HOUR-LONG WEEKEND SPECIAL!
CHAPTER 6: THE ASSASSINS OF THE TWELVE CLOAKED DAGGERS, PART I

Daisuke did not hesitate even a second to launch his attack, and Lina and Raiko immediately followed suit. Their pattern seemed peculiar; from left to right stood Hinata, Shikamaru, Sakura, Naruto, and Akira, but Lina headed straight for Akira, Raiko straight towards Naruto, and Daisuke headed for Shikamaru. Akira and the four Konoha ninja were ready, and braced for the attack.

"Byakugan!" said Hinata, already in attack position, her eyes now marked with small black lines and pulsating veins.

"Raikago no jutsu!" shouted Raiko. (Lightning cage technique)

"What?!" said Akira. A blinding array of sparks and lightning surrounded Raiko and Naruto like a cage, cutting them off from the others, and putting a large object between Akira and the other Konoha ninja.

"You're mine, now!" said Lina with cruelness in her voice, her long purple hair sailing behind her as she ran at Akira. Blades met, sparks flew, and the fight had begun.
Akira was not ready for the fight Lina was putting up; her strength seemed unreal, and every strike with a kunai sent Akira back further and further.

"Getting beaten by a girl, huh?" laughed Lina as Akira cringed with each hit. Lina then took a major slice at Akria, but he anticipated it, leaping back and landing several yards away from her.

"I see you have great strength," he said calmly, putting away his kunai. "Already I can tell these will be worthless."

"Don't kid yourself, Akira!" shouted Lina. "You have already shown me your trump card, and I know that it has weaknesses!"

"I take it you are the one who controlled my blood?" asked Akira, now adjusting his Ring of Dragon as if Lina wasn't even there. My dragon chakra still isn't ready…he thought. It takes too long to recharge, though I thought three days would be plenty of time…soon, though. Very soon…

"Ha! That guy is weak!" she said mockingly. "That idiot only has one move, and he thinks he owns the world with it. I, on the other hand, have many tricks up my sleeve."

"Right," said Akira boorishly, enraging Lina. "Then I definitely won't dabble around too much with you." Akira's rings began to glow upon his fingers.

"Bring it on, punk," said Lina coldly, she too putting away her kunai, replacing them with a pair of black gloves studded with small, sharp metal spikes. Akira then looked up at her with intensity in his eyes, and began a series of hand signs with blinding speed.

"Ninpou: dosei kanshakudama!" (Ninja art: earthen rage)
Dust and specks of dirt began to rise slowly up from the ground until everywhere below eye level was saturated with earth, not enough to impede movements, but definitely enough to see.

"Nice move," mocked Lina. "You're going to defeat me by getting me dirty?"
"Some people don't like to be dirty," replied Akira, again brandishing a flurry of signs, ending with 'boar'. "Trust me, you won't like it at all."

Lina's grin faded as Akira landed upon 'boar', her eyes changing back to anger, and she began to charge at Akira.

"Shut up!" she shouted, raising her fists to attack. Akira maintained the sign, smiled, and spoke.

"Daichishuriken!" (Earth shuriken)

The dust and dirt clods floating in the air began to coalesce into small blades, and instantly began flying at Lina as if being thrown. She acted quickly; her fists began to glow green, and she began dodging and hitting the shuriken, pulverizing them in dust once again. Her movements were not perfect, however, and more and more earth shuriken pelted her body, ultimately knocking her down.

"There!" shouted Akira, and the shuriken covered her body until a large mound covered her completely. "Dorokata: haikishi no jutsu! (Mud art: gravestone technique). Akira's water ring began to glow, and water sprayed out of the ground and onto the mound, then with a crackling sound it hardened, becoming like a pile of dried cement. The crackling sound stopped; the only sounds that could be heard were from the other battles going on simultaneously, but Akira knew only too well to assume this was over. After all, it had only just begun.

--

"Raikago no jutsu!" (Lightning cage technique)

"What?" gasped Naruto. About thirty feet around and above a cage of sparks and lightning appeared, separating Naruto and Raiko from the others. Raiko then began to laugh as he pulled out a long katana, the blade crackling with electricity.

"I feel kind of bad," said Raiko in his cruel tone. "Leaving Daisuke to those three kids, not to mention Lina with Akira-sama, while I'm here in my play-pen with one measly Konoha brat." He swung his sword down at the ground, stirring up dust with the sparks emanating from the blade.

"You should feel bad," replied Naruto with a grin. "After all, you are stuck in here with me."

