Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½, nor claim to.
Chapter Thirty Five: Directed Napalm:
"I'll tell you now you can't win this; you're way too slow. I'll tell you now I'm gonna take this. Did you come here to watch me burn?" Three Days Grace: Burn
"Hurry up, Kite!" Sakura shouted, jumping the corner of the wall quickly, trying to approach the source of the explosion.
The boy jumped high into the air, clearing the small wall without even trying, before landing on the ground and racing to keep up with her. "Right behind ya!"
They had seen a plume of smoke rising in the distance. It had faded quite quickly, even for smoke, but the two of them had remembered where it had been flowing from instantly. There were no other shapes or forms like it, and the sky, besides the occasional cloud, was clear. Whatever that explosion was, that was where it had come from.
> > >
Chii raced behind them, rounding the corner. He didn't feel too good, though, at this moment. That training had taken a lot out of him, and he was starting to feel his muscles burn from the short distance they had run. Then again, he wasn't the best runner out there, he just won fights fast instead of enduring them. Well, as long as he kept Sakura and Kite in sight, he wouldn't get lost and they'd lead him to the source.
> > >
Sauske ran along and towards the corner, trying to figure out the direction to that plume himself while also following Chii. Keira was right behind him, racing along the fences and walls, but she was having trouble even keeping up with him.
Sauske turned sharply at the corner before stopping. He saw Keira struggling, which brought the boy to a screeching halt. She continued running to reach him, which took several moments, surprisingly. Once she caught up, she dropped down from the fence and walked the last few steps to him, before stumbling. "Keira, are you all right!" Sauske asked, grasping the girl on the shoulders to hold her up.
The girl paused, panting as sweat dripped on her face. They had only been running a few minutes? Was she really that low on energy? Her body was burning, but she forced out a weak smile as she looked to him with the brown eyes she had. "Sorry, Sauske-kun. I'm . . . a little tired right now."
"Here, let's stop." He motioned for them to sit down on the curb, but the girl pushed him off. "Keira?"
"No, it's all right. Let's keep going. I . . . I'll be all right." The girl took several deep breaths, which helped, but not much. "I'm all right, Sauske-kun. Really."
The boy waited a moment, before nodding solemnly. "All right, Keira, . . . let's go then." They turned and began running again. Although Keira quickly noticed they weren't running quite as fast as before. This time, she didn't mind going slow. She really didn't have the energy to do more right now.
> > >
WHAM! CHA CHA CHING-ING-ING! The fence shook as the two teens smashed into it, staring into the empty lot. It didn't take long to find anyone. There were a few people along the fence, staring in as well, but nobody they knew or seemed to know what was going on. In the field, though, there obviously was someone.
A man, standing tall with a large red trenchcoat and spiked up hair, a pair of orange sunglasses sitting in front of his eyes. He gently walked forward, leaving the center of a small, thin crater in the middle of the field, his hands sitting in his pockets, and his eyes scanning the fences.
Chii came barreling in, crashing into the fence loudly. Kite and Sakura glanced over at him for a moment, before turning back to the man in the field. All three blinked as soon as they looked at him. He was staring directly at them. They stared at each other for a moment, the teens through the chainlink fence and the man over his shoulder, before he turned to face them completely.
Chii gulped as soon as he did. There was a lot of dust on his coat, and small rips and tears, but nothing like the sliced shoulder. The bleeding had stopped, but there was a red stain there. It was fresh, he could tell that, and the color was just off enough of the red trenchcoat to tell that there really wasn't much there. He had still been cut, though. Why?
Kite could hear two more runners coming up, although still a little ways away, as the man raised his arm and extended it far to his side. His finger pointed off in a single way, holding steady. The runners got closer as they turned to see where he was pointing.
Chii shouted first, although the other two joined in midway through. "AKI!" he shouted, seeing the girl face down on the ground, unmoving, sprawled on the ground. The position told him that she was either unconscious or dead. It was more likely the first, but he couldn't tell from this far away.
"Aki!" Sauske shouted, still running up. "Where!"
Chii ignored him, digging his fingers around the links of the fence, and pulling himself up, grabbing onto the bar along the top and jumping over it and onto the dirt on the other side. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he started running, his body feeling stronger all of a sudden.
