Chapter 8
The Nick of Time
Dokina and Kaori were helpless once again, unable to fight against the mob of Mountain Bandits that were now carrying them off towards who knew where. It seemed that they were heading through the tunnels again, down one passage after another. Finally they were carried out again into daylight, this time to a small courtyard like area that was totally engulfed in the mountains, hiding it from view. Unless someone was on the top of those mountains, they would never be able to find this place, a perfect area to carry out interrogations or executions.
The courtyard was mainly covered in dirt and dust, with small wooden bleachers situated around the center of the courtyard. In the center the ground was made of stone along with the dirt, and there was dried blood all around the center. No doubt that this was where they killed anybody who dared to fight them. The bandits dumped them on the ground, not caring if they were dropped on their head or their neck for that matter. They just wanted their moment to let them know who they were and who they were up against.
Butona walked toward them, and the crowd fell silent. Everyone held their breath waiting for what he had to say. He looked at Dokina, who was bleeding from his nose, arms, and face. Then he looked at Kaori who was also bleeding from her mouth, torso, and hands. Then he simply said "Get them ready," and left the crowd to do what he had commanded.
As soon as he was gone, one bandit reached for Dokina, but Dokina snapped at him, trying to bite him. "When this is over, I will have your blood," he said. That started a backlash with the bandit putting him boot on the back of Dokina's head, driving him into the ground and grinding his face into it. "I'm sorry, you're going to do what again?" the man asked. "From here you don't sound so tough now do you?" Kaori tried to get the bandits to back off but it only ended with her getting the same treatment as well.
This led to more of a backlash with the bandits now swarming in. Each one wanted to get a shot at them and wouldn't be satisfied until he had it. Kicks, punches, words, and spit were thrown at them one after another. As far as Kaori went, this was the worst she had ever been since beginning her journey as a rogue ninja. All she could do now was try to avoid losing consciousness and think of a way to get out.
That would prove to more difficult than imagined. For one, this was the territory of the Mountain Bandits. They had no knowledge of where they were or how to get back out of the tunnels. Even if they could get away from the crowd they did not have their weapons and were dangerously low on chakra. Attempting to escape now would not only lead to a bigger punishment, but death. However, it seemed death was approaching them anyways so it really didn't matter.
Finally, the bandits were done with their enjoyment and begin making preparations for Butona. They took two long and thick wooden stakes and drove them each into the ground, making them stable and able to avoid being knocked over. Then they tied both Dokina and Kaori to their respective poles, tying their hands and legs to them as well to prevent any kind of escape. However the conditions of both of them proved that they were in no shape to even try to escape. When it was all done, Butona showed up again and the bandits retreated to the stands, eager for what their leader was about to do now.
"My brother was very important to me," he started. "I spent all my life I tried to teach him the business of how to run a small but successful empire, how to rob, steal, and kill in order to survive. I finally handed him control of the Forest Bandits because I had confidence that he would make me proud with his success. Now he's dead and you two are to blame. You may be wondering though how I know all of this. You forgot one bandit when you slaughtered the rest of them. He hid and witnessed the battle of you two versus my brother. Then he ran here and relayed the information to me. I figured you may want to come for me so I decided to get my men ready, in case you ever did stumble into my territory."
"So how does it feel, to be the ones pinned to something and having no way of escape? Now you will suffer what my brother suffered at the hands of Butona Atigama, leader of the Mountain Bandits." The crowd cheered and went wild for Butona, arms raised as if he had already won the battle. Of course, with the current events at hand he could do anything he wanted to. Then he lowered his arms and the crowd fell silent, breath held for what would happen next.
Butona approached both of them, and instead of hitting either one of them, attacked them both at the same time, driving his fists into their stomachs. Kaori immediately closed her eyes from the blow and coughed up a thick wad of blood. It fell to the ground, there to become another memento of the victims that had succumbed to the brutal beat down of Butona. Dokina coughed and gasped for air, thinking that at least 2 or 3 of his ribs were broken. Butona stepped back and admired his handiwork.
