AN: Howdy all, sorry this is late (although I realize that it isn't like you had to wait a full week for this – almost, but not quite). Anyway, I'd like to caution you that all may not be as it appears. That said, we do plan to kill off at least one person (I, BR13 would prefer to kill alot more, but KJ stops me) so don't be surprised when it happens. Of course you won't be certain of anyone's fate until the very last chapter so keep an open mind. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.
PS - We own nothing. And we still have a tumblr page.
PPS - Also, the review dictionary is below. As a warning there's a lot of fighting in this chapter and thus a good number of jutsu so we've put the jutsu list below and at the bottom of the chapter. Also, there's a short note at the bottom too. Enjoy.
Denshi jisho (review)
Kashima kusarigama – fire island kusarigama, which is a made up name for the Okinawan kusarigama, which is a chain and sickle weapon (we changed the name for obvious reasons)
Kuso – curse
Nan da – what the… (informal)
Haori – kimono jacket
Hai - yes
Jutsu list
Oborozukiyo – Hazy Moon Light
Gijuu Ninpou: Shikyaku no Jutsu – Imitation Beast Ninja Art: Four Legs Technique
Gijuu Ninpou: Juujin Bunshin – Imitation Beast Ninja Art: Beast Human Clone
Gatsuuga – Fang Passing Fang
Katon: Gouryuuka no Jutsu – Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique
Secret Ninja Art: Rockslide Illusion – this is a modified name for the rockslide genjutsu
Fuuton: Kazekiri no Jutsu – Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique (while this technique requires hand signs, as an elemental master, Temari doesn't require them when she uses her fan
Fuuton: Tatsu no Oushigoto – Wind Release: Great Task of the Dragon
Kuchiyose: Kirikiri Mai! – Summoning: Quick Beheading Dance
Arc – The Invasion
Chapter Forty: When all hope is lost
"Kuso," Tenten cursed, eyeing the dangerous group in front of them. Foreign ninja lined the path ahead, wreaking havoc as they crashed from shop to shop, lewd comments floating into the air in between bouts of laughter. Even unaware of their presence, they were doing a wonderful job of blocking the best route to the center of the village.
The sun burned hot and sweat dripped down her face, the salt stinging as it fell into her eyes as her gaze swept the area. Scouring for any way through. A back or side street that had been overlooked, or even just a small little alleyway that they could slip through unnoticed. 'No dice,' she thought shifting her gaze back to the group, eyeing their numbers while she did mental calculations. Weapons expended. Chakra reserves low. Muscles fatigued. They'd been fighting almost non-stop for longer than she was willing to count, and the near constant battle had taken its toll on the both of them.
Of course that wouldn't stop her. No, she'd picked up far too many of Gai-sensei's habits to ever back down or give up before she'd exhausted all options. No matter how it looked now, she still had hope. Of course, she would have preferred a situation that was easier for a change. However the backstreets and dark alleyways that she'd all but grew up sneaking through were impossible to reach from their current position. Especially not when there were just so many ninja blocking their path. Could she not catch a break?
"That group's too big," she continued, muttering additional curses as realization dawned. No matter how she looked at it. With the number of weapons scrolls she had left at her disposal and the sheer size of the group, they just weren't enough to make it past these guys even with their amazingly good teamwork. She just didn't have enough weapons. Not nearly enough.
'Another melee weapon then?' she internally questioned, shifting through her mental list of what she'd brought. Swords and staffs and axes would all do damage, but probably not the kind she needed. 'I've got to have something useful,' she continued, her thoughts moving through each of the weapons she was actually good at using. She'd likely need speed and power coupled with deadly precision and there was really only one weapon that she had enough proficiency in that fit that description. Hopefully, when the time came, it would keep her alive.
"What a drag," Shikamaru-san sighed beside her, his body slumped tiredly against a wall as he stuck his hands deep within the pockets of his pants. His slumped shoulders pulled her focus, shifting her attention to the boy she'd still yet to properly meet though the blood spilt between them was probably enough to cement some kind of friendship.
His brow pulled together as his gaze lifted, glancing over the near horde of enemy ninja as they moved, bantering loudly between themselves as if they'd already won. Tenten could practically hear the gears turning in his head as he moved to continue, "As irksome as this is to admit, we'll never make it past them." He paused, nodding in the enemy's direction despite the fact that they were both well aware of the current situation. "At least, not without someone noticing us," he finished.
His dark gaze met her own, searching as the rest of his statement went unsaid. It was sharp words of the hopelessness of their situation. The implied nothing would be able to save them if they were caught by even one of the foreign ninja. Not when it was just a quick shout away from having the dozens upon dozens of their comrades baring down their necks, ready to rip them apart. And then at that point, simply saying that they were 'shit out of luck' would have actually been a gross understatement.
Tenten nodded, already having worked out exactly where they stood within this conflict. This wasn't about skill or might or honor. No, this was about the numbers. A game about the pure facts of their situation. And as messed up as it was to admit it, the shitty truth of it all was that their numbers didn't add up to a favorable outcome. Hell, their current situation didn't even add up to a survivable outcome.
So Tenten acknowledged their shit odds, but didn't let that stop her. No, there was always a way if one was willing. Although, she might not like what she had to do to win. Gai-sensei had taught her that. It was the one piece of advice that hadn't come with a glowing smile and a 'good guy' pose because it held the simple truth for all ninja. An inescapable truth, one she hadn't been sure she'd be strong enough to handle, but apparently she'd been wrong.
"You're right," she replied simply, the risk of a plan with only two outcomes already forming in her mind. As always there was only one good option. And that was unfortunately an outcome that wasn't very likely to have a happy ending. "But don't worry," she continued, her gaze piercing his own searching for something only her instincts could confirm. "I've got a plan to get you past this."
Silence filled the air between them for several charged seconds, the gears whirling behind his eyes before he pulled away, gaze refocused on the obstacle still blocking their path. "Just me?" he questioned, catching on, but clearly uncomfortable with where their conversation was heading. The dark turn too much to come back from, too much of a sacrifice to see them through alive. Idiotic in the way that it was almost reckless, dangerous in the same way that Lee-kun always rushed off to save the day.
Only, she wasn't her teammate. Rash and bold and filled with an unquenchable energy. No, she was Tenten. Orphaned since birth. Found on a battlefield outside of Konoha's limits. Carried back in the arms of a shinobi that had still been covered in blood. Her earliest memory was of that red. Just an imprinted image of blood, warm and thick and covering her.
She was rational. And she was fierce. But above all, she burned with the Will of Fire, the heat coursing through her veins that told her that this was what she had to do. Shikamaru-san was needed elsewhere, his mission objectives clear and vital to the fate of their village. To the survival of Konoha. And she'd be damned before she let her village fall. So, this wasn't about sacrifice. This wasn't about reckless heroism. This was about the simple truth. She was a kunoichi of the leaf, and sometimes there were no other options.
