A/N Well... It's been a while hasn't it? Nearly a full year since I last uploaded any chapter, to any story. Excusing the long and boring explinations, I'll put it simply. Work, work and personal bullshit. So, enjoy this chapter, and the next will be when it will be. Peace Fuckers - Two
Honkanai Village 22:32 | Sunday 22nd April 13 aNb | Land of Fire
Radiant. Deafening.
No space within the small area of rubble, blood and dirt remains untouched by its rays. Yet, within an instant it is gone, but its effects linger. The tall shinobi's once solid grip on his well crafted katana falters. Leaving it to fall to the ground as his hands launch to cover his eyes. No matter how fast he thought he had acted, the light had done its damage, burning his eyes and blinding him for one long moment. One that even a lesser man could use to turn any instance to their advantage. Letting out a low roar, he applies pressure to his eyes as he attempts to wipe whatever is supplying the burning sensation away, to no avail.
All the while a screech echoes throughout his mind, distorting his very thoughts and movements. Unstable, his feet are unable to keep in one place, ever moving to keep some semblance of balance as he keeps trying to somehow restore equilibrium. Against all efforts, he falls to his knee, a lone hand on the ground to support his weight and keep him from a face full of dirt. Another roar escape his maw, rumbling the very ground around him as his funnels his pain into his throes. Soon enough the burning ceases, his eyes leaving watery crashes down his cheeks. Within seconds the turbulent bass throughout his mind ends, leaving his thoughts a hollow shadow of their former forms. However, his sole focus had not changed and the Konoha brat would be undone by his hands.
Or would he?
His vision barely returned, his eyes lock with his katana, laid on the ground. Tip covered in fresh blood, yet only the tip. Whatever had happened, he knew he had failed to end the boy's life. A misstep that'd be held against him for the rest of his days, if he did not rectify it instantly. Clenching at the dirt, he forces himself from his knee. Dazedly looking around, no signs offer themselves to him. Other than a sly grin from a purple haired kunoichi and a rather small trail of fresh blood. Allowing his glare to linger on Anko's, his anger continues to rise in his chest. Pulsing out of him through a musky intent. She shoots a smirk at him, which instantly sends the shinobi into a fit. Flowing through hand seals in only a matter of seconds, he takes in a large breath. In the next second, he uses his left hand to rummage through a small back on his lower back. Pulling it out he lunches a volley of shuriken at the kunoichi, in the instant after he releases the breath he was holding. Covering each shuriken in a ball of flame, they carrene towards Anko.
Slicing through the sky, the shuriken near their target. Within an inch of the quarry, Anko fades into nothingness. Allowing the shuriken to burn out and clatter to the ground. Reaperaring a few meters to the side, the smile upon Anko's face grows. Breaking the glare, she looks to the kunoichi subdued by her jutsu then back to the shinobi. He follows her gaze and upon seeing his compatriote beaten and defeated, his intent spikes again. It rises so high it wipes the smirk off of Anko's features. In the same instant the shinobi takes one step forward, Anko's primied snake lunges at the kunoichi's neck, ending the woman's life.
"Too slow, shinobi-san." The tone of Anko's words are laced with malice and humour as each of her snakes slowly retreat back up her sleeve. "By now my genin will be long gone, and far out of your reach."
Eyes wide, the shinobi roars one final time. The sound moves the rubble near to him as the sound waves crash in all directions. "Konoha whore, you'll pay for this!" Within seconds of the words leaving his mouth, his hands again begin a string of hand seals.
Finishing the set just as quick as the last, he proceeds to slam his hands onto the ground to his front. Slowly, a large mould of earth rises from the ground. Contorting and shaping itself into the open maw and head of a dragon. From it's maw, mud churns about before being fired from the mouth at Anko who expertly dodges each bullet. Shot upon shot rains down upon Anko, none ever coming close to her as she continues to goad the shinobi. With each insult, the dragon's head slowly begins to crack, and parts crumble soon falling to the ground. Sweat drips down the shinobi's brow, evidence of his encroaching fatigue. Only a few seconds pass before he is forced to release his hold over the jutsu, falling back to a knee.
"Fuck… what the hell... happened to... my chakra?" Through laboured breaths, the shinobi barely gets out a sentence.
