Drowning

The small crop of buildings that made up the even smaller town in wave were broken down and spoke of hard poverty. She glanced around at the vast majority of people on the streets thin and gaunt in their dirty faces. Her client's daughter a woman with long dark tresses pink shirt with darker sleeves ending at her elbows and skirt continued on ahead quickly with purposed strides. It was a much different attitude than the kind woman Tsunami appeared in her household, here though she didn't take any glance at the poor situated along the roads and alleys.

Doesn't seem like she could afford such a thing here, Inner commented.

She found herself agreeing after actually looking at some older pedestrians who leered and focused on them in ways that set her teeth on edge. The vibe coming off the whole of the small town made her tense and she found herself winding up tighter before they thankfully made it to a run down shack. The thin splintered door didn't even close all the way as they entered, it was dark and she was hit with the strong scent of burning incense. Inside was a mess, the floor was the dirty ground beneath their feet outside, one window to the left had multiple cracks in it and there were many shelves lining the walls filled with odd nicknacks.

"Little Tsuna come to visit?" an old decrepit woman asked eyes hidden by the many wrinkles adoring her face long graying dark hair pulled into a low tie with two beads shown as she turned into the counter.

"Granny," Tsunami greeted with adoration that after the walk here kind of threw Sakura off kilter.

"How's my wee Ina?" the old woman inquired as Tsunami stepped up not minding the major lack of seating in the shack leaving Sakura to quietly look about the shop.

There were here for herbs to use in the meals to come during their stay in her clients' house, as her sensei was currently bed ridden for the unforeseeable future their mission would no doubt lengthen and more food was needed. Which just went to show how tense this whole trip made her when she started actively talking with her Inner, a childhood imaginary friend which she was starting to suspect being an entirely split personality. She had a right to be tense and talk to someone who would listen since both Sasuke was either too busy with other things or Naruto was company that was entirely unwelcome to her. And how pathetic was that, relying on a voice in her head?

Not wanting to stay on that path of thought for too long she continued looking until a metallic sculpture of swinging sticks caught her attention. She walked up to it and watched the arcs move back and forth but differently each way. It was slightly hypnotizing as she often saw it going back to one motion yet the motion was different than any of the others she had watched.

"Isn't it nice," she jumped at the old woman's voice and stepped away from the nicknack.

"I... uh, wouldn't have guessed that anyone in wave would have a perpetual motion double pendulum." she was at a loss of what else to say lost on what the old lady had said.

"You can stop it," the old hand reached out and paused the sticks, "but once you let it go it starts up again." she let it go and the swinging motion restarted, "Much like people do, it likes to go a certain two dimension way but after staring hard enough you can make out all the patterns."

"Patterns?" she asked curious at the odd way this old lady was placing such a mathematical example that had many old day physicists stumped.

"Everything had its' own pattern deary," the old woman was looking at her but unable to see her eyes due to the wrinkles left her unnerved but searing what this elderly person was telling her. "You're pattern starts with your right side and depending on other things that happen you will always start out favoring your right. People are built on patterns, they either start with their left foot forward or their right, they either favor a certain movement with their arms or legs. When you really pay attention and learn these patterns you see life in a new way, eh," the old woman crooned shoulders shaking a bit, "sure helped me turn into this ripe old age."

"Huh?" she intoned utterly confused as the old woman cackled raising her fists mockingly.

"Never once lost a fight with a normal person when I saw their pattern and sure as hell never got punched first, oh the stories this old crone could tell..."

"Granny I'm finished," Tsunami reentered the shack surprising Sakura as she hadn't even noticed the woman leaving.

"Good, I was just telling this young deary here about patterns," the old woman said sweetly as if she hadn't just given Sakura an idea that was slowly being digested.

"That's nice, Granny."

Did you hear that old lady? I bet we could do that with battles! Inner gushed stars in her eyes, Sakura shook her head.

Like they'd ever get a chance to use the advice or even make it work as they weren't in the peak of being physically damaging, she thought despondently to her self.

