Ah, I remember writing this chapter. At one point it was the longest chapter I had ever written for any fic ever. Oddly enough, it is now considered the norm for every single chapter in every single fic. Interesting how an increase in skill also leads to an increase in quantity.
"Lord Kazekage, do you really think it wise to send them? This is a real combat mission that will likely involve combat between Jonin. They are skilled for Genin, but they will only be dead weight in such a battle..."
Kneeling before the Kazekage, Baki couldn't help but question his leader's decision to send his children and Baki's pupils on a dangerous mission that they were certainly not prepared for. He had told Temari the basic gist of things already, if only so she could find her brothers and prepare, but even now Baki was trying to exempt his team from this mission to the Hidden Mist. He feared for their safety in the battle to come.
The Kazekage's face was a mask of indifference, though whether he was forcing it or not was questionable. "We simply do not have enough shinobi to spare Baki. With our limited number of experienced personnel even dangerous missions like this one must sometimes be filled with whoever we can spare. You already know our state of affairs, why do you even ask this of me?"
Unfortunately, Baki did know quite well that the Kazekage's words were true. The dire economic state of the village for several years now had naturally caused many of their people to leave for more profitable lands. The gradually decreasing population over the years had naturally lowered the number of civilians choosing to become shinobi, to such an extent that Suna had been losing shinobi through battle and desertion faster than they had been gaining them through each year's graduating classes.
Naturally, less shinobi meant less available personnel for missions, which was the most critical means of monetary gain in this time of crisis. And naturally, even the new shinobi they received annually took time to reach the level of Chunin or Jonin, if they were ever that good to begin with.
Which of course, meant that Jonin were extremely valuable, and losing even one of them was a major blow to Suna's economic income, since the missions they could undertake were obviously the most profitable. The Kazekage had to carefully distribute the deployment of his Jonin, even on extremely risky missions.
Seeing that Baki understood his position in this situation, the Kazekage continued with the explanation of why his children were being deployed at all. "As you know, this mission will be extremely dangerous. I must send a large number of shinobi, but if I send nothing but Jonin our casualties will be nothing but Jonin. I must send Chunin, and even they are more valuable at their current level of skill than any of the village's Genin. A mix of all three ranks will mitigate the truly grave casualties we incur."
Not for the first time, Baki wished the Wind Daimyo hand never signed that accursed deal with the Land of Fire. Every day it seemed to put more Suna shinobi in compromising positions. "I suppose that it is logistically accurate to say that Genin are more disposable than their more experienced counterparts..."
That last remark earned the Jonin a glare from his leader. "No, not disposable. It is true that losing a team of Genin will be less crippling to our economy than a team of Chunin, but my children are not pawns: Karura would never forgive me for throwing their lives away so carelessly. What happened with Gaara was already failure enough."
The mention of the Kazekage's wife caused Baki's body to stiffen. Very rarely was Temari and Kankuro's mother mentioned, not after she had slipped into the coma she had been in since giving birth to Gaara.
With Baki himself choosing to say nothing, the Kazekage clarified his intention to send his children on this dangerous assignment. "I am sending your Genin team on this mission because I believe your team will survive. My children are no pushovers, and Ash is not to be underestimated either. If there are any Genin in this village who could actually prove useful on a high-ranking mission, it's those three. They are not experienced, but they are strong regardless. If they survive, this will help them grow as shinobi. Moreover, I trust your judgment in ensuring they don't go over their heads in the heat of battle."
Hearing that the Kazekage trusted Baki on something so important, the half-masked Jonin felt both honored and concerned. Obviously if anything did happen to his team, there would be extremely dire consequences. Of course, it wasn't like Baki wouldn't try to protect them for its own merits as well. By now he would certainly do his best to protect those three simply because they were important to him.
Having not really put Baki's fears to rest, the Kazekage nevertheless ended the conversation the Jonin had brought up. Truthfully, there was really nothing more to discuss. "Gather your team and rendezvous with the other shinobi assigned to this mission at the village gate. The Jonin who is leading this mission will explain the situation there."
Nodding his affirmation with no small amount of unease, Baki flickered out of the Kazekage's office, leaving the scarlet haired man to silently ponder his own decisions.
Fortunately, gathering his three students did not take Baki very long. Though he had not been able to tell her the specifics, not knowing them himself, Temari had taken it upon herself to inform her brothers of the situation so they could all be prepared when Baki came back for them. They had been waiting for their teacher at the foot of their own home, armed far more heavily than they had ever been for any other occasion. Baki had tried to avoid revealing the dangerous nature of the mission to Temari when he told her about it earlier, but apparently she had been able to read the mood.
Without a word on anyone's part, the team and its sensei quickly headed towards the Suna's main gate, which in reality was not a gate at all, but rather a large cleft in the cliffs that surrounded the Hidden Sand. Baki's team arrived at the same time the last squad of Chunin did, so the Jonin commander was able to brief all fourteen ninja at the same time.
"For those of you who haven't been told already, we're deploying to the Land of Water on a search and rescue combat mission, to save a unit that sent a distress call a few hours ago when a diplomatic mission turned hostile. Our primary objective is to find anyone still alive and extract them, but one shinobi in particular is to be saved no matter what, if she's still alive at all: Pakura of the Scorch style. She's the last remaining user of the Scorch style here in Suna, and an incredibly valuable military asset. Before all else, we have to make sure she gets back here alive!"
With the Jonin's commanding voice coming to a temporary halt, Ash asked a question. He had half a mind to raise his hand or something, but technically, they were all adults here, so he quelled the need very quickly. "Sir? Do we have an estimate on the strength of the enemy for this operation? I'm assuming we're outnumbered, but how badly?"
Almost every ninja save his siblings cocked an eyebrow at the boy, but since he had asked a sensible question, none sought to reprimand him for speaking. Their Jonin commander was quick to relay the information that had been asked for. "The SOS we received estimated roughly forty enemy shinobi in the area, but we would do well to assume that number has grown since then. Also, Pakura relayed that one of the infamous Seven Ninja Swordsman was mentioned as reinforcements for the enemy. We will likely have to deal with him as well."
Before anyone could comment on this, Ash spoke up once more. "Am I right in assuming that even though we are told to avoid casualties at all costs, that this Pakura's life should take precedence over my own on the battlefield?"
"That is correct for all of us. We cannot lose one of the few Kekkei Genkai wielders Suna has left. If we ever hope to revive the Scorch style here, we need Pakura alive, even if it means one of us has to die for her. I hope you're not voicing dissent?"
With no other questions to ask, Ash shrugged his backpack of weapons and tools into a more comfortable position on his shoulders. "I was simply clarifying the rules of engagement sir. Better to know now than when we get there."
With a nod of satisfaction on his part, the Jonin commander turned towards the village entrance. "Very well. Time is of the essence, so we're moving out right now. We'll discuss our exact strategy when we arrive. It'll take days to get to the Land of Water even at top speed, and the longer we take to arrive, the higher the chance of our comrades being slain. They can only evade the enemy for so long. Follow me, and prepare for a long run!"
Pakura wished she could say she was surprised. She honestly wished she was an optimist, who would have expected a diplomatic mission to the Hidden Mist to run smoothly. Unfortunately, she was not. She was a realist, and she had been expecting a trap every step she had taken into the Land of Water. This suspicion was the only reason she had survived the Kiri ambush in the first place.
When she and the three Chunin who had accompanied her came to the dismal valley that was their meeting point with Kiri, Pakura had ordered her comrades to stay behind at the valley's entrance, so that they could assist her if there really was a trap in place. Going into the meeting place alone, the green and orange haired Suna kunoichi grew ever more suspicious as heavy mist began to spread rapidly throughout the narrow passage of land. The Land of Water was known for natural heavy mist, but any shinobi who had ever heard of Kirigakure knew that mist could easily be the setup for an ambush.
When her sepia brown eyes finally spotted a Kiri ninja waiting for her in the center of the valley, Pakura was almost certain she was going to be attacked. The man's smile was far too forced, and though he tried to hide it, he looked at the Suna Jonin with contempt and hatred, rather than the acceptance of a foreign envoy.
Still, she played her part, shaking the man's hand and exchanging a few words of pleasantries and wishes for better relations between the Mist and Sand. It was at this point that the Kiri ninja suggested that Pakura take the lead down the valley, and if she needed a final reason to prepare for the worst, that was it. No one in their right mind would walk in front of someone who could possibly kill them.
Yet she did. Pakura was an experienced shinobi who was hailed as a hero in the Hidden Sand for her exploits against Iwa in years past, yet she was going to put herself in an impossibly compromising position that was practically guaranteed to get her killed.
In fact, the trap was so obvious at this point, that Pakura was not surprised in the least when the Kiri ninja stabbed a kunai into her clone's bare back, right into its spine. Pakura had created a shadow clone of herself the moment mist had descended upon the valley, sending it forward into the enemy trap instead. The enemy had apparently not been able to tell the difference, because even as her clone failed to bleed, the Kiri ninja who had stabbed it shouted in victory, beginning to rant about the grudge of the Hidden Mist against the Hidden Sand.
Pakura was not eager to listen to all of what the man had to say, especially as she was supposed to be 'dying' rather than watching the fiasco from the cover of the mist and rocks in the valley. Having been betrayed by the man who was supposed to help her establish some semblance of rocky peace with the Hidden Mist, Pakura felt no remorse as she made a handsign that ordered her damaged shadow clone to self-destruct.
This was a very complex technique, since causing a shadow clone to explode was not quite as easy as making any other clone do the same, but Pakura had spent many years honing this jutsu, and the man who stood next to her clone was doomed. In a blast of Pakura's crimson Scorch style flames, the Kiri ninja was killed instantly, his body mummified by the intense heat of the attack. While not one who found pleasure in death, Pakura could not say this man did not deserve his fate, for trying to kill her in such an underhanded manner as he had.
Unfortunately, her use of chakra revealed Pakura's location to the enemy, and a veritable storm of kunai and shuriken came her way before the dust and debris from her explosion had even cleared. Her reflexes allowed Pakura to somersault out of harm's way, but upon landing she found herself faced with several squads of Kiri shinobi appearing out of the mist to confront her. They were all at least Chunin rank, and well over a dozen of them had shown their face already, with many more likely hiding in the mist.
"You're gonna pay for that, you Suna bitch."
Sure that she could handle a group of Chunin, whether she was outnumbered or not, Pakura did not seem worried about this situation in the slightest. "Me? Aren't you the ones who tried to stab me in the back? If anyone is going to pay, it's all of you."
Unbeknownst to her, one of the Kiri shinobi Pakura was talking to happened to be the brother of the man she had just killed, and he was far angrier than his comrades. Grabbing a kunai from his holster, he charged Pakura alone, blinded by rage. "I'm gonna kill you! I'm gonna kill you right now!"