"Yeah," she began, easily acknowledging that she had no plans of following. Only one of them needed to make it to the center of the village after all. "Haruno-san needs you, right? Isn't that what you were telling me earlier? That you've got a mission to accomplish?" She paused to wait for his nod of assent. She trusted him in only the way that two comrades that had shared blood could.
They'd fought together. Killed together. And while she still didn't know him as a friend or a person. She knew enough. She knew what mattered most. That he would die for Konoha. Lay down his life without hesitation if it meant saving their village. Just as she would. So, she was going to personally see him through this. "Well then, I'm going to get you to the Hokage's Tower, alive."
"Troublesome woman," he mumbled low as he glanced down and away from her, the sound of his voice barely discernible to her ears, the ringing of explosions still obscuring the sense. "Maybe I'll be alive," he continued much louder, his fists clinched tightly by his side as he moved to look at her once more, dark eyes meeting each other in a fierce gaze as he spoke. "But if you take them on alone, you won't be."
Their gazes locked, silence ruled for one pregnant moment. Long and loud in only the way that everything and nothing was said in the silence. Then she grinned, peace if not hope warming her soul as she spoke. "Oh don't worry about me," her grin widened minutely before she turned her gaze away, looking at the group in front of them as she continued. "I'm just going to draw them away. Gain their attention before losing them in the streets."
Shikamaru-san's disbelieving scoff filled the space between them, drawing her focus once more. "You see, unlike you, I know these streets like the back of my hand. They won't be able to follow me forever."
Sighing Shikamaru-san's entire body seemed to cave, sinking into itself as he conceded. "I'm not worried about forever, but fine," he huffed, pausing to draw in a deep breath before shaking his head. Whatever else he was going to add to that was lost in the silence that followed. Dark eyes met hers once more holding her gaze before he finally forced breath back into his lungs, mouth opening as he continued, voice sharper than she'd ever heard it. "But do try not to die." Another sigh escaped his lips as his countenance softened. "Something tells me that if you do, annoyingly enough, I'll be the one to blame."
Tenten eyed him for a moment before nodding once. A smirk breaking out across her features as she turned away from him, hands already gripping one of her last weapons scrolls. "You know, after this is all over, you're going to owe me a drink," she said as she moved forward, somehow picturing the roll of Shikamaru-san's eyes despite having known him for perhaps a grand total of thirty minutes, at the most. "You better hope the Hokage-sama promotes you because I've been known to drink hardened Jounin under the table. Wouldn't want you to go broke picking up the tab now would I?"
"Troublesome woman," Shikamaru-san muttered loudly as he readied himself to run. Tenten laughed at the sound, aware that it could be her last. She was a kunoichi of the leaf with the burning will to match. She would not be cowed by any threat nor shaken from the path she knew she must travel. She was a Konoha ninja, and nothing would be able to stop her.
Tenten's breath came in short pants as she ran, ducking behind trash cans and slipping through alleyways as she doubled back and changed directions. Unsurprisingly, it had been a relatively easy task to grab the large group of Suna-nin's attention. Murdering several of their companions in a rain of kunai and shuriken did often have that effect. However, while Shikamaru-san had managed to slip by unnoticed, she couldn't seem to find the same ease to escape her pursuers.
They were persistent. And smarter than she'd originally thought, occasionally sending up flares, random pillars of dirt that shot up high enough for their lost comrades to spot and follow. Honestly, if it wasn't for Gai-sensei's ridiculous training methods, hours upon hours of seemingly senseless running at top speeds, she would have been captured or more likely killed by now.
Which was rather odd all things considering. 'Damn, these bastards just won't quit,' Tenten thought as she ducked behind another corner, slipping past a group that had somehow gotten ahead of her. This just didn't make any sense. She was a Genin for Kami-sama's sake. What was the point of chasing her? Why waste so many men on her?
'Okay, time for drastic measures,' she thought, pausing to press tightly against a stone wall. Hidden within the shadows of the adjacent building, Tenten racked her brain for that one path, the one that had seemingly popped into existence of its own accord almost five years ago. She'd stumbled upon it trying to fill the time before heading back to her group home. It had been team assignment day for the oldest members of her fellow ninja hopefuls and she'd been old enough to know that most orphans didn't end up with permanent Senseis. Not when there were clan kids in the class. Not when even civilian born students had a better advantage over them.
So she'd learned to stay away on those days, because being an inactive Genin in need of remedial study because a Jounin sensei hadn't wanted you, hadn't wanted to waste their time, made for an unhappy household. She'd spent that day and the few that followed exploring the streets, waiting for her former housemates to move to their new communal lodging with the other inactive Genin before returning home. And in that time she'd found that one path in which she'd never seen the Hyuuga Police within a hundred meter radius. Sure it was the weirdest path she'd ever traveled in Konoha with more weird angles than straight-a-ways, but it was obscure enough that she'd been able to lose herself in it for hours without fear of someone finding her.
Which in the end, made it the perfect path for her to slip through. Sure to lose her pursuers in seconds. All she needed to do now was find it again. 'Come on, come on. This is all you have to do. Slip through the crack and you'll be a ghost they can never find,' she thought as she tried to remember. It was there on the edge of her thoughts, teasing her with victory if only she could remember.
One breathe and she slipped away, falling into a memory as her body moved on instinct. Keeping to the shadows, she ran. Guided on silence steps to a place she'd been to only once before.
"We're close! I can sense the gaki around here somewhere!" The words floated through the haze of her mind even as she ignored it. Falling through the crack behind her just as they rounded the corner.
"Come on, she couldn't have gotten far. Keep up so we can kill the little bitch. Remember why we're here, the Kazekage..." the voice faded away as they passed her, unable to detect her in her current hiding spot.
Tenten waited a beat before slipping further into the darkness. She couldn't remember where the path led, but she was sure that it was better than sticking around here. 'I should have followed them,' she thought as she walked, taking a much needed break as she followed the crooked path. 'But then again, what good is intel if you can't stay alive long enough to give it to someone,' she continued, spotting the light at the end of the path.
Pausing at the shadow covered entrance, Tenten eyed her surroundings warily. Ahead of her was the West Gate, the area seemed clear of combatants and the sound of conflict mostly a distant echo. Strangely enough the quiet unnerved her far more than it comforted. Her gut clinching as a wave of unease washed through her body.
She stepped out into the light.
The sounds of battle seemed to grow louder, closer although she could not place the source. Her surrounding were clear, though she could spot the signs of battle littering the ground beneath her feet. Something clearly wasn't right.
BOOM!
The gates shook with a loud explosion, wood splinters flying through the air as she stared in horror. Surge upon surge of Kumo-nin flooded the area. Loud and brash and blood in their gaze as they raced towards her.
"Oh shit," she whispered, unable to move from her spot. She'd literally jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Snapping out of her shock, Tenten fumbled with one of her last remaining scrolls. Her hands shaking as she pulled it out, opening it even as she realized how futile her acts would be. She was still a kunoichi of the leaf. She would at least die fighting, protecting the village that she called home.