Did you hear that old woman? I kind of doubt that we won't have at least one confrontation if back in her day she used to get in fights. Inner prodded the line of thought as she frowned.

Walking out of the shack with Tsunami having filled her wicker basket with herbs made her tense again as she watched the woman change before her eyes. It was a very noticeable change as she saw Tsunami's shoulders steel, brows furrowing just a bit she watched the people around them as they walked. Maybe it was natural given the woman lived in this environment as one man having been sat leaned against a small building stood as they passed by, she couldn't remember if he had been there before and for some reason this bothered her. This is where everything the old lady had said came into play as Sakura noted the left foot stepping towards their backs, looking to the side at a child in the alley next to them she saw a glint out of the corner of her eye.

The steps were heavy purposefully heading closer she breathed faster as she tracked the man through steps counting them. He started with his left, the blade was in his left hand so he would use his right to grab on and most likely plunge the weapon in her. But was that really what he was going to do? Was he hired by Gato or...what was his reason?

It doesn't matter just do something, Inner hissed and snapping to she acted as she felt the breath brush her shoulder.

In no time flat she had spun back in an arc took his right arm, kicked his ankle toppling him over and twisted his arm as she followed him down holding the appendage against his back. Grunting the man bucked lifting her before she applied chakra to her feet that brushed the ground and anchored them down. With that taken care of she used chakra on her right palm to stick the mans' arm on his back with her hand hovering so she didn't strain herself more as she reached and brought the other arm with the weapon to her. Slipping the dagger out of his hand after pushing on a pressure point she vaguely remembered from extra credit anatomy class she placed it in her pouch, reaching up she knocked him out and sucked her chakra back in.

"Oh how impressive," Tsunami said looking back, with the adrenaline pumping she realized everything really had been fast and felt some residue chakra in her muscles.

This requires extra thought, Inner muttered holding her chin thoughtfully.

"It was nothing," she replied breathlessly as she stood and they continued on their way, as if she hadn't just taken down a fully grown man with something entirely new to her. No other incidents following that other than a child having tried to pickpocket her pouch, seeing the huge innocent eyes and the state of gauntness of the kid's face she dug around her pouch until she found some hard candy. Watching the child scuttle away hurriedly dirty dark auburn hair dancing in oily lumps she found her chest filling with some previous unknown emotion, she had to do her best for the people suffering so obviously in wave.

Neither mentioned the guy when they returned back to her client's house and dinner was started. Sasuke had worked out a watch during the night since their sensei hadn't awoken yet and while Naruto was the first she found she couldn't sleep. She had never experienced a real life situation like with the man who had attacked her and briefly wondered what would have happened if she hadn't looked at the nicknacks and gotten that advice from the old woman. When she looked back it had been at that moment she had been put on edge, even more so when she paid more attention to Tsunami and her posture during their journey. It was what she figured were part of the many patterns the old lady had spoken of.

Who knows, Inner shrugged, what happened happened, it's not like it's gonna change much if we think on it. Let's switch with Naruto since we aren't doing any good just waiting here for our shift, at least someone would get sleep.

She found him on the roof with a few clones faced in different directions, this gave her pause as she remembered that those had been solid back during their genin test. It was a real wonder that the dead last of the academy and all around idiot had that jutsu tucked away in one of the many pockets of his hideous orange jumpsuit. But if he had it, why hadn't he used it for the academy test?

"Sakura," one of the Naruto's noticed her and as one every blond looked wide eyed and blinking. "What are you doing up?" It was a stupid expression she decided.

"Couldn't sleep, I'll take your shift." she stepped further on the roof as many identical faces paled in fear as she finally saw what they had been up to. "What. The. Hell."

"It's not what it looks I swear," one Naruto whispered fearfully at the nude female Naruto clone in a bikini, vaguely over the rushing blood in her ears she wondered if the clone had stripped the cloned clothes or if it had just transformed the clothes as well.

