The seductive Kunoichi Fuuka is back from the dead! She wants to take revenge on the blond-haired brat who dared to expose her best-kept secret and defeat her in battle years ago. Much has happened since then but the story of the attractive woman, whose beguiling charm had brought many strong opponents to their knees, also continues...
Fuuka's Last Kiss
Chapter XXI - Night - Part III
"Huhuhu - when you reproduce a great painting, like with a woodcut, who do you think is remembered? The original artist, or the poor wrech who cut the block of wood?" - Fuen
One of Fuen's Anbu knelt down while her attentive gaze was directed downwards. The Kunoichi had taken off her white mask to get a better view. The elaborately decorated masks for which the Anbu units were known protected the identity of the person wearing them, but their perception of the surroundings was definitely impaired by the limited view. Nevertheless, the members of these secret organisations - almost every Hidden Village had such an organisation, which was responsible for information gathering and covert operations - were elite fighters who could easily compensate for such a disadvantage with their own abilities. Sometimes, however, it was necessary to have a clear view of things - like now. Her eyes searched the village that stretched out below her as she plateaued. Suddenly the young woman saw a bright flicker, then another, and another. She then took an object from her pocket that she wore on her hip - the object was angular and looked like some sort of mirror. She held the glass at such an angle that the white light of the moon could shine directly on it. Then she tilted the mirror slightly back and forth so that the captured light could be reflected sometimes strongly, sometimes slightly, resulting in an unsteady flickering of the light. In this way, the teams communicated with each other without even having to make a sound. Of course, they would also have had the possibility to stay in contact over long distances via radio and to coordinate and harmonise the individual steps in this way, but this would have been far less subtle - apart from the fact that such radio transmissions always carry the risk of being intercepted. The woman turned to Sai and nodded affirmatively before putting back on her white mask, which resembled the appearance of a cat.
"Everyone is in position, Fuen. We can start when you're ready," the Shinobi with the pale white face noted.
The operation was in full swing. Every single step had been meticulously planned in advance. Everything had to be right down to the smallest detail, as well as the risks reduced to a minimum - that was Fuen's style, and the woman was content with nothing less. Due to the incursion of the Taki-Nin into the Land of Fire, Naruto had been forced to withdraw most of the Shinobi who were in Konoha at that time, as they were not assigned to any mission, from the village and send them north to defend the border. It was said that the Hokage had been completely stunned when he was informed of what the leader of Hidden Waterfall Village had done - after all, he and Shibuki were supposed to have been very good friends due to their past. But no friendship can withstand the charms of a seductress - Fuuka could be very persuasive.
"Excellent. At last we're going to finish it. This will be the greatest action of this century - everything is perfectly prepared."
Fuen smiled - the anticipation, of what was to come, was written all over her face. A whole crowd of her followers stood over the rocky heads of the Hokage of Konoha - a symbolic image that Fuen enjoyed. The wind was cold and strong, shaking Fuen's dark purple dress, while her dark brown hair, which appeared almost black under these lighting conditions, blew in the wind. Sai stood a step behind her - behind the two of them the rest. He was not at her side; the Kunoichi had no intention of sharing the night of her triumph with anyone, not even with the black-haired Shinobi who had saved her life then and to whom she owed the privilege of standing here today.
She was sure; nothing could go wrong this time. But even the most talented Ninjas could make mistakes - no one was flawless and perfect in their field and individuals who were too successful and talented ran the particular risk of overestimating their own abilities and underestimating those of their opponents. She would never have approached Sakura so carelessly and confident of victory if she had taken her seriously then:
"Huhuhuhu - hehe."
Fuen put her right hand on the round stone prison in which she had trapped the girl and abandoned her to solitude. She smiled in amusement.
"She passed out from the illusion caused by my poisened moths."
She took a few steps back to gain distance.
"I wonder what sort of dreams she's been having."
Fuen put her finger to her chin.
"I can't imagine: little girls have the most vivid nightmares."
She clenched her hands and made a finger sign.
"Release!"
The rock retreated until Sakura was finally visible again. Fuen's poison had done a great job, ensuring that the girl had lost consciousness. Fuen approached her, smiling and taking slow steps as she savoured the moment of her triumph. She unwrapped a Kunai that she kept hidden in her right sleeve. Coming to a stop in front of her, she pushed her body onto her back with her foot rudely and roughly, kicking Sakura's stomach. Her smile widened. She closed her eyes.
"Goodbye, little girl!"
Fuen opened her blue eyes again and thrust her Kunai deep into the young girl's stomach. Her body jolted very briefly as flesh and bone were broken open by the sharp knife, but she remained silent. Fuen's smile on her face grew even wider.