Steeling herself for the end, Tenten prepared for one final hurrah with a grim heart. Suddenly, a flash of steel ripped through the horde, blood flying through the air as heads rolled to the ground. "Nan da…" Tenten questioned as a savage roar filled the air, blood painting the earth red as limbs fell. Hands and arms and feet and heads falling to the ground in a violent stream of red. This was rage. Pure and simple.
In one powerful leap, the blur jumped into the air. Purple strains of hair fanning out like a halo as blood dripped from a gleaming sword. "Oborozukiyo." The woman blurred, her sword an afterimage haze as it circled her before she disappeared altogether.
"AHHHHHHHH!" Pain filled screams lifted into the air as the blood covered woman cut a deadly line through the Kumo-nin surrounding them.
Awe. Tenten was in pure awe of this woman, a literal demon on the battlefield as her sword moved with unprecedented skill. 'I want to…' the thought was cut short as the sound of steel slicing though air far too close for comfort brought her back to the present. Jumping back, Tenten remember the scroll in her hands, quickly releasing the seal in a hail of shuriken that left several of her opponents a bloody mess.
With deft hands, Tenten moved for another weapons' scroll only to come up empty. 'So that was my last one,' she thought as her fingers twitched. She was left with no other options. In a flash, Tenten liberated her Kashima kusarigama, the thin rope of each sickle wrapped tightly around each of her wrists in the span of a single breathe. In the next breath, Tenten was surging forward, spinning the sickle in her left hand as she raced forward, a scream on her lips as she ran.
She was ready. For whatever might come, she was ready. Striking out with her right hand, Tenten caught the blow of a kunai with the blade of her sickle, twisting on her heels as she spun the hooked blade in her left hand at her opponent. Blood squirted across her face as the blow connected, cutting into her opponent with the backhanded strike even as she surged forward weapons drawn back into her grip as she moved. The cross of her kusarigama followed as she leaped forward, her body twisting in the air before coming down with a hard downward strike that tore into the flesh of the neck of her next opponent.
Regaining her feet, she spun the blades of her kusarigama as she surged through the horde of ninja. Body twisting and spinning as her weapons arced through the air. Slicing through flesh and deflecting blow after blow, Tenten tore through her opponents with the same ferocious energy as the purple haired woman she admired. The memory of a bloody halo, rage burning in her gaze, filling her with a drive that would see her through to the end no matter what that might be. She was ready.
Hiruzen narrowed his brow eyeing his opponent even as his feet continued to slide across the rooftop. Enma clutched tightly in his grasp, he could feel the power of the Monkey King at his fingertips as A-sama glared murder at him.
"Not bad," the younger man stated, fists clinching as his glare intensified. "For an old man that is."
Enma's staff spun within his hands as he circled his opponent. Apparently, the younger generation had forgotten who he was and why he should be feared. Peace was all he'd ever wanted, but war was a taste that he had always known. "Don't let age blind you to the facts of this situation, A-sama. My experience alone would make me more than a match for you." Hard aging muscles pulled beneath worn weathered skin as the tip of Enma scrapped through the dirt as Hiruzen opened his stance, ready to take on his Kage counterpart with a decisive flick of his staff.
The young man snorted loudly, a shake of his head as he spoke, "You and your village have grown weak, softened by your riches and dulled by an equally soft life. I shall show you where true strength lies."
Body moving on instinct alone, Hiruzen leapt backwards, his staff crossed in front of him as A-sama crashed into the space he'd just been. "It lies in starvation," the dark skinned man continued, rooftop cracking with the force of his fist. "It lies in desperation." Hiruzen twisted as his opponent surged, Enma deflecting the blunt of the blow as A-sama's fist collided with him. "And nothing can stop that kind of strength. Nothing will stop me from using that strength to seek the justice Kumogakure deserves," the Raikage growled, face leaning close to Hiruzen's own as he spoke.
Hiruzen's muscles strained as he held him off, old tired eyes piercing as he addressed the misconceptions of youth. "This is not justice, A-sama. This, what you seek here today, is vengeance."
With a loud roar, A-sama pushed harder, his attempt to use brute strength to defeat Hiruzen clear for him to see. The ground cracked as Hiruzen held firm, unmoving even in the face of such force, unconcerned even as his opponent's arm guard lengthened, protruding as it attempted to skewer Hiruzen at close range. Easily responding to his needs Enma's staff thickened, widening its girth to block the attack even as Hiruzen pushed forward.
With the force of a man far younger than his age should have allowed, Hiruzen forced A-sama back, his large body sliding across the rooftop even as his gaze narrowed. "And vengeance will only lead you and your village down a path of darkness. The likes of which you should be familiar." With a flick of his wrist, Enma returned to a more manageable size, his grip loosening as he prepared to dodge his opponent's next assault. "This path you walk now can only lead to more death and destruction. More suffering. So I urge you to tread carefully."
"How dare you!?" A-sama roared, racing across the rooftop just as Hiruzen had anticipated. Shifting his weight, Hiruzen allowed the younger man to run past him as he spun on his heels connecting the hard surface of his staff to the Raikage's back as he slipped by. "Vengeance," the word ripped from the younger man's mouth, his countenance unfazed by Hiruzen's attack as he turned around.
"Vengeance is for the weak!" The rooftop cracked again, the reinforced concrete splitting as A-sama's fist once again collided with its surface. "It is for the pathetic and frail of mind!" the younger man continued, his body radiating with chakra as he surged forward once more. "Vengeance is a desperate man crawling from his knees, face in the dirt as he begs," A-sama snapped, charging Hiruzen with the force of bull.
Easily slipping aside, Hiruzen prepared himself for the next reckless assault, grip loose and ready to spin as he blocked and parried blows. The sudden stillness of his opponent, chakra visible as it raged across thick cords of muscle, brought Hiruzen to an unexpected pause. There A-sama stood, chest heaving, adrenaline coursing through his veins as once wild eyes stared back at him. He was calm. His gaze shadowed by cold calculation as he stood tall, towering over Hiruzen as his chakra crackled like lightning.
"What I seek, no, what we seek, is retribution for the wrongs committed against us. For the injustice wrought against my people that they feel even now. We seek only what is right and what is fair and not even you, old man, will be able to stop us."
Wariness crept into his old frame as he stood opposite a man who loved his village with the same passion that raced through Hiruzen's own blood. This was what he'd always feared. This was why he'd pled with Hiashi-san so fiercely, begged for him to reconsider his request for recompense because no will burned brighter than that of a leader protecting his own. It was a dangerous fact.
"Even so," Hiruzen spoke aware that his next appeal might fall short. "You are going about this the wrong way. War solves nothing. It serves only as the harbinger of death and destruction. Injustices that can never be rectified." The flickering images of wars long past, each conflict bloodier and deadlier than the previous, assaulted his mind's eye. The hunger of sieges. The blood without victory. Death without hope. It tore at his consciousness, young bodies left broken on the battlefield. Generations lost to the hubris of old men. For a moment he was lost in the memory, forced to relive those past horrors. The same atrocities he'd promised to do everything in his power to avoid.