One of his comrades from behind tried to stop him, but to no avail. "Saizo, don't be stupid! Wait for Raiga to get here!"
Heedless of the warning, Saizo rushed Pakura head on, his mind empty of everything except driving his blade into the kunoichi's guts. The far more experienced Jonin hardly reacted at all, not concerned in the slightest over such a foolish attack. Losing your cool was almost always fatal for a shinobi, but against a skilled Jonin, losing focus was practically asking to die.
The man didn't even think to throw some shuriken at her or something, instead coming into melee range as quickly as possible. He wanted to feel the blood of this woman on his hands, and he wanted to feel it now. That bloodlust blinded him to any strategic thought, or concern for his own safety.
Jabbing his kunai forward in a vain attempt to kill a far more skilled opponent, Saizo quickly found himself in a hopeless situation as Pakura sidestepped his attack, leaving him wide open for a counter. The famed kunoichi grabbed her foe's outstretched wrist as he sailed past her, choosing only to plant her fist in his stomach. While appearing to be nothing more than a physical blow, Saizo soon felt an agonizing burning sensation in his organs, as Pakura's Scorch style almost instantaneously killed him from the inside out.
Pakura's jutsu killed the Kiri ninja long before he could manage to scream, but the sight of his rapidly mummifying corpse enraged Saizo's comrades regardless.
"D-damn it... why are we just standing around?! Let's get her already!"
The shinobi's words spurred on another wave of projectiles, prompting Pakura to quickly heft Saizo's lifeless corpse in front of her, using it as a makeshift shield. The sickly sound of weapons piercing the man's charred flesh did nothing to improve the moods of Pakura's enemies, and as she tossed the body aside, the Suna Jonin found several of the Kiri ninja rushing forward to attack her in close range, though they were not going about it as foolishly as Saizo had.
With two enemies splitting off on either side of her, and two more coming down the middle with one leaping over the other, Pakura was on the receiving end of a simple, but effective blitz.
Drawing a kunai in each hand, she leaped above the enemies on the ground, intercepting the one in midair as their weapons clashed together. Kicking the enemy shinobi away, Pakura tossed her kunai at two of the enemies below, both opponents dodging the attack rather than blocking. This left only one of the assailants to immediately threaten Pakura, one that didn't remain such for long. A quick plume of the crimson Scorch style dispatched the airborne Mist ninja before he could think of a way to evade.
The Kiri ninja found herself dead before her charred corpse hit the ground, something Pakura counted as a mercy, all things considered. But despite dealing with the first wave, the Suna Jonin had no time to analyze the situation again, as a storm of kunai armed with paper bombs came at her out of the mist. Knowing that she would be unable to evade the blast of so many tags with her own speed, Pakura turned and threw a shuriken into the air behind her, quickly forming the hand signs she would need to switch places with the projectile.
Pakura's substitution moved her several dozen feet away from the paper bomb explosion, and more importantly, made it look as though she had been caught in the blast. Using both the mist and the residual noise of the explosion, Pakura retreated away from the enemy and towards the entrance to the valley where her Chunin squad mates were waiting. She could have contacted them ahead of time via radio, but there was no need to risk alerting the enemy to her survival.
Taking extra effort to make sure her footsteps made no sound, Pakura made it back to her comrades without incident, all of whom were nervously waiting her arrival after hearing the explosion echo off the walls of the valley.
"Pakura! What happened?"
"We're leaving. The negotiations were short."
One of the younger Suna Chunin rose to his feet as he reached into his weapon holster, indignation evident on his face. "Those backstabbing Kiri scum!"
Pakura grabbed the man's shoulder and pushed him back into a kneeling position. "We're far outnumbered, and apparently Raiga Kurosuki is leading their force. Trying to fight is tantamount to suicide."
His anger subdued by the logic in Pakura's words, the Suna Chunin nodded in understanding, ashamed that he had let his emotions get the best of him. Having placated the brash man, Pakura turned to the one member of her squad who served as their link to the Hidden Sand. He was specially trained for long range mental communication.
"Can you establish a connection with the missions operator in theSuna?"
Forming a hand sign to focus his chakra, the communications shinobi tried to contact his home village for assistance. His face contorted in focus and mild pain for a few moments, but when he released his sign, only dismay crossed the man's face. "I can't make a connection. Something is interfering with the jutsu."
Pakura's expression turned sour, having hoped that this exact obstacle would not surface. "The Hidden Mist jutsu is laced with chakra: it might be interfering with your own. If that's the case, we need to get away from this immediate area. Stick close to me and watch your backs."
Standing over the empty crater his Kiri comrades had created with dozens of paper bombs, Raiga Kurosuki, an ANBU mask obscuring his face, glared into the mist around him. His intense grip on the twin lightning blades, Kiba, would have crushed the hilt of any normal sword. For reasons the shinobi around him couldn't understand, Raiga was very angry.
"Master Raiga, what's the matter? We got the Suna kunoichi. What else is there?"
Though a mask obscured his face, the ninja who had posed this question could feel Raiga's furious glare on him. "Do you see a corpse here?"
"W-what?"
"Do you see a corpse here?! I don't see a dead kunoichi, I see an empty crater! She escaped, and you've all been standing around here doing nothing! Who knows how far she's gotten?!"
The Kiri ninja Raiga was personally accosting took a step back. "W-well, we figured the blast would-"
Unwilling to entertain any excuses, Raiga swung one of his blades at the man's neck, decapitating him with disgusting ease. Kiba's edge stayed completely clean of blood even as the dead ninja's jugular began to spray blood into the air: it's keen edge was rarely dirtied by blood, since it passed through human flesh so swiftly.
As the betrayed shinobi's head and corpse crumpled to the ground, expression of surprise still etched on his face, Raiga turned to the rest of the ninja around him. "What are you waiting for?! Find that kunoichi! Do not let her leave the Land of Water alive!"
With all the incentive they needed laying dead on the ground at Raiga's feet, the three dozen Mist Chunin and Jonin scattered in all directions, determined to hunt down and kill Pakura and any of her allies, lest they incur Raiga's wrath as well.
After roughly an hour of retreating towards the Land of Water's borders, Pakura stopped her team at the edge of a sparse copse of trees in the Mist countryside, ready to try and contact the Hidden Sand once more. It had started raining a short while ago, and not for the first time, Pakura regretted her choice of clothing. Her backless top may have kept her cool in the desert, but in the rain, it only served to provide the cold water with easier access to her skin.
Still, as an experienced Jonin, Pakura was more than capable of ignoring the cold, instead looking to her communications officer as he attempted to contact the Hidden Sand once more. "It's rough... but I think I can make the connection..."
After a few more moments of concentration, the Suna shinobi held his hand out towards Pakura. "Captain, I have them. I don't know how long I can hold the connection though."
Reaching for his hand, Pakura decided to ignore the man's doubt, instead closing her eyes so she could focus on the mental conversation about to take place. With their concern over preserving their shinobi, the Hidden Sand had long since developed an emergency response system: any squad that deployed on a high risk mission had a shinobi with specialized communicative jutsu who could contact Suna in case a mission went wrong.
It was for this reason that several Suna shinobi skilled in long range communication were always on duty in the Hidden Sand, and why one of them spoke to Pakura the moment he could sense the Jonin's mental presence. Pakura's communications squad member had already relayed the mission and squad details, so there was no need for Pakura to identify herself at all.
Captain Pakura, please relay the nature of your emergency.
Her ultimate goal being to acquire reinforcements, and knowing that they would be few in number no matter what, Pakura tried to make the situation sound as dire as possible. The worse things seemed, the better for her and her men.
The negotiations with the Hidden Mist were a complete failure. I was ambushed by Kiri ninja on the way to the village: my squad managed to escape without casualties, but we're being hunted by a far superior force and need reinforcements as soon as possible.
The ninja on the other end of the telepathic link sounded completely calm as he spoke to her. After all, he wasn't the one in danger.
What is the approximate size of the enemy force?
It's impossible to tell exactly how many were hiding in the mist, but I would estimate the strength of the enemy to be around forty shinobi. However, the enemy mentioned one of the Seven Ninja Swordsman was coming to reinforce them as well.
While he still did not sound alarmed, the Sand ninja Pakura was talking with seemed to recognize the danger presented with the name of the Ninja Swordsmen. They were a force not to be trifled with.
Understood. We'll send the appropriate amount of reinforcements. What is your squad's location?
Pakura was glad that she could answer this question the way she could. The Land of Water was essentially a bundle of islands, but they also owned a piece of the main continent's southeast peninsula, which bordered the Land of Fire. Pakura was grateful that her squad had been ambushed before reaching further into the Land of Water; retreating from one of its many islands would have been much more difficult than retreating from the small piece of the mainland they owned.
We're nearing the border between the Land of Water and Fire, advancing across the southeast peninsula. I plan to egress approximately around the Subuku Cliffs area.
Acknowledged. Stay in contact if you can; reinforcements are on the way.
Severing the connection to the Hidden Sand, Pakura faced her squad once again. "Help is on the way, but we all know how far the Hidden Sand is from here. It'll be days before they arrive, and until then, we're on our own. Our safest bet is to cross into the Land of Fire; a force of Kiri shinobi as large as our pursuer's would never come very far into another country's territory, for obvious reasons. Still, they'll definitely try to cut us off before we make it there, so stay alert.
With a nod from all of her men, Pakura's endangered squad rose to their feet once more. The only thing left for them to do right now was run, hide, and survive.
Having departed the Hidden Sand as soon as possible, and moving as quickly as they could besides, the unit of Suna shinobi that had been dispatched to rescue Pakura's squad had already crossed the border into the Land of Rivers by late evening on the day they had left. The moon had already taken its place in the cloudy skies above, but the night did not signify rest for the ninja of the Hidden Sand.
There was actually no intention of resting on the way to the Land of Water. The plan was to cross the Land of Rivers that night, and to cover as much distance as they could before morning in the Land of Fire, at which point they would move more slowly and carefully, to avoid being detected by any patrolling Hidden Leaf ninja. While they were a small force, the Hidden Leaf would likely take the Sand's presence in the Land of Fire as an act of aggression, and the last thing anyone needed was another conflict. This time of slow advance would be the only real rest the unit received, even though they would still be moving.
Once darkness had settled over the land once again, they would increase their speed as much as possible, using the cover of night to cross the Land of Fire as quickly as possible. If everything went according to plan, the unit would arrive at the border between the Land of Fire and Water in just two days. Given, this breakneck speed would exhaust them all, but it was better to arrive tired than to not arrive in time. Besides, everyone had brought an excess of high potency soldier pills, both to keep them going and give them the strength they needed to fight when they arrived at the scene of battle. Sure, they would all crash from the boost later, but hopefully it would only be after they were out of danger.
