At this point in his life, Ash was generally regarded as a rational, logical person. Most of the time, common sense was his guide. He was a little ashamed to admit that it wasn't his primary motivator in jumping down to save Team Seven from their Sound foes. He knew on an integral level that he was doing this just because he felt like it, as some token action of rebellion against the system that dictated his life. Sure, he was acting only with the express consent of his siblings as well, not putting them in danger without their agreement, but he was still doing this for a primarily selfish reason. Whether or not Temari and Kankuro willingly entertained that selfishness didn't change that.
But as Ash dived towards the forest floor between Zaku and Sakura, he figured it was too late to worry about it now. Ultimately, his team needed to gather headbands from their enemies, and this was a good opportunity to do so. As long as he didn't let his personal feelings get in the way of achieving the mission, it wasn't doing harm—it was just a different road toward the same end goal. Besides, it was better to attack their enemies when they were winded and distracted.
Fully intent on carrying out his irrational aims as rationally as possible, Ash attacked on entry, foregoing any sort of dramatic entrance that would give away his advantage. Unfortunately, there was nothing subtle about fire attacks, especially when they were green, and Zaku saw the telltale glow of the menacing flare quickly enough to backpedal out of the way and towards his teammates, avoiding the blast of flame as it scorched the ground where he'd been standing a moment prior.
Zaku looked particularly agitated as three new opponents came between his anger and the girl who'd bitten him like a rabid dog. His teammates, on the other hand, looked genuinely surprised to see Ash's team acting as reinforcements.
Ash spoke for his team as soon as his feet touched the forest floor. This whole operation had been his idea, after all. "Alright, since I'm not much for heroics, here's the deal: we're taking your headbands, prepare to fight."
Zaku didn't take this bravado well. "You've got to be kidding me with this shit. I'll turn your whole team into stains on the grass!"
Before any of the Sand siblings could offer a retort, Dosu cut in from his position to the side. "Hold it, Zaku. This is a battle we'd be better off avoiding if possible.
The entire Sound team knew why this was the case. Unlike their Sand counterparts, they knew they would be allies during the invasion. Killing each other now would just harm their own strength in the long run. Even so, Zaku wasn't happy to be interrupted, and regardless of the situation, they couldn't leave until they'd completed their mission.
"What about our orders, Dosu? An excuse like this won't get us off the hook!"
Knowing full well that his teammate was right, Dosu came to stand beside him as he faced the Sand team. "We're willing to avoid a conflict here, on one condition. We cannot leave Sasuke alive. Short of that, there's no reason this has to come to blows."
After glancing over his shoulder to eye the dark-haired Uchiha lying unconscious beside Narumi, Ash returned his gaze to Dosu with a cocked eyebrow. "You specifically want to kill Sasuke Uchiha? You don't care about getting headbands for the test? I'm sure I don't need to point out how suspicious that is."
"And I'm sure I don't need to point out that you've no reason to care. What difference does it make to you?"
"My team has to secure three headbands. Why let your perfectly good ones walk away?"
Dosu gestured at the unconscious Leaf ninja scattered around the battlefield. "You've got everything you need right here. As I said, all we care about is Sasuke himself. You can have both his headband and those of these other Leaf ninja for all we care."
Ash's brow furrowed in consternation as he contemplated Dosu's offer. It was clear that these Sound ninja had some ulterior motive completely separate from the Exams, but Dosu was right in saying Ash had no reason to care. It didn't concern the Sand village what they were up to, at least as far as Ash knew. Right now, all that mattered to the Sand team was passing this Exam, and to do that, all they needed was foreign headbands. If they could get them without having to risk a fight at all, that was a good deal. Great, even...
His hesitant thoughts were disturbed when someone grabbed hold of his hoodie from behind. While all of the Leaf ninja were somewhere behind Ash right now, only one of them was actually conscious, so it wasn't hard to guess the identity of this person.
Sakura, covered in bruises and blood, looked pleadingly up at him when Ash glanced over his shoulder. "Y-you can't agree to that! You can have all of our headbands, I swear, but please don't just stand there and let them kill Sasuke!"
Temari glanced back at the girl. "Offering your headbands without a fight only has value if you've got the strength to defend them from us. You're offering what we can take from you for free as payment."
"I-I know that, but... please, I'll do anything! Narumi's mom has money! I'll... I'll sabotage the other teams! Even other Leaf teams! There's got to be something you want! Just tell me what it is, and I'll do it!"
Ash frowned as he took in Sakura's begging. Some may have found it pitiful, but it was a display of honest desperation. Ash believed everyone had that buried in them somewhere. If he were in her position, too weak to save his brother or sister from certain death, he'd probably beg just as fervently for someone, anyone, to save them. But even though he understood her desperation, Ash couldn't really justify helping her out. Getting headbands without a fight was just the safest thing for his siblings. He wasn't going to ignore that reality just because a cute girl was begging him to.
Completely aside from his rationality, though, he wanted to help her out; to find a real reason why he shouldn't just take Dosu's offer. Then again, as he thought even harder about why the Sound team was so adamant about killing Sasuke, Ash realized that maybe he already had a good reason. He turned his attention back to the Sound team.
"I'd love to take you up on your offer. I mean, completing our objective without having to risk our lives at all sounds pretty nice. But I'll be honest: I don't trust you to really let things play out like that. The fact that you're out here targeting one specific guy means you've got some hidden objective completely separate from these Exams. You mean to tell me it's fine to leave witnesses? If one of these Leaf ninja survives all this, the Hokage is definitely going to learn that your team was out here with a special assassination mission against Sasuke. That's not going to be a problem for you or the person who sent you?"
Dosu's one exposed eye narrowed as he acknowledged this assessment. Orochimaru hadn't specifically told them to keep their mission a total secret, but this blonde brat was right—it might be a problem for their master if the Leaf learned about this hit. At the very least, it would draw greater suspicion to the Hidden Sound before the invasion.
"You're sharp, kid... fine, then. We kill Sasuke and all of his Leaf friends here. You still get their headbands, and we all go our separate ways without a fight."
Feeling the tension in the air grow thicker, Ash quietly prepared to leap into action. "And what if my team shares this incident with the Leaf?"
Dosu met Ash's gaze unflinchingly, though the diplomatic look in it changed to something much harder. He knew where this was going. Everyone did.
"...what reason would you have to do that?"
