A/N: Woo-hoo. Another chapter done and out! This is a super duper, long chapter that consists of 22 pages. Thanks to all those who reviewed/favorited/followed Mine to Take. Things will officially start to pick up after this chapter, so I'm excited. Drop a review, let me know what ya think! Appreciate each and every one of you.
CHAPTER TEN
Yuna landed silently on a tree branch in a soft crouch. She could see Ryuuji's hideout in a clearing up ahead, despite the darkness of the moonless night, and her heartbeat quickened at the thought of being so close to her mother once again. They found the location with little difficulty although it was far from Konoha's borders.
"Konohamaru-sensei and the others should be arriving any moment," Boruto said quietly. "What's the plan?"
"The longer we wait the less time mom has," she said. "If you're up for it, I say we just go in and start kicking some ass. Sensei and the others can just catch up."
"Sounds fun," Boruto said, a slight smirk on his lips. "But we need to be cautious of any traps that might be set."
"Of course," she smirked. "That's where I come in."
Yuna made a single hand sign before holding out her hands to Boruto. "Take my hands."
He arched a brow in confusion.
"Trust me," she spoke quietly.
Boruto placed his hands in her small ones and suddenly black liquid emerged from the earth beneath their feet and bonding to their body like armor. "Carbon armor," her smiled widened. "This defense cannot be breached by any attack, giving us protection from all attacks, regardless of types, magnitude and directions; thus, we are immune to any/all kind of damage not to mention it doesn't hinder our speed or mobility."
Amazing…
Keeping their guard up, Yuna and Boruto leapt from branch to branch, closing in on their destination without making a sound until they came to the clearing where the structure sat and could no longer use the trees as cover.
Dropping to the ground, they used the thick foliage to hide in as they circled Ryuuji's stronghold, looking for an entrance into the building that would allow them more stealth than the front door.
They finally found what they were looking for, a small door so well disguised that an untrained eye would have missed it. With a teleportation jutsu, they were beside the door in a second and tried to pull open the door.
Locked.
Keeping to the shadows, Boruto focused chakra to his fingers and placed them over the keyhole. Probing with his body's energy, he was able to reach deep within the mechanism and trigger it, releasing the bolt and allowing them inside.
As she shut the door behind them, Yuna was grateful Ryuuji didn't fortify his doors with bars or dead bolts, otherwise entry would not have been so easy. Yet at the same time, she somehow felt uneasy about how simple it had been to penetrate Ryuuji's defenses. Was he really so cocky that he hardly bothered to fortify his base of operations? Then again, she supposed someone like him would get few visitors that were an actual threat.
The two slowly made their way down long stone corridors which were nearly as dark as the black night outside. They soon found themselves in a labyrinth of twists and turns and was quickly losing their bearings as they made their way deeper into the maze. The complex certainly hadn't looked this big from the outside, but soon it became apparent that the halls were sloping downwards. This place could be immense if half of it was underground.
Fifteen minutes later, they were lost and no closer to finding her mother. She couldn't even send out chakra waves to search for her for fear of being detected. It was essential that she find her mother before Ryuuji found them.
The two shinobi rounded another corner only to come face to face with a wall. A dead end.
Yuna growled in frustration as she pushed a stay wisp of black hair from her eyes. She had heard of this practice used, building a facility into such a complicated maze that any intruder would surely lose their way, but had never actually seen it before. Now she felt rather foolish coming all this way with very little knowledge to go on. She ran her fingers over the cold gray stone and tried to think positive about the situation she was in.
They were just about to back up and prepare to turn around and try a different direction, when they heard the sound of soft footsteps. They were too light to be male. More than likely, they probably belonged to that of a woman or even an older child.
Ducking around the corner of the wall, Yuna and Boruto crouched down, hiding their chakra and holding their breath as they waited for the person approaching to come into view.
A moment later, a brunette woman rounded the corner. She was quite pretty and about their age, but Boruto could tell immediately there was something peculiar about her. Her gait was consistent, almost mechanical as she walked past their hiding place without paying them any notice as she passed.
The shinobi detected no chakra in her and guessed her to be a civilian, but he crept up behind her with kunai drawn just in case. In one quick movement he had her pressed up against the wall, her face to the smooth plaster and his front to her back. One hand was over her mouth in case she tried to scream and the deadly point of his weapon was poised just above the flesh of her throat, letting her know that any abrupt movements could be her last.
"I'm not going to hurt you if you tell me what I want to know," Boruto growled softly, keeping his voice low so as not to be detected but menacing enough to show her he was serious. "A woman with black hair was brought to this hideout. We need to find her quickly. Tell me where she is."
He removed his hand from her mouth so she could reply, but they received no response.
"Answer me," Boruto hissed, pushing her against the wall roughly. "This weapon isn't for show. I'll use it if I have to. Tell me where she is!"
Despite his threats and rough handling, she didn't even flinch, and her response was exactly the same as before, nothing.
"What's wrong with her?" Yuna asked, worriedly.