"And what is this," she asked quietly making all the blondes pale further and dispel themselves leaving the nude original female Naruto.

"I-I was just working on my S-sexy jutsu," the blonde girl said as Sakura slowly cracked her knuckles, "I swear!" Naruto waved her arms and the sizable bust burst out ripping the bikini top just as a wind sent it flying in Sakura's face with a slap. "Oh, god." she whispered horrified.

Snatching the material away she ripped it in fury before something struck her as quick as lightning, or as quick as it took the material to disappear into smoke. She blinked utterly dumbfounded as the white smoke disappeared into the wind and she stared at the topless girl, a flaw she found straight away just from a glance at the boobs was there were no nipples. This chucked the major pervert part from this situation because she reasoned only a real pervert would know that there were nipples if say he had seen them while peeking and would have corrected it immediately. Anything else was chalked away from that bit of sense because the blond was utterly incapable of anything underhanded with this much of a 'fuck up'.

"You're wrong," she said walking up, noticing the pale blond sweating and jolting out of the horrified trance.

"W-what?" Naruto gasped having forgotten to breathe.

"The boobs," she pointed just shy of touching the illusions for fear that she had momentarily lost her mind and she had actually felt a solid chakra construct and the same would be said here. "You forgot the nipples."

"Nipples," he slapped at the mounds of flesh causing Sakura to flinch at the complete solid sound and utterly real quality other than the fact that they were missing nipples, "there's supposed to be nipples there?!"

"Yeah..." she said slowly as this whole situation seemed unreal, never had she imagined she would ever help fix something so perverted in her teammates' jutsu.

Kind of makes me feel dirty just thinking about it, Inner hedged before wiggling in thought suddenly inspired, if it's solid, like for real solid and we learn that just imagine us doing a 'sexy jutsu' but as a guy!

With Inners' screech of excitement she found herself with a handful of solid jiggling flesh, Naruto's mouth was dropped in shock. What the hell was she doing, she thought to herself before picking up the pieces of her sudden movement.

"It's solid, how did you make it solid?" she leered a bit, "Unless you're actually a girl pretending to be a guy?" that would be the ultimate plot twist, that is if their lives' were a story, she reasoned.

"Hell no!" he screamed losing hold and was back in his male for with a puff of smoke, thankfully in his clothes.

However that worked out, Inner questioned eyes squinted in thought.

"So how did you do it?" she asked again causing him to pause.

"It's a transformation, just like in the academy," he said, like duh.

"The academy transformation is an illusion," she stressed at the thought that he had been doing a solid transformation the whole academy stay. "Meaning it's not solid, if it was the academy transformation, the one we were taught in the academy I wouldn't have been able to touch the boobs."

"Oh," something seemed to have dawned on him then, "that's probably why it was so hard to learn."

"So how'd you do it?" she asked again irritated.

"Well," he frowned as he held his chin in thought under one arm, "I remember it being hard and I never understood the paper the teachers gave me on the transformation so I just filled in the blanks with what I thought and wanted it more solid. Like a transformation," he clarified.

"So you're telling me you just threw together what you imagined the jutsu doing and did it?" she asked frowning as the blond nodded, "But that must have taken years."

"Nah, only a few months, but it was exhausting."

A few months?! Inner screamed as she sighed palming her temples.

"Ok, I'm going to try and understand this better while observing your chakra while you do the jutsu." she said at the idiot in front of her, he blinked.

"You can do that?" he asked in awe.

"I'll try, now turn around while I touch your back." she instructed he did so a bit hesitantly but complied, "I'll tell you when to do the jutsu."

"Hm, ok," he agreed she gently touched his back.

Focusing her chakra she let the theory run through her mind as she guided up little 'probes' of chakra close to his skin and down his back. Just concentrating on the spiritual chakra she was using she missed him stiffen, as she used a vague form of the medical diagnostic jutsu she had read about in the library once. It was at this moment she realized just how much chakra was in her teammate and the overwhelming amount of it left her breathless. How did he even live with this much?

