Crimson Stained
Chapter 35
The Daimyo, The Samurai, and the Pervert
The Daimyo lived in a large, highly secured compound. After arriving early in the morning, Nikushimi couldn't figure out why they needed to protect the Daimyo when he was this well protected.
"What is this?" Nikushimi whispered to Rin, who was sitting next to her. What irritated Nikushimi about the Daimyo was that as soon as his eyes landed on Nikushimi and Rin he saw them as useless and weak. He had pushed them to the side, instead taking interest in Minato and the boys. At their breakfast, Nikushimi and Rin had been pushed to the end of the table, sitting with the maids of his daughter.
"Just watch how others are eating it." Rin replied, unsure of what the food on her plate was exactly.
"Dumb old sexist bastard." Nikushimi muttered, eyeing the Daimyo when a loud laugh came from the other end of the table.
"I hope we fail our mission." Nikushimi crossly jabbed her chop sticks into a piece of the meat on her plate.
"Don't be rude Nikushimi." hissed Rin when the sliding door opened and a beautiful girl about their age entered. Pale, porcelain skin and big, captivating honey colored eyes caught Tatakau's attention, and he almost fell from his seat. Shogai caught him before he did.
"Ah, Michiko-hime, these are your protectors!" the Daimyo boomed, gesturing to the boys and Minato, "Namikaze Minato, Uchiha Tatakau, Uchiha Obito, Garasu Shogai, and Hatake Kakashi."
"No girls?" Michiko inquired, looking disappointed.
"Excuse me, Lord Fuijin, you forgot us." Rin called, clamping a hand over Nikushimi's mouth when she opened her mouth to no doubt call a not as nice statement as Rin's. Michiko's honey eyes lit with excitement when she saw Nikushimi.
"Oh you're so cool!" Michiko cried, dashing to her side and looking Nikushimi over, "And adorable! How old are you?"
"I'm Nohara Rin, and this is Ketsueki Nikushimi. We're twelve. I'm the team's medic." Rin told her politely. Michiko's eyes widened.
"But, you're so small. And you're my age!" Michiko gasped. Nikushimi's eye twitched slightly.
'What is it with people and my size!?' Nikushimi thought, viciously tearing a chunk of meat with her sharp teeth.
"Michiko, the real ninja are down here." Fuijin called, somewhat impatiently. Nikushimi's face turned red, and Rin looked worried when the distinct rip of meat being ripped apart by Nikushimi's abnormal canines sounded loudly.
"Just because we're girls does not mean we're not ninja. I am willing to bet any guard you have can't beat me!" Nikushimi yelled mouth full of food. Minato sighed.
"Inside voice Nikushimi, it's rude to yell." Minato chided, taking a sip from his tea.
"I'll stop being rude when he does." Nikushimi huffed after swallowing, crossing her arms and leaning back. Michiko slid into the seat next to Nikushimi despite her father's protests. Then, she began her barrage of questions.
"She's so pretty." Tatakau mumbled to Shogai.
"She's the Daimyo's daughter, she is pampered." Shogai observed as he watched a maid pull Michiko's long jet black hair back into a ponytail so that it wouldn't fall into her food.
"She's pretty." Tatakau repeated. Shogai turned to his friend and prodded him with his chopsticks. Tatakau didn't respond, his eyes locked on Michiko.
"We have an issue." Shogai turned to Obito. Obito blinked at Shogai as Shogai gestured to the dumb struck Tatakau.
"Tatakau, you still there?" Obito asked, jabbing him with his own chop sticks.
"She's so pretty." Tatakau drooled. Shogai sighed at his friend. Obito didn't poke fun; he recalled a few months prior acting in a similar way over Rin.
"Excuse me, but did you say you could beat any of us guards?" a teenage boy asked Nikushimi. He had shaggy dark green almost black hair and blue eyes that were a similar shade to Minato's. He was clad in the same armor of the other guards.
"I did," Nikushimi huffed, "What's it to you?"
"My name is Yujimara Sosuke. I am the protector of Michiko-hime, I challenge you to a honorable duel." Sosuke announced, voice filled with pride. Nikushimi blinked at him before snorting.
"I can take you any day." Nikushimi retorted, her blood colored eyes glinting dangerously.