Boruto frowned in confusion. She seemed completely unaffected by the danger she was in. He could feel her pulse beneath his fingers, but it was steady and slow, as was her breathing. Both should have been racing thanks to the adrenaline spike of being surprised by him, but she hadn't even gasped when he had grabbed her.
Pulling away from her slightly, he flipped her around so that her back was now pressed to the wall. It suddenly seemed very important to Boruto to look at this girl's face, and what he saw drove the breath from his lungs.
The girl's pretty face was set in a blank expression, emotionless even in the face of danger, and her eyes-big brown eyes that should have been expressive and beautiful-were glazed and dull, revealing that while her body lived, she was dead inside. This was not a normal girl before him but a walking corpse. Her eyes were identical to those he had seen on the faces of the dead, unseeing and lifeless.
"Oh, God."
Yuna stared at Boruto, her hand cupped over her mouth. Is this what her mother would become if they failed to find her? All of her life and vitality, the fire and spirit...the very thing that made her who she was...would be gone? She could be lifeless as the girl before them, a soulless puppet with black hair and dead, teal eyes.
Tears stung her eyes, her throat thick with pent up emotion.
Knowing that the girl would be of no use, Boruto knocked her out. He moved towards Yuna and stood in front of her.
"Do you think he's going to do that to mom? What if-"
"Stop," he said and placed both his hands on her shoulders. "We'll find her. I promise. But right now I need you to calm down and focus, okay?"
Reluctantly, she nodded and the two turned and fled down the hall, searching for her mother with renewed urgency as the burnett's lifeless eyes replayed over and over in her head.
~MINE TO TAKE~
Yuna growled in frustration. This place was so damn huge that she was beginning to think they would never find her mother. All they had gained from their methodical searching of room after room was a greater feeling of disgust towards Ryuuji. His nightmarish labyrinth was bad enough, but they had run into three more civilians, all devoid of any vitality, any life.
They were all soulless puppets who didn't so much as gasp in alarm when they cornered them and asked where her mother was.
They were just about to search a different direction of the hideout, when they heard a feminine cry echo down the hallway. It was distant, but perhaps it could lead them to her mother.
They moved quickly and silently. They heard the voice again and followed it, afraid that her mother was crying out in pain, calling for help, and Yuna prayed she wasn't too late.
The cries led them to a hall where a large set of double doors at the end was left ajar. The door swung inward on oiled hinges, granting Yuna and Boruto a repulsive view of what was going on inside.
At one end of the giant room, was a large holding cell about seven feet deep and thirty feet long. Two rows of bunks, one on the top and one on the bottom, hung from the wall for a total of eight. A single commode stood at one end, covered in stains and lumpy smears. Six adults and two young children, one of which Yusei was dragging out by his upper arm despite the woman's pleas for him to stop. The display was appalling. Forgoing stealth and protocol, Yuna burst through the doors.
"You fucking scum," the kunoichi seethed, teal eyes ablaze with black fire.
Yusei shoved the child back into the holding cell and locked it before turning to find Yuna standing in the doorway and gave her a Cheshire cat grin. "I knew it was a matter of time before you came barging in. And look, you even brought your boyfriend with you this time!" He lunged toward them. "I still owe you for the shoulder wound you little shit!"
Boruto already had his katana halfway unsheathed, preparing to engage the brute in combat, but Yuna was quicker, clapping her hands together and drawing the carbon attached to their bodies and kneading it with her hands.
With a flick of her wrist she threw it at Yusei, who was still charging at them. Even at the distance across the room, the look of shock on his face as the carbon wrapped around him was comical.
He struggled for several seconds in an attempt to free himself.
"You can struggle all you want but you'd just be wasting your time and energy. That's carbon you're currently restrained with and the only way you can get out of that jutsu is if I release it."
"That was a dirty trick you harlot," he said through gritted teeth.
"Where is she?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Don't fuck around with me," she growled. "I know what you sick freaks been up to. You're kidnapping innocent people and turning them into these soulless puppets. Why? For what purpose?"
"Because, there's a high demand for bodyguards for those running underground operations, a bodyguard they can completely control; one that will give their life without a second thought. Who would be better for the job than a shinobi?"
"These people are not shinobi, they're civilians!"
"What can I say, gotta start off somewhere. Besides, they're homeless, orphans, nobody misses them. It's not a bad set up at all."
Yuna said nothing for a moment, her face tilted downwards so her fringe of black bangs covered her eyes, making her expression unreadable. And then suddenly, with a mere hand sign, Boruto watched as carbon bubbled from the ground and slowly inched its way up Yusei's body towards his face.
"Not missed? Not a bad setup? These are innocent people you're taking advantage of," Yuna spat, disgusted with the whole prospect. "You took away their rights, experimented on them and unlawfully sold them!"
"What we do with test subjects is our business."
"My mother is not your test subject," she snarled, her voice low and dark with anger. "If you don't tell me where she is I will personally make you suffer a slow and torturous death."
Yusei chuckled. "You don't have the stomach for it. Now let me go!"
