Well here's another chapter that I'm guessing you guys have been waiting for. Sorry that I haven't updated in awhile. There was something in this chapter I didn't like, so I actually decided to go back and add more things to it in order to make the chapter more satisfactory for me. But it all depends on what you guys think of it, so hopefully this didn't end too badly. I'm interested in hearing what you guys think of the story and remember to review!
Chapter 22: The Long Awaited Return (part 2)
"Eight Trigrams, Thirty-two Palms!" exclaimed Keiko as she quickly attacked her opponent. '2 palms, 4, 8, 16, 32 palms!' The Hyuuga said in her mind as she quickly finished off blocking her opponent's chakra network. As she quickly pushed the Hidden Cloud shinobi out of the way, she came face to face with four other shinobi that surrounded her.
Looking at her opponents with her Byakugan, Keiko quickly closed her white orbs. As she summoned enough chakra to spread through her chakra points, she quickly released her chakra as her body quickly spun, and created a rotating shield of chakra that tossed the enemy away. Ending the defensive barrier after her opponents lay unconscious, the Hyuuga stood there as she tried to see if any other shinobi were going to attack her.
"Keiko! Look out!" Koji exclaimed as he kicked one of his opponents out of the way to see if his teammate needed his help.
Sensing and seeing a sneak attack that was nearly behind her, Keiko quickly turned around; as the Hidden Cloud kunoichi was about to strike her with a powerful lightning attack, Keiko quickly released a high-speed palm thrust from her palm. As a huge gust of chakra and wind hit her opponent directly, the kunoichi was violently pushed away as Keiko watched the kunoichi's body fall limply into the opposing building.
Once sensing that no one else was around her, Keiko slowly put her arms to her side as she calmed herself down. Still having her bloodline on, she turned towards Koji to see him finishing off one of his opponents.
Both teammates managed to fight through a whole group of Hidden Cloud shinobi and as they both watched their sensei fight off the last of them, they saw that this shinobi was the strongest out of the bunch. As they saw their sensei's chidori get pushed through the man's chest, they knew the battle was over.
Kakashi quickly pulled out his fist from his opponent's body and as he wiped off the blood, he approached his students as he saw that they were both done.
"What now?" questioned the Takahashi as all three shinobi stood in the rain.
"You two should try to find Katara. I'm sure that she'll get herself in trouble. I still have to go out and help the village." Answered their sensei as he picked up his kunai knives and stood beside them.
"Are you sure, Kakashi-sensei?" questioned the Takahashi as both leaf chuunin looked at their teacher with confusion.
"Of course…now you two go ahead and find her. If I know Katara, she's probably gotten herself into some trouble." The Copy-cat nin said as he suddenly disappeared from the area.
"Well you heard him, Koji, let's go." Said the Hyuuga as both nin grabbed their weapons and were about to leave the battlefield.
Still having her Byakugan activated, the Hyuuga looked around the entire village until she spotted a familiar looking kunoichi. "There she is!" exclaimed Keiko as she pointed towards the direction of her teammate. "She's practically on the other side of the village and it looks like she's cornered by five Hidden Cloud shinobi near the Uchiha compound."
"Alright then, let's go." Stated Koji.
A few moments later, the two leaf shinobi arrived at the scene as they saw the Uchiha desperately fight off the five shinobi. Watching Katara's graceful movements and precision, Koji and Keiko observed from near by as the Uchiha heiress dodged hit after hit.
As Katara was hit directly on the side, both chuunin jumped into action and stopped each of the five shinobi's attacks as they blocked each kick and punch that was aimed at the heiress. Holding them off with kunai and stopping their advances with shuriken, Keiko quickly knelt down to check on her teammate.
"Are you all right, Katara?" questioned the Hyuuga as she helped the Uchiha back onto her feet.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Replied the heiress as she dusted off some dirt from her clothes and got back onto her feet.
"Good." Replied Keiko as she gave the Uchiha a smile.
Returning a smile of her own, Katara stood beside both her teammates as they stood back to back to each other preparing for another long battle.
"Alright, Keiko you go left, I'll go right, and Katara, you go straight ahead." Stated the Takahashi as he firmly held his kunai knife in front of him.