Seeing his sister and Kite climbing over the fence as well, and Chii already running off, Sauske decided to forget asking and just jumped the fence instead of stopping to look. He cleared it safely, but had an awkward landing, stumbling several steps before turning and chasing after Chii. After a moment, Sakura and Kite were over as well, with Keira clambering up behind them.
> > >
The man pressed the sunglasses up on his face, staring at the teens running to the girl. The first one was definitely Chinese and, since he knew the girl's name, almost certainly an Amazon. He wasn't going to guess who it was this time, like he had when Tenchuu fell, but he doubted it would be tough to figure out.
The other four running up to her behind him were all obviously Japanese. The only one that stood out in the first instant was the last one, the girl with brown hair. The sword behind her waist, and the kunai along her arm: she was a ninja. Glancing at her left arm, he saw no bandannas or insignias tied there, flipped or otherwise. A family ninja, not a clan ninja. That was a good sign. No way would these people figure him out.
He turned back to the Amazon. His aura was weak and thin, barely extending out while in its uncast form. The green aura was a lackluster performance as well, thin and dented from use. No threat.
The next boy caught his eye. There was something wrong with him. No, his green aura was pristine, and quite strong. Not necessarily exemplar, but a par above the norm. Checking the others, the tallest girl and boy both had strong green auras as well, while the ninja was lacking and dented, probably from over-use of her chakra. And none of their gold auras were surprising; all either worried or concerned or some sort of emotion for Aki. Nothing too unusual. But that boy, his battle auras . . . it was like nothing he had seen before.
Certainly, he hadn't been able to see auras as clearly as he did now for very long, but he had never seen someone missing an entire aura. This boy, with black hair and running easily in a school uniform, had no blue battle aura. His red one was quite thick, and ordinarily sized for a person, and those skills showed. He had to be well versed in martial arts, or some sort of sport, to be able to jump a two meter chain link fence and turn that hard when he hit the dirt at almost ten kilometers per hour. But to be missing his entire aura? He had never even heard of that happening.
Well, no, with focus, someone could draw in an aura to make it invisible, that was true. But could anyone draw it in tight enough for him to not be able to see it? And why would he be holding in his blue aura? Was there any reason to hold it back? Something was odd here.
But, he wasn't worried. He'd seen weirder things and come out okay. Besides, that red aura wasn't much for a basic. How much could there be?
> > >
"Aki!" Chii shouted as he dropped onto the ground, flipping the girl over onto her back. She rolled clumsily and without resistance. But she was breathing. The boy sighed a little, relieved that she was just unconscious, before seeing her body. His eyes widened in shock.
Sauske was next to him immediately, staring down at the girl, held up in an angled sitting position by her brother, facing the sky. He stopped moving the second he saw her condition.
She was shredded.
Her clothes were torn and ripped, not in large tears, but hundreds of windswept pulls and splits. The blouse was dusty and grass stained, while the skirt was muddy and torn as well. She didn't look wounded, but he couldn't tell. Her clothes were certainly ruined, and there was a bruise on her chin where she had been hit with an uppercut.
The boy dropped down next to Chii, who was dusting off her face. His arms dropped to his sides, as he just looked her over, trying to understand, trying to comprehend who would do this to a person. His left hand slid forward, finding hers resting on the ground, before grasping and squeezing it gently. There was no movement from her hand. It just sat, resting in his. He hated that feeling.
Sakura and Kite stared over the boys' shoulders, shocked, before turning back to the man, a distance long off. "Who are you!" Sakura shouted, drawing her wooden sword from her belt, holding it up in front of herself, ready to fight. Kite slid into a fighting stance as well.
Keira ran up and stopped at the fallen Amazon's feet, seeing the destruction for herself. She was taken aback by the damage, before turning up at the sound of Kite's voice.
"What'd you do this for, huh! You have something against Aki!"
The man looked at them calmly for several seconds, glancing between one and the other, and occasionally at the other three behind them, before turning to Kite. "No, nothing."
"Then what were you fighting about!" Sakura shouted back.