And then he was back, mind focused on the battle ahead, as he faced off against his fellow Kage. He'd lost far too many from blood and conflict and he refused to allow that to happen again. He would protect his village with his life.
Pushing the past behind him, he refocused his efforts. Now was not the time to let the past distract him from the present. He had life to protect and that was all that could matter now. "End this now while you still can, A-sama, and we can have a civilized discussion about your grievances. Orochimaru is not someone with whom you should align yourself."
"This isn't about fealty, you old fool," A-sama growled, lightning arcing across the rooftop surface as his anger soared once more.
"And what of Rasa-sama?" Hiruzen was quick to add. He had to use every trick in his arsenal, every plea of reason that he could dredge up from the shadows. "Orochimaru only knows how to take," he continued, pausing a moment to draw a deep calming breath. His once treasured student was his greatest mistake. One he could apparently never rectify. "He'll take what he wants from you, he'll take everything you are and everything you're trying to protect before discarding you away like trash." It was a hard truth that Hiruzen could no longer overlook despite how much he ached to do so.
"Ha." The laugh was dry and hollow, accompanied by a short snort of disbelief. "You think this is about Orochimaru? That couldn't be farther from the truth. I don't care why he's here. That snake is simply a means to an end. One that I plan to take full advantage of. Then, after I'm done with him, after this," he paused pointing between them. "Is done and over with we'll go our separate ways. So you can see, this isn't about some material gains. No, this attack, this battle is about justice. The same justice you robbed us of."
A-sama shook with anger as his voice grew louder, lightning dancing across his skin in increasing intervals, "And you dare request we sit and talk." His rage vibrated through him, but his eyes remained a stilling calm as he continued. "No, the time for talk has long since passed. You had your opportunity, and you sat there and did nothing while my people starved."
"There's always time to talk," Hiruzen pressed, unwilling to give in to the calls of war. After all, diplomacy was never dead, not even in the midst of battle.
"Five years!" A-sama roared, his voice echoing about the rooftop in a hollow ring. "Five years while you sat idly by. Five years of Hyuuga oppression. Five year that we can never get back."
"There was nothing I could do. My hands were tied. My…" Hiruzen began, but A-sama cut him off.
"Bullshit. Are you not the Hokage? Are you not the leader of your village? Are the Hyuuga not under your command?"
Hiruzen reminded silent in the face of his counterpart's accusations, remembering days he should have handled better. The Kumo Incident had not gone as he had wished. It had not gone as anyone had liked. Despite his numerous pleas and requests Hiashi-san had not budged in his demands. He had not relented. Not for the sake of stability. Not for the sake of peace. In that instance, Hiashi-san had been only a father backed by an entire clan as he stood in his anger. And while he had understood that anger, that fury, an attempt on his heir a justified wrong, he'd also seen where his inflexibility would lead.
"Your silence speaks louder than your word ever could," A-sama spat, disgust etched into his features. "I see you truly are nothing but the Hyuuga's lackey, kowtowing to their every desire." A-sama released a burst of chakra as he strengthened his stance. "There's only one way this will end, old man. And that's with the blood of every last Hyuuga, man, woman, and child, staining the dirt red. If you truly wish peace, then you will give us their blood freely."
"You know I cannot do that," Hiruzen replied, his hope for peaceful resolution dissolving before his very eyes. Shifting his stance, Hiruzen freed one hand even as he moved to point Enma at his opponent. A jutsu ready at the tip of his fingertips.
A-sama pulled at his haori, letting the torn white material fall to the ground as he cracked his knuckles, "Then be ready for your end." In a flash, a second burst of chakra far stronger than the last exploded from his body, spikes of lightning raced through the air as the world darkened around them.
Hiruzen nodded to himself as he too released his chakra creating a crater in the ground below him. Blue energy crackled for a moment before converging around his body, kept close to his weathered skin in a visible cloak as he readied for the real fight to begin. "Come then child and face the God of Shinobi."
"Ahhhhh!" A-sama roared as he raced forward, fist raised as he readied for the clash ahead. Hiruzen frowned, shifting his weight as he stood his ground. He may not have wanted this situation to resort to this, but he would not be cowed by such a reckless show of strength. He may have been a man of peace, but he was also a beast breed in war. And his burning will would put an end to this conflict, one way or another.
Kankuro followed the movement of his puppet, Karasu, from his hidden spot amongst the trees, sharp paint covered gaze tracing each jerky motion and stuttered step as off-color taunts spoken haughtily from the clone currently 'manning' the strings filled the air below. It caught him by surprise, like it always did. Interesting as it was to listen to the fucked up shit that spewed from a copy of his mouth.
Strange in the way that he still held so much hate and anger, locked away within the hard case of a shell as he tried his best to keep hidden. But like now, when it wasn't his mouth spewing poisonous words. Worthless. Weak. Insignificant. He knew that there was only so much he could keep hidden.
The jerk of movement below pulled his attention away from his thoughts as the dog boy dodged, sloppily stumbling out of the way as he failed to anticipate the erratic manner in which his puppet moved. His fingers twitched as he manipulated chakra strings, twisting his puppet into a downward strike, poisonous claws extending from wooden hands at the last moment as he attempted to capitalize on the dog boy's clumsiness.
However, the barreling form of his pint-sized pup, tiny furry body colliding with the solid wooden frame of Karasu, saved the boy at the last second. Quick and agile, the little annoying ball of fur escaped the prick of the sharp spikes exploding from Karasu's chest, the trap released by the slightest flick of his master's hand.
A frown crept its way across Kankuro's painted face as the boy scrambled away, unharmed and with the company of his pet. Baa-sama would berate his performance if she was here, her old condescending voice taunting him on how unimpressive his traps were if his prey could so easily escape. Features hardening, Kankuro ignored the cranky old voice, its echoing mocking tone loud in his head. He didn't need doubts and callous words. Not now.
No, if he wanted to end this quickly like he needed to, like his siblings required him to, he'd have to put more effort into his attacks. Fingers dancing, Kankuro chased after the boy with the help of his puppet, his thoughts unwillingly returning to anger filled taunts and the hatred that boiled in his veins, steaming under his skin in a near uncontrollable rage ready to be unleashed.
It made sense of course. Every furious pore of his body. Every burning centimeter of skin. After all, each word that fell from copied lips was a reflection of himself. Of what he feared. He was the oldest son of a man who loved his family, but loved his village more. Who cared just that much more about the safety of his village, about the health and prosperity and strength of his village, then that of his own children and made no attempt to hide it because nothing was more important than the village.
The loud thud of a kunai knocking against Karasu's reinforced chest pushing his puppet back, freed up enough space for the dog boy to move. With a quick flick of his opponent's wrist, a small pill flew through the air only to be gobbled up by his puppy companion. Its fur glowing an angry red as dog boy raced to complete his hand seals.