"Actually Koji," started the Uchiha as she took out her own kunai knife, "I think I'll attack from behind." The heiress quickly said as she came from behind and held Keiko in a head lock with the kunai floating threateningly near the Hyuuga's throat.
"Katara! What are you doing?!" exclaimed the Takahashi as he turned around to face his other teammate.
But as he turned around, Koji realized that the person before him was not his friend, nor his Uchiha teammate. 'So this kunoichi right here disguised herself as Katara in order to trick us. What is she planning?' thought the male as he observed his new additional opponent hold his friend captive. The Hidden Cloud kunoichi that stood before him wore her platinum blonde hair in a low ponytail along with strange white eyes glaring back at him. As Koji tried to restrain himself from any rash decisions, he watched as Keiko struggled to try to get of the kunoichi's iron grip.
"Hn…I'd love to talk about it kiddo, but I don't have time. Now I wouldn't want you two or that Uchiha brat ruining Kenta-sama's plans, so I decided to take things into my own hands." The Hidden Cloud kunoichi replied as she quickly knocked out the Hyuuga and let her body fall to the ground.
Watching the scene before him, Koji was quick to turn around and avoid a kick aimed for his head. As he created more room away from his opponents, he was quick to throw kunai knives and shuriken attached with paper bombs at his opponents. The force coming from his advance caused him to jump back a few feet and as he did a back flip off a tree, he was quick to block a kick as he ducked down.
Jumping up in the air to avoid a sliding kick that would've knocked him off his feet, Koji was quick to return the favor with a punch of his own. Aiming for a direct attack at his opponent's face, he narrowly missed as said Cloud shinobi grabbed his fist and held it in place.
Glaring at his opponent with his navy orbs, the Takahashi quickly turned his body around and managed to land a kick to his opponent's gut to release him from the shinobi's death grip.
Landing once again onto his feet, Koji jumped back a bit to avoid a barrage of kunai and shuriken that was aimed at him. Looking around him, the chuunin realize he was surrounded; without showing any hint of fear in his eyes, the Takahashi was quick to create several seals for his next move.
"Earth Style: Vines of Wrath!" exclaimed the male as he quickly slammed his palm onto the ground.
Within seconds, several vines sprouted from the grass ground and enveloped themselves around his opponents. Observing his surroundings once again, Koji quickly saw that all the shinobi were now restrained. As he was about to approach the platinum blonde kunoichi, he quickly realized that all the shinobi captured by his vines were clones. Quickly looking around the battlefield again, the Takahashi embraced a kick to the gut as he felt his body fly through the air and stop when his back hit a tree.
Trying to regain consciousness and stand up on his feet, Koji shakingly got up and faced his opponents. Although his vision was a bit blurred from the hit, he was able to make out the kunoichi right in front of him as she towered over him. As he saw her make an advance with a lightning based attack, Koji tried his best to avoid it. But unfortunately for him, one of the five shinobi was quick to hold him down and restrain him as he lay on his stomach.
"Looks like you lost, kid." Miko dangerously said as she pressed a pressure point on his neck, allowing him to fall into unconsciousness.
Ducking to dodge a kick from her opponent, Katara quickly moved away as she created more space between the two enemies she was facing. Looking at the five opponents that surrounded her, she could tell that just from their demeanor that they were strong.
As one of her opponents quickly disappeared from the area, Katara felt his presence from behind. She quickly turned to see him land a kick onto her side, and as the heiress felt an uppercut land on her chin, she knew that these two shinobi worked well as a team. As she felt her body move upwards in the air, she opened her navy orbs to see her opponents on the ground, making seals for a lightning-based attack. Trying to fight the pain that her side was causing her, Katara quickly threw a paper bomb towards their direction. Before the bomb hit the ground, the Uchiha quickly made hand signs; as she concentrated chakra into her mouth, she quickly felt the chakra turn into a heated fire, and as she turned her body, with her mouth facing towards her opponents, a huge surge of fire shaped as a dragon (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique) burst out from her mouth and caused a huge explosion as it hit her opponents.