"You know nothing about me." She drew her hand to her chest and slowly the carbon moved its way up and into his nostril. Yusei groaned, trying hard to squirm away. He could feel the carbon pass through his nostril, throat, esophagus and slowly make its way down into his stomach. He began to cough, sickness brewing in his gut.
"Yuna…" Boruto said warily.
She ignored him and continued. "At this rate, you will suffocate to death. I want to be a great kunoichi." she said. "I would like to avoid something so cruel if possible."
With tear filled eyes, Yusei's resolve crumbled and turned his gaze to the door at the other side of the room.
"I see," she said, her voice even, calm and strangely monotonous. She released the jutsu, extracting the carbon from Yusei's body. The relief came down on him like a hammer.
The only sound that followed was the soft thump of Yuna's hand connecting with the back of Yusei's head, rendering the man instantly unconscious.
Yuna was about to head for the door when one of Ryuuji's captives stopped her.
"Hey, where are you going? Aren't you going to help us out of here?"
"A second team was dispatched and will arrive shortly," Boruto answered. "In the meantime you all are to wait here."
The man leaned against the bars, holding them tightly with his hands and cried, "Don't leave us in here!"
Yuna hesitated a moment, torn as to what to do, but then she felt a warm hand on her shoulder.
"We came here for your mother. Every second that passes could be her last. Konohamaru-sensei and the others will be here soon; let them tend to them."
As much as she hated herself for it, Yuna nodded and headed door that no doubt led to where her mother was being kept.
She reached out, fingers wrapping around the iron handle, and pulled the heavy door open.
Bright fluorescent light streamed into the dim room, revealing a room full of bubbling beakers and trays of clean, sharp surgical equipment. Yuna's stomach turned at the thought of such instruments being used on her mother. The place was like a twisted mix of both a hospital and the laboratory of crazed scientist.
Her eyes fell immediately to the patch of black at the far end of the room and the sight made her chest constrict painfully.
She had found her mother alright, but it appeared that she was too late.
~MINE TO TAKE~
Yuna took in the scene before her: tables full of sharpened medical instruments and beakers full of assorted liquids were arranged in the center of the room. A dark haired man in a lab coat hovered over some cots at the far end of the room but it was what was on the cot that really had Yuna's attention.
Her mother lay motionless, with an IV piercing her arm, but rather than a clear solution, something far more sinister was being pumped into her veins. The liquid was a soft shimmering green, no doubt liquid chakra somehow condensed down and mixed with other chemicals.
Seeing her like that, helpless when she was normally so strong and capable, only threw wood on the fire of her already burning rage.
She stormed into the room with only one thought. She had to get that needle out of her mother's arm and get her out of here.
The man in the lab coat turned as he finished his inspection, only to come face to face with the furious kunoichi. His eyes bulged behind the magnifying lenses of his glasses as he gasped in surprise.
"Who are you?" the doctor whimpered, voice growing high and thin with panic. He had nowhere to run with the two shinobi standing between him and the door and his eyes darted around nervously as he searched for a way out.
"I'm the girl you don't want to piss off," Yuna seethed, advancing slowly on the frightened man. "And since you've gotten my mother involved in your sick experiments, I'm feeling pretty pissed off."
Her prey made a pitiful attempt to grab at scalpel on a nearby tray, but Yuna easily grabbed his wrist painfully tight.
"Someone! Help me!" he wailed, squirming futilely in the shinobi's grasp.
Yuna's grip changed from the doctor's wrist to his throat as she slammed him up against the wall with one hand.
"If you're calling for Yusei, he's a little indisposed at the moment."
"You little-"
Yuna stopped him short by tightening her grip on his throat. The kunoichi was barely containing her rage, resisting tearing this man's heart right out of his chest only because the deranged doctor still had information to give. As soon as Yuna found out what she needed to know, the man was as good as dead.
She drew the kunai from her pouch, her eyes narrowing dangerously as she pressed the blade to the doctor's throat. The man began to wheeze and whimper, eyes wide behind glass lenses as he stuttered out pleas for his life to be spared.
Ignoring his pathetic sniveling, Yuna spoke, voice cold and hard but trembling every so slightly with the anger that was threatening to boil over. "You are going to get that IV out of my mother right now and begin the treatment that reverses whatever sick thing you're doing to her."
The doctor's eyes darted toward the cot where the unconscious woman lay. "B-but...there is n-no treatment. The process is p-permanent."
The whimpering man suddenly doubled over as Yuna punched him hard in the gut. He gasped and choked as he tried to recover from having the wind so violently knocked out of him, but Yuna soon had him by the throat again and slammed him back up against the wall.
"Don't fuck with me!" the kunoichi hissed venomously, her teal eyes burning with furious flames. "I'll spill your guts all over the floor right fucking now if you don't come up with an antidote for your twisted little treatment."
