((I know you're probably tired of hearing apologies from me, but, once again, I'm sorry. This was late. Extremely late. Unfortunately, I was forced into getting a job by my dad, which took away nearly all the time I had for editing and typing my story. On top of that, I had to read the entirety of Ivanhoe, in all its 500 page glory, in about two weeks recently. Thus, my lack of updates. I still have the job, but school is out for Christmas Break, so I should be able to type at least a little more…until I get the Wii on Christmas anyway. So, Happy early Holidays.
Disclaimer: Je n'ai pas le Naruto. (Technically, it says 'I don't have Naruto,' but I don't know the French word for 'own' so it'll just have to suffice.)
Anyway, enough from me. Onward!))
Teamwork, What a Wonder
"Right now, we've got an ass to slash."
Hason smirked at her. "You really think you can?"
Rei smirked back. "We'll just see, won't we?"
"Seireishiryoku no Jutsu!" (Spirit Sight Jutsu)
Hason glanced over to see Hotaru, with blazing silver eyes, with her hands set in the final seal of a jutsu. A second later, a mass of semi-transparent beings formed throughout the damaged room, together blocking his view of all three Konoha nin. He immediately went on guard.
If these things were like the other spirit she had summoned, he would be in a bit of trouble. If he hit one of them and they all moved when she did and vice-versa, he could end up forcing an entire mass against himself. Not to mention the fact that if she could summon this many soldiers, she had to be powerful. He smiled wistfully. Otokage-sama would like that, but it certainly didn't make his job any easier.
Then, he noticed something: the spirits were moving! And not in any uniform way. In fact, they were moving in completely random directions, some of them even flying up into the air while others went through the floor. Many of them were walking through each other.
Suddenly, a form walked through him from behind, making his eyes go wide. He felt across his chest briefly, finding it to be perfectly fine. He realized then that the ghosts weren't in the physical world in the least. They were just a distraction!
He quickly spun around, expecting an attack from behind. This guess proved correct when as he did so, a netting and bandana clothed figure launched itself through a translucent figure at him. He ducked, causing the five claws to fly over his head. He came up, preparing for another attack, only to find that the figure had disappeared into the ghosts again. He scowled. He was a sitting duck with only his senses and reaction time to rely on. That was not good for him. He would have to use his hearing.
Closing his eyes, he channeled chakra to his ears, increasing the strength of his hearing. He was from Oto, after all. He was just in time to jump out of the way of another strike. He frowned. He could only hear one person. That didn't really bother him since he guessed the others were just as blind as he was, but he knew the cat-nin wouldn't be. And neither would her pet panther. So, why was only the panther running around on all fours in the small amount of water?
He didn't have more time to think on it as he was forced to jump to dodge an attack from that very same cat. He sailed through the air only momentarily, but in that instant, pain shot through him. He grit his teeth, eyes shooting open, only just registering the cuts across his back. He was more interested in knowing who had done it to him.
He spun in the air, only just catching sight of the neko-nin disappearing into the crowd of spirits-
-On top of the water.
Of course! She had been channeling chakra to her feet so that she wouldn't splash in the water! What made things more amazing was that, since he knew he could normally hear such a thing, she seemed to be timing her steps perfectly with her animal companions', making her own nigh silent. Hason grinned. That meant all he had to do was disrupt the loud one in order to find both.
Closing his eyes again, he waited for the panther to come within striking range. Soon enough, it did, and once so, it only took opening his eyes to be able to effectively counter. He ducked under the initial swing, which seemed to stun the beast, and brought his arm in a heavy upper-cut, knocking the animal up and out of the room they were in to land on the roof.
Moving quickly, he sprung through the transparent beings, thus avoiding any possible attack the brunette Leaf kunoichi had planned for him. A second later, he stopped, instantly closing his eyes to help amplify his sense of hearing. The cuts on his back had become mere scratches in the back of his mind at this point, though he knew they would need medical attention if he was going to have full mobility again. He was too busy with the thrill of combat. Too busy hearing…
…Nothing.
