OMG. Horrible chapter.
The petite woman reached inside of her weapons pouch, pulling out two shurikens and a kunai. Ruka and his two wolves stood stock-still as they watched Temari toss the two shurikens their way.
As they swiftly spun forward, Temari began to run to the right, meanwhile passing by Shikamaru who handed her something she would need in a second. Once she passed him by, Shikamaru began to sprint to the left. He had to get into position, and fast. Hopefully Ruka would react as he had estimated.
Temari held the kunai in her mouth, wrapping a thin string around the tiny hole in its handle. Now she was ready.
Ruka's eyes were on Shikamaru, but his two wolves watched Temari, snarling through their mouthfuls of flesh and cloth. Shikamaru caught Ruka's eyes, giving him a mocking smile as he stopped in his tracks. Ruka narrowed his eyes and began to do a hand sign, but there was suddenly a flaming kunai at his feet. Temari had thrown an explosive tag tied to a kunai, all part of the plan.
With his own ridiculing grin, Ruka easily hopped away from the kunai in time, taking several large steps back with the kunai still tightly held against Genzi's neck. Meanwhile, his wolves each jumped back, the one holding Jerome stepping a little bit further away, to the left..
Shikamaru watched, his smile wiped off his face and was now completely serious. In a matter of mere seconds, he performed numerous hand signals, and clapped his two index fingers together. The simple plan had worked, and without any complications.
Temari took hold of her fan once more, holding it upwards in a preparation to swing. Ruka laugh at her.
"Hahaha! This is a joke! I'm getting very bored and very impatient with this game. If you don't give me the fu-"
I an instance, Ruka's grip on his kunai loosened and his entire bodied unnaturally stiffened to a point where he could not move. He tried to turn his head towards Shikamaru, but couldn't even move an inch. Shikamaru had tried to reach the wolf that held on to Genzi, but it had foreseen the Jutsu and had jumped away just in time.
"Wh-What the... Hell is this?" Ruka forced out the words.
Shikamaru sighed, as if it was no big deal. "Unfortunately for you, the moon is full tonight. There are shadows everywhere," he informed Ruka, his gaze turning from bored to viciously threateningly. "And unfortunately for you, my Kagemane no Jutsu thrives on shadows."
Reacting to its master's vulnerability, the other free wolf standing nearby dropped Jerome at Ruka's feet, charging at Shikamaru with fast strides. One more sprint and it would have been upon Shikamaru if it weren't for the gust of wind that knocked it several yards away. Temari stood a little ways away, panting for breath and wiping dust off of her face. She winked at Shikamaru, giving him a thumbs-up sign, and then rushed towards Genzi, who had since crawled over to Jerome and was holding the shivering boy against his chest. Shikamaru watched as she swiftly guided them towards a nearby tree, at the edge of the clearing.
Now we have the advantage again!
But as he looked back at Ruka, he realized that the pale, motionless man had forced a ridiculing smile on his face, and the next moment, there was a raging pain in his right shoulder. Shikamaru had been too naïve, and had forgotten about the wolf that was still running free. He was so intent on getting his three companions away that he never calculated what would happen after his plan. And the wolf was so darn fast!
"Chikushou, dammit," he said through clenched teeth, refusing to look at his attacker in the eye. For a split moment, the flesh-ripping teeth clamped on his shoulder was so painful that he almost lost control of his shadow Jutsu, but he stubbornly sent an overwhelming flow of chakra back into the outstretching shadow. He would not let his mistake cost them the battle!
"Take this," she whispered as she handed something to Genzi, making sure to do it sneakily. He took it.
When Shikamaru did not give up, the wolf only dug its fangs deeper into his shoulder. He roared with pain, enduring it, and two more times his Jutsu almost slipped up, but he gave the shadow more chakra before he lost it. He was still crouched on the ground, Ruka's body reflecting the movements of Shikamaru's. But the enemy only watched with solemn silence as the attacking canine began to shake its head back and forth, digging deeper into the ninja's shoulder until more and more blood poured out.
The other wolf, also caught in the shadow, had its head lowered, growling quietly as it waited for the Jutsu to be released.
And finally, as the pain worsened and became too much to bear, his fingers parted and the shadow's grip on Ruka and the other wolf receded, and it wasn't long before both wolves had rushed him. Now, Shikamaru was lying half-way on the ground two pairs of jaws biting each of his shoulders. He breathed hard, groaning under his breath, but out of his stubborn pride, he was never louder than a short grunt.
Shikamaru expected to be dead within the next few moments, but instead, Ruka had moved from his spot, away from Shikamaru, and appeared next to Temari, just as fast and unnatural as his first appearance had been. She was unprepared as two spindly hands squeezed her wrists, shaking her almost hard enough to give her whiplash.
"Which one of you has the Heart of Gold?" Ruka snarled into her face, obviously thinking his violent force and threats would open her mouth. But all Temari did was give him an evil glare, ignoring the burning and cut circulation in her wrists. When he got no answer, he slapped her upside the face as hard as he could.
Shikamaru's belly went queasy as he lifted his head up to see what was happening. The nausea turned to blunt anger when he saw what was happening.
"Let her go, Ruka!" he yelled across the clearing, trying to sit up. The two wolves held him back, biting his shoulder harder out of spite.
Temari shivered as a cold finger traced her chin very lightly.