Until now, the doctor had been avoiding looking directly into Yuna's gaze, no doubt frightened by the wild ferocity in her eyes. But now he looked his captor straight in the face, voice high and thin and desperate as he cried out hysterically. "The chakra infusion into the bloodstream is non-reversible! Once the process is complete and the program implanted, the old information-the personality-is erased! There's no way to get it back!"
It felt like a cold stone had dropped into Yuna's gut. Erased? Then she was too late. Mom's personality had been wiped away like unwanted scribbles on a chalkboard. In its place, an unfeeling, non thinking imposter resided, having her mother's visage, but nothing more. The woman she loved was as good as dead.
Torn by emotions of heart wrenching grief and black anger, Yuna didn't say another word as she tightened her grip around her weapon to slit the doctor's throat. However, Boruto's voice stopped her.
"Don't."
"Shut up, Boruto."
"If you kill him like this, you're no better than him."
Without lowering her weapon, she turned her gaze to Boruto. "No better than him? This...this...piece of shit deserves to die. He killed my mother!"
"Y-your mother is gone, but it wasn't my fault." The doctor stuttered. "It was Ryuuji! He made me do it! I didn't have a choice so you shouldn't be punishing me."
Boruto reached out, and she shifted from his grasp. "Don't take this path. It's one thing to defend yourself, but it's another to kill a defenseless man. Don't sink to his level."
Looking at the doctor's terrified face, revulsion pulsed through her veins. He didn't deserve to live. Not after all the horrible things he'd done. Reluctantly, she lowered her weapon to her side.
Tears pricked Yuna's eyes, threatening to fall, but the sudden presence of a strong and familiar chakra told her grieving would have to wait. She spun around, using the doctor's body as a shield the second she heard the high pitched sound of shuriken cutting through the air. Twin thumps told Yuna that both weapons had lodged themselves in the doctor's back, who was by now dead.
"Seto was always too quick to point the finger," a smooth voice chuckled as the lifeless body was dropped to the floor. "I would inquire as to how you found this place, but I think I already know the answer."
Standing before Yuna and Boruto with an arrogant smile was the man with mismatched eyes, the one they had spent the better part of the night trying to track down.
"Guess your quack doctor got what he deserved," Yuna growled, voice low and dangerous like a wild animal. "And you'll be next."
Their opponent's smirk stayed in place, amused by Yuna's confidence.
After a moment, Konohamaru sensei and Ataru joined them.
"I'll deal with you later," Ataru growled thrusting an angry finger at her face before turning his attention back to the woman that currently needed his help and asking Yuna dozens of questions pertaining to her condition and answering them as best she could.
How long had she been on the drug? Had she shown any signs of life since they arrived? Had she managed to learn what was in the drug they were being administered? Did Seto say anything about a remedy?
Yuna winced at the last question, but although she told him the doctor had claimed effects were irreversible, Ataru refused to accept that answer.
"Perhaps if the process is incomplete, there's a chance for recovery."
He pulled the IV needle from her vein, working as fast as he could. He slung their mother over his shoulder and looked over to Yuna. "Stay focused and don't do anything stupid."
She nodded mutely, signaling she understood and turned her focus back to her opponent as Ataru left the room
"You two have a lot of explaining to do," Konohamaru said.
Boruto rolled his eyes. "Relax sensei, we got permission before coming here."
"Even so, you should have joined up with the rest of team, not barging in without a sound plan."
"Can you save the berating for later," Boruto hissed. "Right now we have a much bigger problem at the moment.
"I can see that," Konohamaru said. "What's the situation?"
Boruto filled him in on everything that had happened as they watched their opponents movements. His sensei was disturbed by the story, but wasn't quite so vocal about it.
"Yuna and I can take on Ryuuji," Boruto said. "The others might need your help escorting the prisoners to safety."
"Boruto…"
"Sensei, we can handle this."
His eyes widen and for a second he hesitated, perhaps to consider his request.
"Okay," he said cautiously, then leaves the room.
Boruto turned his focus back to the enemy. He knew fighting in such a confined space would be difficult. He would have liked to lead his opponent into the more open area.
As if reading his thoughts, Ryuuji made a single hand and in an instant he forced the ceiling in the underground hideout to collapse, exposing the open air outside
"Let's take this outside, shall we?" he said, lunging toward the newly formed exit with his opponents following closely behind.
They squared off, three sets of feet digging into the sand as they settled into fighting stances. For a breathless moment the three figures were silent, muscles taut and ready as the water and grass rippled peacefully around them.
Yuna charged first in a blur of teal, her arm drawback to deliver a powerful punch but Ryuuji sidestepped with equal speed, delivering a kick to her back that sent her stumbling forward in the sand. She was quick to recover, springing away from Ryuuji's follow up attack towards the water's edge, feet digging into the wet sand as she watched his movements carefully.
He was in front of her, his covered face blank and unreadable, and then suddenly, he was behind her, moving so fast she had hardly registered the blur of motion, but her reflexes were still sharp enough to avoid his attack by launching herself straight into the arch, body twisting in a graceful backflip that carried her right over Ryuuji's head. She landed facing him in a crouch, sandaled feet resting on the water's surface. He was already coming at her with a kick aimed for her head but she was able to jerk to the side, his limb whizzing so close to her that the fabric of his pants grazed her ear.