Landing on her feet, the heiress looked at her opponents as she saw their burned bodies lay on the wet ground. Breathing to regain her breath, Katara didn't have time as she barely managed to avoid a kunai knife that managed to scrape against her cheek. Feeling the blood slowly drip from her cheek to the ground, the Uchiha turned her navy eyes towards her next opponent.
Katara knew that there were three more Cloud shinobi left and as managed to catch her breathe, she quickly entered back into the heat of battle. Taking out another kunai knife, the Uchiha heiress attacked back with her own barrage of several weapons that were aimed at her opponents.
The speed at which the projectiles were moving at seemed as though they were invisible and despite their attempts at trying to stop them and cancel them out, all three shinobi dropped down dead before her.
Looking around the area, Katara was relieved to finally get a rest. After fighting and traveling nonstop, the Uchiha heiress was glad to have some time to rest before heading out again. But despite everything, the Uchiha found herself before a huge being that now towered over her.
Seeing the monstrous person before her, she barely recognized Kenta as she stood there staring at his new form. But as she felt his chilling-killing aura, she quickly took out one of her own kunai and got ready for a fight against him.
"You've caused a lot of trouble for me, little Uchiha. But it ends here." Kenta said as he slowly approached her.
Trying to keep the distance between them as far as possible, Katara quickly threw some kunai and shuriken towards him. But as the projectile hit him, they were deflected off as he just lifted his arm and protected himself from the weapons. Smirking at her, Kenta quickly disappeared from the area, and reappeared behind her. Unable to even see where he went, Katara felt a powerful punch in her gut as she turned around to face him.
As Katara attempted to get back on her own two feet, the man before her stopped her actions as one more presence entered the area. The kunoichi had caught her eye and as Katara looked at Miko with widened navy orbs, she was shocked to see both her teammates in their grasps.
"What are you doing with them?" asked the heiress as she looked up at Kenta with a death glare.
"Nothing little Uchiha; as long as you do as we say, they'll be spared, but I can't say the same for you." The male answered as he gave her a smirk.
Looking back at her teammates in the kunoichi's grasp, she was quick to get onto her feet and retort back with, "Kenta, they have nothing to do with this; let them go and I'll give you what you want."
Still continuing to smirk at her, he replied with, "Hn…I beg to differ Uchiha. As long as they remain as my prisoners, you will do as I say. Now how about leading us to those sacred scrolls from the Uchiha clan?"
Looking back and forth between the two shinobi, the Uchiha heiress had no choice but to release her grip on her kunai knife, letting it fall to the ground. "Fine; you win, I'll lead you inside the Uchiha compound."
"Katara! Don't do it! It's your job to protect the secrets of your clan! You don't have to do it for us!" exclaimed the Hyuuga as she tried to wriggle out of the kunoichi's grasp.
Looking back at both her friends, Katara gave them a softened expression as she turned back to Kenta with a glare only made more threatening with her Sharingan, and responded with, "You promise they won't get hurt?"
"I'm a man of my word." Stated the male as he waited for the Uchiha's response.
Starting to take one step forward, the Uchiha signaled for the two shinobi to follow behind her. "Follow me; it's this way."
A few moments later, all five shinobi arrived at the old and abandoned Uchiha manor. Making their way down below the ground level, Kenta was amazed at how ancient the hidden library of scrolls appeared. Seeing strange lettering on the walls, the Uchiha heiress was quick to step back and quickly perform a simple fire jutsu to open the stone door.
Once the door opened, Katara was roughly pushed into the room as all five shinobi entered and looked around the extensive library before them.
Smirking once again, Kenta quickly said aloud, "This is amazing. Imagine all the power and secrets that are behind these scrolls, Miko."
"Of course, Kenta-sama; I'm sure we'll crush the village." Answered the kunoichi as she gave him a mischievous smile in return.
As the older male was about to grab a scroll from the many varieties on the shelves, the Uchiha heiress was quick to stop him as she threateningly held a kunai knife near his throat.
Smirking at her again, Kenta showed no fear as he replied with, "Did you forget that we have your two teammates? Or are you just that ready to let them suffer?"