Unwilling to wait for the completion of the boy's jutsu, Kankuro redoubled his efforts, forcing Karasu back at his opponent in a jumble of wooden limbs.
"Gijuu Ninpou: Shikyaku no Jutsu!"
The first strike missed as dog boy became more canine, dropping to all fours faster than Kankuro was expecting. Fingers dancing, Kankuro just managed to maneuver Karasu out of the way as his opponent shot forward, racing on all fours and attacking with a quick swipe of newly clawed hands. With a pull to his puppet's chakra strings, Kankuro released his next trap as dog boy slid across the ground, his momentum carrying him onwards even as he attempted to change directions.
Poison laced senbon raced from Karasu's open mouth, shooting the sharp needles at his opponent's still moving form. The attack missed wide as dog boy surged forward, regaining traction with the dirt below him just quickly enough to dodge. Forcing Karasu forward once more, Kankuro's brow raised as he watched the dog boy stumble over his own feet. The sharp points of Karasu's poisonous claws buried into the dirt as his opponent flipped out of the way, fumbling limbs moving slower than his previous surge of speed.
"Hahaha, you're making this too easy," his clone laughed, mimicking false motions as Kankuro tugged on chakra strings. "You're weak, unable to even stand on your own two feet. It's only a matter of time before this fucking pathetic farce of a display ends. Only a matter of time before one of my hits land, and I'll only need the one to fucking destroy you. Face it you're classed, outmatched."
"Fuck you," dog boy growled as he raced through another set of hand signs. "You haven't even begun to win this. Gijuu Ninpou: Juujin Bunshin!"
In a puff of smoke, the boy's dog disappeared. In its place stood a perfect copy of its owner. Kankuro watched as his clone chuckled darkly, shaking his hood covered head as his fingers twitched. "Fucking pathetic," he spat, gaze filled with rage. "Your little trick won't be able to save you. Nothing can!"
"We'll see about that, Gatsuuga!"
Twin cyclones pelted his clone and puppet, forcing quick rough movements from Kankuro's fingers as he rushed to get Karasu out of the way. His opponents collided hard with the surrounding trees, ripping them to pieces as they tore through the small clearing and Kankuro wasted no time in retaliating. Karasu's chest popped open with the tug of a chakra string and a bomb clinked to the forest floor, rolling across grass until it stopped at the center of the clearing waiting to be activated.
Kankuro shifted his attention to twin images as they turned to face him, a feral growl on their lips. He waited, counting the seconds patiently as Karasu's chest snapped closed. He would end this with one breath of poisonous gas, one flash of a bomb. It didn't matter which image was the dog boy in question. In a moment they would both be dead.
"Gatsuuga!" This next wave of twin cyclones was met with a cruel smile as Kankuro's finger twitched, tugging on the one string that should end this.
BOOM!
Unable to stop their forward momentum, Kankuro watched as the cyclones pierced his poisonous fog. He grinned at the sight, not caring that his clone had been unfortunate enough to get caught in the backlash, sinking back to the earth in a pile of dirt. All it took was one breath, one inhale of the venomous haze for this battle to be won. And then…
And then he could finally leave to protect the only family he had. His older sister who had always looked out for him, caring for him the best she could as he was berated from all sides. And the memory of a baby brother who had once looked at him with hope and stars in his gaze, his innocence stolen in the space of a night. They were his family. His only light and he'd be damned to let either one of them fall today.
Adjusting his stance, Kankuro refocused his attention on the clearing as his opponents stumbled back into sight, two matching faces glaring death into the clearing, searching for him. "You see now how futile your efforts truly are," Kankuro taunted, projecting his voice about the clearing like an echo, originating from nowhere and everywhere at once. He watched, calculated gaze tracing the figures below, as their search became more frantic, hopelessness filling their gaze.
Without warning, one of the forms dropped to all fours, mouth open in silent agony as he withered on the ground. "Nasty poison isn't it?" Kankuro questioned as the dog boy raced to his image's side. "But don't worry, death is swift. Mostly." Twisting his fingers, Kankuro manipulated Karasu's chakra strings forcing his puppet, poisonous claws to extend, ready to attack his remaining opponent.
Claws sunk into the dirt and the image of the withering boy flickered. Once as Karasu surged again, claws cutting into the bark of a nearby tree. Twice as Karasu ducked low, rolling across the clearing before springing forward venom laced spikes shooting from his chest, racing towards his opponent with deadly accuracy. And a third time as the image fell, revealing the limb form of the dog boy's puppy, body motionless as another bomb dropped from a hole in Karasu's chest.
"You see I've already won," Kankuro replied with a hollow laugh, finger twitching to release another poison filled bomb. Suddenly, Kankuro was thrown from his feet, flying from his spot within the trees from one devastating hit to the back of his head.
"Yeah, I don't think so," the dog boy's voice rang out, vibrating in his skull as his vision blackens, spinning rapidly as he collided with the ground.
"H-how?" Kankuro gasped, his consciousness fading, nausea rolling his stomach.
"Oh that? Well, that's thanks to a little odor a la dog piss. Hope you like it." Dark chuckles escaped from Kankuro's lips as his vision wavered, his fingers clutching at one last chakra sting. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"I've still…won," Kankuro whispered darkly as darkness descended, one last weak tug on the string still within his grasp. The purple haze of poison rapidly filled the air around him as the world went black, only the sounds of a frantic boy racing to his beloved pet reaching his barely conscious ears. He'd failed his family, unable to rush after them to save them from the onslaught of these Konoha ninja, but at least no one would be following. Not now. Not ever.
Heart pounding Sakura raced towards the village's center, feet hitting the hard pavement with silent steps. They were so close. She could feel it in her veins, the sensation itching beneath her skin. The towering form of Konoha's two central towers standing before her like a beacon of hope.
Sakura had never felt so relieved at the sight. The Hokage's Tower, the taller of the two, stood lofty as it overlooked all of Konoha. A silent warrior ready to fight. Waiting for one more push. It was only a matter of time before that push came, the true battle just beyond the horizon.
'Not far now,' Sakura thought, her gaze tracing the path searching for more enemies that would stand in their way. Now that Sasuke had calmed the fuck down, his previous behavior surprisingly bringing out the demon in her, things had finally settled. Their task going smoothly as they kept to the shadows and side streets.
They'd yet to run into anyone else. A fact that meant they were finally making good time. From Pakkun-san's gruffly whispered statement, it seemed as if the Kumo team was only a few short kilometers ahead. And if their luck continued to pan out, she was sure they'd be able to intercept the team before they could do any real damage.
The Hokage's Tower loomed overhead, its long shadow reminding her of the last member of their makeshift team. Now if only Shikamaru-san was here with them, his strategic mind and covert area techniques a valued asset to the team, then she could rest easy.
