Thunderstruck

Chapter Five

The air was clotted with the stink of dead fish and pure filth. The port water was infested by oily blackness of pollution and rubbish as old, derelict boats creaked and moaned, uncared for, as they rocked with the slick waves that rippled across the liquid's surface. I looked around under the blue hood I had taken to wearing, an asset when wanting to go through a place without being remembered, at all the crumbling buildings and beggars on the streets. I walked slowly, taking in every miserable detail in the luck-forsaken place.

I could barely believe Whirlpool had changed so little.

I had spent the first six months after leaving Konoha collecting information on Whirlpool from other countries, becoming accustomed to my solitary travelling; trying not to wish for Takeo or Minato. I had once thought Minato was probably the strongest out of all of us, but I had grown a lot since I had left my village. Training beside and under prodigies like Jiraiya and Tsunade, Sakumo and Minato, had made me stronger than I could have been otherwise, and being a soldier in a war is a perpetual training course which sharpens all Shinobi. Because of that and my own strength and high amount of chakra, which was usual in Uzumakis, I had become someone capable of travelling alone and be a successful spy. Whirlpool had taught me to survive in abominable conditions whilst Konoha fighting tactics as well as efficient ways of gathering information had shaped a ninja capable of holding ones own.

I had then borrowed a small, one-person, sturdy sailing boat and made my way towards former Whirlpool, the sad, desolated island I had abandoned; forgotten by even the war that waged beyond its reach. Every day of my journey I felt a clutching anxiety inside me, not knowing what to expect. The old sights and sounds of my culture or a shell of that?

I spent that whole first day walking around, ignoring the hookers and children asking for money, which often coincided in the same person. There were a few pathetic stands selling food and black-market items. And to think that what I was seeing had been a prosperous, Shinobi-containing country.

The image of the derelict land spurred me to travel around the island quickly but efficiently on the first few weeks, gathering as much information as possible on the true state of things. I was no longer a child who could ignore the details of the truth; I saw ruin at its source, a rotting base of cheating and fragmentation, ignored by the few grand houses that devastated any balance there might have been.

On this morbid journey I located the largest of the ports, one which had the most potential to transform into its formal glory. Once my scope of the island had concluded I returned to that same large port and bought an empty shop, decorated with grime and graffiti, and an apartment floor in similar condition above it. The filthy structure was located in the South West along with the harbour that was made of long walk-ways of wood and metal leading to boat-spaces. A building containing the reception as well as an adjoining section with out-of-service showers and toilets separated the docks with the gravel streets filled with dusty and lively shops, whores in fish-nets clothing and men with black-market goods. Its infrastructure, however, was still sturdy against the lapping salt waves, and the wooden paths leading to shabby moored boats were mainly in good condition. The areas that weren't, however, could easily be fixed up with a few slabs of fresh wood and a coat of paint and varnish would metamorphosis the whole thing. I gladly took note that the port had an area for larger ships, which would save construction if needed.

It was around two months after my re-appearance in Whirlpool, spent investigating the best fishermen and tools needed for the job ahead of me, that I took my next major step in revitalising the island.

Ironically, the initiation of the rolling snowball took place in one of Whirlpool's many taverns. The air inside the large room was thick with the smell of smoke and alcohol and grime, the atmosphere saturated with the sound of music from an out-of-tune piano, almost drowned out by the shouts of voices and laughter that swarmed the place. People milled about drunkenly, dancing in staggers or carrying large pints of swirling, dark-gold liquid or clear sake to crowded tables.

Out of the early-born paranoia I had taken the extra precaution of exercising my fairly unique technique and disguise my chakra. Only because there was no longer a shinobi village did not mean there were no shinobi lurking in Whirlpool's many shadows. My conspicuous red hair was also covered in black material and as I calmly entered the tavern no one turned to look at me.

I had decided that the mouth-loose scene of a bar was a perfect place to gather more information on any undercurrent powers influencing Whirlpool's economic situation. Granted, spirit-deluded people were not the best of informants but I concluded that no harm would come from trying.

