Chapter 8
No different, really-
a summer moth's
visible burning
and this body,
transformed by love.
Darui, Cee and Jae sat on the outskirts of the town, ready to jump in at any moment.
Cee was unsure that Ino would escalate anything to a battle. Being a defensive fighter as opposed to offensive, she'd be more likely to lie her way into info than to get into a skirmish.
Still, he sat patiently with his finger to the ground and his eyes closed. If he remained this way, he could survey if any bursts of chakra set off.. With this sensing technique he could moderate her chakra signal as well.
Darui and Jae played as backup, monitoring Cee and waiting for any sight of trouble.
Cee jolted.
"What is it, Cee?" Darui stood to attention.
"It's-
Before Cee could finish, Ino's voice appeared in their heads.
"Sasaki is trying to escape, so I'm giving chase."
She must have mindlinked all of them, because all stood to attention and took off into the town at top speed.
Having Ino's chakra memorized, Cee led the way.
When they made it to the inn, they could sense the fighting going on inside the dingy place.
"As if this could stop me." Ino panted, taking on another with a kunai. Her taijutsu went into high gear fighting these underlings.
"I can't believe Sasaki is afraid to take me on and sent you pathetic losers!" Ino taunted, giving one a dynamic kick, compliments to Rock Lee teaching her that once!
The Kumo trio arrived into the billiard room, ready for battle.
"Sasaki is getting away!" Ino called them. "I need to catch up with him!"
"You can't go alone!" Darui called, pulling out his sword, thinning out the numbers fast.
"Someone can come with me and the rest catch up when you're finished, then!" Ino called, already running out of the door.
"You'll finish them off the fastest, Darui and Jae, I'll follow her." Cee said, going after her.
It wasn't long before Cee was beside her, just now registering she looked completely different than when she parted ways with them.
"What's his abilities?" Cee asked, trying to catch onto his chakra.
"No idea, honestly." Ino huffed as they ran out a side door and into the river below, following his trail.
"He ran and I gave chase. Those chakras I sensed the other night, they're a bunch of thugs hanging out here and he siced them on me in an attempt to escape."
"He's a self important weakling or doesn't find it worth getting caught up in a battle." Cee nodded, catching onto this man's chakra up ahead. "We'll have to be cautious until Darui can make it. Let's find out as much as we can about his abilities until then."
Ino nodded. "Follow my lead then, and I'll try to catch him with one of my mind technique jutsu."
Cee simply nodded in agreement. It registered with Ino for a split second there was no awkward tension while the two were in this state. Cee noticed as well.
When the two blondes caught up they paused several meters back. Sasaki was standing with his back to the two jounin, standing atop the river's flowing water.
"I had to test if Kumo scum was hiding around you. My suspicions were correct." Sasaki spoke, turning to them. "That's too bad."
He revealed a dachi, a long sword he was now holding.
"An attack on one nation is now an attack on everybody. You need to realize this." Ino called to him, tightening the grip on her robe. Damn this was a terrible way to battle but it barely registered with Ino at this moment.
"Perhaps, for now. You're young so maybe you truly think this will last." His gruff voice carried its same vibration but the way he spoke was smoother than before. Almost as if he was putting on a ruse of what he truly was capable of.
"There won't be if we don't work together now." She said, inching towards him. Cee followed suit.
"I suppose telling you all the terrible things Kumo did to Konoha will mean nothing to you. All the kidnappings of our clan members, the killing of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, the countless deaths at the hands of current Raikage Ae." He looked at her for a long moment. "No, I can see the resolve on your face. You won't be changing your mind, at least for now."
"Shut up and tell us what you know." Cee said in a fighting stance, with kunai in hand.
"Sure, I can tell you, but that won't change the result." Sasaki laughed at Cee.
"Is this really just about you being from Konoha and hating Kumo?" Ino asked, not fully buying it.
"That's why I'm here. The others, I couldn't say."
"Tell us about Operation: Senbonzakura." Cee barked.
Sasaki seemed surprised for a split second then shook his head. "I knew when a Yamanaka came strolling through, you were probably sent for interrogation but I couldn't be sure. That's no matter now."
Ino could read his resolve, he would talk no more. Even though he was far from anything Konoha would support, she knew the resolve of a Konoha Shinobi when she saw it.
"Then let us begin battle." Ino said.
"[blinding light illusion jutsu]!" Cee called out.
This jutsu was paired best with Darui and Ae because they knew it better than anybody. Cee always used it to give them an opening to attack.
A light flashed so bright it took even Ino's vision. Her eyes blinked for a moment but she regained her composure as fast as she could. Being that they were in water, she was lucky she had a water chakra nature.
"[Water barrage]!" She whispered.
A great weight of water bullets fell onto Sasaki. Upon impact he dodged most of them, only getting a few scratches in the process.
"You have a water nature too, eh?" He stated.
He held up an inu sign that mirrored Ino's and sent his own attack. It was a water dragon that came spiraling out of the river and right into full impact with the two.
Ino and Cee both dodged, each landing on different sides of the river.
"I can tell neither of you are into close-range fighting. Too bad for you." He smirked and charged with his sword.
At the last moment he appeared in front of Cee, swinging at him.
Ino saw this as a moment to weasel in a mind technique at any chance. She would incompassitate him at the first opportunity. As Ae's bodyguard, Ino was confident he could handle combat for a minute.
She sensed a chakra behind her and quickly dodged, a sword chopping at nothing but water.
"Don't think I won't watch you closely. I know what that blood of yours can do." Sasaki had made a shadow clone of himself to take on Ino at the same time.
He lunged towards her, sword meeting her kunai. She grunted, holding it up with all her might, knowing it would only last a few seconds.
