Chapter Eight
Tonight, get ready for a fight
So now you know it's time
To ride my circus for a psycho
Round and round we go, look out below
Because I want off this
I want off this
Lee, Sakura and Hinata were setting up camp in a small clearing they'd found. They were laying out their own sleeping bags, Shino and Shikamaru had theirs with them. Hinata's ears picked up a low, humming buzz just before one of Shino's kikaichū landed on her cheek. "Uh, g..guys? It's one of Shino's bugs…" she trailed off. "What's wrong Hinata?" Sakura asked. Hinata seemed not to have heard. A moment passed by in silence before she spoke. "They called for backup. W..we should hurry" she didn't wait for a reply. Activating her Byakugan she followed the kikaichū into the trees with Sakura and Lee close behind. The camp spot wasn't that far away from where we split up, we should be there soon. A few minutes passed before Hinata caught sight of them with her Byakugan. "There they –" she cut off short. "What is it Hinata?" Lee's voice came from behind. "There are three of them" she said. "Three?" Sakura asked, "who's with them?". "I'm n..not sure" she replied. Without realising, she quickened her pace so that she passed the kikaichū and landed with a soft thud next to Shikamaru on the tree branch. "Nice to see you finally showed up guys" he said with a half-hearted grin when Sakura and Lee finally caught up. Hinata recognised the Shadow Possession jutsu right away and could see the strain Shikamaru was under trying to keep it going. Sakura jumped from the tree and landed on the ground in a crouch. As she rose she performed a quick hand sign and created four earth clones. The clones immediately moved to surround the captive. "He's a rogue nin from Iwa" Shino said mildly. "Rogue nin from Iwa?" Sakura repeated. Hinata gave Shikamaru's arm a light tap and a small nod, signalling for him to drop his jutsu. Hinata watched the rogue nin. He sneered. "You kids think you can beat me?" he laughed, "come try!" Sakura's clones attacked with her ferocious strength, which she inherited from being the fifth Hokage's apprentice. As Sakura and Lee fought the Iwa nin, Hinata scanned the surrounding forest are with her Byakugan. At first all she could see were trees and rocks and even a small, babbling stream, but as she swung her head around she spotted a ninja cleverly hidden inside a large rock. She also spotted a few of Shino's kikaichū moving away from the rock towards him. Turning to look at him, she waited for his kikaichū to reach him and tell him about the hidden nin. He moved his head slightly in her direction, and then the two of them were gone, leaving Shikamaru alone in the tree while Lee and Sakura fought the ninja below. They moved so fast that they were upon the rock before the nin hiding inside had any idea they were there. Shino kept back a little, giving Hinata room. "Eight trigrams, sixty four palms!" she launched straight into her Gentle Fist jutsu, incorporating the new technique she'd been working on with her wind style chakra. Threading her chakra through her fingers she released it in small sharp needles with each blow of her gentle fist. She put so much force into her jutsu that she caused the rock to begin cracking after the first blow. She moved so fast that the rock was at breaking point before the hiding ninja moved out of cover.
As soon as he leapt out from hiding the rock smashed and chunks went flying. Hinata had located him again before he even touched the ground and moved after him. The Iwa nin was focused on Hinata coming at him from behind that he didn't notice Shino's kikaichū moving in around him. Hinata drove the rogue nin into the cloud of buzzing beetles with practiced skill. This was a combined attack that she and Shino had performed before on many occasions. Hinata would drive the offender into a swarm of Shino's kikaichū. The kikaichū are used to help weaken the enemy because they feed on chakra. Usually they feed on the chakra of their host, but in this case, they feed on the chakra of the enemy nin. While they continually drain the ninja of his chakra, Hinata moves in with her gentle fist. Only this time, one thing would be different. She would incorporate her new technique with her gentle fist. She concentrated on the ninja ahead of her and realised that he had just noticed the swarm of bugs around him. She saw him hesitate. Then he moved off, into the shadows, and tried to get through the black cloud. No matter where he went, Shino would be there to drive him back into his swarming kikaichū. This ninja is moving too fast! I can't keep up with him! "Shino!" she called out to him. She saw Shino drive the nin to the centre of the cloud with her Byakugan, watched as he performed a hand signal, then heard a yelp of surprise as the bugs closed around the rogue's feet and formed a chain that physically dragged him down to the ground and kept a tight hold on him. She knew that the more he struggled against the kikaichū, the tighter their hold on him would become. She darted in now, feeling her chakra pulse through her. She felt it building up in her fingertips and as soon as her hand connected with the nin's shoulder, it was released in needle-sharp threads, spurting blood from his shoulder and forcing him to cry out in pain. She spun around and, lifting her leg, kicked him in the chest, her chakra-needles severing the chakra point she connected with and the others in its direct vicinity. Her hand came down and severed the chakra points in his left knee and then his left thigh before her hand came up with astonishing force and clapped him in the jaw, her leg coming around behind his to trip him over. Once he was down on the ground, the kikaichū released their grip and Hinata came rushing down, driving her knee into his chest, winding him, before sending chakra-needles through his forehead, severing the chakra points and knocking him unconscious.
She pushed herself to her feet and looked down at the Iwa ninja. She watched as small red-brown stains slowly got bigger on his knee, thigh and shoulder where she had hit him. A small trickle of blood was dribbling out of his right ear, the only sign of the blow to his head. The damage would not be permanent, and he would wake up once his chakra points had mended themselves. She heard the soft thud on Shino landing beside her. He grabbed her elbow. "It's not over yet. Come," he said quietly, before heading back towards Shikamaru and the others. She hesitated for a moment, then she followed Shino though the forest. As they got closer to where they left the others, she could hear noises of battle. Noises that were far greater than those that should be coming from a fight against just one ninja. She caught up to Shino and then sped on ahead. Re-activating her Byakugan, she looked ahead to the clearing where the fight was happening. Sakura was still in combat with the rogue ninja, her earth clones gone, and Lee was using his tai-jutsu against a ninja that had appeared while she and Shino had been fighting the ninja hiding in the rock. And Shikamaru… he was in combat too. Or at least, he had been in combat. He now had his opponent locked in Shadow Possession, but she could see he was struggling to hold it. His skills had never been in close combat so he would have had a difficult time fighting this ninja on his own. She watched as Shikamaru fell to his knees, his opponent falling with him. She moved faster. She raced toward Shikamaru as fast as she could go. She was almost there. She saw him double over and realised that he was at his end. He had used all of his chakra. She built up the chakra in her hands and clenched them into fists.
