THE GIRL OF THE SOUND
Chapter 25 – The Will To Live
Kin tried to move her arm forward, but it wouldn't budge. Then she tried pulling it back, but that also didn't work; Hirofumi's grip was too strong. He opened his eyes, slowly but surely, and the look he bore was the fiercest she had ever seen from him.
"Let me return the favor," he hissed.
Hirofumi swept Kin's legs out from under her. Then, while she was still in midair, he jumped up and kicked her in the side. She flew through the air, sailing over one large boulder to land roughly on her back. Kin mouthed a curse, but there was no breath to make more than a wheeze. If she hadn't broken ribs when she had fallen to the valley floor, now she certainly had.
Through the haze, Kin realized her situation was urgent. Hirofumi had activated his power. He would be faster and stronger, and in seconds would be attacking. It was just a matter of jumping over that boulder, and he would be right on top of her. With the sun immediately overhead, all she saw was a shadow, but she knew he was coming.
She felt her breath come with difficulty, and the fear that swelled in her threatened to turn to panic. She didn't want to die. She wanted to see Konoha again. She wanted to see Shikamaru again, and Sakura, and even annoying Kiba. After trying so hard, she couldn't bear to die now.
Kin stood up, seeing the goal clear before her: life. She had to live. She had to survive the mission. The memory of the time she had spent as Orochimaru's prisoner came to her, reminding her that she had been through worse. If Orochimaru hadn't killed her, why should this pathetic Chuunin be able to?
Little by little, the fear began to dissolve. She saw Hirofumi's approach clearly, saw each of his movements. It wasn't that he had slowed, for he was still moving faster than normal. No, it was as if she had sped up to match his speed.
With a snarl of rage, Hirofumi launched one, two, three strikes in quick succession. Kin dodged the first and second, then blocked the third with her forearm, sliding it up to jab at Hirofumi's face. The man accepted the hit, even widened his eyes in surprise at seeing his attack blocked and countered, but soon he was moving again.
He feinted a kick at her stomach, stopped halfway and changed targets, hitting her in her injured side. Somewhere in the back of her mind Kin realized she should be feeling agonizing pain, but she wasn't. She grabbed his leg, swept out the remaining foot with her other leg, and drove her palm into his chest. Hirofumi toppled backwards.
Instead of standing ground or retreating, Kin advanced. Hirofumi was up in an instant, and the two traded several more blows. Kin could hardly believe how well she was faring against the powered-up Hirofumi. It was only when she felt woozy and nearly swooned after a particularly spirited rush that she realized something might be wrong.
She remembered their previous encounter, the bout that had happened in the outskirts of Konoha: she had had a similar burst of speed and strength, and collapsed soon after from chakra depletion. When that memory flashed through her mind, Kin broke off the attack. She concentrated on her chakra, feeling that she indeed had been using a lot of it, and forced herself to stop.
When Hirofumi pursued her this time, he was back to lightning-fast speed. He punched her several times – in the stomach, in the side, in the face – stopping only for instants to cringe, for some reason. Kin was taken back to that horrible day in the outskirts, where she had been beaten senseless; it seemed as if history would repeat itself.
'No,' she thought, 'I can't let that happen. I have to survive!'
But how to fight when she could barely see her enemy's attacks?
Kin fell to the ground, coloring the ground red with her blood. She was still coughing when Hirofumi pulled her up by the throat, then released her and punched her in the side in one swift movement. Kin rolled along the rock floor of the valley until another boulder abruptly stopped her movement.
The kunoichi tried hard not to lose consciousness, but that was difficult when the whole world was spinning around her. She tried to shake her head and breath deep, and that helped a little, though it also brought a fresh wave of pain through her midsection. She prayed none of her broken ribs had pierced her lungs... thought at that point, that seemed a small matter.
'I'll survive,' she kept telling herself. 'I'll get out of this somehow. I can't abandon hope.'
She felt herself be pulled up. Hirofumi's eyes bore into hers. His face betrayed pain, but his eyes showed only fury.
"Enjoying this?" he asked, "No? I am."
A hand grabbed her forearm. She felt Hirofumi start to twist it back, bending it in the wrong direction. Kin bit her tongue to keep from screaming.
"Yes, yes," she heard him hiss, "That's the expression I want to see."
Pain. Indignation. Hirofumi was going to break her arm. She couldn't let that happen.
Kin screamed in desperation as the pressure in her arm reached a critical point. One far-fetched idea popped into her mind, and she didn't have the time to think of another. She placed her palm on Hirofumi's chest and mustered what little chakra she had left.
It worked. She would later wonder how she managed to pull it off with only one free hand, her other arm inches away from being broken and the rest of her body battered – but it worked. Like when she blew up the mini-bombs, strong vibrations spread from her fingers. Only this time they were more focused, going straight into Hirofumi's organs.
