My genin had left, Aiden was retreating, and I stood alone in front of an army of Claws.
Tsunade was out of commission with her last stunt to save the people of this village. Naruto had probably passed out somewhere, after taking on the most powerful member of the Akatsuki by himself. Both Kakashi and I were in no position to fight one claw, much less an entire army. Sakura had probably taken the brunt of the healing work. I'd let her stick to her medical training; even if she could help, there were too many wounded to stray her attention away from.
In other words, we were screwed.
Cashile, what is it? Yamanaka spoke in my head. In that moment, I was very, very thankful for my capable students. Clearly Michiko had notified the head of intelligence so that he in turn would be able to notify others.
The Rising Phoenix - They're here. And this time, they've sent an army. I'm not in any condition to fight. Send all uninjured/capable jonin to the region left of the the wall of hokage faces, facing north. And hurry, I won't be able to hold them off once they take action, I spoke to Yamanako.
Now he would send out a mass message, and at the very least, everyone would be aware of the enemy in their midst.
I leaned over with my palm resting on my quadricep, and tenderly placed a hand over my most recent injury, where my rib had punctured my lung. I took a deep breath in and winced, and in that moment, I made eye contact with It.
The temperature dropped a few degrees, as It tilted it's head, analyzing my weaknesses, which I had provided a very clear view for. Damn my stupidity, damn, damn, damn. Now, It knew I was watching. It knew I was aware. That meant there was no need for the element of surprise. Now It would take action, and I wouldn't be able to stop It.
It would be after me, so if I lured it away from the village, then at the very least I could guarantee Aiden's safety. I would be the priority; I could force the army back, away from civilians and injured ninja who would only get in the way.
But as I began my retreat, It grabbed the throat of a random villager, a man who had just reunited with his daughter, unsheathed a knife, and stabbed him in the back. I stared, eyes wide, frozen in the middle of backing away.
His daughter let out a bloodcurdling scream, and panic arose. Villagers suddenly realized that they were in danger, running from the enemy, pushing and trampling each other in their hurry to get away. I could only watch as a toddler lost his mother, fell among the rushing crowd, and was repeatedly run over.
Dazed, I pushed my way through the crowd, reaching the young boy. He couldn't have been older than three. By the time I reached him, he was bloody and bruised and making awful gasping noises from his crushed throat. Seconds later he stopped breathing. I went to pick him up, maybe to hand him to someone to evacuate or find a medic but before I could, someone snatched him from the ground and kept running. His neck flopped sickeningly with every step.
He didn't matter. I shook my head; I shouldn't have even been distracted by him in the first place. People were screaming, and there was blood on the ground, and I had to ignore it all and push it down and be like a Claw if I hoped to win. I—I had to... to...
A Claw grabbed a genin, one who I had lectured to in Iruka's class, pulled back her head and brutally tore through her throat with a knife. A man scrambled away on all fours, clearly having pissed and shit himself, as a Claw filled him with kunai. A young man screamed, staring at his hand that was cut in half as a Claw disarmed him. People were dying all around me and I was just...
I went to walk, felt my leg buckle beneath me, and locked my knee to keep myself upright. How the hell was I supposed to win? How the hell was I supposed to fight? How the hell was I supposed to survive?
A Claw came at me and I brutally pushed down my body's needs and weaknesses and sloppily parried It's first strike. For a moment all seemed quiet, my ears ringing with each clash of my blade with Its, and then sound came roaring back as It spotted a weakness, lunged, and I barely managed to sidestep and stab between Its ribs. It fell to the ground with a wet gasp.
The death grounds me, somewhat, and after several deep breaths I look up, analyzing the situation. This was a poor area for me to fight in; the area was open, leaving me vulnerable to being surrounded by the enemy. I should retreat, try to find some high ground or a bottleneck the Claws would have to come through.
Stumbling away from the worst of the fighting, I made my way over and between rubble, dispatching two Claws along the way and sustaining several minor injuries. Spotting a clear patch of ground, I made my way over; it was surrounded by rubble which would make any Claw's approach slow and treacherous, hopefully, while leaving the terrain I actually had to fight on smooth.
Cashile, I heard Yamanaka's voice in my head and startled, eyes automatically swiveling, scanning for a threat. What is their purpose for attacking? Why are they here? What do they want?
Beside me? I shot back sarcastically. Just the complete destruction of the village. Does their intent really matter right now?
To defeat an enemy, you must understand him, Yamanaka answered. Unless you're too busy, yes, it matters.
Glancing around, I spot no Claws close by. If I stop talking, don't distract me with idiotic questions.
Of course.
