"With this, Konohagakure is no more."
Bao-Dur shifted his eyes to his large captor who had just uttered those words. Even though Fujiyama's eyes were well hidden behind his dark rectangular shades, the Iridonian could see the obvious look of admiration as the large ninja watched at his leader. Bao-Dur followed his gaze until his eyes fell upon Tetsugawa Reiji, leader of the enemy army and self-proclaimed Bandit King. Reiji was, at that moment, overcome with joy and cackling madly as his scepter continued to grow and vibrate. Bao-Dur had to do something, and fast.
And he had a pretty good idea what.
Careful to move slowly and smoothly, Bao-Dur, on his knees beside Fujiyama, moved his mechanical arm toward his belt.
Grasping the handle of his backup weapon, his eyes shifted from Fujiyama to Reiji, to Reiji's guards, and back to Fujiyama. He had to time it perfectly.
Wedge landed on the branch in a crouch and motioned the others to do the same. Naruto and Neji landed beside him, both crouching, and both wearing the same stern expression.
"Look."
The green light shown through the trees, playing off of the leaves and illuminating the dark forest. The rays hit the large trunks and cast strange shadows, eerily placing dark shapes where they shouldn't be.
"What is it?"
"I don't know." Wedge stood straight. "But whatever it is, it can't be good. Let's move. I got a feeling we're about to get to the bottom of this whole affair."
With that, they continued their course to the mysterious light with renewed fervor.
Just as Fujiyama let loose a whoop of delight, just as the guards began to cheer for their leader, just as the scepter in Reiji's outstretched hand seemed to explode with the blinding light, Bao-Dur gripped the handle of his small one-shot blaster pistol in his belt and pulled, aiming directly at the Bandit King.
And fired.
Blaster pistols were never praised for their remarkable aim, especially the smaller, single-shot models, but credit must be given when it is due, and it is safe to say that Bao-Dur really knew his way around blasters.
The laser exploded from the small snub-nosed barrel of his pistol and traveled right, missing the Reiji's body, and instead colliding fully against the forearm holding the scepter.
Reiji howled in pain and instinctly flexed his arm, forgetting at that moment of the superweapon he held in his hand. His eyes reopened, and grew wide.
"No!"
Desperate, he tried to aim at the cityscape once more, but it was too late. Before he could point at Konahagakure, the superweapon activated. An enormous beam of bright green light erupted from the mouth of the small sculpted dragon and hurtled toward the village.
Tsunade was speaking to her aide, Shizune, about the position of the enemy general. Nearly the entire bandit army had been engaged and routed, but their leader was nowhere to be seen. Deep in discussion, Tsunade suddenly stopped talking, and instead stared, dumbfounded into the distance.
"Tsunade-sama? Hello, Tsunade-sa-"
The beam of light burst through the trees, setting some leaves alight on it's way to it's target. Tsunade could only stare as it just missed the upper wall, seared off the upper portion of the Hokage Tower, and finally smashed into the Hokage monument with an ear-shattering roar.
It had all taken place in less than a second, and Tsunade's legs nearly buckled at what had just occurred.
Or, more precisely, at what could've occurred.
She ignored Shizune's baffled cries as she took in the scene before her. Where the beam had connected with the Hokage Tower, there was nothing. It seemed as though something had cut a semi-circle into the top floors, and nothing remained except for the charred wood around the edges.
And as for the monument…
All that was left were the faces of the Sandaime and the Yondaime. Where the visages of the first two hokages had been was nothing but a hole. Steam poured out of it as the overheated rock sizzled and cracked.
Tsunade felt like fainting.
Reiji couldn't speak. His guards couldn't speak. Fujiyama couldn't speak. The only person who wasn't speechless was Bao-Dur.
"That's funny." The Iridonian said without thinking, as he examined the spent blaster pistol in his hand. "I thought I fixed the aim on this thing ages ago."
Reiji was on him in an instant, launching him into a tree with a powerful kick.
"My work! My life! Ruined!"
Reiji again disappeared and reappeared before Bao-Dur, who was just now beginning to stand again. The insane bandit gripped the collar of his shirt and drove his fist into Bao-Dur's face with a menacing left hook.
"You…! You…!"
After two more hits to the face, Reiji kneed Bao-Dur in the stomach, and stood back as the Iridonian sank to his knees, gasping for breath. Reiji still held the same expression of shock and horror, his eyes agape and his teeth clenched tightly, the veins in his forehead and neck throbbing. His soldiers didn't move.