"Hn…" the Uchiha replied as she held the kunai closer to his throat. "Think again, Kenta."
As his orange orbs turned to see what the Uchiha heiress was talking about, both Miko and the male were shocked to find a substitution justu take place that left logs in her teammates' places.
Looking around the area for the two other chuunin, the Uchiha took the time to quickly dispelled her own illusion as she stood before both shinobi in a clearing. Without any hesitation, the Uchiha was quick to slash her opponent's throat. Standing back to see her work, she slowly watched as his body was about to fall to the ground.
The platinum-blonde was quick to appear before her superior's side and as she gave a nasty glare towards the Uchiha, Miko knelt down beside Kenta's body.
Sensing the vibrations around her, Katara quickly realized that the man before her was still alive. Hoping that her senses were wrong, she was shocked to see him get up on his feet and wipe the blood off from his neck as he smirked at her back.
"Th-that's impossible." Stated Katara as she slowly backed away from him.
"You thought it would be that easy, Uchiha?" Kenta taunted as he towered over her again.
Watching his movements closely, Katara saw him quickly grab his comrade and absorb all her chakra before throwing her away to the side.
"How can you be that heartless?" questioned the Uchiha as she glared at him with her crimson orbs.
"It's for my clan's own good. We will restore order whether you like it or not. And if you get in the way, I will not hesitate to kill you." Answered the white-haired male.
"Then I will not hesitate to stop you." Replied the Uchiha as she still continued to glare at him; Katara was quick to make one hand sign and within seconds, the library quickly disappeared right before them.
"What have you done?!" the male exclaimed as he grabbed her by her collar and lifted her up into the air.
Not showing any fear in her navy orbs, Katara replied with, "Nothing; my original plan was to get you two away from my teammates and lead you out here to finish the job. Now we're fighting on a leveled playing field. I managed to create a genjutsu and it worked."
"Interesting, I never realized the Sharingan was this strong. I guess I'll just have to beat the information out of you then, little Uchiha." Kenta replied as he harshly threw her to the ground.
As Kenta was about to land a hit on her while she still was on the ground, Katara quickly rolled out of the way and landed back on her feet. Managing to keep up with his current pace, the heiress blocked a kick from the side that caused her to slightly move a few inches from her original stance.
Trying to protect her bad side from another attack, Katara jumped back a bit to give her some room before using another jutsu to summon her fox. As the smoke disappeared from the area, Morio was quickly by her side. Looking up at her with his emerald orbs, he quickly said, "Glad that I can help you right now, kiddo. So what's the plan?"
Looking back down at him, the Uchiha heiress replied with, "I don't know, Morio. I don't really have a plan in mind. I've never fought against this strong of an opponent and it seems like he's going easy on me and I can barely keep up with him right now. Along with that, I'm at my limit." She had said as she took another kunai from her holster.
"Why do you always get yourself caught up in things like this?" questioned the fox as he shook his head back and forth to show his displeasure with her.
"I guess I have a knack of getting myself into these situations." Responded the Uchiha.
As their conversation ended, both fox and kunoichi jumped out of the way as Kenta charged at them. Leaving a crater at where both had stood, the white-haired male scanned the area with his orange orbs for his opponents. Both Katara and Morio had jumped into the trees and had hid their presences in the forest.
Meeting back once again, the Uchiha heiress quickly sat down and took deep breaths as the golden fox sat before her.
"We're going to need a plan to fight against this guy, Katara. From what I can tell, his chakra levels are beyond what I've ever seen in my lifetime."
"Yeah, tell me about it. It's bad enough that he was strong in the first place, but now he's even stronger." Stated the Uchiha as she took a peek at her opponent from a nearby bush.
As the Uchiha appeared out of her hiding place, Katara was quick to approach her opponent and try to land a chakra-filled punch on his body. Avoiding the attack as if it was nothing, Kenta decided to take the battle in his own hands. Quickly grabbing her and throwing her into a tree, he quickly appeared right in front of her as she was just getting out of her shocked daze.
Not even giving her enough time to recover from the advance, the Uchiha heiress felt a barrage of attacks come from the shinobi as he continued to hit her everywhere with several kicks and punches until her body made a harsh impact with the ground.