The Rising Phoenix is a conglomeration of broken remnants of villages destroyed in wars between the great villages. I swallowed dryly, sparing a moment to wish I hadn't given the last of my water to my genin. Their goal is for there to be no more Great Hidden Villages. They want them gone. Destroyed. They want to unite the land by destroying those that would wield their power over smaller villages and towns, by destroying those that don't care who get crushed in the reach for power. The more the Great Villages fight, the stronger the Phoenix grows, rising from the ashes of destruction left in the wake of the Great Villages' wars.
Yamanaka was quiet for a long moment, solemnly digesting the information.
And now, they're targeting the leaf. But I assumed their main target would be you? He replied.
More or less - yes. But, I -
"Mujōna," It hissed behind me. Dammit, It had found another way around. Never the less, I waited for it to approach, not bothering to send any kunai or shurikan Its way, knowing it would be a wasted effort. Wiping all emotion from my face, I readjusted my grip on my blades. Yamanaka kept his word, and stayed silent in my head. I quickly glanced between the claw and our surrounding, scanning for any other threat in the immediate vicinity.
"Yes?" I replied all too casually. Its composure broke ever so slightly, from my unexpected reaction.
It recovered in a heartbeat and lunged towards me. "Today, you will die," It rasped, as our blades clashed. It attacked me, viciously slicing Its blade through the air. I dodged and parried, engaging in a familiar dance with the Claw of the Rising Phoenix.
Metal clanged loudly as our blades collided, and one of my blades was knocked out of my hand. The other blade, in an intimate embrace with the enemy's blade, aimed for my lung. We paused for only a moment, and made eye contact. And in that moment, we understood each other. The ugly, rigid protruding scar that marked her face, similar to the one that also marked mine...the mental scars we both no doubt bore... the brand that had been burned ice cold into our skin...
And then that moment passed. A burning hatred smoldered in her eyes as she intoned, "The Rising Phoenix has sentenced you to die."
I grabbed onto her wrist and jerked it towards me, with the intention of swinging my blade through her neck. She easily ducked, continuing to parry my strikes as I gripped her arm firmly.
To wrench herself out of my grasp, she bent over and swiped her leg beneath me, forcefully pushing me to the ground. I didn't have time to let out a cough before desperately throwing up my blade to block another fatal strike. I used the force of my body to kick the Claw's legs from underneath her, and she fell to the ground.
I swung my blade and she parried, rolling herself off of the ground back into a standing position. I lifted myself off the floor just in time to block another strike as she flipped over me, knocking my second blade out of my hand.
I rolled on the ground past her and grabbed broken tree branches that had settled in the dusty ground. I threw the branches, momentarily blinding her, and pushed forward, kicking her chest hard enough to knock the air out of her lungs.
Scrambling backwards, I grabbed for my blade, but I could sense the Claw coming after me and instead grabbed a metal rod from the ground. It was long, longer than my blades, more like a staff than a sword or knife. Not ideal, not ideal by any stretch of the imagination, but it would have to do. She went for a stab and I knocked it wide, taking a too-large step back, arms shaking and stance sloppy.
She attacked, a furious whirl of blows that I could barely stop. No matter how I sank into the Claw mindset, no matter how I pushed away my bodies needs and emotions and focused on what I needed to do—win, fight, survive—I couldn't get the upper edge in the battle.
With a clang, the Claw's blade sliced through my pipe and I stared in shock, mind taking half a second to process the turn of events because what now, what next? The Claw had no such hesitation, blade hissing through the air, a bright arc aimed to tear out my throat. I desperately throw up my right half of the pipe, but I mistimed it and suddenly my hand was agony.
A scream tore from my throat before I cut it off, hurling the second half of the pipe at the Claw's face, reaching into my pouch and sending more kunai and shurikan hurtling towards her. She easily swayed out of their path, forced to retreat when I send a second wave toward her.
I glanced down at my throbbing right hand. It was covered in blood, more spilling out with every heartbeat. My pinky and the top of my ring finger was missing. For a split second I was grateful for my Claw training because I didn't think about my missing fingers, I didn't think about how I'll be able to do handsigns, I didn't think about what this meant for the probability of my survival.
Except then the Claw was once again coming toward me, and I still wasn't armed with anything more than a kunai, and in a moment realization crashed over me.
The Claw was better than me. Stronger. Faster. Fitter. More skilled. More prepared. She was better. I was going to lose.
She spun her blades once, sending beads of my blood flying off them, and advanced toward me.
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Sorry for the later Christmas update, but we got it out!
Please comment! Being home with family for an extended period of time during the holiday is SO MUCH FUN (note the sarcasm). So please comment!
Comment for inspiration so we can get a new year's update out hopefully!
Hope you enjoyed!
gaara119
Comment, Vote, and Fan!
Ja ne!
Insomniac_Lullabies
