Naruko, Elemental Nation's Traveling Mage

Sakura wiped her mouth as she threw up for what was hopefully the last time. That casually sadistic nurse hadn't come back yet, but when she did, well, Sakura had a few choice words for her. Although, she did feel much better, and the stiffness in her body was almost gone. She still couldn't move very well, but at least she could relax with a bit more success.

With her need to vomit out-of-the-way for the moment, Sakura turned her head slightly, ignoring the phantom pains that had become more prominent as the poison released its firm grip, and tried to see if she could make out any hints of Akane's presence in the room.

Anyone who knew Akane would easily agree that the most easily noticed thing about her was the bright red hair she shared with her mother, so Sakura made sure to look for that. Squinting her eyes, Sakura tried to rid her eyes of the blur it had acquired due to her earlier fatigue and bout of throwing up and searched the side of the room she could see with her gaze. The only other easily noticed presence was a heavily bandaged blonde girl, who, if Sakura remembered correctly, went by Temari.

She was about to give up, but stopped herself when she saw a little bit of red hair falling off the side of a bed that was mostly out of her sight. Her sense of urgency overwhelming her own self-concern, Sakura slowly tried to raise herself to get a better view.

Sakura frowned to herself as she felt her sore muscles act up with the movement, making her wish she had been given a painkiller. After a little bit of struggle and some small pants, Sakura was able to push herself off the bed enough to see Akane's face.

Sakura gasped in sadness as she witnessed the black and clue mess that was Akane's face. It looked to be healing quite rapidly, which was strange in itself, so Sakura could only begin to imagine what her face had looked like when she had first got there.

"What are you doing up?"

Sakura gasped once more, this time in surprise, as she felt her elbows give out from under her, and drop Sakura back to her regular position on the bed, quite painfully. Sakura, trying to ignore the pain in her back and the headache in her head, turned towards the voice and saw the nurse from earlier, giving her a questioning look that held no small amount of concern.

Somewhere deep inside, Sakura felt her respect for the lady rise as she realized that the women still held the customary care all nurses seemed to have, even if it seemed to be slightly twisted.

Sakura raised her hand shakily and pointed towards where Akane lay, "That's my friend, I needed to see her." Sakura was actually surprised at how weak her voice sounded. Actually, now that she realized it, she felt a lot weaker than she had before vomiting all that excess poison.

The nurse only glanced to where Sakura was looking, before putting all hr attention into Sakura's shaking appendage, which was subsequently dropped as Sakura felt the strain become to strong.

Instead of being panicking like Sakura had feared, or maybe a grim shake of the head, the nurse smiled at her in a comforting manner that seemed to quiet any nerves Sakura had been feeling.

The nurse coughed a bit, before saying, "Don't worry, this is normal. Your body has ejected all the poison and has now prioritized healing itself. Since it's using most of its energy healing the nerves and damaged muscles, you won't have much energy to do any tough physical things for long."

Sakura nodded, before suddenly narrowing her eyes in suspicion, "Why are you acting so nice all of a sudden? No offense, but you came of a bit sadistic earlier."

The nurse giggled, and Sakura couldn't help but realize how similar it was to the one before, before answering, "Oh, I just get a bit cranky when people put themselves in unnecessary danger, especially danger that could kill them. I'm calmed down now, so, I'm sorry for being so scary."

Sakura nodded, appeased, "It's okay, I forgive you."

The nurse nodded as her eyes closed, "That's great. Just don't do it again." Sakura shivered as a Grim Reaper appeared behind the nurse, her threat becoming a visible entity for a split second. The entity disappearing, the nurse checked a few things off her board, before turning back and heading towards the doorway once more.

Sakura called out, "Wait. I have a question," The nurse looked back at Sakura over her shoulders, before she continued, "Could you, y-you know, um, move a bit closer to my friend Akane? I'd like to be there for her when she wakes up."

The nurse seemed to think it over for a second, before sighing, and turning completely around and heading towards Sakura, "Don't tell anyone I did this or I might get into trouble. You're lucky that the Chunin Exam is going on, or there would stricter protocol."

Sakura hissed as she was picked up by the nurse and carried over to the bed beside Akane. Gently laying her down, the nurse smiled one last time, before walking out, successfully this time.