"What's that supposed to mean, you little urchin?!" asked Raiko angrily, the sparks increasing in intensity. "You're totally going to die now!" Naruto then bit his thumb and made a series of signs similar to those required to summon the Toads.

"I haven't been able to practice my new training yet on a real foe," replied Naruto. "I was hoping Sasuke could be the first one to see this, but I guess it can't be helped."

"That sign, it's…?!" gasped Raiko, and his eyes grew even angrier.

"Summoning art: Gamakatana!" (Toad Katana)

Naruto became enveloped by a mighty puff of smoke, obscuring him from Raiko's view. After a moment, however, his silhouette reappeared, but now it was different – Naruto held in his hands a katana. The more it cleared, the more detail came into play: it was about the length of Naruto's arm, with a fine, dark wood handle lacking a cloth wrapping. The pommel was larger than a normal katana; instead of a flat circular plate, it was in the shape of a toad's head, its tongue representing the blade that stretched forth. The craftsmanship of the sword was exquisite and beautiful, even so much that it caught Raiko's attention.

"I must say, that is one nice sword," he said with false respect. "I'm surprised a little kid like you can use a grown-up tool like that!"

"Shut it, loser," said Naruto, grasping the sword tightly, holding it vertically near his side.

"Gamabunta himself gave me this sword, and my partner Gamakichi's power is sealed within it. You made a terrible mistake coming after us." Naruto then smiled, and his eyes began to change. Dark shadows extended beyond his eyelids towards his temples, and his pupils began longer, horizontal slits.

"So, you are the one who took over Jiraiya-sama's position," said Raiko softly. "Then that must mean the Toad Sage truly is dead. How unfortunate…I really wanted to be the one to kill him."

"I am Ero-Sennin's heir," said Naruto. "And the new Toad Sage. And no, I won't let you speak that way about him!" Naruto gave a shout and ran at Raiko, ready to cut him down with Gamakatana.

"Heh, weak," muttered Raiko, and he swung his sword at Naruto. Sparks flew, and the high-pitched scream of the blades was enough to shatter eardrums.
Raiko's parries did next to nothing to sway Naruto's attacks; just as with Lina and Akira, every blocked strike seemed to push Raiko further and further back towards the wall of the cage.

"Got you!" shouted Naruto, and with that his body seemed to vanish.

"Huh?" muttered Raiko, and something above him caught his eye.

"Die!" shouted Naruto, descending rapidly towards his target, his sword ready to deal

Raiko his last breath. Raiko, on the other hand smiled and leapt backwards straight into the wall, where he vanished in an instant upon contact with it.

"What?" said Naruto, landing upon the ground. His eyes peered quickly back and forth – he wasn't sure what had happened, but he was sure that Raiko was using some sort of genjutsu on him. "Genjutsu, huh?" said Naruto smugly. "Fine then. Sage Jutsu: Hakidasu (release)!"

Naruto released chakra into his system and breathed deeply, but nothing changed – Raiko was still missing.

"Wrong," said Raiko's voice, seemingly emanating from every where around him. "Nice guess, but sadly, wrong. This is no genjutsu. You definitely have a hard task in front of you, Konoha brat, if not impossible. Your opponent is me, the great Raiko Ikazuchi, the champion of the Lightning Country, the master of electricity, of energy!" Without warning, a bolt of electricity shot out from the cage at Naruto.

"Gaah!" he screamed as the bolt hit his body, forcing him to clench all of his muscles simultaneously and wresting him to his knees. The blitz was quick, and Naruto quickly tried to regain his composure, but was having difficulty catching his breath.

"Like that?" asked the voice of Raiko. "I have the ability to travel within the energy fields I create, traveling upon it like a boat on the sea, although at speeds you could never understand.

"Huh?" said Naruto to himself, his eyes perking up. He remembered something like this before. Haku…that's right…but I can't remember what happened back then…it's all so fuzzy…

"So cocky…" said Naruto, standing up upon wobbly legs. "So damn cocky…just like Sasuke…" Another bolt shot out, and once again Naruto screamed in pain and fell to his knees.

"I wouldn't be taking such a tone with the one who will end your life," said Raiko. "You seem to have some skill…if you stop fighting now, I will let you join our organization as a target for our battle training. You would like that, wouldn't you?"

Sasuke said… thought Naruto. That he could see Haku with his sharingan…that Haku was moving back and forth from mirror to mirror…this guy's body can't be in the lightning, that doesn't make sense… so he must be moving along it. I just need to see him once…

Naruto stood up once again, this time holding Gamakatana up in front of him, the flat part of the blade facing him, allowing him to see behind him. Just once, that's all I need. Just once…

"Persistent little prick aren't you?" said Raiko. "If you won't join us, then I am afraid that I will have to kill you here. Prepare yourself!"