"I don't recommend you fight Nikushimi, Yujimara-san. Ninja do not follow bushido like samurai such as you do. Nikushimi happens to be quite elusive, cunning, and her stamina is unmatched." Minato warned fairly.
"I can take her; she's just a little girl." scoffed Sosuke.
"Deception is the way of the ninja." Shogai remarked quietly to Kakashi, who nodded in silent agreement.
"After breakfast, we shall duel in the training dojo." decided Sosuke. Breakfast then went quickly, everyone eager to see the duel. After Nikushimi finished, she gave a wolfish grin to Obito who returned it from down the table. When the Daimyo finished, everyone shuffled to the dojo where Nikushimi and Sosuke took their spots on opposite ends.
"I look forward to this duel." Sosuke bowed to Nikushimi, who nodded and gave a quick, short bow back.
"Yeah." she agreed.
"Begin!" called another guard, and Sosuke drew his sword. Nikushimi pulled out a kunai and charged. Sosuke and she met, both pushing against the others blade. Nikushimi grinned.
"Under these bandages I have training weights, they're restricting my movement. But, once I take them off…" Nikushimi lessened her weights to half, and with her new burst of movement, she pushed Sosuke's blade back. He stumbled and she kicked her leg out and caught his. She pulled his leg out with her own and he fell. Nikushimi went to end the spar with her kunai to his throat, but he managed to kick her back. Nikushimi landed easily on her feet, her eyes widening when chakra laced his blade.
'Samurai use chakra!?' Nikushimi thought wildly, dodging as Sosuke suddenly gained speed. She dodged attack after attack before she kicked off and into the air. Senbon slid from her bandages and she spun in the air, senbon raining down from her. Sosuke blocked them easily. Nikushimi kicked off the dojo ceiling and down at Sosuke, her momentum allowing her kunai to hit the blade with an audible clang. Nikushimi's eyes widened when her kunai cracked from the blade's chakra's intensity.
Nikushimi flipped around again, her foot connecting with Sosuke's face. He was knocked back. Nikushimi dropped low to the floor, sweeping her legs into his knees. He fell to the ground, and Nikushimi grabbed his sword before jumping back, ignoring the chakra burns she received from grabbing the blade. She tossed it behind her, and pulled her kunai out. Sosuke looked miserable as he watched Nikushimi discard his blade and primary weapon to the side.
Nikushimi ran forward towards Sosuke who caught Nikushimi's kunai between his arm guards. Nikushimi had intended him to block that, and kicked him in his crotch as hard as she could. Sosuke was sent flying back, his armor dented. He coughed as he hit the wall and slid down. Nikushimi's shadow landing over him and the cool metal of a kunai at his throat made him open his eyes. Nikushimi's sharp grin made him frown.
"You didn't fight with honor, what woman would kick a man there?" he croaked. Nikushimi snickered.
"I'm a ninja, I don't follow honor. A kunoichi like me will cheat, lie, steal, bribe, kill, anything to meet my goal." Nikushimi told him, holding her hand out to help him up. He brushed her off, pushing himself up. Blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth from one of her hits. Nikushimi unwrapped her hands to see the damage the chakra had done, frowning at the ugly, scabbed over half inch wide wound that covered both her palms. Sosuke regarded her scarred hands with surprise and horror.
"They're nasty scars, but I'll die for my beliefs, scars are nothing compared to what I want to protect." Nikushimi informed him as Obito jogged over to them.
"Yeah, I knew you could do it Nikushimi!" Obito cheered, throwing an arm around her shoulder and dragging her into a one armed hug.
"Ma, Obito I'm trying to fix my hands." complained Nikushimi as Rin wandered over.
"Yujimara-san, would you like me to heal you? Nikushimi may have broken something." Rin offered, shooting a glance at Nikushimi who had Obito prodding at her chakra burns.
"Nikushimi, I hope you're not proud of that scar collection on your hands." reprimanded Rin, "You need to take care of your body or else your body will fall apart earlier than it has to! Our bodies are only human bodies."
"I would like that heal, thank you." Sosuke murmured quietly as he watched Nikushimi laugh as Obito joked about Tamashi's teachings.