Of course there was always that looming thought, pressing at the back of her mind that reminded her of his chances. Alone, facing unknown odds, she was forced to admit that the likelihood that he was still alive and breathing was slim, practically nonexistent. If he'd been able to slip away from his opponent in the heat of battle, then there might have been a chance, but the doubt remained. He was just one shinobi against many. One lazy shinobi at that. There was little hope that he'd survived the encounter and even if he'd somehow managed it, she doubted he'd be in any kind of shape to return to her.
And then there was the existence of another concern. The image of multicolored fireworks, clearly Naruto's handiwork, floating to the forefront of her mind. Her gut twisted as she remembered the display. A small voice whispering into her ear telling her that Shikamaru-san had been involved in that stunt too, and her worry intensified. Because if he had, then there really was little hope of any favorable outcome.
Internally shaking those troubled thoughts from her head, Sakura refocused on the task at hand. Shikamaru-san wasn't stupid. Analytical with a genius tactical mind, if there was anyone who could find a way out of such a tough situation then it was him. And she hoped he did. She still needed him to succeed in her task. Two to three odds against unknown strength wouldn't likely work out against Kumo. She was sure he knew that too, and she was confident that he wouldn't let her down.
Sakura came to a halt as the passageway opened up, her gaze shifting to Pakkun-san as he spoke softly, "This is as far as we can go while hiding."
Sakura nodded as she looked ahead taking in the two towers that stood before her. To her right the Hokage's Tower stood proudly, a symbol to all and a reminder that the will of fire burned within every Konoha ninja. And to her left stood the Hyuuga Military Police Headquarters, its proud pristine walls a reminder to all of the strength of the village. For a moment, her thoughts flickered to the image of similar such buildings, smaller yet standing equally as a symbol of power within the village they protected. She imagined the burning orange of each building, all but the one standing in front of her victims of Naruto's prank more than a year ago.
He'd left his mark on the village. Shown that even the mightiest could be felled and she took that to heart now. She needed to remember that no matter what and against all logic those seen as weak and powerless could triumph. They could beat back those who thought themselves better. They could show the world something that could not be ignored. She could stand tall against a foe that might very well outmatch her and win.
"What do we do now?" Sasuke asked, pulling up alongside her as he too looked out across the clearing. She was glad he was behaving, remembering where he'd shoved his head so he could pull it back out and focus on the mission at hand like she'd expected him to do from the start. She couldn't afford for him to continue with his previous reckless behavior. There was no room for him to make this situation worse.
"We rush in, keep moving forward, together. There's no time to deviate from the course. Our goal is right in front of us. Let's go and finish this." Sasuke nodded in reply, easily accepting her plan in a way he hadn't earlier. Really, if she'd known all she had to do was yell at him in order to get him to start thinking with his head and be compliant, she'd have done it ages ago.
Turning back to the calm streets before them, she took a deep breath before giving the signal to move.
In a surge of movement, they rushed forward, Pakkun-san leading the way as he continued to follow the scent of their targets. Nearly halfway across the square, Sakura's senses tingled, a shiver running down her spine as her muscles tensed. Something was wrong.
Then, out of nowhere, Kumo ninja charged them, jumping down in front of them as they blocked their path. Shifting quickly on her heels, Sakura attempted to go around them, ducking around the enemy ninja before her as she slide to the left. There had to be another way.
Except then there wasn't. Surrounded on all sides, realization dawned, 'An ambush.'
"They were waiting for us," Sasuke commented, the bite to his statement clear, but restrained. Good. It could only mean that he was still in control of his rage.
"Just means, we were doing our job," Sakura replied, a false confidence lacing her voice as she reassured her teammate. "We'll take care of these guys and finish our mission. They won't stop us. Not here," she continued, her gaze tracing her surroundings for anything of use, silently counting the numbers that surrounded them.
'Too many,' Sakura thought as her fists tightened, the skin between her knuckles whitening as she prepared to fight against the ten to one odds. There would be no easy way out of this. No element of surprise to give them the extra edge. They would need to use every bit of skill they possessed to see this through. Relying on teamwork and power alone as the fierce glares staring back at them failed to hint at inexperience.
No, their opponents would not be making any mistakes today. Which meant that this would be a true test of skill. One that they were forced to see through as there seemed to be no other way around these ninja. If they wanted to continue on, ready to stop the Kumo Genin team, then they would have to go through these ninja. Quickly as they couldn't afford to get bogged down with this distraction. Not when she had no idea what they had planned. No, they had to stop them, no matter the cost. No matter what.
In the blink of an eye, Sasuke activated his doujutsu, shifting his red spinning gaze to meet hers as he inhaled deeply. They shared a nod, familiar and ready before turning away. They would do this together. Like the team Kakashi-sensei had made them. Without Naruto, it wouldn't be quite the same, their three-man tactics useless without the blond, but they could see this through. After all, Kakashi-sensei had drilled into them more than that. He'd given them the basics to all scenarios. So no matter what the framework, Team Seven could do this.
In a surge of motion, enemy ninja charged them. Rushing in with wild swings, kunai raised and ready to impale. Without further thought, Sakura reacted, fists blocking with powerful chakra enhanced swings as she protected Sasuke, his doujutsu whirling as his hands flashed through hand sign after hand sign.
"Katon: Gouryuuka no Jutsu!"
Sakura dropped to the ground as the last syllable left her teammate's lips, rolling under the giant dragon head as it surged forward. Springing back to her feet, her back to Sasuke as he controlled his raging fire, Sakura ignored the near deafening screams of pain as her fist collided with the jaw of an attacking shinobi. The loud crunch of bones as his skull caved in went nearly unnoticed in the chaos as she spun on her heels, elbow slamming into the gut of another ninja as he attempted to stab her teammate in the back. Her knee came up fast, striking her opponent in the jaw with another loud crunch of bone.
Her senses tingled as the heat of Sasuke's jutsu ended and she lunged forward, rolling out of the way in a mirrored image of her teammate, just in time to avoid the sharp wind of a cutting jutsu. The enemy ninja surrounding them charged again, filling in the space they'd just vacated as they cut her off from her black haired teammate. Sakura cursed as she continued to roll forward, avoiding the piercing strike of a kunai as it slammed into the ground where she'd just stood.
Working on instinct alone, Sakura was barely on her feet before she forced her body into a twist, body spinning in the air as she gained momentum before coming down hard on a kunoichi unlucky enough to be caught in her destructive path. Her fist tore through the other girl's chest, blood squirting across her face as she crushed the girl's heart. Flipping forward, Sakura shifted out of the way of another wind cutting jutsu.
Landing lightly on her feet, fists raised at the ready, Sakura traced her surroundings. Sasuke was nowhere to be seen and by the looks of it more ninja had come to join the fun. Completely surrounded by nearly a dozen ninja, Sakura racked her brain for a way out of this that didn't end with her horribly maimed and dismembered. Unfortunately, she was drawing a blank.