Leaping through the trees of the Land of Rivers as quickly as he could manage, Ash surprisingly found himself very calm in the face of the danger before them. Of course, that may have been because the battle was still a short time away, but Ash figured he would have at least been a little nervous, considering that he could and would probably die. He had no illusions about the fight ahead; he and his siblings were going to be far outclassed by the enemy. One enemy Jonin could easily kill all three of them without batting an eye, and that would be that.
He honestly had no idea why they had been sent on a mission such as this, but as the thought of being expendable further cemented itself in Ash's mind, he was suddenly reminded of his overall distaste for both his career and the village that career served.
But his fatigue surprisingly helped Ash's anger subside. He was literally too tired to be angry, and this allowed the voice of reason to come through, at least to an extent.
I suppose I won't really be throwing my life away for the village... this mission is to save someone else, so if I think about it that way, it isn't so bad... I might be willing to risk myself for another person. That's a little different than a cluster of buildings in the middle of the desert. Though it still would have been nice to have a choice in the matter.
As if Baki could sense the mounting discontent in Ash's mind, he shouted back at his team, who were bringing up the rear of the entire unit. "How are the three of you doing? Can you keep going?"
Distracted from his disgruntled thoughts, Ash eyed the man ahead of them with a cocked eyebrow. What was the point of asking them if they were tired? First of all, of course they were. Just speaking anatomically, kids like them didn't have the stamina of the adults they were traveling with, even if they supported their bodies with chakra. Second, no matter how tired they were, Ash and his siblings had no choice but to keep going. They were on a mission, and they were shinobi. They had to perform just as well as the comrades with them, and could receive no special treatment because of their age or rank.
For these reasons, Ash decided that complaining about the situation was pointless, as it would change nothing about it regardless. "I can keep going."
Kankuro was apparently too focused on breathing properly to answer verbally, so he simply nodded his head, while Temari seemed to be in the best shape out of all of them. "There's no point in asking that, Sensei. We can't afford to slow down the unit, and we have to arrive to help our comrades as soon as we can. We aren't stopping."
Baki was pleasantly surprised that his students were handling this so well, but was also a little surprised that Temari appeared to be in such good shape compared to her brothers. "Temari, you don't seem to be very winded. If anything, your breathing seems almost completely regular."
While Temari didn't want to brag, she couldn't resist explaining herself now that she had been called out. "Well it gets hard to breathe after you push yourself for awhile, so I'm using my Wind Style to get as much air in my lungs as possible. It only takes a tiny bit of chakra, and it's really working wonders. My legs still hurt, but I feel like I could keep going for hours."
At this, Kankuro wheezed at her from the side. "So... unfair..."
Temari couldn't resist a cheeky smile at the reactions she was getting. Irritating Kankuro was always fun, and she could see the faint smile on Ash's face, showing that he was more impressed with his sister than jealous of her. Baki on the other hand stared at her blankly, a number of questions running through his mind.
I can't believe this! In all of my years as a wind-style user, how could I not have thought of this?! How did a young child utilize such an obvious technique before me?! Before anyone?! Do any of the other wind-style users in Suna think to do this?!
Ash smirked at the flabbergasted look on Baki's face. "You alright there, Cyclops? Something rubbing you the wrong way?"
Not falling prey to Ash's obvious attempt to provoke him, Baki faced forward once again. He was a little mad to have been shown up by Temari just now, but as he began using her technique for himself, he couldn't deny that it was pretty effective.
"It looks safe to me."
Pakura resisted the urge toaccost the Chunin next to her for making such a foolish comment. Indeed, the Subuku Cliffs that marked the border between the Land of Water and Fire looked clear, even from their position under the rain-soaked bushes at the edge of a forest the Suna shinobi had chosen for cover. As best as Pakura could see, there were no enemies occupying the open ground between her squad and these cliffs, but she knew better than to make assumptions. Making an assumption on the field was just asking to die.
"It may be possible that the enemy hasn't reached this point yet, but no country leaves their border unguarded. Even if our pursuers aren't here, there are enemy patrols that have probably been informed of the situation. The chances of this being another trap are very high."
One of the Chunin cast a sideways glance at her, a little irritated with his captain. For the life of him, he couldn't stand how slowly she chose to take things all the time. "So what are we going to do then? Just sit here? We have to cross the border, you said so yourself!"
While Pakura knew that the stressful nature of this situation was straining her men's nerves, she herself was growing quite irritated with them. This was no time for anyone to lose their cool. "Yes, I did, and yes, we do. But running straight towards the border across a barren field is not the way to reach safety. For all you know, the distance between us and the border could be lined with explosives, yet you want to rush straight in. Would you rather reach the Land of Fire safely or in pieces?"
Unable to dispute her words, the Sand Chunin fell silent, cursing the day he was selected for this mission. He was glad to be under a capable leader like Pakura, but he would have preferred to not be out of the Land of Wind at all.
Seeing that no one else had any objections to raise, Pakura decided to lay out her plan. "It's clear that the enemy planned to betray us from the very beginning, so even though they wanted to destroy us back at the valley, they probably placed a backup unit at the border in case we managed to escape. If we try to cross into the Land of Fire and get intercepted by the border guard, we'll get blitzed by our pursuers from behind. We won't stand a chance if we don't find a way to distract the enemies ahead of us. We need to draw their forces to a decoy, which will create an opening in the line for us to escape through. If we create clones and send them forward here, the enemy will focus on them until they discover the trick, and that may give us enough time to escape."
"But Captain, normal clones can't fight or take hits. The moment an attack passes through them, the enemy will be onto us."
"All the more reason for our clones to make doubly sure they evade any and all attacks for as long as possible. I would send a shadow clone, but we can't afford to needlessly waste energy. If this plan fails, we'll need all of the chakra I can get to fight. That said, if anyone has a clever idea, I'm open to suggestions."
When no one else spoke up, Pakura extracted herself from the bushes they were hiding under and rose to her knees, forming the necessary hand-sign for making a standard clone. "Then let's go. The longer we wait to do this, the more likely it is that the enemy behind us will catch up. We don't have time to stand around."
Pakura's squad quickly followed its captain's example, and soon enough, four clones of the Suna shinobi stood ready to distract the enemy for their creators. Pakura spoke to all of them at once. "Wait here for ten minutes, then rush the border. If you're intercepted by enemies, do your best to avoid any and all attacks. Distract them for as long as possible. Understood?"
The four clones gave a collective nod; which was about the extent of their communicative ability. Certain that they would do as they had been told, Pakura lead her squad further down the line of trees they hid in, staying parallel to the border. Hopefully any Kiri ninja in the section they were heading to would move to intercept the clones once they made their move. Any shinobi with half a brain would stay at their post in case something went wrong, but the Hidden Mist's training methods tended to produce overly bloodthirsty fighters, always itching to kill. They wouldn't want to pass up the chance to gut their hated Suna enemies.
Once Pakura and her men had moved far enough away from the area their clones would be drawing attention to, they simply hid in the outskirts of the woods, waiting for their clones to follow their orders before making a break for it. Having spent a good part of the ten minute waiting time just reaching their position, the four shinobi did not have to wait long, as they soon heard the blast of an explosive tag in the distant area they had abandoned.
Taking this to mean that the clones had begun their diversion, Pakura waited another thirty seconds, waiting for any shinobi in their area to hopefully abandon their posts and investigate the disturbance. Still, if she waited too long, the trick would be discovered, so Pakura did not waste more than a minute before motioning her squad forward.
There was a rather large expanse of open ground between them and the cliffs on the opposite side of the forest, but they had no choice but to simply cross it as quickly as possible, and reduce how long they were exposed. Sprinting at top speed allowed the four Suna ninja to pass the open area in under a minute, but even though she should have counted it as luck, Pakura was immediately suspicious of how smoothly things were going. The plan had been to divert the border guard to another area, but Pakura didn't think it would actually work...
Upon reaching the foot of the cliffs that separated the Lands of Fire and Water, Pakura brought her men to a halt, much to their own chagrin. Salvation seemed so close, and here there captain was, preventing them from reaching it.
"Captain, why are we stopping?! The enemy has probably already seen through our diversion, we have to move!"
"Yeah, the border is right up there, what are we standing around for?"
Pakura refused to answer these questions as she tried to determine what was making her feel uneasy. Something wasn't right here, but she couldn't quite tell what it was. There was something in the air, something that was making the hair on her arms stand on end...
As a loud blast of thunder echoed throughout the rainy skies, Pakura suddenly realized what felt amiss in the air. "Everyone, dodge!"
Taking her own words to heart, Pakura was halfway through a backwards leap before anyone in her squad was thinking to do the same. They all followed her lead, leaping away from their position as soon as they had processed Pakura's warning, but one of them was just a second too slow, as a bolt of chakra-laced lightning struck him from the cliffs above.
The attack was so powerful, that the unfortunate victim was killed instantly by the heat, not even allowing him enough time to scream as his body crashed to the ground in a charred, sizzling heap.
Skidding to a stop, Pakura glared up at the cliff where the bolt had originated from, laying eyes on the person she had expected: Raiga Kurosuki, one of his blades still smoking with residual heat. He was also not alone, as Pakura spotted two squads of Kiri ninja flanking the Ninja Swordsman on both sides. Based on their uniforms, a few of them appeared to be Jonin, much to Pakura's dismay.
Damn, guess I underestimated them...
While his expression was hidden behind his ANBU mask, Raiga's contempt for the Suna shinobi below him was obvious in his voice. "So, did you really think a cheap trick would throw me off? Is your opinion of Mist shinobi truly so low? I'm almost insulted, to think that you would disregard me as your enemy so easily. If only you had been as overconfident as your comrades... that last attack would have killed all four of you had it struck."
The two surviving members of Pakura's squad looked up at the enemy in fear. They were outnumbered and outclassed, and they had just watched one of their comrades die right before their eyes. To say they were scared was a bit of an understatement.
Seeing this, Pakura was quick to rally them, as best as her abilities could manage. "Don't freak out just yet, you two. If you don't stay calm, you're guaranteed to die. If you focus, there's at least a chance that you'll get out of this alive. I'll do what I can to get us out of this, but I need you to do your parts as well."
While her words were not completely confidence inspiring, Pakura nevertheless spoke the truth, so the two men with her steeled themselves as well as they could, facing the enemy above them with whatever courage they could muster.
This act of resistance seemed to disgust Raiga even further. "Little fish like you standing up to a shark like me... does no one know their place anymore? Heh... allow me to fix that." Raiga turned his gaze on to Pakura. "Bow before me and beg for your life, and I may let you live: I've never seen how a Suna bitch like you grovels."
The accosted kunoichi smirked up at the large man that looked down on her. "I really don't think that's going to happen."
"Oh? Are you so foolish as to resist me with your paltry numbers? Do you really think you can escape us?"
Pakura formed a sphere of her crimson Scorch style chakra in her right hand. "I do. Trust me, I don't pick fights I can't win."
