Hot 'N' Dangerous

Chapter 26: The Cursed Trio

The one string that was held in his mouth lit up in flames. They traveled down the string with the speed of a lightning crack. The man was unprepared for this hidden attack and his entire face was enveloped in flames. I took the chance with Liz to charge him. I embedded a quarter of my blade into his shoulder while Liz stabbed her sword into his liver. He grabbed our swords angrily and pulled them out, his hands bleeding from the sharp edges on our swords. He threw us away, absolutely outraged. Liz and I hit two different trees on either side of the man. My shoulder wound was bleeding again while Liz's several shuriken cuts ripped wider, revealing raw flesh. Sasuke's fire finally died out. We all held our breaths as we watched the steam disperse.

"To be able to use Sharingan so well at such a young age, you truly are a Uchiha descendant," his face was... peeling off?

Melted, bubbling in places and scorched, we could finally see his true face. His eyes were cold and evil, pure evil.

"You never should've doubted him! That was your mistake!" I rebuked and Liz and I stood on either side of Sasuke.

He giggled maliciously, "You and your friend there are also quite... useful" he licked his burned lips.

I shivered as he grinned at the three of us.

"Just as I thought, I want you... all of you!" he said greedily.

"Okay, whatever homosexual triple date you might be planning, I don't wanna be apart of it," Liz said, shook herself as a shiver rolled down her back.

The man touched his forehead protector and the Hidden Grass Village engraving was replaced by the Hidden Sound engraving, "Ah, a witty one too, I had fun testing your powers," he stared at us, freezing us to our places, "You really are brothers, I sense power in your eyes that surpasses Itachi," he directed the last sentence at Sasuke.

It seemed to have struck Sasuke's deepest secret, "Who the hell are you?!" he screamed, a hint of fear in his voice.

"My name is Orochimaru, if the three of you want to see me again, survive and pass this exam," he said as he burned the 'heaven' scroll that he had stolen from us, "Of course you also have to defeat my men, the Sound Nin Trio on the way," he added thoughtfully.

"Are you dumb? Who would want to see your face ever again?!" Sakura screeched.

"But, it just won't go your way, will it?" he hissed and formed a peculiar seal with his hands.

His neck became as stretchy as dough and his head shot towards Sasuke, "NO!" I screamed and forced my muscles to move.

An eruption of pain, agony and everything terrible bloomed in the middle of my back, between my shoulder blades.

"AH!" A bloodcurdling scream tore its way through my lips, ripping through the air.

I had covered Sasuke in a desperate attempt to save him. I collapsed on him, unable to move, frozen in complete shock and pain. I continued to scream, each one more haunting than the last. I rolled off of Sasuke's lap and breathed deeply, piercing pains jabbing at my back. Perspiration seeped from every part of my body which caused my blood to flow harder and faster. Before long, the wood around me was soaked in blood.

"No need to be eager, you're all going to receive my rare gift," he hissed.

"... Run... Sasuke... run!" I managed to whisper out of my dry throat, "Take e-everyone, run!" I said somewhat louder.

But I was too late. Orochimaru made another lunge, this time sinking his foul fangs into Sasuke's neck, on the left side.

"NO!" I cried, tears spilling from my eyes, "Liz, Sakura! Take Naruto and run! NOW!" I screamed, "I'll hold him!"

Liz shook her head and pulled out her rapier, tears flowing down her cheeks, "I'll never leave you!" she cried and charged Orochimaru, aiming for his damned long neck, his neck soared out of Liz's reach and as she aimed for his body, his head chased her from behind.

"Liz!" I warned, "Look behind you!"

She flipped around in time to bring her arms to block him. He bit right into her right forearm. His head immediately retreated back to his body as Liz shattered the forest's silence with her own scream.

"Too easy, but I'm glad that I didn't have to waste too much time on you guys," he snickered.

We were all collapsed, panting, breathing, the only movement that we could survive.

"You freaking bastard... I... I'll kill you!" I threatened.

I made no move to approach him though, too stunned by the immense pain to do anything.

"Now, you will all seek me for power," he laughed like an old woman.

"S-shut up, you gay bastard!" Liz panted.

Sakura sat, stupefied.

"Argh! Why does it hurt so freaking much? Do you not brush your teeth or something?" Liz snarled.

"W-what did you do to them?!" cried Sakura, putting on a mask of confidence.

"I gave them all a going away present, they should be grateful," he smirked.

Our screams redoubled in volume as he slowly melted away into the wood. Why? What did he want from us?

"Sasuke-kun! Elvira! Elize!" Sakura fussed over the three of us.

I rolled over onto my hands and feet, trembling and screaming my head off. I managed to stand up and began to hack at the thick tree trunk like a madman.

"E-elvira! What are you doing?!" she asked, panicked.

I didn't answer, Sasuke and Liz had already fainted from the shock of the pain. Each wave of pain was followed by a furious hack of my blade.

"AH!" I screamed and collapsed at last.

The tree top tottered and toppled over, crashing towards the forest floor. I coughed up some more blood and lay down. I blinked once and the awaiting void snatched me way from consciousness.