Part 4: Kazehime, Chapter 21: Old friends, new enemies
Sora turned around and looked at the voice behind her.
Crap.
Crap, crap, crap, crap.
There was a man and a woman; both dressed in gathered black pants and open jackets. She wore the traditional midriff baring blouse, while he was bare-chested. Their skin was dark creamy color and they possessed a highly muscular build. Around both of their waists were blood red sashes.
There was no way you could mistake them, which was probably why most of the bar was starting to clear out.
Kazehime warriors. A partnered pair most likely. After years of avoiding them, she had run smack into a pair the day she came back. Couldn't fate cut her a break once in a while?
She pointed at herself. "Me?" She asked in as innocent of a voice as she could muster.
The women sneered, twisting full lips. "We've waited years for you to venture back into our territory and here you are. We're not about to let you go, Sora."
She tilted her head to the side and tried to look stupid. "I'm sorry, I am Sora, but I don't know what you are talking about. Maybe you have the wrong person? It is a common name in the east."
Again the women sneered. "Don't play stupid with us. We heard you in the restaurant. I only speak a little eastern, but enough to hear the names Sora and Nanashi. Plus, no middle age woman would sit in a bar in the middle of the afternoon and drink. Who else could you be?"
"Very thirsty?" Sora asked, she desperate to avoid this situation.
"Well, if you're not going to be cooperative, maybe we should just go see if we can find those two you were traveling with." The woman and her partner turned to go.
A kunai flew over the top of her head, cutting some of the hair in her bun.
"Well, if you really want to get your butt kicked, I suppose there is nothing I can do about it." Sora said, releasing the illusion and crossing her cargo clad legs. At the sight of her, the rest of the bar cleared out.
The woman arched an eyebrow and looked back over her shoulder. "Large words from someone who couldn't keep her identity secret for five minutes once she came back to the east."
Sora shrugged. "Everyone messes up sometimes." But she had really screwed this time. The only thing keeping her from berating herself was the fact that she knew she was going to need to concentrate to keep the situation under control. She had to have confidence in the kids to figure it out by themselves.
"Indeed. We should have never let you and Nori leave the Kazehime alive. But now that you are back within our reach we won't be letting you go again." The woman snarled.
Sora smiled. "Just for old times sake, could I get your name? I just want to see if I remember you."
The women grinned what was obviously meant to be a sinister smile. She wasn't very good at it. "He's Nitin. I'm Chaula."
Sora grinned. "The one who used to cry because her curry was too hot?"
The grin instantly fell off of Chaula's face. "I also remember beating the hell out of you."
Sora looked up at the ceiling, as if she was thinking hard about something. "I was a good, what five years younger than you?" She shrugged. "Unfortunately for you, age is now a difference in my advantage, as well as the fact that I haven't been stuck in the Kazehime rut for years."
The two warriors tensed and their eyes hardened, although the man continued not to speak. The woman's voice was harsh when she spoke. "The way of the Kazehime is the best way in the world. That you do not agree only shows your ignorance."
Sora polished off the rest of her martini. "Really? Well, why don't we just step out of town and see what that rut has given you?" She put money on the counter and slipped off her barstool.
The woman smiled again. "Your regard for the lives of bystanders is famous. It kept the dGra Klesha accepted by the public, but it makes you weak. The Kazehime show no such weakness."
Naruto and Hinata were walking back hand in hand to the hotel, when they noticed a crowd was starting to form between them and the hotel. People were crowding around, standing up on their tiptoes to try and see.
"Is it really them?" A man asked.
"No, it's only one of them." A woman answered.
"Man, I thought they were dead." Another man said.
"I heard they turned into nuns." The woman said.
"No way, not with the way they dressed." A second woman remarked.
"She seems pretty conservative compared to the rumors." The second man said.
"She must have calmed down as she got older." The first woman responded.
"She's going after the Kazehime now?" The firsts man asked.
"I heard the Kazehime is going after her." A third man answered.
It only took Naruto and Hinata a few seconds to realize what was going on. Frantically they started to push their way to the front of the crowd.
They broke through the front lines just in time to see Sora come crashing through the hotel window. She arched her body up and over, back flipping across the street before leaping up to land on the railing of the balcony of the building immediately across the way.
She sat down and looked casually over her shoulder. "It's probably best if you leave." She said to the customers and waiters, all trying to quietly enjoy a late lunch.
She crossed her legs as the restaurant customers on the balcony rushed out. "You know the Kazehime's reputation has been going down considerably in the last few years. You're certainly not regaining any of that now." She said as her two attackers emerged from the broken window.
The woman sneered. "We're just getting warmed up."
