Yeah, so I defected from this site and started hanging around livejournal for a while. But ho, I'm back, ahahaha…
You have my apologies for leaving for so long. Like, freaking wow, ten months or something. I'm a few weeks away from graduating high school so I'm feeling a bit nostalgic. Since this fic and my other ones have been gathering dust in my fanfiction folder for like almost a year, I can't really remember all the details I was going to put in and can only guess from my timeline. Furthermore, I haven't written anything for ages apart from the odd oneshot, so my writing is rusty and in the next chapter, when I begin altering the story again, you may notice that my style has changed. This chapter was finished in like January, but I can't exactly remember why I hadn't posted it until now.
Again, quite a lot of italics in this chapter. This is short and really meant to assure readers that I'm not dead.
Chapter Eleven: Nara Shikamaru vs. Kumori Aika
Recap
She back flipped in mid-air and one hand touched Shikamaru's shoulder and clung on. A sudden, searing heat made Shikamaru gasp out loud and shove her hand off. A few metres away, Aika landed smartly and turned around to look at him, her face as expressionless as ever.
Glancing down at his shoulder, Shikamaru was stunned to see a large hole burned cleanly through the two layers of fabric; the skin underneath was a blistering red.
And in that one glance, he understood her ability immediately.
"Your element is fire," Shikamaru said quietly. He flexed his arm, vaguely noting the way it ached as the skin twisted and tensed. "Like the Juuken of the Hyuuga clan, you send chakra to the palms of your hands, but unlike them, who close up the tenketsu in the body, that chakra does nothing more than–"
"Don't mock my ability," Aika said coldly.
"–physically burn your opponents," Shikamaru finished, as if the girl hadn't spoken a word. "It's like having a heated iron in the palms of your hands."
Aika made a small sound of disgust and said, "You talk too much, jounin."
Before she had even finished the sentence, black shadows snaked up from the ground and shot towards her, the tips jagged and dangerously sharp. However, Aika seemed to have sensed it, and she rolled out of the way, leapt up into a tree and used chakra to stick.
Shikamaru hoped that the Forbidden Forest wouldn't get too trashed; he could feel that this fight would be a big one.
"Where is Ohayashi Kako?" Shikamaru asked. "My business is with her and her alone. You and your teammates have nothing to do with it."
Aika didn't answer. Her black eyes stared down at him as she stood from her place on the trunk of the tree.
I am a long-distance fighter, while her range is short, Shikamaru thought. That is an advantage and disadvantage to both sides. If she gets close, then it would be good if I could get her into a corner and then use my shadows to trap her. But then I might not have enough time to do even that. She's quick on her feet. I guess I'll just have to rely on the old-fashioned ninja tools.
Shikamaru clasped his hands together and uttered the words, "Kage-Kubishibari no Jutsu!" Shadow-Neck Binding Technique!
Tiny hands with sharp fingers snaked their way over to Aika faster than the eye could blink. The kunoichi leapt out of the way but the hands managed to grab her foot. Giving a muffled gasp, Aika glanced back and tried to tug free.
With quiet zipping sounds, three kunai flashed through the air, aiming for the kunoichi's throat. She almost rolled her single eye as she twisted; the kunai flew past harmlessly.
The shadows began dragging Aika towards Shikamaru, and the girl flipped to her feet. Shikamaru reinforced the shadow on her leg in case she tried to run. But to his surprise, Aika ran, yes, but she ran towards him. The shadows grew slack like rope. In the second before her hands struck, the jounin saw that her palms were glowing with concentrated chakra.
Both hands hit Shikamaru's chest, and he could literally hear his clothes burning. The heat reached his skin, and he only had time for a pained grunt before his head was clear enough to kick Aika away. Again, his jutsu was cancelled.
Have to finish this quickly; I'm not going to use all this chakra on nothing but a kid, Shikamaru thought, eyes flicking down to the two burns on his ribcage. He skipped back a few steps; Aika had escaped up a tree as well. Shikamaru figured that she wasn't strong enough for continuous attacks of her jutsu. Speaking of which...
"So... what is your jutsu called?" Shikamaru asked. Aika snorted.
"More talking? You Konoha-nin chat too much," she said. But then she paused and then answered his previously question. "My technique is called the Hiken."
"Fire Fist," Shikamaru mused. "The Fire Fist style... What a fitting name. Is it related to the Hyuuga clan's Juuken?"
Aika shrugged in a very Kakashi-like manner. "Don't know, don't care. Now stop your blabbering. I'm tired."
