Chapter Thirty-Five
Kurai frowned. He'd managed to sneak a bug onto the strange woman while she'd been talking to Sasuke-sensei, but when she'd disappeared into the river the bug had been left behind in the water.
That'd never happened before, that type of bug was supposed to latch on and stay attached no matter what, then he could have tracked the woman over a one mile radius. Not much, but enough to keep from losing her as she fled to wherever she was fleeing to.
Sasuke-sensei seemed on edge, and with good reason. He and Saizo had summoned up a few snakes to prowl around the woods but so far none had reported back with anything substantial.
Some of the snakes could smell blood in the air though and so the team was headed off in the diredction that the smell was coming from the strongest.
It wasn't a happy sign when Sasuke-sensei commented that that was the direction of the rendezvous point.
Kurai kept glancing at Sasuke-sensei. They'd been in sticky situations and always it'd been Sasuke-sensei that had gotten them out of it.
They might be capable of fighting on a Chuunin level but Sasuke-sensei was an amazing Ninja, above any other ninja Kurai had ever seen.
Even Naruto, Kurai thought.
He'd trust his sensei, his sensei would get them through this.
But boy did he have a bad feeling about it.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he said "We're getting close to the rendezvous point now. Be prepared."
"Shouldn't there be blood in the air? I don't smell anything." Shiroi said.
"I noticed." Sasuke said, "But we are almost there."
"Actually," A voice said, "You don't need to worry about it. We got tired of waiting for you, Uchiha. These must be your kids . . . they sure look like spirited little tykes." A striking young man said, appearing from behind a tree.
Sasuke-sensei went into a fighting position, Kurai quickly dispatched a few bugs for the Kumo Jounin.
The Jounin smiled, "Uchiha Sasuke, you're quite a famous man. Why with all the trouble you caused your own village at one point I almost don't want to kill you. But this is business, not personal. Shame really."
"You think you can even stand up to Sasuke-sensei?" Shiroi laughed.
"I do." The Jounin said. "But I don't have to." He glanced up.
Suddenly Kurai looked up and saw another Joinin descending from the sky, shooting down like an arrow!
But Shiroi shouted "Sensei, look down!"
The silvery haired woman emerged from the ground, kunai in hand right behind Sasuke!
Sasuke threw himself backwards, grabbing her shoulders and flipping so that he stood behind her instead and brought his knee out to slam it into her spine!
His grip on her shoulders suddenly failed and his knee passed all the way through her body without seeming to actually bother her.
In fact she grabbed it and pulled sensei through her whole body so that he fell on the ground in front of her as the second woman slammed into the ground and into him!
But Sasuke-sensei was too fast for that, as soon as he hit the ground he became a substitution log, and appeared behind the blue haired kunoichi who'd fallen from the sky.
She smiled brightly at Sasuke-sensei, "Wanna play with me?" She asked.
Sasuke didn't answer, Shiroi had already launched an attack on the other woman-who seemed threatened enough to be dodging the strikes, suggesting that her ability to let things pass through her was not automatic or unlimited or she would have just let Shiroi strike her.
Saizo was summoning something, and Kurai turned his attention on the other Jounin, who just stood there smiling.
He had a bug on him now, a female whose pheromones would ensure that wherever the Jounin went Kurai's other insects would follow. So he sent them forth en-mass!
The Jounin didn't seem to realize what was happening and just whipped something out of his side pouch and smiled, "Oh this is a good one." He looked up from the odd item-it looked like a playing card-and said "You kids aren't afraid of the dark are you?"
And in a flash-or perhaps a reverse flash-there was no light.
Kurai knelt down and began to focus his chakra on sending out more bugs hoping that they would locate and destroy the Jounin who'd summoned up the darkness.
Suddenly he felt something grab him by the throat and lift him up, he was kicked in the stomach.
He looked around wildly but couldn't see who was attacking him, it was pitch black!
"This bug of yours, don't put crap like that on me." The Jounin's voice cut through the darkness.
Kurai gulped and willed his bugs to descend down the arm that held him, that arm just disappeared, the bugs that had covered it disappeared too, hopefully following it.
Kurai sent flying insects out now, his intention to figure out if the darkness had a limit, if he could escape from it somehow. The bugs would fly until the darkness lifted then come back and report to him.
He heard Saizo scream and immediately leapt in the direction of the shout.
