Chapter 4

I was promised demons and I get this? the Raikage thought to himself, glancing disdainfully at the man standing before him.

The man in question stood at the ready in the ruin of the doors he had burst through. He wore dark pants and a yellow jacket with green flames licking up the sides. His hair was cut short save for several braids at his back. He held a punching dagger in one hand and was swinging a length of chain that was wrapped around his other.

Of course, the Raikage couldn't let the act of destruction dealt to his doors go unchallenged. He stepped over the remains of his desk he had smashed to splinters in response and approached the intruder confidently.

"Where is the rest of your army," he growled, looming over the much shorter man, "or are you so arrogant to think one man enough to kill me?"

"The name's Katar." the intruder said smugly, holding up his namesake in salute. "And I'm all that's needed for this."

"Confident." The Raikage popped his neck and called up his chakra, sheathing his entire body in a layer of electricity. He shrugged out of his cloak and flexed his shoulder in anticipation. "I look forward to interrogating your village's secrets out of you."

"Heh, right back at you." Katar spun his chain suddenly at the kage's head and dived forward to stab at his unprotected chest. The Raikage didn't even bother blocking, allowing the chain to snap ineffectively against his head. He lined up his arm almost lazily as Katar's blade tried to cut through the kage's armor and snapped in half at the hilt.

"Nice try, but you shouldn't start something you can't finish." The Raikage said. In a burst of speed he hooked his blazing arm into his enemy's chest and threw him through the air to slam against the far wall. The lightning had carved a bloody hole into Katar's chest, leaving him helpless and dying.

At least, until his body disappeared in a puff of smoke. Shadow clone, the Raikage thought, starting to turn around.

"Not bad advice, but this isn't my first season." Katar quipped, coming in hard at the kage's side. In punched his dagger, and this time it sank into the lightning armor with an angry sizzle. The Raikage leaped back before the cut could go deep and clapped his hand over the shallow wound. A trail of greenish smoke wafted up from the cut and he could feel a slight, continuous burn.

Across the room, Katar readied himself for another strike. Green flames licked about the edge of his dagger, every now and then spitting a spark that fell sizzling to the floor.

The Raikage sniffed the acrid smoke and huffed. "Acidic fire? Interesting move."

"You haven't seen anything yet!" Katar cried, whirling his chain above his head in a tight circle. More green flames coalesced in his hand and traveled up the length of his chain, leaving trails of heavy smoke rings in the air as Katar charged. He flipped the spinning chain to either side of him to disguise the angle it would strike from. Whenever the arc brought the chain too close to the floor it simply sheared through the stone, leaving a smoking and sparking furrow in his wake.

Predictably, his first strike was at the kage's left side, obviously thinking his missing arm would be a weakness. But even though the loss of his arm was still fresh, the Raikage had adapted his fighting style to compensate for it perfectly. He bent his left leg and tilted his whole body into the blow, dipping his stump so that the enormous armband could intercept the chain and knock it to the floor. The chain's speed and flames allowed it to cleave through the chakra armor, but not through the thick bands. The Raikage then leapt off his other leg and drove his shoulder towards his opponent.

Katar dropped to his knees beneath the kage's tackle and slipped skillfully to the side, trying to stay on his opponents left. His katar punched in quick, but delivered only another glancing blow before he had to leap away as the Raikage spun right, trying to backhand him. His hand hit nothing but air as Katar danced away from the swing. The kage continued the arc of his swing, shoving his hand straight into the floor and ripped up a chunk, flipping it at Katar before he could land. But around the chain came, eating through the impromptu missile and deflecting the closer half safely to the side.

Katar whipped the chain at the kage's feet in an attempt to wrap it around one, but the Kage leapt above it and came down running. Again Katar spun to the left, but the kage was one step ahead of him now. He pulled back from his charge at the last second and kicked out with his leg, catching his opponent above the knee. Lightning scorched straight through fabric and skin, searing a deep trough before Katar could get clear.