One annoying brat less.
Then, suddenly, thick clouds of smoke surrounded them. Fuen jumped up, startled. After the smoke cleared, she saw her Kunai stuck in a tree trunk instead.
"An substitution!?"
Immediately after, Fuen became aware of a presence behind her.
"See you later, you sick jerk!"
Sakura lashed out with her right arm and slammed the back of her hand against her face so hard that Fuen's body was thrown into the air.
„AHHH!"
She flew through the air for dozens of feet, hitting a tree that broke instantly before her body landed back on the ground. Fuen whimpered - she could no longer move. She straightened up and saw Sakura walking towards her - determined and threatening.
"Nhn - how? How did you escaped my Jutsu?"
"The second I heared your voice, I knew – I had a pretty good idea what kinda trick you try and pull... Like in the labyrinth, remember? That giant poisonous spider? Only now it was poisonous moths. I simulated another attack like that – and prepared myself."
Sakura presented Fuen an empty vial in her hand.
"You gave yourself... an antidote!?"
„You're evasive. You never face your enemy head on in battle."
Sakura tightened her black glove on her hand.
„Once I knew that, I knew just how to deal with you!"
Fuen's eyes widened as she realised what was about to happen: Sakura slammed her fist against her stomach so hard that Fuen's arms and feet were lifted into the air immediately after. The pressure of her blow was so immense that the earth beneath her, as well as around her, was broken up. Even the rooted trees of the forest were unhinged. Then Fuen felt nothing anymore.
Fuen's arrogance and contempt for her had led her to become careless and reckless and to underestimate her opponent: a mistake that Fuen almost had to pay for with her life - had it not been for Sai:
Tentatively, Fuen's eyes opened as she noticed an unrecognisable, shadowy figure. Although her eyes were open - she could feel that they were open - Fuen could see nothing except for a blurred image and an unclear impression that were only slowly clearing.
"Hold still - I wouldn't move in your condition, otherwise it will get worse for sure."
Fuen had no intention of heeding the voice's advice. But she knew the voice of the guy, even if it wasn't very familiar. When her vision cleared, she recognised the face she had remembered. It was the young man she had clashed with last time - the black-haired Shinobi from Konoha with the chalk-bleached skin.
"You - it's you!"
Fuen looked up into his young face. The Shinobi was silent as he treated her injuries.
"I can only do the bare minimum. I must take you to our hideout - we have Shinobi who are specialised in medical Nin-Jutsu. But, to be completely honest with you: I think the odds are not good that you'll make it through this - and survive."
"W-Why are you helping me?"
Sai was silent.
"Why?"
Sai gave her a fleeting glance.
"Because I want to."
Fuen's eyelids closed again - and she lost consciousness. Then, when her eyes opened again, she found herself in the Root lair - and her ascent began.
Fuen hoped that Fuuka had also learned her lesson by now. She knew only too well that the Kunoichi could be even more arrogant than herself and unlike her, Fuuka, in Fuen's opinion, did not possess the necessary intelligence to compensate for these, under certain circumstances, very negative character traits. But the risk in the form of Fuuka was, of course, something Fuen also took into account. Even if Fuuka were to give in to her desire for revenge against the current Hokage and give them more priority than the successful outcome of the operation - which, given her wounded pride and bruised ego, was not at all unlikely - the course of the operation would not be jeopardised by this, since her poison should incapacitate the Hokage long enough for Fuuka without her narrow-minded, obstinate actions being particularly dangerous to Fuen's plans. Let her have her fun with the boy; her plan was foolproof.
She turned her head slightly towards the young man so that he could see her side profile. Fuen's blue eyes were set off by her long lashes, as well as the orange eye shadow she had applied. Fuen never presented herself to others without her make-up - that was not her style either. Sai reacted immediately and placed a large, violet-yellow scroll in front of her feet. The Shinobi then rolled up the scroll. On it was a kind of map, in the middle of which was an area isolated and delimited from the rest of the landscape by a large circle - the village of Konohagakure. Sai looked up at Fuen and saw her eyes sparkle as she looked down at the representation of the village on the paper.
„This topographic diagram is my best work so far. This sort of perfection is even better than the previous one I've made."
Behind that representation, this village stretched into reality and Fuen enjoyed the anticipation of the idea that she would get to witness the process of this place's transformation, as if she were watching her own work of art come into being, for it was nothing less than that to the woman; art. Fuen sighed.
"What a shame that Furido is no longer alive to witness this night. He would be very glad to see this place turned into dust. Now his work will finally be finished, by me - though it is now no longer his work, but mine, of course."