"Hey gorgeous, what can I get you?" A thin woman with a scarred face asked me as I pushed myself on the sticky bar. I smiled casually and asked for some sake which I would avoid drinking. As a general rule ninjas do not get intoxicated and if they do it is only because they are confident enough of their strength to believe that not even dimmed senses would endanger them. Either that or the ninja is self-destructive, both of which, at the moment, I was neither.

I made my way inconspicuously around the crowds, avoiding groping hands and leering eyes but learnt not much beyond the lyrics to crude songs.

I had almost given up the quest for useless, the bar having emptied considerably due to the late hour, when I reached a still-crowded table in one of the cobwebbed corners of the room. I pretended to sip at my sake as I took in the scene.

On a small two-person table sat a pair of men, dressed well and deeply concentrated in whatever they were doing. A crowd of half-sober people had collected around them, looking into what was happening, cheering or calling out as the events unfolded. I stepped closer and joined the mass, one more spectator.

Apparently the source of or entertainment was a gambling game I was unfamiliar with. Little purses heavy with what I supposed was gold sat tauntingly in each player's court, waiting to be won by the luck and skill of the cards that were either clutched in hands or strewn around the table.

One of the men participating was a large, sturdy man with shaggy brown hair and a days-old, unkempt beard littering his chin and neck. He looked extremely serious, features still and tense, jaw clenched, but his pose was ruined by a nervous flickering of his eyes I wasn't sure anyone else would notice.

The other contestant, however, was much more jovial. His eyes were intense, watchful, giving nothing away and I knew right away he was much more intelligent than he would let on. He held no particular expression in his elegant features, high cheekbones and handsome lines not quivering under the stress of the game. There was an air of amusement around him I couldn't quite explain. A slight quirk to his lips, maybe, or a shine in his eyes, partly hidden by a fringe and bangs of dark purple hair. It gave me the distinct impression that he thought the situation was all a big joke to him. He held his cards casually in hands covered in fingerless gloves, his clothes dark and loose around him; a high collar against pale skin, oversized sleeves held in buckles, thrown over him as if he could hardly be bothered to wear them.

I was intrigued at once.

That curiosity peeked more so when I spotted a suspiciously cloaked figure propped carelessly against the wall, directly behind the nervous gamer. There was no cause for curiosity at first, for there were many cloaked, questionable figures in a place like that which I found myself in, yet my eyes became repeatedly attracted to the figure, leaning so silently and still. It didn't interact with anyone or, for that matter, ask for any attention at all and yet as a ninja I was instantaneously on guard by its seemingly innocent pose.

I followed the game closely, not with entertained eyes but with analytical ones. The calls surrounding the two players soon turned against the bulkier one, Maruta, taunts for the losing man who had started to curse and sweat, losing face. His opponent, however, only managed to look more amusedly calm.

"Wrap it up, boys, come on," the lady bartender and owner repeated for the fifth time, this time backed up by a big, stocky, dumb-looking civilian, meaty arms crossed and a violent look in his bulldog face. People grumbled and started moving away from the table at last, forcing me to do the same, pretending to be drunk in order to go slowly, keeping an eye on the contestants. The brown-haired man, the loser, was standing up whilst the other shuffled the cards amusedly, draping his long limbs over the creaky chair.

"Fucking cheat! You don't deserve none of my money, kid," the losing man finally said, throwing his cards on the table with a furious look on his face. There was a roar of laughter and jeering taunts from the dissipated crowd. The boy with the purple hair smirked and reached over for the money. It was when the enraged man tried to take his money with him that I saw that my premonition had been right; the boy was deadly.

Faster than the eye could follow the retreating man's wrist was pinned to the table, causing a startled cry of pain from Maruta.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said softly, voice only being caught by my ears because of their ninja acuteness. However calmly said, though, it was laced with such warning that the other, bigger man was visibly shaken and the money-purse was taken from his slack fingers before the now once-again smiling man moved away with the crowd. I was jostled out and I looked around to note two things; Maruta was still rooted to the spot as if there had been more to the brief touch than just a warning and; the mysterious cloaked figure had gone, along with the nameless graceful player.

