Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto, only Arashi and any other OCs I make!
A/N: Okay I just want to thank everyone who has read this, and thank my reviewers with gusto. While I would love to get so many reviews that it would overflow out of my inbox, I have a feeling that it is just not going to happen. Just a little tidbit of info for those who care, but as of the last chapter The Arashi Chronicles is 603 pages on Microsoft Word! That is so awesomely long! As well as breaking 300,000 words last chapter I'm very pleased as where I've gone with this story. I'm gad that at least some people like it, but with its massive size I think that it's a little intimidating to just start reading, I know I wouldn't do it unless I had like a week of free time!!
Enough of my rambling, I'll be surprised if anyone actually read all of that, so on with the chapter!!
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"You know Shino, I've been thinking lately…" Kiba said with purpose in his voice, but it was short lived as the bug user promptly interrupted him.
"I see…that is normally a dangerous thing." Shino remarked in his normal distant voice.
"Come on! I'm being serious here! You're worse than Nee-chan!" Kiba yelled back at his friend, every time the Inuzuka would get any semblance of seriousness, Shino would make some off handed comment that would destroy all credibility of what he was about to say. But the thing that pissed Kiba off the most was that Shino didn't even seem to find doing it fun, he just acted the same boring way he always did, the least he could do was laugh a little. Thinking back on it Kiba wasn't sure he had ever even heard the Aburame laugh…could they laugh? Shaking his head from getting off task he sighed deeply. "Really why do you even do that, I'm trying to talk with you and you gotta poke fun at me like that! Really what's up with it?"
Shino simply kept walking beside his friend; he had agreed to accompany Kiba on one of his walks with Akamaru. Reaching up he pushed his glassed up to their normal position and began to talk the way he always did. "I do it because normally Sakura finds it funny for some reason and laughs a bit."
"Huh?" Was all Kiba could say, he was dumbfounded at his reasoning.
"Sakura is under a lot of stress recently, with everything going on with our team…especially with Sasuke." Kiba's face suddenly shifted to one of sympathy, knowing all too well the separation Sasuke was making between himself and their team. "This added on to the fact she has for a long time thought of herself as a useless member of our team."
"That's crazy! She's not useless at all; she's a valuable member of Team 8!" The dog boy stated immediately.
"Of course she is; that is why I try to at least make things enjoyable for her. To take her mind off of everything that is really going on around here…it is what is called being a friend."
"Shino…" Kiba said almost under his breath, he had never thought that beneath the cold exterior of the bug user there was a very considerate and caring person. This was until he remembered something. "Hey! But she isn't even here!! There's no reason to do that NOW!!" He roared.
In response Shino simply readjusted his glasses again. "One must never pass up an opportunity to practice…besides you set yourself up too easily." He stated, Kiba just rolled his eyes at what he considered to be the closest thing to a joke that Shino ever said. "I'll humor you and see what it is you have been thinking about."
"Well…" Kiba said, the tone in his voice one of pride, almost like he thought he had figured out something. "I've been thinking a lot about Arashi…"
Shino then abruptly interrupted him. "Is this leading to yet another one of your plans to separate him and Hinata? Or have you decided to go after Arashi himself?"
"Shino!!" The Inuzuka yelled. "Nothing like that, I've just been thinking really hard on just who he really is. There has to be something to explain why Hinata likes him so much, why Sasuke regards him highly…" He began, but the last bit threw him into yet another tangent. "Did you know that Sasuke only considers three people his friends? Specifically that I'm not one of them!" Kiba said, anticipating Shino trying to point of the obvious. "So I think that he meant Sakura, Naruto, and Arashi. Sakura I get, Naruto I can get as well…with their rivalry that they've had and stuff…but there is nothing that would constitute Arashi being his friend! It's like he doesn't even like Sasuke, yet recently it's been different…I don't know it's all weird."
"Sasuke is a complicated person…did you perhaps think he considered me the third one and not Arashi…" Shino stated again in his normal voice.
"Ha! He respects you, but…well you know him. Anyway back to what I was saying, I've been thinking on just who Arashi really is…"
"That is simple; he is the last remaining member of the Himura clan, son of the Head of the Clan, holder of the Wolf Summon, a good Shinobi, and a person that is in the good grace of the Hokage."
"I know that already!!" Kiba yelled as a way of getting Shino to shut up. "I mean just who he is…we don't know much of what he can do. But I have a theory!" Shino just rolled his eyes, even though his glasses blocked the view of them he just had to roll them. He began to wonder just how many of Kiba's crazy 'theories' he had to hear. At first they had been rather amusing, like when he 'thought' on just why Ichiraku's was the best Ramen place in town. But soon they blew up into full out conspiracy theories, the craziest being that Sandaime was still alive and had staged an invasion so he could retire in peace. But they mostly did bring a smirk to Shino's face when he heard the crazy that spewed out of Kiba's mouth.
"Well…"
Leaning in close, Kiba whispered in Shino's ear. "I don't think that the story of Yondaime killing the Kyuubi is true…" Shino's interest was peaked; Kiba was trying to pick apart the greatest and most well known story in the history of Konoha. "I think that instead of killing it, Yondaime-sama somehow managed to seal it away!"
"And you think he sealed in inside Arashi…don't you?"
"Of course! Just look at it! Arashi was born the day of the Kyuubi attack, he is incredibly powerful, AND he is NAMED after Yondaime-sama!!" Kiba shouted, his tone indicative of a very incompetent person who believed themselves to be right.
Shino just adjusted his glassed. "Have you forgotten your Hokage History? Arashi's mother was on Yondaime-sama's team, so she named him after a friend…and many people are powerful. Everyone knows that Yondaime sacrificed his life to kill the Kyuubi; besides, did you forget that Naruto was born that day as well?"
"Oh yeah…" Kiba said, utterly defeated once again. But one day he just knew he would figure out some sort of secret. "You know you suck Shino, ruining my fun!"