Before he could pull back, she grabbed his leg with both hands, and swung him around and away from her. He slid backwards, a spray of water droplets shooting out from his sandaled feet as he faced her once again.
They both rushed forward, meeting in a clash of punches and blocks, some so powerful that small gusts of wind radiated outwards from the shock of the impact. They moved lightening quick, dancing over the surface of the lake, the ripples showing the path of where they had been when the eye could not follow fast enough.
They threw simultaneous punches, both of which were caught in the opposite palm of their opponent. They stood in a deadlock.
Suddenly, he let go of the chakra concentration on his feet, dropping him beneath the water's surface and pulled Yuna in after him. Yuna squeaked in surprise as she was suddenly immersed in frigid water, water seeping into her lungs. He still held tight to her hand but she drew her knees to her chest and kicked with all the force to could muster in the water's increased viscosity. She felt her feet connect and his grip on her release and she immediately swam for the surface, coughing and sputtering as she sucked in much needed oxygen.
She hastily climbed out of the water, the chakra on her feet and hands making it look like she was climbing out of a hole onto something solid. Her eyes scanned the surrounding area for any trace of Ryuuji but she couldn't feel his presence anywhere. He had to be below her in the water somewhere. She would just have to flush him out.
She drew a substantial amount of chakra into her hand and slammed her fist into the water's surface, releasing the energy in one explosive burst. The effect was like a meteor hitting the lake as water splashed out nearly thirty feet into the air and a gargantuan ripple bordering on a wave radiated outwards, splashing over the sand and into the grass.
She had expected to find Ryuuji hiding beneath the water's surface but there was nothing there, just water and rocks and some very surprised fish. She sprang away to avoid being swallowed up by the water that was closing in overhead since she had punched nearly to the lake's bottom. She came to rest on the turbulent surface, every muscle taut as she remained alert and waited for him. All around her water rained down in droplets and mist, obscuring her vision and making it impossible to hear anything else but water hitting water.
Suddenly, he was beside her, Yuna couldn't react fast enough as Ryuuji delivered a powerful kick to her ribs which sent her flying backwards. She managed to summon the chakra to her back and rear that kept her from sinking into the water, skittering instead over the surface, but the impact had knocked the wind out of her and she wheezed for a moment as she tried to suck air back into her lungs.
Boruto drew his katana as Ryuuji began advancing his teammate. The action caused his opponent to turn around, giving him an amused smile. "Oh? Wanting to fight?"
"Do you really plan on saving her with the very sword you killed me with?"
Borutostopped short, frozen. Incredulous at what he was hearing. His breath left him in a rush.
"You always were foolish," Kawaki chuckled in his ear. "Thinking you can save her when you couldn't even save Konoha from me."
He shook his head and tried to clear it.
"Doesn't matter what you do, Boruto. The past will never disappear. Someone who has become as bloodstained as you can't hope to be reborn pure as snow."
"BORUTO!"
The sound of Yuna's voice snapped Boruto back to reality.
"You made a promise, didn't you?" Yuna got to her feet, facing him. "You can't go back on your word. Prove to him, prove to your father that you can do this, because I know you can!"
As he absorbed her words, his expression went from tense to relieved. Boruto couldn't understand why she believed in him so much. But for some odd reason, her encouragement made him feel better and made him believe he could actually do this.
He closed his eyes, briefly, as a slow smiled curved his mouth.
Yuna...Thank you…
He stabbed his katana into the ground. Keeping hold of his blades hilt, Boruto sent a massive surge of electricity traveling down the blade, and through the ground toward his enemy. Large crackles of energy shot upwards along its route, lighting up the area; Ryuuji's hand drew up to his chest as he weaved the signs for a counter to the lethal attack directed towards him. A massive gust of wind raged and met the lightning attack, slicing through it, and striking Boruto whose eyes went wide in surprise of the counter against his own attack. He flew back with a cry-his hold on his katana lost-and slammed with his back to the trunk of the tree; leaving a large indent. When the wind died, he sank into a sitting position with several coughs. Across his arms, his face, and legs, were several small slashes where the wind had sliced through his clothing and into his flesh.
Boruto found himself backed into a corner, his enemy looking down at him smugly.
"Pity," Ryuuji said with a shake of his head. "I would have thought someone like yourself would have presented more of a challenge."
"I could say the same for you," the whiskered shinobi said with a smirk. "Go, Yuna!"
Ryuuji wheeled around, eyes wide and gasped as he saw Yuna and her shadow clone in the air, each holding a kunai that connected together with a sharp cord of yellow chakra between them.
"Flare Release: Flame Lashing!" Yuna shouted.
Boruto rolled to the side at the last second and Yuna's technique sliced Ryuuji in half. The two pieces fell to the ground in a heap as Yuna and her duplicated landed.
"We still got it," The duplicate grinned, before giving each other a zestful high five and poofing away.
