A/N: And now, the first fights!
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Raikiri Triken: The Three Souls Swordsman
by Shadow Crystal Mage
Chapter 21: Tenten Versus Kabuto!
Disclaimer: I don't own, please don't sue.
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Kabuto drew his distinctive curved blade, watching Tenten warily. The girl merely smirked at him, confidently, arrogantly. Kabuto darted forward, deciding to keep it simple and going for the throat.
Tenten smoothly parried the strike with one hand, the other blurring with a cry of "Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken!". Kabuto barely managed to get it on his armor, which immediately dented. Even through the armor the thing hurt! He spun around, going with the force of the blow and turning it to his advantage as he lashed out with a kick. Tenten darted back, drawing a scroll from her pouch. There was a burst of smoke, and two katars appeared on her arms, gleaming in the light. Tenten's grin was highly reminiscent of it.
Kabuto suddenly had avery bad feeling. He barely had time to pop a handful of soldier pills into his mouth and try to back away as Tenten crossed her arms.
"Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken! Sonic Blow!!"
Pain stabbed into Kabuto's body as the blades entered again and again. The force lifted him off the ground, keeping him suspended in midair as metal lanced in over and over.
With a cry, Tenten launched the final blow, the force completely ripping off the front of Kabuto's cloak and tearing off his armor as he flew towards the nearest wall. The medic-nin slammed into it and began to bleed.
"Yes!" Tenten cried. "You're too weak to beat me!"
With that, she threw back her fist, breaking the nose of the nin trying to sneak up on her.
"Oh yeah, I'm so cool," she preened.
The Saotome didn't notice the glow of chakra suffusing Kabuto's body…
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Saotome Nodoka stood back-to-back with Hyuuga Hiashi, staring at the inordinate amount of Sound-nin surrounding them. "Just like old times, eh Hiashi-kun?" Nodoka said, grinning as she reached into the sleeves of her kimono.
"Hmph," Hiashi said, even as his mind rejoiced. YES! Hello, misplaced aggression!
At an unspoken signal, Nodoka jumped in the air, half the idiots chasing after her. The other half charged Hiashi, and were immediately hit with a Heavenly Spin.
Nodoka smirked at the fools charging after her and withdrew her hands.
There was much fizzing.
"Happo Fire Burst!"
Hiashi twitched at the cry and subtly checked his underwear. Yup. They were definitely gone.
Nodoka landed next to him, smirking at him. "Lost something Hi-kun?"
"I despise you."
Nodoka just grinned at him.
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Teuchi, owner of Ichiraku ramen, glared at the shinobi causing trouble in the streets outside his stand. This just wouldn't do. It was bad for business. "Ayame-chan, help me close up and get your gear, will you?"
A few minutes later, the Sound-nin stared at the two figures standing in the street. "Who are you two supposed to be?"
Teuchi posed, chopsticks in hand. "Foul breakers of peace! For the crime of causing chaos unconducive to eating ramen during business hours, I, Teuchi, the Golden Ramen Chef of the Leaf, shall punish you in the name of ramen! Have at thee, enemies of uninhibited capitalism!"
Ayame sighed as her dad launched a barrage of armor-piercing chopsticks. She supposed the theatrics involved in any sort of Saotome training never really went away.
Hefting her depleted uranium bonbori, Ayame joined the charge.
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Although she began fighting at the arena, Ino didn't necessarily stay there. After they'd gotten the civilians out, she, Harry, Yue and Keroberos had gotten separated. Last she saw, Harry had been running and injured girl to the hospital (where he would probably be taking a stand), Keroberos had staked out a supermarket, and Yue was protecting an adult bookstore proclaiming the much anticipated new book of the Icha Icha series.
Sakura was likely to be very annoyed at Kakashi for that.
As for her… well…
"Hey, Inoshi, isn't that your kid causing explosions at the mall?"
A girl had to have her priorities, after all…
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Tenten was batting aside small-fry when it happened. Her only warning was the sound of the wind on a tattered cloak. The Saotome tried to dodge, and the hook-like blade tore the back of her shirt open. Pain blossomed as a line of blood painted itself across her shoulder blades.
Darting back, she glared a thte risen KAbuto. Blood soaked his front but his wounds had closed. Already, he was lunging at the smaller girl, knife seeking more blood, Tenten dodging with all the flexibility and agility of her clan– which was a lot.
She knew quite well, however, that this couldn't last. She could feel the burning beginning to spread, recognized the heat of poison. It was fortunate the poison wasn't from her family, or else she'd be dead already.
"You are not baiting me into a spiral, girl," Kabuto said from behind his mask. Those blades had hurt! He was lucky he could heal very well, or else he'd have been in big trouble. "The poison is going to keep spreading. At this rate, you will die in five minutes."
"That's four more than I need to beat you," Tenten answered.
So saying, Tenten drew at least five scrolls, throwing them in the air. They unfurled as Tenten went to the offensive, her katars whirling in deadly circles. Kabuto was ready now, however, keeping his distance and using his superior reach to his advantage.
Kabuto grew slightly nervous at the shear number of weapons being summoned. "Whatever you're planning, it won't work."
"Yak yak yak," Tenten mimed, jumping back and raising her hands, chakra strings linking to the… rather plentiful weapons. "Try this on for size: Sōryū Tensakai !"
Kabuto blinked. Oh fuck… he managed to think…
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Haku stood calmly as he faced off against Kankuro. He recognized the possibility that he was, in fact, facing the puppet. The sand-nin was very skilled at switching himself. Attacking directly wasn't likely to do much good so…
Quickly, Haku pricked his finger, momentairly regretful phrasing it like that, and made a quick sequence of seals. "Kushiyose no Jutsu!"