Just once…

"Die!" shouted Raiko, and another bolt shot out from the cage. At this moment, time seemed to slow for Naruto, as if everything were in super slow motion. Sounds became unrecognizable pulses, like waves on water, and the individual sparks of the cage seemed to be discernible. In the reflection of his sword, he could see a bright, erratically fractured streak of energy coming towards him, and right behind it was Raiko, holding onto the cage, the bolt emanating from his hand. He seemed to be moving from right to left, in a somewhat downward slope.

Gotcha…

Naruto vanished again, and the bolt shot past his previous location, crashing into the ground and leaving a burned patch. At the same moment, a crushing blow sounded, and Raiko, his face bruised and his lips bloodied, fell to the ground in a heap, his sword landing next to him. Naruto stood very near to the wall of the cage, carefully holding himself as to not touch the beams of energy.

"What the hell?" cursed Raiko, wiping his mouth, picking up his sword and getting to his feet. "How the hell did you do that? Who are you??" Naruto smirked and grinned out of the side of his mouth, his gaze fixed upon Raiko.

"Naruto Uzumaki," he said in a low, menacing tone. "The Toad Sage, and the next Hokage. My senses are heightened with the Sage Chakra. Not even light can fool me."

"Huh, and here I thought you were someone special," said Raiko. "Hokage…that word means nothing to me. Hokage, Kazekage, Kankokage… all of them are worthless, lying, bastards!" Raiko's emotions began to flare, even startling Naruto.

"You are such a fool," said Naruto, shaking his head and steeping away from the cage wall.

"No!" shouted Raiko, his eyes bulging in rage. "You are the fool! You are all fools! Kage is nothing! NOTHING!"

"What do you have against the Kages?!" asked Naruto, and Raiko didn't hesitate to shout out his response. What is with this guy? he thought.

"Raikage was my best friend!" he shouted, now a tinge of sorrow appearing into his voice. "And he betrayed me! HIS FRIEND! He sent me to die for his sins, for his crimes! They hunted me down, and drove me from my home! From my family! I can never go back; they all hate me now!"

Naruto began to feel pangs of empathy for Raiko; he too had once been hated by everyone, but this was far worse. He had been betrayed by the one person who was supposed to always protect him.

"But Raikage will pay for his sins against me," said Rakio, his voice now becoming calmer. "I will kill him myself, and lay waste to his city, his family, his country. I will destroy them all, and after that…" His voice suddenly became so dark that it frightened Naruto.

"Kira and I will destroy the world."

"I can't let you do that," said Naruto. "I will stop you here!" Naruto then rushed at Raiko, and the sword battle started all over again.

--

"Byakugan!" said Hinata, the veins around her eyes bulging with chakra. Daisuke went straight for Shikamaru, who dodged his punch, jumping back out of the way.

"Shikamaru!" shouted Sakura, but Shikamaru wasn't ready. Daisuke seemed to appear out of nowhere behind him, and landed a punch upon Shikamaru's face, sending him flying forward. With a crash he landed, wincing in pain.

"What was that?" he muttered, looking at Daisuke behind him. "Not even Lee can move that fast!"

Beyond him, Sakura was charging at Daisuke from the left, but Hinata was charging towards Shikamaru.

"Shika! Look out!!" she cried. Shikamaru looked up to see a foot coming down towards his head, and rolled out of the way just in time. Daisuke's kick clammed into the ground, sending debris skyward and rattling the ground.

"What in the hell…?" he stammered in disbelief. Near him was one Daisuke, and behind him battling Sakura was another Daisuke. "Shadow clones!"

"But which one is the real one?" asked Sakura, throwing green-glowing punch after punch and kick after kick at the one Daisuke, though to no avail – every move was deftly dodged as if no effort was given at all.

"If you hit a shadow clone, it will disappear!" shouted Shikamaru, now engaging his own Daisuke with Asuma's old knuckle-blades. This Daisuke was dodging every swipe and slice neatly as well, and Shikamaru became frustrated. "I hate fighting like this! I can't strategize!"

"They are both real bodies," said Hinata, observing them with her Byakugan. "I think you're right Shika. I'll help you, Saku…!" Into her field of vision came a third Daisuke, this one heading straight for her.