"Does the pain make you want to die?" he asked. "You can thank these gauntlets of mine. They are enhanced when I run my chakra through them making even a weakling ninja able to deal some crushing blows, like so."
Butona crouched down and cracked his left fist into Dokina's left leg and his right fist into Kaori's right arm. Even from where the bandits were sitting they could hear the bones begin to splinter and shatter.
"DAMMIT," Kaori thought as the pain rippled throughout her body. "I don't know how many more of these blows I can take. My arm is useless now and there's no telling where he'll strike next."
Next to her, Dokina was thinking the exact same thing. "If this stake wasn't holding me up I wouldn't be able to stand right now. What the hell do we do now?"
Butona stopped watching and started to attack again when one of the bandits yelled out, "Sir, wait a minute." Butona stopped attacking and looked at the man who said that. The bandit got up from his seat and walked over to Butona amidst the murmurs of all the others.
"What is the meaning of this, soldier?" asked Butona as the bandit approached him. "You've got some nerve to do this."
"I apologize for the rude interruption Butona, but I just got a report that I think you'll want to hear."
"Well go on."
"There has been a sighting of another ninja roaming these lands. I don't know if he's just passing by or with them but I thought you might like to know."
Butona's face got serious looking. While this could be nothing more than a group of ninja traveling towards a mission, the matter may be best if looked into. "If this is true I must know something. What does the mysterious ninja look like?"
"Well according to the reports that I got he looks like a qualified ninja, though he looks rather young for his status. I couldn't see what village he belonged to, but his clothing suggested that it wasn't from anywhere near here."
"Well then what did it look like?"
"It looked like this," yelled an unknown voice.
Butona looked up towards the origin of the voice. There was a lone ninja, cloaked in the shadows atop the mountains. "The reports of your men would probably say it's me would it not?"
"Who are you, strange one?" yelled Butona. "Why don't you come down here and let me see your face?"
"If you so choose to see me, so then shall you see me," the figure yelled back.
Butona kept his watchful eyes on the figure, waiting and watching for it to move. He felt a tap on this shoulder and looked around to feel a kick in his face that knocked him to the ground. Looking up he saw the figure who was none other than Ondu Kinuta himself. "How did you surprise me like that?"
"Clone Jutsu you simpleminded moron," said Ondu. That figure atop the mountains was never me, and that "bandit" who told you about me wasn't a bandit either. It was merely a simple case of find the straggler, kill him, and assume his role." I figured that in your excitement you wouldn't notice one man gone and that also in your excitement you'd be on edge for any kind of news of intruders. Apparently I was able to read you like a map."
Butona struggled to his feet, wiping off the small trickle of blood that etched from his mouth. Rage filled his body. How dare this ninja come into his base like some hero, trying to stop his fun and his revenge for the death of his brother! "Well then…Ondu was it…how do you plan on getting out? There are many of us but only one of you, and your Clone Jutsu won't work again."
"Maybe, but who says that I require the Clone Jutsu to defeat you? You may draw power from those gauntlets of yours, but that is only borrowed power, nothing more than a cheap power-up. You're just like your brother: useless, weak, and unworthy of the title of a Shinobi."
Butona started to get furious at Ondus comment. He got up and wildly began to charge him with a flurry of punches. Ondu walked backwards slowly, easily dodging every shot thrown at him. Then with a simple brush of his arm he deflected Butona's last punch and at the same time delivered a powerful forearm blow. As Butona hit the ground with a crash he said "As I figured, your power is nothing when it comes to my sound based attacks. That last strike was just a small taste of my power, something that you could never grasp, not even in your wildest dreams."
Butona struggled to get to his feet, cursing as he did. "Damn you Sound Ninja," he said. "That does it. Mountain Bandits, attack and kill that man."
"Oh my, your actually going to rely on your hired muscle now are you?" Ondu said as the bandits got up from their seats and began to charge him, some with their fists while others wielded small blades. Ondu moved effortlessly and destroyed them all despite being out numbered and in most cases outsized. He dropped them all easily and without much effort. When he was done, he left bodies all around him and just Butona standing there alone.