Her reply earned a spurt of malicious laughter from the only Mist Swordsman present. "Is that so? I will admit, you vermin certainly are amusing. Well then, if you are so eager to entertain me, so be it! Show me the extent of your petty resistance!"
With that, Raiga raised the twin blades Kiba once more, preparing to launch another lightning style attack. Pakura charged her own jutsu to meet it, speaking to her surviving squad-mates as she did so, while also making a communication hand-sign with her free hand. "The moment these attacks collide, we break east, got it!?"
With a simultaneous nod from her men, Pakura unleashed her scorch-style attack as Raiga cast another bolt of lightning at her. The collision of these jutsu created a blast that covered the area in smoke, and the threatened Sand shinobi were on the retreat immediately, sprinting to the west under the smoke's cover, just as Pakura had said they would with her silent communication a few moments ago.
Misdirecting the enemy with her words probably wouldn't buy much time, but at this point, Pakura was willing to try anything to survive this accursed situation.
Damn, I hope these reinforcements have a sense of urgency!
By the time the sun rose from the horizon to greet the world for a new day, Ash and the shinobi with him were met with a clear view of the forests and grasslands of the Land of Fire. They had sprinted through the entire night, using only their own stamina and all of their chakra to keep them going. By the time they stopped in a forest clearing far from the Hidden Leaf to replenish their energy, everyone was struggling to breathe.
Even Temari and Baki, with their wind-style technique, were taking labored breaths. Everyone else was in much worse shape, especially Ash and Kankuro, who both collapsed to the forest floor the moment they had been told they could stop.
When he had assuaged the pain in his own lungs well enough to do so, the unit's captain spoke to the exhausted shinobi around him. "We...we can't stay here long. We'll move out in five minutes if everyone is ready by then. At the most, we'll take ten, but no more, so do whatever you have to do to recover some of your stamina."
At that, most of the Sand ninja in the clearing drew soldier pills from the pouches at their waists. They were meant to restore chakra and strength to hard-pressed combatants on the field, but there was no reason they couldn't be used to keep fatigued shinobi going over long distances. The boost of a high strength soldier pill could make them all feel as if they had not been running for hours at all, but it would result in a huge system crash several hours later. Hopefully, this mission would be a success by then, and everyone could simply pass out in some safe camp in the Land of Fire, with Pakura and her team among them.
Still, Ash couldn't stomach even a small soldier pill at the moment. He felt sick and nauseous, and right now the only thing he could focus on was his breathing. Swallowing anything was completely out of the question.
Recovering much more quickly than anyone else thanks to her little wind-style trick, Temari found her way over to her brothers so she could help them do the same. "Alright you two, put your hands on top of your heads, and don't scrunch up your torso. The more you can expand you chest cavity, the more quickly you'll catch your breath."
Kankuro grumbled something about how stupid that was, but Ash simply followed his sister's advice, certain that she knew what she was talking about. Still, five minutes wasn't enough to recover from several hours of running, for him or the others, so the captain elected to to take the full ten minute break instead.
With a little more time to calm himself, Ash managed to get his breathing under enough control to consume the soldier pill he desperately needed to keep him going for the next leg of this journey. He also drank about half of his canteen of water, but left the rest of it untouched; there would be no time for bathroom breaks on the way to the Land of Water.
Seeing that he was in better shape now, Temari decided to move back to her place in the unit's formation, but her little brother stopped her when he called her name.
"Temari?"
Knowing the serious types of questions that followed Ash's use of her name, Temari turned her full attention to her adopted brother. "What's the matter, Ash?"
"Aren't you worried? I don't think we're ready for this kind of mission."
Temari folded her arms, surprised by the question but also understanding his concern. "Of course we are. We wouldn't have been chosen to come if we weren't ready..."
Ash glanced up at her worriedly, considering something entirely new for his perspective. This mission would be the first time he went up against another shinobi from another country. And having put some thought into that fact, Ash had realized something kind of important: the people he would be fighting could be just like him.
"I'm just wondering... we'll probably be forced to kill people out there. People just like us; patriots, siblings, or maybe people like me who don't even really want to be there. When I think of that... I just worry that I might not be able to go through with it. I mean, it doesn't even come down to something righteous like good versus evil. It's just... us versus them. Why are the families or village we're protecting worth anymore than the ones they are?"
Temari furrowed her brow, for the first time considering what Ash had just said. Sure, she had known that she very well may have to kill someone in the upcoming mission, but Temari had not paid it much mind. They were simply the enemy, and Temari was fine thinking of them in that fashion. Whether or not they had families didn't concern her; they would try to hurt her family, and if she had to kill the aggressors to protect her brothers, so be it. Temari had no problem with that.
Of course, she hadn't expected Ash to grace her with such a philosophical question at his young age. She had always known that he was extremely sharp and introspective for a nine year old, but questioning the selfish nature of human conflict was something else.
In fact, Temari didn't have the right answer to that question. Technically, Ash wasn't mistaken. Most humans killed each other for selfish reasons, and usually the same selfish reasons as the people they killed. Was there some universal scale that objectively made one person's reasons for fighting worth more than another's? Not really.
But that probably wasn't the kind of answer that Ash needed at this point in time, so Temari devised a much better way to word it.
"Look Ash... you love me and Kankuro, don't you?"
"Of course I do. Why would you even ask?"
Nodding to herself, Temari crouched down in front of him. "OK, and would you say that love is selfless or selfish?"
"Well... both, I guess. It depends, doesn't it?"
Temari nodded again, glad that Ash at least knew that much. "That's right. When you love someone, you give your own precious time and effort for them, and make sacrifices to let them know how much they mean to you. But sometimes love is selfish too, like when you're jealous over who they spend time with... or when you have to hurt someone else to protect the one you love. It's true that the people you might have to kill have families, but... you have a family too. If you let them kill you, or someone you love, it's your family that gets hurt. One way or another, it's you or them. It might sound cruel, but to protect yourself or your family, you might have to kill someone else's son, brother, daughter, or sister. Does that make sense?"
Ash was silent for several moments as he processed what his sister had just told him. In a way, it sounded as though she were merely trying to justify killing, but Ash could not refute anything Temari had said. If he had to choose between his brother or sister and the life of a stranger, that stranger was as good as dead, family or not.
"I suppose, if it comes down to the wire like that... I guess I would take down someone else regardless of their situation."
"Are you sure? You can't be second-guessing yourself on the field Ash."
Ash rose to his feet, knowing that the unit's short break was almost over. "I'm sure, Sis. If I have to kill someone to protect you or Kankuro, that's fine by me. I won't regret that at all, even if it's unfortunate."
Much to his chagrin, Temari ruffled her little brother's long hair, cheery smile on her face. "Hey, you have to protect yourself too. Losing you would hurt us way more than losing a limb or something."
Scowling at her for both her actions and her words, Ash gently pushed Temari's hand from his head. "Please don't say stuff like that, Sis. I don't want to think about either of you getting hurt like that."
"As long as you take care of yourself. That was the point..."
Before Ash could offer a reply of some sort, the captain of the Suna unit ordered everyone to move again, as they had wasted more time than they originally planned already. Every second they were not moving was a second Pakura and her men could be dying.
Giving Temari a reassuring smile, Ash leaped into the trees once more, now content that there were no obstacles to prevent him from performing to the best of his abilities in battle. Once again, his sister's wisdom had served him well.
Pakura cursed as she back-flipped over a windmill shuriken thrown her way. Landing on her feet again, she returned fire with a volley of smaller shuriken, which were easily dodged or deflected by the Kiri ninja opposing her. After hours of battle with them, Pakura was out of kunai, so she was left with only less lethal projectiles.
She and her team had never managed to escape from Raiga and his men, and had been embattled with them along the cliffs of the border for several hours. Another member of her team had been slain already, falling victim to the overwhelming strength of the enemy, and that left only Pakura and her communications officer to resist the Mist ninja around them.
Raiga himself had split off from his unit during the chase earlier, which left Pakura tense and worried. She had no idea when the man would show himself, as he was likely just waiting for a chance to strike...
Pakura's musings were cut short when one of the enemy jonin moved against her, drawing a katana from a sheath on his back. With no kunai to defend herself with, Pakura had no choice but to dodge the incoming attacks rather than block them. Her opponent was a skilled swordsman, and every swipe of his blade came dreadfully close to Pakura's body, but she managed to evade every attack thrown at her, with the exception of her orange-dyed bangs being evened out when the blade nicked some of her hair. They had always been a tad bit uneven anyway, so there was nothing to really complain about.
Holding her own well enough, Pakura was dismayed when the Kiri Jonin's comrades began to coordinate with his attacks. Soon enough, every time Pakura dodged the katana, there was a projectile rushing to meet her at the place she had dodged to, and she was oftentimes forced to stumble to get away from them. The last remaining member of her team was trying to intercept as many of the weapons as he could with attacks of his own, but his aim was not nearly peerless enough to block them all.
In an effort to reduce the number of attacks she had to deal with, Pakura tried to keep the swordsman's body between her and the other Mist shinobi whenever she could, using it as a shield of sorts. This of course meant that she could not dodge in certain directions, and so Pakura had to resort to carefully blocking the keen edge of her enemy's blade with well-timed Taijutsu.
The good thing about katanas was that they were only sharp on one edge, so Pakura could strike the flat of the blade, or push down on the inward side, to steer the attacks away from her without injuring herself. This left openings in her opponent's defense, but after nearly half a day of hard-pressed combat, Pakura was far too tired to take advantage of them. Raiga had cornered her squad in the early hours of the morning, and it was nearly noon again, though it was difficult to tell in the pouring rain. The only reason she and her last squadmate were able to continue at all was because of the handful of soldier pills they had brought with them.
Unfortunately, Pakura only had one of those left, and she had already used three. She was using her chakra conservatively, but even so, Pakura estimated that she would only be able to continue fighting for another hour or two. After that, she would take her last remaining soldier pill, which would give her the strength to fight for a few more hours. They were extra-strength pills, potent enough to restore her strength almost completely, but the backlash from taking four of them in under twenty-four hours would be massive. In fact, if Pakura didn't get medical attention in time,the next twelve hours would come with the risk of a serious coma, and if those reinforcements didn't arrive before that occurred, it would be all over.
Knowing that exchanging blows with the sword-wielding shinobi before her was wasting energy, Pakura gathered the strength she needed to take advantage of the next opening she could find. Unfortunately for her adversary, this opening came when Pakura was forced to duck under a horizontal swing of his blade, which left a very vulnerable place open to attack. A swift uppercut found its way into the unprepared ninja's groin, doubling him over as he fell to his knees in agony.
In too much pain to defend himself, the man was helpless before Pakura's next attack, another blast of her scorch style that sent the victim's mummified body flying back towards his comrades.
"Son of a bitch! She got Sukoma!"
"Yeah, but she's getting tired! If we gang up on her, she won't stand a chance!"