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Ohhh?" The woman leaning against a tree across the clearing muttered as she spotted Arashi walk out of the foliage, a wide smile appearing on her face as she looked him up and down. "I got a cute one…" She murmured quietly to herself.
Watching her push herself up from her leaning position, Arashi's mind was racing on what exactly to do. It was quite odd to him that she was just sitting there, almost waiting for him. The feeling that he had been getting since the early morning was still there, something felt off to him but he just couldn't put his finger on it. The Himura's mind was busy thinking on that, this soon changed as he noticed the look she was giving him. "What are you doing?" He called out; uneasy at the stare she was giving him as she looked him up and down like a piece of meat.
"Oh, not much…just enjoying the view." She replied, accompanied with a seductive bat of her eyes.
A blush instantly appeared on his face when she said that. Sure he had noticed some of the looks that girls gave him in the past, these were mostly from members of what Naruto jokingly called his 'Fan Club'. But he had never been so uncomfortable under a stare like this before. For one he had never had anyone look at him the way she was, like she was measuring up livestock before sending them off to market. Then again, his mind was also racing back to Hinata. What would she think about someone looking at him like that? What should he do about the situation; it was a very awkward way of starting a fight in his mind. He had actually been excited about it, but with one look he wanted to get out of there. His mind was racing again, something it seemed to be doing a lot lately, but this time his blush grew even larger as he thought of what it would be like to have Hinata look at him like she was.
Suddenly he was ripped out of his thoughts when he noticed that she was no longer in front of him. Snapping his head to the right, he was just in time to catch a hand that was shooting forward at him from behind. Grabbing her hand just a few inches from his face, he turned enough to see her elated smile as she stood behind him. "You were dazing off, so I just thought I'd wake up you up cutie…" Arashi's basically glowed with the blush on his face when she wrapped her other arm around him and pulled his back against her protruding chest. Leaning in close enough for him to feel her breath on his ear, she spoke in an enticing voice. "Why must we fight…you're quite the good looking guy. A little young but I'm sure we could find something to pass the time other than dueling it out…"
With a quick movement Arashi spun his way out of the flustering embrace he was in, quickly reaching down he flung a kunai straight at her face. It was a wasted movement thought as she jumped to the side and evaded the incoming blade. Coming to a stop a little bit away from Arashi, a smirk spread swiftly across her face. "That's a 'no' I guess…that's too bad. We would have had lots of fun." She uttered with a wink at the boy.
Shaking his head, Arashi was determined not to seem anything less than confident, otherwise his opponent would take advantage and capitalize on it. "No thanks, I have someone anyway…"
"Ah…I see now." Kinme said with a grin, thinking on how she can push Arashi just the way she wanted to. If she was going to have to fight these Konoha punks then she was going to try her hardest to at least have some fun. "So that's why you're being so squeamish and jumpy from any type of the good kind of contact…" Letting out an odd girlish giggle she proceeded to blow Arashi a seductive kiss. "It's because you don't know what a "real woman" is!" Just looking at Arashi's face when she said that was laugh worthy, so that's what she did. Throwing her head back she laughed at him as he blushed and glared hard at her.
With every second that passed after she had made her last prodding comment, Arashi got more and more pissed off. Even he didn't fully understand it at the moment, but when the clenching of his fist got too tight and the nail of one of his fingers drew blood, something snapped inside of him and he understood. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!!" He yelled as he slammed his hand on the ground, forgoing the seals as his eyes glowed their shimmering silver color of his Kekkei Genkai.
Kinme just raised an eyebrow in interest when her enemy was engulfed in the smoke of the summoning. 'Kuchiyose…this ups the ante a bit.' She thought while a smile appeared on her face out of the intrigued look that had been there before.
After a moment the billowing smoke was carried away by the slight breeze that blew through the forest, revealing Arashi glaring at her in a Taijutsu stance and a sliver wolf snarling next to him. But Kinme simply looks at them with a sort of mild fascination, still looking him up and down. "You're much cuter when you look serious!" She squealed as her flirty gaze locked in on the deep glare she was getting from Arashi.
"Is she all we're up against?" Ragna asked as he scanned the new enemy to appear before his eyes.
"Yeah, but Hayate-sensei said that she can summon Panthers…" He responded to his summon under his breath. Getting only a wolfy grin back from his partner he focused back on Kinme as he hand slid down and gripped the hilt of his sword.
"Aww, look at that. He's got a little sword too…" She said mockingly.
"Shut up!" Arashi snapped back at her, throwing the woman off for a second. Until she smiled even bigger when she figured that this was coming from what had the boy so riled up already.
"Hina-chan is more of a woman that you'll ever be! Don't even insult her like that again by even putting her at your level. She is the greatest person I know, not some slutty chick like the one in front of me." Kinme just grinned even further; it seemed she had pushed all the right buttons on this one. "No one will ever compare in my eyes to the girl I love!" Arashi saw her raise her eyebrows as she listened to what he was saying. "Actually I feel sorry for you…you obviously don't know anything about love."
Almost instantly her expression completely changed, her smile disappeared and the flirty look that had been in her eyes vanished as well as a deep scowl replaced it. "That's really too bad…" She stated in a flat voice, she then slowly raised her had in a pose that told Arashi she was about to snap. "It's too bad you're one of 'those' romantics…no fun at all. Who needs love as long as it feels good?!" The purple haired woman said with venom in her voice before suddenly snapping loudly with a smirk slowly creeping across her face, just a few seconds later Arashi noticed a rustling in the bushes next to his enemy.
