A/N: Still alive, and I deliver the coveted ~weekly~ update.
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The sight of Narumi enraptured by thick maroon chakra that boiled with the Kyuubi's rage wasn't a welcome one. She was standing off with the pink haired asshole from earlier.
We had been noticed, but nobody made a move against us. Perhaps they thought we were a genjutsu from Kurenai, couldn't tell.
"Well that's not ideal." Anzu said, worry apparent in her voice. Thinking about it, she was probably around during it's initial rampage on Konoha all those years ago.
"Yeah, what should we do, even with the Kyuubi I don't think she has a chance against that guy." I murmured, chewing my lip, lost in thought.
Telling somebody to calm down proved ineffective in my last life.
"For now, let's steer clear and help Kurenai and get Ryuko on a leash. I'll handle her, you provide support and try not to get in the way. Use those bullets or something." Anzu ruffled my hair, and body flickered into the thick of it.
Ah yes, Ryuko. The source of all that yandere cackling background noise.
I chose a different vantage point and assessed the situation in a few seconds. Kurenai was fighting one on two, the nin she fought were all around low Jonin level.
I'd let Anzu handle Ryuko.
"Come here you little pink-haired sack of shit! HOW DARE YOU HURT HINATA AND KIBA! BASTARD!"
I didn't look, the sound of crackling wood and the felling of trees and explosions told enough.
Assessment complete. Targets acquired: two Jonin ranked enemies. Utilizing 100% of total ability. Chakra charged. Fire!
One down. The other's eyes widened, he tried to disengage and then he died too. Kurenai made short work of him. A kunai to the throat, slammed into a tree. She shot me a wink, then her brow furrowed as she disappeared in a flash.
Back to Anzu's fight then. I leapt to the trees. A chakra signature was closing in fast, it felt agitated, and definitely hostile. Charging another shot would take too long.
Engage with Taijutsu.
The assailant was another ninja, Kunai drawn in one hand, his other held up in a seal. "Fire release: Fireball."
Easily dodged, the next attack would be harder. I drew a kunai.
His kunai was launched at me, led and timed almost perfectly.
Deflection was my best answer, it worked. Then I saw the guy's self-satisfied and smug expression. I wondered why. Up until I saw a paper bomb on the tree next to me.
"Oh for fu—"
It was bright, purple spots filled my vision and the wind was knocked out of my lungs by the shockwave. My ears were ringing. Every muscle in my body ached, but at least I was still conscious.
Danger, incoming. Life ending threat. MOVE!
Movement was almost impossible yet through sheer force of will and a roar of defiance I kicked to my feet and dodged a fatal blow from quick follow up of a Kunai barrage.
I charged a shot, and fired.
No dice, the man dodged with ease. He saw it coming, so he could time his dodge even if the shot moved faster than sound itself. Hell my vision was blurry so I probably would've missed anyway.
Even so, he still kept a safe distance. Didn't seem to have any additional resources to expend on—
The explosion was deafening. The thuds of kunai slicing into my body and finding purchase in my flesh was mortifying.
What the hell… happened?
I staggered backwards.
No. Stay standing. Won't be able to get back up.
This is honestly why I was afraid of going at a hundred percent. What if I fail and die anyway despite always trying my hardest? What if it's still… just… not…
Stay awake! Move!
The enemy descended, his eyes so certain of victory. Kunai in each hand, aimed for the jugular.
I steeled my resolve, and in that instant before my death time was slow. Just like when I first died.
No! Things are different this time.
Chakra surged throughout my body. First in the mind, then expanding from there and finally throughout the rest of my joints. My fingers tingled, my toes… tingled. My mind felt so fast, the tiredness with which I watched the world pass by was scraped away like rust.
Checkmate.
With a blur of motion, multiple Kunai were yanked from my body by my own hands and aimed at the man who brought me so close to the brink of death. Without a chance to evade in mid air he was hit with multiple thuds of kunai sinking into his body. His joints were disabled with efficiency.
I stepped back and the Jonin level enemy with the smug eyes unceremoniously crumpled to the ground crying out pained dull curses that sounded almost underwater. I finished him before he could struggle too much, quickly and cleanly.
There was no pain in my body, not yet. It was clear that I was bleeding, more than I wanted too. My ears were still ringing, but I heard cries of my name once sound started to return.
"Kuro!"
"Kurokusa!"
"Kusa-chan!"
Hmm? Ah… let me help.
No words left my lips, I just knew I had to help them win their deadlock. Heightened senses allowed me to pinpoint those heads of pink hair. There were two. Probably another water clone.
I fired once, a miss.
"Stop! You'll die!" Narumi screamed as she kept fighting. The Kyuubi's chakra was gone. Her eyes were in tears. She was a mess and definitely ugly crying. Haha. I'll have to bug her about it later.
Still… I'm honored you'd care about a nobody like me Narumi.
I fired two shots, the pink haired guy turned to face me, he looked almost sad. The shots both hit their targets, but both of the pink haired guys were reduced to little more than puddles of water.