A true ninja does not need his eyes to fight. Kurai told himself. If I truly am worthy of being a Chuunin this should not be a problem.
Suddenly something big slammed into him and knocked him back into a tree!
He felt this large thing and found it to be one of Sasuke-sensei's summoned snakes. One about as big around as a man.
He tried to shove the thing off of himself, but he was pinned.
Fine, he'd use his insects to seek out and destroy any enemies they could, he dispensed every bug in his body, they flowed from their escape holes like a river of blood.
Hanabi frowned as she looked at the establishment.
It was clean, it smelled rather nice and the glasses didn't have so much as a smudge.
None the less, "This is a bar." She said.
"Uh-huh." Masaru said.
"Your sensei really takes you to a bar before every mission?" Hanabi asked, not at all convinced.
"Sure." Kasumi nodded.
Hanabi glanced at the bar tender, a young man with tanned skin and blond hair. "Really?"
"I don't know about every mission." He said. "But they do come here a lot. They're some of my best customers. They never mess the place up."
"And this place is much more than a bar, right Takumi?" Yuu asked.
"Absolutely." Takumi the bar tender nodded to Yuu. "We're a restaurant and an inn too."
"The sing says "Konjo's Bar" though." Hanabi said. "There's an illustration on your sign of two men stabbing each other in the heart while downing bottles."
"Yeah well that sign is a relic, and there's a really funny story behind that picture." The blond bar tender winked, "But I've been meaning to get it changed. The sign I mean. I'm just too busy these days."
Hanabi nodded, "Okay . . . so how's this work? What's your sensei do when she brings you here?"
"For starters you let us order whatever we want and you cover the bill." Masaru said.
"Really?" Hanabi raised another unconvinced eyebrow at him.
"That's how Kimiko-sensei does it, yeah." Masaru said.
"Don't listen to him." Takumi sighed, "Generally they get a round of drinks before a mission, and a big dinner after."
"Okay so this is 'before' what are you guys going to drink?"
"Just water." Yuu sighed.
"That fizzy stuff you gave us last time." Kasumi decided.
"The best sake in town!" Masaru cried.
"Ha and Ha. I doubt your new sensei wants you kids plastered." Takumi grinned.
"Hey man, I am fourteen years old. I'm a veteran of sixteen successful missions, one of 'em C rank! You telling me I can fight for this village, put my life on the line for this vilalge, but I cant get a drink?"
"Damn straight." Takumi said with a smirk.
"Fine. Just . . . dandelion tea then. That stuff was okay."
"And for the temporary sensei?" Takumi asked.
Hanabi frowned, "Let's try this fizzy stuff Kasumi likes."
"Haha! See, big sister and I like the same things, we've got like this mental connection!" Kasumi said.
"Does that mean you're in love with your brother too?" Masaru asked. "Because she is."
Kasumi choked on her tongue and backhanded Masaru, "No it does not mean that! There's limits to the mental connection's capabilities, you know!"
Hanabi smiled lightly and noticed that though Kasumi had apparently hit quite hard, Masaru was not moved by it. He did not even seem to have felt it.
"While we're here in this relaxed setting, "Hanabi said, "Maybe you can tell me about your capabilities. That way when I get the full information for our mission I'll know how best to utalize you."
"Okay . . . but only if you cover the bill for these drinks." Masaru said.
"Isn't that what a sensei does?" Hanabi asked.
The Cloud Genin all looked at each other in surprise, "Really? That's not what Kimiko-sensei tells us!" Kasumi cried.
"Yeah, I was trying to swindle you before. Isn't it supposed to be a sign of respect for the students to pay for their sensei's many . . . many, many drinks?" Masaru demaned.
"I knew that was a screwy code of ethics." Yuu commented. "She played us."
"I feel so used." Masaru sighed. "Well fine, out of revenge, make that two orders of tea, Tak-kun!"
"Yeah, and a second fizzy-whatever-they're called!" Kasumi agreed.
"Just the one water's fine." Yuu noted.
"Why're you taking revenge on me for your sensei's bad habits?" Hanabi asked.
"That's a good question, Masa." Kasumi nodded.
"Because she made us wise to it. Havent you ever heard that ignorance is bliss, Hanabi-senpai?" Masaru cried.
Sasuke was not hampered by the darkness in the least, but even if he'd wanted to dispel it he couldn't. The blue haired kunoichi kept his hands far too bust as she made strike after strike, all the while giggling insanely in the dark.
