Okay everyone who hasn't run away from this story yet, get ready for this. Not only will there be a rematch between Temari and Kenpachi (that will hopefully be better than their first fight), we'll see a bit more fluff. Let's begin, shall we?
Oh yeah, I'm starting school Monday and I will be very busy for a while, so it will be a few weeks before I can update again. But I won't forget about you all, kay?
Chapter 11: Rematch
The next day, Temari and Byakuya quickly got ready to go, wishing to get the meeting with Kyoraku over with as soon as possible. They ate a quick breakfast of riceballs and tea, and left before Rukia had even made it downstairs, which was saying something. They sped down the road in total silence, Byakuya leading the way of course.
"Byakuya, don't worry. I can handle myself. If he tries anything, I'll put him back in his place."
"No, just let me handle it. If you were to attack a captain you'd be in deep trouble. And because you're from the world of the living, it would cause a disaster."
"But..." Temari sighed. "Fine Byakuya, you win. Now, let's-" Temari started before she felt someone quickly approaching her. She reacted the way only a ninja knows how to, grabbing her small fans and turning around quickly to block the sword that had just been thrust at her.
"Hmm? Oh, it's you captain Zaraki." Temari said, holding firm. Kenpachi pressed down harder and growled.
"Come on, stop with the formal shit. You whooped my ass, and you still wanna be so proper? Rematch. Now." he growled. Temari smirked.
"You sure you stand a chance this time?"
"Oh you bet I do. And this time, I will win!" he declared.
"Okay, you're on. Sorry Byakuya, I won't be meeting with captain Kyoraku just yet." Temari laughed before pushing the sword away and stepping back. Yachiru appeared on Kenpachi's shoulder.
"Hiiii demon lady! Ken-chan's been training really hard so he can beat you this time. There's no way you can beat him!" she squealed, jumping down to latch onto Byakuya's leg.
"Byakushi, you have any candy?" she pleaded. Byakuya sighed before reaching into his haori and pulling out a sweet bun. He shoved it into her mouth and she immediately devoured the treat.
"Byakuya, you should go check up on your division and get a little work done. This shouldn't take long." Temari said before she and Kenpachi disappeared. They ran across the rooftops at inhuman speed.
"Same place as last time?" she called out.
"Yeah, now shutup and come on." he growled back.
'Hachibi, you ready?'
'Aren't I always?'
When they made it to the field, Temari noticed that they had an audience of every eleventh division member, but she quickly put that aside. Kenpachi stood there, looking extremely confident and Temari could indeed notice the major difference in power he now had. She held her fans at the ready, waiting for the first move. Everything was deathly quiet for a few minutes, and then Kenpachi launched himself at Temari.
'What speed!' Temari thought as she swung her fans, the razor sharp blades assaulting Kenpachi's flesh. He never slowed for one second however, and was in Temari's face before she knew it. She quickly put her fans away, flipping backwards to put space between them but Kenpachi would have none of that. He rushed at her and kicked her in the back ruthlessly in the middle of one of her flips, and sent her crashing into a wall, stomach first. Temari flipped off of the wall and stood straight. She tasted metal, and spat out the blood that had collected in her mouth (Kami she hated that metallic taste!) and rushed at Kenpachi. He also rushed at her, a smirk on his face. Temari flashstepped behind Kenpachi, and he flashstepped to her right. He swung his sword in a horizontal line, but Temari quickly ducked under it and punched Kenpachi in the stomach before jumping back and swinging her fans once again at him. He stood there, laughing as the blades sliced him and the blood trickled down his body.
"Come on! I know you can do better than this. Don't tell me I trained all this time for nothing. I wanna enjoy this so show me the power you fought with last time!"
'Okay, he wants me to end this as quickly as it ended last time. Let's do it then.'
'Okay then, let's go.'