Pakura was well aware of her poor odds against multiple foes, and prepared to make a hasty retreat with one of her few remaining smoke bombs. She turned to face her last comrade to make sure he was ready to move, but was only met with a terrible sight. Raiga's imposing figure stood behind him, the keen edge of Kiba lodged through his heart. Pakura's last ally was already dead.
"Dammit, when did you...?"
Raiga chuckled as he dropped the now lifeless corpse in his arms, his expression of sadistic pleasure hidden behind that accursed ANBU mask. "You should have known that I never left. I was just waiting for a chance to get you alone..."
Pakura narrowed her gaze at the man, lamenting the death of her entire squad, but not showing it on her face. "Mission accomplished then. Are you just going to gang up on me now?"
"Actually, I'm kind of growing fond of you. You've impressed me with your tenacity thus far... so much that I think killing you would be a waste. Besides, you're quite the exotic beauty; surrender yourself to me and I may let you live as my slave. The Mizukage would have no qualms with letting me take you as spoils after you've been interrogated."
Repulsed by the suggestion, Pakura's glare at the man intensified. "I'd rather kill myself here than wallow under a pig like you for the rest of my life. There won't be any surrendering; you kill me, or I kill you. My money is on the latter."
Raiga merely shrugged, not at all dismayed. "Well, it's a shame to waste such a woman of your caliber, but if you have death wish, who am I to refuse you? The rest of you stay back; I'm going to kill this one myself."
Pakura watched as all of the Kiri ninja around her relaxed and lowered their weapons. Clearly they did not think Pakura had a chance of winning against their leader: how unbelievably rude. Any of the Mist shinobi that had been close to Pakura when Raiga appeared backed away from her, forming a ring of bodies around the two high-level Jonin from opposing villages that were about to fight.
Knowing that Raiga would be tougher than any of the other opponents she had fought so far, Pakura consumed her last extra-strength soldier pill before facing him. She would need to wield her full power to defeat one of the legendary Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. "If you're ready to fight me, come on. I don't have all day to play with you."
Her provocations were not wholly effective in making Raiga lose his cool, but Pakura could tell that her bravado was making the Mist ANBU a little irritated at least. He was used to a lot more respect than this.
"You really are in such a hurry to die... if that's your wish, I won't disappoint you."
Finished with words, Raiga charged Pakura with great speed, aiming to simply slice her in two rather than electrocute the woman.
With the majority of her stamina restored through man-made means, Pakura had no problem dodging the x-shaped strike Raiga directed at her, though Raiga was too quick himself for her to counterattack. Kiba's twin blades were optimized for swift, lethal blows, a design that her adversary did not waste in his attacks.
His flurry of swings from two directions was difficult for Pakura to dodge at all, so even though she managed to keep her head on her shoulders, she was not fast enough to take advantage of any openings she saw in Raiga's defenses. There was no question that he was faster than her, but wielding two blades made it even harder for Pakura to go on the offensive.
Of course, she also had no kunai to block with, having used most of them as projectiles against other Kiri ninja earlier in the engagement. Pakura could have attempted to block with what few shuriken she had left, but using those tools as shields would dig the blades into her palms, and it was unlikely that they could block Kiba's refined edges anyway.
This left Pakura with dodging as her only means of defense as she tried to think of a way to counter Raiga's melee assault. If she tried to strike back without throwing the man off his balance, she was basically guaranteed to lose a limb...
She had to find a way to block Raiga's attacks if she were going to fight him up close.
A crazy idea occurred to Pakura as she spotted a fist-sized rock in her peripheral vision. She didn't know how well a piece of stone would block a blade, but if used carefully...
Using her foot to kick the piece of earth into the air before her, Pakura grabbed hold of the thing before gravity could pull it out of her reach. Being sure to keep her fingers out of the way, the innovative shinobi used the only tool she had available to bat away Raiga's next attack, being sure to target the flat of his blades instead of trying to actually block the edges with a mere stone.
Much to both her and Raiga's surprise, this tactic was actually quite effective, and Raiga was caught off guard when the trajectory of his blades was suddenly changed against his will. This left an opening Pakura was capable of taking advantage of, and she blasted Raiga's exposed torso with her Scorch style. Being the realist she was, Pakura did not dare think she had defeated Raiga so easily, but her fears were confirmed when the smoke from her attack cleared, revealing nothing but the shattered pieces of a boulder Raiga had substituted himself with.
Kicking up another rock into her free hand, Pakura carefully watched her surroundings, trying to be ready for whatever direction Raiga was going to come at her from. This direction ended up being from below, as Raiga crashed out of the ground blades first, trying to separate Pakura's legs from her body. Fortunately she was quick enough to leap above the arc of his swing, and Pakura was able to deflect his follow up attacks with careful use of the rocks in her hands. As long as she managed to avoid making direct contact with the edge of Kiba's blades, her makeshift shields would hold, much to Raiga's chagrin.
The two shinobi leaped away from each other as they landed on the ground once more. Pakura prepared to defend herself once again, which irritated Raiga even further than he had been already. "You... you dare fight me with rocks?!"
Despite her critical situation, Pakura couldn't help smirking at the man. "That's right. All of your experience, all of your training, and all of the power behind your famed swords... thwarted by two rocks. The Mist's Swordsmen have really let themselves go."
Enraged, Raiga rushed Pakura once again, this time charging his blades with lightning. This was troublesome for Pakura, who didn't know if mere stones would be able to block chakra-laced swords, especially if that chakra was of the lightning element. She could have found out, but she wasn't willing to gamble a limb, and so she returned to dodging Raiga's attacks instead of blocking them.
His anger made his blows even faster than before, leaving Pakura hard-pressed to dodge them all, but it also made Raiga's moves less precise. His stance was wider than it should be, and the arcs of his swings were too large. Still, the lightning that coated his blades extended their range by a few centimeters, and Pakura was unable to avoid some shallow cuts on her cheek, arms, and torso, though the heat of the lightning cauterized the wounds immediately.
Unwilling to continue this lethal melee for too long, Pakura took advantage of one especially large swing from her opponent, chucking one of the rocks in her hands at Raiga's masked face. The man was quick enough to dodge the projectile, but it nevertheless grazed his mask with enough force to remove it from his face, revealing coal eyes burning with rage, and large lips twisted into a snarl.
Not one to let up an assault, Pakura pushed the advantage she had, sweeping Raiga's legs out from under him while he was unstable. He landed on his back with a thud, but rolled backwards in time to avoid a scorch-charged fist from Pakura, which unfortunately impacted nothing but stone.
With her arm buried elbow deep in rock, Pakura was unable to escape as Raiga got back to his feet and swung at her neck with his blade, though his haste to kill her kept him from taking the time to enhance his attack with lightning chakra.
Thinking fast, Pakura snatched Raiga's fallen ANBU mask from the ground, using it as a shield against Kiba's lethal edge. It wasn't the best defense, but the thing was still made of sturdy stuff, and it managed to stop the edge of Raiga's sword about three-fourths of the way through the mask, though it still got close enough to slice into the palm of Pakura's hand with that odd protrusion it had.
With that blade stopped, Raiga yanked it away from Pakura, taking his now ruined mask with it, and swung his other sword instead. Pakura fell flat to her stomach to avoid this one, and used her one free hand to draw the last three shuriken she had from her holster. In another second or so, Raiga would try to impale her instead of swipe at her head, and that would be much harder to dodge while she was stuck in one place.
In an effort to get some distance from the man, Pakura launched the trio of projectiles in her hand at Raiga's face, forcing him to back flip away from her. Though it was only a few seconds of reprieve, Raiga's evasion gave Pakura enough time to free her entrapped arm from the ground. Still, Raiga was on her again in an instant, and Pakura wasn't yet ready to survive another melee.
She managed to dodge the first few strikes, but by now Raiga was growing accustomed to Pakura's style of movement, and as she tried to twist around one of his quick thrusts with one blade, the Suna Jonin noticed too late that Raiga's second lightning charged sword was coming at her exposed back, with enough speed, force, and proximity to cleave her in two.
Thinking fast, and knowing that the only way to survive this was to put enough distance between herself and her foe to avoid being slain, Pakura reached for the last projectile she had left; the needle that held up her hair bun. She threw it at Raiga's right eye, allowing her dark green hair to cascade down her back as its support was used as a last resort weapon.
At the close range they were in, there was not enough time for Raiga to dodge the attack, even as his eyes widened in surprise when he saw it coming. His mind could work fast enough to realize what was happening, but his body's reaction time could not do the same. With a sickly squelch, Raiga found his right eye impaled by the needle, eliciting a scream of anguish and rage from the man, who flinched backwards just enough to save Pakura's life.
Being the trained shinobi he was, Raiga did not cease his lethal swing towards his enemy even as he suffered a grievous wound, but he could not help but recoil upon being struck, and this caused his attack to miss its mark, slicing open Pakura's exposed back rather than severing her torso from her waist. With a pained cry of her own, Pakura fell face down on the soaked ground, reeling in shock as she tried to suppress the pain of her fair skin being split in two. Fortunately, Raiga's blade had passed through Pakura so quickly that any electricity that made it into her body passed without harm, and by the singed feeling around the gash, she assumed that the heat of his chakra had cauterized the wound even as it was made.
Still, while that was fortunate, Pakura was unable to get back to her feet immediately. Honestly, she had been through worse, but no one got back up from such a serious wound without squirming a bit first.
Luckily, Raiga was likewise struggling as he flailed around in anger and pain, Pakura's needle still embedded in his eye. The other Mist shinobi who had been watching the battle were too stunned to see their leader wounded to actually react to his medical needs or Pakura's impending escape.
Fighting through the pain that raced across her back and even her spine, Pakura reached for a rock next to her. There was only one way she could think of to get away from this ring of Kiri ninja...
She chucked the rock over the heads of her enemies, all of whom were too surprised to do anything besides wonder why she had tossed a rock at them, and missed besides. Taking advantage of this opening, Pakura made the necessary hand sign to substitute herself with the rock while it was midair, switching places with it and effectively removing herself from the ring of enemies in a puff of smoke.
Finally realizing that they were standing around like idiots, the group of Mist shinobi that had let Pakura escape their circle split off into two groups. Three of them went to Raiga to attend to his wounds, while the rest of them chased after their escaped quarry. With no smoke bombs available, Pakura did the next best thing to create cover for herself, using a blast of her Scorch style to kick up enough dust and debris to hide her from sight long enough to flicker away from the field.
Now hidden in a crevice among the cliffside, Pakura watched from her hiding place as Raiga raged over her escape, especially after she had dealt him such a blow. "Find her! Find her and subdue her, but leave her alive! I am going to eviscerate that bitch!"
As the Kiri ninja in the area scattered in an attempt to find their last remaining foe, Pakura breathed a quiet sigh of relief. She was wounded and tired, but for now, she was still alive. Now it was just a matter of surviving until she could be rescued.