Ash noticed Temari and Kankuro tensing for a fight out of the corner of his eye. "It doesn't matter if we have one or not. The mere possibility that we could is too much of a risk for you to allow. Don't you think?"
The forest clearing grew deathly quiet as the two teams stared each other down, all of them aware of the inevitable now. It was just a matter of who would make the first move.
Ash beat his foes to the punch, unleashing a cloud of green flames towards the ninja across from him with a snap of his hand. Unfortunately, both Dosu and Zaku were quick enough to leap away from the surprise attack, and Zaku was quick to return fire.
"Finally, no more wasting time! Just die already!"
Pointing small holes in the palms of his hands at Ash and his siblings, Zaku unleashed a condensed blast of air. Not wanting to be caught in the blast and needing to keep Sasuke safe in this melee anyway, Sakura scrambled away from the attack and toward her fallen comrades. She wouldn't have needed to dodge, though, thanks to Temari, who quickly unfurled her fan and unleashed a jutsu of her own.
"Rumbling Fan Wind Wall!"
The two wind-based attacks clashed with considerable force, blasting away dirt and grass as they cancelled each other out. Kankuro took advantage of this temporary wall of force to release his heavily wrapped serpentine puppet, Basilisk. This deadly wooden snake was far more focused on melee combat than his old avian model had been.
The puppeteer sent his machine after Kin first, since she was the most vulnerable enemy at the moment. His slithering marionette was surprisingly fast, but even with her injured leg, there was enough distance between the war machine and herself for Kin to make a hasty retreat, jumping away before the faux serpent could latch onto her with its very venomous fangs. But even though she evaded the initial strike, Basilisk opened its mouth and launched a hail of senbon after her, forcing the kunoichi to take further evasive action.
Occupied on her end, it was up to Dosu and Zaku to handle their own foes, which consisted of an effective brother-sister duo. It was obvious who the close-quarters fighter was, so Dosu avoided Ash entirely to rush his sister instead, who would be understandably less difficult to face in melee.
Recalling what Dosu had done to the Leaf Genin that had tried to protect Sakura earlier, Ash wanted to intercept him, but he knew he had to distract Zaku first. With that in mind, he launched another wave of flame in Zaku's direction, hoping it would buy him enough time to counter Dosu's advance.
Unfortunately, Zaku countered Ash's attack with another blast of air, sending the green flames back at him, but with nearly twice the strength and speed with which they had been delivered. Ash inwardly berated himself for not doing the math on that before launching the attack.
Silently thanking Pakura for the plethora of useful justu she had taught him over the years, Ash quickly formed the hand-signs he needed to create an Earth-Style mud wall between himself and his own redirected attack. Not being a natural Earth Style user, it took a considerable amount of both chakra and effort, but it just barely repelled the blast of flame coming Ash's way. It was worth the cost.
It was obvious that Ash would have to leave Dosu to his sister; Zaku was just too dangerous to ignore. Unfortunately, his signature flames were not going to work against Zaku, so he would have to resort to more common forms of combat.
Leaping over the now hardened and cracked mud wall that had protected him, Ash launched four kunai with explosive tags at his foe, though he didn't expect them to actually hit their mark. They were just a distraction so he could set up his next move.
After all, it was obvious by now that Zaku's abilities made it easy for him to deflect projectiles and attacks that lacked substantial mass. Ash was pretty sure he could come up with such a projectile if he had a window of opportunity to do it.
As expected, Zaku deflected all four kunai with another blast of air from his hands, resulting in scattered explosions that harmed none of the battle's participants. But with a moment to perform the necessary hand-signs for a basic Earth style jutsu, Ash launched a decent-sized boulder at the Sound ninja, certain that this approach wouldn't be thwarted so easily.
Zaku made no move to avoid the attack. "Nice try, kid! Decapitating Air Waves!"
With a more condensed burst of air, Zaku blasted apart the rocky boulder heading his way, sending shards of it back towards the original caster. Forced to dodge his own attack yet again, Ash couldn't help but grumble to himself. "Alright, this is not working..."
Zaku's attacks so far made it clear that he could directly control the pressure of his wind attacks. If he could crank it up high enough to shatter a boulder, Ash doubted there was any projectile he could muster at his level to get around that. But getting close would be a hell of a challenge too: one hit from a pressure wave that powerful and Ash would be picking up chunks of his body from the dirt.
While leaping to avoid another blast from Zaku, Ash tried to analyze the current battle situation. Temari was having a hard time disengaging from Dosu's close-range assault, though she'd managed to stay unharmed so far. Kankuro couldn't get a hold of Kin, who was maintaining a fair distance from his puppet even with her injury. She was bleeding heavily and would probably be too fatigued to continue dodging soon, but for now, she was keeping Kankuro from helping out his team.
They were all matched up poorly. But that just meant they had to switch who was fighting who.
Temari was clearly capable of countering Zaku's long-range attacks, and Kankuro's puppet would greatly reduce the usefulness of Dosu's sound-manipulating gauntlet since he couldn't damage the hearing of an inanimate machine. As a close-range fighter, Ash would probably have an easier time closing in on the injured Kin. Their odds would improve significantly under those circumstances, so Ash shouted out to his siblings.
"Temari, Kankuro, switch up! I'll take the girl, you two switch opponents!"
Neither Temari nor Kankuro questioned these instructions. All three of the siblings had come to trust each other in combat implicitly. If one of them told the other to do something, they trusted that command to be in their best interest.
Launching kunai and shuriken at Dosu to force a dodge that would give Temari some breathing room, Ash leaped over the bandaged shinobi as Kankuro turned Basilisk towards him instead of Kin. As for Temari, she made sure to break Zaku's firing line to her brother as the blond turned his back on the Sound nin. Zaku was visibly agitated by this.
"What, he couldn't cut it, so a girl has to fight for him instead? Your team is just a total joke, huh?"
Temari didn't like being underestimated—she was arguably the strongest member of her team, depending on which traits were being considered, and yet, so many people assumed she was weak just because she was a young girl. Ah, well... she did enjoy the looks of shock she got from her opponents as she blew them away. It was sweet revenge, if nothing else.
"Trust me, girls from the Hidden Sand aren't nearly as frail and pathetic as these Leaf Genin. And considering that one of those Genin already made you bleed, it's obvious that you're no match for me."