Anko drops from the rooftop and lands before the shinobi, a rather large sly grin plastered over her face. "Ah, I figured you didn't need it so I sealed it with a little diversion… sometimes you should pay more attention to your surroundings." In one of her hands, she twirls a kunai with a tag attached to the ring of the blade. "Turns out, it's not that hard to add chakra sealing to a flash bomb. At least, that's what they told me. Anywho, I'm going to be putting you through the same experience you put my genin through." Her sly grin fades, replaced by the sadistic grin of a Jonin out for revenge. No longer does she spin the kunai, placing it back into her pack, and retrieving a far more productive means of torture.
Small, sharp and most importantly, made from chakra conductive metals. The blade the seething Jonin plucked from her pack begins to flare for a moment, the heat noticeable to those with a trained eye. Yet, no matter how much the shinobi tries to move from his kneeling position, his muscles refuse the call to act. Steeling his nerves, he closes his eyes and awaits the unique feeling of a blade entering flesh, which does not take long. Slowly and precisely, Anko places the blade onto a small patch of the man's flesh, brazenly shown to the world. What he once thought of a means to show off his rather large scar, became the easel for his enemies next work of art.
At first, the blade only reaches the first few layers of skin. Barely garnering a wince out of the man as small droplets of blood fall from the perfectly cut lines along his chest. It only takes a few seconds for the blade to travel from one side of the chest to the other, the line around nine inches in length. A look of pleasure crosses Anko's face as she places the blade what seems like three inches below the first line, pressing it into his flesh again as she drags it non too kindly back across. Again and again she repeats the process, dragging the blade and creating another few lines of blood, but once seven separate lines fill his chest. She stops.
Inspecting her work, she looks over the first step of her torture. Finding a rhythm. No matter how hard the shinobi had tried, the blade had exposed where exactly on his chest creates the most discomfort and pain. Unfortunately, he found each inch of the last four lines unbearable, his face contorted into a constant wince. That was not all those lines had in common. When they were created, they burned as if the very blade creating the trenches was heated. Before he can find the moment long enough to regain any sort of composeur, Anko's blade ignates with chakra again, flaring up and emitting a more visible flame. No sooner does it appear, does she place it onto the shinobi's skin, cutting downwards through the first seven lines, not deep enough to cause the man to bleed heavily, but enough to continue his discomfort and add to the increasing level of pain.
Four whole minutes pass before Anko stands from her easel and looks down on the Shinobi. Blood slowly seeping from the checkerboard across his chest, as pain exits his eyes. Throughout it all, he'd not said a word, not even the slightest murmur as his flesh was simultaneously burnt and cut. Some would say he's made of the hardest stuff, yet the shinobi knew that would be a lie. Internally he cries out in pain, wishing his body would respond to his commands so he could stop any more torture. This was not what he had signed up for, and never in his dreams did he think he'd encounter a shinobi capable of both beating him and his companion as well as administering such perfectly performed torture. She was truly out of his league, however, a small hope still rests in the back of his mind. The boss he finds himself indebted to, could if he was here turn the tides and offer him that chance to redeem the pity he now holds onto.
Retracing each line, Anko digs the blade in deeper. Earning a flow of glorious crimson after each inch cut. Unable to keep his winces to himself, the Shinobi begins to let out small cries of pain, his manly bravado no longer his primary concern. That was reserved for his life. A life that was seemingly about to find itself that much closer to this world than the next as a volley of kunai whip through the air. Barley missing both Anko and the kneeling Shinobi. Jumping back slightly on instinct to sure up her position, Anko observes her surroundings as she swings her chakra blade around. Cleaning the blood off of it before finally placing it back into her pack in favour of her trusty kunai. Another volley carens from the distance, far more precise than the last, forcing the kunoichi to block them or face impalement and perhaps even a clean fatal wound.
Eyes scan her surroundings in search of the kunai's origins, yet all Anko finds is the chaos that is their battlefield. Rooftops destroyed, houses in tatters and flames, the streets cratered and the smell of burning flesh filling the lungs of all present. Among them, no signs of anyone other than those already engaged. Taking the chance to check up on Iku, turning her head slightly, the sight before her sets the flames inside her burning ever brighter. Iku, Kanteo and Taisuke all find themselves on their knees. The shinobi once surrounding them stood behind them, blades of varying lengths and styles pointed at the Konoha-nin. One figure stands before them, no weapons drawn, yet a smug look dons his features.