"Nikushimi, Obito, Rin, we're going to begin our plan now. Rin, help Michiko-hime and her maids get Nikushimi presentable." ordered Minato as he, the Daimyo and the guard captain conversed in low tones. Kakashi ghosted behind Minato with a serious look.
"Of course, come on Nikushimi, we'll have to find a nice red kimono for you." Rin said thoughtfully and Michiko bounced over to them in excitement. Nikushimi sighed and shook her head at Obito. Nikushimi hated being a girl sometimes.
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Tamashi woke up before Moyasu, and she was irritated to find the bed hog had stolen the blankets and wrapped both his arms around her.
"Fucker." Tamashi muttered to herself as she crawled out of Moyasu's grip, not waking the sleeping bastard. Tamashi walked into the bathroom, stripping herself down and washing her now black hair. She lathered herself down with the floral scented soap the hotel supplied.
"Hm, this is a luxury. Most kunoichi use neutral scents so as to not allow ninja who have hypersensitive senses to sense them." Tamashi murmured to herself, reading the label. Tamashi's usual scent was a breezy tree scent labeled as 'Nature', "The hell? Jasmine Rasberry Blossom Euphoria scented? What is with the name being that long? Smells like abnormal flower to me."
When she was done she stepped out and dried her body off with the pink towels that hung on the rack. She wrapped one around her generous chest and grabbed a small towel, wringing her hair out as she left the bathroom.
Moyasu was just waking up to the sound of Tamashi finishing a shower. He yawned and sat up, running a hand through his hair. He frowned at his dull ginger hair. He missed his flaming hair. He combed his hair down so that it reached his shoulders in oily, gross strands. He turned his head when the bathroom door opened and Tamashi strolled out, rubbing her hair with a towel. Her scantily clad body was covered by an indecent towel that was being stretched to cover her chest as Tamashi lifted her arms to vigorously dry her hair. Moyasu's eyes locked onto her bouncing chest. Tamashi felt his eyes on her and scowled.
"Pervert!" she accused. Moyasu threw his arms up in exasperation.
"You can't walk out here with those evil twins bouncing around almost in the open and expect me not to look!" cried Moyasu.
"I am wearing a towel." Tamashi defended.
"The towel is hardly covering both ends!" Moyasu gave a strangled cry as Tamashi's towel finally gave up its fight to cover her and fluttered to the ground. Tamashi quickly picked it back up as Moyasu pulled a pillow over his face.
"So the henge only changed the color of your head hair…" Moyasu's muffled voice commented. It wasn't intended for Tamashi's ears, but she had heard with her acute sense of hearing.
"Pervert!" she roared, launching the damp towel she dried her hair with at him. Moyasu only made another dying sound as Tamashi grabbed new clothes and stormed back into the bathroom.
"This mission might kill me…" moaned Moyasu, his mind not leaving the memory of Tamashi's naked glory.
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"You look adorable Nikushimi!" Rin and Michiko squealed together. Nikushimi wasn't as excited as they were. Her petite form was amazing in a kimono, she looked beyond cute. She appeared to look like a porcelain doll with the maroon kimono that had silver and gold petal designs. A red obi was constricting Nikushimi's movements; however she did have her senbon holder strapped to her leg and her senbon holsters on her wrists. And Nikushimi had vehemently protested the removal of her bandages. Eventually they compromised. Nikushimi kept the bandages on her lower arms and legs, but nowhere else. They gave Nikushimi a long sleeved kimono that passed her finger tips by an inch or two to hide the bandages. The socks that Nikushimi wore also hid her feet, and Nikushimi's hair and the high necked under kimono hid her neck. Nikushimi's hair had been let down, her scarred eye being hidden by the cascading bangs. Shorter bangs had been arranged to hide her other eye. Nikushimi's hair was pulled into a traditional hime low ponytail, tied with a red ribbon that matched Nikushimi's obi. Geta's covered her feet, and it took a few minutes of practice for Nikushimi to walk well in them.
"I feel ridiculous." Nikushimi admitted, puffing her cheeks as she peered into a mirror to look at her reflection in annoyance.