Sakura smiled slightly a she watched the nurse leave. She was scary when mad, but that comforting smile she had just really amazed her. It was like talking to an angel with how skilled she was at comforting her fear and worries.

Shaking off the thoughts, Sakura turned her head and looked at Akane again, taking the almost completely healed face with worry. Even with how fast her skin was healing, which was questionable in itself, Sakura was scared that it might not be working for the inside as good as it was working on the inside.

Underneath that worry, a small flame of glorified anger arose, pelting Sakura's subconscious with images of taking revenge against the person who did this to her.

She could on guess that it was that blonde girl, Naruko, who she had met during the mission to Wave. If what she saw happen there was any reference to how strong Naruko was, Sakura didn't even know where to begin with her "revenge".

Sakura gazed up at the ceiling and tried to wonder how a fight between her and Naruko would go. Sakura cringed as her wounds acted up, apparently even thinking about fighting that monster made her feel pain.

Sakura was shocked as she heard the door to the large room she was in fly open on its hinges with a loud crash as the door hit the wall. Not knowing what to do, Sakura tried to fain sleep, hoping that whatever was happening would sort itself out without her.

Kushina barreled through the door of the infirmary, uncaring of the complaining nurses around her. Her mind was set on one thing and one thing only, her daughter Akane. Walking into the room, Kushina's calm manner and precise and graceful stature betrayed the amount of anger and worry that was coursing through her veins at that moment.

All she could think about was how bad her precious baby needed her to be there for her. Kushina's eyes glistened in unshed tears as she thought about her hurt little girl wrapped up in horrible hospital gauze. Kushina looked around the room and quickly spotted the red hair that was one of Akane's best features.

Racing over to her, Kushina noticed the pink-haired girl, Sakura, laying down in the bed beside her, asleep. A strange feeling rose inside the depths of her stomach as she looked down at the girl. A part of her liked Sakura for the sole reason of her being one of Akane's friend, but another part of her wanted to strangle the unconscious girl right then and there, regardless of any consequence. If it wasn't for the pink haired girl's lousy skills and her lack of good training habits, Akane wouldn't have had to help train such a worthless piece of Kunoichi back-wash.

Kushina shook her head as she decided not to actually attack the girl. It wouldn't be good for her relationship with her daughter if she killed someone who Akane felt deserved her precious time, and it probably wouldn't go well with all the people who would undoubtedly witness something. Turning back to Akane, Kushina's eyes softened and her anger quieted as saw her baby's fresh face, looking as if she had washed the bruises off like they were simply dirt. Sitting in the chair used for visitors, Kushina scooted up until she was almost touching the side of the bed with her kneecaps.

Sighing softly, Kushina stroked Akane's cheek with a smile on her face, "Oh sweety, your always getting into trouble aren't you? Heh, you are so like you father."

Kushina narrowed her eyes as she leaned over and hugged the unconscious form of Akane, "Why do you make Mommy worry so much about you? You should be stronger than this. Is it because of the pink failure holding you back? Is she making you hurt yourself?"

Kushina pulled back and stared at Akane with a crazed glint in her eye, "Don't worry, your mommy will kill any body who tries to harm you. Especially that blonde demon who seems to have made it her job to ruin this family!" Kushina finished with a murderous voice.

With a softer voice, Kushina continued, "Yeah, you just wait, Mommy will make sure that you become the best that you can be."

With her fill said, Kushina laid her head down on Akane's stomach and started stroking the red-haired girl's hand, her mind blissfully relaxing in the presence of its most treasured person.

Sakura scream in her mind as she hears this frightening conversation. Sakura and Akane's mom hadn't interacted much over the last month, but from what she had seen and how Akane talked about her, Sakura had pictured someone who was kind, caring, yet strict.

Yet, apparently, that image was entirely false, for what she was hearing now could only be the true personality of Kushina. The woman she couldn't help but overhear was nothing short of insane.

Sakura had originally tried to keep playing sleep so that she could let the mother of her friend care for Akane in peace, yet now she continued the act completely based on fear. She didn't even know what would happen if she decided to "wake up" now.

It didn't help that Sakura had been almost physically struck with the palpable murderous intent coming from Kushina. Sakura just wanted to cry and break down over her uselessness. Her friend's mother was psychotic, yet she couldn't do anything to warn her.