Katar knelt and clasped a hand over his bloody leg. "Oh, I am going to bingo you SO hard!" he snarled, ignoring the pain and rising to his feet. He dropped his punching dagger and grabbed his chain in both hand, whipping it all about him with abandon. The corrosive flames left deep grooves in the floor as it spun all about the Raikage, but to the kage's enhanced senses the chain seemed to be moving through water. He had no trouble dodging the wild swings and looked instead for an opening to attack.

He should have been watching his feet, for he wasn't Katar's target. As the kage's feinted to the right, his foot came down too hard on the damaged and weakened floor and went through. The kage's tried desperately to regain his footing, but the second of distraction was all Katar needed. Favoring his wounded leg, he leapt clear over the large man and looped his chain around the kage's neck.

The Raikage felt the chain tighten and knew he had only seconds. Didn't think I'd have to use this, he thought as he called upon his armor's second form. Instantly, the lightning coursing over his body concentrated on the area of contact, his neck, and held the weapon a full two inches from his skin by sheer weight of chakra. Katar didn't relinquish the hold, gripping one end of the chain in each hand and straining to tighten his hold. He pumped green fires onto his weapon and mentally commanded them to travel down the chain.

The Raikage grunted as the flames licked at his face, but he diverted enough of his chakra from his neck to deflect the worst of it. What he didn't expect was the corrosive flames eating into the chain itself; specifically burning down to the layer of gunpowder Katar had woven into the chain's forging.

The chain exploded in a cloud of green fire and acid around the kage's head. His stage two armor, acting purely on instinct, pulsed over his head and shoulders to protect him from the worst of it, but the fires clung to his head and obstructed his vision. He reeled, choking on the toxic fumes as he wiped desperately at his eyes. A burning pain in his side told him that his opponent had taken advantage of his distraction to stab him with that damned dagger. The kage thrashed blindly with his good arm and grunted in satisfaction as he felt his fist connect with something.

He pulled in his chakra and sent it in a pulse about his head, blowing the stubborn flames bodily from his skin before letting his armor settle back into level one. He quickly scanned the room and was relieved to see he had thrown his assailant into the wall again, where he lay groaning. The kage's smile was short lived, as it pulled the burnt skin on his face painfully. He cracked his knuckles and stepped forward to finish his fallen opponent off, but a voice from his window halted him.

"I think he's run out of stamina for the day." the man leaning against his balcony said. He wore black pants and an open green vest. Tattoos circled the man's bare chest and arms, and he bent to breathe deeply from his cupped hands. The Raikage saw the glow of a cigarette between his cupped fingers as he breathed in, and the man's next words were accompanied by a cloud of smoke.

"Good thing I decided to stop by and see how you were doing. What happened to Pfil? He was with you, right?"

"C-Captain…" Katar said weakly, trying to rise from the floor.

"Stay down, I'll finish this." the stranger said, taking another drag from his hands. He turned to address the kage. "You don't have the pearl on you, but I sense it's on its way. I'll give you one chance to surrender to the inevitable."

In answer, the Raikage amped up his lightning armor and stepped forward threateningly. "I can take anything you can throw at me!" he declared proudly.

"Perhaps, but I've already defeated one kage today. I've got the pearl here somewhere…" he said, fumbling around with one hand in his vest's pocket. With that hand out of the way, the kage noticed with a start that instead of a cigarette, the man was holding a small ball of fire in his other hand. The man absently pulled the ball to his lips as he searched and sucked a thin tongue of flame into his mouth. He held it for a moment and breathed out a cloud of smoke, pulling a small pearl out of his pocket.

"Normally, Kizutsu's the only one of us who could tackle two villages in the same day, but since my subordinate has already wore you down, this shouldn't be too hard." He took one last drag of his fireball before shaking his hand, putting out the fires. "So… how shall I pay you back for injuring him so?"

The Raikage realized for the first time that he might just be out-matched.

***

"That's definitely a summoned creature." Kotetsu said, shielding his eyes against the setting sun. "A bird of prey, probably a hawk or a falcon."

"And I don't recall anyone in our village having a pact with either of those." Izumo put in. He turned and nodded at the third of their group. "Go and report this."