Temari crouched down and Kenpachi smiled wickedly. The purple wolf cloak covered Temari and three tails grew from behind her. She snarled as the power flowed through her and immediately rushed at Kenpachi, claws ready to tear through flesh. Kenpachi stood there somewhat calmly, as he was trying to keep from laughing at the fun he was having. Temari decided on a frontal approach and went for Kenpachi's stomach. She threw her fist forward, but to her surprise and dismay, Kenpachi caught her fist like the punch was nothing. He brought back his sword, and threw Temari up before slashing her across her torso and kicking her to the other side of the field. He laughed when he felt Temari's powerful blood burst out and land on his haori and cheek. Temari quickly uprighted herself and landed gracefully, her wound already halfway healed.
'What's with this guy now?'
'No idea cub, but the time for holding back is over.'
'Yeah, you're right. Hey Hachibi, you wanna take over?'
'Are you serious?'
'Yeah, as long as you don't take over my body completely, go above five tails, or kill him.'
'Of course! I'll beat him quickly.' Hachibi excitedly said. (A/N: Yeah, totally made that up) Temari kneeled and formed a chain of handsigns too fast to follow.
'Forbidden art: Release the beast!' Temari's head dropped as the technique was completed.
'Alright, time for mama wolf to come out and play!' Hachibi snarled.
"Are you gonna come on, or do I have to come to you?" Kenpachi impatiently growled. Temari raised her head and stood up. But it was Hachibi in control now.
"Oh, don't worry. I'll come to you. But get ready to be defeated!"
'What the hell? It's like this isn't even her anymore. This energy is much darker.' Kenpachi thought before dodging an intended punch to his chest.
"Come on! Fight back!" Hachibi commanded, slashing Kenpachi across the chest with her claws. Hachibi gripped the small fans.
"Now let's see here. Wind scythe jutsu!" she called out while swiping the fans. The deadly wind smashed into Kenpachi, slicing deeply into his skin. Several deep gashes appeared and blood flowed. Hachibi smirked, but then got very annoyed because Kenpachi began to laugh.
"I don't know what the hell you are right now, but if you think I'll be stopped by these sissy ass cuts, you got another thing coming!" Kenpachi laughed, tearing off his eye patch, his real power being unleashed.
'Damn, he has gotten a lot more powerful than last time.' Hachibi thought, having to focus chakra to her feet to keep from being blown away. Kenpachi disappeared so quickly that Hachibi had no idea where he was until she felt a sharp pain on her back. Kenpachi had stabbed her with his sword, but he had avoided any vitals. It still hurt like hell. Kenpachi pulled his sword out, a burst of blood following. Hachibi immediately gripped the wound, healing it. She then crouched down and the purple black ball of chakra surrounded her. She emerged, a wolf shaped mass of chakra with four tails. She roared and the power from it created a large crater with her at its center. Kenpachi ran into the hole in the ground, sword raised above his head and prepared to strike her down. He brought his sword down, aiming for the head but two chakra appendages came up and caught the sword (A/N: you know, like when Naruto has those chakra hands that extend from his chakra cloak in his nine tails transformations). Hachibi looked up at Kenpachi and sent out another one of those appendages to punch him in the chin. Kenpachi was knocked out of the crater and landed on the edge of the field. His sword landed next to him. He got back up, ignoring the pain and he chuckled lowly. Hachibi emerged from the crater, walking on all fours, and waited there. Kenpachi began to walk toward her, gripping his sword and the tip of it resting on his shoulder.
"No one I have ever faced has made me bleed this much. You are strong girl, but before we finish this I want to let you know something: you won't make another cut on me. Oh, and you still haven't stopped by for your information."
"No need to. I've gathered all the information I need from you. Your name, fighting style, weaknesses, strengths, the fact you go on brute strength alone and aren't that smart, the fact that your sword is just a sword right now. It has no name or releases. And more..."
"You got all of that out of these two fights? Damn, are you a ninja or something?" he asked jokingly before looking at Hachibi's serious four tailed face. "Damn, you are a ninja. No wonder... But no matter what, this ends now!" Kenpachi said, gripping his sword with both hands. Hachibi put away the small fans and pulled out Temari's battle fan and held it at the ready. Kenpachi rose his hands up and brought his sword hard, colliding with the fan. The fan almost immediately gave in and snapped. Hachibi jumped back as the sword kept going and hit the ground.