"You look adorable; I wish we could put hair ornaments in your hair." Michiko assured her. Michiko had undergone a dramatic change in her own attire. Her hair was left in a ponytail like Nikushimi's usual one and she had borrowed a tee shirt, ninja pants and ninja sandals from Rin, Nikushimi and Shogai. Shogai was unsurprisingly lean enough for his tee shirt to work for Michiko's form.
"I wish you had a red kimono that had fit her nicely, at least she has a cute red obi." Rin added with a small pout. Rin had desperately tried to find a red kimono, but they were all too large for Nikushimi's childish size.
"The maroon looks nice." Michiko reassured her, and Rin nodded. They led Nikushimi and Michiko to the barracks that housed the samurai guards. There they met with Sosuke, the Daimyo, and the boys.
"Nikushimi, you look so… different." Tatakau told his teammate, eyeing her strangely. Then, he caught sight of Michiko, and his face heated up and he proudly looked to the side to hide his blush.
"Nikushimi, you look beautiful." Obito assured Nikushimi when she looked ready to bolt after Tatakau's brash comment. Nikushimi blushed slightly, and looked to Minato who smiled down at them.
"We'll be separating now. Michiko, you'll be with Kakashi, Obito and Tatakau. They will take you to the safe point while we take Nikushimi and your father towards the real destination. After we get them there, I'll come back and get you." Minato explained before looking to Nikushimi, "Nikushimi, you'll be expected to just sit there and look pretty. I suggest hiding a kunai or two in your obi as a precaution."
"Alright." Nikushimi nodded, quietly asking Obito for three kunai. She stashed them in her tight obi. Minato made sure everyone was ready, and then sent the disguised Michiko (He had henged her to have blue eyes like Sosuke's and his own) off with Obito, Tatakau and Kakashi. Kakashi was captain of that team for now.
"Alright, Nikushimi, the most you'll have to do is sit in a carriage for a few hours. You get to sit with Fuijin-sama." Minato informed her. Nikushimi scowled, but didn't protest verbally. However she was mentally fuming.
'Why do I have to sit with that old sexist asshole!?'
It took an hour of Nikushimi sitting in a carriage for them to load up. Then the Daimyo came in just as they were leaving. They sat in silence until his distaste of Nikushimi brought them into a low argument on their opinions of each other.
Nikushimi knew it would be a long ride.
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Tamashi covered the ANBU tattoo on her shoulder with makeup, somewhat embarrassed she had forgotten about the seal. She had Moyasu henge the tattoo on her breast as it was large and out of place. Tamashi completely forgot about her ANBU tattoo as she had adjusted to being Nikushimi's shishou. Tamashi didn't really miss ANBU, Jounin missions were much easier and required less suicidal tendencies.
"I think we should stake out the political building today, we can go under the cover of looking for work." Moyasu, who was attempting to get his henged ginger hair to cooperate and stay up in its normal flame pattern, suggested.
"It would make sense. Perhaps I can find a job as a dancer or a bar tender; I know you get a lot of information as a bartender. Women are good at covert bartending. You can head to the political building while I pull info from drunks." Tamashi mused. She didn't hear a response from Moyasu and turned. He was deep in thought.
"What kind of dancer?" Tamashi opened her mouth to reply when she understood the meaning behind his words.
'Oh that fucking perverted bastard.' Tamashi seethed, 'How dare he think I would be so undignified to subject myself to the role of a street whore or stripper.'
"You asshole." was all Tamashi said as she angrily slipped out of the door, pausing momentarily in the genkan to retrieve her shoes.
"I'm just saying, you said bartender, and dancer is a bit debatable on meaning." Moyasu tried to defend himself. Tamashi just gave him a dirty look as she slipped her sandals on. Then she exited the hotel room.
"Honestly, who does he think he is." she huffed as she exited the hotel and made her way to the nightlife area of Taki. The streets were busy, and when she reached the bars, she went into "The Shuriken" bar. Loud, raucous ninja already filled the bar at noon, and Tamashi briefly wondered why so many ninja were here in the middle of the day. Taki had a small ninja population, and they weren't known for being the most powerful hidden village.
Tamashi sidled to the bartender, a middle aged man. Tamashi loosened her kimono styled top a little to allow her breasts to be very visible. Then she leaned on the counter, her seductive instincts taking over.