"What? . . . Hmm, well," he said, before pausing. He reminded himself he needed to be ruthless now, no matter what the cost. "I felt like pounding on her."
"W-what!" Sakura replied, paling a bit. "You did this because you . . . felt like it!"
Sauske squeezed Aki's hand again.
Kite clenched his teeth. "Why don't you take us on then!"
"STOP!"
Everyone, including the man, paused at the voice.
Sauske released the Amazon's hand, before slowly, almost painfully slowly, he rolled onto his feet, and stood up straight as a tree. With one motion, he turned around, stepping up to Kite and Sakura. "Don't get involved this time. I'll do this. By myself." And then he began walking forward.
> > >
Ranma was running the class on his own today. Akane sighed. Normally she would have been helping, but there was something eating at the back of her mind. Something dark and calloused was there, and she couldn't tell what it was. She had helped for the first part of the basic class, but after a while, the break in focus was becoming too much, and she excused herself. It wasn't that Kuno thing they had talked of earlier. No, that had been settled.
"Can ya believe it, Ak-chan?" Ranma mused as he sat in the dojo. Akane was warming up in the middle of the room, while Ranma was meditating at the back, under the nameplates. Aburame Kiba to be exact.
"Believe what?"
"That we invited the Kunos to the Christmas party this year?"
Akane paused for a moment, not moving, before continuing with her routine. "Well, we did."
"I get that. But why did we?"
"Sakura wanted us to." Akane replied automatically, without the definite tone of a confident response.
"Still, this is Kuno Tatekawi we're talkin' about." Ranma lowered his head. "He probably still doesn't know that I was . . . that girl."
"What, 'The Pig-tailed Goddess?' " Akane replied sarcastically.
"Don't rub it in. That's somethin' I wish I could forget."
Akane giggled a bit, before continuing with her exercise. "Well, he's coming. So, just don't get splashed or anything."
Ranma nodded ever so slightly. "What about you?"
"I'll make sure to never be alone with him without something heavy." she muttered quietly to herself.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing. I'll just welcome him and then leave him to find someone else to talk to."
"Right."
"At least Kodachi won't be here."
Ranma nodded slightly again. This time, though, he said nothing. He just sat, returning to meditations, as Akane returned to her warm-ups. "What happened to her?"
"Huh?" Akane blurted out, stopping and turning to her husband and seeing him looking up at her with confused eyes. "What happened to who?"
"Kodachi."
"Oh. . . . I don't know. I haven't talked to Kuno for what, three or four years, when we saw him move back into his old home and became principal of Furinkan. And I haven't talked to either of them for at least ten years or so before that."
"Me neither. . . . But I just thought of it. I haven't heard anythin' about Kodachi."
"Well, she did move away after college. . . . Oh, Nabiki once said she married a rich guy from Osaka, and . . . did something . . . something . . . something about 'fill' . . . I can't remember."
"Didn't someone say somethin' about a fight at Furinkan with the Kunos?"
"Sauske said there was a girl fighting Keira named Kuno there yesterday. Tatekawi's only got a son."
"Yeah, that's right." He sat in thought for a moment. "Wait, does that mean . . ."
Akane's eyes widened. "Oh no, . . . she might live nearby too!"
"And, if Kuno's comin'," Ranma began.
Akane finished the though, "She might go along with him!"
Both of them sighed.
"Guess we just gotta' deal with it."
Akane nodded once, before returning to her exercise.
Why was she worried? It felt like something big was going to happen. Something sinister. She didn't like it. But right now, there was nothing she could do about it except be mentally ready. So, she applied herself to cleaning the kitchen, and trying to remain vigilant about what was going on around her.
> > >
"Oh, you want something?" the man said loudly. Sauske didn't seem to notice, plodding towards him. Each step was focused and determined, showing great care and control.
At thirty meters away, the boy stopped. His eyes lowered to the ground as if in submission. "Why did you do this to Aki?"
The man blinked. That wasn't the reaction he was expecting. The boy's auras showed he was becoming . . . depressed? That didn't make any sense! But, without anything else to do about it, the man simply replied as he had planned. "I felt like it."
"You . . . felt like it?"
"Yep. I wanted a fight, so I beat them up. No skin off my back if people are weaklings. Don't get in my way if you are, that's what I say."