A low growl could be heard as the shaking of the foliage became more violent. With a sniff of his nose Ragna's fur stood on end, his teeth bared, emitting a snarl. Arashi's eye's widened when he saw the two massive panthers walk into the clearing from either side of Kinme. He swallowed hard in regards to their size; they were easily twice as big as Ragna at least. With a quick suppression of any negative thoughts, Arashi moved into one of the stances in his Taijutsu knowledge. His legs bent low with his left leg extended in front of him so he kept a low center of gravity, his right arm extended in front of him with his palm open and facing the side, as well as his left hand clenched in a fist that was cocked back so it rested next to his ear ready to strike. Seeing his ally slide into his stance, Ragna's became more crouched like he was about to pounce on some unsuspecting prey. A ferocious growl almost dripped from his bared mouth as he and Arashi sized up their enemies. Thinking on it, Arashi knew that the situation wasn't in their favor. They were outnumbered, he didn't know the extent of her powers or exactly what the Panthers could do, and what was the worst was there was no doubt in his mind that the information on what he could do from his last fight would have been passed on to her.
'Look at him, trying to be calm and calculation…this should be real fun.' Kinme was thinking as she watched his brow knit together in concentration as the tension of the awaiting fight was building. The suddenly she slammed her foot on the ground and pulled both fists back to rest against her sides and yelled to her Panthers. "Let's go boys! Time to tear these fools up!"
In response to the command the two reared their heads to the sky and let out a monstrous roar that felt like it shook the very ground Arashi stood upon. Looking over at Ragna he saw the wolf ready himself and look at him as well, in an exchange of nods they knew what their first move would be. Silencing their roars, the panthers then dug their hind legs into the grassy ground and shot off at their opponents.
In response Arashi dipped lower in his stance as his eyes concentrated on the big cat flying directly at him. Mere feet away the massive Panther pulled its clawed paw back and thrust out to take Arashi's head off. But at the last second he side stepped as quickly as he could, fully evading the blow. But midway through his dodge, Kinme wondered why he was smirking about it. This was instantly answered when suddenly Ragna slammed into the side of the great beast with a powerful head butt that sent the cat skidding across the grass.
But the accomplished feeling of landing a hit was short lived as Arashi was forced to take to the sky the second he finished his side step so as to avoid the claws of the other Panther. When he reached the top of his leap, fully safe for the moment from the big cats below, his searching eyes soon found themselves locked onto Kinme. He almost immediately wondered what she was doing; it didn't look like anything at all. She was just standing there with her hands clasped in the Tiger seal… "The Tiger seal?!" Arashi shouted when his mind clicked on what that meant, she had already finished the seal sequence for a jutsu was simply standing back from the action so she could find the perfect time to let the jutsu go and attack! Here he was floating back down to the earth, Arashi couldn't think of a more perfect opportunity to attack!
'Fools like him are the worst kind of idiot to battle with after all…only seeing what's in front of him and not thinking of the big picture! He had totally forgotten about little ol' me…that's going to come back and burn him!' She thought as the warming sensation of her chakra filling her lungs while she inhaled flooded her senses.
But from his vulnerable positioning Arashi was looking at her in horror, he couldn't do anything to move from where he was. He was a sitting duck the way he was just floating through the air. Snapping his head to the side in an attempt to find Ragna so he could join him in the air for a last second push out of the way, but only started to fret the situation even more when he saw him rolling around and fighting tooth and claw in an animalistic brawl with the second panther. "Shit…" He managed to say before watching the woman below him exhale.
"Katon: Houkadangan!!" She yelled as compressed blast of fire shot out of her mouth and towards her target. Arashi's eyes went wide as the image of the attack was vastly different than what he had been expecting; he had been prepared for a massive spray of fire that ignited the sky. But what he got was a blast shooting at him like a fiery bullet streaking up towards him, reminding him of another object that had been hurdling at him not too long ago. As quickly as he could his hand moved and pulled out his shining sword as fast as he could.
Kinme just watched on with a smile as her blast hit its target and lit up the sky in a blazing red, her view of his mangled and scorched corpse blocked by the cloud of dust and smoke that resulted from the impact. "Pitiful…he really didn't put up too much of a fight now did he?" She said as she covered her eyes from the glare of the sun to watch her favorite part of this attack, when the body returned back to the ground. The panther summoner just smirked as she saw a smoky object break out of the cloud. But as the smoke cleared from the body's decent she saw the opposite of what she expected. "What the Hell?!"
What she was met with was a very much alive Arashi; she just glared as she saw him holding his sword out before him and some sort of chakra aura extending out from the blade completely covering the area in front of him. Somehow he had formed a type of shield of flowing chakra off of the blade and had the blast erupt off it and save him from harm. Touching down to the ground Arashi heaved a sigh of relief; down here he could maneuver and escape any attack she blasted his way. "I'll have to thank Hayate-sensei for teaching me that later." He said to himself with a light chuckle, glad that any serious damage had been avoided. He had several burn marks covering his pants and jacket, some just on the cloth while others had made some rather nasty burns on his skin. Nothing that was serious but something that could be a hindrance if he let it. Then coming to his senses Arashi made a swift back flip over the claws that were about to rip into his back.
A light growl permeated the air around Kinme as she glared at the boy who now had a distance put between him and her. Then with a swift snap of her fingers her companions leapt to her side, letting out a feline roar as they eyed down their enemies. Kinme just sneered at the wolf in front of her when she noticed several claw and bite marks across one of her panthers. 'I'll give it that he's better than I thought…I guess it's time to kick it up a notch!'
"This is going to be harder than I thought Ragna…" Arashi muttered as he stared down Kinme as she glared back at him. He didn't like the change of the look in her eyes, hidden behind her glare was a shine of confidence in her eyes. It was disturbing for Arashi; the only thing he could think would cause it to be there was something she was hiding. After all, she really wouldn't have to show everything with the threat of her panthers in your face.
"Those overgrown cats are formidable themselves…" The silver wolf responded, but was cut off with Arashi's agreement with his statement.
"Yeah, but with her staying back she's looking for openings to hit us with a long range attack like the last one. So even if she stays out of the actual fighting, it's still three on two."
"I agree, as long as the two of us can stay on the ground and move around we won't have to worry about her. Defeat the kitties first and we can take her out!" Ragna said quietly, gaining a small smile off the face of his ally.