For who would believe that their mother was a raging psychotic who had no care for anyone but their own daughter? Even in her mind, Sakura could see that any kind of conversation leading up to that kind of revelation would leave Sakura's relationship with Akane strained, even if it was proven true.

So, now Sakura was trapped in a corner with no way out that lead to a conclusion that left Sakura with no consequences. She could just not tell Akane, and let her mother go about her psychotic business, but something inside Sakura told her that wasn't the best idea.

Sakura pushed down the thoughts, deciding this wasn't the time to be considering these type of decisions.

Suddenly, the Arena Hospital's door was slammed open with great urgency, interrupting both Kushina and Sakura from their mental escapades. Curious as to what was going on, Kushina looked up from her daughter and stood up, craning her neck to see what was happening.

A small form dressed in a crazy blue outfit was stretched out over the bed, a number of Med-Nins scurrying around the form, checking up on him. Realizing who it was, and who he affiliated himself with, Kushina let a grin filled with sadistic glee and impending doom slip onto her face and slowly started walking towards the bandaged figure with the blood lust of a shark coursing through her.

Rose and Masuku were struggling to keep up with Naruko, as she strode through the dark hallways, uncaring of anybody she passed. Naruko only had one thought in her mind, and that was Bickslow, and how badly he had been hurt.

He may have been a Mage, a rather strong one for his youth, but he still lacked experience compared to ninja who trained from a young age. There was also his young age to account for, and a part of Naruko couldn't help, but berate herself for actually going through with this. Now that she thought about it, this entire plan was stupid in the first place, purely driven by the fact she wanted to finally face her sister in some "epic" showdown.

All she did was get Bickslow, someone who she cared for, hurt and all of them in a dangerous position. How were they going to get out of Konoha with an injured person? Even with Bickslow, they would have to face a battalion of ninja, all of them strong in their own right, and Masuku didn't even have her Magic down completely.

There were times Masuku's concentration slipped and made her mess up, and her acting skills weren't something she could rely on during battle. It also isn't likely that Konoha would just let them leave without a fight now that they had shown off their individual skills.

No village would let such powerhouses leave their grasps without a struggle, and it didn't help that they weren't affiliated with or backed up by a strong village. Naruko pushed down the thoughts of the uncertain future, and tried to start thinking about how to deal with the most definite problem, Bickslow.

After Neji had hit him with that last hit, Naruko had felt a change in Bickslow's Eternano system, yet she wasn't able to figure out if the change was in a good way or a bad way during the short time she had been given. That was why she was so worried. Regardless of how it may affect Bickslow, Naruko knew that he was in pain, and that gave her plenty of reason to worry.

Masuku panted slightly as she tried to keep up with Naruko's long and fast paced strides. A part of her couldn't understand the necessity for being this worried over Bickslow after what seemed like a normal K.O., but she still felt irritated from the entire thing happening. While she might not have known Bickslow as well as Rose and Naruko, Masuku really liked Bickslow.

He was always rather silent and calm, always polishing his dolls up on a branch somewhere while Naruko and Rose trained themselves and helped Masuku with her own Magic. It just made her feel so bad when she thought about how Bickslow was so excited for his match, and prepared to win it like his teammates. Then that mental picture of Bickslow's face as he crumpled from his defeat and eventual unconsciousness would follow, and make Masuku feel even worse.

Yet, that feeling in her stomach fueled her resentment towards that pale-eyed guy from earlier. She wanted to do something to him that he would never forget, like putting ants in his braided hair, or purple dye in his shampoo bottle.

Yeah! That would make him think again before hurting Bickslow or anyone from in her new family again! Now she would just have to find out where he lived...and where to collect ants...and how to get a hold of his shampoo.

While Masuku's righteous anger was fueling more innocent and low-key plans of action, Rose's was fueling plans that would leave Neji without the ability to have children, or successfully use Chakra ever again.

She didn't even pay any mind to the quick pace she was having to match, for her mind was on the brink of being overcome by the invasive anger that had came on as the shock of seeing Bickslow be defeated left her system.

It wasn't only the fact that Bickslow had his dreams of winning alongside her and Naruko crushed and had been hurt that made her angry. It was also that fact that Bickslow was hurt by a MAN! A stupid guy who didn't even have a chance of being half the man Bickslow was!