"It seems you were too occupied, Konoha-san, or should I say… too slow?" The man's smirk widens as he taunts Anko, finding her ever growing anger most enjoyable.
For a moment, Anko takes in the new arrivals appearance. Looking for any sign of allegiance or lack thereof. His face is uninteresting, some could consider him attractive but nothing really stands out. As is typical for most shinobi of the West, he dons normal black shinobi pants, a mesh shirt underneath a onyx jacket that sports various different symbols in kanji. Unlike typical shinobi, instead of the open toed shinobi sandals, he wears more protective combat boots. Lastly, fingerless gloves rests snugly on his hands, a pair of goggles sit on top of his head and around his neck is a respirator. In the style of those found in Amegakure. Yet, the final thing that Anko finds in her eye line is around his belt, his hitai-ate with one symbol. A musical note.
Whatever Anko had felt before was nothing in comparison to the unbridled rage that brewed inside of her. Within seconds, she begins to become hyper focused. Nothing other than the man on top of the rooftop in front of her friends matters. He will suffer at her hands, no matter the cost to herself. Shifting the kunai to her right hand, she holds out the left and forces chakra into the seals around her wrists. In an instant the same group of snakes emerge, each one looking as utterly infuriated as their master. In the blink of an eye, Anko closes the distance between her and the shinobi, a quick trade of blows passing before anyone really knows what is happening.
Deftly, the shinobi dodges each of the snakes maws with little effort. No matter how hard Anko pushes, each strike falls on thin air or a well timed block. For a whole ten seconds, they both keep up the same pace of blows, riposts and parries. Neither one ever gaining a noticeable upper hand. At least, that was what Anko had come to believe, her tunnel vision ever hampering her ability to read her opponent, or even respond to the simplest lunge. Forcing her off balance, A swift kick to the gut sends her flying down to the ground below them, rolling violently until she stops a few feet in front of the shinobi she had tortured previously.
In a matter of seconds the entire balance of the encounter had tipped. Anko had somehow given her enemy the advantage, and for it she found herself on the ground with a throbbing pain in her gut. Pushing herself upright, she locks gazes with the Shinobi who'd been the gracious giver of the kick. A sick smile rests upon his face, one that seemingly keeps growing. Not wanting to let that man have his way with not just Iku and her genin, but Kaii whenever they'd find him, she reaches in her pack for another kuani to replace the one she dropped.
However, as her hand reaches her pack, something grabs her arm. Wrenching it up her back creating a grunt of pain. Not content with that, the unknown force pushes her to her knees and draws a blade to her throat. "It's your turn now, bitch." The voice sent a chill throughout Anko's body, her thoughts running rampant as it clicks whose voice it is. The Shinobi she was part way through torturing.
In an instant, the shinobi's strength doubles and an audible crack fills the air. Another follows near instantly after accompanied by a roar of pain from Anko. A third snap soon joins the others as she is forced to the ground. Still held tightly in the Shinobi's grip is Anko's arm, disfigured and broken. Even for a shinobi, the arm is unusable in its current condition. Something that Anko did not need right now. Her teeth gritted as she does all she can to push the man off of her. Yet, it did no good. Without both of her hands, she couldn't use any jutsu to attempt to tip the scales back in her favour, but she refuses to give up. Summoning as much strength as she can, she forces herself upwards. The Shinobi doesn't move, not even an inch. Relenting, Anko sighs, her face firmly in the dirt as she begins to wonder if Kaii had gotten away safely. Not that she would have to wait long to find out, as only a few streets over a cry of utter pain fills the air.
Both shinobi snap their heads in the direction, yet neither share the same reaction. The larger of the two on top of Anko has the unmistakable look of fear, yet the other grins madly as if the real fun was yet to come. Soon enough the roar died down, only to be replaced with a deafening fulmination that tears through the streets and houses alike. Only ending just before reaching the building separating the shinobi from the explosion, but that didn't stop it. Within an instant the building too, detonating outwars. Basking in the gold and crimson, two yellow orbs pierce through the flames and debris, a slit separating the orbs into two halves.