The cat-nin seemed to have gone into stealth mode, most likely thinking up another strategy that could be used against her opponent. He scowled, deciding that enhanced hearing would do him no good at this point. He scanned the ghosts around him for any hints of true flesh. Finding none, he came to the only logical conclusion.
He had to wait for them to make the first move.
He was helpless without his eyes and ears, which, for the moment, they had taken away from him. Thus, he decided it was best if he examine the gashes in his back. They weren't that deep, but they were irritating, mostly due to the fact that they limited his mobility. Bend forward and he would open up the wound more. Bend back and it might cause the wound to heal wrong.
He would have to get medical attention from a Konoha medic-nin.
He scowled at the thought. He was here on a mission, and the Leaf were the enemy! He didn't want their help!
Nevertheless, he would have to get it if he was going to complete his objective. He knew of their reputed kindness to foreign shinobi and trusted them enough to let the treat him.
But that was all.
Besides, to get that treatment, he would have to get through these twerps. He rolled his eyes. If they kept going like this, that could be annoying.
"Dendouinin no Jutsu!" (Electric Charge Jutsu)
Hason looked toward the male voice, only to have white-hot pain shoot through him. His insides felt like they were on fire, his muscles flared in protest, and his mind ceased to function properly as his nerves were overloaded by pain and all he could think about was the torture he felt.
Then, as quickly as it had started, it was gone. Hason fell to one knee, breathing deeply as he slowly recovered. His muscles still burned from the convulsions caused by the shock, and his insides felt…off…but he would live.
He looked up as the ghosts around him disappeared. In front of him, Hitayio stood attached to the wall with chakra, the curved blood-red sword from his back now in his hands pointed downward into the water, allowing for an electric current to flow through it into the few inches of H2O that remained. The genin looked up and grinned at him.
"You should be honored! I don't take out my Shoujouhi Hane (Scarlet Wing)-" He brought up his blade to point at the older genin, emphasizing what he was talking about. "-for just anybody." He smirked as he dropped from the wall to the ground. Two more splashes could be heard as his teammates did the same from adjacent walls.
"Now," the redhead continued, "Unless you want to feel that again, I suggest you hand over your gear and leave."
Hason glared at him, clenching his teeth.
Mistake one: putting him through that horrible experience. Mistake two: dropping the Seireishiryoku no Jutsu! (Spirit Sight Jutsu). Mistake three: thinking they had won against a superior opponent and dropping their guard.
These kids really were mere genin.
But that didn't mean he wasn't going to make them pay for their mistakes.
The Mist nin smirked slightly as he gazed at the male Konoha shinobi. "No."
The redhead's eyes narrowed. "Then-" Before he could even say the second word, his opponent disappeared in a Shunshin. He immediately felt the heavy breathing of his enemy on his neck. His eyes went wide as, for the first time in a long time, pure, dreadful fear engulfed him. This enemy was much too fast, even for him.
He started to spin, knowing full well that there was little he could do, and received a powerful chop to the base of the back of his neck. He went flying in a disgruntled heap, landing a few feet away like a pathetic rag doll.
As the other two started to react, Hotaru gasping and Rei dropping into a more battle-ready stance, Hason Shunshined again, this time behind Rei. Her eyes went wide as she jumped forward, doing a one-eighty in the air. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do against such speed; he was in her face a moment later.
She doubled over when his fist collided with her stomach, followed almost immediately by a right hook to the face, powerful enough to knock her unconscious. Her limp form rocketed into the wall, utterly destroying it. Along with the wall, the ceiling started to crumble, and it soon became obvious that the structure was collapsing.
Hotaru panicked. She had to get out. She couldn't let herself be crushed by rubble. She looked around. The only safe way out was up, to the area that Masaru had already been knocked in. She started to jump-
-But stopped.
What was she doing? She was a Konoha shinobi! She couldn't leave her allies behind! That wasn't the way of the Leaf!
She spun around, already starting the short set of hand seals she required for her to use a Shunshin. She finished and was instantly beside Hitayio. She snatched up the body and leapt up out of the way of a falling slab of roof. She had to get him to safety! Then, she could go back for Rei, if she was still alive…
No! She couldn't think like that! She would go back, and Rei would be alive.