Rose felt what Naruko had said about being more accepting of the other sex burn out of her mind momentarily as she made plans to eviscerate Neji. Right after she checked up on Bickslow and made sure he was okay, Neji was dead, regardless of-

Rose stumbled as Naruko stopped in her tracks, Masuku stumbling to a stop a second later, breathing small pants of relief. As one, Rose was able to tear through the redness that had consumed her sight, and Masuku was able to catch her breath. Both of them looking at what stopped Naruko, made them mimic Naruko's stillness, all three of them going through a reaction at the sight of the person in front of them.

An uncharacteristically worried looking Neji.

The first one to wake up from her shock of seeing Neji, was Rose, who wasted no time in attacking. Jumping forward, Rose threw caution to the wind, as her hair elongated and sharpened into thousand individual iron needles that had sparks of electricity sparking from one to another. Neji had no time to react with anything other than closing his eyes as he resigned himself to getting struck and most likely killed.

He was most likely going to die now, and there was nothing he could do about it. His dream of proving the branch family was superior to the main family was about to die here, along with himself. As what seemed like minutes ticked by, Neji found that there was still a weird lack of pain. Cautiously opening his eyes, Neji was shocked to see a giant circle of darkened glass protecting him.

The strands of hair that had struck the protective shield were stuck in its grasp. Rose was as shocked as he was, if her widened eyes were any indication. Both Rose and Neji watched as the darkened glass folded back up into itself and returned to its slick and liquid form. Sinking down, the shadow returned to the floor and skirted back towards Naruko's and retook its earlier and natural position.

Rose, turned around and leveled Naruko with a confused, but angry glare, "Naruko! Why are you protecting this guy?! He hurt Bickslow! He hurt our teammate!"

Naruko returned Rose's glare with a calm stare hat held a thin layer of ice, "This isn't the time to be avenging Bickslow. Right now, the most important thing is seeing if Bickslow is alright."

Rose's hair writhed in anger as her Magic fluctuated, "No! This guy h-he hurt Bickslow! He deserves death! Please, let me kill him!"

Naruko walked forward, disregarding the strands of hair that waved around threateningly, "Rose. I love Bickslow as much as you do. That is why I am not going to waste my time here and attack Neji with unfair anger."

Rose gritted her teeth, "Unfair? Unfair!? This is totally fair! Bickslow's in pain because of him! Why won't you do something about it!"

Throughout all of this, Neji had been silent. When he had first seen the Fairies, he had been worried. From what he had seen, they were thick as thieves and didn't take kindly to someone beating on one of their own. Yet, Naruko seemed to be holding her teammate's health as more importance than how Neji had been the one to do it to him. The silver-haired girl, however, had no qualms about it.

Naruko closed her eyes, softly sighing, before opening them and looking at Rose. Rose flinched as she saw the commanding iciness that had replaced the irritated calm from earlier. The sight of those dreadful eyes shocked Rose with enough fear that her anger took a back seat.

"If I hurt the victor of Bickslow's match, sending him to the afterlife because of his official victory, how would Bickslow feel about that, hm? How would you have felt if you lost that match with Temari? It would have made you feel pretty bad, and it wouldn't have made you feel any better if I went there and crushed her skull in. No, I will not spit on the sanctity of this official fight, one that all of us joined knowing the challenge."

Rose opened her mouth to argue, but closed it as she found she couldn't say anything else. Her anger towards Neji was still present, but Naruko had reminded her of who she was supposed to be focused on. Bickslow was hurt, dangerously if Naruko's persistence and worry implied anything, and she needed to be there for him. Rushing forward, Rose bypassed Neji and ran towards the Medical Bay at full speed, following the helpful signs.

Naruko watched her go and started following suit, Masuku right behind her. As Naruko walked past Neji, he said, "I appreciate your help." It was said in his customary cold voice, yet there was some underlying genuine gratitude.

Naruko stopped, and before Neji knew what was happening he was roughly pressed against the tunnel wall, Naruko's hand firmly grasping his collar. Opposed to her understanding way of speaking to Rose, Neji was surprised to see deep anger in Naruko's eyes.