"Hey, I'm looking for a job as a bartender. Got an opening?" Tamashi asked huskily. The man's eyes briefly darted to her face, then rested on her cleavage again.
"I don't know, you any good at making drinks?" he inquired. Tamashi stood, her breasts flopping with her movement.
"Well, let me take over back there and I'll show you." Tamashi proposed, and he nodded. She shuffled in the back, mentally grinning. Bartending was extremely easy; she made these for herself often when the bartender of a bar in Konoha would end up breaking up a fight or getting knocked out attempting to.
Meanwhile, Moyasu shuffled into the Takigakure main building. A woman sat dutifully doing paperwork at the front desk. He noted the emptiness of the waiting room before slowly approaching the desk. The woman looked up, her piercing piss yellow eyes momentarily stunning him.
"Can I help you sir?" she asked impatiently, her fingers itching towards her pen.
"Uh yeah, are there any job openings I can fill? My fiancée and I recently moved into the village." Moyasu supplied. She sighed and turned to a large file cabinet behind her. She dutifully filed through it before sighing.
"We have room for a carpenter, an intern here, and a farmer." she droned.
"Intern, please." Moyasu said gleefully, this was easier than he thought! An intern would certainly receive useful paperwork, right?
"Of course, let me get you started." she said, sounding less than happy. She dug through the file cabinet again and handed him papers, "Bring those back tomorrow and if they're satisfactory you'll start next week."
"Thanks." Moyasu chirped, leaving the building. He looked down at the paper and read over questions.
"This is easy, name, date of birth, place of birth, family, etc." Moyasu continued to read as he walked. He didn't notice he was about to run into someone until he knocked into a man about his age.
"Sorry about that." Moyasu laughed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. The man he knocked into shrugged.
"Its fine." he said quietly, his golden almost amber eyes looking down nervously.
"I should have been looking where I was going. Have a good day!" Moyasu chirped, walking around the man. Moyasu made his way back to the hotel where he found Tamashi modeling her new bartender uniform.
"I like it." she announced as she whirled to face Moyasu. She wore a white top that had a cut out on her chest and wrapped up around her neck. A dark green skirt and black fishnet stockings finished her look.
"You look like an expensive hooker." Moyasu informed her, dodging the shoe she launched at his face.
"You're such a pervert!"
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Nikushimi sat grumpily across from Fuijin. They had quieted down from arguing and were now settling the argument with the occasional childish glare at each other. Nikushimi had the excuse of being young; Fuijin was just a sore loser.
"Look out!" Nikushimi heard Shogai's hoarse voice call in warning as an explosion sounded from what Nikushimi assumed to be the carriage behind them. She and Fuijin shared a look of apprehension. Several more explosions followed when a loud creaking sound caught their attention. Both looked up as the ceiling of the carriage was peeled away by an enormous bird with what appeared to be a single mechanical eye in the side of its head. It let out a piercing shriek before it stuck a giant clawed foot into the carriage. It wrapped around Nikushimi and then the ugly rust colored bird flapped its wings. The bird took to the air, but not before Sosuke launched himself from a tree and onto the bird's other claw.
"What are you doing?!" hissed Nikushimi.
"I can't let you get hurt; it is my duty to protect Michiko-hime!" Sosuke insisted. Nikushimi rolled her eyes at him.
"Well this isn't protecting her, this is getting yourself killed!" snapped Nikushimi, eyes narrowing beneath her hair as Sosuke slashed at the bird's claws with his sword. A metallic clang sounded back.
"What the hell?" Sosuke asked.
"It's not a living bird, it's a mechanical one." Nikushimi said in surprised realization. The bird made a shrieking noise and suddenly began diving down, back towards where Nikushimi's team was.
"We're dead!" cried Sosuke. Nikushimi went to yell back when the bird pulled up at the last second, Sosuke's body crashing into the carriage. He made a strangled choking noise, but held on.
"Sosuke, are you ok?" Nikushimi called.
"My legs!" he croaked back. The bird suddenly made another cawing sound before it dove again, but this time it rode the currents away from the fight. It went towards the mountain range, and Nikushimi braced herself as the bird flew through the trees. Sosuke grunted as trees scraped into him. But he held on with vigor, refusing to let go. Then when the mountain was reached, the bird flew up and dropped them into a crater from a few yards up. Nikushimi rolled to the side while Sosuke landed with a thump.
