Thank you for all the reviews! I updated real soon, so please don't kill me! Anyway, this chapter is one of my favourites, I hope you guys will like it as well…
This chapter brings in something new… I created a few jutsus of my own!
And, for my readers who weren't satisfied with the guys taking the spotlight every time… well, you should like this chapter.
Enjoy!
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Chapter 10- Dance of the Four Seasons
十- 四季舞
Neji and Seijin both held their ground, chakra blade and katana pressing firmly against each other. The Hyuuga prodigy channeled his chakra to his hands and withheld it, finally releasing it in a single, powerful blast into Seijin's body, jolting the samurai considerably.
But Neji could no longer hold the katana, he had lost too much chakra for that attack on Seijin. In an instant, Seijin had overpowered Neji's katana defense, and when the blades slipped, Seijin's chakra blade drove right across Neji's shoulders, missing his heart by millimeters.
The Hyuuga crashed onto the ground. Hard.
Sakura was already sprinting towards Neji and Lee at full speed, terrified for the fate of her friends.
"Hinata! Use Chakra Enjintou! That's the only thing that's going to work against him!" Sakura hollered to her friends. "You guys have to help her, but don't get near that blade!"
Skidding to a halt on her knees, Sakura took care of Neji first. There were more major arteries and the delicate heart muscles at the shoulders, near the heart. His face was contorted in pain as he raised a hand to tentatively touch his bleeding wound, which was slapped away by Sakura.
"Don't move, you idiot, unless you want to be paralyzed for life,"
Neji opened his mouth to say something indignantly, but decided against it. Sakura's hands glowed with chakra as she dispelled it towards Neji's wounds, hoping that he really wasn't going to be paralyzed for life.
'Sakura… use my chakra… he'll heal faster…' the Nanabi's voice sounded in her head, and suddenly, her chakra flow became stronger and steadier. Within minutes, Neji was healed.
He sat up gingerly, Sakura's worried face confronting him.
"I'm fine," he told her. "Thanks. Lee…"
Snapping back into reality, she turned to the patiently waiting boy to her left.
The Taijutsu specialist had had enough sense to sit still, preventing excess lost of blood. Sakura smiled slightly and quickly healed his arm.
"Okay?"
"Hai!" Lee saluted.
Sakura stood up with a smile, but halted. "Don't you find it strange… remember that Hyozan guy?"
Lee and Neji nodded. "Don't see him around…"
"They probably got annoyed and disposed of him," Neji said simply, his Byakugan scanning the cave. "He's not here… I wouldn't blame them for dumping him, either… cowardly ego-maniac…"
N
Hinata was trembling as she activated her Byakugan and chakra blade simultaneously. What if something went wrong? What if she totally screwed up and got her friends into trouble?
"Hinata-chan! You can do it!" Naruto hollered as he, Kiba, Ino and Shikamaru surrounded Seijin. They barely noticed that Sai had gone missing from their midst, everyone was focused on Hinata and Seijin.
"Oh, c'mon. Stop wasting my time," Seijin drawled, attacking Hinata. He was obviously of the opinion that Hinata was an easy pushover, and that was where he was wrong. She blocked, and a flurry of weapons from her teammates went flying at Seijin, all effectively blocked by his chakra wings.
"Damn those wings," Ino hissed under her breath as she dodged the kunai that came flying back at her.
Hinata took the chance while Seijin was busy blocking the weapons to hit two tenketsu points, before quickly dodging from his reach. 'Being smaller in size does have its advantages,' she thought grimly as Seijin's taller frame failed to catch her.
She had learnt, from watching Neji battling Seijin, that if she didn't act fast, Seijin's chakra would simply overpower the effects of her Jyuken.
Hinata leapt back a few paces and attacked again, using her chakra blade as a shield rather than a weapon, and hit another four vital points. Seijin could still move, but was considerably slower. His hand, wielding the blade, was being brought down full speed at her. There wouldn't be enough time to dodge-
"ARGH!"