"Ok now," she said and felt his chakra form and expel through his body.

She let go reeling her shaken chakra probes back in and would be lying if she said she wasn't a bit weirder out that little bits of his chakra came with. The little bits neutralized out after entering her system since her chakra was more in comparison in her body than in the little probes. She frowned a bit in thought feeling her chakra reserves topped and over flowing just from those little slivers. The basic concept for what she wanted to do next was formed and she found herself asking her once again male teammate.

"I know how to do it, but I don't have enough chakra," she told him letting herself look hesitant and chewing her lip to be cute, boys were rather simple and she really wanted to try this out as it left many avenues on Naruto's massive amounts of chakra.

"Oh that sucks," he frowned, "is there anyway you can get more chakra?" For someone who didn't even know the mechanics behind chakra control and general theory the thought seemed normal enough and she went with it.

"Yeah you have a lot more chakra than I do and it probably doesn't even phase you when you transform." she told him looking down before looking up with her eyes pouting slightly, "But since I have better control I am able to draw small amounts of chakra out of you, that is if you're ok with that." she added on because even though she doubted he would say no, she kind of felt like a jerk playing with his feelings for her just to get her way.

"Sure take as much as you want," he replied much to her relief as she smiled at him.

Imagine if he had asked for a date, Inner sniggered but it seemed as if she had acted well enough for that not to be of any thought at the moment.

"Ok just sit down over there and I'll be behind you to draw chakra out." the blond was happy to comply and she felt another pang at the manipulation before she sat herself down and placed her palms on his back.

That's gonna be a lot of chakra, Inner warned, We'll have to put it...over here.

The initial draw had him stiffening before he relaxed into it and she let her calm extend to her chakra as she did so. Her coils filled quickly and she let them sit tingling over the extra influx of chakra that quickly became neutral as she took on small enough amounts to let her small reserves overpower the incoming chakra. She felt them stretch which had begun to feel nice before it turned painful, concentrating she sent the excess chakra to her pool and let it wash over. Small pot holes Inner had made grew as she filled them before she had triple the amount she needed before she stopped.

"Ok," she breathed a bit shaky with the energy pumping through her. "That should be enough."

"You got this, Sakura," Naruto said turning to watch as she formed the seal and executed the jutsu.

Wave country was different than what she was used to she mused to herself the next day. There was salt in the air which was weird leaving her nostrils tingling oddly and more moisture than she had ever experienced before. It was damp the afternoon dew, something that was entirely foreign this time of day to her, clung to her clothes and clouds gleaned over the sky most of the day until noon where the sun baked through the soft blanket of clouds. Hearing the ocean along with the construction going on was a welcomed distraction from guarding the client, Tazuna. Not that she was actively searching for a distraction!

Face it, we're booooored! This is so boring! Why couldn't we have stayed with Sasuke and Naruto and worked on our training? I'm sure Sasuke needs a few tips~ Inner complained loudly, sighing Sakura leaned against the rails with her arms and looked blankly down at the ocean below the bridge.

That night on look out and the success of her own sexy jutsu had been a high point, enough to keep them both up all night never waking Sasuke up for his shift. Her blond teammate had of course pulled a prank by transforming into a male very reminiscent of their third teammate. Afterward he had fallen asleep on the roof leaving her to her thoughts which inevitably ended up back to what exactly she had done with her chakra during her take down of her male assailant. Her theories were proven in the morning when their sensei had finally woken up, hobbling himself to the woods he gave them instructions in the tree walking and eventually she was here tired from a long night of surprisingly companionable company. It was definitely a surprise for her when she later looked back on their little bonding session over such a perverted jutsu, something she hadn't ever expected she would partake in, it was just another surprise this mission was throwing at her.

