Yeah, I know. I made you wait.
And I suck for that, I know, I really do. I really am sorry.
Anyhow, I recieved a review that asked me why doesn't Wedge simply force storm everyone out of his way? Well, since I couldn't reply to an anon. review, here's the answer:
I plan on having Wedge save some of the really powerful force powers he knows as trump cards. Kind of like Naruto's Tajuu Kage Bunshin or Rasengan. Or even Sasuke's Chidori.
But here's my extremely delayed update. Again, I'm really sorry for the wait.
"Beweep deep."
"What'd it say?"
"I don't even know what it is, let alone what it's saying."
"Deet!"
"I think it got angry."
"You think?"
If robots could sigh, then that's what T3-M4 would be doing at that very moment. It was as if being put on cleaning duty with some kids wasn't bad enough, but it's own master stuck it with dealing with these two morons so he could communicate when he was out in the field. It could barely make it past the very appearance of this duo. As far as humanoids go, it had seen a lot of weird creatures, but these two, as humans, really went all-out.
The one on the left wore the standard forest-green vest and dark ninja outfit, but his hair was spiked and pointed, jutting out of his head in weird angles, while his ears were pierced in several rather unhealthy places. The other covered his/her visible body with thick bandages, as if he/she just escaped from a burning building with 5th-degree burns, and still lived. Even the ninja's voice seemed rather unisex.
Lowering it's headpiece, T3 ignored the two chuunin's stares and opened the comlink.
"Hello? Hello? T3, you there? Hello, anybody!" Wedge's voice emerged from T3's small stereo.
"Hey, that's the new guy!" said hair-spikes. "I remember him when his buddy fixed the surveillance computer."
"The two that beat Aoba-sempai and that Hyuuga?" said unisex, intrigued, "I heard those fights really knocked the elders out of their seats."
"Hello! Dammit, hello! I know you're there somewhere! Hello!"
"That one guy, the weird one with the horns," began ear-piercings (T3 recorded in his databanks that this one was a hypocrite), "I heard he blasted Aoba-san back twenty yards with some sort of jutsu. And he didn't even use a seal!"
"I also heard that." Replied bandage-face. "And the other one, Wedge, I think, wields this crazy light-sword."
"I know you're there, I can hear you talking! Don't ignore me! We're under attack, dammit, answer me!"
"Oh," Spike's face suddenly lit up, as if he just remembered that he left his teapot on the stove for too long. "right…"
His finger searched T3's headpiece for a moment before finding the blinking green button. He pressed it and placed his face close to T3.
"Hello? Wedge-sempai? Are you there?"
"Of course I'm here you idiot!"
"Isn't that what I've been yelling this entire time?!"
A kunai whistled past not three inches from his ear. Startled, he scrambled lower down the slope he was on for cover. "I'm on my stomach with kunai rainin' on me, I have no idea where my teammates are, and I swear to god, if I don't see some backup, I'm going to personally tear that sorry face of yours right off!"
"Sir? You said you were separated?"
Wedge rolled on his stomach into some taller grass. He slithered behind a boulder and propped himself against it.
"That's right. We were told to scout and decided to split up into groups of two. I got separated from my teammate once we were attacked."
Wedge dislodged a kunai from a trunk nearby and half-heartedly flung it over his shoulder toward the unseen ninjas. Hoping for the best, he sprinted further down the slope. "Tell Tsunade that something's going on in the woods nearest the training area. And hurry!"
"Y-Yes sir!"
A shuriken scraped his cheek. Frightened, he dove and rolled once more, stopping in a small rocky grotto. The mission had gone beyond terrible. Separated, chased, outnumbered, and absolutely clueless as to what could be going on. He had to regain some sort of hold on the situation. He had to regroup.
"Eat this!"
The man with the pierced ears staggered back, his lip bleeding. "Damn it, you brat, you asked for this!"
"Heh!" Naruto withdrew his bruised fist. "Bring it, old man, I'm ready."
The ninja roared and charged. Before he had covered ten yards his neck snapped back as a powerful kick connected with his jaw. Unconscious, he slumped to the ground.
"We have no time for this, Naruto. I got a transmission from Wedge-san."
"Neji! Mind your own business, dattebayo! That was my fight you stole from me!"
"Never mind that!" Neji pulled out his radio. "I received this transmission just two minutes ago. Wedge-san seems to have run into some trouble"
Holding up the radio, Neji turned the dial to the correct channel. Static filled the air as bits of the transmission came through.