A kunai, courtesy to a weapons mistress who had turned away from Deidara for a split second, found its mark, embedded in Seijin's blade hand.
"Arigatou, Tenten!" Hinata found the time to call out to Tenten while hitting another eight points.
"You're welcome!" Tenten hollered back while using her chakra strings to pull the kunai from Seijin's hand and attacking Deidara with fresh fervour.
Hinata focused on her target.
Sixteen points.
Thirty-two points.
"Sixty-Four points!"
The Hyuuga heir skidded backwards, panting, but looking triumphant.
Seijin could move, but his chakra blade had dissolved. His movements were disoriented, and Ino fought the urge to laugh as he lumbered around clumsily, flinging his arms.
"Hinata-chan!" Naruto whooped, dancing around the blushing girl.
N
"Regroup!" Neji yelled as soon as he saw that Hinata had completed the Sixty-Four Hands of Hakke on Seijin.
His teammates sprang back into position behind him, breathing heavily from the effort taken to face two top rank missing nins.
"They're dangerous," he turned to the girls. "Stay back,"
"Not a chance, Hyuuga Neji," Tenten grinned, looking at Sakura, Ino and Hinata. "We kunoichi aren't as weak as you think,"
Sakura stepped forward, a small smile on her face.
"This time, girls take centre stage,"
N
"Ready?" Ino hollered. The four kunoichis formed a close knit circle, quickly completing a complicated combination of handseals before moving swiftly into position surrounding Deidara and Seijin with set expressions on their faces.
'They're… fast!' Lee thought in amazement, hearing audible gasps from all the boys. Since when had the girls been able to match them in speed?
"Konoha: Shiki no Dansu!" (1) Sakura, Ino, Tenten and Hinata yelled simultaneously, all four poised with feet apart and handseals ready. An inexplicable gust of wind rose, swirling around them wildly as each kunoichi held her ground.
Sakura's feet shifted, her emerald eyes flashing dangerously.
Naruto recognized her first handseal. 'Kage Bunshin…? She can do Kage Bunshin?'
Deidara and Seijin looked around nonchalantly, even mockingly, at the four girls. C'mon… what could a bunch of girls do?
Right?
Sakura nodded slightly, signaling to her friends and leapt lightly into the air, her handseals too fast to follow.
"Haru Dansu: Arashi Shuriken!" (2) the pink-haired kunoichi let out a yell, Her kage bunshins appeared in midair, simultaneously pulling out two closed fans and holding them in a cross formation. The moment the fans flipped open, a storm of shurikens, every single one of the swift and deadly, rained down upon the two Akatsuki members.
There was no way to dodge, nowhere to run. Sakura's kage bunshins disappeared, and she landed in a crouch, motioning to Ino.
The blond swiftly took over.
"Natsu Dansu: Saseru Cho!" (#)
'Genjutsu…' Shikamaru thought in amazement. 'Heh… I would never have thought that Ino would be good in genjutsu…'
She proved him wrong.
A swirl of black and white butterflies materialized above Deidara and Seijin, who were still occupied by flying shurikens, courtesy to genjutsu on Sakura's part, as well. Thousands upon millions of the tiny insects, with one wing black and another wing white, were slowly beginning to swirl like a tornado, gradually picking up speed, but maintained a steady pace after several moments.
"That isn't fast enough…" Sai's quiet voice came from behind them. The boys jumped. They hadn't even noticed that Sai had gone missing ever since they had started fighting Deidara and Seijin.
Takashi-sama, the real Takashi-sama, stood behind Sai, a small group of monks following. Takashi chuckled lightly, watching the battle. "Those," he motioned to the girls. "Will make excellent kunoichi someday,"
"They already are excellent kunoichi," Gaara gave him a sidelong glace. "So, Sai found you?"