All he got in response was an affirmative grunt before they were assaulted again by the massive panthers. Each one of them dodging left ad right, weaving under and around that giant claw swipes the beasts were making. Using their smaller size and speed as an advantage the two found it relatively easy to move around the great cat, which was before the ground at their feet erupted in flames when they got enough distance away from the cats! Looking over Arashi saw that should he or Ragna be in a clear shot to Kinme, she would fire the same attack Arashi blocked. Each time driving them back into the fray with the panthers, effectively controlling how her enemies moved and the battle.
It appeared in Arashi's eyes that Ragna had figured this fact out himself, with only a nod between them they had come up with a plan to try and get at her or at least to let off an attack. In an instant Arashi's eyes began to shine the spectacular silver of the Shekkeigan, with a smirk on his face he rolled to the side and avoided a paw strike and then put their plan into action. Getting out of the way, Ragna dashed straight at Kinme while Arashi jetted out from the panthers and getting distance between him and her. Now she was trapped, if she shot her fire blast at Arashi then Ragna would attack her. But if she attacked Ragna, then Arashi would attack her! Arashi could only smile, his plans had worked perfectly!
His grin only got bigger when he saw her turn towards the wolf rushing towards her. With one more speeding movement to the right of the now thoroughly confused panthers Arashi had a clear shot to his enemy who wasn't even looking at him. His mind then focused on one of his favorite jutsu and from the power of his eyes the sparking chakra gathered at the end of his outstretched finger that he was aiming at Kinme. It only took a moment for the crackling attack to fully form, making an imaginary trigger in his mind he pulled it and released the pent up chakra. "Raiton: Rai Reza!" His eyes narrowing in at his target as a smirk smeared across his face as he watched the attack arc off of his finger tip.
But suddenly and much to the boy's shock, his enemy rolled under the streaking lighting attack and righted herself with her eyes fixed directly on him. "Baka!" She yelled as she darted towards him, her fist pulled back to deliver a savage blow to him in a second. Arashi's mind was racing as he saw her right in front of him, they were too close for his to evade, she had predicted that he would try something like that and acted on it.
Things weren't looking good in the Himura's mind, but things got even worse when he noticed that her clenched fist was quickly starting to glow red and brighter with every passing moment.
"Die!" Kinme screamed as she lurched forward with her glowing fist.
But to her side she then felt a horrible pain in her left shoulder as well as a large force pushing into her. "GUUUUH!!" She yelped in pain as Ragna's teeth sank into the muscle of her shoulder, throwing her off her attack and to the ground. But as soon as Arashi was clear of an attack, the wolf released her and leapt back to safety along with Arashi so as to avoid the panthers that lunged at them in defense of their master.
Both sides were now separated by a fair distance, Ragna and Arashi glaring at the others while holding defensive stances in case of anything sudden. While the gigantic felines circled their dominating master, who was clenching her shoulder while she lay on her knees. If looks could kill, Arashi would have been dead on the spot; Kinme was looking at him with the look of a ravenous beast that had just had their meal taken away from them. "You horrid beast! I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you both!! Here and now!!" She snarled as she picked herself up, her chest heaving as she sucked in air violently.
Everything about her seemed to change the instant she received a wound, her playful demeanor was non-existent, her seductive eyes replaced by those of someone who wants nothing more than to exterminate whatsoever comes into view. A chill ran straight up Arashi's spine as he looked into those eyes, a feeling he had the misfortune of feeling the time he had gazed into the blood crazed eyes of Gaara. Arashi has a bad feeling that something was going to happen, that she had snapped.
"I'm sick of playing around with you! Screw Akuhei's plans! It's time to END THIS!!" She screamed before clamping her hands together in a hand sign and inhaling deeply. With her piercing eyes locked on Arashi's she filled her lung to bursting as he drew in air. Clamping her mouth shut to hold the gas in, she began to mold the chakra she had been accumulating for this attack.
Arashi hardly had any time to recognize what se was doing before she had sucked in as much air as she could. But it was too late to do any type of counter attack; he could only stand there frozen in place by the look coming from Kinme's eyes.
Then it happened, she released her breath and the jutsu she had activated, screaming it out as it came rocketing out of her mouth. "KATON: OKIBI!!" The flames exploded out of their confined holding place and shot out in a massive and wide blast, scorching everything in its path. Keeping her stream of chakra into the blast she focused on the course of her attack, watching every blade of grass burst into flames as her attack streaked towards her enemies. With a narrowing of her eyes she pumped even more chakra into the firestorm before her, cranking up the heat until it seemed as if the stream coming out of her mouth was white hot.
Slowly the fire jet died down as she ran out of air, ending the attack to suck in the life sustaining gas. She could only smirk as she waited for the fiery hell before her dissipate, waiting to laugh at the two piles of ash and bone that would be all that was left of the accursed boy and beast. She could almost smell that glorious stanch of burned flesh that she had come so accustomed to.
"W-What?!" She then yelled out as she saw no sign of the two anywhere in the field of destruction she had laid down.
"Thought you got us huh?" A voice above her sounded out.
Reeling her head skywards her gaze locked onto the forms of Arashi and Ragna high in the air, Arashi's jacket smoking from the close call of being burned to a crisp and Ragna's fur was looking a little shorter as well. "You!!" Kinme seethed, her attack had been for nothing. Had she not lost her cool, she could have positioned them so that there was no where to run to and taken them out.
Despite almost being burned to death, Arashi's face was lit up with a beaming smile. His mind had kicked in mid jump and he couldn't stop smiling about what he had planned for her, one way or another his problems were about to be put to an end. Looking over to his partner, he nodded with a grin and was glad when he got a toothy wolf grin back.
"Looks like you had your turn…now it's ours!!" Arashi yelled whist his enemies looked up at him with widened eyes. He tried to fight it off, but a confident smirk began to spread across his face. Now wasn't the time to get overconfident, it was what was working in his favor this fight and he didn't want to underestimate his or Kinme's abilities. "Time to fly Ragna!!" The Himura then yelled with a grin as he and his Summon drew closer in the air and he pulled out several kunai to hold in each hand.