"Now that the small fries are out of the way, what say we get this show on the road?"
Butona stood there half wanting to leave and the other half wanting to fight. Before he could make up his mind Ondu activated his Melody Arm, creating intensely violent sound waves that racked Butona's brain. He covered his ears trying to stop the pain but it kept coming in wave after wave. Opening his eyes, he saw Ondu advancing towards him, Melody Arm ready to strike. Butona had enough strength to dodge it and deploy a smoke bomb which cloaked him and Ondu.
"Damn that Butona, trying to hide," Ondu said to himself as he looked from left to right in case of an attack. The smoke cleared and there was no sign of Butona. Ondu stayed on alert, and then ran over to Dokina and Kaori. He cut the ropes binding them and helped break their fall. "Damn you guys looked like you went through hell," he said.
Dokina merely nodded, unable to speak or to give any other motions. Kaori neither nodded nor spoke, but just kept panting heavily. They both tried to stand, but neither one could get past getting on one knee before collapsing back onto the ground. "Damn," thought Ondu. "This enemy did a number on them. It's a good thing I went through the trouble to save their ass. They're not good to me dead. I merely need them to help in the battle against Orochimaru."
"I just can't leave you guys out here exposed to any kind of attack," he said. He picked up Kaori and carried her on his back, which proved to be difficult as she was taller than Ondu, who was still very young. Dokina leaned on Ondus shoulder slightly to stay on balance. Alone he had no chance of staying up on his feet. Ondu started to slowly move into the base, keeping a slow pace in order to let Dokina rest on him. It was not easy as the tunnels were yet again crawling with bandits. Ondu only killed a small handful of them, and there were still many left behind.
Eventually, Ondu was able to hide out in a small room in the corner of the hideout. There were no doors to hide behind, but as long as they stayed in the corner of the room, they had a chance of being largely unnoticed. Ondu laid Kaori in the corner and Dokina lay down next to her. What a pitiful sight, Ondu thought that these two who were able to kill Lutaka were dealt in with the newest piece of trash. He stayed by the door and kept guard even though they were hiding in the corner of the hideout and could not be found easily. There was still a chance that would happen so he would continue to be on guard. After some time passed, he started to wonder if they were going to be ok for the time being. So he used his Impersonation Jutsu and slipped into the base and found some food and drinks for them all. He returned to where he had left them and gave them the stuff he had found. While they tried to eat, he went back to his guard duty by watching the door.
"How much longer until you two are ready to fight again?" he asked. "For us, it may not be too long. However we require our swords. Without them, it will be difficult to fight Butona or anyone else for that matter," said Kaori. Dokina nodded in agreement and took a drink. His hand was slightly shaking but he was getting this strength back. Kaori was the same way. She was starting to be able to stand up. As of right now she was still shaky in the legs but was able to stand. They stayed there for a small while and then moved out in search of their swords. They stayed in their Impersonation Jutsu forms while they moved about. They asked a bandit that they ran into where the swords were. He said that Butona kept them in his room close to his bed. After a little more time they were able to get the information that they were looking for: the directions to the room. They found it and crept inside to find the swords kept on opposite sides of the bed from each other. "Finally got them," said Dokina as he and Kaori grabbed them. "Now let's get the hell out of here."
"Now if you left, then the party would be over." They turned around and saw Butona standing there with a calming expression on his face. "This party can't function without the guests of honor." He moved fast and appeared behind them all, knocking them down to the ground without much problem. As they were struggling to get up Ondu looked back at him. "How can you move this fast in such a short amount of time? You weren't this fast when we last fought."
"It's amazing what a short amount of time can produce Ondu" replied Butona. "I merely held back to measure the full power you possessed."
Ondu laughed a light laugh, to which Butona's face lost the smile he had. "What's so funny?" he asked.