She wasn't technically supposed to be doing solo guard duty, especially while this mission ranked higher than when they initially got it. It wasn't like she could openly complain, with her sensei, Kakashi, recovering from his battle at the same time overseeing Sasuke and Naruto's training, there wasn't anyone else except her to guard the client while he worked on the bridge. It was only due to her amazing chakra control that had allowed her to complete the exercise before her teammates and now here she was thinking about having not done it. Of course it would have been hard not to have completed the exercise because it was so easy, never mind the fact she had figured out how to do it during her take down of that thug yesterday with Tsunami.

An odd thought filtered through her mind when she glanced back at the working men on the bridge and briefly imagined her helping out. While a part of her wanted to help out just a little bit she knew nothing about construction and it was protocol to remain a certain amount of battle ready at all times when guarding a client. Of course that was when situations were different and she supposed that a mere genin shouldn't be guarding alone but she was finding everything didn't go along with the protocols or followed basic plans. Though since her client wasn't going to deviate from the bridge for the rest of the day she could at least take a look around. After all she had just this morning learned how to defy gravity with the application of her chakra, hanging upside down shouldn't be too hard and while the boys trained she could at least get in some practice of her own.

Informing Tazuna she was going to do a perimeter check she threw her leg over the rails and scaled down a bit before sticking to the vertical surface with chakra. It was remarkably easier as the construction wasn't a living thing such as the trees she had used earlier this morning, changing from vertical to horizontal was slightly disorienting and scary. Her long pink hair hung up gravity forcing it and so did her dress, blushing she pushed it back down between her legs as she tentatively walked. She had to keep one foot on the surface at all times unlike normal ground gravity worked against her, so if she ran she couldn't push up and fly with long strides.

There was a whizzing of a blade in her direction that made her control falter in shock and she was falling. Momentarily choking her heart in her throat she whipped herself feet first in the air using her center of gravity after witnessing the kunai hit where she had been standing. There were two ninja she spotted standing on the water as if it were solid ground just as her sensei and Zabuza had done, a male and a female with no headband. The female held in her hand an explosive note while the male took out more throwing weapons, the whole deduction took five seconds of free fall coupled with the intense terror of falling at this height.

Fumbling with inexperienced hands for a kunai to block she missed the first one that scratched her leg before blocking sloppily for the rest. Crashing in the salty water stung at her cut and the icy water shocked her, precious air escaped to the surface. She stilled her heart pounding a mile a minute as fear squeezed and seized her movements. She needed air, panicking she needed to get them, protect the bridge, get away and air. Groaning in her throat she scratched her nails down the cut on her thigh, focusing suddenly she started swimming long strokes.

She was moving over to the blurry image of another support pillar taking great lengths to go around and behind it out of their vision as they waited on the water's surface. Coming up slowly she shuddered as she took great pains to slowly breath in and out and remain silent as she could be. Gripping the base of the pillar hard she breathed and thought mostly submerged in the cold water, these were unknown enemies she couldn't risk detection right away. There was no way one explosive tag had enough destructive power to take down the bridge by itself, as far as she knew concerning fuinjutsu, something she'd have to fix upon returning to the village if she lived. So they would need fuel, barrels of explosives or some other type of flammable element like magnesium or barrels of explosives and the tag was just a safety measure as it could be released from a distance. She didn't know how powerful they were and what chance she had against them but maybe if she could separate them and take one out, would the other would flee?

Her hand lay flat against the waters surface pushing a little it stayed floating, reassuring herself she slowly pulled her self out of the water and sat on her knees letting the water slink back in the ocean. From all her playing around with the high of having so much chakra last night she still had slightly more than usual coursing through her coils. She had never released chakra from her knees before, it was odd and required more focus than her hands and slowly her feet mimicked her hands and she sat back on her haunches. It took slightly more effort than her feet she learned after standing, but it was something to work with as she slowly and silently as possible readied her shuriken. She looked at the blades suddenly sick at the thought of taking life, if she could that was, surely she was enough to make them retreat if she couldn't take one out though...