As Kenta stepped away from the huge crater he had just made, he watched in joy as he saw Katara slowly get up again and try to get onto her own two feet. Seeing her hold onto her side in pain, Kenta saw her quickly trying to inject healing chakra onto her side, but without giving her anymore time, he rapidly came beside her and hit her with a lightning punch that skimmed her skin and left terrible burns marks.
Her body was roughly pushed to the ground and as the Uchiha laid there on her good side, she looked to see that her forehead protector now lay on the ground next to her. As she desperately clutched onto the headband, Katara looked up to see her opponent tower over her; looking at her opponent as her eyes were going to close from blood loose, the Uchiha got ready for the final strike.
'I guess this is where it ends, huh, Haku?' Katara thought as she tightly clutched onto her headband and saw how Kenta stood before her with a sword at the ready to plunge into her chest.
Without any warning, Katara gave the Cloud nin a smirk as he was about to plunge his sword into her body.
"What are you smirking about?" Kenta asked as he stopped his actions.
"You'll see." Katara quietly whispered as Morio quickly jumped out from the bushes and managed to stick a charm on her opponent's arm. As Morio continued to hang on and annoy the shinobi with his determination to stay on, Kenta desperately tried to shake the fox off. But without any luck, he quickly stepped away from the Uchiha, let go of his sword, and used his other hand to throw the fox out of the way.
"You stupid fox! I'll show you to make fun of me!" exclaimed the white-haired nin. As soon as that charm had come in contact with his body, Katara saw with her Sharingan that it was taking affect; the charm was able to seal some of his chakra reserves and as the Uchiha felt a bit relieved from that, she was frightened to see him take his sword and approach the golden fox. Seeing that Morio was hurt from the impact, the Uchiha attempted to get back up on her feet, despite her own body's resistance.
As Katara tried to fight back the pain from her hurting side, she slowly dragged herself towards her summoning, hoping that she could save him in time.
"I'll teach you not to mess with me!" said Kenta as he slashed with his sword.
As if her body was moving on its own, Katara was able to make it in time and take the hit before it reached Morio. Trying to stop the sword from plunging into her further, the Uchiha was holding onto the sword with her bare hands as she ignored the pain and the endless amount of blood. As Katara fought back the urge to scream, her body quickly collapsed to the ground as the sword was removed from her side.
"Katara!" exclaimed the fox as he came by her side and met her navy orbs.
Petting his soft, golden fur, the Uchiha gave him a sincere smile.
"Why did you take that hit? Did you not realize that you could've sent me back to my world and could've avoided all of this?" questioned the fox as he looked at her with sad emerald orbs.
"Hn…now that I think about it, yes I could've down that, but with what was going on, I panicked for you and had to do anything in my power to protect you." Replied the Uchiha heiress as she continued to smile at him.
"You shouldn't have done that! You're in no condition to do so!" harshly responded the fox as some tears attempted to escape from his orbs.
Continuing to pet him again, Katara replied with, "Ssh, it's all right, Morio, I'll be fine. Now go." Said the Uchiha.
"Are you crazy?! I can't leave you alone with this guy here!" exclaimed the fox as he stopped his tears and looked at her with widened eyes.
"I'll be fine. Now go." Whispered the Uchiha as she started to cough up some blood. Without hearing his own retort, the Uchiha quickly performed the hand sign and sent him back.
Still continuing to lay there, Katara quickly felt her enemy's presence tower over her with a sword in his hands. Not willing to close her eyes, Katara wanted to look at Kenta directly in his face if she died right here. 'I guess this is where it ends.' Thought Katara as she slowly grabbed onto her necklace and prepared for the next strike.
So next chapter, you're going to see some major battling. Sorry for all the so called filler chapters, but it's important to pay close attention to what happens and how everything affects Katara in some way or another. Hopefully you guys understand. If not, just message me and I'll try to explain without giving too many things away. I definitely have plans once the story really kicks into high gear, so I hope you guys look forward to that as much as I do. So I'm just going to end my blurb here since I don't wan tot write too much! Remember to review and thanks!
-Katara