"Flare release, huh?" He said softly, the amusement audible in his voice as he got to his feet, brushing the dirt from his pants.
"Yeah," the kunoichi said sheepishly. "I finally realized something when dad and I were talking. I thought-"
Her sentence was cut short when she noticed the lower half of Ryuuji's body inch it's way to the upper half. She lifted a shaky finger at the severed body and could only stare with her mouth agape.
No way...It can't be…
She must look like a big idiot standing there like that as the man standing in front of her was now eyeing her quizzically.
"What?"
Yuna recovered her wits enough to grab Boruto's face and turn his head to the body currently reattaching itself in front of them. His eyes narrowed at the sight.
"A regeneration technique," he said in a soft voice, turning his body to the scene in front of him. "For it to work, he must gather a large quantity of chakra to rapidly regenerate any damage done to the body. Those tools he has on his body steal chakra from his victims, right? So long as he has enough chakra, he is near immortal."
"So basically we're at a disadvantage," Yuna said.
"Not necessarily," Boruto said. "I'm assuming he's burned through most of that chakra regenerating. If anything, he might have enough to pull it off once more before he has to replenish."
"That hurt…" Ryuuji said as he stood. "But that wasn't bad, little kunoichi."
Yuna and Boruto both gasped in horror as they felt the shift in his chakra, his signature becoming increasingly more powerful but more malevolent as well.
Ryuuji growled, a sound that was more animal than human and held his head in his hands, shaking violently for a moment as if he were fighting an internal battle against an unseen adversary. They watched his muscles greatly expand and his hair grow wild and much longer.
"This is my ultimate body!" Ryuuji said, smiling humorlessly that sent a chill down the kunoichi's spine. "Up until just now, we were just playing. But I'm done. Playtime's over."
Focus. Yuna thought to herself. Her heart drummed painfully in her chest, and a small trickle of perspiration slid down the side of her face. Don't get scared. All we have to do is take him down once more, after that he won't be able to regenerate again.
Impossible. You've already used up a substantial amount of chakra as well as Boruto getting us here with his Dōjutsu.
Don't think! If you show your back to the enemy in this state, then you'll just become prey. We have no choice but to fight and win right here, right now!
Yuna closed her eyes tightly, gritting her teeth.
I haven't used this move in actual combat yet. It's crazy, but now it looks like I have to use it here. Perhaps if I make a small adjustment...then maybe...maybe I won't…
She turned her head slightly to look at Boruto. "I have a plan," she said quietly. "but we only have one shot at it. After that, I won't be able to perform it again. For it to work, I'm gonna need that gale palm technique of yours. And then, when it hits, you run as fast as you can back to the others."
"When it hits? Wait-" His sentence was cut short as Ryuuji lunged toward them. "Yuna, move away, quickly!" Boruto said urgently as he made the hand signs for a clone.
Yuna glanced back just in time to see Ryuuji rocketing towards them, arm outstretched and fist ready to deliver a crushing blow. They jumped out of the way a fraction of a second before his fist sliced the earth where they had just been standing.
Boruto's eyes widened as Ryuuji appeared beside him in a flash, before he could react however, Ryuuji delivered a punch to his face that sent him flying with blinding speed into the ground creating a crater.
"It's useless to run," Ryuuji said, advancing toward Boruto who was currently getting to his feet. "I'll take care of you first. That seal on your palm poses as a real problem."
"Get back, Boruto!"
Boruto sprung away as Yuna stomped her foot onto the ground, sending up several carbon spikes hurling towards them. The enemy stumbled backwards but recovered quickly.
"Tch," Yuna said through clenched teeth. She quickly reached into her back pouch and pulled out a small scroll and summoned a giant iron fan. She opened the fan revealing three purple circles spaced equally across its length. "Wind Release: Great Wind-"
Before she even had a chance to complete the technique Ryuuji had wrapped his hand around her throat and effortlessly lifted her off the ground. Yuna gasped, choking as his fingers cut off her air like a tourniquet.
"Uh, uh, uh, we'll have no more of that."
Her mind screamed at her, desperate to know why it was being punished. Her lungs burned, her mouth working like a fish on dry land, sucking in nothing but fear. The edges of her vision started to grow fuzzy, and black dots appeared over Ryuuji's shoulder. Panic flooded her veins with adrenaline. Dropping the large weapon, she struggled, clawing at the fingers sealed around her throat. She tried to kick Ryuuji in the groin but only managed to connect with his shin, the impact ricocheting painfully through her foot.
Ryuuji's eyes widened and Yuna froze upon making contact with his mismatched eyes.
Shit...not again. I can't move!
"Yuna!"
Boruto rushed forward, only to be held back by something.
What the…?
He looked down and realized he was caught in something awful; quicksand. As he struggled to free himself, he could feel himself getting weaker as the enemies jutsu began to drain his chakra until he was completely engulfed by the quicksand.
