(Because fighting with friends is better than fighting without them.)
~.~.~.~.~
20. Explode
He heard the barely inaudible snapping sounds of wires being tripped and he had just enough time to yell a 'duck!' to his teammates over the headphones before a blast rocked his world and everything pitched inwards towards him and all he saw was red and black.
21. Rise
He jolted awake, coughing up soot and dust and blindly reached out, wiggling his limbs, making sure they were functional before he tuned into his headphones, answering the screaming voices that yelled out his name repeatedly with a hint of hysteria laced in it.
"Shit, what the hell happened?" Kotetsu yelled through the radio, pressing the binoculars closer to his face as his eyes widened at the sight of the huge plume of smoke rising up from the charred and burning building where his three teammates were.
Genma coughed, his voice sounding like gravel as he responded. "Explosion." Another cough to dislodge the amount of debris in his lungs. "I'm all good. Just a bit winded."
Izumo's calm voice filtered through as Genma gingerly sat up, eyes narrowing at every possible shadow that an enemy could have hidden in. "Got a bit of scarring on my back and hands but besides that, I'm good too. How bout you Raido?"
All that greeted them was silence until Kotetsu muttered a "Fuck" as he spied Raido's unconscious body near the center of the explosion as, at the same time, enemy ninjas appeared out of nowhere.
22. Crumble
Izumo reached Raido first, hefting him up to a sitting position as he did a preliminary check on his injuries. Genma appeared only seconds afterwards, throwing a senbon at an enemy who was about to cleave both Izumo and Raido in two.
"There's no time Izumo! We have to go and we have to go now!" Genma snarled, his face twisting as he worked through aching muscles to snake an arm around a Stone shinobi and jerked, the enemy's neck snapping and his body falling to the ground with a heavy thud.
23. Range
Kotetsu all but flew down the mountainside, his feet barely touching the ground, as he zoomed in towards his teammates, fingering three shurikens in one hand and clenching his trusty sword in the other.
No way in hell was he going to leave his teammates to flounder on their own as they carry an injured Raido out of the battlezone and into the safety of the forest and he grinned as he threw his projectiles.
Genma gave a small smirk as the enemy he was fighting dropped like a stone, three shurikens embedded deep into the back of his head.
"Come on Izumo! Let's go!"
24. Fight/Flight
It felt like hours to the four of them but it was actually just ten measly minutes that they stood fending off the enemy horde before they saw an opening and Izumo slashed through four shinobis, gesturing with a thrust of his head towards the edge of the clearing that faded away into forest. They were able to rush into the camouflaging greenery with Raido dangling off Kotetsu's back as he was the only one uninjured and strong enough to carry the unconscious man.
25. Acid
Izumo gagged and Genma made a harsh noise in the back of his throat as they bounded off branches and tree trunks. The smell of the explosion still lingered on them with the tart scent lingering the most on Raido, making Kotetsu's nose twitch and his eyes water.
26. Colour
When Raido finally opened his eyes, all he saw was monochrome until he blinked furiously as someone shifted besides him, pressing a water canteen into his heads.
27. Give
Thrusting the red water container back into Genma's waiting hands, Raido spat out the liquid in his mouth on to the cave floor.
"What the hell Genma! This tastes like ass!"
The man just sniffed rather haughtily, the senbon in his mouth making a distinct clanking sound, before he threw the bottle towards Izumo who called out a rather gleeful, "Hey, your loss!", before swigging the canteen to gulp down the rest of the water.
28. Needle
Their banter was cut off when Kotetsu came back with livid eyes and an arm dripping with blood. "We're surrounded."
The sharp projectile in Genma's mouth abruptly stopped moving as he vaulted over to Kotetsu, his hands over the other's bleeding arm, closing it with a flash of evergreen chakra. Izumo shook his head as if to clear his thoughts and stopped fidgeting with his slightly burnt wrists, ripped his tangled bandages off, and reached out to pivot into a fighting stance, weapons sliding out of his outfit to fit snugly in his hands.
Raido just clenched his teeth before standing up, chakra burning from the center of his body to his fingertips as he flexed them, fists coming up to smash an enemy in the face.
29. Locks
They were all tangled in their own fights.
Izumo and Kotetsu were back to back, fighting seamlessly side by side as they dodged left and right and dealt blow after blow towards the masked shinobis who pelted after them as the duo sprang back as one and both blew fire out of their mouths.
Raido was right in the middle of everything, physically smashing two faceless enemies' heads together before uppercutting another in the jaw, flinging the unknown man backwards several feet, knocking into another of his comrade, bringing the both of them down.
Genma was flirting here and there, his skills coming into play, as he appeared and disappeared behind enemies and was gone before they even noticed their throats were cut.
30. Slope
As they trudged up the hill towards the gates of Konoha, they shared secret smiles as Raido leaned heavily onto Kotetsu and Izumo's arm wrapped tightly against Genma's shoulder, the senbon user helping the other who was walking with a limp.
A moment of silence passed as their village came into view.
With goofy smiles on their faces, it was Kotetsu who voiced what they all wanted to say.
With a cheeky grin and a wink towards Genma who smirked, earning a chuckle from Raidou which incited Izumo to give a throaty laugh, Kotetsu said, "So let's do that again sometime."
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