Not one to take such insults lying down, Zaku aimed the palms of his hands at the sandy blonde now in his way. "Looks like all you desert rats are a pain in the ass... Slicing Sound Wave!"
Instead of using a jutsu of her own, Temari poured chakra into the third jutsu seal of her fan, unleashing its level three Squall technique towards her foe. She would have to recharge the seal with her own chakra later, but since it was charged already, it took only a minimal amount of it to activate the seal and its attack right now. It was by far one of the most useful aspects of her Tatsumaki fan.
Its five seals each released wind jutsu of differing levels with minimal chakra input from the wielder. Moreover, it possessed wind jutsu of a higher class than Temari could even muster with her own strength. Levels four and five were Class A and S jutsu, respectively, which were both far beyond Temari's ability at the moment. This system allowed her to punch far above her weight class. Of course, the jutsu still ultimately required the appropriate amount of chakra to be used, so even though Temari could activate the attack with very little chakra, she would have to recharge the seals with the actual amount before it could be used again. Since she currently didn't have enough chakra reserves in her entire body to fully charge the level five jutsu in one sitting, recharging that seal took days on her own. For this reason, she was ordinarily reluctant to bust out this attack. But she couldn't see a reason to hold back right now.
The level three Squall technique she unleashed had the equivalent power of a B-ranked wind jutsu befitting a strong Chunin or even a lower-level Jonin, easily overpowering Zaku's attack and launching the man directly into one of the gargantuan trees of the forest before he could even muster an expression of disbelief. Needless to say, Temari believed her point proven.
On Kankuro's end of things, he was having a good time harassing Dosu with his serpentine puppet. His foe had tried to close in on the puppeteer himself multiple times, but with Basilisk's diverse arsenal, Kankuro managed to keep Dosu at bay easily, and on defense no less.
Dosu's techniques specialized in destroying enemies internally, but that only worked against organic foes. Against a puppet, his only option was to try and crush the thing with taijutsu, but the mechanical snake was nearly impossible to land a hit on, and Dosu was wary of getting close to it anyway. He had very little experience fighting puppets, but he knew they were unpredictable and usually full of surprises.
This knowledge was proved over and over again as Kankuro attacked the Sound shinobi with his creation, Basilisk springing towards Dosu with its poisonous fangs. Though he could have tried to catch the weapon behind its head, Dosu was reluctant to risk that, so he instead blocked Basilisk's attack with his gauntlet, which was sturdy enough to withstand the strength of its bite.
But the serpentine puppet didn't retreat after its failed attack, instead clamping down harder so Dosu couldn't escape its range. With its long body still free, the human creation quickly produced a short blade from its tail and stabbed it towards Dosu's abdomen. Dosu defended himself by grabbing hold of the puppet's tail behind the blade with his free hand, though he struggled to hold it back.
Even then, the assault was not over. The sound of wooden slats sliding back drew Dosu's attention to the snake's head, where three thin rectangular openings had just appeared.
Fully aware that something was about to be launched his way, Dosu moved his captured arm to direct the attack away from him, though he cut it dangerously close, just barely avoiding a trio of shuriken that still clipped his ear.
Ignoring the pain, Dosu took advantage of his grip on both ends of the puppet in his arms and began pulling as hard as he could from both sides. If he exerted enough force, maybe he could damage its internal mechanisms with the strain.
Of course, considering that his hold on one end was actually the puppet's grip on him, Kankuro could have easily negated this approach by releasing Basilisk's bite on Dosu's gauntlet. But why do that when he had the upper hand? Activating yet another mechanism with a twitch of his finger, Kankuro watched in satisfaction as small, serrated blades sprang out from Basilisk along its entire torso, including the tail end that Dosu was holding with his unarmored hand. Though shallow, the sudden painful bite forced Dosu to let go of Kankuro's puppet, freeing its bladed tail. With that avenue of assault reopened, Kankuro quickly made Basilisk jab its tail into Dosu's stomach, eliciting a grunt of pain from the shinobi.
Before Kankuro could begin repeatedly stabbing his opponent with Basilisk's tail dagger, Dosu poured chakra into his legs to launch himself significantly further away from the puppeteer, and more importantly, beyond the maximum range of Kankuro's chakra strings, forcing the Sand Genin to release his opponent entirely. No matter—chasing down an injured man was no big challenge.
All of this was outside of Ash's mental scope at the moment, as he was too busy chasing Kin throughout some of the lower-hanging branches in the trees. She'd obviously heard him offer to take her on when giving instructions to Temari and Kankuro earlier, so Kin had gotten a significant head start in running away from Ash, who hadn't been in her face to start with.
Despite her heavily bleeding leg and growing fatigue, the dark-haired kunoichi was still surprisingly spry, managing to jump between branches and even climb higher into the trees, though she was barely a hair's breadth ahead of Ash. He'd quickly made up the difference between them, even with her significant lead.
He was just about to be in range to attack her with his flames, something Kin was obviously aware of as she did her best to keep tree trunks between her and Ash whenever she could. The next spot she landed on put one such trunk between them, with Ash on a branch a few feet lower than his target. Though the blonde knew he needed to wrap this up quickly, he stopped his pursuit for a brief second. He had at least one question he wanted to get an answer to. Glancing in the direction of his siblings, Ash saw that they were doing fine, and figured he could take at least a few moments to sate his curiosity.
Looking up to the spot Kin was hiding, Ash called out to her. "Before we get back to it, I've got to know—why'd you help me in the written Exam? I just can't figure out how that benefited you or your team at all. I figured I should just be grateful at the time, but now that it's in retrospect, it's driving me nuts."
She didn't show her face, but Kin's voice echoed back at him. Though it was riddled with barely contained strain, she actually sounded amused. "Oh, leverage? Kill me, and you'll never know the answer. Then it'll be something that drives you crazy when you're trying to sleep twenty years from now."
"Or maybe I'll just be irrationally angry about that and feel the urge to beat you to death?"
Clearly, Kin didn't buy into that. Not that Ash had tried very hard to sound convincing.
This time, the girl he was chasing peeked around the edge of her wooden shield, arching an inquisitive eyebrow at him. "If I say it's just because you're cute, do I still get barbecued?"
A little surprised to hear something flirtatious directed at him in a situation like this, Ash reciprocated the girl's expression. "If you say that or if that's the truth? Because I can say that I won't barbecue you, but that doesn't actually mean I won't."