"B-boruto-kun…" She gasped, her lungs burning as oxygen filled them. "I-I swear I'm going to take you down…"
"Children think that everything is so easy," he said. "That's why they are able to talk nonsense. That's why they don't give up. If it's any consolation, you'll be joining him soon. The both of you will no longer be tormented by your wretched pasts."
Ryuuji released her wrist and placed his hand on her abdomen. A sharp pain ripped through her stomach. She cried out.
"Amazing," his head tipped back in ecstasy. "I can feel it...I can feel your-"
An audible pop sounded as her solid form disappeared. The sneaky little vixen had tricked him and he cursed himself for not seeing through it.
"That may be true," he was startled to hear a female voice behind him say. He wheeled around to see Yuna, Boruto and his shadow clones smirking at him.
"But even so, I'm still willing to continue living with the burden of these memories. Even though they are painful memories, even though they're memories that make my heart ache. But as long as I try to be strong and not run away, doing my best, then someday...someday I can overcome those painful memories. I believe I can. I believe I can do it!"
Yuna jumped up and Boruto released his gale palm, shooting her toward Ryuuji at rapid speed.
"Flare Release: Napalm Fist!"
As her fist connected with Ryuuji's chest, the seal formally wrapped around her body started slithering off of her and onto him, taking a majority of Yuna's chakra into him. But Yuna didn't have time to celebrate her victory. In a moment, there would be one hell of an explosion.
"What did you do? What did you do!?" Ryuuji screamed as he clawed at his chest that was drawing copious amounts of chakra.
She rushed to Boruto, repeatedly saying, "Gotta move."
"What was that marking you placed on him?" Boruto said in confusion.
"Don't just stand there idiot, run!" She cried urgently. "This whole area is gonna blow!"
The two shinobi ran as fast as they could to safety. When Boruto took to the treetops, she was right behind him, summoning chakra to her legs to boost her powerful jump, but the movement proved to be more than her body could take for one long sharp pain ripped through her body, rendering her immobile and drawing an anguished gasp from her lips.
Shit. I've used up too much chakra.
Boruto turned his head to look at her when he could no longer hear her footsteps following after him. He zeroed in on her location and could tell immediately something was wrong. She had pushed herself enough into a sitting position but she wasn't standing up and she looked like she was in pain.
"Yuna!" he called, jumping down from the tree tops and running to her quickly. He was at her side in seconds, kneeling down next to her with genuine concern.
"Get away from here," she said through gritted teeth. "Don't die for me. Run, Boruto. Please, run!"
"I'm not leaving here without you," He slipped one arm under her shoulders and another beneath her knees and lifted her as if she weighed nothing at all.
Boruto closed his eyes in concentration as he summoned the last of his chakra reserves. After a moment, he opened his eyes, simultaneously activating both his Jōgan and Kāma.
He heard the explosion behind them, a loud blast that no doubt separated Ryuuji into a thousand little pieces and scattered him about the area. The ground rocked beneath his feet and Boruto almost lost his balance as heat and fire rushed along the clearing, towards the two shinobi.
~MINE TO TAKE~
Ataru's brow creased as she concentrated on painstakingly removing the toxins bit by bit from his mother's damaged brain tissue. He wasn't sure how long he had been at it. The procedure required that he immerse himself completely in the task as he hunched over his unconscious mother.
Suddenly, an explosion hit. A loud blast followed by an intense wave a heat overcame him. As he looked back, the tell tale crackling of a large scale flare style technique surrounded the landscape before him.
No...No she couldn't have used that technique. She didn't! She wouldn't!
Abruptly, Ataru rose to his feet and cried out, "Yuna!"
He shoved his hands through his hair as the air in his lungs left him. Tears pricked Ataru's eyes as the woman he loved was forever gone. He would never hear her laugh, never hear her cry, never see her roll her eyes with exasperation or narrow them in anger. He would never get to tell her how he really felt; even if he knew it would be something she probably wouldn't want to hear.
Suddenly, a dark spiraling portal opened and Yuna and Boruto fell into the center of the clearing. Relief flooded his body as he saw her back expand with every breath and he thanked the gods above that she was still alive after that technique.
However, the relief was cut short when he noticed she was in Boruto's arms. One of his hands was at the small of her back, the other behind her head, cradling her against him, protective and possessive, soothing and demanding all at once.
For a moment Ataru wanted to rip his head off. With his hands fisted at his side, he marched up to them.
Yuna awoke feeling stiff and sore. Next she registered the sensation of warmth enveloping her, the majority of the heat pressed to her front, and she slowly realized that another body was molded against her own, a hand on small of her back, the other behind her head, and a leg over her thigh, tangling her up with whoever was in front of her. Her thoughts were unusually muddled and fuzzy, but when she shifted slightly, a sharp pain shot through her body and brought everything back into sharp focus and the memories of what just occurred flooded her mind.
"Boruto,"
Her soft voice was enough to wake the shinobi and he lifted his head to blink at her. "Yuna?"
"It looks like we weren't blown to pieces after all," she smiled. "I'm assuming I have you to thank?"