Within the confusion, the plunging blade pierces Kaii's flesh. Pain rockets throughout the boys body, yet for one reason or another it doesn't last long. Soon enough the blade is pulled from his flesh as his semi-conscious form is forcibly lifted from the blood soaked ground. Unable to keep his eyes open, both close and the feel of wind flows through his hair yet the sensation doesn't last. The feeling of his gut dropping is all he can focus on, until his body is dropped to the ground, his back and head hitting some sort of hard object.
It sent a ringing throughout his mind. A slow and methodical repetition of a singular note followed by an image. Something the boy had wanted to forget, an event that had nearly ended his life, the fact he had again failed to keep himself in check. The last image was the one that truly plagued him, plunging self doubt deep into his heart. Yet, what could he do about it? He was nearly out of chakra, the very act of forming a seal could very well kill him, let alone forming a jutsu or even summoning the strength to stand or open his eyes. All he can think between rings, is that this is how he will die. Defeated and disgraced on a mission he had no right to help with. It is his doing… at least that is what he tells himself.
No sooner does he begin to accept the embrace and warmth that death offers him, does the ringing beginning to be replaced by a voice. Melancholy and deep, it tugs at his mind as if to elicit some form of response. Louder and louder it grows, his mind soon lost to anything but the voice saying four words… Release your true self.
His eyes shoot open, bloodshot and dilated as a blood curdling roar fills the air. The first thing he sees, is another pair of eyes. Slit pupils, narrow and focused solely on him. A sense of deep worry radiates through them, yet it doesn't last long. His vision fails him, the image before him is replaced with blackness and then to that of a dark and damp room filled with smoke and countless golden orbs. Again, that image leaves his view, replaced with a final set of eyes. A mirror match to the first yet larger, as if one eye was far greater in size than Kaii alone.
"Release… your… true… self." The words reverberate around Kaii's skull for the last time, as an enormous amount of chakra reveals itself, creating a deafening shockwave.
Narrowing, his pupil's form into slits and his scarla darken near instantly, now void of any colour. His skin too darkens, becoming a dark grey as four horns push through his blood and muk soaked hair. Around his eyes form marron marks, ones that any would match with that of a certain Sannin, at least in their minds they would. Lastly, a thin layer of chakra clings tightly to his skin, almost absent to those without trained eyes.
Sucking in greedily, Kaii takes in as much air as his small lungs can cope with. In and out, in and out, each breath shallower than the one before. Slowly his numerous wounds begin to knit themselves together, shrapnel forcibly pushed out of his skin while the abrasions and bruises fade completely. All that remains of his once horrid position is his tattered clothes, blood stained and riddled with cuts and holes. No sooner does his breathing normalise, does Kaii's head snap to the direction he was once bested. Anger permeates the air around him, pushing himself to his feet and slowly striding towards a wall that bars his path.
In a matter of seconds his hands fly through a range of seals. Each done with perfect finesse while the inside of his chest builds a glut of chakra. Tightening his coils to near breaking, Kaii takes in an enormous breath of air. For only a moment he holds it, the seals now done and his right hand held just in front of his mouth. In the next instance he exhales, shooting small molds of chakra out at an incredible pace. Passing through the shape his hand has made, they ignite and rocket towards the wall. Every hit forces the wall to submit to his will. Breaking, crumbling and soon enough exploding from the sheer amount of fire hitting its hard shell. Gone from sight, the entire building begins to shake as Kaii's unrelenting assault continues. For every hit the damage increases, his fire setting off chain reactions, explosions and destruction.
Barely a few seconds after he began, the building before him had collapsed in on itself, leaving flaming rumble before him. His jutsu, however, was being held and the fire continued to hurtle towards whatever may cross it's path. Be it a being or the only thing that separates him from the battlefield he was once downed in. Neither mattered to him anymore, he was past the point of caring about anything other than his will to survive, his will to make those feel the pain he had felt.
The second buildings fate was the same as the first, after a battering the wall explode outwards. Crushing the foundations and toppling the building itself. No sooner does the sound of the building hitting the floor ring around the area, does Kaii stop his assault. Straightening his frame and letting his arms fall to his sides. Ignoring the tides of flames and rubble still falling to the ground, Kaii strides through. One foot before the other, slowly and methodically as the blaze licks at his flesh, yet never deterring him from his path. Almost like he could not feel the intense heat around him, or even at his feet.