She leapt past the falling debris onto the neighboring roof, gently putting down Hitayio. She turned, intent on heading back for her other teammate, and paused.
There, in front of her, stood Masaru with Rei's prone form on his back. Hotaru fell to her knees in relief. She was alive! Rei was alive and safe! It was a miracle! Masaru, a godsend!
Hotaru pushed herself up and crawled forward as the panther laid his partner on the ground softly. She had to make sure she was okay. She immediately checked her pulse, sighing in relief when she found it strong. She proceeded to examine her for broken bones and other injuries. Finding none that were too serious, she leaned back, biting her lip. She didn't know how to check for brain damage, and that was what she was most worried about.
She was startled when Masaru growled next to her, facing behind her. She rotated where she sat, only for her eyes to go wide in horror. Hason was there, standing over Hitayio's unconscious form casually. In his hand was the gear that the boy had been carrying.
Anger welled up inside the purple haired kunoichi, mixing with her fear. She wanted to yell out at him to get away from her friend but was too scared of provoking him. She wanted to charge him and force him away but was too frightened by his power to try something so foolish.
Instead, she settled for standing up and glaring.
"Don't be so hyped up," commanded the Mist shinobi off-handedly. "I'm not going to do any more damage." He turned around slowly, pocketing the gear. "Though, I'm taking this." He patted his pocket in indication.
Hotaru didn't care. He could've taken both gears for all she cared. She just wanted him to leave. She wanted to treat her teammates. She glanced worriedly at Hitayio.
Hason noticed and rolled his eyes. "Don't worry; he's fine." She looked at him with cautious hope. He sighed. "He'll have a pretty bad headache when he wakes up though."
He brought his hand up to his forehead and shook his head. "I'm sorry about all the damage I caused. I really didn't intend to take it this far, but I let my rage get away with me." To the Konoha nin's surprise, he looked truly remorseful. Then, it was gone, replaced by an impassive visage. "Anyway, I'll be going. Take care of your team for me, or I'll feel bad." With a brief wave, he was gone in a puff of smoke.
Stunned beyond belief, Hotaru just stood there, staring at where the Kiri nin had been until she was nudged back to reality by Masaru. Blinking, she set to work treating and moving her teammates to a more secure location.
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A team of early teenage Rock shinobi sat, hidden in the ruins of a building, watching a group of three foolish Leaf nin start through the minefield of traps they had set. The one in front smirked as the front tree hugger, with baggy pants, stepped over the first trap, traveling farther into the danger zone.
The leader sat with light ginger hair and a smirk on his face below his hitai-ate, confident in the snares they had set. His t-shirt and pants clung tightly to his muscular form.
To his left was a female with brown hair tied back in a single bun behind her head, looking calm and content. Her slender form was covered almost entirely by thick wool or her hitai-ate, which hung on her neck.
To his right sat a monster of a genin, even at only 14 years of age. His enormous muscles were only covered by a vest and pants. His hitai-ate, however, was tied around his forehead, covering the entire top half of his head. A giant club hung on his back.
Together, they watched the Leaf ninja walk through their gauntlet.
…And walk…
…And walk…
…And walk…
Finally, with his eye twitching in frustration, the front Iwa nin threw a kunai at the trapped area, snapping one of the many tripwires. In a flurry, trap after trap activated, flinging kunai, shuriken, and senbon in every direction around the stunned Konoha genin.
Almost immediately, weapons connected with the two rear tree huggers, causing them to poof away, showing them to have been nothing more than normal Bunshin. The third was lost to sight behind the mass of projectiles.
Almost a minute later, after all of the traps had gone off, the team of Rock genin stared in awe at the form of the Konoha shinobi that stood, unharmed, amongst the destruction. Only the kunoichi among them ignored it, choosing to focus on finding his teammates. However, even that didn't last long as her attention was grabbed when the Leaf nin's baggy pants fell unceremoniously to the ground from cuts along its belt, revealing blue boxers with a repeated picture of a hammerhead shark with the words 'Hammered Head' written underneath it. Other cuts made themselves known along his loose shirt, creating numerous holes and slashes in it and even completely cutting off one of the sleeves.