"This is Wedge. I seem to have met some trouble. If anyone gets this message, either report to Tsunade or get yourself to the woods near the training area, whatever's closer. If you choose the latter, be prepared. They are around twenty, maybe twenty-five well-trained shinobi here. This is Wedge. I seem to have…"
"It keeps looping from there. He really seems to have gotten his hands full."
"The woods near the training area, huh? Do you think Sakura-chan or Fuzzy-Brows received the message?"
"They should have." Neji turned toward the village, just barely in sight, "they were in this general area, but behind us. They should have gone back by now."
"Well, then, let's get going!" Naruto leapt to a low-hanging branch. "If we don't hurry, Wedge-san might already have beaten everybody!"
Too swelled with excitement to think ahead, Naruto flew from branch to branch. Neji, just behind him, silently assessed the dilemma.
"That outsider defeated Hiyoko-sempai." Neji narrowed his clouded eyes in thought. "If someone as skilled as he is in trouble in such a remote place, then what could these bandits be planning?"
Reji had been sitting on the same branch for the past hour, holding up his prized trinket and admiring the way it caught the light and played with it. To most, the small silver dragon carving was simply a pretty bauble, something to be put on a shelf to gather dust. And that's exactly what it had been doing before Reji had stolen it. It was a good thing its previous owner hadn't known of the carving's true purpose.
He smiled a bit as the small golden eyes seemed to wink at him. But his face quickly tensed into a scowl.
"Come now, Fujiyama-kun. You are my right-hand man, my lieutenant. You do not need permission to speak."
An enormous man appeared beside the Bandit King, shaking the entire branch with his weight. "My apologies, Tetsugawa-sama."
"So? You had something to say?"
"Er…yes." Fujiyama adjusted his rectangular shades, clearly uncomfortable. "All the preparations are complete, Tetsugawa-sama, but there seems to be a problem."
"Problem? I didn't expect any problems, Fujiyama-kun. What is it?"
"Two men have found the sight, Tetsugawa-sama." Fujiyama was again hesitant. He had to choose his words very carefully here. "They seem to have been separated, but the guards…the guards seem to be having…trouble."
"Spit it out, Fujiyama."
"(Ahem.) Well, simply put, the guards are being killed. Several teams have reported losses, and even separated, these two are ravaging the men you put there. But their movements have no real direction. In fact, it seems as if the two just circle around the sight, neither penetrating nor retreating. They simply seem…well, lost."
Reiji sat in silence for a short moment.
"Well, it can't be helped." He stood, clutching the scepter tightly. "They obviously called for backup by now. I will carry out the plan ahead of schedule."
Reiji grinned in anticipation. He could just barely imagine the kind of destruction he could bring about with his new weapon.
"Listen, Fujiyama-kun. I'm in a really good mood right now, and I don't want any nuisances dampening it. This may seem like overkill, but we can't have anything jeopardize our absolute victory, can we?"
Fujiyama stood as well. "Shall I send in your personal guard, then, Tetsugawa-sama?"
"No, Fujiyama-kun. I want you to go yourself." Reiji leapt from his branch to one some yards away before turning and giving Fujiyama a sideways glance.
"And remember, my loyal lieutenant. Should you fail," Fujiyama stiffened, afraid of the next words.
"I will kill you."
Reiji disappeared into the foliage.
Wedge's light saber easily sliced through the kunai as if it were warm butter. The ninja, shocked, staggered back and stared at the useless lump of metal in his hand. A foot to the chest put an end to his wonderment, and Wedge turned to face the other three.
"You're a nuisance! All of you!"
The three sprinted to surround Wedge, then turned and closed in. Two wielded kunai, while the third held a long katana. None of them showed any sign of fear or hesitation, only a stern glare that could penetrate steel.
"You'll have to do better than that!"
Wedge thrust both hands straight out to the sides, summoning the Force to his aid. His opponents took the hit directly, falling back and sliding in the dirt.
One of them, however, threw his kunai at Wedge in mid-air.
"Damn…" Wedge thought as the kunai came closer to his face.He began to dodge, but his body moved like a snail compared to the weapon. "To think it'll end like this."
The sound of metal hitting metal rang throughout the forest, and two kunai hit the dirt.
"Sorry we're late, Wedge-san!"
"Took your time, did you, Naruto? Where's your teammate?"