The ninja saluted and leapt off. Kotetsu watched him as he left and turned back to scanning the trees. He couldn't see the bird anymore, but his main concern was for the gates he and Izumo were guarding. It would take their companion about ten minutes to return from the barracks with backup and until then it was just the two of them. He glanced to the side at Izumo, the grim look on his face showing that he understood the situation too.

"Maybe it does have to do with the pearl." Izumo suggested, referring to their orders to guard against an unnamed invading force. No specifics had been handed down from those in charge, but Konoha couldn't take even a small force in its current shape.

He was about to answer when movement on the road caught his attention. Two people were walking out of the trees and approaching the gates at a good pace. The first wore black pants and a red, short sleeved shirt that hung loose over his lithe frame. The shirt had a hood that he wore pulled up over his bushy, blond hair. He wore an open fingered glove on each hand, each equipped with three long blades extending from the backs.

The woman was no less striking. She wore a shift that was cut low and hugged her figure. She had black leggings on her feet and several ribbons scrawled with script wrapped around her forearms and thighs. Her dark hair was almost as long as she was tall, and it blew about wildly in the breeze. Her piercing dark eyes were fixed on them as they closed the distance and she was cracking her knuckles.

"That's far enough!" Kotetsu shouted, stealing his hand onto the handle of the giant kunai he kept strapped to his back. "Konoha isn't open to visitors at the moment. You can just turn around and go back the way you came."

"Did you hear that, Lupe?" The man in red asked, tilting his head in a joking manner at the woman. "They won't let us in. And I was so excited to see the place. Tour the sights, grab a bowel of some special ramen, bingo their kage, perhaps scrounge around their storehouse for any pearls they might have."

He held up his bladed glove and looked at Kotetsu through the blades. "Good thing we weren't looking for permission."

As soon as he had finished his threat, Lupe was on the move. She leapt forward, charging across the distance in the span of a few seconds. Izumo was the first to react, quickly forming hand signs and holding in a deep breath. A slick sludge flowed out of his mouth and coated the road before them. But Lupe had already turned to the side and charged headfirst into the wall. She dived as if into a pool and vanished into the stone without so much as a ripple.

Kotetsu gawked at her apparent disappearance, but a warning from Izumo snapped his attention forward. The man had also charged and was leaping over the sludge on the road. In a single motion, Kotetsu pulled his giant kunai out of its sheath and sent it spinning at the man as he reached the apex of his leap.

Kotetsu fully expected the missile to be parried and was pleasantly surprised when it instead sank into the ninja's chest. His elation was short-lived, as the man was immediately engulfed in an all too familiar could of smoke. Substitution jutsu, he thought, resting his hand on his other kunai and scanning the area for the place his enemy had teleported to.

His surprise was complete when the smoke cleared and, instead of the familiar log floating where the ninja had been, Izumo was revealed. Kotetsu watched in mounting confusion as his friend looked down in horror at the giant blade embedded in his chest before crashing into the sticky swamp of his own creation.

Thoughts whirled through Kotetsu's head. That couldn't have been Izumo! Was it really a disguise jutsu? Or an illusion? No, that was definitely substitution. Can he choose what he substitutes with? Wait, Izumo was standing right next to me!

He was turning before that last thought was fully complete, but by then Tikei was already too close to dodge. A sweep of his claws left deep tracks in Kotetsu's side. He slumped and scrambled backwards, not understanding why he hadn't been killed in that strike. He put his back to the wall and readied his kunai before him.

Suddenly, the wall around him exploded outward as two arms broke out on either side of his head. He turned enough to see the woman, her gleaming skin the same material as the stone, emerge from the wall above him. Her arms closed about his head before he could react further, crushing his head to the wall and stealing him from consciousness.

Lupe pulled herself from the broken wall and brushed off her stone arms. "Thanks for leaving me one while I prepared." She said, nodding.

Tikei flicked his wrist to get most of the blood off his claws. "More where they came from." he answered, and the two of them charged into the city.