She sent two kunai his way. Shikamaru caught them and sent them back after he noticed the two exploding tags attached to the ends. The kunai burrowed themselves into the trunk of a tree and Aika sprinted off before the tags could blow up, but they were still too near him. He was within the perimeter of the explosion.
Shikamaru cursed and his hands clasped together into seals. "Kage no Tate!" Shadow Shield!
The darkness all around them lengthened and dimmed. With their fighting space so deep into the Forest, there were plenty of shadows that aided Shikamaru in his battle. Now, with the defensive technique activated, the shadows rushed towards him and gathered around his form, creating a pitch-black dome, an impenetrable defence from all but the strongest of offensive jutsu. Shikamaru had spent years perfecting this; it could even withstand Naruto's Rasengan with minimal damage, and seeing how the current Hokage's primary attack was so powerful, Shikamaru could safely say that his shield would protect him easily against two exploding tags, even at point blank range.
BOOM!
The ground shuddered beneath him, cracking and splitting under his feet. The plants tore apart and the trees trembled, shaking their heavy branches. Leaves fluttered down to the ground, sliding off the black dome as if it was coated in oil.
Inside the said dome, Shikamaru held the jutsu until he was sure everything was safe. The downside to this technique was that he could not sense chakra signatures from within. It sealed him off completely from the world, encasing him in nothing but black. Even the floor of the dome was made of shadows. If he tried to tell what was going on in the outside world, his five senses were useless here. He couldn't hear anything apart from his steady breathing, couldn't see anything but from black, couldn't taste anything apart from the blood in his mouth, couldn't feel anything but the clothes on his body, he couldn't smell anything apart from his own sweat, blood and the scent of burnt flesh.
Shikamaru had been around enough exploding tags to know how long it would take for one to explode and how big the explosion would be, despite the varying factors, such as how much chakra was infused within and whatnot. Thus, he knew now that the actual detonation was over. He pitied the wildlife of the Forest.
One, two, three, Shikamaru chanted in his head. Now!
He released the jutsu and prepared his eyes for the sudden change of dark into light. His pupils narrowed, and immediately he began searching for Aika, afraid that she would do a surprise attack, preying on his muddled state; this wouldn't be the first time it had happened.
Whump!
Stars erupted into Shikamaru's already-dazed vision. He felt himself hit the dirt and the odour of ash and fire invaded his nostrils. Blinking, Shikamaru caught site of Aika standing a few metres away, trying not to pant or show him that she was struggling to breathe. Her ears were fading with the remains of chakra; she had done this in order to protect them against the noise of the explosion. This lesson was one of the first ones taught in the Academy: protect your ears when an exploding tag goes off, otherwise your eardrums will burst. Most of the time, ruptured eardrums were something a medic-nin could fix, but it would still be troublesome if it happened.
"Still alive?" Shikamaru sighed, a little disappointed and his best to clear his vision. He had hoped that Aika had been hurt in the explosion, or at least fallen off a cliff...
"You won't get rid of me that easily," Aika said calmly, straightening up. Her bandaged face was singed, as was the front of her shirt, though not badly. It told Shikamaru that she had been facing the exploding tag when it detonated.
The Forest around them had been reduced to piles of smoldering stumps and glowing embers. Everything within a half kilometre radius had been utterly destroyed. Aika hadn't infused much of her chakra into the tags, then. Nevertheless, the destruction was impossible to miss. Shikamaru hoped that the horses–was it horses? Shikamaru dimly remembered Harry saying something about half-man ponies or some shit–wouldn't hold this against him. Skeletal black leaves fluttered to the ground, and there weren't even any stumps left behind; the tag had blown the trees clean away.
"Hiken," Shikamaru barely heard Aika murmur. Her fists glowed.
Time to end this, Shikamaru thought grimly. I don't care how much chakra this takes or if she's in the Bingo Book or not. Kumori Aika is going to die now.
Shikamaru dodged Aika once again and she twisted on her heel with ease. Shikamaru readied himself to use his ultimate technique, but bit his lips when he faced a problem.
Need to buy some time.
Shikamaru felt around in his weapons holster and noted that he only had a few kunai, two shuriken, a coil of wire and some exploding tags left. He groaned inwardly. He had formulated over a hundred different distractions that could help him with Aika, but it was just so troublesome.
"Gah!"
Shikamaru drew breath in a hiss when he felt scorching hands against the small of his back. Aika had managed to get behind him and had given him her strongest burn yet. Unbidden, tears sprang into Shikamaru's eyes as the pain rocked his body, but he still managed to swipe backwards and plunge a kunai into the kunoichi's calf.