I stumbled outside, looking around discreetly only to find a quieting street, drunks trying to find their way either into more bottles or back home, but no cloaked or purple-haired figures.

I cursed inwardly I turned to walk home, plans already forming to track the boy down and hopefully the figure would follow. I wasn't sure why but I knew something would come out of it- this hunt had a purpose, I simply didn't know what it was yet.

O

During the following days I found out that the man I was tracking was a known face in the underworld, a professional player of the intellectual card-game they had been playing, named Rods, as well as the board games Shogi and Go. His name was Seitou and the more I heard about the boy, the more I was impressed. To be so talented in these games as well as physically strong and quick meant this was no ordinary civilian. No ordinary ninja, even.

I finally found the source of my interest almost one week later, in a bar a few miles from the previous one, this time playing Shogi. The atmosphere in the place differed greatly from the last game, however. This time the competition seemed to be the main attraction instead of the alcohol, situated in a clearer atmosphere. The walls and floors were made of a dark wood that dimmed the colour of the whole place nicely, though it was well lit. The bar was off to the right, surrounded by barely-occupied stools. Chair-less tables were pushed out of the way, clearing the space for the people-cluttered space around the game which was greatly different from a professional one; people chatted and laughed around them, even as the air rung with tension.

Except for my chakra I went undisguised, using my feminine allure and petit form to win me a spot close to the game. I felt my lips curl upwards when I spotted the dark figure settled silently behind the amused-looking contender's opponent.

I hadn't trained with Konoha's best strategists, analysers and fighters, along with the dirtiest players in Whirlpool, to not smell trouble when I found it.

I followed the game with interest, noting the boy's playing style. I was used to the game, having been forced to watch Shikaku Nara play it on several occasions against Inoichi Yamanaka, two of the friends I had made throughout the years in Konoha.

As I watched I realised why this man was so good at what he did. It wasn't that he had an efficient strategy from the beginning, for all good players must have a sketch of a plan to start out with. It was that he was able to twist and adapt that strategy as the events unfolded in order to manipulate the moves to his favour. He knew what he was protecting and I watched him risk and win for it.

"Hey little lady, don'tcha wanna drink?" I heard a rough voice say besides me and I reluctantly turned to look at the source of the question. Pressed against my side by the crowd sat a big, friendly-featured man looking down at me with large brown eyes semi-covered by blond hair so dark it was almost light brown. My senses were trained on the game as I looked at him, however, making sure I didn't lose track of any strategy.

I scowled, wrinkling my nose. I should have known better; smiled sweetly to avoid any kind of attention, but if there was anything I needed practice in it was being subtle.

"No," I said irritably, eyes narrowed in mistrust. The man's smile only widened.

"Heyhey now, not attackin', just askin'" He rumbled. I stared at him for a second before smiling half-guiltily. Sometimes I forgot not everybody was an enemy.

"No problem, big guy," I retorted with a smirk. "You know much about these guys?" I asked, looking back at the game where Seitou was leaning back again after making a move. It was such an unusual pose for a strategic game; usually the contestants were hunched around the game-board, intent on what was going on. Seitou's pose didn't suggest laziness, however, but simple disinterest.

"Jus' know this guy's one of best. The best, even," he said, also turning to look at the game, and I knew which one of the two he was talking about. "There's somin' weird 'bout the guy, though. Talked to him once and," I felt him shudder "I dunno. Jus' somin weird."

We lapsed into silence as my mind whirled in suspicion. I would not let him escape this time; I had to find out why this ninja had not left to Konoha with us.

O

"Seitou, right?"

The night was quiet and cold, a biting, damp breeze twisting around the city. The sky had cleared to let the stars blink down at dark Whirlpool, a crescent moon hanging capriciously in the west.

