Gaara was up ahead.

"You feel that, Hisana?" Karin asked.

"It feels kinda like -" Hisana caught herself, but before she could stop speaking Karin interrupted her.

"My cousin when he gets a little angry? But yeah, that's a fucking demon host camping the tower. What'do we do, boss?" Karin said.

[x] It should be easy enough to occupy his attention for a short while. This will be safer to the hostages, but harder on you.

[x] Just try to rush him. This is safer for you, but more risky than the hostages.

[x] Write In

Advanced Trait Selection: Speed

[x] Shushin mastery. This trait allows the user far greater control over the Shushin, making it a viable move in combat. Specifically, straight lines are no longer a limiting factor.

[x] A Singular Cut. This trait allows the user to, in conjunction with chakra flow, appear to have attacked in two directions at once with a powerful sword strike.

[x] Dance Between Raindrops. This trait allow the user to more effectively evade the aim of their enemy, their speed confusing the targeting ability of their opponents even further.