Snow roared around their heads, and Kotori stepped near Iruka and Anko, the pair clinging to her arms for protection. Kotori winced as her hair flew around her face and she could hear the man's laugh over the flurry of snow. It hardened into ice, and raised to the sky, forming into an eagle, its wings as sharp as kunai. It flew straight for the group, and from the bottom more snow formed into ice, firing at the three in the shape of a dragon. It roared, and Kotori's eyes widened as sharp shards of ice fired from both their mouths. Kotori gasped, narrowing her eyes as they formed into kunai and aimed straight for them. She made hand signs as fast as she could, panicking that she wasn't fast enough. The ground beneath the snow ruptured, the snow moulding in with the mud. It took the shape of a dragon, and mud flew from the dragon's mouth, engulfing the ice kunai. The dragon then unearthed from the ground, slamming into the ice dragon, the mud forming around the jutsu. The eagle, on the other hand, flew straight for them and screeched. Anko glared, stepping back and Kotori grabbed her arm, stopping her from using any jutsus so the man wouldn't see through the transformation.
"MOVE!" she cried, grabbing Iruka and Anko's arms and throwing them aside, moving to jump with them, but the eagle bit into her waist and she yelled out, being dug into the ground. The eagle formed back into snow, burying her underneath. Kotori winced at the freezing cold, and Iruka and Anko quickly got to their feet.
"KOTORI!" Iruka yelled out. The green haired man landed near them, hand on his waist. He glared, snorting.
"What a hero." he tutted, "Whatever. One of them down, another to go."
Iruka glared and looked over at him. Anko stayed behind Iruka, putting a hand on his shoulder and the boy winced a little, frowning.
"Get back." he whispered, "Get out of here, I don't care where you go."
"But Iruka." Anko hissed, "I-"
"Right now you're just a selfish princess. What would Himeko do?" he questioned.
"…Run." Anko glared, "But I can't!"
"HIMEKO!" Iruka yelled, looking over at her. She winced, before nodding and running through the forest. The man snarled, running to follow but Iruka jumped forward, getting in his way. He glared, and the man snorted.
"You're just a kid."
"I may be just a kid, but I can keep you back for as long as I can!" he yelled, "I've been staying in the shadows for way too long!"
"Well, I'll show you what it's like to be in the spotlight!" he cried, slamming his foot down at Iruka's head. He dodged, swiping at the man's feet, but he jumped and landed again, spinning and kicking at Iruka. Iruka jumped back, and the man followed, punching at Iruka over and over. The boy blocked the best he could, wincing when he got her in the nose. He fell back, leaning on a tree. Quickly opening his eyes through the sudden pain, he ducked when the man punched and Iruka grit his teeth, punching him in the stomach. The man stumbled back, glaring at Iruka.
"Heh, you got a hit. Good going." he commented. Iruka smirked a little, wiping the blood coming from his nose, "But you can't beat me on your own."
"He's not doing it on his own." Kotori snarled, slamming her heel into the man's face. He yelled and was thrown back, rolling in the snow. She snarled, clenching her fists, "Iruka, where's Himeko?"
"She's-"
"Never mind. Go after her!" Kotori snapped, suddenly noticing that letting this man know where Anko went would be a stupid mistake. Iruka nodded, not wanting to argue and ran through the forest after Anko. The man snorted, clenching his fists.
"I might as well just go get the others." he snorted, "To get the real princess."
"Huh?" Kotori blinked, then snarled, "How do you know we don't have the real princess?"
"Because, they sent the powerful ones to protect the other." he smirked, "And if you weren't a distraction, you wouldn't have halfed the group. Also, that princess is not bratty enough to be Himeko. She tried to help your little ally."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE POWERFUL ONES?" Kotori snapped angrily, ignoring the latter part, "I'M POWERFUL ENOUGH!"
"Right." the man tutted, straightening up and standing, "I need to go find the real princess now, as fast as possible."
"I won't let you anywhere near her!" Kotori yelled, "My duty as a shi-"
"Don't talk crap like that." he snorted, "I don't care what your duty as a Shinobi is. My duty is to collect Himeko!"
Before Kotori could move, she heard a yell. It sent shivers up her spine and she looked round.
"KOTORIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
"That's Iruka!" she cried out, and the man laughed.
"Perhaps he met our last comrade?" he suggested, but blinked in surprise when Kotori had suddenly disappeared. Clenching his fists he watched where he saw the snow fall as she zoomed through the trees, and snorted.
"Damn. I need to go get Sunomaru…" he jumped through the tree and went to find his partner.
