Recappy from the Last Chappy: A few steps behind her, Suoh continued, "Since the day we left the womb, together, we have never been apart, a team since we were but fetuses. My sister and I won't hold back—but then, what are the chances we would have to go all out against you two, anyway?"
"That technique was cute, but—hmph. . . . Why spoil the surprise, when we can show you?"
Oto frowned, hunching over as he heard their footsteps come closer. "Try. But we'll be the ones showing you."
Washi's teeth bared in a sneer, and it was quite possible that Suoh wore a similar expression, but it was hard to discern, due to his mask.
Chapter Nine: A Humbling Moment
Ao stared at the destroyed mud doppelgུnger for a moment more from the top of the pike and then began looking around, searching for signs of Kanae. There were not many places for her opponent to hide, so she should have been fairly easy to find, but the ninja was nowhere in sight.
The prodigy jumped from the top of the pike to one of the other ones, causing Kanae's kunai to sweep across empty air. A portion of her upper body, including her head and right arm, projected from the pike. That Kanae distracted her when another, first in the form of mud, projected from the pike she currently stood on, and then moved to strike.
Before the attack could land, Ao looked and lifted her legs to crouch mid-air. She brought out a kunai and twisted herself to stab the arm of her attacker before she landed, and as the clone melted, Ao dashed to another pike. Instead of settling, she dashed back a few more pikes before dropping from the top.
As she kicked off from the side, she activated her sharingan. After pushing off the side of the third pike, she pulled back her first and rebounded it into the next. It broke through the rock, creating many stone fragments, and Kanae was revealed amidst them; Ao's punch had continued on through the stone and hit her stomach.
The Konoha kunoichi kicked off of a stone fragment and used what little force it gave her to bounce to a pike's side. She watched as the Creek ninja continued to fall back from the punch, through one of the pikes, into the ground. There was a small crater of impact.
Kanae stood quickly, despite her erupting pains, and Ao began dashing toward the brunette's position. Ao formed the necessary seals, and a large volume of water began to materialize from nowhere.
Seeming to recognize the technique before the water even began manifesting itself, for she immediately began forming hand seals as well, Kanae spewed a line of mud onto the ground before her, forming a line parallel to her front. As Ao's technique, Water Style: Water Collision Destruction, closed in on her opponent, the mud rose up and hardened, forming a wall of protection. Earth Style: Mud Wall!
The water crashed into the form manifested by Kanae's technique torrentially, dividing around the now rock-solid wall. Behind the wall that she had created, the Creek kunoichi was no longer in view of the Uchiha. Mentally, she cursed. She should have known better; against Earth, Water was the most vulnerable of the elements.
A minor setback, one that was not necessarily one at all in the current situation. It would be one thing if she had attempted to shield herself with water against rock being launched at her. Even so, for the waste of chakra, Ao berated herself. Although she did have an exceptional supply, it did take a great amount to make water appear from thin air.
The water showered the rest of the grass, creating more mud as it sank into the dirt. Ao reached both of her hands back into her kunai pouch and held knives in-between each finger. Her feet found the surface of the wall; it was a little slippery, but on top, she did land with grace and peeked over the edge.
She had her arms crossed in front of her, ready to throw the projectiles, but Kanae was not in sight. Narrowing her eyes, she attempted looking closer, wondering if her sharingan had missed something when sweeping her eyes over the scene.
Suddenly, from the corner of her sharingan eye, she saw the movement of the mud created from her water jutsu. Turning her head, she saw as that mud was shaped by chakra into the shape of mighty, serpentine dragon..
Before the dragon opened its mouth and began spewing mud projectiles, Ao ducked onto the side of the mud wall opposite of it. The projectiles pelleted around her, but with the shelter of the wall, she was safe; so long as Kanae did not attempt using the wall against her.
That's the "Earth Style: Earth Dragon Projectile Jutsu," Ao thought to herself. These jutsu she's using . . . I don't know what rank they are, but—, she smirked, —this woman has skill, like I'd anticipated.
The mud pellets stopped raining around her, and she used the Earth Release Jutsu to sink into the mud wall; it was not necessarily an Earth Style technique nor did it undo Earth Style jutsu, despite the name, but it let either a highly skilled ninja or a nin with an affinity for the Earth element pass through ground and soil easily.
After a moment, she exited the wall, glancing back only once as she ran away; her lips curled. Using the Camouflage Concealment Jutsu, Kanae's appearance almost completely blended with the mud wall. On the side closest to Ao, she had most likely crossed through the wall from the other side once Ao's water technique ended and then blended her features. Due to her sharingan, Ao's eyes pierced that veil.
