The Breaking Point (SasukeXOC)

46

"You're strong, Sasuke; too strong. We can't hope to defeat you as you are now. But at least we got what we needed to know." Dosu spoke as he laid his scroll on the ground before us and went to gather his teammates, "I'll strike a deal, I'll give you the scroll and you let us go. But if we should ever meet again in combat I promise we won't run or hide." As he began to walk away, Sakura became bold. She stood suddenly and shouted at him.

"Wait!" she yelled, "Who is this Orochimaru? What has he done to Sasuke? And why Sasuke?"

"... I don't know." Dosu began, "all I know is that we were told to target Sasuke, and we did. We don't know why he sent us to assassinate someone on whom he bestowed such powers or why Sasuke even survived the curse mark. There are many things I don't know." And with that, he left.

"Are you guys ok?" Ino yelled. Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino ran out of the bushes to aid us. Ino began performing basic first aid while Choji and Shikamaru went to wake Naruto.

I could feel Sasuke trembling beside me. I rested my hand on his shaking forearm. He placed his hand on top of mine.

"Just what... am I?" he asked. Hopelessly I gave his arm a comforting squeeze wishing my brain wasn't as blank as my vision.

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"Ah! Quick! Get down! I'll protect you!" Naruto yelled after being kicked awake. Sakura helped Sasuke stand and I stood on my own. I feel like I'm finally getting the hang of being blind.

"Ugh, he's finally awake." Ino complained.

"The battle is over." Choji told Naruto.

"Eh??? I missed it? What happened? Sakura, your hair!" Naruto jumped from one topic to the next like a hyper puppy.

"Uhm, yeah, just felt like changing it I guess." She giggled bashfully. Sasuke now stood on his own allowing Sakura to run a hand self-consciously through her hair.

"Is there a reason why Miyu isn't moving?" Shikamaru sighed out having been the only one to notice that I hadn't started to walk towards the group.

"Miyu? What? Oh are you hurt? Who did this? Lemme at 'em!" Naruto yelled as he bounced over to me. The rest of the Gennin just looked at me curiously, awaiting an explanation like normal human beings.

"Well, you see," I coughed awkwardly, "I'm sort of blind now."

"What?"

"No way!"

"How?"

They all yelled at once.

"But I can see just as well as normal through chakra signatures... as long as I'm not moving." I explained.

"That's right. Your sensory skills." Sasuke added for the sake of the other teams with us.

"She's a sensory type?" Shikamaru asked.

"Not exactly. She can only do it when she's not moving. She has to focus on her other enhanced senses." Sasuke explained. I was slightly flattered that he knew so much about me.

"Well that's not really helpful. How do you expect to finish the exams?" Choji asked. I frowned.

"Uhm... is the answer 'teamwork'?" I asked stupidly.

"Hey! It's Bushy Brows!" Naruto yelled running over to a still collapsed Lee. One of Lee's teammates, I think her name was Tenten, came to Lee's aid.

"Thanks for keeping an eye on him for us, but I'll take it from here." She chirped happily and lifted Lee off the ground.

"Oh, ok, take good care of him." Sakura spoke shyly.

"Oh, don't you worry your pretty little head. I certainly will." Tenten agreed before shaking him around like a maniac yelling, "WAKE UP LEE."

I jumped feeling someone's hand land on my shoulder, but relaxed when I recognized Sasuke's scent.

"Come on, idiot." He muttered and helped lead me to join the rest of the group. I only tripped twice, so that's a plus. Luckily Sasuke was there to catch me before I face planted.

"Sasuke you are certainly powerful, I will work twice as hard to reach your standards. Sakura! The lotus blooms twice! Next time we meet I will be a stronger man." Lee told us and parted ways.

"What does 'the lotus blooms twice' mean?" I asked.

"Uhm... a lotus is a bug right?" Naruto answered with another question.

"I think you mean 'locust'. That's not the same thing as a lotus." I replied, Sasuke sighed in annoyance.

"Shut up, Miyu. Stop asking stupid questions." Sasuke complained. I pouted.

"Hey, Sakura, come over here and I'll straighten out your hair." Ino called amicably.

"Alright... well I guess now that our team is back together we should focus on the next task. That should be food and water. Possibly shelter depending on how long we plan to rest before we shoot for the next scroll." I told Sasuke who was still leading me around like a dog.

"Right, I think I heard a river up this way. Come on, idiot," he called to Naruto, "let's catch some fish while we wait for Sakura to finish." Sasuke paused and moved around me to grab my hand.

I felt odd holding Sasuke's hand, but there weren't a whole lot of other options. I was basically a sitting duck.

The boys actually worked out a pretty good fishing system. Naruto would jump around in the water and scare the fish. The fish would then jump and Sasuke would spear them with kunai. I attempted to spear them as well but ended up wasting more kunai than catching fish, so I sat on the sidelines uselessly.

"Do it again, Naruto. We need more fish for later too. This isn't enough." Sasuke commanded.

"Aw, but this is so tiring! You try jumping around in the water!" Naruto complained.

"Ok Sasuke, all ready for the fire. I just need a fireball." Sakura called. She and Ino had long since parted at this point and we had set up a small basecamp.

"Alight, I guess we'll have to be done fishing for now." Sasuke sighed.

"You know I could do the fireball too." I told him.

"With your luck you'll probably miss and lightSakura on fire instead. It's better to just let me do it." Sasuke grumbled. Hecame to stand next to me and waited patiently for me to stand. Then he grabbedmy hand and led me to the fireplace. 

Not a lot of action in this chapter, but it's necessary to move forward in the story line! 

As always, thanks for reading!