Aika shrieked and stumbled away, clutching her leg where blood was gushing. She was smart enough not to pull the knife out.
Shikamaru's eyes lit up at this golden opportunity. Abandoning his plan to use his final jutsu, Shikamaru shoved a hand into his pouch and another kunai was in his grasp within the second; he threw it with all his might. The blade sang through the air, its aim straight and true. It whistled directly towards Aika's throat.
A blur of blue shot towards the girl and Shikamaru only had time to blink in confusion and tense his muscles before the sound of metal hitting flesh was heard. But the kunai never did hit Aika.
When everything had settled, Shikamaru's mouth dropped open when he saw the newcomer, the one who had jumped in front of her student in an attempt to protect her.
Ohayashi Kako.
Shikamaru's breath hitched as the body slumped to the ground. His mind was whirling and spinning like a cyclone. He didn't understand. He didn't understand what had just happened.
A scream of despair brought Shikamaru's to his senses. Aika had thrown herself forwards and caught her sensei, lowering her gently to the ground.
It was now, in near-death, that Shikamaru finally saw what Ohayashi Kako really looked like, the one whom he'd been hunting for over a month.
Like in the photograph shown to Shikamaru at the start of the mission, she had long blue hair that fanned out from her head and dull purple eyes that stared at the creamy white clouds visible above. Her vest-like jacket was soaked with the blood that was pooling from her neck, staining her tanned skin red. Her breathing was erratic, but it was slowing down as the light in Kako's eyes faded.
"Sensei! Sensei!" Aika shouted. She tried to staunch the bleeding, but the blood was spurting out too much. It had hit one of her arteries. "Sensei, hold on!"
Shikamaru drew back and forced himself to clear his mind.
Do not feel compassionate. Do not feel guilty. This was a mission. This mission is over. Kako will die and the mission will be over. Do not show compassion, Shikamaru chanted to himself.
It worked, though, for when Shikamaru next opened his brown orbs, they were empty and unfeeling.
"Get out of here, brat, before I kill you too," Shikamaru said in a cool voice, fixing his gaze on Aika. But he glanced at the Kako when he felt her eyes tremble and roam over to him.
"Nara Shikamaru," Kako rasped. Her voice was almost gone; the kunai had hit a spot near her voice box. Nevertheless, she managed to utter her final words. "I curse you. May you suffer a thousand deaths, filled with pain and agony. I curse you, Nara Shikamaru."
Ohayashi Kako gave a strange gurgle and her jaw slackened. Her fingers, which had previously been in spasm, lay still. Aika gave a howl of misery.
Shikamaru had listened to the threat without blinking, knowing it was merely the bitter words of a dying opponent. But he could not help the feeling of unease stirring in his stomach when he saw Aika's harsh eye lock onto his form.
"You will regret not killing me, jounin," Aika half-snarled and half-sobbed before she clasped her teacher's body and disappeared.
Shikamaru was left standing in the Forbidden Forest, the surrounding area splattered with sticky red substance. He lifted his face to the open sky.
A small, weary sigh was heard. Shikamaru surveyed the damage done to the Forest around him; the black ashes and the smoke rising from the ground, and dragged a hand down his face. My mission is over. I'm going home.
Ew, ew I hate writing fight scenes. What a comeback.
Does Aika's ability make sense? If not, tell me and I'll attempt to explain it to you. Basically, it's like the Hyuuga clan's Juuken technique (Gentle Fist) but instead of closing the tenketsu (chakra points) Aika can burn her opponents with nothing but a touch.
Hiken = Fire Fist
Just like:
Juuken = Gentle Fist
Obviously, with this fic set like twelve years or so into the future, Shikamaru would have improved and have created his own, unique jutsu. Kage no Tate, or Shadow Shield, is just an example of that. I made it up; it's mine.
Yes, I know what I'm doing. This isn't the end, but a prelude for things to come. I know some people wanted some Kako time, perhaps to get to know her a little better, but this is the way things will go. Sometimes, though we are aware that characters have other sides to them, circumstances dictate that the reader will never see them and will only be left to wonder and look between the lines. But honestly, wasn't that the biggest let down for the death of a main antagonist? Yeah, no, just wait a bit for future chapters.
Also, can someone please spazz with me over Shingeki no Kyojin's sound track? I wrote an snk oneshot earlier but no one seemed to share my enthusiasm over the music so I'm hoping that someone here will. PLEASE IT'S GORGEOUS AND I CAN'T HANDLE MY FEELS.
Updated: 20 October 2013