The Rock kunoichi blushed slightly as her teammates continued to stare in shock. When the boxers wearing shinobi looked down at what was left of his clothes, a shout rang out from his mouth.
"What the fuck!?"
Cursing under his breath, he bent over and picked up his pants in a pointless effort to keep himself covered as the belt of the clothing could no longer grip his waist. When he let go of them, looking around, his pants fell back to the floor, causing another round of cursing to issue from his mouth.
It was at this time that a powerful punch and two slashes simultaneously hit all three of the Iwa team. The kunoichi and ginger stumbled backwards, crying out in pain with bleeding wounds to the stomach and shoulder respectively. The most muscular member of the team was sent flying by the hit to his side, flying directly into a nearby pile of rubble, completely obliterating it. The other two quickly joined him as he stood up, shaking off the dust, seemingly untouched.
They looked to where they had been, finding three Konoha ninja, two of which were exactly the same, obviously a form of Bunshin. They were the exact same forms that they had seen with the baggy pants nin, both blonde in basic ninja garbs, one of each gender.
The male spoke first, shaking his hand in front of him to relieve it of pain. "Dang. What're you made of? Rock?"
One of the female forms sighed, brandishing nails that were sharpened into claws. "Can we just get this over with, Tounyo-kun? It's such a pain…" complained the one. The other growled animalistically in agreement.
Tounyo rolled his eyes. "Alright, Taru-chan." He dropped into a fighting stance, his right hand in a fist near his stomach and his left out in front of him with fingers spread with widened legs so that his body was centered. "We'd better start then."
Both kunoichi crouched, making a hand sign. "Shikyaku no Jutsu!" (Beast Mimicry: All Fours Jutsu) (same as Kiba's) whispered one as the other growled ferally. Chakra spiked around them viciously. All three blondes charge forward.
The redheaded Iwa nin smirked. "Jetto-mu-chan…Blow them away."
"Hai," responded the brunette, already going through some hand signs. A moment later, she finished on her fourth hand seal as the Konoha genin came within striking range.
"Wind styleHitofuki no Jutsu" (Wind Gust Jutsu)
Instantly, a powerful wind picked up around the six, seeming to accelerate even more as it passed by the Iwa kunoichi. All three Leaf shinobi were lifted off the ground and blown back to their original location, where they skidded to a halt, relatively unscathed.
Taru groaned as she stood back up. "Joy…Anti-taijutsu techniques…What a pain," she muttered just loud enough for Tounyo to hear. The male blonde smiled apologetically and shrugged before looking back at their adversaries.
"Did you really think it would be that easy, fools?" shouted the redhead, "We are Iwa nin! We can't be defeated by such primitive means." The speech was made less impressive by the fact that he was still bleeding profusely from his shoulder.
Tounyo sighed. "Let's wait until you get hit by this 'primitive' attack to pass judgment, shall we?"
The muscular Rock nin bellowed a short laugh. "I barely even felt the punch you gave me, wimp!"
The Konoha boy looked at him with an amused half-smirk. "Look at your side, genius."
The giant did as told and was surprised to find a fist-sized red spot that had swollen a few inches. He snarled angrily. "How did you get passed my Doton: Ganbansukin no Jutsu?!" (Earth style: Rock Skin Jutsu)
The male blonde smiled apologetically again. "That is classified information, my good sir."
The monster of a man looked furious. "Under what pretext?" he demanded through gritted teeth.
Tounyo grinned. "The common sense that no wise ninja would ever give up their secrets to their enemies."
The muscular man looked absolutely livid as he reached for the club on his back. "You're dead," he declared in complete seriousness.
"No, Shusen-kun," commanded the Iwa leader sternly, "You're only giving him what he wants by getting angry."
"But, Kazan-kun-"
"We have no need to rush…This foe is obviously one who takes advantage of his opponent's mistakes. Becoming enraged will only cause you to make more of them."
Shusen relaxed slightly, allowing his hand to fall from the grip of his club. The Konoha genin smiled wistfully. "You got me there. But you'll still make mistakes. Everyone does. I just have to find and take advantage of them."