Naruto started forward, but Hinata held him back. Looking down at her questioningly, he realized why she had done it. Sora was doing okay, at least for now, and it was better to save their energy for later on, should they need it. Plus the fighters were obviously Kazehime; she probably wanted to deal with them herself.
Naruto and Hinata could just barely see the woman as she went flying across the street, landing on the balcony rail as one leg shot out to kick Sora's head off her shoulders. Sora bent backwards, avoiding the hit, only to find that the man was now behind her. The outside blade of his hand sliced through her throat.
The man growled low in his chest as the wind clone disappeared in a small whirlwind. He and his partner looked left and right, trying to find her. As their heads were turned, Sora swung around the edge of the roof and slammed both of her feet into his chest before once again landing on the railing. The man stumbled backwards into the wall. A few seconds later, he was beat down by what looked like several wind bullets.
"Ninjutsu." breathed Chaula. "What sort of fighter uses Ninjutsu?"
Sora shrugged. "Everyone but the Kazehime. Gone are the days when good Taijutsu was all that needed to win battles. Gone are the days when using it makes one seem corrupt. All's fair in love and war."
A manic look came into Chaula's eyes. "We will see." She charged at Sora, flipping over onto the railing, before twisting around, trying to confuse Sora as to where her attack was going to be coming from.
Unfortunately, Kazehime tricks did not work on those who were trained by the Kazehime. Sora stood and blocked the kick with her shin. Then she grabbed the back of Chaula's head and smashed it into one of the support beams before throwing her down into the street.
Naruto swallowed hard. He knew that Sora was not a Leaf shinobi. He knew that she was a mercenary. But after the event the first day on the road where she had taken an almost pacifistic stance, it had never occurred to him how...brutal his sister was capable of being. But as the women stood up in the street, blood streaming down one side of her face from being smashed into the post, her legs trembling slightly, Naruto looked up to see Sora looking down at her with cold, hard eyes.
Sora was about to administer a lecture on how the Kazehime should leave them alone and consider themselves lucky that Sora thought that the Lady of the house was simply a power grabbing whore and not klesha when she realized that she should not have counted the man as being dealt with. She sensed him just in time to turn as he barreled into her, running them both off the edge of the balcony. She barely managed to twist in the air enough to land on top of him instead of the other way around.
Twisting his wrist back against his arm, she slid free from his grasp just in time to block another kick coming in from Chaula. Naruto watched as Sora faulted slightly and the woman managed to land a blow on her thigh, pinching a nerve. Sora was getting tired and her moves were starting to show it. But just the Taijutsu shouldn't be tiring her out so quickly. There had to be something else going on as well.
He looked down at Hinata. "She's tired." He said.
Hinata instantly realized what he was asking and with a nod, turned on her Kekkei Genkai and watched the chakra swirl around Sora. "She's prepping earth, and she's marked them both." She whispered back to him. Naruto nodded. Sora was getting ready to do some jutsu with earth, although until she began to seal, they wouldn't be able to tell what it was. She probably wouldn't use her Kekkei Genkai here: there were too many witnesses. She'd also put a marker on the two Kazehime fighters so that the jutsu would only affect them.
Sora bent her knees and jumped up into the air, followed closely by Chaula. She quickly began to form hand seals, twisting in the air and blocking kicks with her shins. "Earth Style: Earth Anchor Jutsu!" She yelled and used one foot to push away from Chaula in the air.
A rope of dirt shot up from the ground and wrapped itself around Chaula's ankles. With a short shriek of surprise, she was pulled sharply to the ground where more ropes wrapped around her arms and torso. A few feet away, the same thing was happening to her partner.
Sora landed gracefully on her feet a few feet away. She ran through a few one handed signs before slamming her hand into the ground and yelling "Ninja art of Earth: Entrapment!" The dirt from the ropes started so spread out, coating both of them completely in a layer of earth. Soon they were frozen in place, all sound and all movement locked in the dirt. Sora breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth, trying to calm her breathing. She sauntered over to the two encased in dirt, and spotted Naruto and Hinata across the circle. She grinned and was about to start bragging when she noticed four more Kazehime warriors sneaking up behind them.
"Look out!" She yelled, as she started to head over for them, only to be blocked by the arrival of more Kazehime fighters.
Naruto and Hinata for their parts had managed to evade the initial grasp of the fighters who had come up behind them and how now entered the fray. "Shadow Clone Jutsu." He yelled, producing a dozen clones which evened out the numbers.
"There should be twelve of them!" Sora yelled. "Right now we've only seen ten, so chances are there are still two more out there hanging back." Naruto's clones jumped the four men splayed out in front of Sora. "Hey! You worry about your idiots, I can handle mine." She said, starting the Zetsumei. The purple flame spiraled up and down her forearms before settling in on her hand.