I was sitting languidly on a sleeping chimney, my pose as careless as his had been, red hair on display, tumbling down my back as I look at him with grey eyes. Seitou's pace halted from its leaping consistency at my voice and turned to look at me from a roof opposite mine, clearly not startled, dark eyes invisible in the night.

"Who asks?" He responded, and I could see the smile from here; wide and cunning, showing too many teeth to be friendly.

"Someone who's interested," I said tauntingly, smirk appearing. I was thrumming with the anticipation for a fight because something told me that was exactly what was going to happen.

The tall man turned fully towards me, hands in pockets in an insulting pose. You are no threat, it said.

"Interested?" He laughed, "interested in what?"

I jumped off from the chimney smoothly. "A deal." My voice was casual as I walked towards him, stopping at the edge of the flat roof. I could tell he was intrigued, curious, as I knew he would be. His black coat rippled in the air and his pose shifted slightly as I neared. My smirk widened.

"Well, for someone who's interested you seem to be dawdling a lot. And not even introducing yourself first?" He snorted and turned, a dismissive hand in the air as he walked slowly away.

"If you want to play Shogi with me, ask through the bar you were just at," he said and I laughed softly. Not only had he noticed me in the crowd, it was clear we both knew the other was a ninja; leaping on roofs was enough proof of that.

For a second I touched the metal plate of Whirlpool's insignia under my blue buckles-and-straps jacket. This man was using his skills for nothing more than personal benefit, and that was exactly what had ruined Whirlpool in the first place.

"That's not the kind of game I want to play with you," I said, and was surprised to find a seductive edge to my voice. I was a danger to myself, I decided.

Seitou stopped walking and looked at me over his shoulders. If looks could kill his smirk would have eaten me whole.

"Really?"

I let a shuriken fly towards his neck, whistling against the wind. He dodged them easily, stepping to the left only to almost get his ankle ripped off by the snapping teeth of my water-lynx.

"Well, well," Seitou said, amused as he twirled away gracefully from my attacks.

"Hope you're not too rusty," I said and launched myself at him, kunai in hand.

"So hasty." Seitou pulled out a kunai and despite the speed could tell it was a typical Whirlpool one; smaller handle, lighter.

We danced around each other to the music of breathing and the clash of metal against metal. The cold burned in my lungs as I tried to knock the feet under him only for him to jump upwards, trying get his kunai near my throat; a clash as I parried it with mine and he dodged a punch, ducked another kick, another punch as I slammed my knee on his shoulder- a grunt and a curse from me as he nipped my cheek with the kunai, a curse from him as I did the same. We leaped away from each other.

He wiped the blood from the cut on his cheek as I let mine dry out.

"I really hate it when people aim for the face," he said looking at the blood on his hand with a kind-of-grimace before wiping it on his sleeve. I rolled my eyes.

"I really hate people's vanity," I retorted, positioning myself for an attack. He watched me calmly.

"Urgh, this is bothersome. What point do you want to make with this fight, girly?" I raised my eyebrows at his question.

"Since when does Whirlpool have to have a reason to fight itself?" I asked. He laughed at my comment, nodding slightly.

"How morbid you are. Are you simply fighting me for the sake of the battle, then?" His eyes flashed in menace and inside his smile there were sharp teeth. I shook my head.

"No, no. I'm judging your skills, not that you've shown any," I said, and went on as I saw his jaw clench. "Come on, I'm sure you're not even trying. Why don't you introduce me to your friend and we get serious, hm?" I said, and it felt so good to see the flicker of surprise and amusement on his face. A second later there was another form next to him; the mysterious one always hidden by the shadow of a hood. That same cape was now draped over the figure, flowing darkly.

"Why don't we formally introduce ourselves then? My name is Seitou, and this is my sister, Sasoku." No surnames, I noted.