Kazan smirked. "Just try it."
Unfortunately for him, one of the blonde kunoichi had already rushed forward with a soft growl. The Iwa kunoichi had begun a set of hand seals and the female Leaf nin had no intention of letting her finish. Suddenly, a giant club came in a sweeping arc at the cat nin, forcing her to dive out of the way. As she regained her footing, she looked in the direction of the brunette to see the giant genin between them. The Taru growled angrily.
"You're not touching her, wench," Shusen declared with finality.
Tounyo rolled his eyes. "I think you're forgetting something." The massive genin looked at him in confusion as he half-smiled in amusement. "There are two of them."
By this time, it was too late for either of the males to react to the blonde kunoichi now coming from behind them. The other two had been the distraction while this tree hugger slipped away unnoticed to ambush them. Kazan now realized this. Yet, the opponent was already coming into striking range of his companion.
"Teikiatsu Kikou no Jutsu" (Wind styleCyclone Armor Jutsu) Jetto-mu said as she landed on the last hand sign, glancing briefly at her approaching foe. As Taru lashed out, the winds around her target picked up once more, this time only enough to make the blow glance off the back of her left shoulder. The momentum, along with the extra push from the gust, caused the neko nin to stagger a few steps passed the wind user. She tried to turn around to attack again but was caught by the scruff of her neck and lifted off the ground, letting out a small 'Meep!'
She struggled fruitlessly against the grip of the tank as she was spun to face her teammate and her partner. "Let-me-go!"
"Not a chance, wench," responded the human tank.
The other Taru let out a feral growl as she saw her human companion held aloft helplessly, starting to rush forward in an attempt to rescue her partner. However, when she got close, the large Iwa nin gave her a swift kick to the stomach, knocking her back towards Tounyo. Shusen grinned victoriously, not even flinching at the kicks to the stomach he was being given by his new prisoner.
"Now that we've got a hostage, you can give us your gear."
Tounyo clenched his teeth. That plan had backfired. He had intended to make the guys see their kunoichi ally fall, causing them to be disheartened or enraged, either would work. Instead, he had gotten his teammate captured by alerting his enemies to her presence. Now what was he supposed to do? He needed a plan to rescue her!
He noted how he could see the brunette making more hand seals out of the corner of his eyes and prayed it wouldn't be an offensive jutsu. He knew he had only one chance: stall. He couldn't come up with a strategy before they became impatient, so he had no choice.
He took a deep breath to calm himself. Mistakes here could mean his ally's life. He began speaking cautiously. "…You Iwa nin surprise me. I didn't expect to see a wind user from your country."
Kazan grinned. "Though rare, they are incredibly useful to our village. We take full advantage of their abilities."
Tounyo raised an eyebrow. "I suppose I can understand why, considering your village is on a mountain, right? Wind would make a formidable defense there, combined with the difficulty of climbing and your famous Doton jutsu."
The redhead smiled weakly. "Close enough."
"Enough talking," intervened Shusen irritably, "Give us your gear, or she dies." He lifted her up further, even as she continued to struggle, to emphasize his point.
The Leaf genin bit his lip nervously. He noted worriedly that Jetto-mu had finished her jutsu and was starting on another, though he had no clue what the first one had done. "Now what?" he thought apprehensively.
His answer came in the form of a battle cry.
"Uwraaaaaah!"
For once, Tounyo was glad Kizui had no common sense. His attack shout provided just the distraction he needed. As the three Rock nin looked toward the noise, the medic nin rushed forward, not willing to waste his chance.
Kizui launched three shuriken at the foes, not at all concerned with hitting his female teammate thanks to his kekkei genkai. To his surprise, the only blow that landed was on the muscular Iwa shinobi as the weapons headed for the other two seemed to be blown just off course, and the attack that did land ricocheted off the giant like it had hit solid metal. Kizui scowled as he started to descend from where he had been in the air.
Tounyo reached his target just as Mr. Muscles started looking away from the new nuisance and pumped chakra through his body before planting his feet and punching the wrist that held Taru. The muscles in his arm contracted, releasing the kunoichi as the Rock nin was sent into a brief, uncontrolled spin.