Kin's cheeky smile disappeared behind the tree trunk once again. "Come up here and find out for yourself, hotshot. I don't bite."
Ash smirked, honestly feeling kind of bad that he might have to kill this girl. This was the first time he'd met someone with a similar energy to his own. It was refreshing to experience this type of back-and-forth. Still, he had an obligation to fight, and he doubted they would actually have a peaceful moment on that tree branch.
He readied a handful of kunai before leaping onto a branch that would give him an angle to get up to Kin's position. Jumping off that one, Ash wasn't surprised when several senbon came flying at him in midair. He threw two kunai back at Kin and used a third to deflect some of the incoming projectiles. Some of them flat-out missed him, though they flew by his ear with a suspicious ringing noise, almost like he'd dodged a bell instead of a lethal weapon.
Still airborne, Ash felt a wave of dizziness overtake him without warning, his vision swirling as his ears began to ring and his vision swam. It was all he could do to still land on the branch he was aiming for, and even then, he stumbled to his knees as soon as he landed.
Shit, he felt like he was going to be sick. Assuming this was a product of sound ninjutsu, it sure was terrifying. Unless you already knew to go into battle with earplugs, how would you avoid something like this?
On the bright side, he didn't seem to be as bad off as that jumpsuit kid who'd been downed by Dosu. Kin's sound-based disruption was unpleasant, and Ash certainly wouldn't want to try fighting like this, but he wasn't losing consciousness or literally falling apart. He could still see his foe's blurry figure at the far end of the branch he was on. As best as he could tell, she was trying to staunch the bleeding in her leg instead of attacking him again right away. A mistake that he fully intended to capitalize on.
He didn't need to aim all that well to incinerate her with a wide blast of fire, so Ash wasted no time gathering a familiar cold heat in his left hand. He was only half a second away from launching it when a powerful wave of chakra erupted somewhere below him, blasting wind and small debris in his direction. The appearance of this powerful chakra immediately drew his attention away from Kin, because of one thing Ash knew for certain: neither Temari nor Kankuro could have been responsible for it.
Unfortunately, turning his attention to the battle on the ground didn't reveal much thanks to the current state of his senses. All he could see was a swirling purple maelstrom and a bunch of blurry figures he could only guess the identity of based on color. But even though his hearing wasn't great right now either, he still heard Zaku yelling over the roar of the mysterious chakra, answering some question that had been asked too quietly for Ash to discern.
"I did! I messed up your worthless girlfriend here, and you're next! How do you like that?!"
Since she was closer to him, Ash could hear Kin sigh to herself. "Zaku, you damn idiot..."
A few other voices were too muddled for Ash to make out clearly, though it sounded like Dosu trying to rein in his teammate's destructive impulses. Based on Zaku's continued yelling at the current target of his wrath, it didn't work.
"I'll blow you all away with one attack! Extreme Decapitating Airwaves!"
Following this, the area was immediately subjected to a devastating explosion of air and pressure. Even among this roar, Ash managed to hear someone else clearly now that they finally spoke loud enough to allow it. This voice, surprisingly, belonged to Sasuke Uchiha, who'd been unconscious just a minute ago.
"Fire Style: Fire-ball Jutsu!"
Suddenly a wave of heat joined the pressure from Zaku's air wave. Of more importance to Ash was the fact that he could hear Kin again, and she sounded scared.
"Oh, that is a big—!"
Before the girl could finish her exclamation, the massive shockwave of an explosion from the ground below blasted Ash right off the tree he had been dormant on. He could only assume Kin had suffered the same fate as well, but at the moment, he was more worried about his siblings and himself. Even if Zaku and Sasuke had been ignoring the other combatants to attack each other, that blast had been potent enough to send Ash careening through the air, and he'd been far away from it in the first place. Temari and Kankuro had probably been closer to it.
But he'd be better served worrying about himself right now. He was flying through the air with blurry vision, with no means of effectively maneuvering himself. Even if he could move, he could barely see anything as he tumbled through the air. If he were going towards a tree, he couldn't really tell. He just had to hope for the best.
Unfortunately, the best included Ash clipping the side of a tree as he flew past it, eliciting both a grunt of pain and a disturbing popping sound as he bounced off the bark and glanced off another branch. He felt some skin being scraped off his forearm as he flew by, but compared to whatever had happened to his shoulder, that pain was negligible.
He had no way of knowing how far he'd been launched, but Ash knew all too well when he came to a stop, courtesy of his body slamming into the hard ground, the blackness of unconsciousness taking him almost immediately.
---
When Ash first awoke, he was not met with the surroundings he had expected. Upon regaining consciousness, he was met not by the Forest of Death, but wooden planks. The wooden planks of a ship, to be exact.
Standing on the deck of this ship were two metal-clad feet: his feet, upon closer inspection.
This dream feels familiar... why is that...?
Examining himself a little more closely, Ash realized that his entire body was covered in cumbersome metal armor, and that he was far too tall to be himself, or at least his real age. He was clearly a grown man in this dream, but he didn't feel like he was himself.
Analyzing the area around him, Ash found himself surrounded by other warriors dressed in defenses similar to his own, as well as strange war machines on both sides of the boat. The sails were marked with an unusually shaped golden lizard of some sort. No wonder this felt familiar: this was the setting of a nightmare he'd endured for years. This ship, these armored people—he'd seen them plenty of times in the world of sleep. But he'd never experienced it from this perspective, at least as far as he could remember.
"What are you gawking at, Malchus?"
Getting the feeling that the alien name was supposed to be his own, Ash turned toward the voice addressing him.
He was met with only another soldier, clad head to toe in steel just like he was. Everyone around here looked the same. Why would they be wearing full-face helmets if there was no fight going on? Then again, this was a dream. As weirdly real as it felt, it didn't have to make any sort of sense. But Ash was intrigued by this spin on it: usually, he saw all of this from a removed perspective, like an observing spirit, up until a point when everything went dark and the nightmare was driven by sound and sensation alone. He'd never been in the shoes of one of the dreamlike figures, and certainly not this lucidly. This may have been the first time he'd ever been actively aware that he was dreaming.
Ash knew that there was little point in asking a question in a dream. There was no way he would get an answer that meant anything, as it was limited by what his brain actually knew. But then, this was the first time the dream had ever been like this. Maybe his subconscious would have something new to offer if he probed it?