Under the weak moonlight Sasoku pulled her cape off to reveal the most striking woman I had ever seen. She looked a lot like her brother and yet had a fineness that he lacked, maybe due to the fact that her feminine features suit her female body, dressed in a short black and blue dress that clutched her curves with belts and buckles. Arm-protectors of a similar kind gripped from wrist to elbow. Her hair was purple, like Seitou's, a mass of straight hair reaching the small of her back and of a darker shade, just like her eyes.

Side by side they looked quite formidable, twin smirks, and I hoped I hadn't gotten into something I couldn't handle.

"My name is Uzumaki Kushina," I said loudly, as if it were a threat, a dare, "and I'm the person who's going to save Whirlpool!" Two pairs of eyebrows shot up, two amused expressions. It seemed everything came in pairs with them.

The rippling smack of cards being shuffled was suddenly heard as Sasoku did so quickly. Where she had hidden the packet is a mystery yet unresolved. I stared at her, wondering if her attacks would revolve around cards. That would be decidedly interesting, I thought.

As quick as the cards has appeared one was flicked away from the woman, caught quickly by Seitou and looked upon with a smirk which was broken as he laughed, a loud, almost cruel sound that ringed around us. I frowned at the clear, pleasant sound.

"The fool of swords! Ha,ha,ha. This is going to be fun," he said, and his sister also smiled in the same attractive, mocking expression. My scowl deepened.

"Oi! Who are you calling a fool!? I'll teach you..." I growled, adapting an offensive stance once more yet fully aware we couldn't start a fight in the middle of the city. We would have to go into the forest, or the cliffs.

"Don't get too hot headed! It was almost a compliment," Sasoku said in a curiously deep yet feminine voice. I scrunched up my nose, tired of talking.

"If you're not cowards, stop procrastinating and let's go fight," I ordered.

"Go?" Seitou asked.

"Where do you expect us to go?" Sasoku ended. I lifted my chin.

"You don't expect me to fight here and destroy half the village, do you?" I said harshly. The twins looked at each other.

"Destroy half the village? O-ho-ho, what do you think awaits us, sister?" Seitou asked tilting his head to the side. Sasoku imitated the movement.

"Hope it's something good, I've been awful bored," she replied. I grinned.

"Then by all means, let me...entertain you. But for the favour I ask one in return. If I win this fight, two against one, you will help me with what I need. You'll join me in my fight."

I looked at them seriously, asking them, stranger to stranger, to give me their lives. They looked at each other intensely and then towards me with bright eyes. They nodded and smiled darkly and in a flicker we were running up-wind towards the smell of the sea.

We reached the slippery clearing thrumming with anticipation. I could feel the impending fight in my blood, electricity in my senses. The waves roared against the cliff-side we were fighting nearby, to add to the drama. I watched my opponents position themselves and felt, for a moment, oddly lonely. Ninja don't fight alone; they are pack-animals. For a second, only a second, a sharp burning stabbed me, my throat closed, and I thought about how Takeo should have been there, building Whirlpool with me, breathing it back to life as one. But instead of pushing the desperate feeling away I gripped it and turned it into something else. The memory of Takeo would not be forever coated in sadness; his memory would relive in this country. I would make sure of it.

"Let's do this," I growled and didn't waste a moment. "Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!" I shouted, creating five water clones which splashed into life. I was too used to being outnumbered. Meanwhile Sasoku had bitten her thumb and was leaving a trail of blood on one of the cards.

"We'll make you regret trying to recruit us. The Odokemono clan's power has not been lost. We are its bearers," she said and one of my clones snorted whilst another said 'whatever!' I looked on silently, thinking quickly. If blood was used, the attack was probably going to be a summon. Judging by her words, however, it was no usual summon and it had something to do with the cards she was entertaining. I looked at Seitou and saw that he was starting to make hand seals quickly, obviously joining his sister in ritual.

I didn't have to say a word. My clones dispatched at once with one intention; interrupt whatever attack they had planned.

"Suiton Suijinheki!" They all said at once and blasts of water protruded from their mouths, exploding on the spot which Seitou had been a second before.