At a good distance away from the wall the Kunoichi formed a single hand sign. Within the wall, there was a sizzling, as a large paper bomb tagged to a kunai burned, toward detonation. The nearly invisible physiognomy of Kanae twisted with a minute confusion, before her eyes widened.
But it was too late. Before the nin could run away, prior in fact to herself being able to completely peel her body away, the large bomb detonated. In succession, smaller bombs also planted by Ao detonated, creating a behemoth of an explosion.
Kanae was blown forward by the blast, and was forced to roll over a few times. It prevented fire from burning her, however the parts of her skin along the backs of her legs and arms not protected by clothing suffered very minor burns.
Ao curved in her sprint, beginning to head back. A frown was evident on the fallen's face, as she gritted her teeth. Her only effort was to raise her chin and swiftly bring her hands together in front of her. She formed a string of hand seals and shouted, "Fire Style: Flames of Hell Jutsu!"
Suddenly, the Konoha ninja stopped running and looked up. Her eyes were wide, presenting amusement, as her lips parted. A giant ball of fire was descending from the heavens, and engulfed Ao's body.
Hellish heat warmed her mouth and chin, radiating from a grand ball of fire ignited by chakra inches in front of her lips, which puckered to form an O. Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu! Pretty, sapphire blue eyes watched the fireball fall from their person's position down toward Oto.
Washi—from her position on the side of the tree—sneered as her fireball was making its way.
The fire's hissing as it quickly closed the gap reached Oto's ears and he quickly formed a hand sign. Then, he arched his back and opened his mouth, releasing a loud, but deep, cry. His jutsu amplified the sound waves and vibrations (this did not seem to bother him), so when they reached the fireball, the flame snuffed out in one sweep.
The female redhead's sneer broke, taken aback. A ball of flame, especially kindled by herself, did not often become extinguished that quickly—even when engulfed by water jutsu, the full execution was not instantaneous. This child had used sound—which she had never even heard of before!
She clicked her tongue. In all my years as a ninja. . . .
Oto jumped toward her, so she produced a kunai and tossed it at him. He pulled out his own, holding it until her kunai was about to hit him, and used his to block it; the clang of metal resonated in his ears as Washi's kunai was knocked aside.
Since Washi was in a position where chakra on the soles of her feet kept her on the side of a tree, and she had bent her knees so that she was leaning back against it, all that she had to do when Oto swept his kunai at her was to stand upright. While his body continued forward, or rather just above where she currently stood, she turned with her heel raised and ready to slam into him.
However, he used his kunai to plant into the side of the tree and stop himself from sailing. He knew the small weapon would not hold his weight well without distribution, therefore he used it to obtain just the amount of leverage needed to rise above Washi's kick.
His body ended up on the face of the tree, where he decided against applying chakra. The wind rushed passed his face, blowing his hair from his eyes, as his feet slid down the trunk; his expression did not waver. In his path, Washi stood.
Bringing her leg down, the woman's eyes widened, and she jumped out of his way. She reached into her pouch quickly and procured two knives pre-attached to wire. She threw both of them and held onto the other ends. The knives forced themselves into the side of the tree; the wire became taut and kept her suspended.
Oto realized his opponent was not where she was supposed to be, once hearing the kunai land, and twisted so his back was to the ground. He concentrated chakra and abruptly stopped, lurching, and produced a few shurikon. Guesstimating where her position was, as he did not take the time to echo-locate and pinpoint exactly, he threw them.
The shurikon were thrown widely, so many were not near her, however one did head toward Washi directly. As the wires were still in a slant, and she in mid-air, she pulled herself up, and the weapons missed her. She then decided to let go and land on the ground. During her fall, she threw shurikon toward Oto.
"Bau!" shouted Shouta. "Look ou—ngh!" The brunette clenched his arm, where a kunai thrown by Suoh had sliced during his momentary distraction. He turned his head toward Suoh, whom appeared mildly amused.
"Your partner doesn't have sight, yet you were the first to be injured," he stated.
The chuunin glanced at his wound. Hardly an blood was seeping from it, and the hand that had covered it had simply a pinkish film instead of a line or pool of blood. "Oh, that's actually kinda shallow."
The pinkish film dissolved from the surface of his right hand, turning into sugar as he brought that hand down, turning the hand into a scoop. More sugar was pulled from within the mounds of his palm, creating a Mini-Shouta hidden from Suoh's view. He appeared very relaxed, staring back at his opponent while pulling out a kunai. His left hand was not his dominant one, but that was not the hand that needed accuracy.