"Where are we?"
The figure before Ash didn't treat this as a stupid question."Your guess is as good as mine. As far as I know, we're in uncharted waters now. I don't see how Leinhardt's scum could possibly find us out here, but the Knight Commander has been uneasy nevertheless. Maybe he's just worried about the troops at Kallishire..."
This was new: Ash had never heard of these things during all of his other experiences with this nightmare. But then, he'd never been able to speak in the nightmare before. According to Pakura, you could only dream about things you knew, and Ash had never heard of these things before. Was this dream revealing knowledge buried deep in his subconscious, or was it just a twisted amalgamation of things he'd experienced in his life, cobbled together in a bizarre dreamscape that meant nothing at all?
"Leinhardt, Kallishire... what are those?"
The warrior speaking to Ash's avatar stared at him in confused silence for several moments. "Is that supposed to be a joke? Has a month at sea addled your mind?"
Ash shrugged, not sure how to respond, all things considered. This was why the situation was so strange: he was clearly dreaming of being another person. But he was fully aware that he was not that person. Usually, you were none the wiser to such things until you woke up. This kind of lucid awareness was a first for him.
Still, he had to say something. And if this was just a dream, he may as well be unapologetic.
"Yeah, it's the sea. I don't remember. Remind me."
After another moment of silence, his conversational partner shook his head. "I think you'd better see the cleric, Malchus."
Ash considered what else he could try to glean any insight from this unusual dream, if there was anything real to be gleaned at all, but he lost the chance to do so when someone's shout dominated the air.
"Enemy vessel, starboard side! To arms, men!"
Hey, he remembered this part. This was usually when the guy standing near the mast of the ship got killed. Ash glanced up, noticing that he was standing under the sails of his seafaring transport.
The spark of realization was cut short when Ash felt something slam into his gut, piercing all the way through his armor and pinning him to the mast behind him. Glancing down, he saw the long shaft of a massive arrow sticking clean out of him, blood seeping into the soaked wood near his wound.
Ash felt no pain from this, though he still lost control of his body, his arms slumping uselessly to his sides as his vision began to fade. The man he'd been talking to cried out in anguish and fury, turning his back on Ash's dying body as a number of leather-clad, thuggish brutes clambered onto the ship from origins unknown. The initial clash of steel between both forces was the last thing Ash witnessed before his surrogate succumbed to death, returning him to darkness.
Like every other time he'd endured this nightmare, the end of his vision did not spell the end of the dream. He heard the clang of metal weapons bouncing off of each other, roars and yells and grunts as men and women tried their utmost to kill each other. Screams of pain as they died at the hands of their foes, and the sickening lurch of the ship as it sailed through rough waters.
Eventually, all grew quiet, save for the labored breathing of a single individual and a rhythmic thumping akin to a beating heart. These were the final sounds Ash could discern before the dream pulled away from him entirely, and he lost all awareness of the self.
---
When Ash finally awoke from his strange and freakishly lucid dream, he found himself face-down on the forest floor of Training Area Forty-Four. He was back in familiar territory, but things were still amiss.
His mind was reeling from the connection he had made between his most recent dream and the nightmare he had always had. He didn't know what it meant or how much stock he could put into it, but he felt uneasy about it nevertheless.
But he had to focus on the here and now. The meaning of a dream would be moot if the dreamer was dead.
His eyesight was still distorted, and his head still hurt. Whatever Kin had done to him earlier was still affecting him. Trying to assess his situation, Ash concluded that he had been blown away by the powerful clash of jutsu between Sasuke Uchiha and Zaku. What had happened to his siblings was a mystery, but Ash was not worried about them quite so much—they'd possessed their full capabilities at the time of the explosion, so they had probably been able to create a sizable distance between themselves and the deadly blast.
Ash had been barely capable of movement after Kin's attack, putting him in a bad spot at the time. And speaking of that particular kunoichi, Ash could only assume she was nearby. She had been close to him at the time of the blast, so she should have been launched in roughly the same direction. Then again, she could have hit a tree further back than Ash did, so maybe she wasn't around at all?
Still, in his state of disarray, Ash was almost helpless. With his internal balance disrupted so severely, he had trouble standing, never mind walking. He'd either have to wait until the effect wore off or find some way to restore himself to equilibrium, not that he could think of any way to do that.
A familiar voice called out to him before he could think of a solution. "Hey... that was one crazy blast, huh? Ugh, I wonder how far we got thrown... ouch..."
Recognizing his prior opponent's voice a relatively short distance away, Ash turned his head in her direction. He thought he could see a blur that was likely her, so he spoke to that particular blob.
"Far enough... look, all things considered, I think at this point we should help each other out..."
"Eh, I don't see why I should...what do I need you for?"
Ash was honestly surprised to hear this, but he had a strong argument ready. "Aren't you literally bleeding to death right now? We're separated from our teammates; if either of us gets jumped alone, we're dead."
"And what's stopping you from killing me after I get you back on your feet? You won't need me after that."
Well, she had a point there. Ash could tell her to just trust him, but that would hardly work. They were ninja. Deception and betrayal were part of the job. You couldn't take anyone at their word, especially strangers. Sure, Ash and Kin had been fairly amicable toward one another, but they'd still tried to kill each other not long ago. They'd still pick their mission or their team over each other in a heartbeat.
"I'm not hurt as badly as you, but I'm wounded even aside from your sonic attack. Like I said, if an entire enemy team finds me alone, I'll have a tough time surviving. This sonic jutsu of yours is devastating; I have a much better chance of living if you're on my side, and I really want to see my family again. Seriously, I'm not the type who will die for my village. Getting back to my family is more important to me than any mission."
Kin was quiet for a few moments. Ash added an extra point to his proposition. "I also have medical supplies to treat your leg with. Enough to keep you from dying, but not enough to get you back to one hundred percent. I assume you don't want to die, either. Help me help you. We both need someone watching our backs right now."
Though another moment of silence followed, Kin eventually answered him. "Alright, fair enough. But if you kill me out here, I'll haunt you and your precious family for the rest of your life."
Ash watched Kin's blurry form move in his direction, crawling low to the ground. Her leg must have been worse than he thought. Her features got a little clearer when she got right next to Ash, but she was snapping her fingers next to his ear before he could note anything particular.