Steeling herself for what was to come, chakra arcing across her fists in a violent display of energy, Sakura was saved from a bloody death as her opponents suddenly froze. Stopping in mid-motion before returning to a neutral standing stance. Without further thought, Sakura forced her fingers to move, shifting through hand signs in rapid succession while she still had the chance, "Secret Ninja Art: Rockslide Illusion!"
Her genjutsu released, Sakura didn't waste another second before forcing chakra to her legs, taking the time while the ten ninja surrounding her blinked in panicked confusion to leap away from her opponents. Deft fingers quickly grasped a sealed kunai, flicking it down into the disoriented group before releasing the seal, "Kai!"
BOOM!
Shifting away from the carnage, Sakura turned her attention back to the ever increasing horde as Ino landed beside her. Sakura's gaze traced her friend's form. Sweat poured down the face of her apparent savior, but the girl ignored it, easily tearing into an enemy shinobi with the sharp end of her kunai as she fought beside Sakura. Turning back to the fight around her, Sakura joined her friend in felling the enemy, shattering bones as they worked together to cut a bloody path across the square.
Just ahead of her Choji-kun's large form rolled through a large group of ninja, crushing them as the heat of Sasuke's fire burned in his wake. Soon the ranks of attacking ninja had thinned out considerably, leaving just a handful waiting at the edge of the square, catching their breath as they regrouped.
Ready to charge them, not willing to let up and give them a chance to form an adequate retaliation, Sakura was halted by a firm hand on her shoulder. "Don't you have a mission to complete?" Ino asked, shifting her gaze just enough to meet Sakura's without letting their opponents leave her field of vision.
"Hai, but…" Sakura began her protest only to stop mid-sentence. That look on Ino's face was familiar. A promise filled with the confidence to see everything through. There would be nothing Sakura could say to sway her friend, so Sakura accepted the help with a firm nod.
"We've got this…" Ino began only to be cut off by a piercing scream. Together they turned their attention to the sound, their gazes landing on a single rogue enemy ninja killing his comrades with reckless abandonment. In moments a kunai pierced his chest, killed by the very comrades he'd turned on without pause. "Took you long enough to get here," Ino stated, speaking to the open air as she shifted her gaze slightly away from the regrouping ninja.
Out of the shadows, Shikamaru-san arrived, rejoining them in the center of the square. "Today has been far too irksome," he grumbled, forcing a heated comment from Ino's lips.
"Oh, shut up and stop being such a lazy slouch," she snapped. "You've got a job to do," she continued before turning back to Sakura, "Choji and I've got the rest. Go on, Team Sakura," she said teasingly.
Sakura nodded with a roll of her eyes, a grin creeping across her lips, "Thanks, I owe you one."
"No, now we're even," Ino replied with a growing smile of her own before refocusing on the group across from them.
With a shake of her head, Sakura turned back to her makeshift team. "Let's go," she nodded, shifting her attention to Pakkun-san's panting form. "We've got a village to save."
Pakkun-san yipped in reply, his small body already turning back in the direction of the two towers. Whether they were ready for it or not, it was time to finally face Kumo's Genin team. Konoha depended on it.
Fists clinched as she stared at the bug user before her, Temari tried to keep her focus on the impending battle instead of the worry slowly consuming her. It was surprisingly difficult were it shouldn't have been. Especially because she'd been trained practically since before she could even walk to always stay focused and concentrated on her task. She was a sharp tool made for the sole purpose of defending her village. Even so, her love for her brother could not be eradicated despite Rasa-sama's multiple attempts.
So she worry about them. Kankuro-kun was strong, a skilled user of his craft, but he was also careless, allowing the smallest of details to slip past him as he fought. It was a weakness that the old crow, Baa-sama, was still attempting to beat out of him. And while Temari disliked the old woman's callous approach, forcing him to be aware of every aspect of the battlefield or risk serious injury, what she taught was a necessary evil.
And then there was Gaara-chan. Her baby brother. Half crazed and teeming with a vicious power that left her with an irrational fear of what he could and would do, he was also limited. Cursed with an overwhelming power that was also ironically his greatest weakness, he was as much a prisoner to that monster Shukaku's influence as he was the jailer.
Irrational and unreliable Shukaku made her brother an unstable monster with the strength to commit unspeakable evils. He was the evil that inhabited her baby brother's body. Temari tried her best to get him to rely more on himself rather than that beast. It was, of course, an action in futility as Gaara-chan had stopped listening to her a long time ago.
A hand slipped to her back, gripping her fan tightly as she attempted to refocus her attention. The wind moved around her, ghosting across her skin like a soft caress. Breathing deeply, she focused on that feeling, taking a moment to force the wind to move with her, pushing back anything that did not belong.
Aburame-san had shown his hand in the Chuunin Exams, his tactics consistent and predictable. An unfortunate reality that he would regret because she was a master of her element. An expert manipulator of the very wind that surrounded them, that housed the insects he required to make his mark. He'd be sorely disappointed, if he hoped to win with the same tactic here.
Aburame-san's hands moved deeper into his pocket minutely, almost indiscernible to the naked eye, but Temari caught the movement anyway. He was readying himself for an attack and she'd be damned if she waited around for it. After all, she wasn't one to just sit idly by while the world moved around her.
Shifting her weight, Temari pulled the fan from her back, her left hand whipping around her body as she bent the wind with her fan. "Fuuton: Kazekiri no Jutsu!" The once docile wind turned sharp, piercing the air as the deadly chakra laced currents sped towards her opponent. Aburame-san was quick on his feet, dodging the blast of air with a leap backwards, but Temari knew it wouldn't be enough.
His right side caught in the tail end of the deadly current, her opponent faltered, his knees buckling as he clutched at his side. Spinning on her heel, Temari continued the motion of her rotation, sending another cutting attack in his direction. There was no time to waste, not when her brothers were out there danger licking at their heels. They needed her now more than ever. Gaara-chan more so than anyone else as he was at the most risk for losing his life.
Her eyes moved to the forest for a moment, mapping the direction her baby brother had run off too so that she could follow him quickly. If he failed. If his demon distracted him from the goal at hand. Then he would need her help to survive. To survive the cold calculated danger that was the Koushi-sama, or Princess of Konoha, or whatever other title she went by these days.
She was dangerous. The set of her jaw. The pull of her shoulders. Even the succinct timber of her voice. Temari knew her type intimately. She was the sharp edge of a kunai, cold and unfeeling. Although Temari had never met her before she knew without a doubt what made her tick. Knew that complete lack of empathy, the unwavering focus on the mission and what was best for her village. She knew that there was no room for mercy in her cold heart.
No, if Gaara-chan was to fail, then the Princess would kill him. She'd steal his last breath from his body at the first opportunity without hesitation. She would do it without a second thought because she would see her brother for what he was. An unstable constant threat to Konoha, a threat to all those around him.
Rasa-sama had seen it. His hopes for another village weapon flushed down the drain when her brother's complete lack of control over his demon had been discovered. The Kazekage-sama had sent assassin after assassin after her brother, his own son, without hesitation. The man's only regret that the boy wasn't the perfect weapon that he so craved. Of course control had eventually come, after blood body after bloody body and in its wake was her baby brother, a new weapon that had a tendency to harm the hand that held it just as soon as it would protect it.