Naruto grinned at the man and girl in front of him. "You guys picked the wrong people to mess with." He said, a group of clones behind him, cheering him on.
The girl, who appeared to be about thirteen, looked at him with wide eyes. "Is that really Sora? THE Sora?"
This had not been the question Naruto hade been expecting. He looked at her, puzzled and slightly offended. "Huh? Of course she's Sora!"
The girl's eyes were practically sparkling. "And you're her apprentice?"
"I'm her brother." Naruto said simply
A look of pure shock came over the girl's face, quickly followed by adoration. You could almost see the little hearts dancing around her head. "Really?" She asked.
The man next to her had had enough. "Shivani!" He yelled sharply, shaking the girl out of her daydream.
"Sorry." She said sheepishly, and moved into an opening stance.
Man, of all the luck! Naruto pouted slightly at the idea of having to beat up a girl. But she was Kazehime, and there were two more guys standing a few feet away, honing in on Hinata and he didn't like the look in their eyes. He wanted to get rid of these guys and fast.
The girl, now identified as Shivani, came at him with a garass to the head, hooking her ankle around and through his face. Thankfully, she wasn't able to tell the difference between the clones and the body simply puffed into smoke.
Out of the clouds came a blast, catching the girl and sending her flying off to the side. The Shadow Clone Smash was brutal but very effective. When normal people burn chakra it just materializes around their body, when a shadow clone does the same thing they explode.
To get clear of the blast Naruto spun low and tucked his legs underneath himself and spotted the man a few feet away. He had successfully gotten rid of a number of the clones and was now prepping to attack the real Naruto.
Naruto breathed deep and put one hand down out, as if ready to ward off an incoming attack. Discreetly, he slipped his right hand behind his back and started to make a series of one handed seals.
The man's eyes narrowed. He didn't do Ninjutsu: the Kazehime were above such things. Their Taijutsu was strong, strong enough to beat any foe not matter what they came armed with. But no matter how little he knew about how to perform a jutsu, he knew that it took two hands to perform one. The boy must be reaching for a kunai.
He charged in, moving to block the anticipated kunai with one arm. His opposite hand moved in to rip out Naruto's throat.
"Earth style: Head Hunter Jutsu!" Naruto's training with Nori had taught him one thing, always keep some Clones in check so you could use them later. And that is what he had just done with the Head Hunter Jutsu, a shadow clone was holding the mans feet.
But when Naruto whipped his hand out from behind his back, there was nothing in it. He began to spin chakra in his palm. The flat of Naruto's palm landed against the man's arm and he grabbed it and grinned. "Rasengan!" He yelled. Suddenly a swirling ball of chakra forced the man back, but seeing that Naruto and the clone had a hold of him he went nowhere.
Naruto jumped up slightly, driving both of his feet into the man's stomach. Then using his planted hand, he whipped himself up and over, flipping over backwards and landing on top of the man's chest. He wheezed as all of the air was crushed out of his lungs.
Immediately, Naruto jumped up and ran to Hinata's side. A spiral scar had formed on his chest. If he had time to from actually create a third form Rasengan the man would be dead, even if he had his other hand the man would have been mortally wounded. He continued to lie on the ground, trying to regain his breath.
Hinata stood perfectly composed in front of her two opponents, her face a quiet mask of calm. She moved into opening position.
The man in front of her sneered. "The slut has been teaching you Heaven Fist? This is going to be fun. Come on, let's rip her apart."
The men attacked her, first heading towards her front then repositioning themselves slightly to come in from either side. Hinata feigned right and then went straight up and over the head of one of her attackers. It was a classic Heaven Fist move, however what was to come next was not. Pressing her middle and index finger together, she sighted the chakra holes that ran up the spinal cord in the man's neck. Snapping and recoiling her fingers quickly, she pressed all the holes, paralyzing his neck and with it the nerve connections. The man collapsed to the ground.
The second man stared at her. "What the heck did you do?" He demanded, suddenly noticing for the first time the raised veins around her eyes.
"I sealed the first few of the major chakra holes in his neck. There's no permanent damage." She said in slow, careful western. She was shaking on the inside, part of her thrilled at what she had just been able to do, part of her terrified at what was going to happen next. But after months of training with Yasu, she stood completely calm and every inch the lady.
The man's eyes flashed. "You whore!" He yelled and charged at her. Hinata stepped into a fighting stance and prepared to hit the holes on his chest.
Then she felt a movement behind her, someone coming up behind her fast. Recognizing the rhythm of the run, she sprung into the air, clearing the way just in time for Naruto to come charging in with a Rasengan. With a burst of chakra he sent the man and the Rasengan down the street.
She smiled sweetly up at him. "Thank you."