Taru was sent flying passed the other two Iwa genin, where she was caught by her clone. She hissed violently as she was placed on her feet once more. "I'll get you back for that later, Tounyo."
Said genin was busy leaping back to avoid the swing of a giant club, as Shusen had regained control of his limbs, joining Kizui in the process. The blonde smirked sideways at him. "Nice distraction, Kizui-kun."
The white haired boy, who now had his pants back on, grinned widely. "I'm good at that sort of thing."
A bellowing roar echoed throughout the area, drawing their attention back to the monstrous genin. "None of you Leaf's will leave this battle alive!" vowed Shusen, fiery anger in his eyes.
The redhead behind him sighed, his female teammate standing still beside him having finished her jutsus. "Take the boys, Shusen. And try not to do anything stupid." He turned around to face the formerly captive blond kunoichi and her partner, smirking. "I'll show the kitties my jutsu." Tounyo saw the cat nin and her clone go on edge before turning back to his approaching opponent.
"Got any ideas, Tou-chan?" whispered Kizui in an abnormally quiet voice for him.
The medic nin sighed. His ally used his joking nickname, even when in this serious a situation. Oh well… "Nope. I need to see more of their strategy first."
His ally grinned, starting the short set of hand signs to activate his kekkei genkai. "Then, let's have some fun!" He finished the hand seals with a fierce shout. "Sunbyou Kizui!" (A Moment of Good Fortune) He charge forward recklessly with another battle cry, already pulling out kunai and shuriken, leaving a stunned Tounyo in his wake.
The blond watched intently as Kizui leapt into the air, launching weapon after weapon at the oncoming human tank. Each attack flew straight at the Iwa nin's face, only to be blown just off course by an unseen force, leading Tounyo to believe the enemy had the same sort of wind barrier Jetto-mu had used earlier. What made it hard to read was the fact that, no matter which side the objects assaulted, they were always blown away without Shusen moving a muscle separate from his normal charge.
Obviously, the extra defense was coming from a different source.
Before he could analyze farther, the Leaf nin realized, to his horror, that his adversary would reach his ally while he was still in the air, and he was too far away to do anything about it. He watched in terror as the enemy raised his enormous club with a furious cry and swung it down on Tounyo's best friend, connecting solidly with his stomach, knocking him backwards like a rocket, with a grunt of pain, straight at Tounyo.
With a snarl, he brought his hands up and caught his teammate by the back, the momentum forcing both of them backward, skidding a good distance. With the help of some chakra channeled through the blonde's feet into the ground, the two of them stopped gradually, causing the medic to end up breathing somewhat quickly afterward.
"Damn it, Kizui! Did you have to get so close to him?" he demanded, punching the white haired genin weakly in the back.
Said genin only laughed. "Oh, come on! We're both fine, aren't we?"
Tounyo glared at him. "Only because you got lucky he didn't hit your rib cage. Otherwise, you'd be a strangled mess of internal bleeding!" He looked up as he heard their opponent approaching, snarling. "Well, whatever. I'm going to need you to distract the big guy again, while I test a theory." Kizui nodded. "And, this time, don't get too close!" His teammate only grinned at him before rushing forward with another battle cry.
The blonde watched a moment as a few kunai were launched, only to be blown astray helplessly. Then, he got started with his plan, making a circular run around the two combatants to stay out of the danger zone. As he got passed them, he bolted toward the Iwa kunoichi, who was simply standing there, halfway between her two teammates, making the odd, seemingly pointless hand sign every now and then. She saw him coming but still didn't do anything about it.
As he came within ten feet of her, he felt a sharp pain penetrate his left shoulder. He spun, skidding to a stop, to see two more kunai flying straight at him, trying to join the one in the back of his shoulder. He gasped as he went into a reflexive dodge, causing one to soar over his head and the other to whiz under his arm.
Realizing there were no more coming, he spun back around to see the Iwa kunoichi with a single hand sign and amplified winds around her, blowing the two weapons headed towards her into the ground firmly. As she released the hand seal and made a new one, the wind slowed but did not entirely die out, as her waving clothes and occasional stray hair indicated.