***

If Shikamaru hadn't been staring wistfully at the clouds in the dying light, he would have missed the group leaping over the rooftops above him. He froze his wave and considered what he saw. Nine ninja, that's two platoons plus one, who was leading. They were moving towards the north entrance…

Behind him, Ino and Choji turned back from walking away and looked at each other. "What is it?" Ino asked, reading volumes from his suddenly tense posture.

"Not sure," Shikamaru muttered, almost to himself, "Might be nothing, but we should find out. Come on."

He leapt onto the roof of the restaurant they had been eating at, his teammates right on his heels. It took them no time at all to catch up with the force and Shikamaru drew level with the leader.

"What's going on?" he asked, noting the serious expressions around him.

"Trouble at the north gate." The man replied. "I was on guard with Kotstsu and Izumo when we spotted a large bird that was probably summoned. They sent me to get back-up, but on the way back our chakra sensor said there was fighting at the gate. We're expecting the worst."

Shikamaru nodded and was about to ask about the team's capabilities when Choji shouted and pointed forward. Two figures had come into view on the rooftops ahead, running towards them. They seemed to notice Shikamaru's group at the same time, as the figure in red made a motion with his hand and broke off to the right. The other figure continued on, closing the distance between them quickly. He disregarded the thought that they was friendly as soon as the approaching woman's path took her in line with a chimney, which she just smashed straight through as if it wasn't there.

Shikamaru landed on a roof edge and folded his hands one over the other. "Go on after the other guy. I'll contain this one." The captain paused, but didn't object. He quickly singled out two ninja to remain here and took off with the rest.

"Should we stay with you?" Choji asked, wavering between the two groups.

"Go on, they might need your help more." Shikamaru said, concentrating on his chakra. Choji and Ino leapt after the departing group without further comment, but Shikamaru didn't have the luxury to watch them leave. The woman was almost upon him and he took in every aspect of her as she drew near. Most surprising was the fact that she seemed to be covered in a layer of beige stone.

And then she was upon them, leaping high above and diving down at them. The ninja to Shikamaru's left let loose a handful of shuriken, but they bounced ineffectually off her stony skin. Shikamaru meanwhile pulled upon the shadow cast by the building, peeling it off the ground and positioning it between him and the falling girl. But she grabbed the edge of the shadow just as it came across, altering her fall by pushing off it. She crashed into the roof a few feet behind them and smashed through, splintering the entire edge of the building off.

Shikamaru stood out from his crouch and was about to jump from the falling rubble when it jerked forward, slamming him to his knees. He had time to think that the woman must have slammed into the other side of it before he was slammed against the opposite building. He avoided the worst of it, but his ankle got twisted and he fell to the ground, bouncing sharply against the jagged rubble.

He quickly surveyed the scene. They had crashed down in a courtyard in the back of someone's house. One of his ninja was half buried beneath the stone and it didn't look like he was breathing. He must have been caught directly between the falling roof and the building when she had smashed them against each other. The other ninja had managed to jump clear but was coughing on the dust, unable to rise just yet. Shikamaru slid his leg beneath a couple of stones and lay back, trying to look like he was trapped. He hid his hands behind his back as he made the necessary symbols.

With a crash, the woman landed in the middle of the rubble. She stood and immediately started over to him. Up close, Shikamaru saw that the stone layer was complete, including her eyes and teeth. He also saw a ninja headband wrapped around her arm. The symbol on in looked vaguely familiar, but he didn't have time to think on it right now.

The woman walked right up to him and stepped on the stone his leg was trapped under. "So, this is the point where I interrogate you. Who is the kage of this village and where can I find him?" Her voice was surprisingly light and melodious, coming as it was from a rocky mouth.

"As if I'm going to tell you." Shikamaru quipped, trying to buy a few more seconds of time to gather. "Just my luck too; I always seem to be fighting against girls."

The woman smirked. "Tell me about it, I always seem to be fighting guys. Well, if you won't tell me, I certainly can't let these style points go to waste." She pulled back her arm and drove it towards his head.