"Hinata!" shouted Shikamaru as the third Daisuke leapt into a kick towards her. Hinata turned towards her attacker and gave a battle cry. Her movement was quick; as soon as the kick would have landed, she leaned to the side, allowing Daisuke's leg to sail past her ear. At this same moment, she grabbed his shin with both hands, and with a mighty swing threw him back the way he came. Daisuke landed hard and rolled to a stop…but he didn't disappear.

"Shika! Sakura!" shouted Hinata, returning to her Hyuga battle stance. "This one is the real one!"

"Yes, Hinata!" said Shikamaru, still occupying his Daisuke's attention. "You keep on him, while we focus on…" One of Shikamaru's blades connected with Daisuke's arm, slicing a great gash into it and releasing a spray of blood. No way! This is impossible…?!
Daisuke grimaced in pain, but took advantage of the startled Shikamaru, landing a well placed kick to the chest and knocking Shikamaru back onto the ground.

"What?" gasped Hinata, trying to keep her eyes on both Daisukes.
Behind them Sakura finally connected, and her hit sent Daisuke flying several yards, this one too landing hard and rolling to a stop.

"What is going on?!" asked Sakura, horror slipping into her voice. "What is this?"

"Heh heh heh…" laughed the three Daisukes all at once. "I wouldn't expect you to know my power." The Daisukes continued to laugh, and Shikamaru became frustrated.

"What is this?!" shouted Shikamaru. The three Daisuke's then simultaneously stood up, each of them gazing upon their foes with the same eyes, the same rings within rings around their pupils.

"We are your doom," said all three Daisukes. "We are Daisuke!"

"What?" gasped Hinata. All three Daisukes had a unique chakra signature, denoting separate spirits, unlike Shadow clones which share the same spirit among all the bodies.

"Shikamaru!" she said. "They're all different people!"

"Different?" he asked. "They all look exactly the same to me!"

"They are each a different person," repeated Hinata. "I swear it's the truth! I can see it!"

"We are one, and each is the other," said the Daisukes.

It was with this statement that Shikamaru finally noticed it. The Daisuke in front of him seemed to be a mere fraction of a second ahead of the others in his speech. What the…? he thought.

"This is your end," continued the Daisukes. "Prepare to meet the departed!" All three Daisuke's bolted at their respective opponents, and again the battles resumed. Their ability to dodge attacks was uncanny; it seemed as though they could see what was coming before hand, seemingly dodging before the attacks were even completed.

"Shika!" said Hinata through heavy breaths as she attempted to strike her Daisuke with Jyuuken (gentle fist). "What are we going to do?! I can't hit this guy!"

"I'm thinking about it!" replied Shikamaru hastily. "Just hang on, and don't die!"

"Hurry it up, damn it!" shouted Sakura, likewise failing in each attempt to hit Daisuke, but receiving several hits and getting knocked back. "This piece of crud is a better fight than I am!"

"I said I'm thinking about it!" shouted Shikamaru back. His Daisuke then drew a kunai, as did the others. "Damn it all," he muttered, and now the battle was intermingled with clashed of steel.

"You are doomed," said the Daisukes. "Behold the power of the Rinnegan!"

--

The ground rumbled from the other battles going on, but Akira kept his eyes glued on the cement-like mound. It had been nearly a minute since he had sealed Lina inside the hardened-mud grave, but that couldn't have been all that she had in her.

"Stay cool, Akira," he said to himself quietly, allowing for a single gulp as the sweat began to trickle down his temples. "Any second now…" Just as he said this, a cracking sound came from the mound, and with a burst of dust and smoke mingled with loud crashing and crunching sounds the mound exploded.

"You bastard…" growled Lina, her silhouette appearing through the settling dust. Her skin was covered in the same dust, and her hair was disheveled and no longer lovely.

"You bastard…look what you've done to me…" Akira gulped again. This was not the same Lina he had faced a minute ago.

"It serves you right for attacking me," he said as coolly as he could. "It's your own fault." That last move took a lot of chakra…too much. I must have overdone it. The dust cleared further and Lina's body was now in full view. Her eyes were looking down towards the ground, her hair was torn and ratty, but it was her hands that gained all of his attention. They were glowing green, but more than that the green glow seemed to extended a couple feet out from her fingers, taking the shape of a two double-edged swords attached to her hands.

"You are going to die here," she said softly with pure malice and hatred. "For what you've done to me, I swear I will kill you here, and when I'm done, I will destroy your body, and never again will anyone even fathom that the pile of flesh that will be in your place is you…"

Lina looked up at Akira at this point. Her eyes were bloodshot, her pupils small like pinholes, and blood dripped slowly down the side of her chin. Her gaze then became grotesquely vengeful, and she screamed in anger.