She glared at him for a while, before muttering lowly, "Neji, I understand that my anger right now is unfair, and that it could have easily been you in that bed, being worried over by your teammates, but you're not, our Bickslow is," Naruko leaned closer to him, her mouth next to his ear, "I don't know the next time either me or Rose will see you or meet you in this big wide world, but you better hope that I get over this before we do. Because, if we don't, your dead."

Releasing Neji, Naruko also began following the set path laid down by the convenient signs, Masuku following. Neji watched her go, his cold attitude temporarily misplaced as his eyes openly showed the sadness he felt as he saw one of his last chances for true freedom walk away. He raised an arm in an attempt to bring her back, but stopped himself, seeing as Naruko had already turned the corner and was now out of sight.

Lowering his arm, Neji's eyes froze over, and his melancholy expression was covered by a sheet of indifference. However, under this glacial personage, lay a new fire within him that threatened to consume him. He was close to having his freedom, and he wouldn't let anyone get in the way of it. He just needed to get stronger, and when he was skilled enough, he would take his freedom with force if he had too!

Kushina's smile was filled with acidic happiness as she watched the nurses around Bickslow disperse, all of them deciding that they had done what they could and only time would tell if he would survive. None of them paid attention tot he red-haired woman who was walking in a snail pace.

Kushina couldn't kill a Konoha Shinobi without repercussions, but a friend of that demon was fair game. Even if Naruko and her group of bandits would try to attack Kushina, they wouldn't get very far with the amount of forces Konoha had. Actually, the only real problem with the entire thing was the Hokage being irritated at having to explain to the other officials, why one of his Kunoichi murdered a person from the outside.

Yet, she couldn't care less about Hiruzen's problems right now, fore Akane's future health took precedence. Walking to the side of the boy's bed, Kushina's hand went to her Kunai bag, and grabbed one of the versatile metal tools. Holding it, Kushina felt the cool metal against her palm, and a small part of her wondered about how wrong this entire thing was.

She was about to kill defenseless little child over what he might do in the future, but this part of Kushina was consumed by the larger part of her, the part that had dealt with many dark things over the years of being a ninja.

Holding out the Kunai, Kushina placed it right above the blue boy's neck. With an exultant smile, Kushina said aloud the last thing that would be spoken to the young lad, "As they say, 'the friend of my enemy had bad taste in friends'."

However, what Kushina didn't expect was the door suddenly being slammed open. Glancing quickly, Kushina's pupils turned into pinpricks as she saw a silver-haired girl, who she remember was one of the members of the Fairies, looking right at her in shock. Turning back to the boy, Kushina thrust her arm back, and released it, sending her arm, kunai in hand, towards the boy's neck.

However, Kushina's atrocious act was stopped by a sudden blunt force that hit her across the room, sending her crashing against the wall. Kushina coughed as she stumbled upwards, before leveling glare at the stupid girl who had ruined her plan. Kushina felt her Chakra Chains sprouting from her arms and hands, as she made ready to deal with both Fairies. This might just be a blessing in disguise.

Rose felt the rage she had wanted to unleash against Neji come full forth as she watched the nasty woman with red hair stand up from her spot on the floor. The fact that the wall behind her lacked any mark spoke of the rather low amount of force Rose had been able to put into her attack.

Really, she would have loved to just make the hair sharp and stab the woman to death, but she hadn't had time to do that if she wanted to save Bickslow. She had only managed to make her hair iron in the last second, and even then it wasn't as solid as she wanted it to be. However, now her hair was sharpened to her liking, and even had reddened and steaming tips on the end, the heat coming off from them making it glow.

A tense silence swept through the room as Kushina and Rose stared each other down. Both filled with the intent to kill the other, yet both waiting for the other to begin. Then, suddenly as if a switch was flipped, Rose's hovering natural weapons suddenly lashed out towards Kushina. Rose watched in concentration as her mini spears ran straight ahead towards her enemy, the only thought in her mind was killing the woman who dare attack Bickslow in such an underhanded way.

To her surprise, as she hadn't expected much from the woman, her adversary easily dodged the attack with a collection of precise movements. It seemed as if she had picked each and every single place the hairs were going to strike, and perfectly triangulated the safest place to be, only getting hit slightly by a few stray ones she had missed. Rose almost thought she was in over her head with this one, and was momentarily struck with fear, but the recurring anger struck once more and her confidence rose along with it.

