Naruto, the 4th member of Team 7

The Chuunin Exams Pt 3

There was a lot of noise in the background.... people shouting..... sounds familiar... but I can't put a face to their voice. I felt someone pick me up and setting me down again. I opened my eyes to see Neji's face above me, but he wasn't looking at me, he's looking at something else. His teammate, Tenten if I remember correctly is next to him. Both of them didn't realize I had woken up. But wait, why are they here? 

I remember fighting against that Orochimaru guy before he bit me and I passed out from the pain. But I don't feel any pain now, in fact, I feel as if I can do anything, I feel... powerful. I looked down at myself and gasped softly after seeing these strange line like markings on the right side of my body, where Orochimaru had bit me. 

Where did this come from? What did that guy do to me???  Someone's shouting interrupted my thoughts and brought me back into reality. "ZAKU BELOW!!" I sat up so quickly that Tenten shouted "OH MY - Oh y-you're awake!" "Akiko-" Neji turned in surprise after hearing Tenten's shouts.

"Neji, what are you doing here? Where are my-" There was a loud snap and somebody was screaming in pain. It was then I noticed Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto in the middle of the clearing in front of me, and Sasuke had just dislocated the arms of an unknown ninja who then fell forwards onto the ground.

It wasn't just them, I saw an unconscious Lee on the ground not too far away from them, Shikamaru's team in the bushes and another two ninjas, probably that guy's teammates? But anyways, why are there so many rookies here in the same spot? What happened while I was out? As I looked closer, I noticed that Sasuke looked different, he too has some strange markings on the left side of his body, while mine are straight lines, his looks like flames. His vibe is different too.... like he's gotten stronger, I can feel it. Did Orochimaru give us power? I have so many questions...

"We came looking for Lee and stumbled into your group. Looks like these bunch of Sound ninja wants to kill Sasuke." Neji spoke quickly, as if he knew what was on my mind. "The both of you.... feel different from before, what happened?" Neji looked wary of me, that's the first time I've ever seen him look at me like that "Who knows...." It was a half truth, I'm not lying completely.

"You're the only one left..." Sasuke started to walk towards the ninja who's head is wrapped completely in bandages, like a mummy. "I hope you'll let me have more fun.."

This is getting out of hand, Sasuke's scared them enough, he doesn't have to kill them.  "Ice style: Crystal Ice Wall!!" A large ice wall, much larger than I could have ever made before formed in front of Sasuke, separating him from the Sound ninja. 

In a blink of an eye, I was right next to Sasuke. I'm much faster now, I made that wall... but I still have lots of chakra left. Amazing, no wonder Sasuke didn't look like he wanted to stop. "Ah, Akiko? You're awake!" Sakura sounded relieved but it was replaced with fear when she noticed that I had the markings too "Akiko.. not you too?" I looked over at an injured Sakura, the left side of her face was swollen and she had a few wounds on her limbs. Not to mention, her uneven short hair.  Did she get all that from protecting us? No wonder Sasuke wants to teach them a lesson. I felt sorry for leaving her alone to take care of her 3 fallen teammates, I'll have to make it up to her later.

Sasuke looked at me, and our eyes met. He had activated his Sharingan and the markings had covered his entire face as well, and he looked hungry to test his power. He noticed my markings and smirked. "Seems like you've got it too huh? Perfect. You can take the girl, I'll handle this freak. They're the ones who did this to Sakura." Sasuke turned to glare at the mummy-like ninja who was starting to freak out "Tch, you have it too? Just what is that man thinking?"

As Sasuke started to step forward again, I reached out and held his hand firmly enough to stop him. "That's enough Sasuke." Sasuke looked confused yet angry at the same time, not understanding why I was stopping him, I reached out with my other hand and clasped his hand in both of mine. "Sakura's hurt, yes, but you've already taught that guy a lesson." I nodded towards the ninja on the ground "They're outnumbered now, and I'm pretty sure they know that they can't take the both of us at once."