Then in a mightily slam, they pushed off of each other, making the other spin violently from the force of the push. Kinme's eyes grew wider as she watched the two quickly become two ferociously spinning vortexes of claws, fangs, and kunai. "Ookami Gatsuuga!!" Arashi and Ragna roared as they streaked down to earth to land their attack.
Turning back the woman threw a pointing hand at the incoming attack and screamed at her Panthers. "What are you doing!? Attack them…NOW!!"
With a snarl from each, the massive panthers crouched low and leapt with all their might, creating explosions of dirt and grass as they left the ground. Kinme gazed with a victorious smirk as she saw her Panthers approach the spinning enemies that had begun to spiral around one and other.
But the confident feeling she had was crushed in an instant when her Panther's lashed out with their razor sharp claws to attack, but then suddenly the erupted in smoke as her enemies ripped through the claws and drilled straight through them, sending them back from whence she had summoned them.
"FUCK!!" She screamed, Arashi and Ragna had dispatched her Panther's and were now on a path straight to her. Putting her hands before her she spread her fingers out wide and closed her eyes, then as she drew her hand back to her body she began inhaling as much air as she could. 'They can't evade this now…my cats might be gone. But I'm more than enough to fry these two!!' Hearing the whirring of her incoming enemies, her eyes snapped open as she let loose the same attack that they had dodges earlier. "Katon: OKIBI!!"
The blast of fire exploded out of her mouth and slammed into the approaching Konoha Shinobi and Wolf, Kinme's face was contorted into a smirking glare as she poured more and more power into the attack, planning to incinerate them right where they were. But she didn't expect was for Arashi to burst out from the firestorm engulfing him and slam into the ground. Then as quickly as he had escaped the flames, redirected his momentum and shot back towards Kinme, still a very dangerous drill of flesh and kunai. "Think you can stop us that easily? Take…THIS!!" He screamed as he collided hard with her chest, instantly stopping the flow of fire out of her mouth, instead it couched up blood as she was propelled back from the blow, slamming into one of the mighty trees that encircled them.
"Got her…" Arashi said quietly to himself as he sat crouched on all fours after coming to a sliding stop on the grassy battlefield. Above him the flames of her attack had gone and now Ragna came to a stop right next to his master, his color streaked with many black burn marks. Standing up and putting the kunai away in his pouch, Arashi moved towards his companion. "You okay buddy? You're smoking?"
"I'll be fine…it'll grow back. Is she dead?" The wolf responded, sniffing the air as he spoke. "I can't smell her, all I'm getting in the smell of smoke."
Arashi's grin dissipated as he looked in front of him to the giant hole punched into the large tree trunk before them. From where he was standing it looked like it was hollow on the inside and she had only gone through one side, and now was inside the tree. A steady plume of smoke was billowing out of the large hole, obscuring and view inside.
"I don't think that took her out…" The Chunin said while he breathed hard, trying to get his breath back. 'That was a lot of chakra used in succession…a chakra shield, dodging those Panthers, Raiton, Shunshin, and then two Ookami Gatsuuga. I hope she stays down for a while…I need to catch my breath.' Leaning over to rest his hands on his knees, Arashi glanced over to see that Ragna was panting much harder than he was.
"You sure you'll be okay?" He asked one more time, but this time was quickly answered when the wolf dropped down to sitting position.
"Gomen…I've used too much chakra. I'm afraid I won't be of much help from now on…" He said in a clearly disappointed tone.
"That's fine; you go back home and rest up real well. She doesn't have her panther's anymore…I'll handle it."
"But…"
"No, you go home." Before Ragna could protest anymore, Arashi dispelled the summoning; sending Ragna back with a puff of smoke.
His thoughts were then quickly snapped back to his hidden opponent as he felt a chakra spike coming from where he thought she was.
"Kuso, kuso, kuso…" He could barely hear coming from the hole in the tree. Inside the massive trunk, Kinme was on the ground with her back smashed half way through the other side of the tree, her head hung low and staring at her cupped hands that she held in her lap. Snapping her head up her eyed pierced the smoke billowing out of her exit, while her hands began to glow. "KUSOOOO!!"
"BOOOOOM!!" Suddenly Arashi had to shield his face when the tree unexpectedly exploded in flames. Hiding his face from the extreme heat pouring from the now flaming tree, he glimpsed Kinme standing at the epicenter of the inferno, her head hung low seemingly looking at the ground, as well as her arms hanging limp at her sides.
"W-What is this?!" Arashi yelled out to himself, awed by the magnitude of fire that came out of nowhere.
"You little shit…" He then heard come calmly out of the mouth of is enflamed enemy. "You little shit, first you talk down to me about love, then your flee-bitten mutt bites me, and then you ruin my favorite flak jacket…" The Chunin vest that she had been wearing was now shredded and just hanging on by the shoulders, the shit underneath had many rips on it and the sleeves seemed to have been ripped off as well. "Why couldn't you just die like you were supposed too?"
Her eyes were locked with his, and for the first time in his life Arashi had found someone whose stare was more terrifying than Sakura's. His eyes quickly escaped her gaze when she took a step out from where she had been standing and onto the fried grass before her. Arashi was now getting worried, with every step she took, the flames spread faster towards him and the heat rose even more.
"But worse than all the rest…you hurt my cute little panthers!!" Kinme yelled, before an intense wave of fire flowed off of her and over the remaining grass.
The wave of flames was quickly approaching Arashi, but all of a sudden his mind went blank. The fight was nothing, his mission was nothing, the only thing that seemed to matter to his mind anymore was the unbearable heat surrounding him. He wanted to escape, to run away from the fire and plunge into a cold ocean. To go to the coldest thing he had ever experienced…and that's when his mind suddenly was transported back to the Land of Waved. He wasn't in an inferno of fire anymore, he was in Haku's Ice Mirror prison, and it was cold. He could feel the air, ice cold and moist; he could feel that chakra weaved into the cold bliss that encircled him there.