In the mean time, Kotori rushed through the forest. She narrowed her eyes, skidding to a halt in front of a trap, staring ahead. There was a cliff. She ran over, jumping over the wire and stopped at the edge, looking down at a small edge poking out. Iruka sat there with Anko, looking up.
"There was a genjutsu!" He yelled, "Kotori, you need to watch out, the third is somewhere!"
"Iruka, is Anko okay?" she demanded and Iruka hesitated, frowning at the fact Kotori used her name. He shook his head.
"She hit her head on a rock." he answered, "But other than that, she's alright."
"Right." Kotori looked up at the cloud sky, snorting, "We need to meet up with Guy, Kakashi and Himeko."
"Okay." Iruka nodded, getting to his feet. He yelped when he slipped, falling back down and stared down at the mountain, gritting his teeth. The rock shook and threatened to collapse under the weight.
"Iruka!" Kotori looked down, wincing when someone dived him from the bottom, zooming straight past Iruka and Anko. The woman smirked, letting a small tag drop down onto the rock. She jumped higher, smirking at Kotori, her ice blue lips glistening. She had matching blue hair that was tied back, and she, unlike her assumed partners, wore no cape. She was wearing a grey one piece, with white gloves reaching to her elbows. Her boots were also white, reaching her knees, and she had many white trips reaching from her knees to her waist, along with a belt around her waist, carrying many kunai and shuriken. Landing in front of Kotori, her smirk widened into a grin.
"Hey there, sweety." she said, her voice as sweet as honey and also rather mature. She crossed her arms over her waist, hooking kunai with her fingers and slashed at Kotori. She flipped backwards, and the woman put her a hand into half a ram, raising an eyebrow. Kotori gasped, hearing an explosion and Iruka's yell.
"NO!" she ran forward, but the woman blocked her from going anywhere and forced her to jump back, and the blue haired woman chuckled.
"What's wrong, sweetheart? Scared to come at me to save your friend?"
"NO!" Kotori snarled, running at her. She gasped at the sudden speed and determination, blocking a hit with her arms, and Kotori grabbed one of the kunai blades in her left hand, swinging it out, forcing her enemy to spread her arm and she aimed her knee through the gap, ignoring the light cuts she received from the other kunai. The woman gasped in pain as she was flung back, blood flying from her mouth and she landed in the snow. Kotori wasted no time in gathering up the kunai and slamming two down in the woman's hands, pinning her down. She screamed in pain, glaring at Kotori as she grabbed her pouch of things, clipping it to her own waist.
"Thanks." Kotori glared, "But I need to go."
She took out wire and wrapped it round a kunai before slamming the kunai into the ground and swung down. The mountain couldn't be that big, but Iruka and Anko had to have done something… She spotted Iruka finally, clinging to a bit of mountain, his other arm wrapped around Anko.
"IRUKA!" she cried and he looked up. She swung down for him, wincing as the wire ended and she came to a jolting halt. Iruka closed his eyes tightly, gathering his courage. He could do this. Kotori outreached her hand, wincing. She would be fine. They could do this.
"Iruka, come on!" she urged and he swung from the small bit of rock to Kotori, reaching out with his free hand. Kotori stretched, barely grabbing his wrist and Iruka cried out, clinging to hers. Kotori hoisted him up and Iruka clung to her, holding onto Anko as tightly as possible.
"K-Kotori…" he whispered, looking up.
"It's fine, I know." she said, but he shook her head.
"Up." he whispered and Kotori looked up, her eyes widening at the sight of the woman standing over them. She was moving? But her hands! How did she do that! Narrowing her eyes, Kotori opened her mouth to yell, but the woman hastily kicked the kunai holding the wire off the cliff. Kotori gasped, feeling herself grow lighter and lighter as she fell towards the earth, unable to take Iruka and Anko's weight any longer. The kunai fell along with them, and Kotori stared at the approaching snow. Iruka cried out, clinging to Anko, whose body was still limp.
Shit, shit, shit, shit! Come on Kotori, think of something! Anything! You have to know a jutsu that can save us! Oooh god, I don't! Shit! Hopefully we're closer than we thin-
They slammed into the ground, Kotori face first. Iruka groaned, shifting to his knees and looked round at Kotori, who wasn't moving. He gasped, grabbing her by the shoulder and shaking her.
"Kotori! Kotori, wake up! Please wake up!" he begged. He snapped his head round when the woman landed a few feet in front of them, smirking.
"Yes, wake up, Kotori-chan!" she taunted, standing straight. Her hands were all bloody, and there were still holes. She must just be walking through the pain, "Your little boy is going to die!"
