Hot 'N' Dangerous

Chapter 42: Chasing Down a Monster

Three giant snake heads were visible above the village fortress. As we watched, they crashed through the first line of defense, a wall. They hissed madly, flailing their heads.

"Vira, look over there!" Liz cried and turned my head in the correct direction.

"The Anbu are on the move," I stated simply, "What's wrong?" I asked.

"There are other teams of Anbu there! They're fighting!" she said, straining her eyes to see.

I saw the Kazekage holding the Hokage hostage on the roof, a kunai to his throat. Four ninjas positioned themselves so that each person had a corner of the roof. The Anbu of Konoha had finally managed to get past the enemy Anbu and were now hurtling towards the two Kages.

"What are they doing?" Liz murmured as the four ninjas made a seal with their hands.

Suddenly, a rectangular prism shaped barrier burst into existence. The leader of the Anbu team ran right into it. He fell back, his body was ravaged by flames. We could hear his terrifying cry from our distance. A movement on the arena caught my attention and I saw that Kankuro, Temari and a Jounin had joined Gaara by his side. The examiner stood protectively in front of Sasuke.

"Let's go, Liz," I called and jumped.

I plummeted at a frightening speed towards the ground and I angled myself towards Sasuke. When I landed, my back was to Gaara's team. Liz touched down silently on the other side of Sasuke. I turned around to face them.

"Gaara, the plan..." the Jounin said to Gaara.

Gaara, however, was not listening. He gripped his head painfully, trembling.

"I knew it!" Temari cried as she looked at Gaara's piteous state.

"What's wrong?" Kankuro asked.

"You fool! Trying to transform into your complete form before the signal," the Jounin spat.

Temari crouched down next to Gaara and put a comforting arm around him, "He's experiencing the side effects. It's impossible to proceed now," Temari fretted.

Gaara stayed silent the whole time, moaning once in a while but making no understandable words.

"Then what are we supposed to do? Do it without Gaara?!" Kankuro shouted desperately.

"Ugh," the Jounin thought furiously, also unsure of what to do.

"Well?" urged Kankuro.

After a moment's silence, the Jounin answered him, "Abort the mission, you guys take Gaara and retreat."

"What? What about you?!" Temari protested.

"I'll join the battle," he said quietly, "Now go!" he barked at them.

"... Yeah," she nodded finally.

Kankuro picked Gaara up and draped Gaara's arm around his neck. They shot off and leaped over the wall of the arena. Sasuke looked after them angrily, displaying his displeasure at having his battle end before a result had been announced.

"Is the leader of this party Orochimaru?" the examiner asked the Sand Jounin.

The Jounin smiled evilly, "Who knows... let's just join the fun," he suggested slyly.

Sasuke suddenly called out, "Hey! What's going on?!" he demanded.

The examiner spoke to us, "Sorry, but the Chuunin Exam is now over. You must pursue Gaara and the others. You guys are already at the Chuunin level. If you are all Leaf shinobi, then make yourselves useful," he said flatly.