His ears, which had felt almost waterlogged up until now, drained with an itching sensation that forced a shiver out of the blonde. Unpleasant as it was, his vision began clearing almost immediately.
Shaking his head as he glanced over at his temporary ally, Ash noted that her skin was at least two shades whiter than it had been not that long ago. "Thanks. You look terrible."
With an enthused frown, Kin merely gestured at her inner thigh and the large bloody gash Sakura had left along it.
Knowing that needed to be handled quickly, Ash pushed himself off the ground with his one good arm, holding the injured one up close against his body. "How long does that jutsu you used on me with normally last?"
"About an hour."
"So we've been unconscious for less than that, at least. I have to ask, do you really not have any medical supplies to tend to a wound that serious?"
The slightly taller girl just shrugged tiredly. "No, I don't. Yes, it's a bad idea, in hindsight. Skip the lecture, will you?"
Ash obeyed the girl's wishes as he reached around to a pack at his waist and withdrew a substantial amount of bandages and a tourniquet. He handed the latter object to Kin to tighten around her own leg and staunch the bleeding. Once that was accomplished, he started wrapping the open wound in her leg as tightly as possible. Under normal circumstances, touching a pretty girl like this would have been flustering, but it was kind of hard to feel that way with all the blood and the dire situation.
Ash soon finished bandaging the foreign kunoichi's grievous wound. He knew full well that this wasn't a permanent solution to her woes, but it was the best they could do right this moment. To finish up her emergency treatment, he took some blood pills out of his medkit too. They weren't miracle drugs, but they'd at least keep her from keeling over. It was the closest anyone could get to a blood transfusion on the battlefield.
"I don't suppose you know your blood type?"
Kin wracked her brain for a moment. "Er... A positive, I think?"
"You think? You know things could get pretty bad if you get the wrong blood type, right?"
"Hey, the wrong blood is better than no blood, isn't it? Better to survive now than worry about side effects later."
Unable to argue with that, Ash selected a handful of the correct blood type pills and handed them over. As she gulped them down, Ash looked down at his own injuries, trying to determine what he needed to do for himself. Besides minor bruises and scrapes, the only external damage to worry about was his forearm, which had been skinned against the rough bark of a tree during his impromptu flight earlier.
Kin noticed him looking at it. "You gonna bandage that? Looks like it stings."
While it wouldn't help much with the pain, it would still be a good idea to bandage the injury. Unfortunately, Ash only had one good arm right now, so it would be tough to do it on his own. He'd only just barely managed to bandage Kin's leg with her help.
"I can't move my other arm well, so I need you to do it."
Glancing towards the immobile limb Ash was referring to, Kin noticed the odd angle of his shoulder. She'd been too out of it to notice earlier, but with a bit of pallor returning to her skin thanks to her recent treatment, she was feeling a little more observant.
"Looks like your shoulder might be dislocated. Why don't you just let me..."
Assuming what she intended to do, Ash backed away from Kin before she could get close to him. "I don't think so. I'd rather not have an amateur remedy."
Kin met his refusal with a pout. "You think a doctor does anything other than pop it back in?"
"I think they do it with more experience and knowledge."
"Tch, fine. Hand me the bandages so I can wrap your arm, then."
Ash handed what was left of his bandages to the girl, coming close to her once again so she could tend to his wound. He was still wary of her intentions, but after she began covering his arm as gently as possible, he relaxed. But the moment Ash let his guard down, she reached out toward his dislocated shoulder and popped it back into place with gusto, eliciting a pained grunt from her unsuspecting victim.
"Ow, shit! What did I just tell you?!"
Not feeling guilty in the slightest, Kin shrugged, smiling cheekily in response to the glare she was getting. "Aw, don't be such a baby. You needed to take care of it sooner rather than later. What if we got attacked and you only had one arm?"
While he couldn't logically deny Kin's point, Ash's glare remained as pointed as ever as he rose to his feet. He finished bandaging his injury himself, now that his other arm was operable again. "Yeah, yeah... let's just figure out what to do now. Can you stand?"
With a grimace, Kin nodded and got to her feet as well, though she clearly put more weight on one side. She could ignore the pain enough to move almost normally, but it certainly wasn't good for her recovery. "Yeah, I can manage... I say we should try to get back to the scene of the battle, but I have no idea which direction we came from."
Looking around their position, Ash noted with dismay that it was indeed impossible to determine the answer to that. He could make assumptions based on how his body had landed, but even that was just a guess. "In that case, we should try to get our bearings first. If we get to the top of one of these trees, we might be able to see the destruction from the fight earlier. Failing that, we may at least find the tower."
Gazing up at the massive trees of the forest with a frown on her face, Kin turned to Ash with a somewhat pleading look. "Yeah, climbing a tree that big just doesn't seem like a good idea with my leg like this."
Ash couldn't deny that. Whether they chose to leap from branch to branch or simply run up the trunk with chakra, it would require strenuous use of their legs. Considering that Kin's leg had only gotten basic treatment so far, putting that much strain on it just wasn't a good idea.
"Fine, I'll head up to take a look. Stay out of sight until I get back."
With a mock salute, Kin retreated under one of the large roots readily available throughout the forest, leaving Ash to make the climb himself. With that prospect ahead of him, it finally occurred to him just how large these giants were. It would be no small effort to get to the top...
Even so, he needed to get above the forest canopy, so there was no getting around it. Since the lowest branch available to him was still several dozen feet in the air, Ash started his climb by running straight up the trunk of the tree, alternating between that and jumping whenever one method became more efficient than the other.
While he tried to minimize the energy expended for this endeavor, Ash nevertheless found himself breathless as he endured his ascent, hardly feeling any closer to the top than he had at floor level. It was almost impossible to tell if he was making progress: the only indicator was his fatigue as he went higher. Winded before reaching the top, he decided to take a rest on the next branch he came to, if only to catch his breath real quick.
In that brief moment of respite, he wondered if he'd even find Kin waiting around for him when he returned. She'd clearly been wary of working with him, though not without a good reason. It wasn't completely out of the cards for her to try and ambush him when he returned. But frankly, Ash didn't think she was that stupid. She'd lost a lot of blood and her leg would cripple her in any serious fight. Realistically, she needed Ash's help to stay alive far more than he needed hers. He was in pain, but still had mobility. Kin would be hard-pressed to even run from an enemy in her current state.
