Discarded Affection || Naruto Fanfiction

Ch 15: The Chunin Exams Pt. 3

DISCLAIMER: I STILL DON'T OWN NARUTO, BUT IN MY DREAMS I DO *starts dreaming*

A/N: SORRY IT TOOK TOO LONG TO UPDATE! ENJOY~!

Game of Survival by Ruelle

Ch 15: The Chunin Exams Pt. 3
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THIRD POV
Riko steps back, but she's unable seeing as she's already against the tree trunk. Looking with wide eyes, the Kunoichi stares as Shinkai steps closer. From within her chest, she can hear the loud beat of her heart ring through her ears, a gasp escapes her lips.

"So, you're the solo participant that my teammate wants to kill? Interesting," the male muses with a dark grin. "You know, she wants to butcher you, but me? I want to stretch out your death! There's a torture technique that I'm rather fond of, maybe you've heard of it? Does the name Death by A Thousand Cuts, sound familiar?"

Riko doesn't say anything, but the technique he's so fond of does sound familiar. She knows everything about it. The instigator stretches the victim's death by cutting at their body. Not severing any severe arteries, no it's a long, brutal, death that's insured by bleeding out.

She turns to look away from him, but the clone of Shinkai grabs a hold of her chin. With his index finger, he softly traces her lips which makes Riko stop breathing, too scared to make any sudden moves.

"Such a shame, someone so young and beautiful shouldn't have to die," he says before laughing. "At least, not in a simple way. I will savor the moment when I slice at your soft, pale skin. I want to hear that your last breathing moments are filled with screams of agony!"

His hand on her chin lowers with every word until it's safely secured around her neck. He tightens his grasp, but isn't exactly choking the breath out of her. Heeding his words and being aware of his actions, she stops quivering and finds the courage to glare up into his eyes.

"Is that so," she questions with no emotion before giving a dark smirk of her own. "You first need to render me useless before you start making plans about my death!"

And with that, Riko quickly and efficiently takes a kunai from her pouch before stabbing it into the clone's stomach. With the fatal blow, the clone dissipates with a poof. Though, as she starts to move, the team below her are already alert.

"Up there! She's in the trees," Shinkai yells, informing his two teammates.

"Damn it," Riko curses, clenching her jaw and glaring.

It's Akano who reaches the branch first. Jumping at her level, the ginger haired Kunoichi spins wildly as she attempts to slice at Riko. Backing away, Riko jumps a fair distance from the sword wielding girl before she senses a presence behind her. On high defense, Riko quickly lowers her body into a crouch as she barely avoids the large sword aiming for her head.

Noticing that she's surrounded, Riko swivels her body to the right and free falls towards the forest floor. As she lands, Riko drops to a roll before standing straight. Quickly looking around to find her last opponent, she tightly grasps her kunai, securing it into her hand. Though, just as she looks to her left, she's immediately bombarded with a barrage of senbons. Riko quickly dives out of the way before running to get some kind of coverage.

Well, that's until she's intercepted by Akano, once again. The Kunoichi quickly slices at Riko, trying to land an attack. Her movements are fast and agile, but there's also strength behind her attacks. Riko dodges just as fast, but she's not skilled enough to go up against three opponents. Especially, if they're older and much more skilled than she is. She quickly steps back and avoids a swipe directed at her face. Looking at Akano, Riko instantly spots the devilish grin on her lips as her gray eyes sparkle with amusement.