We don't have many options, Inner stated focused entirely on the outside world for once, it was true. With the explosive tag left too many variables and questions the only option would be to try and defeat one, get them to chase her if that was possible, or while battling them make enough ruckus that one of the builders would notice and send word to her teammates. As far as she was concerned she couldn't escape now that they knew she had seen them, she wasn't even fast enough to scale the pillar and warn the builders, either way she had to act because there was still that missing fuel that was needed to take down the bridge and she highly doubted those two were just there chatting with an explosive note in hand.

A sudden image distortion of the oceans color and lethargy course through her had her discarding all thoughts for the moment as she dispelled the genjutsu. Only to instantly pale as the female shouted her location to the male instantly he went for her dodging her thrown shuriken. Genjutsu was used to insert chakra in the victim's brain then using that send them into illusions of different variety depending on the jutsu, some illusion techniques worked on large bodies of area which was an all area effect jutsu. The male was fast drawing out a katana from his back and swiping down, she narrowly avoided injury even as the fabric of her dress ripped from her shoulder to her hip. She threw more shuriken jumping back with aid of chakra enhancing her leaps into large bounds, she was thankful for once that she hadn't grown into her chest, the aerial weapons were batted away with ease.

"F-uck," she gritted out adrenaline pumping full time as she blocked sloppily with her kunai and received a cut on her forearm.

He kept coming never once stopping to slow his movements that she was now hard pressed to keep up, she needed to make ruckus and simply dodging his attacks wouldn't do. Switching it up a bit she watched his body intently as she blocked with her dominant arm kunai clutched tightly, her other arm slipped in her pouch frantically searching. It became easier, as she fumbled with her left hand to attach an explosive note to a kunai while still in the pouch and engaged, to see the pattern of which he attacked. Chakra burning fast as she pumped it continuously to her muscles in thin wire threads along her muscles, bounding back one last time she threw the kunai attached with the explosive note. Curling in midair she flipped in midair splashing in the water to where she swam as the explosion sent salt water up twenty feet, coming up she hid once again behind a pillar using her kunai to attach herself there instead of wasting anymore chakra.

The illusion took hold again, this time she wasn't going to release it and give away her position. That vein of thought was ruined when her vision started to swirl and she couldn't make out any sounds, releasing it she just barely managed to duck out of the way of the katana aiming for her neck. Jumping back she pulled out another kunai having left hers in favor of escaping, she couldn't hide for long as the female would place an area wide genjutsu the male would just release from himself, this would enable him to look for her while she was busy with the illusion. He blasted off the pillar at her, she rolled away just in time as it seemed she wasn't the only one that could enhance themselves with chakra manipulation.

It scared her, down right terrified her into action, she needed to get close enough to get the katana obsolete so his advantage of longer reach would be lost. Her muscles were straining with every blocked strike no matter how much better she was at blocking and anticipating his moves she lacked the physical ability to keep up without her chakra. At the rate this was going she could slip up or die from chakra exhaustion, one small mistake could end her life and she felt herself wearing down by the second, and it was taking all her chakra enhanced muscles and will power not to go flying with each hit. She didn't have many options, she had to be reckless because she wasn't fast enough so she had to do something unpredictable and spontaneous.

It was half baked in theory and wouldn't work with the slightest hesitation on her part. Even then it might not work and she could get a crippling injury but this was all she had at the moment and if she didn't do it now she wouldn't be able to have enough chakra to do it ten seconds from now. Steeling her resolve and determination both herself and Inner focused solely on the execution as she sent a great burst of chakra and surged her whole body at him, surprised he blocked her attack. Her kunai was covered in her chakra that stuck on his katana locking them together, using that leverage to kick, he blocked releasing one hand from the sword. Her other foot came, as he found his arm stuck to her foot having blocked it, with an explosive burst of chakra from her foot elected a sickening crack from his now broken arm. Rotating herself over the loosening blade as he released it she landed on the water bouncing as she allowed herself to sink a bit before catching the handle of the katana, as he backed up she swung cutting into his flesh deeply.

"Agh," he cried out stumbling as his left arm held the other broken one a slice cleanly cried crimson on his chest, ruthlessly pursuing him she impaled him in the stomach desperation leaving her to focus on movement and winning.