Sasuke could hear her movements, could hear her feet beating on the earth as she advanced.
He only wished he'd seen whoever'd performed this Jutsu perform it, it might have come in handy in a future duel with Naruto.
He'd heard Saizo scream and Kurai grunt, he didn't know about Shiroi.
But he couldn't afford to be surrounded by three enemy Jounin in this darkness, he leapt into the air as high as he could, coming to a tree branch which he held onto and then used to propel himself even higher!
Finally he was out! He looked at the ground.
The darkness covered about a twenty meter radius, he shouted down to his Genin "Fall back, out of their spell!"
He didn't know if anyone was alive to hear him.
He soared into the air for a moment more before his opponent emerged from the darkness as well, "Ooh! You lost this battle as soon as you went airborne! You're mine now, Sharingan-Man!" She said with wild, childlike enthusiasm painted on her face as she soared up after him.
Sasuke began to fall down, she met him half way back to the sphere of darkness and kicked him up higher into the air.
Without anything to kick off of she somehow managed to continue to rise and follow him.
He smirked as she kicked him higher into the sky. It wasn't the pain that amused him, but the fact that she seemed quite intent on raising him up and letting him fall to his death.
Well that wasn't going to happen. He began to form a lightning blade in his arm, the chidori came together behind his back and then she kicked him again.
This time he grabbed her leg and pulled on it, bringing the rest of her closer to him as he thrust his hand forward and slammed his Chidori into her stomach!
Her eyes went wide and they began to descend together.
Sasuke would have to think of a way to avoid dying when he hit the ground. He knew he could sprout wings by relying on his cursed seal . . . but he'd greatly prefer not to.
But to his surprise the blue haired kunoichi's horrified expression didn't lead her into death. Instead she said "You jerk! That's where babies come from, now I'll never be a mommy!"
"What?" Sasuke blinked.
"I cant ever have kids now 'cause you ruined my body!" The woman clarified.
That wasn't really what Sasuke had meant of course. He didn't give a damn about whether or not this psycho had kids, he just didn't get why she was still alive after a direct Chidori to the stomach!
"You're lucky it didn't hurt or I'd be mad!" She roared, punching him in the face.
He tried to pull his arm away from her bleeding stomach but she gripped his shoulder and held him as they fell towards the ground below and continued punching him in the face. "I'm a woman! You're not supposed to hit women! Didn't your mother ever teach you anything? Well since you've robbed me of the capability of child birth I'll just have to mother you, won't I? Lesson one, be nice to girls!" She roared as they plummeted to the ground.
With one strong punch Sasuke was sent soaring into the air again, his arm ripped clear of the woman's gaping stomach wound.
He flipped in the air and tried to get over the shock as he watched her fall back into the darkness. He hoped the fall killed her, but he doubted it would.
It wasn't like that was the first time someone had survived Chidori . . . but it was the first time in a long time.
Suddenly someone grabbed him from behind. He glared over his shoulder to see the blue haired psycho again! "I was just kidding," She said, "I can still make babies. You wanna make a baby with me right now?" She asked in a lusty voice.
"No." Sasuke said frankly.
"Oh . . . too bad, you're cute. But if that's how you wanna be then I guess I don't need you, do I?" She sighed, and Sasuke spotted a kunai knife coming up for his neck.
He reached over his shoulders for her face and snapped her neck!
She went limp, the kunai fell from her hands, Sasuke smirked to himself.
Until she suddenly wrapped her legs around his waist and threw one of her arms around his neck. "A gapping hole in my stomach didn't work you think that's going to do me in? Get real please." She punched Sasuke in the back with her free hand, "You like that? You want more, baby? Tell your mistress you want more! Tell her you want to be her play thing and maybe she'll let you live a little while longer!"
"What's it take to kill you?" Sasuke demanded, blasting the woman with Chirdori Nagashi! Lightning coursed through his body, it should have been ripping her to shreds as she held him.
But somehow she held on through the attack.
"I told you this fight was lost once you went airborne." She whispered when he'd finished, "Time now for the landing! You should have made that baby with me, if you were really good at it I'd have let you live so we could make more later on!" She sighed longingly, "But now you've got to die!"
Sasuke growled as she punched him in the back again and again as the ground below them came closer and closer . . .
To Be Continued . . .
Note: Sorry, no baby yet. But we're still at the point of updating every day, so soon. Soon. Thanks for all the reviews and support by the way