"We're close. Everyone get ready!"
These orders came from the front of the squad of Suna ninja that were nearing the border between the Lands of Fire and Water, and it was enough to make even the most exhausted of them focus once more.
Finally, after nearly two days of non-stop, high-speed running, they were nearing their destination, and everyone knew that a fight was almost guaranteed.
The most nervous of them was obviously the only Genin in the group; the Kazekage's children had never engaged in a real combat mission, and with the exception of Baki's clone from the oasis months ago, none of them had ever fought a real battle. Even Temari, usually calm and collected, looked anxious, though her worry was most likely for her brothers.
Ash on the other hand, still felt surprisingly calm, just like he had earlier that day. He could not explain it; even though he knew he was charging into a life or death situation, it didn't feel real. He knew it was coming, but until it got here, how could he feel fear? Ash had to admit that he was probably weird. Most people, when they knew they would have to face something scary, were afraid long before they actually confronted the thing. Ash on the other hand, rarely felt anything at all until it was actually upon him, even if it was something good. He rarely even got excited over something good until it was actually happening, excluding the first C-rank mission he had gone on.
On the bright side, being devoid of worry before a battle allowed Ash to think more clearly than his comrades could. Even now, he was going over the tools and skills he had available to fight with, and how he could use them to fight and kill the enemy. He was no strategist, but when it came to quick thinking and clever tactics, Ash believed he was proficient. Then again, it was not like he had much battlefield experience to prove it...
"Ash? Are you listening to me?"
Drawn out of his musings by Baki's gravely voice, Ash turned his attention on the man. "No, sorry. What is it?"
Worried about her brother zoning out, Temari looked back at Ash and spoke to him before Baki could say anything himself. "Ash, are you alright? I understand that you're nervous, but-"
"I'm not nervous. I was lost in thought, planning for the fight ahead. That's all. I'm not worried for my own safety."
While he thought his words would have assured her, Ash was surprised to see his sister scowl at him. "You should be! Bravery is one thing, but if you don't worry about yourself, you're going to die for sure!"
A little miffed to be yelled at, Ash leveled a frown of his own at Temari, though his blonde fringe lessened the intensity of the look. "I'm far more concerned about you and Kankuro than me. You're the ones I don't want getting hurt."
It was at this point that Kankuro decided to chime in. Temari usually meant well, but her way of getting her point across usually involved getting angry, and that wasn't really needed right now.
"It's good to be worried for the people close to you Ash, but you gotta remember that the same goes for us. We don't want you getting hurt either, and you better believe we'll jump in front of an attack to protect you if we have to. Besides, and I'm sure I'm speaking for Temari here too, we'd both rather be crippled or maimed for life than to lose you forever. That would hurt more than anything physical; so if you want to really, truly protect us, then you have to protect yourself too. We all gotta protect each other."
Temari nodded, glad that Kankuro had put her feelings into words better than she would have. "That's right Ash. If you die out there because you weren't worried about your own safety, that'll hurt us more than any wound. Just imagine how it would feel if you lost one of us."
Numerous images of his siblings dead or dying on the ground flashed through Ash's mind at the mention of it. He could scarcely imagine how he would react, but the mere thought of it filled Ash with sorrow. They were right of course... he would rather suffer any injury than lose his brother or sister, and they felt the same. He couldn't allow himself to die, for their sake if not his.
"Alright, I get what you guys are saying. I'll do my best to get everyone out of this alive... including myself."
Satisfied with his answer, everyone turned their attention back to Baki, who looked as stoic as always when being professional. "Alright you three, we have less than an hour until we reach a hostile combat zone. I want to remind you that you are not here to fight; you are support units, or, as a last resort, backup for a hard-pressed comrade. All three of you are suited for long range fighting, so stay away from the center of battle and launch attacks from afar. Watch your backs though, and keep moving. If the enemy realizes where you are, they will send someone after you. Stay alert, and think of a plan to escape from the enemy if they jump you. You must all be prepared."
This earned a unanimous nod from the three children, who exchanged glances with each other before Ash spoke up. "Well, the first step to making a plan is knowing what we have to work with..."
Having packed their bags together, there was no need to go over the tools each child had. They had all come equipped with gear above what normal Genin were allowed, including paper bombs, tripwire traps, and of course, the extra-strength soldier pills that kids of their age should never consume. The backlash from taking them would be far worse for the three of them than it would be for everyone else; the bodies of children weren't as suited to the pills' effects as an adult's would be.
With tools mentally accounted for, Kankuro decided to elaborate on the newest additions his puppet had received under Sasori's tutelage. "Along with the senbon launchers and poison smoke bombs from before, Hawk has shuriken launchers in its wings, and a core wrapped in explosive tags as a last resort attack. I finally added those blades to him too, so he can be used in direct combat if necessary."
Temari cocked an eyebrow at the young puppeteer. "You gave that thing a name?"
"Well I can't just keep calling it 'my puppet' can I? Even Sasori-Sensei's creations have names."
"Fair enough. Anyway, Baki-Sensei taught me a new wind jutsu about a week ago. I don't have it down perfectly, but I can create small wind blades with my fans now. It could be useful, but I don't think they'll manage to cut through a flak jacket..."
Ash furrowed his brow, calculating the updated arsenal of his siblings into his tactics. "You can aim them at the exposed limbs of the enemy instead of their torso. Even if you can't sever a limb with these wind blades, they'll surely cause bleeding that will be hard to stop. Kankuro's puppet will also be able to cover the rest of the squad without giving our position away as easily. I'll have to refrain from attacking myself, since green flames will easily command attention..."
Ash was about to further elaborate on what role he could play, but the unit came to a stop as the captain ordered it to halt with a hand-sign, so he could talk to all of them without having to yell and alert potential enemies. "We're just a few minutes away from the combat zone. Everyone take a soldier pill now, and prepare yourselves for the enemy. Remember, we are to rescue any Suna shinobi we find alive, but Pakura is our top priority. Find her and protect her no matter what. Are we clear?"
A unanimous nod from every ninja in the unit was enough to cement things. Now that they were close to the mission area, and everyone was preparing to fight, the gravity of the situation set in. Suddenly, Ash found that he wasn't quite as calm as he was before.
With no more words to share, the unit followed its captain through the forest for just a few more minutes, until they reached a long barrier of cliffs that marked the border, where dark clouds dominated the skies, though they had yet to unleash their torrents of rain.
"Alright, split up into squads, and search for our comrades. Don't fight unless you have to, and call for backup if you need it. If you find Raiga of the Seven Swordsmen, do not engage him without support! If we're all clear, move out!"
The fourteen ninja of the assembled unit scattered in all directions, with one Jonin going with each lower ranked squad. Baki of course lead his own team across the sheer cliffs, careful to keep a lookout for enemies, though they probably did not know any reinforcements were coming, or at the very least, they did not expect them to arrive so quickly.
For several minutes, nothing of note was spotted or encountered, though it did start to rain pretty heavily. The four of them eventually found signs of fighting among the cliff's inner passages, but there was no sign of anyone alive in these areas, friend or foe.
While conversation would have been normal under any other circumstances, the tense atmosphere of being in enemy territory kept everyone silent as they searched. This pervasive silence was the reason everyone, including Baki, jumped when a sudden voice came over their short-range radios from one of the other units.
"Attention all squads, we've engaged a large contingent of enemy ninja. They easily outnumber us three to one, we're going to need help over here."
Being the Jonin leader of his team, only Baki answered the call. "We'll need you to relay your location."
As Baki communicated with the endangered squad, Ash glanced around the landscape, the cold rain plastering his long hair to his face. He made sure to slick it to the side, so that he could see out of both eyes. It wouldn't do to have his hair blocking half of his field of vision, or impairing his depth perception. Peripheral vision was very important to a ninja's survival.
This was also one of the only situations where Ash would do this, simply because he did not like revealing the eye that could seemingly reduce a person to a whimpering mess. The truth was that Ash was not entirely sure how he even activated this ability, and he was afraid that if he made eye contact with his sister or brother, that they would somehow suffer the same fate of that merchant all those years ago in the back alley where Baki had found him. Ash still didn't know what that man's fate had been. Had he ever recovered? Or was he mentally ruined for life?
Either way, Ash was careful to avoid the gaze of his sister, who was surprised to see him revealing his right eye. Despite being as close as real family for years now, Temari had never seen Ash without his hair covering that side of his face.
She kind of wanted to ask him about it, but before she could say anything at all, Temari was interrupted by Baki's low voice. "Listen up you three. One of the other squads needs support, but you aren't coming with me. The size of the enemy force is too dangerous for you. I want the three of you to continue searching for Pakura, but do so very, very carefully. I will return when the battle there is finished."
Already anticipating the dissent of his three students, Baki flickered away before any of them could voice an objection. This left them all without much to say; after all, nothing had changed but the risk of their search. Encountering an enemy without Baki would be far more dangerous than with.
But since there was little choice, the trio of siblings simply continued their search, acting as though nothing about the mission parameters had changed. Fortunately, they did not encounter anyone for the better part of an hour. Unfortunately, when they did finally find another living person, it was both the best and worst thing they could ask for.
Peeking over the edge of the flat cliff they currently occupied, Ash and his siblings spied two figures far below them. One was clearly a woman, dressed in garb that did not fit a Mist shinobi. She was slumped against a pile of earth at the end of a shallow trench, one that had apparently been plowed out of the ground by her own body. Advancing towards this woman was a tall, imposing figure with long dark hair and twin swords. He was saying something to the defeated woman before him, but he was too far away to be overheard.
Ash narrowed his eyes at the scene below him. "That's got to be Pakura. And that other guy... if I had to guess, he must be Raiga. Man, this is bad..."
Temari cast a disapproving look at her brother as she saw the wheels turning in his head. "Ash, don't you dare even think about it. If that really is Raiga, there's no way we're fighting him. We were told not to engage him, no matter what!"
"We were also told to save Pakura no matter what. And she looks like she needs saving."
"We don't stand a chance against someone that strong!"
Ash dug around in his backpack as he answered. "You're wrong. Even a skilled warrior can be killed by a weakling if he's caught off guard. One kunai that he isn't prepared for could kill Raiga right now."
As he withdrew a kunai and an explosive tag from his pack, Ash found himself stopped by Temari's firm grasp on his wrist. "Ash, there is no way I'm going to let you get yourself killed doing something reckless here!"
Ash glanced at the fearful eyes of his sister, before turning to look down at Pakura once again. She was far away, but he could still see her expression clearly enough. She was exhausted, drained, and afraid. Jonin or not, Ash did not believe anyone was truly ready to die, and that included the woman down there on her last legs. Among these emotions, Ash could also see hope; hope that the reinforcements she had called so many hours ago would somehow, someway, show up and save her, as she just didn't have the strength left to defend herself.
