A faint crackle reached Fuu's ears, but she did not turn around. She had sensed the presence of two shinobi tailing her over an hour ago, and decided that if they didn't know where she was going—and they probably didn't—then her best bet was to keep her movements unpredictable. With the agility they were displaying, that is, leaping from branch to branch in order to keep a clear view of her, they could easily outmaneuver the lone kunoichi if she tried to flee.
A bolt of fear had shot through her when she realized who they probably were. The Akatsuki did work in pairs, after all. She picked up her pace a bit more, but still kept herself from giving away too much, (or at least, she hoped she did), and started to chew the sweetgum bark in her mouth rapidly.
Besides that, something else was bothering her about their movements. If they had wanted to corner her, the Akatsuki would have tried to come at her from the direction she was heading in. Or circled the premises if they didn't know where she was going. Only a fool would keep a steady pace behind her. Unless, and this was the more dangerous possibility, there was a third party which they were trying to guide her towards. And if that was the case, it could generally mean one of two things—they were not Akatsuki, which was unlikely given that she was relatively unknown, and feared by those who did know her, or that there was some kind of trap that she was headed for.
Fuu quickly scanned the area. She had learned from her years in the forest that your best friends in avoiding danger could be the wildlife. They were highly familiar with the environment, spread out across the vicinities, and instinctively skittish around new or different things.
She found a colony of insects on one lower tree, and decided to take the ground from there on. That way, she could follow the animals of the forest and hopefully avoid from a tree branch that she had overlooked, Fuu dropped toward the colony. It felt dangerous, to be traveling through even greater densities than she had been before. Now if the cornered her, she couldn't escape. She regretted not being able to use her beast form to fly away, but an encounter with the Akatsuki was almost inevitable anyways. Fuu knew that she couldn't drain her energy too fast, so the best thing she could probably do was to throw their plan off course.
She realized too late that this was not a normal colony of insects.
As the explosion resounded throughout the forest, Fuu leaped behind a rock, wincing as the pain on her ankle mocked her with the knowledge that she was not as fast as she had thought.
"Ha! I can't believe she fell for that, un!"
Regaining her footing, Fuu looked up to the source of the voice. The man was definitely Akatsuki, as his black robes with stitched red clouds would indicate, but he was also startlingly young. Not much older than her, by the looks of it. He was a little taller than her, with blond hair in a ponytail and bangs swept over the right half of his face.
Not bad looking either. Fuu supposed that if she was going to either die or kill him, she may as well acknowledge his attractiveness now.
Fuu leapt back several meters and reached for her scroll.
"Pretty cute, too!" She yelled at the boy. "Too bad I'll have to kill you, kid!"
His response was a wave of tiny insect shaped bombs. He must really love those, Fuu thought, but his abilities weren't so impressive thus far.
She unfurled the scroll, and immediately thousands of senbon shot out. Fuu took pride in seeing the pieces of flammable paper on each end of the needles. It was a detail she had thought of herself.
As her senbon flew toward the insects, Fuu created a series of handsigns and the paper on the ends curled together to form a net, catching the bombs and directing them back at her attacker.
"Think you're the only one who can use explosives, bitch?"
Of course, he managed to dodge the attack, but the needles did their job. Soon foliage was caught in the flaming netting and the forest was alight with fire. It was unfortunate that the serene beauty of nature was being destroyed by her hand, but Fuu had limited abilities in her arsenal that did not include fire of some sort. Maybe that made her a bit of a pyromaniac. Oh, well…
A second wave of those adorable explosive critters came at her from behind, but Fuu was prepared. She had executed the handsigns for a substitution jutsu and clone jutsu from behind her scroll, and she used the explosion to escape.
Help me, Chomei.
As long a Fuu-chan gives me a good show, I'll be glad. The Nanabi was growing restless, she knew.
Fuu could feel the beast's chakra course through her rapidly as she sprouted two of her seven tails, using the wings to fly. Her vision blurred, as it always did when she used Chomei's power—it was just the way the seal was created—but she fought to remain alert.