"Yes," Takashi's one-word reply was followed by another chuckle.
"Baka… hogging all the limelight again… just like Sasuke-teme…" Naruto muttered audibly. Sai looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
His only reply was a simple shrug, which left Naruto fuming.
N
Neji saw Tenten move a fraction from the corner of his eye, subconsciously smirking. Tenten was always protesting that Neji didn't give girls enough credit in sparring or in missions, so this would be her chance to prove herself to him. 'What will you show us?'
No one could see what was happening to Deidara and Seijin within the swirl of butterflies, but they were soon distracted by Tenten's movements.
'Soushoryuu… are you sure?' Neji thought as he saw the two scrolls on the ground beside Tenten. His Byakugan narrowed. 'Wait- there's a variation in that handseal…'
"Aki Dansu: Soushoryuu Kogeki Desu!" (4)
Tenten's misty white twin dragons rose out of the scrolls, bringing her with them, high up into the air. But, instead of twisting and sending a whirl of projectiles out, the twin dragons stopped in midair.
Neji could feel the suspense in the air. What was the weapons mistress attempting? Or had something gone wrong?
Just as that thought crossed his mind, the dragons suddenly began a steep, inclining dive towards Deidara and Seijin at full speed.
The weapons mistress did a backflip in the air and landed, her hands twisting nearly invisible chakra strings, controlling the movements of the dragons.
'Chakra strings…' Neji thought. 'She's using them to control the dragons instead of her weapons…'
When Ino's genjutsu dispelled, the guys caught the dragons barreling downwards before pulling up steeply once again, now rising in a spinning circle around Deidara and Seijin while Tenten's numerous weapons went flying within the misty prison.
"Those bastards can't have survived that," Kiba said incredulously, watching the swirling dragons spin faster with each passing moment, closing in on the victims within.
Apparently, for the girls, it didn't hurt to make sure. Hinata shifted slightly as Tenten signalled from the air, before landing smoothly and jerking her chakra strings back.
"Fuyu Dansu: Kaiten-Jyuken Ketsugo!" (5) Hinata yelled.
This time, Neji nearly yelped. 'Kaiten-Jyuken combination? She can't be serious,'
She was. Neji had no idea that Hinata had mastered Kaiten, let alone combined it with Jyuken in some crazy jutsu that would be depleting all her chakra. He wasn't even sure that she had enough stamina for such an advanced jutsu, judging by her usual performance.
The normally shy Hyuuga was now in the Kaiten stance, waiting for her cue. The moment Tenten's twin dragons disappeared, she moved.
Hinata's version of the Kaiten wasn't the normal move. Instead of spinning along with the sphere of chakra surrounding her, Hinata was standing still. Only the semi-transparent chakra sphere was spinning, serving its purpose as a Hyuuga's ultimate defense.
What startled Neji was the fact that when Hinata moved, the chakra sphere moved with her, making her able to attack and defend at the same time. Neji vaguely wondered how much chakra it took to keep the entire jutsu lasting long enough for an attack as well.
Naruto looked like he was going to burst any moment, watching the battle with bottled up fervour.
Hinata was speeding towards Deidara and Seijin, hands poised for Jyuken. Both the Akatsuki members were bruised, bloody and muddled, but still very much alive- and very much pissed that four girls had gotten the better of them.
"How's she going to attack at close range? There's two of 'em!" Kiba said fervently, accompanied by a yelping Akamaru, both extremely concerned for their teammate.
Neji watched his cousin step between the very surprised duo, his eyes widening as he saw her hand movements. Usually, when Jyuken was used, it utilized both hands to hit the chakra points on one person. But now-
'No… way…'
"Two points!" the Hyuuga heir hit both men simultaneously, two tenketsu points each.
'Two people… at the same time?' Neji thought disbelievingly.
"Four points!" Seijin doubled over.