It was this thought that guaranteed Ash's course of action. "Temari, I know you're worried; but if I just sit here and watch someone who I could have at least tried to save die, I don't know if I'll be able to live with that. Besides, this is exactly the kind of important thing I've wanted to do as a ninja. Saving Pakura is important; and I believe we can do it right now."
While this did not assuage Temari's fear for her brother's life, she knew she felt the same way to some degree, and that, as ninja, it was their duty to try and save a comrade, odds notwithstanding. "Alright... you're right, we have to do something... but if there's no chance of us winning at all, we have to worry about ourselves, alright? If there's nothing we can do, there's nothing we can do."
Ash nodded in agreement, and Kankuro nudged his shoulder. At this point, Ash was the team's strategist, youngest or not. "So, what's the plan?"
The questioned boy rolled an explosive tag around a kunai as he answered. "First? Somebody call the others and get us some backup. We're going to need it."
Pakura was beaten. After hours of running, hiding, and fighting, she was completely spent, and now, with Raiga's imposing figure slowly advancing towards her, Pakura could see no way out.
Even after successfully escaping Raiga and his men the first time, Pakura had been unable to cross the border safely. Every time she tried to sneak into the Land of Fire, someone managed to intercept her, and Raiga was always quick to arrive on the scene. At this point, Pakura had fought the man directly four times, and each time earned both of them more wounds, though Pakura's were far worse than her foe's.
Their latest clash had been solely one-on-one, as Raiga had sent all of the other Kiri ninja in the area away, confident that his prey would not escape him this time. Unfortunately for Pakura, he had been right, as she lacked the stamina to escape Raiga again, which resulted in a painful kick to the stomach that had put her against the soil as she was now.
Covered in gashes, bruises, and grime, there was nothing Pakura could do as the now bandaged Raiga advanced towards her menacingly. His now useless eye had been bandaged, and the feel of cloth on his face was a constant reminder of how much Raiga wanted to kill the woman before him. "You... you've made a fool out of me for the last time, woman! Finally, I have a chance to kill you slowly... I'm going to cut you into pieces, starting with your hands and feet, or maybe even your fingers. I'll take it as slowly as necessary to get you back for maiming me!"
While she hated to admit it even to herself, Pakura knew she was scared. Like any seasoned Jonin, she had stared death in the face many times, but never had a situation appeared so hopeless. She wasn't ready to die yet; there were so many things left to do, so many regrets she would have if she died here. Her student, Maki, needed her. Without Pakura, the child would be completely lost, as she was practically the girl's mother. The village also needed her, if only to be the progenitor of a new Scorch-style bloodline... indeed, Pakura had yet to fall in love with anyone, yet to give birth to a child to raise and nurture... these kinds of emotional thoughts were rare for the woman, but she supposed that in the face of death, one usually thought strange things.
"Go ahead and kill me then, Raiga. It's rude to keep people waiting."
While it was only a facade, Pakura's seemingly calm words angered the man to no end. He couldn't stand it when his enemies were not afraid of him, especially when he was so close to dismembering them. "If you're in such a hurry, then by all means, let's get starte-!"
The whizzing sound of metal slicing through air cut Raiga off, but he couldn't tell where this noise was coming from until it was too late to do anything about it. A kunai flew past Raiga, dangerously close to his head, and buried itself in the ground behind him. Whoever had thrown the thing did not have impeccable aim, but they had nevertheless been close.
The wounded Mist ANBU followed the trajectory of the projectile with his eye, but could see no one on the edge of the cliff the attack had undoubtedly come from. He was about to call out to the new enemy, mocking them for their poor aim, when a sizzling sound from behind him finally reached his ears; the pounding rain had blotted out the noise of what he immediately knew was an explosive tag.
Before he could react to protect himself, Raiga was engulfed in the modest explosion of a paper bomb, and even though she herself didn't believe he would be killed so easily, Pakura couldn't help but feel a surge of joy at the sight of it.
Finally! Finally, those reinforcements are here...
When they had seen that their explosive attack had been successful, Ash and his siblings leaped down from their hiding place on the cliff above Pakura's position, landing too far behind her for the Jonin to get a look at her backup. Ash was quite dismayed with the fact that he had missed his target, as burying a kunai in his face would have killed Raiga for sure, but the blonde could only accept his mistake and decide to practice later, if he managed to survive at all.
Naturally, none of the three kids were foolish enough to just assume Raiga was dead, but if he was incapacitated for just a few moments, they could simply take Pakura and escape. If the man was still fit for battle, then the three Genin had to come down from the cliff anyway, as it was too far away from Raiga to attack him with anything other than kunai. All three of them were too inexperienced to fight from that distance; Kankuro couldn't control his puppets from that far away yet, and his two siblings did not have the power to launch a jutsu that far either. They had to get closer to fight.
Still, the first plan was to evacuate Pakura and make themselves scarce, avoiding conflict with Raiga if at all possible. Unfortunately, as he dashed towards Pakura's prone form, Ash realized this course of action was not going to work out.
The smoke from the explosion a few moments ago was clearing, and within it was a still standing, still very much alive Raiga Kurosuki. Seeing this, Ash leaped directly over the pile of dirt Pakura was leaning against, instead using this moment to launch one of his signature green fireballs at the Mist shinobi in front of him. Unfortunately, The attack was easily batted aside by one of Raiga's lightning charged swords, which did very little to boost Ash's confidence. He had put as much power behind that attack as he could muster.
Seeing now that a fight was inevitable, Temari and Kankuro spread out to the left or right of their youngest brother. They would both be more useful at a distance than in direct combat.
Before anyone could speak to each other, Ash heard Pakura's voice speaking out in disbelief behind him. "W-what the hell? You're just a bunch of kids! What are you doing here?!"
Ash turned back to look at her, and couldn't help but think that, despite her battered and dirty appearance, Pakura was quite a beautiful woman. He was too young to think about it beyond that, but he still knew the difference between attractiveness and normalcy. "We're part of the unit that came to rescue you. I know we don't look like much, but real Jonin are on their way right now, so don't worry."
With a titanic effort, Pakura pushed herself up on one arm. The idea of these kids fighting Raiga was too much for her to accept. She wasn't going to let them die fighting a pointless battle for her sake. "I'm not worried about my life, I'm worried about all of you! Raiga is the one who put me in this state, and I'm a Jonin! Kids like you won't stand a chance!"
Realizing that he had taken his eyes off the enemy for too long, Ash looked back at Raiga, who was stumbling out of the residual smoke of the paper bomb explosion with a mixture of malice and pain on his face.
"Don't worry about it. We've got him outnumbered, and he's already hurt and tired. We only have to hold him back for a few minutes..."
Seeing that her 'rescuers' were absolutely determined to fight, and knowing that she barely had the strength to stand, Pakura could do nothing but watch as the new arrivals to the scene squared off with Raiga. "Damn...alright look, I took out one of his eyes earlier, you know what that means, right?"
Ash nodded as he stared down his foe. "Yeah. His peripheral and depth perception will be off. That'll be useful..."
Whether he had overheard their brief conversation or not, Raiga definitely had something to say at this point. "First Pakura, and now a bunch of brats... why does the Hidden Sand produce such insufferable fools?"
Despite his condescending tone, Raiga was clutching his side with obvious pressure, and Ash could see that a piece of sharp stone was protruding from just under his rib cage. Apparently, that blast had done more damage than he had hoped.
"I think what makes us insufferable to you is how easily we draw your blood. Seems kinda pathetic honestly."
His bravado did nothing to better Raiga's mood, not that Ash expected them to. "I grow very tired of Sand ninja... I'm going to kill all of you, right now."
With those words spoken, Raiga charged the short blonde boy in front of him, murderous intent all too clear in his gaze. Kankuro was on him in an instant though, launching senbon and shuriken from his puppet to deter the enemy. Too injured to block the volley, Raiga dodged instead, side stepping right into another attack from Temari's side, in the form of tiny wind blades.
As Temari herself had predicted, her jutsu was not powerful enough to kill Raiga on the spot, nor did it pierce his flak jacket, but Raiga's exposed limbs and even his face were sliced in several places, resulting in profuse bleeding from the afflicted areas. Filled with even more rage than before, Raiga eyed the girl who had wounded him further, clearly desiring to maim her in return. The Mist ANBU began to move towards the girl, but Ash was ready to intercept him.
With his anger blinding him to reason, and more importantly, his bandaged eye blocking Ash from view, the young Genin launched another wave of fire at Raiga, who was unable to feel the heat of the incoming flames through his soaked clothing until his arm took the brunt of the fiery blast. With a roar of rage more than pain, Raiga completely ignored the green flames that danced across his body, instead flickering out of Ash's sight.
His multi-colored eyes rapidly dancing across the landscape, Ash grew more and more anxious as to his enemy's whereabouts, until Pakura's voice yelled out at him from behind. "Duck!"
Despite not knowing who exactly she was speaking to, Ash immediately obeyed the Jonin's command, crouching down just in time to feel several strands of his long hair being cut from his head. Even the sound of a blade swishing through the air above him was evident. Had he more time to think, Ash would have been stunned by the realization that he had nearly met his end but a moment ago. But since he only had time to react, he instead rolled forward, away from the dangerous swordsman now behind him.
Returning to his feet as quickly as possible, Ash turned to face his foe again, but only in time to see a bolt of lightning heading his way. Had he had more experience, or simply less fear, Ash may have been able to avoid the attack, but at the moment, he was too scared to dodge, even though his brain told him to.
It was only thanks to Temari that Ash was spared from the powerful blast of electricity, as she had already been casting a gust of wind her brother's way when she saw Raiga charging his own jutsu. Her quick thinking barely outpaced Raiga's own movements, knocking Ash out of death's way with her wind. The arc of lightning passed so close to her brother that she could see it singe the edge of his sleeve; despite being in the heat of battle, Temari could not help but feel massive relief at the sight of it.
Further angered by the interference, Raiga once again turned his hate-filled gaze towards Temari, completely ignoring his previous target as Ash crashed to the ground several feet away from where he had been pushed.
With Ash currently scrambling back to his feet and Temari lacking the time she needed to cast another jutsu against Raiga, Kankuro took it upon himself to distract the enemy. Aligning his avian puppet for a pass, Kankuro pulled the necessary strings to strafe Raiga from his blindside, once again catching him off guard. The same arm that had been burned by Ash earlier was now riddled with senbon as well, and Kankuro had to admit he was far from impressed by this ANBU from the Hidden Mist. Sure, he was tired from his battles with Pakura, and wounded from the same, but Raiga had still been injured by three Genin three separate times. Even tired, he should have been far above that...
With an enraged snarl, Raiga launched another lightning attack, this time aiming to knock Kankuro's puppet out of the sky. Surprisingly, the young puppeteer didn't even have to avoid the attack, as Raiga's blast missed completely. That depth perception thing Ash mentioned earlier must have been more debilitating than any of them realized.