Which was when Shikamaru struck. The long shadows cast by the setting sun had nearly the entire courtyard engulfed and with a flick of his chakra he put them to work. Black arms materialized out of the ground and wrapped around her legs, holding them in place. Several spears of darkness jutted out and stabbed into her back, hands, back of her head, and shoulders. Soon she was covered head to toe in restraining layers of shadows. Shikamaru pulled out his leg and stood up, knowing he didn't have to fear her attacks anymore. He favored his injured leg as he leaned in close.

"Now, maybe you will answer my questions." he said, maintaining minimal control of the shadows as he focused on his prisoner. "Like for starters, who sent you to attack Konoha?"

"Well, you'll have to ask someone else." The woman snarled. She suddenly lurched forward strong enough to nearly pull the shadows restraining her out of the ground. Shikamaru was so startled by the sudden movement that he instinctively ordered the shadows to pull her back from him. The woman set her feet and stood ramrod straight against it, but allowed the tendrils in her neck to pull her head back sharply. Before Shikamaru could realize what was happening, the woman's head broke off from her neck with a loud crack! Her body immediately stopped straining against the bonds and fell down to the ground.

Shikamaru dropped to his knees, shocked by the suddenness of it. Almost numbly, he reached over and turned the body around to inspect the wound. The inside of the neck was solid stone and even as he watched it started to crumble away.

***

Back at the north gate of Konoha, the wall around the gate shuddered. With a cry, Lupe fell out of the wall and landed on her head.

"That bastard…" she growled as she got to her feet and brushed her arms off. "I won't be able to make another avatar out of stone until dayroll! Next time I see him, I'll bring the works. Note pages, shinys, oh yeah, he's going down."

She paused and looked up at the sound of running feet fast approaching. "Perhaps I'd better find someplace to lay low for a bit though. Barely have enough stamina to finish the quest without starting on any missions."

So saying she sank into the ground and vanished. A few feet to the side, an avatar made of earth rose up and slinked off into the shadows between two buildings as the first party of guards showed up at the scene of battle.

***

The large man looked over his steepled fingers at the three glowing forms before him. "This is much more resistance than I anticipated." His gaze rested firmly on the figure on the right, to the relief of the other two.

Redfire swallowed under that gaze and was glad he was just being projected into the room. For some reason, Azman had gotten much more intimidating since they had crossed over. "There are simply more active people here than we normally deal with." he started.

His explanation was cut off as Azman suddenly fell into a coughing fit that shook his huge frame. The three projections tensed, knowing they couldn't do anything as they were, but the fit soon passed.

"I don't see what the problem is." Kizutsu put in. She had the central position. "We all succeeded in our missions. And Red even got two. We're nearly done!"

"It's the fact that Red had to get two that worries me." Azman said, settling back into his chair. "Katar and Pfil shouldn't have needed help in a simple invasion. Both are nearly capped this season…"

"Perhaps it has nothing to do with their power, or that of our enemies." Daga said. The others turned to him and Azman motioned him to continue. "Well, surely you've all noticed it by now. Something's different here. I know I'm at least acting differently." In a soft tone that the others almost didn't catch, he continued, "…I was actually monologueing!"

"Perhaps…" Azman said, hardly sounding convinced. "Either way, we should probably check in on the other team. Red?"

"Completely out of stamina." Redfire answered. "I was just on my way back to patrol and call it a day."

"I've still got a bit left." Kizutsu said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a golden chain with several fancy symbols on it. She twirled it around her finger before slipping it over her head. "And I might as well get some use out of this regalia."

"I'm tapped out as well." Daga put in before he could be asked. "I don't nearly have as much daily chakra as you guys, and I had to do a lot of improvising in my fight. I might be able to at least support you a little, though, if you need it."

"Sure, if you can keep up." Kizutsu smirked. "Aren't you all the way over in the Water country right now?"

Daga met her grin with one of his own. "We both know that doesn't matter too much to me."

"Enough." Azman said softly, and to their credit they quieted immediately and faced forward. "Need I remind you we are on a time limit? Just get the pearl and get back here. Dismissed." He waved his hand and dismissed the genjutsu.

His hands stole to his side as he stared at where his lieutenants had been standing. Yes, almost time now…