By instinct, his heart pounds harder and harder with each step he takes. His mind filled to bursting with the moments before he fell unconscious, moments he had tried to forget. They fuelled him. Yet, Kaii was not all there, his focus was his, his anger was his, his control was his, but his mind was shared by another. A being just as intent on bringing ruin to those who'd harm the boy, those who'd dare to harm what he considers kin. Their joint aura was nothing except malice, and the flames around them danced to it's will.
Near half way through the rubble and flames, Kaii pulls at his coat, tearing it free from his frame. The top underneath shares the fate and is too torn from his body revealing his darken skin, now partially scaled and free from any scars. As he nears the edge of the blaze, his vision begins to fill with the same scene he remembered, buildings in tatteres, blood staining the ground and the smell of death. The only difference to him was how the battle progressed and come to what is now a stand still. It takes merely a second for him to scan the field, to find his sensei on the ground with her arm reached behind her back by the same shinoib that had nearly taken his life. His team surrounded by the same missing-nin and on their knees, kunai to their throats ready to take a life without a second thought. The corpse of another he had recognised, bite marks littered about her body. However, only one thing was new to him, one man was the only thing he did not recognise… or did he?
Time seems to slow for Kaii, his gaze locked on the final figure while his mind does it's best to place him. Was he from Konoha, or was he merely someone he once saw in passing? Either was plausible, at least they were until the man spoke.
"Look, Konoha-san, your little genin has returned to us… so the real fun can begin." The man's voice is loud and clear, at least the former is while the latter is said under his breath as a smile creeps onto his lips.
Hearing the voice was all the boy needed for his mind to race. That voice was the very man who is in control of this operation, the man that is feared by his subordinates. It was his fault that he'd nearly died, he was to blame. The anger deep within Kaii grew, his ability to remain in the flames had run dry. He was going to kill that man, and he was going to ensure he didn't lose any of his team mates… or his Sensei. Step after step, he strides towards the clearing. This would be all or nothing, he'd either die failing to avenge his beating or he'd be stood upon another corpse. Fueling his own internal strife.
The night's light hit Kaii's form as he takes the last step out of the flames, his transition there for all to see. His clan's seal brazenly on show for all to see. His eyes dart around the enemies present. Choosing his target for his first strike. The one to feel his anguish. However, fate would decide his first foe, as the brute of a man atop of Anko stands from the Jonin. His eyes filled with pure rage, just as Kaii's are. Both needed to right a wrong, but only one could prevail.
Taking no time at all, Ryu launches from his position with his fists at the ready. This would be the time to redeem his lost pride. Within seconds the two forms clash with a resounding shockwave emitted from the first clash. Yet, all went silent only a moment after it had picked up. Standing firm, Kaii held the man's punch in his closed hand. For all the power the missing-nin had summoned, it was not enough to end the bout in a single punch. Though he could not back away. He was locked in the boy's grip, at least he was at first. Relenting on his grip, Kaii forced the shinobi back. His face covered by a sick smile as he takes up a casual stance. One foot before the other, his front to his enemy while his arms rest to his sides.
"This will not end the same way, shinobi-san." The words echoed across the clearing, but they were not Kaii's. Each one was filled with disdain for those who oppose. "You should have left this boy alone when you had the chance."
From the back of the boy's thin chakra cloak, a black chakra serpent begins to form. Larger than those normally under his command, with a more square head with four spikes protruding from it's head. Once fully formed, it looks Ryu dead in the eyes and hisses, but says no more. The man recoils slightly at the sight of the snake, but steels his nerves. He would not let a boy defeat him, no matter what power he had somehow gained. That said, Ryu again lunges at Kaii with his fists ready to do what they could not do before, take the boy down a peg. Swung in a wide arc, the fist crashes down at the boy. Finding nothing but air, the shinobi swings again and again. Refusing to believe that a mere boy could suddenly escape him. No matter how many times he swung, his fists could not find their mark. Yet the boy was before him, clear as day with the black serpent ever goading him.
"Don't toy with me boy! Fight me!" Ryu roars into the sky as he falls back, his every breath becoming laboured and filled with an internal pain. The wounds across his front reminding him of his limit.