Then suddenly he snapped out of it and smiled. In an instant his eyes changed to bright silver color of his Kekkei Genkai, and he thrust his arms forward, holding them extended to each side of him. With a mere intention and surge of chakra, he could feel the heat disappear. Looking down he saw the grass below his feet encased in ice, and for about five feet in from of him to every side everything was frozen solid. But beyond that line everything was burning.
Using the Hyouton he picked up from Haku, he had been quick enough to make almost a little bubble of frosted air and iced ground amid the inferno of flames that raged outside it. To say Kinme was rather confused would be quote an understatement, one second she's about to fry the boy into a fine powder, and the next he's in the middle of a circle of ice.
Raising an eyebrow, she manipulates her fire so that instead of it running rampant through the clearing, it instead is concentrated round Arashi, with a stream of it connecting it to its source…her.
"They never told me you could use ice…" She remarked, breaking the silence that had been drowned out by the roaring of her fires. The Kumo Nin then smirked as she took a few steps closer to Arashi, the heat and flames encircling him growing with each step. Scrunching his face in concentration he pushed more chakra into keeping the fire at bay, and himself burn-free for the moment.
"It's rather sad actually…" Kinme scoffed, glaring through the flames before her and straight at Arashi. "You showed some good speed earlier, and now look at you. Grounded like bird with its wings cut off, I'm sure all sorts of thoughts on how to move around are rushing through that head of your's. But…" Thrusting her hands out to her sides, the stream of fire spread rapidly to engulf a larger area around them.
Arashi could only stare wide-eyed at her, specifically at the fire that engulfed her yet caused no burns, even to her cloths.
"It's amazing isn't it?" She asked him, her voice returned to its flirty and playful tone. Tilting her head to the side she batted her eyelashes at him and smiled. "It's my clan's special technique."
The instant the uttered that phrase, an idea sprung in Arashi's mind and his shinobi training kicked in. "Know yourself and you'll win half of your battles, but know your enemy and you'll win them all." Iruka's voice echoed in Arashi's mind, he was in the position to find out some details he could use for his benefit; also there could be a slight possibility that it was a Kekkei Genkai. If it was he could take advantage and fight her on her grounds. "Special technique? I've never heard of anything like this before." He said in a low growl, playing the part of the frustrated enemy.
The woman before him simply raised an eyebrow slightly in response to his retort. "There's a reason for that fool, a good clan doesn't go around showing people their prized jutsu…" She stated before letting out a small laugh. "Unlike the stupid clans in your village like your Nara can, their shadow usage is well known in Kumo and I would expect in many other villages too."
'Damn; it's not a Kekkei Genkai, just a highly specialized jutsu like Shikamaru's or Chouji's. But I didn't find anything useful out of that…'
While keeping on hand spread out and pointed at the ground, keeping the stream of fire consistent, she then raised her right hand to Arashi's eye level and smirked. With a flick of her wrist a shot of flames erupted from her palm, streaking to Arashi's left and colliding with a tree, instantly setting it aflame. "You see, I use my chakra start fire and to control the movements and size of it. Depending on where I release my chakra I can cook you hundreds of different ways…" She explained with an ominous glint in her eye before breaking out into a satisfied laugh.
The Himura just looked hard at what she had done while his mind raced with his thoughts. 'I don't specifically know how she could be starting the fire, but it's definitely originating from her Tenketsu. If I'm right, she expels chakra just like the Hyuuga, except its not just regular chakra but its elemental chakra, Katon chakra. Her clan must be specialized in Katon, I've only seen her use that type of jutsu…I can see how her chakra is working with Byakugan!'
Closing his silver eyes, his ice ring shrunk a little as he diverted some of the chakra keeping it in existence to his eyes. "Byakugan." He said quietly under his breath as he snapped his eyes open "W-What?" He instantly said in shock, the normal view scope of the Byakugan wasn't there, he felt no bulging veins on the side of his eyes, nor could he see anything that he couldn't a moment before. For some reason the Byakugan didn't activate, the instant that realization crossed his mind Arashi's blood ran cold. What was going on, what there something wrong with his Shekkeigan?
'Yondaime! What's happening here?' Arashi called out in his mind, this had never happened before, out of all of his acquired Kekkei Genkai Byakugan was his most used and familiar, it not working all of a sudden made the boy question if his Hyouton would hold up to the flames much longer.
Arashi hadn't heard from the Ex-Hokage in a long time, too busy with the issues of the mission and impending attacks recently even to give him a visit in his sleep which he regularly did. So the thought that Yondaime wouldn't even respond was fresh in his mind. "I never heard of anything like this happening, I don't really know." Despite his lack of an immediate explanation that Arashi was used to, the boy was relieved that his contact with the man was still intact.
'But I don't understand how something like this could happen! Especially with the Byakugan, I just don't get it!'
Arashi just stood there, his mind trying to focus on finding answers to this new dilemma with Yondaime, but at the same time trying to keep focus on using Hyouton. The end result of this split of Arashi's attention being the need to use more chakra than should have been needed.
"The only thing that makes sense is that the Shekkeigan has limitations, that only one Kekkei Genkai can be used at a time! With you using Hyouton, the use of any others isn't possible." The Hokage said; it made sense with what had happened as well as what he had found out by looking around and trying to figure out just how the rare bloodline trait worked.
'I guess that makes sense…' He responded in his mind, but then suddenly his whole body trembled. Now breathing hard, Arashi was significantly feeling the amount of chakra that the use of Hyouton was taking. 'Any idea why I can't use two at the same time, or why Hyouton is using up a lot more chakra to use than Byakugan or Sharingan?'
"Now that I can answer, recently I became rather curious about just how the Shekkeigan worked and looked around for some answers. Thinking back on research done by the Himura clan when I was Hokage, as well as looking around your mind and body to see reactions to how it is used."