Sauske let his shoulders slump. "Is that what you really say? Do you really mean that?"
"Yep."
"Why? Why do you want to hurt people like that? What if they really get hurt? Forever and ever and such?"
Kakekomi took a deep breath. Ruthless. "Ain't my problem."
"No!" Sauske said loudly, strongly, for the first time in the conversation. The man looked at him funny for a moment, before the boy clenched his hands. In his mind, his thoughts were running. "I have to use it." He clenched his teeth. "I can't hold it back anymore. I have to use it." His body relaxed a little. "Sorry, everyone, but I have to. Even if I don't want to . . ."
His arms swung up into a fighting stance, elbows bent and forearms covering his face, while his legs spread apart a bit as his knees bent. His eyes, now angry, or enraged, stared out straight as they rose, settling on the other pair hidden behind the orange sunglasses. The man, although surprised, didn't flinch. He'd seen worse.
> > >
Sakura stared out at the two of them, shocked. Sauske hadn't brought out the aura yet. He was just standing, watching the man, ready to fight. "Sakura? What is it?" That was Kite. She turned to him, realizing she had been staring at her brother, before turning back to him anyway.
"He's going to use it." Sakura replied eventually, before swinging her sword around and sliding it into her belt.
"What makes you so sure?"
"He never talks like that unless he's going to." She paused, before turning around and looking to Chii. "How is she?"
Chii glanced over his shoulder. "She'll be all right. She's just unconscious."
Sakura nodded. "Well, that's good. But, what did . . ."
Kite interrupted her "Sakura!" The girl turned to him, and he pointed off at the two fighters.
> > >
Despite what he said to himself, Sauske was holding himself back. He wasn't going to let himself lose control anymore. But he was going to use the aura. How? He didn't know.
He took several deep breaths, before he slowly began moving forward. First, a determined trot, then a jog, then a run, then an all-out sprint. His hands were up near his head, ready to strike. But the red flame had not yet appeared.
Stampede watched his approach. The boy was not even trying to disguise his blatant drive forward, forgoing any sort of zig-zag pattern and simply bolting straight in. The man gently raised his arms up, ready to defend himself, hands loosely opened instead of tightly clenched. This aura was giving him trouble, and he wasn't quite sure how to react to it. And, peeking over the top of the orange lenses, he noted that the boy still lacked an outwardly activated one. Deciding on the traditional response, he raised his front foot ever so slightly off the ground.
Skipping over the empty, grass-free crater where the man had been standing before, the boy began to elongate his strides over the remaining distance to an almost leaping pace. Each giant step cut down the distance to his foe, and he would soon be in striking range. His foot slammed down, propelling him forward. Almost there. He dropped lower on his next step, before jumping straight, trying to end the last three meters in one step.
WHAM!
There was no squeal, no grunt, only a gentle moan of irritation as the sole of the boot met with the face of a teenager.
Sauske's body snapped ahead underneath him, thanks to the painful power of momentum, before the force of the kick propelled him back again. He didn't travel as far as he did when he jumped forward, and the crash onto his back wasn't nearly as clean as his run, with dirt and pebbles shoved aside as his head and shoulders dug into the earth. But he was unfazed.
The man, pulling his leg back in from the side kick, simply replaced it gently onto the ground as he watched the boy's acrobatic moves to stand. Sauske rolled onto the upper part of his back, before flinging his entire form forward, planting on his feet and standing at full height in a instant. His eyes were still bloodthirsty. But a new change took over as the arms that missed their first attack were raised to prepare for a second.
The fire began.
> > >
Chii glanced up at them as Kite exclaimed, "Here it comes!" His eyes trailed to Sauske, watching the gentle red aura release like every other fighter does. The only thing that could be considered incredible about it was the near opaque red color. The skill in that Saotome was exquisite and perfected. But it was still rage that drove the skill in this fight.
But it was the Akuma aura. It could be devastating to those who would use it. It was legendary among fighters with more than a basic interest in techniques. The power to multiply a person's strength to unimaginable levels. The tales surrounding it's origins were legends in their own right, let alone being the birth of the most powerful and feared aura technique in history. But Chii already knew all that.