"Die! Die you bastard!!" Lina leapt into the air towards Akira, moving so quickly that he didn't have enough time to react. Lina, while thus sailing through the air, threw her fist at him, sending the green, sword-like chakra towards him. Akira tried to jump out of the way, but was too late.

"Gaaaaah!" he screamed as the chakra hit his leg and passed into it just below his knee. Searing pain shot up and down his leg, the muscles and bones feeling like they were being scraped with a serrated knife against the grain. Akira gathered his strength and swung his arm at Lina, hitting her upon the face and knocking her away from him, but she immediately got back up and charged at him again. This time, however, Akira was ready for her.

"Ryouhengan!" (Dragon transformation)

"I don't think so!" shouted Lina, and she again lunged at Akira, her fist flying towards him with the green chakra sword ready to pass through Akira's chest. "Die!" she screamed gleefully, but her glee was short-lived. Akira was gone in the blink of an eye, and before she even knew what happened he was next to her as she flew through the air, his bronze scales shining in the morning sun. He didn't have the wings he had before, and his eyes were still green, not red as they had been the first time she had seen him like this. Lina tried to redirect her attack midair, but Akira was ready and he punched her right in the gut.

"GUH!" belted Lina, spitting up blood as she flew perpendicular to her original path, falling hard and tumbling violently from the blow. Akira stood patiently as she slowly stood up after a moment, he still exhibiting the limited Dragon characteristics.

"What's wrong," she said through her bloodied mouth. "Before you had so much more power…you even had wings!"

"My Ring of Dragon takes time to recharge," said Akira. "Three days is not enough to restore its power fully, but I figured this would be enough. Besides, I just don't feel good about killing you. I figure I could just incapacitate you, then send you to Konoha for interrogation." It was at this time that a terrible pain shot through the leg that Lina had attacked, and Akira screamed out in agony, falling to the ground.

"Gaah! What is this?!" he screamed. Slowly the scales began to disappear, and a moment later he was back to normal, aside from the intense pain.

"Your leg is in pretty bad shape," laughed Lina, getting up, brushing some of the dust off, and walking towards him, the green chakra blades reappearing. "I figured it wouldn't register immediately, but I didn't think it would take this long."

"W-what…d-did you …do?!" he stammered, holding his leg as though it had been severed.

"I am a medical ninja," she said proudly. "My medical blades are one-of-a-kind; all the others use little "scalpels" when they fight, but I prefer the big knives you can just hack away with. However, I don't attack the flesh or the organs, I attack the chakra streams and even…" Her voice became sinister and she grinned and awful grin. "Even the spirit itself."

"What?!" gasped Akira. This pain he was feeling was from his spirit, his very soul? What kind of medical ninja can attack the spirit?

"A few years ago," said Lina, stopping a few feet in front of Akira who was still writhing in pain upon the ground. "Daisuke and I were exiled from our home, the Whirlpool Village, after we killed his father. Daisuke couldn't do it himself; he was far too weak, and he didn't have his father's eyes yet, so I had to finish the old man off with my Soul Blades…really, I didn't think it would be so easy. It seems that one knick of the heart, and BOOM! You die instantly!" Lina began to laugh at her reminiscence, all the while Akira did everything he could to get away from her.

"You…how can you…attack spirit?" stammered Akira in an attempt to stall her.

"It's really not that difficult," she said. "Chakra is a combination of physical energy from the body and spiritual energy from a person's spirit. If you have enough power within the chakra you inject into someone's body, you can damage not only their chakra system, but also the sources of energy feeding the system itself. By fine tuning my Soul Blades over the years, I have been able to attenuate them to resonate at a frequency unique to the spiritual components of chakra, while leaving the physical intact."

"But why…would you want to…attack only the spirit?" asked Akira.

"Because," she said is a very sweet tone. "An untouched body looks so much better in my collection than a roughed up one. Hee hee!" Akira recoiled in disbelief as Lina's sweet face turned menacing then downright demonic.

I can't move, damn it! he thought. I've never felt anything this painful before…it's like my leg has been cut off, but it is still attached…what do I do?

"Kankokage…heh," she muttered, the Soul Blades growing brighter. "You are a failure, Akira-sama. You failed your village, your family, your friends…and now, even your enemies. Give my regards to your fellow ninja in the afterlife."

Is it over? he thought, and Lina, now standing above him, raised her fists, ready to send both Soul Blades through his chest and heart.

No…please no…

New for Sunday, 9/28/08: THE ASSASINS OF THE TWELVE CLOAKED DAGGERS, PART II!