Before the shinobi could even notice what had transpired he was sent flying across the clearing. His body meeting with rock and mortar as he passes through one of the few remaining buildings. For the split seconds Ryu was unfocused, Kaii had vaulted towards him and planted his feet firmly in his face. Expelling all of his energy, Kaii uses the shinobi's face as a springboard, flipping backwards off of him and back onto the ground. His landing is soft, almost angelic in its nature. No sooner does his feet find the ground does he launch off towards his enemy.
Pulling himself out of the rubble and back onto his feet, Ryu again roars into the sky. His anger beginning to cloud his mind and cause a loss of all of his focus. For the third time he launches back towards the boy, his fists ready to do what his blade could not. Within seconds they meet and trade blows. Neither one of the two take ahold of the taijutsu battle as they both allowing parries to flow into counterattacks, and blocks to turn into a well placed riposte. The boy, for as young as he is and as injured as he was, was not only keeping up with the shinobi. He was beginning to out pace him, allowing every fourth or fifth hit to land on Ryu's body. Each one spiking a minute amount of forgin chakra into his system. It didn't take long for their effects to be seen.
Sloppy footwork, incorrectly held posture and mistimed parries. The missing-nin was feeling his injuries, on top of the forgin chakra spikes splitting his skin upon impact. In his many years, no mere child had ever given him such grief. None had ever pushed him beyond his limits and forced him this close to death, until today. Barely able to raise his arm to block a thunderous strike, the force alone crushes both bones in his forearm before connecting with his face and sending him deep into the ground. Sputtering relentlessly, blood flies everywhere. This was his final moments. He knew it and even if he wanted to, there was no way he could stand. Let alone find the strength to repel the boy. Caressing his shattered arm, he uses the last inkling of power within him, to right himself and look into Kaii's eyes.
"Fucking Kon-" Just as his final words are coming out, he's stopped. His neck slit by a blade of chakra with blood flowing rigorously down his front. This was his death, in vain and without any form of honour. Exactly what a shinobi expects.
Kaii pants as his arms is held out to the side, having just executed the first of those he has vowed to end. The chakra balde fades as he turns his attention to the shinobi stood before his team. The look over his face one of amusement and amazement. Like he knew how the bout would end, yet the results were still a spectacle to watch. Slowly, the onlooker moves to his hands and he begins to clap.
"Well done Konoha-san. A brilliant performance, one I will be too glad to share after I leave here." The man's comments only add to the boy's annoyance, who now strides towards the shinobi. "First, I'm afraid I must ensure you never leave."
With that said, he blinks from existence. The place he once stood filled with a thin white chakra cloud. Kaii stopped upon seeing it. His senses taking ahold of his vision as he looks around the front of himself. In a matter of seconds, the shinobi reappeared to Kaii's flank, a well placed kick arcing towards the former's head. It connects, at least to a part of the boy, but it wasn't his head. For he had moved to match the kick with one of his own. Rendering both kicks pointless. Creating some room, the shinobi vanishes again in the same thin white chakra smoke and again Kaii simply stands and waits. Allowing his senses to be his guide. For the second time, the shinobi appears again, and like before Kaii meets him with the same. A punch for a punch, a kick for a kick. Neither one outclassing the other.
For a few minutes, the two share the irregular assault. The shinobi attacking, while Kaii defends with perfect accuracy and power. However, it wasn't going to last. For it wasn't what either had planned. Appearing again to the boys flank, the shinobi whisks through a short series of hand seals, ending with the dragon. In the next instant, blue lightning erupts from his left hand as it careens towards Kaii's head. It connects. Or at least it looks to have. The electricity thunders around the boys body in mere seconds. Yet, Kaii doesn't react as if he hadn't felt a thing. That was when the shinobi noticed the black serpent seemingly cackle. Not willing to let it get to him, he upped his assault. Forgoing the use of his disappearing act, he begins a continuous assault. Kicks and punches, thrusts and slashes at every part of the boys body. Even with all of that, no blows make it to Kaii without being intercepted with an exact replica. It was all in vein. No strike he could send would reach.
Pulling back from his assault, the shinobi uses his chakra smoke to transition back to his perch next to the rest of team 14. A slight increases in his breaths goes unnoticed by all but the shinobi and the black serpent. That short spar had taken more out of him than he had expected. At least, it had until he looked at his hands and feet. Both were covered in small cuts and bruises, as if he had just taken the same treatment as his now dead subordinate. Even though he had no felt a thing. He looks to the Konoha genin with a look of great anger, for he had done exactly as Ryu had done. He'd underestimated the boy and it had cost him.