Which is why it was so pitiful to see it's activation. Simply willing the force out like a rank amateur was all it took? He hated techniques like that. Those immeasurably secretive ones, where even the use is hidden from view. Then again, there was nothing to this aura beyond allowing incredible rage. He had been expecting something incredible from the technique, but what was it, beyond allowing a person to experience hatred at ungodly levels?
Nothing.
"Oh my god!" Sakura blurted out, her left foot sliding back. Chii glanced back at the fight, seeing the red aura at about three times Sauske's size, and holding steady. Both Sauske and the man hadn't moved an inch, and neither one seemed to be waiting out of fear. He turned back to Sakura, where both the other sideline fighters, Kite and Keira, were turned to her as well. "Look at his aura!"
> > >
Kite, standing to Sakura's right, looked at the boy. It was the bright, flickering red flame it was the night Happosai was finally defeated, only slightly duller because of the daylight. He turned back to the shocked girl. "What about it?"
"I don't believe it." Keira mumbled, astonished, staring out at Sauske as if he were a ghost.
"What?"
"I know, Keira!" Sakura replied, her left hand reaching up to the handle on her sheath, tapping her fingers on it nervously. "It's incredible."
"What!" Kite shouted, angry now. "What is it!"
The two girls snapped back to reality for a moment, Sakura turning to face him. "Look at his aura!"
"I did! It's no different from the last time!"
Sakura's eyes widened, then she shook her head. "You haven't seen it enough times. That's why you don't get it." She turned back to Sauske, her voice turning a bit wistful. "But, this is the first time I've seen his aura this small."
"Small?"
Keira nodded, but didn't look over at him. "And look at his pose. The same calm, collected Sauske-kun. His face looks strained, his hands are clenched tight, but there's no screams and shouts, and his stance is clean and standard. He's controlling himself."
Sakura continued immediately after her, almost cutting off the ninja. "No outbursts, no swears, no deep roars of hatred. His first attack was swift and direct instead of large and heavy. He's doing something we have all hoped for. He's holding back the full use of his aura."
"What does that mean?" Kite asked, looking back to the fight. None of them could see it, but Chii was also very interested in the fight right now.
Sakura responded first. "It means he's found a way to control himself."
"Is that good? I mean, how bad would losing control be?"
Both girl's snapped back out of their wistful states again.
"Sauske!" Sakura screamed as loud ass she could, grasping her brother's arms as best she could, despite the searing pain on the inside of her right elbow. "Sauske! Stop! Don't do it!" she wailed into the back of his head, her brother struggling underneath as they stood together.
Keira dashed in, ducking under the boys arms, between him and the sword, wrapping her arms around his torso. "Sauske!" she screamed as well, pulling herself right up to him. "Sauske, please don't do this!" Her face was moist with tears.
Sauske stopped struggling for a moment, the little boy encased in between the two girls, before the rage began to fall away and the horror swelled in to replace it. His eyes widened, his face paled, and the sword began to slip in his fingers.
"Don't do it." Sakura whispered, her voice losing volume but gaining even more fear. "Don't do it!"
The sword was released. The steel katana, a single red stain along the edge, made a loud CLANG! as it hit the ground. And then, the boy became limp as he realized what he was about to do.
Sakura muttered, "It can be very bad."
Keira could only nod.
> > >
"Come on! What are you waiting for!" Kakekomi shouted. The bloodlust in the eyes was still bright, but his face looked both frightened and disbelieving when the eyes were factored out. The boy's fists were so tight the knuckles on his hand were sheet white and it looked like there was a little blood dripping out between his fingers where his nails had dug too far into his skin.
Sauske didn't move. He wasn't sure of himself anymore. He didn't have the strength, did he? At least, not enough to win.
Why was the fear welling up in him now?
"Are you going to come after me? Or should I just beat you up like the other two!" the man shouted.
Sauske snapped. He couldn't do it. He wasn't strong enough. Not enough to win like this.
He had to go further.