"What are you, his wench? Doing everything he tells you to do?" Ruka asks her with a smirk, referring to Shikamaru. He brushed a strand of hair out of her face, all the while his grip on her wrists tightening.
Temari winced with pain, but she met his eye, raising her chin with dignity. "You're a sick bastard, and as ugly as hell, you know that? I've never been anyone's wench."
Mustering up her strength, Temari pulled her arm away, taking it as far back as she could, and then threw it forward, attempting to elbow the tall man in his stomach. He stopped her by grabbing her limb, frowning, and began to twist it unnaturally at its joint.
She whimpered softly at first, falling down on her knees, tolerating the pain with quiet dignity. But the further Ruka twisted her arm, the more painful it became, and she couldn't stifle the scream that resulted. It felt like her arm was breaking, and the pain was too overwhelming that she couldn't move to fight back.
Shikamaru gasped for breath, currently dealing with his own pain, but his shoulders seemed to numb while he watched the scene before him. He felt helpless, stupid, afraid, guilty, and like a failure… He had gone through this mission with distractions, and he hadn't worked hard enough. And now, here they were, getting ready to lose the Heart of Gold, and their lives.
No, there had to be another way…
Seething with anger, Shikamaru turned his head towards Genzi. The man caught his eye, looking completely distraught. In his left arm, he held the scared Jerome, and his right hand clasped against his left shoulder to stop some of the bleeding.
"Genzi, use the Heart of Gold!" Shikamaru pled, shuffling underneath the weight of the two wolves. They tried to pry him back against the ground, but Shikamaru began to struggle.
Genzi looked away with shame. "I don't know how to use it!"
This got Ruka's attention, and his head turned towards his brother and nephew. With a confident smile, he violently threw Temari to the ground, leaving her huddled in the dirt and holding her arm against her breast. Genzi tried to crawl away, but Ruka swiped him by the color of his shirt, pulling him up to his face. He saw no necklace around his brother's neck, so Ruka ordered for it.
"Where is it, Genzi?"
Genzi tried to be as brave as possible, turning his face away from Ruka's. He would not submit without a fight.
Jerome watched his father from behind a tree, tears streaming down his smooth and dirty cheeks. His dad was about to die, and possibly Temari and Shikamaru, too, and he was just sitting there. He squeezed his eyes shut, hugging the tree so hard that chunks of bark stuck into his flesh. He had to help them! He had to try and be a real ninja! He drew a breath and jumped forward, sprinting his fastest towards Ruka's side. But before he could even lay a finger on his enemy, his uncle had effortlessly smacked him away with a toss of his fist. Jerome lay in a heap, disgruntled and winded, and when he moved to get up, there was a flash of gold, green, and dark blue, and Ruka's eyes widened.
Now he understood. Genzi had given the Heart of Gold to his son. As if it would be improbable that Ruka would look there. He wiped the smart smirk from his face and acted quickly.
He threw Genzi several feet away, staring down at Jerome while he performed a series of hand signs in a matter of seconds.
"Hidden Gift of God: Beast Manipulation."
During a brief pause, both his wolves let go of their grip on Shikamaru, and dashed across the clearing, towards Ruka. Shikamaru watched, confused, as they did not slow their pace down. Instead, they sped up and took a big leap, one after the other, at Ruka. When they touched him, a bright, blue light flashed they seemed to disappear into oblivion. During all of this Ruka had not moved a muscle.
Temari gazed up from the ground, still gasping from the shock of the pain. Genzi was just now getting up on his knees, staring in wild wonder and anxiety at what was happening before them. Jerome was squealing with fear, still lying helplessly on the ground.
Shikamaru had a feeling that they were all about to die.
He tried to act swiftly, moving to sit forward. The wounds on his shoulder were deep and painful, and he wondered if he would be able to move his arms at all. He cringed as he sat forward, and flinched even more when he moved his arms. It was excruciatingl agony to do so, but he needed his arms if there was to be any hope left. Besides, he could deal with the pain, if at least for Temari...
By the time he had the strength to stand, Ruka's Jutsu had been completed. Now standing where Ruka had been a moment before, there was a creature swinging its jaws back and forth, its two, white tails swishing back and forth like a whip. Ruka had transformed into some not so human, not so wolf monster, or maybe a demon. Shikamaru wasn't sure what it really was.
It had a wolfish muzzle, with two rows of long, sharp canines and molars, and it had glowing blue wolf-eyes. Chakra seemed to be emanating from them. Ruka had grown three times his size, and stood on four legs, like a wolf, but protruding from the shoulder were two pairs of pale, bony arms. It's body was rugged and lopsided, too, as if the technique hadn't worked properly. But it looked as menacing as any other enemy Shikamaru had fought, and he knew he had to prepare himself for what was about to come in the next few seconds.
Ruka's eyes were still on Jerome, and he took a step forward with his huge paws, obviously ready to kill a child, his own nephew, all for power…
Temari narrowed her eyes, reaching into her weapons pouch with her good arm. She picked out a shuriken, and as she stood up, she had thrown it towards Ruka's head. It spun closer and closer, and within moments, it made contact with flesh. The mutilated created let out a angry and pained roar, blood spurting from the left side of its head.
Temari had cut off one of its ears.
I did not look for errors, I didn't even reread this over and over like I usually do. So, if you catch any grammar errors or ANYTHING else, tell me! You know how I am about that by now xD
Chapter 13 coming. NOT the last chapter! But only a few more!