"You bastard! Do you know how hard it is to get this repaired?" Hachibi screamed, looking at the remains of Temari's precious weapon.
"Yeah, don't care." Kenpachi said, raising up his sword again and charging for Hachibi.
'Hachibi, let me take over again.'
'I can handle it cub.'
'No! He destroyed my fan, and that is unforgivable! Let me take over'
'Fine, fine. Don't get your fangs in a twist.'
As Temari took over again, the sixth tail grew with her anger. She disappeared and reappeared in front of Kenpachi, kicking him high into the air. Using her tails as springs, Temari launched herself so that she was now level with the airborne captain. She flipped and kicked him in the stomach, launching him back down to the ground. A large crater was created in the hard ground that most people would never survive falling on, much less being launched toward it, but Kenpachi refused to go down. He staggered up, coughing up some blood and spitting it out.
"Damn, I think you broke a few ribs there. Kami I could fight you every day. This is so damn fun!" Kenpachi darkly chuckled.
"Likewise Kenpachi." Temari said. Kenpachi got over his wave of pain and rushed at Temari once more. He rose his sword up and brought it down, and Temari acted on reflex and prepared to block it. Unfortunately that was what he wanted her to do. As soon as she moved to defend, Kenpachi gathered some energy in his leg and kicked Temari in the stomach, launching her backwards. He followed closely and kicked her again in the stomach before she had a chance to upright herself and cough up the blood in her throat. She landed on the ground with the crack of bones breaking sounding. She coughed up the blood waiting to escape but due to her being on her back, a good amount of it fell back down onto her face. Temari gripped a fan and kicked up a dust storm so she could put some distance between them both. She stood up shakily and out of breath, while holding the area where she was sure several ribs had broken. As the dust cleared, Temari could see that Kenpachi was just as bad off as she was. There was caked blood all over him, and blood still trickled out of the wounds she had managed to inflict. He was also panting and holding an area where his ribs were broken.
"It's time we settle this!" Temari called out.
"Hn, I agree. I'm almost out of energy."
"So am I. Let's settle this with one last blow, shall we?" Temari challenged.
"Okay then." Temari and Kenpachi prepared their last attacks. Kenpachi held his sword with both hands as the golden aura danced dangerously around him. Temari held both of her small fans as her chakra darkened. On a silent cue both sides rushed at each other, concentrating all of their energy in their attacks.
"Take this!" Kenpachi grunted.
"Cyclone scythe jutsu!" Temari yelled out. Both moves clashed, wrapping them in a vortex of slicing winds. Their chakra mixed together sliced at both of them, but neither acknowledged the pain. Kenpachi even laughed at it. This was something he could get used to. Being able to cut loose every once in awhile. There was a massive explosion and dust blinded everyone present.
Byakuya had just arrived with Yachiru and they saw they were too late. The battle was already over.
"Who won?" they asked together. Slowly, the cloud of dust began to settle, and when it did everyone was shocked. Kenpachi and Temari lay on the ground next to each other, both knocked out. Yachiru and Byakuya went to the two fighters, only to discover that they weren't knocked out, they were deeply asleep. Byakuya picked Temari up bridal style and carried her off as the eleventh division members crowded around their slumbering captain.
"Captain Zaraki!" the bald man yelled out while Yachiru poked said captain over and over again on the face. He stirred, but his eyes remained closed. The bald man was about to call his captain's name again, but froze when a sword was pointed in his face, almost touching his nose.
"Shut the hell up Ikkaku, and get the fuck off me Yachiru." Kenpachi grumbled, lowering his sword. They immediately obeyed their captain (although Yachiru made faces), and Yachiru carried him off.
Byakuya was slightly freaking out. Although Temari was only asleep, he didn't know if she'd wake up in an hour, a day, or Kami forbid it, a week. He almost lost his mind the last time.