He grinned back. "No problem."
"She partner trained you." A voice said in awe.
They looked away from each other to see that the girl, Shivani, had recovered from being blasted and were now standing in front of them. But she seemed more interested in talking about Sora then attacking them.
"I can't believe she partner trained you, that's amazing! She left before she was able to complete any of the partner training," the girl rattled off, enthusiastically. "She must have taught it to herself."
Actually, Sora hadn't even thought of partner training them until Nori had suggested it. Both of them had taught Naruto and Hinata, with Nori supplying most of the basics. However, they had been warned not to mention Nori or Yasu on this side of the mountains. Nori was still the heir to the exiled Lord of the Wind: he didn't want anyone to think that he was interested in the position and come after his family.
However, it was doubtful that she was going to listen to them anyway. She seemed to be off in her own world.
Which she was abruptly brought out of when one of her associates, chakra freshly bound, came flying through the air to land at her feet. The man groaned and lolled on the ground.
All three of them turned to look at Sora. She was partially obscured by the still dirt covered forms of Chaula and Nitin, but they could see her working on the last remaining Kazehime warrior.
Naruto ran and jumped up to deliver a flying kick to the man's head. He managed to dodge, but ran himself right into Sora's palm. He whipped his head around just to see Sora seal all his chakra.
Sora and Naruto watched the man drop to the ground, before grinning at each other, letting out a whoop of success and giving each other a high five. "All RIGHT! Nobody better mess with us!" Naruto yelled.
Sora looked around. "I still only saw ten of them, including that one," she said, waving a hand at Shivani, who was still just standing there. "Which means that we're still missing two. What is she doing anyway?"
"We're having some problems with her at the moment," A voice said from behind them. They all turned to look.
Everyone gasped, even Shivani. Two women of the Kazehime stood there, kunai pulled and held at the throats of two children, no older than five with wide, frightened eyes. Their feet dangled in the air as they struggled for air. A thin trail of blood ran down one of their necks.
Naruto's fists clenched at his sides. "You jerks, put those kids down!"
The woman grinned and there was a slightly crazed edge to it. "Then come with us."
"What happens if we go with you?" Hinata asked.
"Then you appear before the Lady of the Wind. Your teacher here has crimes she must answer for." The other woman said, voice shaky with fear.
"There is no longer a Lady of the Wind and the only crimes that were committed were those by you." Sora said, eyes shooting daggers at the two women.
The smile dropped and the first woman snarled. "We committed no crimes. It was the old Lady who tried to rip us away from tradition, who tried to dirty our lines and those who supported her who committed the crimes. And now we find that you have further trespassed against us by teaching those not Kazehime our secrets. Too long have we let you run amuck and mock us! We will not let you escape this time."
Sora scowled. "Tell me where in the Kazehime's history did they put knives at the throats of innocent children. You have become nothing more than schoolyard bullies."
"That's enough!" The woman screamed. "Every second you delay you are killing them. Are you going to surrender or not?"
Sora looked over her shoulder at Naruto and Hinata who were in turn looking at the girl Shivani. Her eyes were wide and she was shaking ever so slightly.
"Hey, kid." Sora said.
Shivani looked up, startled by her voice. She had a white sash, Sora realized, a sign that she was lower ranking than the others they had been dealing with.
"What's your name?" Sora asked.
The girls eye's got wide. "Shi-Shivani."
Sora raised an eyebrow. "Shweta's Shivani?"
The girl nodded. Well, with her family, she was probably as close to a trustworthy Kazehime as one could find these days.
Sora pointed to the women behind her with a jerk of her thumb. "Have they done this before?"
She nodded.
"And they killed the children?" Sora asked.
The girl's voice was small and trembled with fear. "The only time someone was able to get the children away, they started randomly killing bystanders until the person surrendered."
Naruto and Hinata's eyes widened in horror. Sora had told them that things within the Kazehime had gone downhill since the killing of Nori's family and the instating of the branch family as the head of the clan. However, they hadn't imagined that things had gotten this bad. It was hard to think of the farmer as having come from such stock.
From the disgusted look on Sora's face, it was clear that she hadn't thought that it would have gotten so bad so quickly either.
They were running out of options. If they managed to get the two kids out of the grasp of the women, they would start randomly killing people. It looked like Shivani would not be participating, but some of the others were starting to revive. There was no way that the three of them could prevent the Kazehime from killing any defenseless people. However, if they did not make a decision soon, the women would kill the two children.
Sora looked at Naruto and Hinata. They looked at each other for a second before turning back to her and nodding in unison.
She looked back over the shoulder at the women. "Alright, we'll come with you, just put the kids down. I've been wanting to give the so called Lady of the Wind a piece of my mind anyway.