He glanced over at Washi and Oto's positions; both had their feet planted on the ground, facing one another, and were ready to strike, but did not. Oto's back was to Shouta. Good.
Kunai raised, the brunette turned his gaze back to Suoh and charged. His right arm was thrown to the side, releasing the Mini-Shouta without his opponent's knowledge, as the masked adversary pulled out his own kunai. He ran forward to meet Shouta, blocking the chuunin's knife with the blade on his left arm. He attempted to use his knife to cut him, but he solely caught Shouta's tie.
Mini-Shouta sailed through the air, squealing lowly, but loudly enough for Oto to hear. This was so he would be alerted to the Mini's presence and not think the body was a projectile weapon. It collided with his back and held onto his flak jacket. It climbed up his back and rested on his shoulder.
"What are you doing here?" Oto murmured under his breath.
Mini-Shouta closed its eyes and smiled. "Let me be eyes! I, 'Seeing-Eye Mini-Shouta!'"
Hazed eyes narrowed whereas his jaw clenched. "I don't need your help . . . I can manage on my own, just fine."
It opened its eyes. "Shouta thought you say that. He say to you, 'I know you have limits. Just let me help.'"
Oto closed his mouth, swallowing down his pride. Beneath the veil of his bangs, his eyebrows knit. He turned the direction of his gaze toward the position in which Washi stood, told to him by the return of his constantly emanating sound waves.
All that he saw was darkness, his eyes knew nothing else. No color, no light. He knew fire only by heat, pain, and the leathery scar left behind when he touched something hot; a burn. He knew the hiss of fire jutsu as it rushed toward him.
He was also indeed well versed in the whistling of projectile weapons, so he rarely needed help pinpointing that they were there. But like with when he threw shurikon, it was sometimes tough to discern where a mid-air opponent was.
Yes, he was proud of how far he had come. His disability had not held him back; it was an obstacle that he, for the most part, had overcome. That was why he was increasingly reluctant to accept help, particularly from people whom he often saw, or whose opinion mattered.
"Don't distract me," he whispered.
Mini-Shouta saluted. "Bau, sir!" It then stared intently at Washi, peeking over Oto's shoulder. She did not seem to notice the little guy's appearance.
Meanwhile, after he had eluded the kunai, Shouta took a few steps back and threw his, instantaneously forming the sign of the ram. He held out his arms in front of him and a dozen Mini-Shouta's popped up. They ran along his arms and at the end, jumped to each other, merging.
Suoh's eyes frowned. The clones were combining quickly, forming what appeared to be a giant club. Shouta took hold of the handle as it began finalizing his form, coming more to a point and creating a circle beneath his hands. When it was fully defined, the final result was him holding a giant kunai large enough to be a small sword.
Although it was composed entirely of sugar and the chakra needed to mold the shape, the kunai was heavy and required two hands to hold it erect. Due to the Wind-based chakra, it was sharp, and since the sugar was compacted so closely together, it would be as hard and heavy as cement.
Shouta heaved it over his shoulder and charged forward, sweeping it in front of himself when he came to an acceptable distance. Suoh dodged fluidly, and the giant kunai was drawn to crash into the ground; an indentation was made, which was mildly impressive to the Creek nin.
In that position, Shouta's back was to him for a brief moment, and he kicked the brunette's derriere so he fell forward. The chuunin lost his balance and stumbled, providing his opponent with enough time to pick up the knife, one-handed. It was effortless. He was about to swing the blade when it condensed back into sugar.
Quickly, Shouta took a sweetened tart from his pocket and popped it into his mouth as he stood. While chewing and turning, he performed a short, quick sequence of three seals and the dissolving sugar turned into many senbon, or acupuncture needles. They all hit Suoh, but his vital points were missed.
Probably frowning behind his mask, Suoh glared whereas Shouta smiled, and the needles dissolved into sugar, adding to the pain of the tiny wounds. The dissolved sugar collected into Mini-Shoutas that ran back to their life-sized counterpart to be absorbed back into the skin.
"Is that the game you wanna play, punk?!" inquired Suoh angrily.
"Actually, Shogi or Dai Hin-Min is more for me, but—" he shrugged while popping three more sweet tarts into his mouth all at once, "—makes no never mind to me. Honestly, I'm amused at you trying to figure out my techniques."