Tounyo silently cursed his teammate for relying so much on his kekkei genkai as he pulled the kunai from the back of his shoulder before it could do any more damage, starting to charge Jetto-mu once more-
-Only to receive a powerful club to his side, propelling him into a nearby, already halfway destroyed wall, which somehow managed to stay standing. With a tortured groan, he fell to one knee.
"Fool." The blonde looked up to see Shusen between him and his target, speaking. "You can't get past me."
Tounyo frowned as his teammate walked up beside him. "Sorry about that," said Kizui, somewhat seriously, "Something drew his attention in your direction."
The blonde shook his head sadly. "You couldn't have done anything anyway." His eyes narrowed. He didn't get it. How could such a big guy move so quickly without him noticing? He hadn't been moving that quickly before.
Vowing to find out more, he started examining his own injuries. To his chagrin, his already damaged arm wouldn't respond, apparently out of socket. He stood up and glanced at his enemies to make sure they hadn't moved, clenching his teeth. An instant later, he made a whipping motion with his shoulder, creating a soft pop as the joint was relocated, causing him to grunt in pain. It was then, as he saw the surprised look on Shusen's face, that he realized that he was lucky to have been taught anatomy in his early medic nin training or he may have been crippled by that until he could have gotten treatment at the end of the exam.
"Any new ideas, Tou-chan?"
The blonde sighed, scanning their foes. "Their whole style is based on covering for each other," he thought, "And now that the big guy knows who I'm targeting, I won't be able to get around him…" It was then that he saw movement on the opposite side of their adversaries. Looking more closely, he found Taru rushing toward them, evidently having figured out that the wind user was the centerpiece of their opponents' strategy.
He couldn't help the smirk that crawled onto his face. He returned his attention to the two Rock nin in front of him to find them unmoved, Shusen seemingly unwilling to stray too far from his ally now that she was targeted.
"Yeah, I do," he finally replied, drawing Kizui's curious stare, "Same as before, only this time, I'll join you."
The white haired genin nodded, almost immediately letting out a war cry as he leapt into the air once more, launching more projectiles, which he had started pulling from pockets in his pants rather than his numerous, now empty holsters. Tounyo started forward as well, watching with half an eye satisfactorily as Taru came closer and closer to striking range.
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Taru was shocked. Her opponent had a kekkei genkai. A powerful kekkai genkai that allowed him to control earth and fire at the same time, thus creating lava. Lava! How was she supposed to counter that?! She couldn't even touch the stuff, much less get close to him, even with Hana's, her tiger cub's, help!
She snarled again as Kazan brought up more magma from the crater he had made with his opening jutsu. Every time she got close, he would create a magma wall that he would then use to push her back. If she stayed away, he would throw orbs of the molten rock at her, which he called 'lava shuriken'. She had thus come to the conclusion that she must attack and find a way around his wall.
With a silent command, she started forward with Hana at her heels, dodging around the set of lava shuriken he had made from his latest batch of magma, being sure not to get close enough to be caught on fire. As expected, a molten wall appeared between her and her target well before she reached him.
Nonplussed, she leapt straight upwards with a silent command to her companion. A second later, Hana gave her an extra push that sent her over the height of the magma barrier. She took pride in the shocked look Kazan gave her as she started to descend on him.
Before he could regain himself, Taru was upon him, swinging her sharpened nails. However, as they got closer to his flesh, the wind barrier that had been put on him began blowing harder, pushing the claws off target. In the end, she only cut a gash in his upper arm.
She leapt back again as he counterattacked with his good arm, bringing the lava from the wall he had formed a few moments before into shuriken, which he launched in her direction. She flinched as she felt the heat of one of the weapons burn her leg when it got too close as she retreated a few more steps.
Her normal laziness had long been left behind in favor of fighting for her friends. She was proud that that she had gotten passed his defense and a good cut on his arm. Too bad it wasn't enough to make him any less potent. That wind barrier had made sure it couldn't be a crippling blow.