"What I found was that the process of using other's Kekkei Genkai was far more complicated than I thought. How you do it is by changing your body's structure, use, and composition to use the powers gained from others. More specifically the true power of the Shekkeigan is the manipulation of the user's own DNA, shifting to what is perceived by observing the Kekkei Genkai of others!"
"It really is amazing, but because it is so complicated it can use up a ton of chakra for certain things. Since Byakugan and Sharingan are Doujutsu, it's only the eyes that are changed and manipulated by the Shekkeigan. But Hyouton consists of the whole body's ability to create, form and manipulate ice from combining Fuuton and Suiton. So there has to be a change in your whole body's DNA sequencing to achieve this ability, so the chakra used to orchestrate such a change is many times greater than the chakra needed for Doujutsu activation."
Not really knowing the implications that DNA manipulation meant, Arashi mainly picked up that Hyouton was riskier to use that the Doujutsu. 'I really didn't understand all of that, but now's not really the time to be thinking about this. I'm almost out of chakra and I need to end this fight soon or I'm finished. Yondaime-sama, can you lend me some chakra to defeat this bitch. I can't forgive her for insulting Hina-chan!'
But instead of the warming sensation of Yondaime's yellow chakra flowing over him, be felt no change in himself or his chakra levels. "I'm sorry Arashi, but I'm not going to allow that."
'What? Why not? I could die here if I don't take her down now!!'
"This is your first mission as commander, it is your mission and you need to complete it. You can't always depend on others to get you out of trouble, especially me. You should always know when to turn for help, but you must also know that you can do things yourself. I'm sorry, but this is a lesson you must learn."
"Kuso!" Arashi said out loud, with Yondaime's refusal he decided to follow the Hokage's lesson, even though he was very worried about the lack of chakra he was feeling.
Meanwhile Kinme was breathing hard as well, she could see Arashi's condition in regards to his remaining chakra, but he wasn't alone. Using the fire techniques was a risky decision for her clan, while it was very powerful and useful it used a tremendous amount of chakra. That was the main reason it is saved as a last resort for the people of her clan. "Looks like you can't hold that ice up for much longer!"
"AHHHH!" Arashi suddenly screamed, the ice at his feet rushing out at tremendous speed, smothering a section of the fire surrounding him and giving him a route out of the inferno. Leaping back, Arashi landed away from the fire, and free to attack.
But as soon as he landed he fell to one knee, breathing heavily and violently. Kinme, growled at the sight before her. With a wave of her hand the raging fire that consumed most of the clearing vanished, leaving a field of ashes. She was feeling the strain of chakra depletion on her and saw no need to keep wasting it by keeping the wildfire going. The woman gazed at Arashi as he raised himself to a standing position, his ice gone, and breathing just as heavy as she was. "Looks like this is the end…the final attack for both of us, that spinning attack earlier hurt like hell…now I'll return the pain tenfold!"
Arashi was now very worried; Kinme had declared she was going to have a final attack. He had almost no chakra left, maybe enough for a fast dash at her along a small use of Hyouton. But definitely not enough for any of his other jutsu, especially Rasengan, he new he should have used that instead of Ookami Gatsuuga, it would have done far more damage. But even if it had and she survived he would have been in a worse situation than he had been. He only had one option attack wise, it was something he would have to pull off.
Planting his right foot and focusing his eyes on Kinme, Arashi's position lowered into a much more bent and ready to speed off for attack position. His hands slowly drifted to his left and gently grasped the hilt of the sword strapped to his left side. Sliding it out of the saya about an inch he used the last of his chakra to coat the blade in ice, ensuring that no fire attacks would harm the blade. Now all the chakra he had left was only enough for quick burst of speed for attack.
"Che…" Kinme scoffed when she saw him ready his katana. "Looks like you don't even have enough chakra for a decent last jutsu!"
His eyes beginning to get heavy from chakra depletion, Arashi spoke up in a chiding tone. "Doesn't' matter…I don't wouldn't need one to…put you away!" The Himura said between breaths, a grin on his face.
"You little brat, what makes you think that dinky little piece of steel is going to help you?" Her eyes flared open as she directed the last bit of chakra, preparing form her final attack. Suddenly two huge bursts of fire erupted from her back, shooting off with force and arching back, making it almost seem they were wings of flames. The two surges of flame bursting from her had forced her to plant a leg in front of her, so that she wouldn't go flying forward before she was ready, but it was getting hard to stay stationary due to the force the blaze was trying to propel her at. "AHHHHHH!!" Kinme then roared as two streams of fire flowed from her shoulders and engulfed each arm, coming to a bright blue flame on each fist.
Returning her gaze to Arashi, she exhaled steam as she fought against the force trying to move her. "There…my final attack form…Shakaku!"
She lit the forest up with the light coming from her; Arashi's eyes were narrowed in concentration at the inevitable attack coming his way. Trying to calm his mind, he tightened his grip on Heijin and then channeled the very last of his chakra into his legs, preparing to rush at her as fast as they could carry him.
Crouching even further in preparation to launch, each of them glared into the other's eyes. "It's time to finish this!" Arashi said with authority.
"You are a fool!! I'm going to crush you! And throw you into the wind!!" She shrieked, the intent to kill reflected in her eyes like the glare of a light off of a mirror. "Time to DIE!!"
Then in an instant the two enemies shot out at each other, and in that instant everything seemed to slow down. Every step brought them closer to the end of the battle, each believing that they would come out victorious. Each step the other became impressed by the other's speed; Kinme propelled forward like a rocket, the blazing plumes of fire driving her forward like one, and Arashi moving as fast as he could in the condition he was in. Each step Arashi could feel the burn in his legs as they consumed the last drops of his chakra added onto the actual burns he sported on them from earlier fire blasts from Kinme.