The truth was, Shouta's techniques were of a unique sort that was not necessarily an advanced bloodline because he was the first generation within his clan to have it; there was no way of knowing if it would be passed down the line. Some thought it might be a birth defect—one that had positive side-effects, when taken advantage of.
His body stored sugar in such a way that a majority of it was not used for energy. He had discovered how to use the stored sugar to create clones of all sizes and manipulate shapes to create weapons. He reabsorbed the sugar, but not all of it came back to him since the forms burned sugar off. That was why he ate sweets all of the time, but never seemed to gain weight.
While the uniqueness was a factor, he also found amusement when his opponents raised a brow at him pausing to consume more sugar during battle.
"It'll be easy to get around," Suoh said.
Shouta only smiled.
Washi performed the needed hand signs for Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu and brought her hand up to her mouth. She breathed four small fireballs, all headed toward Oto. Mini-Shouta called their existence, specifying the amount and how high they were.
Water came forth within Oto's hand, shaping into a whip that he swept in front of himself. The whip cracked and doused three of the fireballs. Mini-Shouta pointed out the direction of the missed projectile verbally and Oto whipped that one away, as well.
"All gone!" it piped.
"I can tell," he said in annoyance. Testing Washi a smidgen, he ran forward and cracked the whip of water at Washi herself. She ducked, but since he had slashed diagonally, the end caught her ear. Instead of the normal crack, she heard a high-pitched screaming.
She let out a cry of her own and fell to her knees, grabbing that ear. Her eyes were saucer-wide as she gathered her bearings, ears ringing. Evidently, Oto had channeled sound waves through the Whip of Water.
While she was vulnerable, he took the opportunity to perform another jutsu. Once he made the corresponding hand signs, he expelled a powerful jet of water from his gullet. Sound waves were once again integrated within the stream, which increased in area as the distance from him grew. Water Style: Violent Water Wave!
Washi's face and upper torso were impacted harshly, and she was forced back; the screaming filled and overwhelmed her ears, even when she struggled to cover them. Her ears and head seared with pain as she curled up, like she was trying to cushion herself.
The back of her shoulders and head of her spine crashed into the face of a tree. Water stopped leaving Oto's mouth and he inhaled deeply, breathing accented. He smiled a tinge in satisfaction and heard Mini-Shouta exclaim excitement.
He frowned. "That would fall under 'distraction.'"
"Oh!" Mini-Shouta put a finger to its lips and then acted as if to zip its mouth shut. "Sorry!"
Their opponent was also breathing heavily, due to the agony coursing through her auditory nerves and bleeding ears. She still covered them, and could feel the warmth of crimson liquid as it touched her figures. Virtually immobile, she opened her eyes in a squint, watching as Oto approached her.
No . . . it can't end like this, she thought, slowly uncurling her legs.
Shouta released a yell and fell back, dodging a giant fireball. In the shape of a dragon's head, it had been released from Suoh and caught the brunette off-guard. A product of his Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Jutsu, it had broken through Shouta's Concrete Sugar Wall, therefore Shouta dodged barely in time.
The sugar burned instantly, becoming glossy black shards that were very similar to glass. The masked redhead did not hesitate to run toward his sister. Oto turned around, grabbing a kunai, but before he could use it, he was bashed over the head by the armor of Suoh's right arm. He managed to remain conscious, yet doubled over, and his head swam.
Suoh grabbed his sister from beneath her arm pits and helped her to stand, staring at her with emotionless eyes. "Pull yourself together, Washi. We're not close to being done, yet," he said almost gently; there was still the sense that he was giving her a firm order, in his voice.
"I . . . I know," she replied, straightening. Her hands were held by her brother as she faced him with her head still bowed. The effect of the sound from Oto's techniques was wearing off, so her ability to move was returning as she turned her head and glared.
Shouta had recovered from surprise and falling back, running to his teammate's side. Oto was already standing, glaring ahead of himself. The sclera of Mini-Shouta's eyes were evident. The normally laid back brunette was sporting a wary frown.
Washi raised her head and tilted it back, sapphire eyes meeting sapphire eyes. Both nodded simultaneously, releasing each other's hands, and turned toward their opponents.
Sakura set a hand on her hip and sighed, frowning. She sighed as she brushed her gaze around her; the small village in which Chiyo had been kidnapped was full of townsfolk shopping at street vendors.
Thus far, her search for information on Chiyo's kidnappers had been fruitless.
It was not a great surprise, under the circumstances. During the middle of a storm, most people were tossing and turning in their beds, trying to sleep through it or were too scared to do more than hide underneath the bed or in a tightly enclosed space; the latter would be an attempt at achieving the security one felt as a fetus inside the womb. If it were not those reasons, then the sound of thunder drowned anything out.