The man let go of Kin, and, bewildered, stumbled back. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then doubled over and coughed up blood. He collapsed sideways, clutching his chest tightly.
Kin fell back against the boulder behind her so as to not collapse. She watched Hirofumi twitch for several seconds and began to wonder if that had been enough to kill him. She wished it had, but the bastard was persistent, if anything. The X's all over his skin were writhing, as if angry.
Kin felt completely spent. Her chakra was gone. Her body was barely responding. She was bleeding from more places than she could count, and had broken several ribs. Her arm barely escaped the same fate, though it still throbbed, hanging useless at her side. The girl breathed deep, though each breath was labored and felt like a dagger stabbing at her side. Her gaze dropped to the ground, and she felt consciousness start to slip away.
Then a blood-curdling cry sounded. Kin looked up and watched in awe as Hirofumi placed his hands on the ground before him, blood dripping from his lips. He then planted his feet beneath him, looking at her with pure hatred as he rose to stand. He stumbled once, but then he screamed again, X's racing all over his flesh, and regained his balance. With slow steps, he started to walk toward her.
"Why won't you... die, already?" Kin rasped.
Kin tried to move away, but she almost lost her footing. She had no more weapons, no more chakra to execute jutsu, and no energy left to fight back.
No more weapons? No, maybe she had one left. She stuck her hand inside her pouch and felt an exploding seal between her fingers. She looked at Hirofumi and narrowed her eyes. He was determined to kill her now. If she didn't do something, she would die. And yet the only thing she had left to try was suicidal.
Hirofumi reached out and grabbed her throat. Kin gagged as her oxygen was cut off. She reflexively wanted to bat his arms off, but knew it was useless; she simply didn't have the strength. Instead she reached out, taking advantage of Hirofumi's single-minded desire to kill her, and placed the exploding seal on his shoulder, the farthest from herself she could manage.
The man barely seemed to notice. He tightened his grip, his nails digging into Kin's neck and drawing blood. Kin heard the exploding seal begin to burn away. She closed her eyes.
The seal exploded, and the world spun. Kin didn't know if she lost consciousness at some point. When she came to, she was sprawled on the valley floor, numb. She didn't have the strength to move her limbs, only her eyes.
From that angle, Kin could see the burn marks on the damaged boulder and on the ground. She tilted her head and saw a prone form on the ground several feet away from it. Hirofumi. That was it then? She won?
Then her eyes betrayed her. At least, that had to be it. The alternative was unthinkable: it just couldn't be possible that the man was standing up again, could it?
Hirofumi's arm had been mutilated, his hair had burned away, but there he was, standing. And he was coming towards her. Each step seemed to take all of his strength, but on he came. He grinned through blackened teeth and blood.
"This... is my power, Kin. The power that... Orochimaru gave to me."
As he spoke, the X marks began to move. Hirofumi took one more step, then stopped.
"No." He frowned. "It can't... fail me now. Not now."
The marks continued to move, and Kin finally realized that they were receding. Was he losing control of his power? Hirofumi stumbled, falling to his knees. His eyes widened.
"Orochimaru, I..."
He lifted one hand in Kin's direction, glaring at her for a few seconds. Then he fell to his side and was still.
Kin didn't know how long she lay there. She kept her eyes on her uncle, not daring to look elsewhere in the fear that doing so would allow him to stand up again. But he didn't. He remained completely still, and she eventually allowed herself hope that it was finally over, that Hirofumi Jiro was finally dead.
When several eternities had passed and Hirofumi still hadn't moved, Kin finally looked away, to the sky. 'What now? Will my friends find me in time? Or am I going to bleed out here?' The questions worried her enough to keep unconsciousness at bay, but her eyelids grew exceedingly heavy.
Kin heard a sound, and her heart raced. Hirofumi! She turned her head in his direction. Her uncle lay in the same spot, unmoving. It wasn't him? Who was it then? Ally or enemy?
Kin heard footsteps coming from behind her. She wanted to turn and see who it was, but she hadn't the strength. She heard someone cry out her name. Two blue sandals came into view, and she was gently pulled up into someone's arms. Kin raised her eyes to look at the person's face, and felt relief wash over her.
"Shikamaru." She said.
"Kin," Shikamaru said, running his eyes over her, "Oh man, you're hurt bad. I'm sorry for not getting here sooner."
Kin wanted to shake her head. "I'm fine."
"You're sure as hell not fine," Shikamaru said, "but don't worry. We'll get you help in time, Kin. I swear."
"Shikamaru."
Shikamaru grabbed her hand. "Yeah?"
Kin smiled. "That's the first time... you called me 'Kin'."
The last thing she saw before she fainted was Shikamaru's worry-filled eyes looking down at her.