"Are you hurt?" he asked, propping himself up on his elbows to look down at her with concern.
"I'm alright." She whispered. "What about you?"
"I'm fine," he said, lifting himself off her body so she could get up.
"That's good. I'm glad…"
Her sentence remained unfinished as she collapsed forward. That last technique was taking its toll. She had almost used up her chakra supply and it left her weak and shaky.
Ryōgi dropped from the trees where he had been watching the surrounding area to see his friend slumped over. He called her name worriedly and was set to charge to her side but Mitsuki placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him silently as Boruto beat the red-haired man to it. He placed a hand on her back as he asked if she was all right, his voice laced with concern.
"That was Napalm Fist just now, wasn't it?" Ataru asked.
Yuna cringed and didn't say anything, letting her silence be her admittance.
"Napalm Fist? Konohamaru asked.
"It's supposed to be used as a one-time attack; where you are 100% sure it will take out the opponent," Ataru explained. "The jutsu requires a vast amount of chakra. Flare Style techniques are notorious for burning through chakra. Members of the Katayama Clan are able to focus and store chakra over a period of time; similar to the Fifth Hokage and her disciple's reserve seal. For Napalm Fist to work, the user must disperse the seal and drain all of their chakra from their body and force it into their fist. Because of this, the user afterwards will die of chakra exhaustion. It's a suicide attack... great power at great cost."
A collective gasp went through the group at the news.
"I'm fine," Yuna said stubbornly. "I made a slight adjustment to the technique before using it. I'm not going to die."
"Even so," Konohamaru said. "It still had an immense impact on your body. A technique of that magnitude should only be used when you've exhausted all other options." He turned to the five people who had been watching their exchange with concern. "Boruto, you'll be carrying Yuna. Ataru, you'll be carrying Nariko to keep watch over her condition. Ryōgi and I will watch over the civilians. Sarada, you've got point and Mitsuki will watch our backs. We need to move as fast as we can. I want to be back in Konoha by morning."
The kunoichi tried to get to her feet and insist on walking herself, but her knees buckled. Boruto caught her easily. "Yuna," Konohamaru chastised sternly. "You're too weak to even stand. There's no way in hell I'm letting you use any more chakra until you've rested."
He turned to his team and ordered them to make preparations for their departure. All the other members of their team except Boruto and Ataru had their backs turned, talking about the most direct route to take back home.
Ataru stared down at her, his eyes hard.
"How could you be so reckless?"
"Weren't you the one who wanted me to use Flare Style?" Yuna said, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Yes, but I didn't mean for you to run out there and kill yourself, idiot!" Ataru yelled. "What the hell am I supposed to tell dad or mom for that matter, huh?! It would kill her, Yuna, literally kill her for her to wake up and find out that her only daughter had died."
"I know," she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" the shinobi growled as his disbelief turned to hurt and anger. "What you did was monumentally stupid. Bordering on insane."
She winced at his words, looking absolutely miserable. She was perfectly aware of how reckless she'd been, but that didn't make it any easier to listen to Ataru berate her.
"You don't seem to have any regard for your personal safety."
Yuna wrapped her arms around herself as if they would protect her from Ataru's painful words, but she couldn't stop the tears from forming in her eyes. Ataru was furious with her, furious and disappointed, and that knowledge only compounded the pain gripping her chest.
Boruto could see her teal eyes glistening with unshed tears. Her body posture betrayed how dejected she felt, and for a moment, his heart ached for her. Everyone made mistakes, although it was uncharacteristic for Yuna to make one so big, but yelling at her was solving nothing.
"Ataru, that's enough."
"Mind your own business, Uzumaki. This has nothing to do with you." He pointed an angry finger at him. "And what're you even doing here? Last I checked you were off missions because of your mental state. I guess since you're the Hokage's son you have special privileges?"
"What?" Boruto growled.
"Don't take this out on him, Ataru."
Before he could shoot off a heated retort, he heard a soft murmur come from behind him. Ataru instantly turned around and breathlessly hovered over the black haired woman. The eyelashes that had rested so gently on her porcelain skin fluttered open to reveal twin teal orbs.
Immediately Ataru slipped into medic mode, speaking gently and clearly as he explained what happened and where they were. Nariko listened with wide eyes, taking in her surroundings as if she couldn't quite believe she was no longer in the basement of Ryuuji's hideout.
Yuna slowly inched forward, teal eyes wide and glistening with tears. "Momma," she whispered softly, as if she couldn't quite believe what she was seeing.
Silence stretched between the two, breathless and surreal, until the spell was suddenly broken by Yuna rushing forward and throwing her arms around her mother. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she sobbingly confessed that she thought she would never see her again and how she was sorry for keeping Ryuuji a secret. Her mother hugged right back, the feel of her arms around her proving that this was indeed reality, not a cruel dream.
A/N: OMG. This chapter. Literally, fight scenes are always the worst. So, I will be on vacation starting this Friday so the next chapter might have a little delay, but I'll work hard to get it out for you all when I have free time.