When Death Tries To Greet You

11.

           Obito grimaced, looking at the ninja who threw the kunai. He was tall, towering over them, with pale skin and dark black hair. His eyes were even darker, giving off a menacing vibe. Obito nodded his head slightly at Rin, before they both got into a fighting stance. Rin's eyes glanced up at his headband shuddering, it was Kirigakure, the Village Hidden in Mist. Their ninja were known for being extremely powerful, plenty of them being included in the S-Rank section of bingo books.

          Obito looked over at the two other people with him. One was a tall, dirty-blonde haired girl with dark eyes, and the other a short boy with green hair. He looked at their scroll, Earth, and he sighed with relief. 

"We have an Earth scroll too, so it wouldn't be worth your time."

        The dark haired mist-nin grinned at him, showing all of his teeth before answering. "We don't need the scroll." Obito's face hardened as he quickly pulled a kunai out of his leg holster. He held it in a protective way, stepping in front of Rin. Rin tightened her grip on the scroll, ready to fight herself. She had been training more with Minato, and she felt ready to take the mist-nin on. 

        The blonde girl smirked, before doing a flurry of hand signs, too quick for Obito to track. He still hadn't gotten his sharingan, and so he felt he was at a slight disadvantage. The air thickened densely around him, and he swallowed the fear that was building up. He had to be strong, for Naruto, for Rin. The silence felt as if it lasted forever as their eyes scanned the area frantically, searching for any movements. 

       Obito shoved Rin to the ground, his body falling atop of hers to protect her. Seconds later, bullets of water flew over their heads, slicing holes into the trees behind them. Rin hissed silently as she looked down at her scraped shin.

      "We have to move." Obito said hastily, his kunai still tightly gripped in his hand. He could feel their eyes on them, they were toying with them as if they were prey. Obito could feel something bigger happening at hand, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He shuddered, remembering how just weeks ago Rin was taken hostage, and he prayed to any God that would listen that his team made it out safe.

    He pulled Rin up, before they both made a run for it through the trees. Naruto would have to find them, and he hoped that she came fast. These ninja were clearly powerful, maybe too powerful for them. He looked at the sky, which was quickly getting darker, and suddenly made up his mind. He would distract them for as long as he could to buy her time. Obito threw kunai laced with wire and seals in a zig-zagged pattern along the trees, effectively slowing the ninjas down. His hands went through flurry of motion as he breathed a medium sized flame, 

"Fire Release, Great Fireball Technique! "

The seals exploded suddenly, and Obito let out a sigh of slight relief when he saw they were no longer being chased, for now. Rin adjusted the scroll under her arm, panting softly as she caught her breath. 

"Who takes the exam just to kill?" She exclaimed, wiping some dirt from her face. Obito shook his head, his mouth in a tight frown. "Something isn't right." Rin nodded, looking around at the dark green trees. "We really have to-" She was cut off as a kunai sliced through the air, impaling itself into Obito's shoulder. Rin let out a blood curdling scream, instantly dropping the scroll and running to his aid. The dark green ninja appeared, kicking her with brute force against the trees. Obito hissed in pain, not understanding how he didn't sense their chakra at all.

The tall, dark haired one approached them,  eyebrows raised maniacally as he laughed, "Konoha scum, it seems as if each year their candidates get worse and worse." And suddenly Obito is hit by another kunai, this time lodging itself in his shin. He screamed out in agony, his head falling back in pain. Obito kicks at the mist-nin with his other leg, hands clawing at the dirt. The ninja grips his kunai and towers over Obito, ready to streak. Obito closes his eyes and lets out a breath, and there's a beat of silence. And another, and another, before he hears a dull thud. 

When he opens his eyes, the ninja is dead at his feet, and behind him stands Naruto, kunai in hand. She was glowing again, her whole body illuminated by that beautiful yellow chakra. He looks down, letting out a sigh of relief, "You're bright." He grumbles. 

Naruto laughs, before placing a hand over his wounds. He winces as they sizzle, but watched in awe as they healed. "Rin-" Obito starts, but she cuts him off, "She's fine, just knocked out." He lets out another relieved sigh, letting his head fall back and the exhaustion take over.

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A/N: so guys it's been a while.. some years. i'm so sorry for slacking on this story, and i'm also sorry for the short short chapter. 😭 things have been kind of rough for me but i'm going to try to finish this story through regular updates. i know i'm late but happy 2025!

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