Nikushimi pushed herself up, crawling towards Sosuke. But she stopped when the ground rumbled and liquid metal shot from holes in the ground. The metal formed a thick cage around Nikushimi and Sosuke.
"Hm, you don't look like our target." a deep, scratchy female voice cooed. Nikushimi turned to see a woman with short, spiked coal hair and smoke colored eyes. Her body looked as if machinery held it together, her right shoulder was a contraption, as was part of her neck. Metal armor clad her body tightly, and an Iwa headband was fit snugly around her left bicep. Metal piercings covered her ears and face, giving her a rugged look. The bird landed beside her, and Nikushimi was willing to bet the bird was hers.
"You must be a decoy, it's a good thing I sent Takashite out after that other squad of servants, the target must be hidden among them." the woman chuckled, crouching next to the bars. Nikushimi glared at her.
"Hm, you look familiar." the woman murmured. Metal shot from the bars, wrapping around Nikushimi and pulling her to the bars. The woman pushed Nikushimi's hair back to see her full face.
"Ho… You're in deep shit. I know you, you're Ketsueki Nikushimi. You have a very dangerous enemy after you. She almost killed me, but her ability didn't work on my metal." the woman snickered before standing. Nikushimi was pushed back from the bars and the woman sauntered towards her bird. Nikushimi turned towards Sosuke before crawling to him. Nikushimi winced when she reached him. The lower parts of both his legs were no doubt shattered in multiple places. His one knee had been bent backwards completely.
"Sosuke, are you awake?" Nikushimi put a hand to his forehead. Sosuke didn't react in the slightest; however the unconscious boy did grit his teeth when Nikushimi went to set his legs as best she could.
'Well, we're in trouble. Sosuke's unconscious and if shock sets in, he's likely going to die. Not to mention his legs most likely won't work properly unless Rin gets to him like, now. I can't get a read off this woman, and she knows who I am and says someone is after me. Who could possibly be after me?' wondered Nikushimi. Nikushimi sighed, leaning her head back against the bars.
'I need to find a way out of here; I'm thinking this woman's main Jutsu revolves around her use of metal. And then that bird, I need to figure out her weak points.'
Nikushimi closed her eyes to focus, and she blocked out the banging sound the woman was making off to the side.
'If I can't get myself out of here, we'll have to hope Minato and Kakashi can track us.'
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"So, Tatakau right? You've been really quiet." Michiko brightly commented to Tatakau. Tatakau's face turned a shade of pink.
"I'm just thinking." Tatakau answered, rubbing his head sheepishly.
"He's a quiet person." Obito supplied with a teasing grin towards Tatakau.
"Shut up, I am not." Tatakau shot back. Michiko giggled at the bantering. Kakashi paused in front of them, making Tatakau and Obito look at him. Kakashi sniffed the air, before his coal eyes widened slightly.
"Duck!" ordered Kakashi, Tatakau doing so as Obito grabbed Michiko and ducked with her. A lightning bolt shot over their heads and fried the edge of a tree branch. The branch turned to dust and the end collapsed to the ground. Obito made a strangled, choking noise that Tatakau copied a moment later when he barely dodged a second bolt.
"Tatakau, get her out of here! Obito, with me!" Kakashi called, diving up onto a branch and heading towards where the lightning had come from. Obito was already beginning his fireball Jutsu as Tatakau grabbed Michiko bridal style and started to speed through the trees.
"Hold onto my neck!" Tatakau huffed as he dodged a lightning bolt that took off a branch above their heads. He yelped as a second bolt destroyed the branch he had been about to step on. He fell to the ground, rolling so that Michiko was not harmed. He immediately let her down and pulled out a kunai to protect Michiko with his life. A man stepped from the trees, a feral grin on his Nikushimi sharp teeth. His hair was an electric blue and stuck up at various angles with electricity sparking between the spikes. His left eye was a bright yellow, the right one an emerald green. His skin was burnt in some places, and some places were tinted blue. Tatakau wasn't sure what was up with this man, but Tatakau knew he'd have to be tricky to live through this.