"Eight points!" Deidara cursed loudly, albeit being unable to move very well. His left hand slowly reached into his cloak for a another explosive, but-
"Sixteen points!" Hinata discreetly glared at him as she hit each point swiftly, secretly wondering how she'd gathered so much courage as to glare at an Akatsuki member.
"Shit," Deidara snarled, totally immobilized.
'She's moving so fast! And using the 64 Hands of Hakke on two people at once…' Neji contemplated the impossibility of it.
"Thirty-two points!"
By this time, Hinata's hands were moving so fast they were a blur. The shy girl looked grimly determined.
"Sixty-Four points!"
Hitting the last point forcefully, Hinata stumbled backward, exhausted. She was caught by Sakura and Tenten, while Deidara and Seijin went crashing into a cave wall.
Dust billowed as several rocks fell, blocking their view.
Silence.
Then Ino spoke tentatively.
"Are they done for?"
N
"No, apparently not," Sakura said grimly as two figures rose shakily from the dust. "Get back, everyone. I guess we'll have to complete this,"
Deidara and Seijin were stumbling through the clouds of dust, Seijin looking more steady.
"Next time, we should just use the 128 Hands of Hakke on him," Neji said distastefully. "Save us a bit more trouble,"
"That guy and his chakra…" Naruto said grudgingly.
"Hinata, are you sure you can do this?" Sakura asked worriedly. It was obvious that Hinata was tired out, probably low on chakra as well. "Because if you can't-"
"I have to make the final hit," Hinata said quietly, stumbling slightly over her words. "I'll do it,"
"Well?" Tenten questioned Sakura.
"If you're sure about this…" Sakura sighed to Hinata, taking her place. The four kunoichis faced the Akatsuki members in line.
"Shiki Dansu!" (6)
All four shot off in different directions. Tenten to the left, Ino to the right, Sakura and Hinata sprinting up front.
Deidara and Seijin had no idea of what was happening when the cherry blossom sprinted towards them, easily lifting both men off the ground and throwing two swift punches, sending them flying up into the air forcefully.
Tenten and Ino leapt upwards, completing perfect roundhouse kicks in mid-air and smashing the two men down to where Hinata was waiting below.
Once they were within reach, Hinata made the fatal blows to the neck.
N
The two Akatsuki members fell limply to the ground as the shy Hyuuga panted; her arms limp by her sides.
Just then, Seijin's chakra wings flapped. Hinata, unable to move away in time, got hit hard by Seijin's left wing, falling and skidding several feet away.
"I… didn't have enough strength left…" Hinata mumbled, feeling guilty.
"It's okay," Tenten said soothingly, while glaring over at the Akatsuki members.
The samurai somehow managed to stagger to his feet, pulling the swearing, immobile Deidara up and supporting him. With one deadly glance at the shinobis, Seijin took off upwards, escaping through the air well. His voice remained, echoing in the cave.
"This isn't over yet!"
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How was that? I guess it was short, but that was all I could manage. This is one of my favourite characters- my friends tell me their favourite part was Hinata's attack. And I'm really proud because I created the 'Shiki Dansu' attack for the four kunoichis!
Just in case you don't understand the Japanese words I used:
Konoha:Shiki Dansu- Konoha: Dance of the Four Seasons
Haru Dansu: Arashi Shuriken- Spring Dance: Shuriken Storm (Sakura)
Natsu Dansu: Saseru Cho- Summer Dance: Butterfly Swirl (Ino)
Aki Dansu: Soushoryuu Kogeki Desu- Autumn Dance: Rising Twin Dragons Attack (Tenten)
Fuyu Dansu: Kaiten-Jyuken Ketsugo- Winter Dance: Kaiten-Jyuken Combination (Hinata)
They sound a lot cheesier in English. Oh well.
Anyway, hope you guys liked- no, loved it. Review!
Next chapter:
Chapter 11: Chest of Secrets
十一- 秘密之箱
Don't forget to review!
-Raven Ariana-