Well fuck… I didn't even get to…
The world turned sideways, then warmth of somebody's body against mine. Then I saw Anzu's face. Without her mask, her expression was grim and she ran a hand over my body. Her chakra felt warm but… hard?
"Don't worry, my cute little blade of grass. I got you."
How comforting…
"Was I a good Hatake?" My voice sounded so weak.
"No…" She murmured with a shaky voice. "You were the best." A single tear ran down her cheek.
"Oh for the… he's not going to die. His injuries only look bad, and they're not even that deep, just wrap his injuries and let's go treat him with medical ninjutsu. He has at least fifteen hours before he bleeds out at that rate and his wounds are already clotting." It was Kurenai, she removed bandages from her pouch and got to work treating me.
Anzu sniffed, and wiped her eyes with her forearm. "Really?"
"Ow ow ow ow! Holy fuck that hurts! Fffff-ahhhh!" My vision turned white for a moment, but when I came to I could see everyone else's faces around me. Even Shino's.
Narumi was the only one crying, but at least Ryuko was wearing a big frown, probably concerned, I would be as well. Hinata always looked pensive. Kiba somehow looked like he wanted to say something about what happened. Shino was as stoic as ever. Kurenai was focused on wrapping me up.
Come to think of it, I didn't even notice Shino fighting…
"Alright. That should do it." Kurenai wrapped me up good, like a mummy. That's what it felt like anyway, when they stripped my top off. I was just glad I didn't get hit in the legs.
Anzu and Narumi carried me, the others scouted ahead. Then finally we got to work with medical ninjutsu on my body. We'd probably have to head back to Konoha and debrief with me out of commission by an unknown group of rogue and hostile ninja still at large though.
That was confirmed by the conversation they had while Anzu was healing me.
"Do you think we can link the kidnappings to their group…?" Anzu asked, she was sweating with focus on medical ninjutsu, her face was beautiful… just like mine.
"More than likely, yes. I would suspect so. That boy had the power to contest all of us with water clones, I would hate to run into the real thing."
"So would I," My voice cut into the conversation.
They eyed me for a moment. Anzu's mouth curled into a smile with a quivering bottom lip. It took but a few moments until she finally burst out laughing. Kurenai looked at her with a raised eyebrow, confused more than anything at why she'd be laughing in a situation like this. Anzu took the hint and tried her best to take the situation seriously.
"So let's return to the village and report to the Hokage. We've got one injured and the threat is beyond a scope we can handle." Kurenai seemed to order, she was over this mission. Battered, bruised and tired. She probably wanted to shower, her hair was a mess. She noticed me staring.
I averted my eyes.
Anzu sighed and then flopped backwards onto the ground. "That's as good as I can get him… who wants Kurokusa carrying duty!?" Anzu offered.
Blond hair entered my field of vision, an arm around my back and one slid under my legs. She picked me up with ease.
Is this… a princess carry?
"I'll carry him… it's my fault he got injured… probably." Narumi's voice thrummed with a dark conviction and I felt extreme tiredness as I thought about how ridiculous I must look in this tomboy's arms.
Nobody said anything else. Anzu nodded then body flickered into the forest. We all followed, headed toward the direction of Konoha.
My eyelids feel heavy, my whole body feels heavy. I let my eyes close and fell asleep in the arms of an absolute beast of a ninja.
.
When I woke there were stars in the sky and Narumi smiled slightly. "Sleep well?"
"No thanks to your running, yeah." I replied smugly.
Her smile turned predatory, she was probably contemplating throwing me. Her shoulders relaxed and she huffed from her nose. "This is the only time I'm going to do this, so don't get used to it."
"I look forward to next time."
She clicked her tongue, trying to suppress her smirk. "Unbelievable."
"Can you two love birds cut it out? You're going to make me sick!" Kiba shouted with a jagged grin. He jumped closer. "That said… Anzu, Shino and Kurenai told us what happened. Thanks for coming to our rescue, but it won't happen again."
Kiba left it at that and jumped back into formation with his team.
I turned my gaze back to Narumi. She was teary eyed, that wasn't like her. Or maybe it was, I hardly knew her now that I think about it. Maybe it was time to change how much I knew about my fellow leaf ninja… maybe.
"So what's your favorite color?" I asked her before her tears could start falling.
"Pink." She sniffled, "Yours?"
"Magenta."
"Oh… I thought it was black." She murmured.
"Nah, just because my name is Kurokusa doesn't mean my favorite things are the color black and grass. Besides, I thought that yours was Orange."
She snickered, "I only wear this because my brother wanted to wear matching jumpsuits for clan Uzumaki but he chose one of the ugliest colors ever."
"You must really love your brother to wear something that hideous…" The words just slipped past my lips, thoughtlessly.
"Mmhm." She wore a wide smile.
"Hmmm…" I started to feel tired again.
Slowly, and perhaps over the period of an hour of running, I was lulled into the void once more.