'Don't worry flower boy. Temari won't be out for a week this time. Just a few hours at the most. She's just exhausted, but she's got a few cuts and four broken ribs. I can take care of those easily enough though. She won't be able to move very well or do things for herself for a couple of days, but that should be it.' Hachibi informed him. He let out a sigh of relief and slowed his pace. He had no choice but to trust Hachibi. She was right last time wasn't she?
'Damn right I was!' said demon huffed.
'You can hear my thoughts?'
'Yeah, clear as a bell. But it's normal for potential lifemates of a host to be able to hear the demon. But we won't know if you're the one until you mate with her.' Hachibi chuckled as Byakuya lost his footing and had to struggle to avoid an embarrassing moment.
'Did you say mate?'
'You heard me correctly.' Hachibi confirmed. Byakuya didn't say another word, lost in his own thoughts over the topic.
When Byakuya had returned home he had placed Temari on top of her bed and covered her with a light sheet. He wanted to clean her up now, but that would involve her being without any clothes (Kami what a vision that would be!) and he didn't want her to think he was taking advantage of her while she was in a weakened state. It would have to wait, and he would have to go take a cold shower in the meantime.
Temari woke up about five hours later to find herself sore and even more tired. Damn that Kenpachi, he had almost pushed her to her very limits, again! Temari rose up, although with much struggle and pulled the sheet off of her and almost groaned. She was filthy, in desperate need of a shower.
'You want your precious Bya-kun to do it?' Hachibi mocked.
'I'm not even awake for five minutes and you're already annoying the hell out of me? No, I don't need his help.'
'You know, one day you'll have to show him.'
'Shut up you damn wolf. I don't know if you know, but I can actually take care of myself.' Temari thought curtly, moving to get off of the bed.
"Don't you even try it." Temari's head snapped up, her neck muscles screaming in protest, to look at Byakuya, who had been leaning against the bathroom doorframe.
"Bya-kun, I'm fine. Don't you worry. But I really need a bath." she sighed, once again attempting to get up.
"Actually, I've just finished running you some bath water. It should be just about cool enough now. Um..." Byakuya paused, at a loss for words. "do you need some help?" Temari's face became one of a panicking person and she tried to quickly tried to stand up but failed. Byakuya caught her before she fell and placed her back on the bed. She moved away a bit as soon as she was able.
"It's okay. I got it. I know I can't move very well right now, but I have some tricks up my sleeve. Stand back." she said, biting her thumb and weaving a few slow handsigns. Byakuya did as he was told and stepped back. "Summoning jutsu!" Temari cried. A huge smoke cloud later, two large, dark purple wolves with blue scarves stood in front of her.
"Who are they?"
"They are Kodai and Akella, the wolves I use in situations such as these. Kodai, you know what to do."
"Yes!" was Kodai's loyal, cheerful reply. She walked over to Temari and sent out two large chakra appendages from her back. They wrapped around Temari and gently lifted her from the bed and onto Kodai's back.
"Kodai was specifically trained by Hachibi to fully control her chakra and this is one result." Temari explained to Byakuya as he looked on. Kodai swiftly carried Temari into the bathroom as Akella followed. Byakuya sighed and sat on the bed. He was relieved that he wouldn't have to go through that potentially awkward experience but he was also disappointed. But he put that aside as a question floated into his head. They had both admitted their love for each other so why was she so... panicked when he asked if she needed help?
As Kodai gently set Temari on her feet, holding her there as Akella began to remove her clothes, Temari shut her eyes. There was a mirror in front of her, and mirrors were always a bad thing for her. But worse was giving in to the temptation to look.
"Master, I'm done." Kodai announced. Temari's eyes instinctively opened and she sighed heavily. Sure she had always had a great body: c-cup breasts and a body that was slim, flexible and powerful (what else could a kunoichi ask for?), but the thing that bothered her the most were the scars that littered her body here and there. Scars on her back from battle, scars on her torso from her father's beatings. Well, she couldn't remember exactly which came from which, but it was still hideous and it was her greatest inhibitor from being intimate.
'I'm sorry Bya-kun, I'm just not quite ready for you to see all my flaws and know my whole past.'
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