"Well, well, well. It looks like your genin is far greater than I was led to believe Konoha-san." He spits out the evaluation as his gaze shifts from the boy to Anko who still writhes in pain. "A mistake I shall not ma-"
As he was about to finish, he finds a fist place well and truly into his gut. A spike of chakra attacking his internal organs as his face holds a confused look. "You'd have done well to keep your eyes on the boy… Oto-san." The black serpent lets out another cackle as it rears its head to strike, however, it would find nothing.
The shinobi, again relying on such simple tricks, had body flickered to the rooftop of one of the few standing buildings. The small cuts and bruises he could at least accept, but that punch was the last straw. This was not what he saw that night against the bandits. There was no irritable calm, no mocking serpent. Coughing a few droplets of blood, he lets out a short curse before looking to Anko again.
"I'll be back Konoha-san." Coughing again with blood slowly covering his fist, he body flickers again. However, this time Kaii cannot sense him.
Letting out a breath he had never known he was holding, Kaii lets his frustrations go. The black serpent feels this, looking to the boy for a moment before receding into the black chakra cloak that surrounds him. In the next few moments, Kaii slowly changes back into his normal self, his true self again locked behind his seals. No sooner does the process finish does Kaii fall backwards. Hitting the ground with a loud thud. Anko, however, looks to the boy, but soon remembers that shinobi was not the last. Her eyes dart to the remaining members of team 14, expecting to find them dead or still under the hold of the missing-nin. Yet, she finds the members of team 14 completely fine, with Iku looking over the genin to make sure of it.
Sighing deeply, Anko tries slowly to get herself to her feet. Her broken arm not helping at all, but at least not hindering her as much as she had expected. Using a semi destroyed wall to prop herself up, she shouts up to the other Konoha-nin. "Iku! Give me a hand down here would you!"
No answer comes from the other Jonin, her focus was on the two genin beside her. Who, for the second time in a short span have had an event thrust upon them that would leave unseen scars. It angered her. She was useless to them in their time of need, again relying on the third of her genin, the wayward outcast. For without him, they'd have been killed. Yet, under all of that, a small thought lingers. Without Kaii, would this confrontation even have happened. Finding the thoughts too dark, too insidious for the poor genin she tries so hard to make sure is accept. She remembers, it was Anko who was here for them. Not her, not Kaii. He chose to go along with his other Sensei. Breathing a sigh of relief as she finishes her checks of the genin. She calls out to her friend.
"I'll be right down, Anko." The call is accepted by a rather large grunt, but Iku doesn't move just yet. She looks to both her genin and smiles. "You two kept your composure well… and I'm sorry I let this happen to you again." The last part feels slicked in regret, almost self pity if the genin were no mistaken. "I promise you this, when we return to Konoha, we will ensure it never happens again. I'll train you harder, and when the Exams come around, you'll be ready."
The two genin simply nod to their Sensei, neither one able to word how they feel. They know their Sensei was not ready for what occurred, but both cannot stop the feeling it was the outcasts fault. This burrows deep into Kaneto's mind, the bond that was burgeoning only days ago is frayed. Unravelling at it's seems. On the other hand, Taisuke was feeling the pull of his heart strings. He wants so much to remain a three man team and to have Kaii accepted by Kaneto. So their team can prosper. Yet, seeing Kaii as he's meant to be unnerved him, and he saw the fires burning in his friend's eyes as he watched on.
Iku gestures to the two genin to follow her as she drops from the building to the dirt. Landing only a few feet away from the one boy, who achieved so much yet is left with little to show for it. Other than two dead shinobi and a ruined district of a small town. Carefully, she leans over and places her arms beneath him, slowly lifting him up into her embrace. Looking to Anko, Iku looks over her dear friend.
"I'm sorry I wasn-" Before Iku could finish, Anko shook her head.
"Don't be, this was my mess after all." Laughing to herself for a moment, she soon begins to wince at the pain it causes her. "Let's get back to the hotel and patch up. Lingering here won't do us any good."
A lone nod is given in return as all four of the standing shinobi walk down the mud and fire soaked streets. Towards the safer parts of town. Though, any part of town would be safer than what they had just endured.