However, even with this new found bravado, Rose couldn't help, but feel a strike of nervousness when she saw the grin of victory on the woman's face. Her eyes widened as she recognition of two things hit her, one, the woman in front of her was Naruko's mother, Kushina, and two, the hair that she had struck out with was lodged so deeply in the wall, she couldn't get it free.

Tugging, Rose desperately tried to free herself, and started to try even harder, her anger reinforcing each strain, once she saw Kushina start making her way towards her, the woman's intentions clear to see. However, in the recesses of her panic, Rose realized something.

Grinning in renewed confidence, Rose pumped up the amount of heat in her hair, and while before only the tips were red hot, the entire thing was now pumped with the heat, making the small area between them, where Kushina was walking with a devious grace of panther, a very dangerous place to be.

Kushina smiled as she walked towards Rose. She felt an eager ball of energy pulse within her as she got closer and closer to her prey. With this kill, she would ensure that, not only would her daughter grow up in a safer place, but she would also be taking something important away from Naruko, specifically, that boy and this girl in front of her.

It was only fair after all, Naruko had come in and disrupted her happy life with Akane, so she would interfere with the relationship between Naruko and her loved ones, and nothing said "Relationship Fallout" like death. Kushina's smile turned into a manic grin as she felt her body almost start to burn at the idea of finally pulling out on top.

Actually the feeling was increasing, and it was starting to hurt. Kushina screamed as the edges of her clothes started to smoke, her skin beginning to smoke as well. For a second, she was confused as to what was happening, but a sudden clarity hit her. Gritting her teeth from the pain, Kushina looked at the hair strands she had skirted through, and wasn't surprised to see them all glowing red with heat.

Finally letting go, out of Kushina's mouth came a scream of pain mixed with anger, a sound that made Rose visibly flinch. Forgetting her surroundings, Kushina ran like a bull towards the trapped girl, kunai in hand, her rage having consumed her common sense and reason.

Rose gasped at the sudden move, and tried to get herself dislodged from the wall. After a bit of struggling, something came loose, and Rose was finally, and ungracefully, dropped to the ground, her hair slithering out from their earlier rigid spots, which were now softened from the intense heat they were in direct contact with.

Falling to her back, Rose's breath was knocked out of her violently. From her position on the ground, trying to get any amount of air in, Rose was subjected to the sight of Naruko's mother rushing at her without any hint of emotion, except rage.

Those eyes stuck something in Rose's soul, threatened her, and dared her to move from her spot. Finally gasping in fear, the terror she felt mixing with her relief from finally breathing, Rose found herself still unable to move. It was just like when those bandits had ambushed her.

She hadn't been able to even scream then, and it seemed she wouldn't be able to now. Would she die a soundless death? No great counterattacks? Not even a last ditch effort? What about Bickslow? This woman obviously wasn't going to stop with her. She had to protect Bickslow! She had to! Yet, she couldn't. The fear. It had already taken root and trapped her, binding her to the spot she had landed on earlier.

She didn't feel like a Mage with amazing power right now, no, she felt like a scared little girl who was in over her head. Kushina was only a few feet away now, and in a while, Rose would only be a memory. Her hopes, her dreams, her future, and her past, all lost, in one second. When she had thought about the possibilities of her dying, she had always imagined a time of clarity that would give her insight on all the things she had struggled with in her life.

Yet, the only thing she could thing about was that she...she...she wanted her mama!

As Kushina put her arm back for the stab that would end Rose's life, she was suddenly stuck by something hard and dark.

From her space on the floor, Rose finally let the tears come down as she saw the huge fist made out of shadows strike Kushina, knocking her, once again, against the wall, which was now riddled with hairline cracks.

A/N: Hello! This probably wasn't updated as fast as you wanted, but at least I didn't take a month or two again, right? Well, I will make this quick and say that I hope you give me some feedback on this in the form of reviews. They give me motivation to continue writing and rapidly start and continue on the next chapter.

Also, as you can see, Neji's spot on the Fairy Tail Team isn't as certain as it was earlier in this story's production. I think, as I was beginning this story, I was a bit rash in pulling in so many different characters into the Fairy Tail group, before I had even gotten the plot really going. So, as of now, all earlier promises of characters who were promised a spot are now up in the air once again. They may still be accepted and placed into the group, but as of now, I am not promising anything.