She focused the chakra to one leg. Her body weight shifted to her right leg and swung the left with all she could bear. The kick landed on his shoulder and his shadow clone jumped back, removing the weight of the sword.
"Gotta watch for kunoichi and those kicks." Sasaki laughed, seeming to take immense joy in this.
The entire thing seemed more like a sparring match than life or death, which made Ino feel even more uneasy by the moment with this guy.
Cee on the other hand was dodging swipe after swipe of his sword. He truly seemed to be going in for the kill with him. Cee dodged every attack with relative ease. Medic Nin were experts in doding and avoiding any direct blows to stay alive for the rest of the squad.
After a moment of diverting his and the clone's attacks, Ino and Cee found each other's backs.
"Use a water style and jump out of the water." Cee huffed.
Ino obeyed without question.
"[water scythe justsu]" She called jumping backwards into the air. The water scythes came barreling down on Sasaki before she landed on the unmoving bank.
In that moment before they hit, Cee charged the attack up with his lightning style.
The lightning surged through the body of water and charged into her attack, just a moment before it gave a direct hit to Sasaki's clone.
He tried to dodge it with his sword but it was useless. The water and lightning combo was too strong for his clone and it disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Ino let out a small cheer.
Cee narrowly dodged the sword of the real Saski and felt a stinging sensation on his arm.
Her face turned serious again just as fast and she came running back ontop the water to assist Cee.
Despite his age, Sasaki was in fighting shape, no less so than Cee or Ino, so she had a feeling he would not slow down enough for her to trap him in her grip, unless…
It was worth a shot.
In a swift move, Ino tightened her yukata robe again making sure it was on tight.
"I'm gonna end this here!" She said, grasping the towel that had been covering her cleavage underneath, pulling it out in one swift movement.
Cee and Sasaki both looked on, utterly confused.
It all happened in a split second before either could react to her.
The towel was dripping wet from the constant barrage of water impact. Ino grabbed each end and twirled it up tight, flinging one end towards Sasaki, a WHIP sound came out from it as it slapped him in the face.
Everything stood still.
Cee watched.
And watched.
He thought Sasaki was paralyzed from the moronic tactic, however... he was… frozen?
Cee observed and saw Sasaki was actually frozen. The towel stood in place as it barely touched his face. A line of chakra going from Ino, through the towel, to Sasaki.
"What the hell is this?" Cee blurted out.
"This is my paralysis jutsu. So long as I use something that is an extension of me, I can paralyze an opponent where they stand with my chakra. I didn't feel like cutting my hair this time." She gave a cocky grin.
It was idiotic. No, it was genius.
Sasaki struggled to move, but couldn't power through it entirely.
"Now that's a Yamanaka technique I haven't seen. You're even stronger than your father." Sasaki grinned through the iron chakra grasp.
"I'm not." Ino replied flatly, maintaining her chakra flow.
"But you are, you don't see it. You're strong but still... you don't see many things. Including how the world works."
"Silence." Cee barked, sensing Darui and Jae were on the way.
"This organization has a lot of members with a lot of agendas." Sasaki looked at Ino. "But there are men at the top, including myself, who are swordsmen."
Ino shook her head in confusion.
"Some are ninjas, some are samurai, some of us are something in between." He struggled to speak and breathe. The chakra Ino was emitting made the victim have a hard time breathing the longer it held. It was only meant to be used for a moment while comrades captured the person, not to hold for long periods. It would leave Ino drained of chakra and the other person possibly dead.
"Why Kumo?" Cee asked.
Sasaki didn't reply. Ino felt herself becoming exerted.
Darui and Jae landed in the water at that moment.
"Wow, you already took care of him?" Darui sighed, seeming disappointed. He was ready for another battle.
"Excellent work, Ino-san and Cee." Jae adjusted his glasses, making quick work.
He brought out a sealing scroll and prepped his chakra into the exposed paper.
"Jae will seal him and his ability to move, he's got it." Darui assured Ino.
Ino let go of the towel and her chakra grasp with it, falling back onto her butt into the shallow water.
Cee went to her aid when she fell, checking her vitals. It was his duty.
"I'm fine, it's just draining to hold that for more than a minute. It takes a lot out of the user." Ino huffed.
His hand held her wrist, checking her pulse to make sure her heartbeat wasn't irregular.
She watched him silently as he did it.
After a moment he looked up at her.
"That. Was. Incredibly... stupid." He deadpanned.
"You're incredibly stupid." She retorted through shallow breaths.
She went to swat his hand away from her wrist but he held his grip intact.
Once again the two felt the lightning jolt between them, though neither made it known.
They maintained their quiet gaze for what felt like eternity.
If Darui and Jae noticed, they said nothing.
"It was stupid, but great thinking." Cee let go of her wrist, deeming her alive and well.
"We worked well together." Ino admitted with a small smirk.
Cee returned the same smile.
He adjusted her yukata which was starting to slip off her shoulder that she didn't notice, he wasn't in the mood to see anything on her. "You should get some clothes on so we can head back." He stood and went to check on Darui and Jae's progress.
Ino sat there silent, with a slight flush creeping on her face. A mix of embarrassed and impressed how cool that was of him.
Cee felt the same heat rising in him, as he quickly diverted his attention. After their swift victory his feelings towards the Konoha kunoichi became instantly less hostile. Watching her in her true element of fighting was the way to regain his respect. But then seeing her there with her yukata slipping, knowing nothing was underneath… He had to remove himself from whatever was stirring there and bury it. Deep. Even deeper than deep.
Ino sighed behind them, wondering how the hell she'd retrieve her backpack after all that.
Oh well, mission success.