Besides, he genuinely didn't sense any hostility from her. Friendliness could be faked, so he'd keep a wary eye out regardless, but there had been a lack of real animosity even when they'd been fighting. He acknowledged the potential threat she posed, but for now, he at least trusted her enough not to just bail and leave her to die. Ash was in better shape than Kin, but it was no lie that he was extremely vulnerable to enemy teams while alone.
Then again, there was that secret mission she and her team had been carrying out against Sasuke. Ash knowing about it could be a problem for her—a problem she'd try to nip in the bud. He couldn't completely let his guard down around her no matter their situation.
Once he regained his breath, Ash continued his arduous climb to the top of the tree he occupied. The second half of his journey was even more tiring than the first, but the blonde managed to complete his self-assigned task regardless, and he eventually stood above the Forest of Death, if only by a foot or two.
Before taking note of anything he actually intended to, Ash first acknowledged that he had quite the view. Despite the gloomy atmosphere of the Exam area, it was actually very sunny out, illuminating a clear sky and plenty of soft white clouds. The forest canopy was just so thick that it put the entire area into a perpetual twilight. From his current position, Ash could see most of the Hidden Leaf village, from its large gates all the way to the Hokage monument. Unfortunately, this view couldn't really be appreciated, because it only served to remind Ash that this place would, if all went according to plan, be decimated very soon.
Unwilling to entertain that thought for too long, Ash turned his attention back to the forest, hoping to find some sign of the carnage wrought by Sasuke and Zaku. Unfortunately, the sheer height of the forest canopy made it impossible to distinguish anything of the sort from Ash's vantage point. The entire Forest of Death looked the same from up here. He was able to spot the central tower several kilometers from his current position, though he could just barely see the top of the thing at all.
It seemed heading for the tower would be the only viable option, so Ash mentally noted its direction before returning to ground level. The trip down was much easier than the trip up, not to mention much quicker since Ash could fall a farther distance than he could jump. He made it back to the forest floor in just under a minute, at which point Kin stepped out of her hiding place at the base of the tree. Ash noted that she had a notable improvement in the pallor of her skin, even if she still looked pretty haggard overall.
"So? How'd it look up there?"
"I couldn't see anything related to the battle between our teams, but I did find the central tower. It'd be wise to head in that general direction, since our teammates will eventually head that way as well."
Kin couldn't help but think that Ash was overlooking a critical aspect of all of this. "That's true, but if we still plan on actually passing this Exam, we have to get our hands on an enemy's headband. Unless you think our teammates will nab one for us."
"Considering that this Exam is a team pass or fail exercise, anyone with half a brain would try to get a headband for their teammate just in case. I can't speak for your guys, but I know my team will steal one for me, too, just in case. It's only prudent."
Kin shrugged, seemingly placated. "Fair enough. Still though, it'd be kind of humiliating to offer no contribution to the team's success, dont'cha think?"
While he didn't want to admit that his pride often got the best of him, Ash nevertheless agreed with Kin's sentiment. As a team, it didn't matter if one person did all the work, because either way, everyone would still pass. But as an individual, Ash didn't like feeling useless, which would be the case if he left it to Temari and Kankuro to guarantee his passing. This was especially true since this whole situation was partially his fault to start with. Interfering in the battle between Kin's team and Sasuke's had been Ash's idea.
But of course, there was something more pressing to consider about this.
"Why do you care about passing this Exam? Your leader made it pretty obvious earlier that the Exam wasn't a priority. You're here for Sasuke."
For the first time since they'd joined forces, Kin's expression darkened. "Remembered that, huh?"
Ash's muscles tensed, though he didn't move. He was just preparing himself. "I personally don't care about your real mission. It's none of my business."
"Yeah? The Leaf might do something nice for the Hidden Sand if you tipped them off."
"Our future relationship with the Leaf will soon be irrelevant. I've no reason to help them out."
"You helped out the team Sasuke is on."
The young blonde shrugged. "You were all distracted mid-fight. It was just the best time to strike. If we'd waited until you were done, your guard might be up again."
Kin was silent for a moment. "So you're not going to tell anyone about this?"
"The Sound is no more my friend or enemy than the Leaf is. I don't gain anything from helping or hindering your mission one way or the other."
The girl beside him took a deep breath as she contemplated something. "Well, good... I'd hate to have to cut this alliance short. We were just starting to get along."
Ash wasn't sure if he could really trust Kin not to attack him. After all, the mere possibility of their plan being exposed had been enough to start the fight with her full team. Did she really have the leeway to leave him be? For now, at least, Ash believed she genuinely couldn't afford to throw away his help. But when their situation improved...
Putting the troubling thought from his mind, Ash folded his arms. "You didn't answer why you want to get a headband if passing the Exam isn't your goal here."
"Well, we didn't actually get Sasuke, did we? We might need to make it to the following stages to get another shot at him without triggering an incident. Assuming people can get killed in the following stages, that is."
Ash was curious as to why Kin's team had their eyes on Sasuke, but he didn't bother asking. He knew he wouldn't get a helpful answer. "Fair enough. I guess we should try to secure headbands for ourselves if the opportunity comes our way. But are you going to be able to fight with your leg like that?"
Losing all tension in her shoulders, Kin winked at him, a smirk on her face. "I handled you just fine, didn't I?"
Ash was not at all happy to admit that Kin was right, but he did anyway. He'd been bested, there was no denying it. Trying to make excuses would just be childish. "Point taken. Your technique is extremely dangerous. Though I was still in a good position to kill you if we hadn't been interrupted."
"Nonsense, the next senbon would have gone right between the eyes, easy. Not like you could have dodged it at that point."
"You'd just proven deadly with projectiles. I would have jumped anywhere at all to avoid a follow-up attack while torching you alive. I'm admitting that you got the better of me, but it's not like the fight was decided."
Kin's smirk didn't falter at all. In fact, she reached out and patted the shorter blonde on the head. "Alright, alright, we'll call it a draw. Kids, always so worried about looking cool..."
Swatting away her hand, Ash glowered at the girl. "Kids? I'm pretty sure you aren't much older than me."
Ignoring Ash's blatant displeasure at her slightly demeaning touch, Kin folded her arms. "Really, a shorty like you? C'mon, are you actually older than ten?"
Ash cocked an eyebrow at her. "It's completely normal for girls to reach their full height before boys do. In five years, I'll dwarf you, and that's even if you actually get any taller than you are now."