"You want me," he began, his face lowering, "TAKE IT!" he screamed, before running forward. The built up fear had vanished in an instant, turning to rage, the boy flooring it as he raced in, his hands right by his face, ready for anything that came at him. Kakekomi balked a bit, seeing the battle aura double in size, at least, in a split second, the boy driving at him with renewed fury. He raised his right foot just slightly off the ground, twisting it a bit to come from a different angle.
Sauske jumped the last step again, flying in low to the ground with his hands ready to strike. Except for one minute change.
His right leg snapped to the ground, stopping his run a bit before, although the speed let him slide in the last half-meter.
Kakekomi swung his leg out in an outside crescent kick, coming up and around to the boy's head, instinctively compensating it for the changes in the boy's speed as they happened.
Sauske slashed out with his left hand, smashing his fist into the approaching kick, knocking it aside. Then, he stepped in again.
The man stared ahead as his leg was tossed away, twisting him a bit and causing him to lose balance. The boy was on him in an instant, moving from block to strike without hesitation. Then, he felt the boy's right hand impact his ribs. Then, once the force was fully imparted, he felt nothing but air.
The strength of the hit was enough to send him flying back ten meters completely airborne, before he felt his heels hit the ground, followed by the rest of his body. He bounced and dinged across the dirt like a tumbleweed caught in a hurricane, puffs of dirt bursting off the ground and floating into the air as he continued his backwards journey. His shoulders, his elbows, his back, his head, his knees, and his chest all took turns smacking the ground, before his hand caught the earth and he pushed off with some degree of control. He flipped himself upright, his feet trying to catch the ground and missing. All he was able to do was stumbled backwards several steps quickly, before falling onto his back and finally sliding to a stop, having traveled almost a third of the field.
> > >
Sakura and Keira both turned their eyes to the ground again. "It's gone." Sakura muttered.
Kite nodded. "Well, for that first minute or two, he had control." He paused. "It's a start."
That seemed to console Keira bit, but neither one looked very cheerful.
> > >
Chii stared out at the field again. Sauske had brought out more aura, and the strength it had given him . . . incredible! With one punch, he sent his opponent over forty meters!
Then, suddenly, Chii forgot all of that. At Sauske's feet was something he didn't see before. A metal dart, implanted in the ground, a line of cord extending off of it. The Amazon looked deeply, and noticed another one, half a meter behind Sauske, and another one, another half meter beyond that. And another. And another. And another, and another, and another, and another, and another!
His eyes continued off behind, but there were no more of those darts. Instead, there was something much more to the point.
Chii went bolting off to it without a word to the others.
> > >
Kakekomi stared up at the sky for a moment. "That hurt." he complained angrily to himself, rolling a bit, turning to his side to see the trunk of the tree there. Although, inside, he was smiling a bit. This was a more challenging fight than either of the other two today. He would win in the end, but it wouldn't be an easy win. Which made this complicated. He had his aura, and he could drop his own limitations, but he didn't want to go overboard. He might kill the kid. And if he took this fight out at the way it was going, he wouldn't have the strength to take on anyone else, and probably not even enough to just escape.
"Use it again." a familiar, yet unseen, voice said from above.
He smiled, rolling up into a sitting position, watching the flaming boy starting to walk towards him from across the empty lot. "Oh, you're here."
"I have been for some time."
"Ah. Well, using that again might not be good to do." He glanced at the boy. "Twice in one day wold attract a lot of attention."
"Isn't that what you want?"
"Good point. But then he knows that I have it."
The voice paused."But if you don't use it, Aki will tell them how you defeated her, and they will know anyway. You might as well use it now, and win this battle before you get . . . hurt."
The last word was said with a bit of a chuckle, which the young man joined in himself. It was odd to hold back like this, when they had always worried so much about getting defeated before. Then again, more was at stake then beyond a reputation. "Are you going to back me up?"
"I will not leave here until you do. And I will help you however you need me."
"Just make sure I get out in case I get taken down." he slid his right arm out of his sleeve, Sauske still walking toward him. Once free of his trenchcoat, the arm slid down to the belt along the back of his pants. He grabbed a tag of fabric there, and, standing up, he pulled it hard.
There were several snapping sounds as the strip of cloth came free, before Stampede slid his hand behind the other leg, grabbing another tag, and pulling it away with about fifteen loud snaps. He felt the pressure go limp, and his legs loosened up.