"Tsk," he protested as he flipped away from the shoots of water my clones were distracting him with, kicking and dodging away from their hits, dispelling two of them easily. My own smile widened, however, as I formed the seals for my favourite attack.

"Lets go, girls!" I grinned and two of my clones jumped back towards me as the wind pulled at our clothes and hair, the darkness glinting with water and stars. In the distance, a wave crashed on the cliff-side like thunder. The last clone shot Seitou and then Sasoku with a blast of water, not strong nor quick enough to even graze them but it distracted them long enough to go through the seals of my jutsu alongside my clones and above us a swirling began, as if it were space itself that was shifting even though it was just air conjuring water into mass and shape and menace.

"Getting serious are we?" they said at the same time, their posture so casual and graceful, long limbs posed casually, that it irritated me. What did a girl have to do to get these two to freak out of their calm appearance?

The wind stopped trembling and starting pulling again as a dragon of water rippled into existence.

"Oh, very impressive. Beautiful, even. But..."

"Beauty is meant to be temporary," Sasoku finished as Seitou pulled out a new pack of cards, these ones glinting in the moonlight and I knew they were deadly in an entirely different way. I pulled one of the clones in front of me as three cards shot our way, their sides razor sharp, coated in some kind of metal. I leaped up and away as the Bunshin was destroyed in a splash of liquid that splattered against my shoes. My heart was racing with the excitement of a good fight as the cards whistled past again, pulled by almost invisible strings. I slid to a stop a few feet away, avoiding another set of cards from Seitou and I catching sight of the dragon rushing down towards them.

"Come on come on..." I murmured hopefully as the creature opened a swirling mouth of wind-sharp teeth. It snapped and crashed boomingly unto the rock surface of the ground and as the twins leaped away it twisted with frightening speed towards them.

"That's enough of that!" Seitou said and for a second they both stood back to back, half a card-pack in hand, strings tied to fingers, wind pulling at their purple hair and black coats. But suddenly they were moving, dancing, fighting; twisting their fingers and limbs in a pattern which, in a single second, had sliced through my dragon, exploding it violently so that its water soaked the whole clearing, plastering my clothes and hair to my skin. Some of the water, however, didn't even make it to the ground as I wasted no time in attacking, conjuring up water clones from the liquid racing through the air which attacked the twins who were now breathing rather irregularly. Sasoku leaped up and Seitou dodged down but they weren't quick enough, earning themselves a sliced leg and arm respectively. A doubled hiss of pain and a collective splashing of water as the two clones were dispelled was heard.

They flipped away and we stood looking at each other, my grin versus their angry eyes.

"I think it's time we stopped playing around, sister," Seitou said and to my great surprise Sasoku smiled a slow, seductive smile before turning to her brother slowly and capturing his lips with her own in what was anything but a chaste kiss.

"Woah there!" I stuttered, eyes wide, not even taking the opportunity to attack as they joined hands with each other and made quick, practice hand seals with one pair of hands as the other one held a blood drenched card.

A second later, the earth was trembling.

"Oh-oh," I said and leaped farther away, creating a lynx and an eagle of water as I flipped to a stop. I watched with excited trepidation as two forms climbed out slowly from the stone. The wind was howling around us, sharpening the wetness on our skin into cold as the sea roared behind me. Rocks crumbled and rolled away as I watched, horrified as a female figure crawled out of the dirt sluggishly, as if it were a corpse come back to life whilst another, male figure was quicker, carrying a long, glinting spear. He was much more alert and alive, yet both their eyes were hollow as they parted black hair to watch me. Dirty faces and slit fingernails greeted my gasp. A shiver ran down my spine, an animalistic instinct to flee.

This was wrong.

"Shit. What the fuck is this?" I demanded and saw that Sasoku and Seitou had disengaged and were also watching their creations. Their smiles were all of a hunter's expression.

"Meet Izanagi,"

"And Izanami," they said. I choked on air as I heard the names. What kind of game was this?