Sakura checked the time. She should have received another report by now. Speaking into the headset, she radioed her student. "Shouta? Report."
". . . ."
"Shouta?"
". . . ."
"Ah. . . ." She took note of the crackling noise. "He's out of range. Maybe I've been searching, long enough. . . ."
Flames licked her skin, but because Ao knew it was not a true fire, she was unconcerned and felt no pain. Kanae had called it as a ninjutsu, "Fire Style: Flames of Hell Jutsu." Withal, it was actually a genjutsu technique called, "Demonic Illusion: Hell Fire Jutsu."
Kanae had called a false name in order to reinforce the illusion, else wise it was a horrible mistake to call out the name of the jutsu one was using prior to it manifesting. Ao's sharingan had seen through the sham sans effort. It was amusing to her. She dispelled the technique and dashed toward where Kanae, previously laying, stood.
Chakra was manipulated into a spiraling sphere within her hand, a technique that she had copied from the current Hokage. Unlike him, she had enough concentration to not require a clone to aide her in creating it, but she did not have the proper elemental affinity to add nature to it.
Ao's rasengan hit Kanae square in the chest, so she spun like a wheel as she flew back quite a distance. Twenty or thirty feet away, she began skidding across the ground painfully. Ao gave a satisfied smirk, until someone grabbed her ankle.
"Ah!" The Uchiha turned her sharingan eyes toward that ankle and watched as the hand of Kanae's mud clone pulled her beneath the ground, burying her entire body with the exception of her head and neck. She could hardly move. White sclera surrounded blood red irises completely as she stared at her opponent far away.
A humbling moment is generally rejected in disdain, particularly by the vain. She felt belittled, humiliated; yet restrained from inflating herself more, denying the event happened. Those whose vanity ruled over their better sense often met a distasteful end; that she knew.
If not for dumb luck, Ao knew that she would be introducing herself to the Almighty. Her ears burned nearly as bright red as her sharingan eyes. The hues bleed into her cheeks above gritted teeth.
Kanae struggled to stand, covered in dirt and bruises from head to toe. Her eyes only stayed open a smidgen, squinted, while her breathing was heavy. Holding her left arm with her right hand, across the site where Ao's rasengan had hit, she began to stagger toward her.
Beneath Kanae's cast shadow, Ao glared, thinking not solely of her insolence, but berated herself for allowing it to be her almost-death sentence. She had isolated herself and an Earth ninja, something she should have taken account of.
No, she had taken account of it. Separating herself from her teammates to face a ninja she knew would have the upper-hand due to being native and having the affinity for the Earth Element. She had wanted no aide from her "teammates," she had wanted to prove she did not need them, she was above them. She had wanted to be restored to her ultimate status, where she had the assurance of her skill.
Assurance of skill? Inwardly, she snorted. She could almost hear Oto telling her that the alleged "assurance" was mere justification for her vanity not rightfully deserved. "Is there that great a difference?" she wondered quietly, lowering her gaze.
Kanae straightened herself from her slumped gait and looked down at Ao calmly, appearing to present no threat; in light of the situation, however, Ao could not trust that observation alone, and doubt overruled.
She twisted within the soil, finding little room to maneuver, once shaking herself of her speculations. It was then that the Creek nin found her breath, and spoke. "I have no intention of fighting with you to the death. . . . In fact, I would like to enlist the help of you and your teammates."
End of Chapter Nine
Next Time on .Violets are Blue:.!! Chapter Ten: A Ryo for Your Thoughts
Hands, one bare but for her wedding ring, and the other clad in the glove, still just in front of her face, she opened her eyes blankly. She began to stare at the ring, and realized just how harmful it was that she had been left to her thoughts for so long. She could not regress to that stage; no matter how much she longed for him, he was gone . . . forever.
Sadly and solemnly, she slipped the ring off of her hand and put it away. With mild reluctance, she produced Sai's engagement ring and stared at it. Slowly, she eased it into place on her finger.
Thanks for reading, guys! Evidently, I decided not to rewrite and simply continue with the storyline; I got enough messages on Quizilla assuring me that it is fine as is :) Some drama is to come, trust me. Or was the preview of the next chapter not proof enough? I'll try to update quicker, but school is getting in the way as well as lack of inspiration. I don't plan to become one of those update-every-few-months-authors, however. God bless!
I don't care anymore. Review at your behest. I like reviews, but I am not going to beg you for them.