A sudden feral intensity entered his eyes as he disregarded all pain with gritted bloody teeth and punched her. Reeling back she pushed with the chakra at her feet against him as he tried another that skated her ear, tripping him with her foot he fell back into the ocean. It was crazy and half baked once again but she was running on rapidly diminishing adrenaline and did that first thing that came to her mind. She gripped the katana tightly pumping chakra from her hands into the water spreading it a good three feet around him. He bumped into her chakra like a fish in a jar she suddenly had a realization over what she had accomplished and spread it all over on the top drawing up all the chakra she could spare into this. There couldn't be any holes he punched the chakra it didn't waver, she didn't let it as a few bubbles came out and desperation filled his eyes as he felt around before trying to swim away, not able to move she growled lowly.

"No you don't," chakra came like a coiling snake from her left hand and snatched onto his leg moving up and around his body drawing him back fully under the barrier she had, even that cost her the edges of her vision darkening.

He thrashed hitting the chakra wall again with more force and being underwater he lost momentum, she curved the wall down stretching a bit before she concentrated more on it. Bubbles released from his mouth with blood like smoke rising up as he hit harder using chakra to enhance his muscles, she grunted but didn't waver this time. She couldn't as she formed a solid sphere of chakra round him before tightening the pressure stalling his movements. More air left, his eyes dimmed and body convulsed. Panting suddenly she slowly drew back the inner chakra that had held onto his body drawing it back into her system, it gave her a burst of energy to steady herself as she peeled the cage around the body up letting it sink and the katana slid out easily still held in her right hand.

Once she had recovered most of the chakra used in her first ever kill she looked around balancing on the balls of her feet suddenly realizing the female was gone. She panted for air as she stumbled to the pillar where her kunai stayed and collapsed against it hyperventilating. She had never strained herself so much with chakra manipulation, the tree walking from earlier this morning seemed like child's play now, her heart raced beating against her chest like a fist. All she could think about was his eyes and the life that left them because that was her killing him, drowning him under water while she sat above strangling him of life. She trembled turning on her side as she puked and stayed there curled up as she mentally chanted inhale and exhale.

It took a while before she calmed down enough to sit up right without the fear of puking, she closed her eyes as vertigo stayed her hand in standing up. Feeling her chakra levels she waited it out letting her reserves replenish just enough to be able to get her safely back on the bridge. Of course she stumbled when on the water and sat back down just focused on her chakra and breathing. She had never imagined her first kill would be that brutal and cold blooded to wait out another human beings death with her own hands and thinking back to the fight at the end of it. She had never moved so surely before when she was out to kill him.

So what next time we should just let ourselves be killed when someone stronger than us is the enemy and people are counting on us? Inner asked snidely she shook her head.

That wasn't what she meant, she thought to herself she was slightly afraid of the way she just knew he was going to die the moment she completed the reckless endeavor. The knowledge of knowing hadn't even bothered her in the heat of it she had just kept moving taking the katana and attacking. There hadn't been much of a difference in their age, judging from his size and youthful face, she buried her hand in her hair brushing out the tangles before being able to stand up. She swayed slightly before righting herself and looking into the waters, placing the kunai back into her holster on her thigh she turned to face the pillar before glancing over her shoulder.

She felt a coldness sweep her, it was in part of the conditioning from the academy and in part of logically it had happened and there was nothing to it. Never mind she had killed but at that moment when they had been at each others throats to kill the other something had taken over. Something that was certain she wouldn't lose and a guilty part of her wished it would always be like that. She made it half way up before realizing the weapon still clutched in her right hand, debating whether or not to keep it left her hesitant.

In the end she left it imbedded half way up the pillar so only a small group could reach it, herself included if she ever decided to get it between now and leaving wave. The creepy teeth tied at the end of the hilt by a wire clinked together every time a small wind passed it.

Yep, Inner said brushing off her hands pointedly ignoring the sound, never coming back for it.