"Izanagi and Izanami? Creators of the islands? You have to be kidding. You're telling me you brought a myth to life?" I questioned incredulously as I looked at the summoned beings. Twins of opposite sex, just like their masters. Just liked the stories said.

"That's exactly what we are telling you, Uzumaki," Sasoku replied.

"Killed by your creators. What delicious irony," her twin said and then, suddenly, Izanami started screaming, her voice piercing my skull so that I was doubled over, my back and face drenched by the exploding of my water animals.

"Sh-shit!" I ground out, clenching my jaw so hard I could hear my teeth grind. The sound took over the pulsing of my heart, devouring all my thoughts.

A flicker of movement was all the warning I received before Seitou and Sasoku's cards were slicing the air towards me. I leaped back, falling unto one knee, rolling, jumping up with a flip in the air as the noise continued to carve its way into my mind, a sound of pure agony, sorrow, betrayal. The Brother was simply standing there, watching his sister and lover writhe in the agony he had left her in. I had to stop this before I was sliced into pieces.

"Suirou no Jutsu!" I shouted and the screaming suddenly stopped as the woman was engulfed in a prison of water. In the same instant the second summon turned its head to look at me with his dead eyes, lifting his spear as if in a trance. Seitou and Sasoku had retreated their metal cards, simply watching the show. I panted, ignoring the stinging cuts on my arms and legs as I brushed the hair from my face.

Sure, I was used to being outnumbered, but this was ridiculous. How was someone, even as totally amazing as I was, supposed to fight against supposed Gods?

I would have to use that factor against them, somehow. I couldn't act as if I were fifteen and throw myself in, fight until I won out of stubbornness or be killed. I had to figure this out, somehow. But first...

"You pair of fuckers, why didn't that scream affect you!" I shouted at them, baring my teeth angrily. Once I got past the two freaks in rags I would teach them who they were messing with.

"Uzumaki Kushina never gives up!" I raged and my lynx and eagle of water appeared once again. I knew the water prison wouldn't hold for long, even if the goddess had shown no power beyond screaming. I looked at her and saw that she was still doing so, a bubble-less, noiseless expression of horror and pain behind a distortion of water.

"Let's get serious!" I ordered, and didn't have to repeat myself as Izanagi appeared before me, the quickest thing I had ever seen, bar Minato. I bent backwards as he attacked with the spear in a scythe like manner. I kicked my leg up, aiming for the weapon-bearing hand but missed completely as we both leaped away, but my opponent kept attacking, attacking, attacking with those dead eyes always set on me. I wasn't as fast but I was stronger and when I finally landed a punch I felt and heard the crunching and cracking of bones as the wind whistled past as. He stumbled away and I quickly created two water lynxes alongside two eagles, but my planned attack was interrupted as suddenly Sasoku pulled Izanami out of the prison. Seitou, meanwhile, was running around us at incredible speed, a flashing human barrier containing the fight.

What the hell was going on?

The godess had stopped screaming, but as she lifted herself upright I knew that I was in trouble.

Think fast, I ordered myself. What had killed her in the myth?

What was it that could defeat the creators of life?

And then, unhelpfully, I remembered. Childbirth had killed her, the birth of the fire child. But it had been her lover's betrayal which was the reason for staying in the underworld.

It was him that had failed her, and had stayed alive for it whilst she rotted underground.

"Great, that was tons of help, I know exactly what to do now..." I grumbled.

"Better than our usual fights, Uzumaki, but not good enough," Sasoku boasted, red lips stretched into a smile.

"Fuck off," I replied crudely, scowling, "this isn't over." I brushed my red hair out of my face, chipped nails scratching against my face in anger.

Fuck if Whirlpool was ever going to defeat me.

In an instant my animals had melted into the floor only too appear beside Sasoku and Izanami, who had her palms up and was muttering something. At the same time both Seitou stopped running and begun handing a pack of cards rapidly, and Izanagi attacked me once again, stomach caved in and right arm useless.

Fighting with immortals sucked. I obviously had to take out the puppeteers to defeat these mythical replicas.