The corners of his mouth twitched upwards into a crazed grin as he pulled a kunai from his belt. "I couldn't have my revenge on Konoha," he twirled the kunai by the hole in the handle and then grasped it, the tip pointing down. "So I'll take my revenge on you instead!"
As Reiji advanced on Bao-Dur, a kunai with a piece of paper attached embedded itself within the ground but a yard behind the Bandit King. Bao-Dur recognized it from the times he watched the younger ninja practice in the training grounds and, using what little energy he had left, hurled himself to the right and toward safety.
The explosion threw dust and leaves everywhere. Reiji's subordinates shook themselves out of their stupors and whirled their heads around, looking for the attackers. Bao-Dur rolled and grabbed his blaster, which lied among the dead leaves, forgotten. He tried to stand, but his knees buckled, and just before he hit the ground, he felt something grab him by the arms and pull him back up.
"Oi! You alright? Speak, dattebayo!"
He had heard that voice before. "Naruto…is it?…What brings you here?"
"Just here to get rid of some bothersome pests. You okay, there, buddy?"
Wedge helped prop up Bao-Dur, smiling. Not that Wedge would ever admit it, but seeing his old friend safe meant the world to him. Bao-Dur smiled back.
"The others…are they alright?"
"They should be. They went back for reinforcements." The teen in white that stood beside the other two had spoken up, and Bao-Dur recognized him as Neji.
"Oh. Good."
Bao-Dur regained his foothold and stood straight. "Well then, we should get started." He cocked his rifle.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Wedge ignited his light saber and faced the bandits, while Naruto took out a kunai and Neji fell into his stance.
"That really sounds like a good idea."
Kakashi's radio crackled. He opened the channel.
"Repeat that?"
"I SAID GET TO THE FOREST OUTSIDE THE TRAINING GROUNDS! NOW!"
In the background, the jounin could hear Shizune's worried voice, sounding small compare the infuriated Hokage, urging Tsunade to calm down.
He sighed as he closed the channel and motioned his teams forward. Time to see what all this was about.
The scene around the Hokage's temporary HQ was, essentially, utter chaos. People ran here and there, grabbing reports or weapons, and in the center of all the hoo-hah was Tsunade, screaming and yelling and raising hell.
"I WANT ALL TEAMS IN THAT FOREST! NO HOLDS BARRED! I WANT THAT BANDIT GENERAL BROUGHT BEFORE ME WITH HIS HANDS TIED BEHIND HIS BACK AND I WANT HIM TO BEG FOR MERCY! GET OUT THERE! GET GOING!"
Standing tall among the hubbub was the great mechanical giant, HK-47. Unsure of what to do, it simply stood there and looked at all the pathetic meatbags and their hopelessness in life, scurrying about like that.
It was when it was immersed in these revelations that Shizune approached it.
"HK? Hello?"
"Salutation: Hm? Oh, greetings young female meatbag. I was in the process of watching the pitiful existence of your comrades."
"Huh…right…" Shizune couldn't help the awkward silence that followed such a statement. "Anyway, you know how we were all given the order to move out?"
"Answer: yes, I heard it several times. Loudly."
"Well, that includes you, so…"
Since she was standing behind, he couldn't quite see what she was holding out to him. But if droids could breathe, his breath would hitch once he caught sight of what she was offering him.
"Statement: My…my blaster…"
"Well, you wouldn't do much good without it, now, would you?"
Without further delay, the droid grasped it by the handle and returned it to its rightful place: nestled comfortably in the droid's grasp, ready to fire at anything that moved.
"Declaration: Young meatbag, you have opened my visual sensors to the kinder side of humans. Maybe…maybe your existence is not a pitiful one after all…"
With that, it turned and began running toward the forest before turning once more. Several onlookers turned watch the spectacle.
"Declaration: I will not fail you, kind female meatbag! I will destroy all enemies with as much pain as can be inflicted! Protocol Droid HK-47 will not forget this favor!"
Finally, it turned one last time and sprinted toward the forest. Shizune could only awkwardly smile, unsure of how to take such a compliment. She also couldn't help but notice the spring in the droid's step upon being reunited with its beloved blaster.
"Yeah…ok…"
Tsunade's yelling brought her back to the present, and she rejoined the others in the frantic scramble for order.
A/N: So, here's the latest chapter. I know it's moving pretty slow, but most of it is due to lack of motivation.
Come on, people. I probably sound a little selfish here, but I barely got any reviews for the last chapter, and so I had a little trouble starting this one.
But I'll give credit to where it's due, and I gotta say thanks to Crow T Robot and Dragon Man 180, the only two that reviewed my last chappie.