Neji dropped from the trees, landing squarely on the stomach of one of the prone ninjas. Naruto administered a kick to the head of the one nearest him, and Wedge took pleasure in dispatching the last one, the one who threw the kunai.
Panting slightly, Wedge turned to address his teammates with a growing smile on his face.
"Alright!" Wedge grinned. "Now we can get to business! I took it that Sakura and Lee went back, then?"
"Yes, Wedge-san." Neji held up his radio. "Your message was received by all of us. Reinforcements should arrive soon."
"Good, good. But first we find my friend." Wedge turned to the sound of blaster fire in the distance. "And I think I know where to start."
"Ugh…"
The ninja slumped to his knees, raising a hand to the scorched mark on his chest.
"What…?"
He fell forward, his face hitting the dirt.
"Sorry, whoever you were. But I can't take any chances"
Bao-Dur lowered his repeating blaster rifle. As much as he loved his customized weapons, he never did grasp the thrill of killing. Not like Mandalore back in the Outer Rim.
Resourceful as ever, Bao-Dur had taken his time to try and achieve some information. And what better place to get information than from someone who knows it? He had questioned several shinobi, most of which said nothing, but what he did find out was that their leader had something big planned in this area.
And he learned the name Reiji Tetsugawa. The said leader, he presumed.
Without further ado, he ran in the direction the dead ninja had come, swatting branches and purposely making as much noise as possible. If there certainly was something big here, than there would be people guarding it closely. So if he attracted enough attention…
A shiruken slashed its way through the leaves and skirted off of Bao-Dur's power shield. The Iridonian swung his weapon around and sniped a bandit out of a nearby tree. Without pausing, he headed off in the direction the shinobi had come.
But even his Mandalore melee shield couldn't withstand a powerful chop to the neck.
"Uhh…" Bao-Dur's knees buckled under the shock. Before he hit the ground he was grabbed by the shirt and slammed into a tree.
"So you're one of the insects that are running about, hm?"
Bao-Dur forced his eyes open to stare at a huge man, even larger than any Mandalorian, with a scarred face and rectangular shades.
"Who…who might you…be?" He choked.
Fujiyama smiled, knowing for certain that his chop had hit dead on. The Iridonian's voice gave away that he would be paralyzed for a little while at least.
"Who I am isn't what's important. What's important is where you're friend is."
"Even…if I knew…I wouldn't…tell you."
"Oh? Well, I suppose it doesn't matter anyway. Tetsugawa-sama is about to complete the jutsu." Fujiyama turned and began walking, dragging Bao-Dur along behind him. "Perhaps you should watch. It will put the fear of the Bandit King within you, I think."
After a some minutes of walking (and dragging), Fujiyama and his captive reached a large clearing. Within that was a large circular chalk design, with five points distributed evenly along its edge. At each point was a ninja, each with their eyes closed, and each forming seals as fast as an eye can blink.
"They've been at it for an hour, now." Said Fujiyama.
The five ninja stopped moving suddenly, and, opening their eyes, backed away from the circle.
The earth began to shift and tremble, and finally the center of the circle swelled and broke as a large square block of earth rose from the ground. A slender man leapt to the top of the platform, and took something from his belt.
Speaking softly, he uttered a few words that Bao-Dur could barely hear.
"So long, so long, but it's finally here." Reiji spoke as if he were a child, excited about a new toy or some such thing.
Giggling with glee, the bandit king rose his scepter directly skywards. The long green gem within its sculpted mouth began to shimmer, then a small fire seemed to ignite within it, and is started to glow, casting an ethereal light upon clearing.
Slowly, he lowered the scepter and pointed it directly at Konohagakure. Bao-Dur widened his eyes
"Is he going to…!"
The Iridonian struggled, fighting to just move his arm an inch, but it was no use. At the moment, he was helpless.
The crystal grew brighter and brighter, intensifying more and more until…
"HK, is something wrong?"
Shizune had grown used to speaking to the metal giant, especially since he had been assigned as a personal guard to the Hokage's temporary HQ.
"Statement: It seems that more than we can know is occurring in those woods, female meatbag." It shifted its stance so that to was facing in the woods beyond the training area. "Ever since those two young meatbags returned with such news, I fear my master might be in danger. If only I still had my blaster…"
"Him. Yes, I see what you mean."
Shizune stared into the woods as well. "It seems as if something big is about to happen, don't you think?"