"Hand over the girl and I won't kill you." the man ordered gruffly, eyes gleaming when Tatakau refused and held his kunai higher. Electricity shot from the man, hitting Tatakau's kunai and going through the conducting metal into Tatakau. Tatakau screamed as his slicked back hair shot up into the air and his hands were burned from where they held the kunai. He jolted to the ground, sparks jumping through his body before disappearing into the ground.
"Run Michiko-hime! I'll keep him here long enough for you to get away!" Tatakau cried as he stood. He thought to Nikushimi, vividly recalling when she had introduced herself to them.
"I'm Ketsueki Nikushimi, and don't you forget it! I like training with my best friend, Uchiha Obito, and I don't like it when people are mean. My dream…"
Tatakau pushed himself up, thinking of Nikushimi's energy in those words. He watched as the electric man moved forward towards him, an electrified sword in his hands. Michiko's breath was still behind him, she was probably too scared to move.
'Am I going to die here?' Tatakau wondered. But then, he thought to how sad Shogai would be if he died. How bad it would be for Michiko to die. How Nikushimi would punish herself for not protecting him…
"My dream…"
Tatakau pulled himself to his feet, his Sharingan spinning viciously in his eyes. He was surprised at the enormous chakra reserves the man had, and even more surprised that the lightning he saw before him was in fact condensed, electrified chakra.
"You're going to die for that brat over there kid?" the man chuckled. Tatakau grit his teeth, and began making hand signs.
"No…"
"I'd rather die than let you kill her." growled Tatakau, Nikushimi's words flashing through his head.
"My goal is to protect those who I care for, no matter the cost!"
Tatakau quickly spewed a fireball from his mouth, wincing when the lightning merely met the fireball and caused an explosion that sent Tatakau back a few feet. He charged forward in the smoke, launching shuriken at the man. Each shuriken was dodged easily and that man, with speed beyond that of anything Tatakau had fought against before, met Tatakau head on. Tatakau gaped, fear in his eyes as the man's fist met Tatakau's face with a zap and crunch. Tatakau was sent flying back into a tree. He slid to the ground, his body rocking in spasms from the lightning that coursed through his body. Blood gushed from his broken nose, and his eyes were shut.
'I'm going to die here… and Michiko will die because of me…'
"Even if I have to die…"
Tatakau, through his spasms, gripped the tree and he pulled himself to his feet. His body sizzled, and his skin was red where the electricity had boiled his skin. Tatakau's legs trembled from effort as he ran towards the man again. The man chuckled deeply before stepping forward in a jab. His finger stopped a few inches before Tatakau, however a powerful lightning bolt was quickly shot from his fingers and Tatakau was thrown through a tree. He landed harshly on the ground and didn't move again as his body convulsed.
"So be it…"
Michiko watched in horror, mentally begging Tatakau to rise again. But he didn't, and she turned to the man when his shadow fell over her. She felt tears dribble down her face as the man's grin split into a more sinister look.
"Leave her; she won't be able to help us!"
"C'mon, as ninja you should know what to do. Do you let your comrade die, kill the one holding them hostage, and then as a result have them die? Or maybe give in to save your comrade, and fail the mission? What do you do? Hm?"
"I don't care if Nikushimi lives or dies, it's not like we're friends or anything. I don't even like her."
'She… she..'
Tatakau's eyes opened, the forest blurry around him as dark spots began to crowd his vision.
"Sorry Nikushimi… looks like… I'm done for."
AN
Hooooo, this bitch took forever. It's long to make up for my incredible procrastination. Anyway, good news and bad news. Good news is I have less than a week left of school. Bad news is that starting July 5th, I'll be on a two week vacation where I won't have my laptop. I'll have internet, so PM me all you want.
And who is that crazy chick tracking Nikushimi down, hm?
And is this the end of Tatakau?
Haha, I know and you donnnn't.
Fun Fact- Nikushimi hates kimonos due to what happened to her the last time she wore one when she was a child.
Thanks to the following for reviewing:
Rei-chan the Shinigami
Luvrainluv
Guest (Thanks, I'm glad you like my story! Next time, you should put a name in your review instead of just "Guest" so I can put a better name than guest on the review list!)
Sayonara!