Iruka winced, glaring, "I won't let you kill me!"
"Oh? Are you going to run away from this battle now too?" she snarled, gritting her teeth. She seemed rather bitter from being stabbed in both hands.
"NO!" he clenching his fists.
"You're just a little brat, you'll be gone within two seconds!" she snarled, running at him with a kunai, stained with her own blood. Iruka glared, jumping to his feet and raising his fists, but someone jumped in front of him.
"Fire release: fireball jutsu!"
Anko blew fire straight at the woman, melting the surrounding snow. Iruka winced, watching and quickly looked up, watching the woman land on a tree to avoid the flames.
"Tch. It's most likely they have Himeko." she commented, "And you little annoying brats won't keep her for much longer!"
"We won't let you get her!" Anko yelled, but winced, blood dripping from the wound on her head. Iruka watched her, then looked over at the woman. She smirked.
"You're both weak." she tutted, "And I almost thought you'd be a Sharingan user… Too bad. I would have had some fun with an Uchiha."
"Shut up!" Anko yelled, "We're just as strong as any Uchiha!"
"Yeah, if they're blind, deaf and dumb." the woman rolled her eyes, and stormed at Iruka and Anko. Anko's eyes widened and forced herself to make more hand signs, but it was too late and the woman raised her kunai at the girl. She put her hands over her face, trying to protect herself, but she felt no blow coming. Not even a yell from Iruka. Instead, he gasped, and Anko snapped her eyes open to see Kotori in front of them, blocking the woman's kunai with one from the stolen pouch. The woman snarled, glaring at Kotori. Blood dripped from her nose and mouth, and Kotori narrowed her tired green eyes.
"I am through with this shit!" she yelled at her, making the blue haired woman jump a little, "I. WANT. MY. HOLIDAY. BACK!"
The woman jumped back in time to avoid a blow from Kotori, but the salmon haired girl was already behind her and kicked her in the spine, sending her flying into the side of the mountain. Snow collapsed onto her and Iruka and Anko retreated to Kotori's side. She clenched her fists.
"Iruka, make sure Anko's okay." Kotori stated, "I'll deal with her."
"Sure." Iruka nodded, taking Anko by the arm. Anko watched Kotori for a moment before running after her fellow Genin. Kotori watched as the woman stepped out of the snow, glaring angrily at Kotori, her cheeks red from anger.
"You little bitch." she hissed, "What did you do to my back?"
"I hit one of the important muscles." Kotori explained as the woman winced as she stepped out, trying to straighten her back, "The kick wasn't hard enough to wreck it permanently or anything, but it should be difficult to move. Just the way I like it."
The woman winced and grabbed at one of the last kunai around her waist, watching Kotori run at her. Kotori smirked as she ran, kicking up snow under her and she flipped in the air, throwing the kunai down. The woman managed to dodge, eye twitching and Kotori slammed her foot down on her head, sending her flying into the ground.
"Man, you're an embarrassment to kunoichi everywhere, you know that?" Kotori asked, hopping off her. The woman snarled and sat up, making hand signs so fast Kotori couldn't really see them. Slamming her hand into the ground, Kotori yelped as ice shot from the ground at her, and she flipped into the air. The ice followed her, crawling along the tree and engulfing it. An ice prison? Kotori narrowed her eyes and jumped back some more, now back onto the ground and skidded round, throwing the first kunai she found in her pouch. It had a tag attached to it, and Kotori watched the woman jump out of the way of ice stalagmites shooting from the ground. She flipped, wincing in pain and stumbled forward and made more hand signs, narrowing her eyes at Kotori.
"Ice release: Dr-"
"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" Guy slammed his foot into the woman's hands and she was thrown back. His outfit was ripped and he looked out of breath, but all in all nothing fatal.
"Guy!" Kotori smirked, "You always come in at the right time!"
"Heh, that's what a hero does!" Guy pointed at himself with his thumb, "Where's Iruka and Anko?"
"Over there. Why are you here?" she demanded, walking towards him quickly. Guy frowned.
"Sanjirou and Kakashi are running off with Himeko, and Kakashi told me to come get you after hearing from that green haired person."
"Are they okay?"
"They're good so far, but Sunomaru and his partner are both after them. We fought for… Ages. Nothing seemed to work."
"Heh, this one must be the weakest." Kotori gestured to her, "She's taken down easily."
"Perhaps Taijutsu and speed just isn't her strong point." Guy smirked, clenching his fists, "Seems like our kind of fight."
"Damn right it does."
Guy and Kotori smirked at each other.