Fuen gave Sai a fleeting glance - and he understood immediately, without Fuen having to open her lips to do so. He took a step back while she took a step forward. Then Fuen began to form finger signs. Her technique required an unusually large number of finger signs, which indicated that it must be a very powerful Jutsu and even Sai could not hide his amazement as he watched the speed with which Fuen formed her fingers. Until now, Sai had only known one person who could form finger signs so quickly; his former Sensei: Kakashi. Kakashi's finger art was still faster, but Fuen was, in his estimation, very close to the speed of the Jonin from Konoha. Then Fuen bit her thumb with her teeth, so that some blood dripped onto the paper, before she put both hands on the opened scroll in a quick movement - the drawn village was now full of blood.
"Earth-Style: Tribulation!"
For a moment nothing happened, but then they could all hear it; the earth beneath them began to move. A deafening crash. The ground beneath them shook until the first masses of rock shot out of the earth. Almost every street in Konoha seemed to have masses of rock rising up. Some buildings were destroyed, others merely cut off from each other. Normally, Fuen would not have been able to cast such a powerful Jutsu on her own. Back then it had been Fudō's task to make her concepts, which she had previously put on paper, become reality so that they could find expression in the material reality of her. The big muscleman possessed the necessary Chakra reserves, as well as the necessary strength, to be able to cast such stressful Earth-Style Jutsus, but Fuen had enough time to come up with a method in which a Fudō was not required - if he was still alive, she would surely enjoyed telling him. After all, the two had a different opinion as to who deserved the credit; the one who made a work reality, or the one who had the idea of it. When the Jutsu was complete, Konohagakure was unrecognisable; some blocks were reduced to rubble, others were completely isolated - whole neighbourhoods were separated from each other. Among them was the central neighbourhood where the Hokage's residence was located.
"So - now Fuuka will be able to have her fun undisturbed," Fuen muttered to herself before turning to look at the assembled crew.
"You know what you have to do."
Everyone nodded more or less at the same time, except for Sai - he apparently didn't feel addressed.
"Let's make history!"
Nearly everyone disappeared. Only Sai remained with her, as well as Sumire, who stood between two Anbu.
"You know what to do now, Tanuki. I'm counting on you."
"We have waited a long time for this day - the day we will avenge Danzō-sama."
"We will not fail you, Fuen-sama." added the Anbu woman who had received the signal from the other teams earlier. Sai looked at the visibly tense girl and smiled - it was an honest smile, at least it seemed that way, or he wanted it to be taken as such on the outside. Sai was very good at fooling others, which didn't seem particularly surprising given his background and history.
"Don't be afraid, Sumire. Your parents are with you, aren't they? You have nothing to worry about. You're safe."
It was a little strange that Sai, of all people, was comforting her and trying to build her up, even though her parents were standing right next to her. Sumire could only manage a shy, unobtrusive smile. The three of them then immediately disappeared. Sai then reached for his bag, in which he kept his Ninja tools - quite unusual ones for a Shinobi - and handed Fuen his brush. She sat down on the floor and looked at the picture in the scroll - it had changed, just like the village it represented. Fuen smiled.
"Hehehehehe - these clueless fools will be surprised at what I have prepared for them."
Fuen began to use Sai's brush to draw small symbols that resembled crescent moons in certain places on the map. Sai's emotionless gaze was fixed on the village below them. As usual, there was no telling what was going on inside him at that moment.
Fuuka was only a few blocks away from the Hokage's mansion when the earth began to shake beneath her feet. She bumped into a wall, which she then braced herself on. She had just ambushed a two-man patrol, sneaking up on them through her Earth-Style camouflage Jutsu and ramming her Kunai into their backs before they could even realise what was happening to them when Hisame closed in on her.
"So she started it," Fuuka remarked, stating the obvious out loud.
"Not to be missed, or overheard - come on, let's hurry. The guards are getting caught completely off guard, by the situation and all. Now is the ideal time to strike."
She's right. They'll be too busy trying to get an overview of the situation and understand what's going on here in the first place, and who or what they're up against. That means, at least for a while, no one will be thinking about the Hokage. I have to admit: Fuen knows what she's doing.
The two Kunoichi went to the nearest roof. The Hokage's mansion was only a hundred metres away. They looked down at the disoriented and leaderless faces of the Leaf-Ninjas. Then they noticed how they were drawn into the shadows of the dark alleys - first one, then the next, then another, until finally the street seemed to be empty. Even their screams were instantly silenced. Within seconds they all disappeared - and the way to Naruto was clear. Fuen's Anbu attacked. The operation was reaching its climax.
Not much longer, and Fuuka would get her chance for revenge...