So she needed to end this quickly. Shifting in her spot, Temari felt the wind move around her, surging in front of her as she allowed it to map out her surroundings. Her full attention turned back to her opponent, Aburame-san's next attack was easy to spot. The blow glanced across the hard surface of her fan, blocking it even as she pulled back, twisting the fan in her hand to slam the back end into his follow up punch. She could hear the soft crack of the bones in his hand breaking, blood marking the handle of her fan as she pulled it back again, spinning on her heels to deliver a backhanded blow from her open fan.
Her chakra surged as she sharpened the wind around her, blades arching from her fan cutting into the bug boy's forearms as he attempted to block. Blood dripping from the cuts lining his arm, the boy jumped backwards, creating useless space between the two as he flexed his fingers.
An explosion in the distance pulled her attention away from the boy in front of her. Her gaze tracing the edge of the forest before she ripped it way and back to her opponent who had taken the time to pull two kunai from his pack. 'Focus,' Temari chastised herself, her gaze hardening as her knuckles whitened against the grip of her fan. She had to focus if she was going to save her brothers in time. No matter what, they only had each other in this world, her only family. She could not let these ninja destroy that.
Aburame-san rushed forward, his fist raised as he began his next assault. "Fuuton: Tatsu no Oushigoto!" Not willing to allow the typical delay, Temari forced the whirling tornado to touch down surrounding the boy, the rapidly spinning cyclone trapping him as she manipulated the wind further, forcing it to sharpen to cut away at his near helpless form. She refused to succumb to any of his tricks. Refused to be maneuvered into a trap that she was sure Uzumaki-san had placed, the likelihood the blond boy had rigged the entire field before parting ways far too great for her to ignore.
BOOM!
The distant explosion rocked the clearing, giving Temari pause. Nervously, she glanced in the direction of the sound. It sounded like her brother needed her and this was taking far too long. Shoulders tightening, Temari shifted back to the dying winds of her tornado a decision made. The Princess of Konoha may have been a weapon artfully constructed to kill without remorse, but so was she. And now, she needed to be Rasa-sama's weapon again, and not a constantly worried older sister.
Biting hard on her right hand, the sharp points of her teeth easily breaking the skin, Temari swiped her now bleeding thumb across her giant fan before tightening her grip with her left. "Kuchiyose: Kirikiri Mai!" In a tempest of wind, Kamatari appeared, summoned to the battlefield as the one-eyed sickle welding weasel road the waves of the wind. Racing through the air, Kamatari's sickle slashed through Aburame-san, cutting off his head in one rapid maneuver.
However, in the blink of an eye the boy dissolved, collapsing into a horde of insects as he was replaced by a bug clone. Temari eyed the area around her feeling the flow of the wind as she searched for her opponent. He couldn't have gotten far. Not when that technique had used a lot of his few remaining supplies of insects he had. He couldn't have many more left. It wouldn't be long now.
Giant war fan up and at the ready, Temari waited for any sudden shifts in the wind, but the air was eerily still. Suddenly the ground shifted beneath her, cracking as the earth crumbled. 'No!' she thought violently as she leapt away, chakra enhanced legs pushing as hard as possible, but already too late.
'Kuso,' Temari cursed her inattentiveness as bugs shot from the ground, rapidly flying up to meet her still retreating form. With a push of her fan, she tried to bat the insects away, but with no time to push wind blades into a rapidly whirling tornado the insects surge past it, only a handful dying in the process.
Unable to halt their approach, Temari shifted her attention back to searching for Aburame-san, hoping that killing him she might stop his insects before they drained her of her chakra. Gaze trained elsewhere, racking across the clearing in an attempt to find the boy, the pain caught her by surprised.
"Ahhhhh!" The scream ripped from her throat as the first insect ate through her skin, tearing through the flesh at her legs in a bloody pain filled mess that left her weak at the knees. She forced the pain from her thoughts, ignoring it in favor forcing the wind to bend to her will. A violent torrent of chakra laced wind ripped around her body, running painfully across her skin as she tried to dislodge the insects from her body, but it wasn't enough.
More and more insects ripped into her flesh, tearing at every centimeter of open skin as they buried themselves deeper within her. Desperate fingers tore at her own flesh in an attempt to rip each bug from her body, the frantic quest of her own hands only adding to the carnage.
Pain assaulted her senses, ripping another scream from her throat until her voice grew hoarse, her throat raw. And just when she thought the pain could not get any worse, her body burned. A blinding heat coursed through her veins, igniting the blood in her body as it boiled.
Struggling to fight against the pain, to block it out as she was taught, Temari surged her chakra, pushing the energy out of every pore of her body and stirring the wind to cut across her skin.
The process was slow, but with each passing second another insect fell away, slowly forced out of her body and killed by the cutting wind. She pushed her body to continue the process, blocking out the sound of her own voice as it screamed murder into the open air. Only her efforts were not enough.
Unable to stop the collapse of her body, her straining muscles giving way beneath her, Temari collapsed to her knees. Her gaze, hazy and disoriented, tracked the wavering form of Aburame-san as he slowly made his approach. His bugs overwhelming her. Devouring her.
Then the pain took over, overriding all of her training as sensation rushed back into her awareness. Distantly a scream echoed across the clearing, the harrowing sound hauntingly close. It was her own voice, loud despite the grating near bleeding quality of her throat.
'No,' Temari thought, the edges of her vision blacking out as she collapsed fully from pain. 'I've…failed.'
KJ's corner (I'm sure there's something I should say, but I'm tired…)
Jutsu list
Oborozukiyo – Hazy Moon Light
Gijuu Ninpou: Shikyaku no Jutsu – Imitation Beast Ninja Art: Four Legs Technique
Gijuu Ninpou: Juujin Bunshin – Imitation Beast Ninja Art: Beast Human Clone
Gatsuuga – Fang Passing Fang
Katon: Gouryuuka no Jutsu – Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique
Secret Ninja Art: Rockslide Illusion – this is a modified name for the rockslide genjutsu
Fuuton: Kazekiri no Jutsu – Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique (while this technique requires hand signs, as an elemental master, Temari doesn't require them when she uses her fan
Fuuton: Tatsu no Oushigoto – Wind Release: Great Task of the Dragon
Kuchiyose: Kirikiri Mai! – Summoning: Quick Beheading Dance
AN: Okay, so that was a pretty intense chapter. Hopefully, you enjoyed this chapter because despite the struggle to get this out to you, this is honestly one of my favorite chapters (not so much KJ because he prefers the light-hearted stuff). The small things we put into this chapter are very important on a world building and character development level. They expand upon our world in such a way that you will see a lot if not all of these thing again. I assure you that absolutely nothing in this chapter was unnecessary or filler. Again, we hoped you enjoyed this chapter. See as soon as we can.