Whoever the Akatsuki boy's accomplice was, they were probably being kept at bay by the fire. Hopefully the boy himself was turning to ash this minute, as much of a shame as it was to erase a handsome man from his existence. Besides, even if he was alive, her clone could probably keep him busy. This sparked some confidence in Fuu as she shot up toward the sky.
She had reached considerable height above the canopy when her hopes were dashed as she spotted her opponent following her…on a…giant clay bird?
Well, points for craftsmanship, I guess.
"Think you're the only one who can fly, bitch?"
Fuu was shocked that his clay could do such a thing, but she knew that it would do her no good to wonder about how he did it now. She reached into her kunai pouch and channeled some chakra into them before hurling the knives at the Akatsuki.
He dodged easily enough, but the kunai Fuu had attached to a metal wire latched on to one wing of the bird. Quickly, Fuu reeled backwards, but the Akatsuki boy was smarter than she'd thought of. Evidently, he'd foreseen that attack, and a part of the bird's wing exploded, leaving her with just a tip connected to the kunai.
She desperately flew upward as that exploded too.
It was risky to use more of the beast's power, but the boy was struggling to regain control of his damaged bird. Fuu at least had the intelligence to keep a steady stream of chakra flowing into the wire and out of the kunai. Whatever kind of device the boy was using, it would soon crack, so he would be down for the count soon enough. She just couldn't let him attack her again. Fuu distanced herself from her opponent, figuring that since he was a long range fighter, he wouldn't object. Dodging a round of bombs that had come at her from behind, she formed the handsigns for her next technique.
"Hiden! Hiding in Scale Powder Technique!"
Fuu took a deep breath, and flew at the Akatsuki with the most speed she could muster, exhaling the powder that would blind him.
He avoided the majority of the powder, but judging from the way he had lost his balance and was blinking rapidly, Fuu's plan was working. Good. The spikes courtesy of Chomei were already forming on her hands.
Without waiting for him to regain his balance, Fuu lashed out with the spikes. He shot projectile bomb after projectile bomb at her, but his coordination and perception were greatly off. Recoiling at the pain and force of her spikes, Fuu let go of her own round of projectiles—Chomei's own physical entity, guaranteed to knock the boy out for a good long while, at least.
One hit in the face was all that it took. His eyes rolled back in his head as he plummeted to the ground.
Ha! I can't believe he fell for that! So I am a badass after all!
She'd escaped from the Akatsuki not once, but twice! Fuu was already onto her next trick. The sweetgum bark was turning papery, and after this attack there was no way the boy or his partner would survive.
Well, that idea may have been brilliant, and Fuu thought it made her quite the powerful kunoichi, but it didn't live to see the glory she may have earned. Because suddenly, her body started convulsing midair. Shocked, Fuu's hand gripped her chest. As she struggled to regain control, a wave of dread seeped through her. That idiotic demon! The sweetgum bark, ready to be made into a bomb its victim would be proud of by her Fire Release dropped harmlessly from her mouth. This can only mean...no…
Let me do it, Fuu-chan! The Nanabi whined. It was so ridiculous that now, of all times, a great spirit of enormous power and importance chose to act like a selfish child.
Not now, Chomei, you idiot…!
Fuu's exhaustion from traveling for the past few days was now catching up to her. Her power in battle through Chomei's energy only made it worse. Fuu briefly remembered when she had redesigned her seal, and she made a deal with Chomei in exchange for its aid.
She must let it have more freedom the more power she exerted, and the wearier she became.
That alone would have been disastrous, because no matter how comical Chomei was, it had no regard whatsoever for human life. There was a village only a few miles away, and who knew what would happen to it if the beast took over? But more importantly, if Fuu was only asleep, the beast wouldn't be able to fight at full power. If the microscopic chances that the young Akatsuki lived, or the higher chances that his partner was ready to fight, the flashy and not exactly brilliant seven-tails could very well be toast.
Fuu landed on a branch away from the fire. Almost involuntarily, she slumped down and her eyes closed. The shock of a seemingly distant explosion did not manage to wake her. Her last thought was that Chomei better not do anything too stupid.
Unfortunately for Fuu, the Jinchuuriki girl formerly owned by Takigakure, it did.