"I don't think you ought to worry about that." the anonymous voice replied.
"Me neither. But just in case." he replied, sliding the strips into a pocket in his jacket, before putting his arm back into the sleeve, feeling the restrictive tug on his shoulder spread out back into his arm. "Because I still can't go all out. I don't want to kill him."
> > >
Sauske continued his determined plod along, watching the man stand and replace his arm in his sleeve. But he ignored that. The man, while only a few years older than him, had done something to drive up Sauske's anger. Sauske was going to crush him.
All of a sudden, the man came sprinting forward. Quite rapidly. In only a moment, he was in the air, feet down towards the boy. Sauske stopped walking, clenching his teeth and raising his arms up
WHAP WHAP! Snapping out his left foot, Kakekomi kicked away the two guard arms, before puling his leg back, twisting in the air like a top. And then, his right foot shot out. WHAM!
"GAAH!" Sauske shouted as he felt the boot impact his forehead. He was blown back by the force, although, since it had come and hit him downward, he hit the ground evenly and slid most of the distance, rolling over a few times. But mostly just slipping over the dead grass.
Landing gingerly on his feet, Kakekomi watched the boy. Almost as if on cue, the boy rose without wincing or blinking, despite the fresh bruise on his head bleeding a bit. "Come on, you pansy!" the man shouted, reminding himself about ruthlessness.
Sauske didn't need to be encouraged twice; the pain and feeling of warm blood, even that tiny little ticklish trickle from the last hit, were unaware factors hidden from him by the inner demon. And so, he attacked. And the red glow grew around him.
The two of them ran together, before the man stopped, letting the boy come in the last few meters. Sauske did, and struck. WHIFF! Sauske's first punch shot through air. His eyes turned to see Kakekomi stepping away, and a little to the side, before turning a little to be directly facing Sauske again. Sauske took two steps and swung out with his left hand. WHIFF!
The man, smiling contemptuously, backed up another step and moved slightly around the boy. Sauske jumped up and kicked. WHIFF! Another miss as well. "Come on! Don't you want to hit me!" he shouted, egging on the boy.
The red flame continued to grow, ever so slightly, as the misses began to mount, and Kakekomi continued sliding away and around the boy.
> > >
"Tenchuu!" Chii said out loud as he dropped down next to his brother, seeing the gashes in his chest. He didn't hesitate, opening his shirt. The bleeding had stopped almost completely, but it would be better for the wounds to be bandaged. Clearing away a few extra chains, darts, and swords on top of him and pulling out a extra package of gauze wrapping from his pocket, Chii sat up his brother's limp body, and began his work.
He was on his fourth round when he noticed the shreds on his arms. Chii was awe struck. Tenchuu was hurt horribly compared to Aki. She had been hit with many powerful blows, but Tenchuu had been cut up. What happened in . . . no, no time to think about that. He continued bandaging up the injuries, trying to work as quickly as . . .
"A . . . Akiiii?" came a soft murmur. Chii looked up to see Tenchuu's eyes cracked open, but he was still limp. He might just be waking up.
"Tenchuu. It's your brother, Chii." he said softly, continuing the basic first aid. He wished he had some water to wash out the wounds, but this was all he could do.
"Chii . . . is it really you?" the older Amazon asked, still dazed, but recovering.
The boy nodded, even if his brother probably wouldn't notice. "Yes, brother, it is."
"Chii, don't fight him. Don't fight . . . the man in the red coat. I . . . I saw what he did to . . . to Aki!"
Chii stopped immediately, turning up to his brother. "You saw? How?"
"I . . . I was awake when he did it. Just barely. . . . He's too strong . . . Chii, don't fight him."
"What did he do?"
> > >
Sakura was still tapping her sword handle with her fingers to drive away the fear. "What is he doing this for?"
"Could he be trying to tire out Sauske?" Keira offered.
The man, not much older than the three of them, dodged his thirtieth attack from Sauske, sidestepping almost completely out of the way. "But, he's only is making Sauske's aura bigger." Kite noted.
Sakura nodded, before she paused. The look, the way the aura was shaped . . . it didn't make sense. "Something's wrong." The other two turned to her. "Sauske's aura . . . that's too big."
