Part 5: First Aid, Second Base, Third Degree (2)
"I'm sorry for snapping at you just now."
Ino shrugged the apology off with a reassuring smile, knowing fully well that Tenten's earlier retort had not been a personal attack against her. Still, she could still recall the churlish tone her fellow kunoichi had adopted in retaliation to the incident, that look of unbridled fury and revulsion stamped callously in her memory bank. She had never seen Tenten in that mode before, but told herself that the news had been too staggering for her friend to digest rationally and calmly.
The two girls were carrying out Shikamaru's instructions after a brief discussion, sharing his plan with important personnel of the remaining troops. All over the beaches and the surrounding cliffs, commands were being shouted as soon as squad leaders understood the new strategy. Shikamaru had voiced his thoughts out to the Second Division General, Kitsuchi, who had nodded his head and given his consent in his gruff voice.
"I'll inform General Darui. He and Chouza-san are standing guard near the Four Violet Flames Battle Encampment barrier, but you guys should go ahead and inform the other squad leaders. Be careful though. We've lost quite a number of shinobi due to those treacherous creatures, and we do need a sound plan like this to stem the chaos."
Tenten had recognised this burly man as the one who had arrived with reinforcements and attacked the Tailed Beast form of Kinkaku with a mighty punch, an Iwa technique similar to the one Kurotsuchi had used to destroy Kakuzu's Water Mask. Before the strapping man could turn away and make his way towards the other side of the cliffs, she could not help but ask whether his daughter was all right. The lines on Kitsuchi's furrowed forehead relaxed visibly as his eyes twinkled in some form of recognition.
"You're the girl who used that fan! Kurotsuchi and my two buffoons were singing praises of you! She's fine… must be around here somewhere. Well done, girl! You four Konoha ninja are brave and hardy youths indeed! Now get along and carry out your task!"
Ino's hushed whisper and abrupt halting of her footsteps brought Tenten back to the present, her mind still clouded by her anxieties about Neji. She saw that her friend had raised her tanto, and was now taking a defensive stance, as a group of shinobi made their presence known from behind a cliff wall, blocking the two Chunins' progress.
"Pesky kids," a long-haired man wearing the signature white one strapped Kumo flak jacket snarled, wielding a dull-coloured scythe. "You think you're so smart, aren't you?"
"We're putting an end to your interference, girls," hissed a female in Konoha's green, twirling a metal pole that gleamed in the moonlight. "We'll make it quick… but painful."
Tenten's hands touched her twin scrolls, but with a split second of cognizance, removed only the one held in the left holster. She hoped her pal had not taken notice of the moment of sudden hesitation, her right hand now gripping the spear she had summoned from the single scroll in her left. Out of the corner of her right eye, Tenten saw that Ino had merely glanced at her weapon of choice but remained firm in her stance, their silence by no means an indication of any fear on their part. Rather, both teenagers awaited a mere moment before pluckily bounding forward towards their foes, taking no qualms in attacking them in their supposedly human forms.
With a forceful thrust of her spear, Tenten parried the blow of the metal pole, expertly manoeuvring the staff out of the clone's hands with a simple twist of the wooden staff in her hand. Sending the rest scattering in a flurry with a barrage of kunai from the scroll in her left hand, the brunette impaled the clone's chest with the bladed end, pushing her torso back to hit another clone; another powerful thrust sent the spear piercing through the second body, the wooden stake now connecting the two lifeless clones with Tenten's rage. Her next wave of projectiles took out three others, before she vaulted over the stake with a katana in hand to back her friend up.
With her speed and prized tanto, the blonde had easily taken out a few opponents as well. Knowing that her Shintensen techniques would not work well here, Ino was making use of her repertoire of taijutsu skills, her graceful kicks and accurate hacks bringing them down effectively. Her practice sessions with Tenten were proving themselves effectual here, as a well-placed kunai embedded itself in the middle an Iwa's forehead was followed in the next second by a vicious swing of the short blade across his partner's throat.
"They know we're on to them," she spat as she kicked the head of a fallen clone mercilessly. "They'll try to take us down before we can spread the word around, especially to the troops on the cliffs."
"If the sensors can't even figure these imposters out with their abilities, we're going to have a tough time," Tenten muttered, placing the scroll cautiously… consciously … back into her holster while still holding on to her katana. Though she wanted to suggest the two of them split up - partly to ensure that the information could be passed around more quickly, partly to figure out what her weapons could be capable of now in whatever privacy she could find - she knew that it was an unworkable idea. Travelling singly could bring grave danger to either of them, as the past few minutes had proven, but there was a burning desire for the weapon specialist to determine how the Bashosen was affecting the ninja tools stored in her right scroll. A few seconds of eye contact with Ino told Tenten that she had to appear as nonchalant as she could if she wanted to bring the idea up, but before she could say anything, she was interrupted by a woman's voice, a voice that was vaguely familiar to her.
"Arent… aren't you the girl… who saved us from those monsters?"
"Yes, the one with that fan!" exclaimed her companion, whose cheery voice was filled with obvious admiration and gratitude.
Tenten lowered her head as she recognised the two voices now, the two voices that had given her the strength to raise herself from defeat, to propel her forward to take on the final two masks. She turned her head to find two Kirigakure soldiers in their grey flaks, holding on to each other supportively while wearing stunned and appreciative expressions. The female spoke again, gushing in awe and thanking both girls for rescuing them from the clone imposters, for they had taken refuge in a nearby cave due to their injuries but it was evident that the enemy was hovering nearby.
"How's your back?" Tenten asked the speaker, as she beamed at the duo. "Earlier on when I met you, you said that you'd hurt your back."
"You remember us? Gosh we're so honoured! My back is much better, thank you. A medic healed me earlier."
"I'm glad," Tenten continued as she lowered her blade. "Otherwise… the child you're carrying… I'm glad you're fine. Thanks for helping me with the Fire Mask by the way, with your Suiton techniques."
The two strangers hesitated a moment before nodding vigorously, claiming that their unborn child was fine and replying that they were more than delighted to have helped her out in her battle against the fiery demon. Tenten's heart sank as she heard these false words, her expression softening, then hardening within moments. She did not know how much more anguish and despair she could handle, as the heart-wrenching scene she had unwittingly eavesdropped on hours ago took hold of her senses, the memory of the couple's proclamations of their love and devotion towards each other and their new-born baby inching its way towards her aching heart.
The 'couple' noticed the change in her demeanour and wore bewildered expressions at first, but in the next second, the female's face transformed from one of veneration to the other extreme of unveiled contempt, well aware that their game was up.
"They were holding on to each other's hands, up to the moment we sucked the life out of them," she growled, her slit eyes glowing in unnerving malice. "Pathetic humans, clinging on to their ideation of love… of family… of sacrifice. Pathetic indeed."
With Ino's jutsu holding them still, Tenten strode towards them as she took in the faces of these two imposters. Despite their vile, contemptuous expressions, she wanted to remember what they looked like, for she would be forever grateful to the couple who had reminded her … what being a shinobi, a soldier, a warrior… was all about. Mumbling a sorrowful and bitter apology for her failure to protect her benefactors, she beheaded the two clones one after the other, her pal releasing each from her mind grip in quick succession for her to exact vengeance. Looking at their fallen corpses at her feet, Tenten dropped the katana with a clang and departed from the scene, to continue carrying out her orders together with her friend.