With yet another opening thanks to Raiga's poor aim, Kankuro accelerated Hawk's flight, spreading the sharp blades on its wings and aiming for one of his enemy's exposed limbs. If he could take an arm, or better yet Raiga's head, Kankuro could end this fight right now...
Unfortunately, whatever state of blind rage Raiga was in, it was not enough to blind the Jonin to danger completely. Instead of doing anything terribly foolish, Raiga swiped at Hawk with his blades as it neared him, the lack of depth perception with one eye doing nothing to throw off his aim at such a short distance. Kiba's sharp edge cleaved a wing clean off of Hawk's frame, and knocked it away from Raiga besides, completely avoiding damage to his person.
Fortunately, Hawk did not actually need wings to fly; after all, Kankuro was the one giving the puppet the power of flight, using his own chakra strings to do so. That being the case, the boy managed to withdraw his creation from Raiga's reach before it could take any more damage.
Still trying to end the fight himself before either of his siblings could be hurt or killed, Kankuro flew his puppet over Raiga this time, dropping the small poison smoke bombs held within the bay on Hawk's belly. Like last time, they were small, but numerous, and Raiga was quickly engulfed in purple gas that would suffocate him in under a minute if he breathed it in.
Obviously, no one was stupid enough to think Raiga would simply stay in the cloud of gas and die, so Kankuro decided to use the cover he had created to rush Raiga's position again, spreading Hawk's one remaining wing as wide as possible in hopes of cutting down the enemy. For good measure, Kankuro also launched as many senbon and shuriken as he could into the cloud of noxious poison, in hopes of scoring a lucky blow.
Whether or not any of these blindly fired weapons made contact was left unknown, as there were no cries of pain or death as they entered the purple cloud, all the way up until Hawk flew into the gas itself, aiming to mutilate its foe. The bird-like puppet made it halfway through the cloud of smoke without hitting anything, leading Kankuro to believe that he had simply missed entirely, when he suddenly felt the puppet's movement stopped dead in its tracks, a force stronger than Kankuro's chakra strings holding it in place.
Crap! Did he catch it? No... no, I can actually use this to my advantage! It's an old trick, and a terrible waste of a good puppet... but if I can kill him right now, this will all be over!
Recalling the time he and Ash had mixed his poison gas with explosives to get the drop on Baki's clone, Kankuro activated the switch that would activate Hawk's self-destruct with a twitch of his finger. Really, it was just a cask of explosive powder wrapped in paper bombs within Hawk's frame, but combined with the flammable gasses of his poison, there was no way Raiga should survive...
Within moments of its activation, Hawk's self-destruct made itself known in the form of a brief flash of light, followed immediately by an enormous explosion fed by the purple gas around the source. A pillar of flame arced far above the surrounding cliffs, alerting practically everyone in the area, and the massive shockwave blew everyone back except Pakura, who was already braced against the mound of dirt she had been kicked into.
When the smoke and debris from the blast finally cleared enough for everyone to see, all that was left of the place Hawk had exploded was a smoking crater, with no sign of Raiga at all.
Rising to their feet, every one of the Sand siblings, and even Pakura, looked on the scene with awe. For everything to be over at this point almost seemed too good to be true. Ash was the first one to express this sentiment, having temporarily subdued the fear he had been feeling earlier.
"Don't relax yet. Last time we used this trick, we paid the price for just assuming that it worked. If we had really gotten Raiga, there would be some trace of him left in that crater. There's no way it was hot enough to just incinerate everything."
Before anyone could voice their assent, the most unwanted voice of Raiga Kurosuki called down to them from the cliffs above. "That's it... that's it! I will not be humiliated by some low-class scum from a village on its last legs! Every single one of you is going to suffer for crossing me!"
The Sand shinobi below Raiga looked up to find him standing in the same place Baki's team had when they first entered the fray. Half of the man's flak jacket was completely burned away, as were the bandages around his head, and a large part of Raiga's face was now scarred with burnt flesh. For obvious reasons, he looked absolutely furious.
With yet another roar of rage, the Mist ANBU was covered in a cloak of lightning, causing Pakura's eyes to widen in alarm. "Look out! He's about to be much fast-"
Before the final word could even leave Pakura's lips, Raiga was suddenly behind Kankuro, his rage primarily directed at the black clad boy for scarring his face. No one even had time to warn the puppeteer before Raiga's arm crashed into the side of his head with incredible speed. The blow whipped Kankuro's head to a near ninety degree angle, causing the boy's neck to emit a ghastly snapping sound as his body was launched away from the man who had hit him.
Ash only managed to take half a step towards his brother's fallen body when Raiga seemingly materialized out of thin air behind him as well; only Pakura's well-trained eyes were able to follow the man's movements at all, making it seem as though Raiga were simply teleporting to the Genin who couldn't follow his movements.
Filled with rage at the sight of Kankuro's fallen body, Ash began to turn and face Raiga so he could blast him in the face with his flames, but he was much too slow. Before he could even turn halfway to face his opponent, blood erupted from Ash's mouth, originating from somewhere in his lower torso. He didn't know enough about anatomy to know where Raiga had hit him, but whether or not he knew Raiga had just slammed a fist into his kidney did nothing to alleviate the pain.
Immediately collapsing to the ground as his body was wracked with agony, Ash couldn't see the enraged visage of his sister as she moved faster than she had ever managed before, anger driving her steps. This man had just mortally, maybe even fatally wounded both of her beloved brothers in a matter of seconds; Temari had never felt the urge to kill someone before, but she was absolutely certain that she was feeling it now.
Closing in on Raiga before he could finish off her youngest brother, Temari drew a kunai to fight with. She was done with the shallow cuts of her wind blades; she wanted to drive the lethal edge of a weapon straight into Raiga's heart.
Still, regardless of her rage-enhanced abilities, Temari was still not as fast nor as strong as Raiga, not by a longshot, and he was easily able to catch his attacker's wrist before she could hurt him. Temari was quite the quick thinker herself though, and she noticed that the piece of stone that had embedded itself in Raiga's side earlier was still there. Swinging her free fist in a short left hook, Temari was quick enough this time to land her blow exactly where she wanted to, driving the chunk of sharp stone even further into Raiga's vulnerable side, though it cut the skin on her own knuckles as well.
Even though blood spurted from both the wound and his mouth, Raiga ignored his first reaction to flinch. Instead, he grabbed Temari's smaller form by her hair, before yanking the girl forward and kneeing her in the stomach so hard that she was unable to emit any sounds of pain at all.
Falling to her knees immediately, Temari doubled over as the powerful blow to her abdomen caused her to puke. She couldn't even breathe as her diaphragm cramped in unbearable pain. She was unable to even make a sound.
Giving the girl no time to recover, Raiga kicked Temari in the face, sending her careening towards the spot Pakura had been incapacitated for the duration of this fight; however, had the man not been consumed by his own bloodlust, he would have realized that said woman was nowhere to be seen.
Turning back to Ash, since he was still pissed at the boy's snide remarks from earlier, Raiga grabbed the downed Suna Genin by the ankle, lifting him up into the air to face him. Viewing Raiga from upside down did nothing to improve the frightening visage of his mauled face, but Ash was in too much pain to really care at the moment. He was still coughing up blood from the hit he had taken a few moments ago.
"You... even more than that puppet boy, you anger me the most! You have eyes just like that bitch Pakura! Eyes full of regal contempt and disdain for me! Even when you are beaten you look at me like some inferior being! I'll... I'll rip you apart with my bare hands! One limb at a time! And when I'm done with you, I'll do the same to that wretched girl who tried to save you! I'll crush every bone, cut every tendon, rip apart every little piece of her body! I want you to know that before I kill you, so you can die in despair!"
If anything had been holding Ash back, the idea of this man torturing his sister was enough to bring strength back to his limbs. The mere thought of Temari being hurt even further by this bastard filled Ash with rage and hatred. These were the kind of feelings he was usually trying to avoid fueling his powers with. But in this instance, he had no qualms releasing the blue flames that were empowered by his negative emotions.
Still hanging upside down, Ash gathered that feeling of cold fire in the palms of his hands. For some reason, the enraged Genin had an epiphany at this moment, before he unleashed his attack. His green flames may have been meant for battle, but his blue existed solely to kill.
With no words to offer himself, Ash merely grit his teeth as he aimed the palms of his hands at Raiga's ugly, sneering face. Having expected the blond in his grasp to be at his mercy, Raiga was completely unprepared to dodge the miniature, azure inferno that erupted from Ash's hands. With no time to yell or scream or even set his face in an expression of surprise, Raiga was blasted straight in the face by the cold yet scathing fires that carried the rage that dwarfed Raiga's own.
Immediately releasing the boy he held and stumbling backwards, Raiga screamed in agony as he clutched his burning face. The searing flames seemed to infiltrate every spot they could, scorching his eyes, his nostrils, and his throat. It felt like he had straight up swallowed burning magma, because, despite how quickly this had all transpired, Raiga's mouth had been slightly ajar in surprise, allowing Ash's flames to race down his throat.
From his new uncomfortable position on the ground, Ash watched Raiga squirm and writhe in agony, until the man finally drew his hands from his face, revealing what little was left of it. Almost all of his skin had been burned off, but the one eye he had left still worked, and Raiga leveled the exposed organ at his assaulter with all of the hatred of hell and beyond. Miraculously, the man's voice still worked, though it sounded like the voice of a walking corpse now.
"You... I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you! Every single last one of you! I-!"
Raiga's rant was cut off most unexpectedly, as a new, more familiar burning sensation erupted from his chest; the feeling of Pakura's scorch style. Looking down, Raiga saw a flame covered fist protruding from his chest. In all of his blind rage, he had forgotten about Pakura, and had dismissed her as a threat. He had forgotten one of the most basic rules of the shinobi; never dismiss an opponent until they were dead, and sometimes, not even then. For forgetting that, Raiga almost felt that he deserved to die. It was the last thing that crossed his mind before falling face-first into the muddy ground, leaving a heaving Pakura in his place.
"Well... looks like... I didn't let the kids show me up after all..."
Had he the energy to do it, Ash would have smiled at Pakura's attempt to make a joke in a situation like this one. Even as his vision slowly faded, he had to admit, the two of them had a very similar sense of humor.
Closing his eyes, Ash heard Pakura's shuffling footsteps towards him, the woman seemingly taking it upon herself to deal with his wounds until Baki and the others finally arrived. Slipping into unconsciousness, and looking back on the battle, the shock Ash was experiencing from his injury brought forth a wayward thought as opposed to the logical concern for his siblings.
Man... Kurotsuchi isn't going to believe any of this.
I always hated how Naruto fights kind of devolved from tactics and strategy to who could launch a bigger attack, so I wanted to plan fights out with a modicum of thought to them, and I didn't want to make it look too easy for either side.
It's always an exciting challenge to come up with new battle scenarios though.