She scowled as she dodged a few more attacks. He had a second defense! And it obviously came from Jetto-mu, so it didn't matter what she did to him; it would remain in effect. It was then that she came to yet another conclusion.
She had to take out the wind user.
She had put a barrier on both herself and her volcanic friend. That probably meant she had put one on the tank as well, which gave him a second defense too. If the wind user was out of it, each enemy would be down to their lone style, giving Taru's team the upper hand.
All she really had to do was get away from her current opponent, who didn't even deem it necessary to give her any room to breath in as he threw lava shuriken at her left and right, apparently irritated at having been injured. The cat nin gave a silent command to Hana and waited for Kazan's attention to be drawn to the clone.
As the redhead turned away from her to defend himself, she rushed off in the direction of the other battle, which was a fair distance away, though still visible. As she approached, she noted that Tounyo had seen her coming and went into a distraction for her. She took a satisfied breath when the muscular shinobi fell for it, leaving her with a free shot at his female teammate. Then, they could take out the magma user and gang up on the big guy.
"Funka no Jutsu" (Eruption Jutsu)
She
immediately put on the brakes as a cone of molten ash and rock burst
into life in front of her, skidding to a stop just six inches short
of it. She jumped back as lava started to fall from the sky around
the small eruption dangerously. She spun as she landed to find
Hana
in close taijutsu on a now seemingly tired Kazan, who seemed to be
dodging and cursing under his breath and was being forced backwards
by the attacks, towards Taru.
Realizing he had just used a lot of chakra on that jutsu and that she had the full advantage in close quarter combat and that now was the best chance she'd have to get within range, she charged the pair, ready to double team the bastard. Both Taru and her clone struck repeatedly, landing multiple small cuts but no heavy blows as the wind continued to defend her foe.
"Wind StyleShippuu no Jutsu" (Hurricane Jutsu)
A powerful cyclone of air picked up around Kazan, lifting both blondes into the air and throwing them a short distance away, where they landed, together, on their four limbs, skidding. She looked up, scowling, to see a sweating Jetto-mu with her hands held in a seal. A moment later, Kizui and Tounyo landed beside the cat nin.
The medic nin let out an exhausted sigh. "They have nearly impenetrable defense…" He paused as he saw the blood dripping down the redheaded Rock shinobi's arms and shoulders as the Iwa team regrouped, before half smirking tiredly. "Though it seems Taru-chan has gotten around it."
The neko nin looked at him with bored eyes, catching the key word, being 'nearly', in the previous statement. "You have a plan then?"
"Hai." He glanced at them, making sure he had his teammates' attention before continuing. "We split them up into 'one on one's."
Taru looked at him in slight confusion. "I know I was more successful than you two, but are you sure we can't take them together?"
Tounyo nodded. "I am. I hate to admit it, but their teamwork is on a whole other level compared to ours." The blonde kunoichi shrugged with her partner at her side, indifferent, having not fought in a battle where the Rock nin could use teamwork very much.
Kizui grinned. "So, who do I get?"
The medic nin sighed, wiping sweat from his brow. "I'll hafta take the big guy as it seems I'm the only one that I know can do any damage to him. Kizui can't fight the wind user because she can deflect his projectiles with ease, so you'll be best against the redhead. That leaves the kunoichi with Taru. You'll need to separate her from the others quickly as it seems that if her teammates are going towards her, she can use her winds to increase their speed. Sound good to you all?"
The cat nin nodded as Kizui yelled an energetic, "Hai!"
"Good." He took a deep breath before staring at the opposing team, who seemed to be preparing an attack of their own. "Let's get this over with then…" In unity, the four ran forward.
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((There. All good and done. And wha'd'ya know, it's the longest chapter so far. Just don't expect another update any time soon. I'll be too busy with my Christmas junk to do much writing/typing. Besides, I've pretty much given up on the whole schedule thing, since I can't seem to keep up with it. Things'll be posted as I get done writing them.
Anyway, drop a review in if you have any recommendations or complaints as I'm always open to new ideas. Heck, flame me if you like, though I don't see why you'd still be reading at this point if that's all you were going to do. There's even more fighting next chapter, so I can't wait. See you all next update.
SSF out.))