"You can lie all you want but I know that your speed increased a bit. Your attack power is low. I could tell that you didn't hold back on that. While that may have hurt Dokina and Kaori due to their injuries, it's not enough to keep me down. The air vibrations are the same as they were when we first battled. Well you may call it a battle, I called it a warm-up. You couldn't hit a fly with those weak punches."
Butona's face got angry again, and he threw another smoke bomb on the ground, blinding everyone in the room. They started coughing and looking for him, but there was no sign of him anywhere. When the smoke rose, they found a hole in the wall. "Dammit, he runs away again," growled Ondu. He ran out of the hole with Dokina and Kaori following. They caught sight of Butona running through a small mountain pass that lead further into the mountains. "I can't let him escape," yelled Ondu and leaped after him.
"We better follow him," said Kaori. She and Dokina followed Ondu, though it was difficult to keep up with their injuries. They started to fall behind, but were still able to keep him in their sights. Finally, they noticed that Ondu had stopped and was standing in front of the side if a cliff that overlooked the forest. The area around them was small, yet adequate to move around in without any effort. No doubt that they were led here to have a battle.
"I would often sit here in peace and look over the side of this cliff," said Butona. "The Forest Bandits used to have a base there in that forest before it was moved to where you know. Now when I sit here I'll be reminded of what was and what will never be again. For that…DIE."
He tried to attempt his sneak attack and appeared behind them. As he struck with his fist, Ondu caught it in his hand without even turning around. He squeezed it, making Butona yell in pain before turning around and punching him with his free hand. Butona fell backwards, landing hard on the ground.
"Your brother died because he deserved to die. Those that use a group of people to just live off the riches of others are nothing more than common bandits themselves. You will wish that these two were not injured, because I will not make this last too much longer."
Butona struggled to his feet, wiping off another trickle of blood that poured from a wound made on his cheek. "Do you really think that it will end with me and Lutaka? If so, then you will find that you're in for quite a surprise. He rushed them again, this time going for Dokina and Kaori. They dodged his punches and attacked with both blades, but that was dodged again. Butona then dodged Ondu's fists and retaliated with a side kick, but that was blocked with a kick from Ondu as well. For a while the battle appeared to be just a plain Taijutsu fight. Finally, Kaori got enough time to get close to Butona long enough to make direct eye contact with him to attempt the Firelily Jutsu. Butona closed his eyes and released the Genjutsu, following it with a blow to Kaori.
Dokina sidestepped Kaori as she fell and swung his blade, which was caught by Butona.
"Keep trying and maybe you'll hit something," he said.
"Too bad I wasn't even trying to hit you," Dokina replied back with a small smile.
Ondu leaped onto the flat side of the sword, tuning his Melody Arm as he went. He struck Butona on his left temple, tuning the vibrations and twisting it into his ear by using his chakra. Butona felt the vibrations rock his skull, shaking it to a near deathly level. The vibrations twisting into his ear was all that was needed. The chakra flow entered his brain, imploding it from the inside out. He was dead before his body hit the ground.
Ondu kneeled over his body and checked his vitals. "There's no doubt that this Atigama is dead," he said. "Bout freaking time."
Dokina dropped his sword and fell back against a rock wall, followed by Kaori. "That's good, because I can't do this much longer."
"Neither can I," said Kaori.
A sudden noise interrupted the quiet that was around the area. Ondu readied himself for another bandit, but there wasn't another one. Instead there was a single person walking towards them, and that person looked unarmed. Upon getting closer, this person was revealed to be a female ninja. She wore dark red shorts over knee high fishnet stockings. On her side was a pair of goggles tied under a black sash around her waist. Her shirt was colored white and a light-ish red color. She wore bandages wrapped around her forehead and in the back entirely, while her hair, light brown in color, was tied up into a ponytail. She wore plated gauntlets that covered the knuckles and hand region and were dark red in color. Her eyes were brown in color and they were looking straight at Dokina and Kaori.
"Who are you?" asked Kaori.
The girl looked at her and approached them both while keeping a close eye on Ondu. "Don't worry," she said. "I won't hurt you. My name is Setsuri, and I'm a Sand Village Medical Ninja.