Then in one sweeping movement Arashi struck out with Heijin as Kinme thrust her flaming fist directly at his face, a fist that would burn whatever it touched horribly. They were now too close to dodge or break off the attack, it would soon be over. But then something happened that Kinme did not intend on, there suddenly was a lancing pain that arched over her entire left arm. She instantly realized that it was the bite wound she had received from Ragna earlier; in the very last instant before each attack connected she was horrified to see that the pain in her arm had made her move it in reaction to it. Instead of flying forward to smash into Arashi's face and burn it to where it would be unrecognizable, it was now inches away from his shoulder.
The instant the two attacks came together the entire clearing was engulfed in dust and ash as the wind following each was sucked into the center. The only sound heard being that of two people struggling to breath. With a gust of wind, the debris was cleared, leaving the two Shinobi about standing calmly about ten feet apart and facing the opposite direction.
"GUUUUUH!" Arashi suddenly yelled as his right arm shot up to grip his left shoulder, letting Heijin fall clanking to the ground, the entire left side of his jacket had been burned off and he had been badly burned. Slumping over to his knees he finally succumbed to chakra depletion, passing out on the ground as the pain from his wounds washed over him.
"Heh…little fucker." The woman said softly, but the instant she moved blood splattered to the ground. A deep slash had been put on her left side, it was bleeding badly with blood pooling around her feet. Slowly and shakily, she turned back towards Arashi; she only had a little chakra left.
Then almost falling over; she hacked up some more blood, retching as she heard the thick liquid splash on the ground. She had won, she had beaten the last of the Himura, and the people of Kumo would celebrate her achievement. All she needed was his head; while she had won the fight victory in the eyes of Kumo wasn't absolute until one was dead.
But upon taking the first step his way an intense wave of pain flooded every nerve in her body, the slash had been deeper than she figured. Then, using some of her last chakra her hand flared up once more in fire, then she gripped it against her newest wound. "UAAAH!" She grunted as the fire seared the wound shut, the smell of burnt flesh seeping into her nostrils.
Keeping her hand over the fresh burn, she staggered forward. She didn't have enough chakra for anymore fire, but the boy was out cold. All she needed was her hands and a strong grip around his neck. Finally reaching him, she stared down at his unconscious body, still gripping his shoulder in pain. "It's a shame…I couldn't see the face of your little girlie when she finds out your dead…"
"Aaaah…" She then gasped in response to the horrible pain she suddenly felt radiating from her chest. "W-What?" Kinme then stammered when she saw the long blade of a sword jutting out from her chest.
"Guess I got here just in time." A distinctly older voice said behind her.
She was about to say something, but with a twist of the blade her eyes then rolled back into her skull as her lest breath left her.
After checking that there was no pulse, Hayate casually flung the corpse off to the side. "I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner Arashi." The Jonin said as he gingerly picked the Himura up and gently put the boy on his back. "There's something fishy going on with these fights…" He said before lightly coughing. "Hold on Naruto…Hinata, I'll be there soon."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(Earlier)
"Whoa! Look at that Hinata-chan!" Naruto proclaimed, stopping their speedy trek towards the capital.
Stopping as well Hinata turned to see a gigantic plume of dark black smoke floating up from an area several miles behind them. Immediately she knew that it was where Arashi was doing battle with that woman that had bothered Getsurei so much. "It's Arashi-kun…"
"Of course it is! He must really be kicking some ass to make a cloud of smoke that big!" Naruto proclaimed victoriously.
"No…" Getsurei said disappointedly, his arms crossed and leaning against tree stump to the side of Naruto and Hinata. "Kinme's specialty is fire; she caused that…not Arashi."
Hearing this Hinata clasped her hands together in worry. "G-Gomen Naruto…b-but I have to go help Arashi-kun!" She stammered out before she turned to leave.
But before she could she was stopped by Naruto's hand on her shoulder. "Hinata-chan…Arashi is strong, he can handle himself. You shouldn't worry about him; I know he wouldn't want you too." Then looking her straight in the eyes his face changed to become very serious. "I'm sure he's more worried about us and what's to come than what he's doing right now."
"Y-You're right Naruto-kun…" She responded as she wiped a tear out of her eye.
Naruto just put his hands behind his head and strolled off in the direction they had been heading in, making sure to stay in the tree cover and away from the rocky drop just outside it. "Besides, I'm here! And I'm not going to let anything bad happen!"
"BOOOM!" Suddenly an explosion rocked the spot where Naruto had just stepped, tossing him high into the air.
"Naruto!!" Hinata yelled, watching him float in midair, looking frantically around him for a source of the blast.
Then in an instant a blur collided with Naruto, a fist slamming hard into the boy's gut. Sending him careening out of the tree cover and over the edge of the cliff, followed closely by whatever had hit him.
Sprinting to the edge Hinata looked in horror as Naruto fell beyond her sight. "NARUTOOO!!"
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
What is going to happen with Naruto? What hit him? What will happen with Arashi? And what of the leader Akuhei? All will be answered next time!!
The funny thing about this chapter was that it was supposed to be Naruto and Arashi's fight, but Arashi's went too long so I had to split it into more chapters. SO look for Naruto's fight next chapter.
Well I'm so sorry about this taking forever to come out!! Really I am! I have been dedicating myself to my school work and that has taken up nearly all of my time. That and any time that I wasn't using for that was used on new mangas and animes I got addicted to. Seriously everyone go read Fairy Tale and watch Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann!
That and I had been severely lacking on motivation to do this chapter slapped on top of a huge quantity of Writer's Block no Jutsu! It wasn't until I got some messages complaining about my lack of chapter that I kicked my butt in gear today and wrote about ¾ of this! So in the future, if its been a while between updates, just pester me about or just message me and get in a discussion about TAC and it will make me want to get cracking on the new chapter.
Thanks and please review!!
Jutsu List:
Katon: Houkadangan – Katon: Fire Bullets
Raiton: Rai Reza – Raiton: Lighting Laser
Katon: Okibi – Katon: Blazing Fire
Shakaku – Angel of Fire