"Whoever can get the most hits in, wins!" Guy challenged. Kotori cracked her knuckles.
"You're on!"
Half an hour and a thousand hits later, Kotori and Guy stood over a very pummelled and very exhausted woman.
"How many did you get?" Kotori asked, rolling her shoulder. Guy smirked, flexing his fingers and arms.
"One thousand, six hundred and fifty one!"
"DAMN IT!" Kotori cried out, the pair not noticing Iruka and Anko approaching, "one thousand, six hundred and forty-six…"
"Maybe next time, Kotori!" Guy laughed cheerily, and they looked at Iruka and Anko, "how are you two feeling?"
"…Okay." Iruka answered, sniffing again. Kotori smiled.
"We need to go find Sanjirou and Kakashi."
"No problem, look what I brought!" Guy grinned, showing them a radio set in his ear, "I brought them just in case. Looks like they did come in handy!"
"Heh." Kotori smiled, and the group began to make their way for the mountain. Kotori rolled her shoulder again, frowning at the pain.
"You…. Idiots." the woman hissed, forcing herself onto her knees, "You think I'll let you get away with keeping Himeko?"
They turned, glaring at her.
"How are you still moving?"
"…" the woman made hand signs, "I won't let you near Himeko… Ice jutsu: blizzard of pain!"
The snow lifted from the mountain, creating a very large tornado. Iruka clung to Kotori, who in turn grabbed Guy's arm, Anko holding onto Iruka. Guy growled, covering his face with his arm as the snow tore around them, and Kotori yelled as a sharp part of ice zoomed from one side to the other, cutting her in the side.
"Kotori!" Guy yelped, but the storm just got large and larger, coating them in the snow. It started to get smaller and smaller before digging itself into the ground, and ice particles dug into all of them from every angle. Kotori made hand signs, but she was too slow and the tornado tore through the ground, creating a large hole. They fell through, crying out and Kotori winced as she landed, some of the ice daggers digging deeper into her skin. She looked up, covering her face as the snow fell on top of them.
"We're buried…" Guy whispered, trying to spit some snow out his mouth, but it was no use. Kotori tried to move, and sighed, but felt the ground beneath her shudder. Was it giving in under the weight?
"Guy…" she whispered, but Guy already seemed to notice. As more snow fall on top of them, the ground ripped apart and the group fell once more, landing with a thud on rocky ground and Kotori yelped, looking around. She shifted some snow off of her, and Iruka looked around, sniffing and wiping his nose.
"What the heck is this?"
"Looks like a cave…" Anko mumbled, "Thank god. We would have been screwed otherwise."
"We need to find an exit and get to Sanjirou and Kakashi!" Guy said, getting to his feet. He helped Kotori and she sighed, holding her arm.
"But where? What way are they?"
"This way! This is the way I came from!" Guy stated, quickly running through the cave. Iruka, Anko and Kotori looked at each other before following after him, Kotori glancing round. That woman… Was she dead? She looked back ahead, not thinking about it, following Guy through the dark cave.
"Kakashi!" Sanjirou growled, landing beside his friend behind an upturned piece of rock. Kakashi's mask was ripped a little, and he seemed worn out, his Sharingan visible. Himeko clung to him, looking worried.
"We should just run! Come on!" she insisted. Kakashi shook his head.
"The more we run, the more they chase!"
"The more we fight, the more they fight!" Sanjirou countered angrily, "It's a lose-lose situation! Kakashi, you're almost out of chakra, you know that! Use any more of your Sharingan and you're down for the count. If I had my puppets with me, we might have been at an advantage, but we need another way to do this!"
"I know, I know…" Kakashi sighed tiredly, closing his eyes.
"Come on, give is Himeko!" the green haired man cackled, "It'll make your lives so much easier! We won't let you keep her any longer!"
"We want her safe!" Sunomaru added. Sanjirou glared.
"Usually when people say 'safe', they mean 'we're going to kill them as soon as you're out of sight'!" he yelled. The man twitched.
"Himeko, talk some sense into these men!"
"Why would he need to do that?" Kakashi asked, looking at Himeko, raising an eyebrow. Himeko quickly went red and shrugged, but Kakashi narrowed his eyes, looking over the ridge, "What exactly are you to Himeko?"
"We are three of Himeko's bodyguards!" Sunomaru answered, making Sanjirou freeze, "She ran off from her home and we were told to collect her! We've been chasing her for weeks!"
Sanjirou and Kakashi both stared at Himeko, clearly unimpressed. The woman giggled a little, biting her lip.
"Oops?"