He'd hoped for Setsuna's white feathers. He knew Setsuna, and was pretty willing to pay her price. It was just sleeping with her, which was… bearable. Plus her nodachi gave her significant reach.
He'd hoped for Setsuna. Instead…
The succubus had the look of a puppet. Joints and panels were clearly exposed, standing out against the flesh-tones. Antenna-like things jutted from where her ears should be, parting her pale green hair that fell past her waist. She was wearing what looked like a maid outfit, all black and white, with exposed lace petticoats, garter stockings, big bows, an apron and all the little touches needed to be sexy and just a touches short of slutty. On the back of her head was a key-like metal handle. Strangely-shaped metal wings protruded from her back and head.
With a low, appropriately robotic sound, she turned towards Haku and bowed. "Karakuri Chachamaru, at you service Haku-sama."
Haku tilted his head, his mask obscuring his expression. Behind said mask, the nukenin was going through a series of interesting facial ticks which basically screamed. "ohshitohshitohshit, not another one!"
Kankuro raised an eyebrow. You'd have to be blind to miss all those joints and seams. The Sand-nin came to a quite logical conclusion. A puppeteer? How'd he get it to talk?
Haku kissed his dignity good bye. "Chachamaru-san, please assist me in defeating this individual…"
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"Wah! The snake went away!"
In the middle of a street covered in blood, gore, blood, debris, blood, bodies, and blood, a little girl cried, clutching a mallet like a blunt plushie. A wheel from a cart that had been crushed in the massacre rolled by.
Shakily, Saotome Hanma picked up her mallet, hefting it. Pink shone through the blood, which was soaked into most of her clothes.
The cry chilled the blood of those who heard. It was pure sugar coating a knife. It was chocolate on a mace. It was pink, glitter and unicorn stickers on a chainsaw. It was bratiness reinforced with power.
"I WANT MY SNAKE-SKIN WARDROBE!!"
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Harry took a short break from protecting the hospital as he bought a hotdog in a bun from some vendor. For some bizarre reason, no one was bothering the vendors who had suddenly appeared at the edges of the fighting, selling everything from snacks to spare weapons and even whole suits of armor.
"You know, that guy looked very familiar," Harry said, watching the guy he'd bought the hotdog from– some guy apparently named Disembowel-Myself-Honorably Dibalah– walk away. The wizard-swordsman leaned against a handy wall, occasionally moving aside his body to avoid a kunai or shuriken. "He looked a bit like Mundugus Fletcher. That bugger was selling stuff in the middle of the Battle of Diagon Alley too."
A bunch of Sound-nin drinking from cups of Starbooks coffee looked at him strangely. Harry intently ate his hotdog.
I used to know someone like that, Kenshin said. Every time there was a mob back home, Commit Seppuku Cleanly Diburaru was there, selling moldy rice-cakes, clubs, tea, axes, roast yams, and occasionally locks of my hair and pieces of my sword.
That happened to me too! Shishio and Sojiro said.
"Vendors," Harry muttered.
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Kankuro had instantly come to hate the other puppeteer. Why?
Well…
Kankuro yelped as he barely dodged yet another eye-laser, barely managing to move what was left of his puppet in front of Chachamaru's rocket punch. Another hole was punched through the hardened wood, making Kankuro whimper. This gave Haku the opportunity to give him a kick in the head.
"I would advise you to surrender," Chachamaru said, reeling her forearm back and locking it into her elbow. "Your weapon has been greatly damaged and you are outnumbered. Resistance is futile."
"Never!-!-!-!-!" Kankuro cried.
Five exclamation points. A sure sign of a disturbed mind.
Chachamaru tilted her head as Haku landed nearby. She looked at her summoner inquiringly. The nukenin drew his needles. "That is unfortunate for you," Haku said. "Chachamaru, continue the attack."
"Understood," the android succubus said, her metal wings opening– both sets of them– and small metal shivs extruding from panels. "Target acquired. Missiles launch."
Kanukro screamed as the missiles streaked towards him…
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"WHERE THE HECK ARE WE NOW?!"
Ginny sighed as Hermione railed at the sky. This getting lost thing was getting really repetitive.
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The group of junior Death Eaters walked out of the antique shop in a daze, not quite sure what had happened. All they knew for sure was that they hadn't killed the scantily-clad muggle woman who ran the store and they had less money than when they'd gone in…
Draco Malfoy looked at the things in his arms that he had unaccountably paid for. They were silly looking metal things. One looked like one of those muggle gonnes with a sword shaped like a barb slapped onto it. The other one looked like someone had taken two swords and put then side-by-side on the same handle! Well, at least he'd look good in the black leather bodysuit…
Pansy Parkinson gingerly handled the round, sharp, spikey piece of metal she was holding, wondering what had possibly possessed her to buy it, along with the pair of muggle weapons that looked like a cross between muggle gonnes and knives. Well, at least she'd look good in the leather bodysuit…
Crabbe and Goyle were equally puzzled as to why they had bought the big stick and boxy-thing that strapped to your arm. They would not look good in the leather bodysuits…
Zabini was surprised he wasn't struggling under the weight of the ridiculously big sword he was carrying. He wondered why he'd bought it. The dark purple stone had glowed so interestingly…
Greengrass walked along, admiring her black leather bodysuit…
Behind them, Yuko laughed her head off…
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- To be continued...
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A/N: HI! Long time no see, no?
Can anyone guess as to the Death Eaters upgrades…?
Next up is the Temari/Yami fight, along with fight Yami/Gaara. Stay tuned!
Please review, C&C welcome.
Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.