I avoided Izanagi's spear once again which had not even slowed down by the switch of hands. My animal's, meanwhile, were trying to rip Izanami apart but it seemed to be impossible to reach her, as if she had put up a barrier of some sort. Sasoku had dispelled her enemies though not without injury; one of the eagles had raked talons from shoulder to opposite collarbone, almost decapitating her, as well as from elbow to thumb. I had also equipped the lynxes with fur which spiked up like a blowfish and the twin seemed to be limping on her left leg because of this surprise attack. She now leaned beside her brother who was still concentrating on something, just like the goddess.

I was being distracted for something bigger.

There was no point playing any longer.

Quickly and silently, I tried forming a replacement jutsu, only to realise that either what Seitou had done, or what Izanami was doing, was preventing me from leaving the circle. I tried to ignore my wounds , especially the one that stretched on my thigh as I twirled away from my ceaseless attacker. Izanagi's spearhead was already drenched and dripping in the darkness with my blood.

"You...betrayed me. You, you, you," Izanami was saying, a mantra like a religious spiel, forsaking, blaming, pleading, begging.

And then the world exploded into light.

"Argh!" I screamed as hundreds of little threads were electrocuted to form a thrumming obstacle course. I was going to be fried and sliced to death all at once.

"Suiton Koushin no Jutsu!" I shouted, doing seals in quick succession as I leaped into the air. I aimed to get as far away from the floor as possible, my red hair slashing against my eyes and blinding me for a second as a roar of whistling air was heard from underneath, followed by shouts of surprise.

"The point of my dragon wasn't to eat you! It has to be destroyed!" I laughed as in one second all the water on the ground was propelled and captivated by wind as it sliced upwards in a slick glimmering wall of moving darkness. Their Jutsu was destroyed as the wind neutralized the electricity, the water blowing the strong strings away as the liquid exploded upwards. Izanagi and Izanami were caught in the middle of the raging mess and were sliced up and left scattered on the ground as my true enemies were knocked back. For a moment, nightly silence fell thick; a sound of waves and stirred air before the water crashed back to the ground in a sudden torrent of rain. Seitou and Sasoku had been blow back and with quick, painful jumps I was close to them, though still far enough to prevent being caught by one of their damn cards. Both of them groaned and could see the blood trickle from the numerous cuts I had inflicted. Yet still they struggled up, supported by each other, eyes flashing dangerously in the darkness. I looked at them seriously.

Time to finish this.

"I'm not done yet, guys. Kanashibari no Jutsu!" I shouted, using a paralysing ninjustsu on them, making sure they couldn't even take a look at their cards. The night darkness hid the form of the twins as they stood stock still from where they had gotten up. I grinned wide.

"Suiton Daibakufu no jutsu!" I said before they could dispel the jutsu.

From behind them a roaring pillar of salty sea collected, swirling like the dangers of dancing kunais. Their eyes widened as the water flew towards them, splashing me in the process and causing my hair and clothes to flutter wildly. With terrifying strength the pillar exploded upon them, the crash echoing in my ears as slabs of broken rock flew everywhere so that I had to shield my face with my battered arms. I didn't even bother putting half the chakra I could have in the attack, not wanting to kill them.

The twins were blasted back as the devastating jutsu hit them, sliding against the slick rock face until they lay still and broken on the ground.

The word stilled.

I fell to the ground, exhausted both physically and in chakra, pain trembling in my nerves. But...

I had won.

Two more soldiers for the kill.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

A/N

There we go, part one of what I call 'the whirlpool scenes'. That fight killed me. In the manga the fights are so well-thoughts out and interesting that it can hardly compare but still, tell me how you found it and what I can improve!

Well I hope you have a happy new year. New chances, everyone!

Please review and thanks to anyone who does :)

Disclaimer: The Wonderful world of Naruto aint mine, but this particular story line and all original characters are so, paws off!

Also, a thousand thanks to Deadly Crimson who is my beta as well as my motivator:3