"And in five years, you'll be what, twelve?"
Feeling a pulsating vein in his face, Ash tried to change the subject. "You're awfully cheeky with enemy ninja."
Kin raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Like you're one to talk. Aren't you the one who waltzed up to my team for a casual conversation earlier today?"
"That was just intelligence gathering."
"Right. Social espionage. Very believable."
Ash turned towards the direction of the central tower, knowing he wouldn't win this conversation. "Let's just get going. Staying in one place is just begging to be ambushed. And stay next to me; good vibes or not, there's no way I'm letting you stay behind me."
Providing him with a coy salute, Kin fell in next to Ash as he considered her injury and stuck to the ground. It'd be tough for her to keep up with him through the trees, and even on the ground if he moved at top speed. So naturally, he didn't push himself as hard as he could. He could hardly demand that Kin stay next to him if he did.
His estranged companion seemed aware of this consideration, but didn't offer any thanks for it. Instead, she asked a question after they'd been moving for a short time. "So, what's your name? I can't just say 'hey, you' if I need to warn you about something while we're out here."
Glancing back at her, Ash figured he had no reason to hide that. She had a point. "Rōzeki."
"That's not what your sister called you earlier."
Ash did a double-take. "What? When did you hear her call me anything?"
"Before the written Exam started. She was telling you to stop talking to us and 'get back here.' Remember, Ash?"
Genuinely flabbergasted that she'd heard that, Ash turned an incredulous gaze on the girl running beside him. "You actually heard that? That's insane..."
"Why, thank you."
"How come you didn't hear my team when we were observing your fight with the Leaf Genin? We were talking in the trees above you."
"Come on, I was a bit distracted. Big fight and all, especially one with Zaku shooting his airwaves all over the place and that green jumpsuit guy shouting at the top of his lungs. And getting stabbed, obviously. Cut me some slack."
While curious about the extent of Kin's hearing ability, Ash focused on something else. "If you knew my name already, why did you ask me what it was?"
She shrugged with a mockingly judgmental smile. "Just to see if you were honest. Pretty disappointed, honestly."
"For your information, Rōzeki is my name. On paper, at least. Ash is just what I go by with people I'm close to."
"Well, I want to use the silly nickname too. That's fine, right? We're technically comrades right now, after all."
Unsure of whether or not she was making fun of him, Ash decided to turn the tables. "Your name had better be the most badass thing I've ever heard since you've got such an opinion on mine."
The girl next to him averted her gaze sheepishly. "Ah, well... Kin Tsuchi isn't super badass, but it's not lame either, right?"
"Depends. Are you from the Land of Earth?"
Kin replied with obvious sarcasm. "Whatever could have given you that idea?"
"Well then, yes, it's kind of lame. I mean, really? A family name that just means 'earth' when you're from the Land of Earth? Talk about unoriginal."
The dark-haired girl glared at him. "And you have something better, huh?"
"Actually, I don't have one. The Land of Wind isn't big on last names. Almost nobody has one."
Kin cocked an incredulous eyebrow. "Uh, really? That seems really bad for records and stuff. Like, what if there's another 'Rōzeki' in your village? How does anybody know if they're talking about you or him? 'Rōzeki the blonde one?' Or maybe 'Rōzeki the midget?'"
Admittedly, Kin raised a very good point that had somehow not occurred to Ash until right now. But he wasn't going to admit that to her. "Well, now you know why I have a nickname."
"Right, suuuure."
Ash shook his head, unwilling to entertain this tangent further. They were in dire straits here—he needed to focus on their next course of action.
The most important thing was to reunite with their respective teams, since they couldn't pass the Exam as a unit unless they were together. Their secondary objective was to actually acquire headbands to guarantee their passing in the first place. Of course, on top of all that was the unspoken goal of survival. The two of them were supremely vulnerable at the moment. With both of them injured to some extent and separated from the teammates they knew how to work with, any experienced team with some skill would likely be more than a match for them. This was especially the case when one considered that Ash and Kin knew very little about each other as fighters, so they'd have to fight as individuals in combat instead of as a cohesive whole.
The situation was unfavorable and the odds were stacked against them. And that didn't even include the fact that they couldn't move at top speed with Kin's leg taken into account. Forced to stay both on the ground and at a slower pace, they were literally in the most vulnerable scenario possible at the moment. All of Ash's usual practicality when it came to tactics demanded that he rectify the situation somehow, but unless he ditched Kin, there was nothing he could do.
Theoretically, he could turn on Kin right now and take her down with very little trouble. With her injury and his element of surprise, defeating Kin and taking her headband would be child's play. It may have even been the practical move; sure, Kin was an ally in a situation where he'd otherwise be alone, but she may have actually been dragging him down. She was wounded, impacting her fighting ability and possibly giving enemies more ways to track her movements. Ash may have been better off by himself than with her.
But underneath all of that practicality, he couldn't deny that he just didn't really want to do that. If push came to shove, he'd do whatever it took to stay alive, but until then, why do something he found personally unpleasant?
Ash lost any chance to ruminate further when Kin quietly called out to him, interrupting his thoughts. "Stop. I hear something."
Since Kin had already proven just how amazing her hearing could be, Ash followed her command instantly, silently pressing himself against a tree as Kin closed her eyes to focus on sounds the blonde couldn't hear.
After a few moments of concentration and a look of concern, Kin finally relayed what only she could discern. "There's a whole lot of ninja moving around above us. Definitely more than one squad, but they're all moving as one. They aren't enemies."
Frowning as he tried to provide an answer for this anomaly, Ash easily and quickly concluded that any group of such a size operating together was not participating in the Exam. "It has to be a force of Leaf shinobi. Something serious must have happened somewhere else in the forest that they don't consider admissible as far as the Exam is concerned."
This explanation only caused Kin to frown, too. "Maybe, but there are at least a dozen of them, and even then, I can barely hear them. The way they move is beyond low-ranking ninja."
"OK, so a bunch of high-ranking ninja are deploying to take care of something. But are they coming for us?"
After focusing for another moment or two, Kin shook her head. "They're moving off. I can't even hear them anymore."
"Alright then. I'll admit I'm curious, but whatever's going on doesn't involve us. Let's just keep moving."
Taking in the silence once again, Kin simply nodded and began following her temporary ally, doing her best to ignore the mounting pain her leg as she moved.