"What do you mean?" Keira replied, staring at her oddly. "It's been much larger before. Like . . . well, that time."
Sakura nodded. "Yeah, but it's too short. The whole thing is wide, but not tall. Something's wrong with the aura."
> > >
CHA CHING-ING-ING! Naruto, huffing and wheezing, as well as muttering about how much he hated long distance running, collapsed against the fence for a moment. His eyes were turned down towards the ground, before slowly, the looked up. And all that exhaustion washed away.
"HOLY MOLY! IS THAT SAUSKE!" He screamed, as he saw the giant swirl of aura in the middle of the field, Sauske and some young guy battling it out in the center of a bright red cloud. Sauske was on the attack, but he wasn't hitting him. At all.
Naruto turned and looked, seeing Kite, Keira, and Sakura staring off at them, and . . . Aki on the ground! He dug his fingers into the fence, before climbing up and jumping over.
WHUMP! He landed easily on the other side, ready to run, when a faint yell was heard. He knew that voice. Not well, but he knew it was Chii.
"Sauske! Get away from him!"
Naruto looked up to see Chii in the distance, sitting next to someone he couldn't identify leaning over. He turned back to see Sauske attacking with even more vigor.
Then, Sakura muttered something loudly. "That's it! The aura's catching on itself and staying . . . oh god no!" She ran forward a few steps, before cupping her hands around her mouth. "Sauske! Get away from him! It's a trap!"
> > >
Sauske ignored Chii's shout to run, and continued his attack. The man dodged again, circling completely around behind him. Sauske's foot hit the ground, and he turned around and headed back at Kakekomi.
Then came Sakura's shout. "Sauske! Get away from him! It"s a trap!"
And again, Sauske ignored it.
"RAAAGH!" the boy screamed, punching straight forward again.
Stampede smirked, before he attacked again. "Too late!" he screamed.
Next Chapter: The battle is brought to a close, but another mysterious man shocks one of the children far more than anything else has.
All right! Chapter thirty five is done! Okay, I rushed through editing this one, so it might not be as quality as normal, since I only read through it once. And, it's not one of my favorite chapters either. The fight, and some of the characters, didn't come out the way I wanted them. But, sometimes things can't be perfect, and, since I won't be around for a week, it was now or never. So, I'm putting this up and hoping for the best. If there's a big problem, I'll fix it as soon as I get the chance. So, I hope you enjoyed it.
By the way . . . This story's broken 100 reviews! HOORAY! Thank you to all you reviewers out there! You're the ones who keep me going, and I hope this story will still live up to everyone's expectations. Or more. More would be nice too.
Anyway, on with the reviews:
Paige C: EEE! I know! That scene with Tenchuu and Aki was fn to write, even if it was angsty and serious. As for calling him Vash . . . Kakekomi ("Stampede") is a much better name. It doesn't sound like something that can be cured with ointment. Well, anyway, I'm glad you liked the chapter.
Sleepingbear: Yes, you were right. Kakekomi is based off Vash the Stampede visually. I'm glad there was plenty of action, as, when it comes down to it, that's the whole point of this story. This chapter's done more of that character development, so I hope that worked well. (As for becoming a writer, it's funny you should say that, since I'm going to major in Creative Writing in college when I start next year.)
nonengle: Well, nothing was resolved before, and nothing is resolved yet. But it will be soon. Sort of. As for your reading of Kakekomi's character, you wouldn't believe how close you are to the truth. It is true; this character was just based visually off Vash. He might, or might not, have personality traits that are similar, but that's unintentional. You, however, are the closest person so far to understanding him, and you don't know how happy that makes me to see someone getting close. Keep digging into the story, and look for the little clues to hint at the truth. They are there; not just for him, but also other characters and their pasts. Please, please keep reading this. I look forward to your, and anyone else's, theories on who this Kakekomi really is and isn't.
Conna McCanna: HOORAY! A new reviewer who likes my story! As for who ends up with who . . . my lips are sealed. You'll just have to wait it out.
Shinjiku: Well, okay, then you'll possibly like this story as log as Sauske and Aki might get together. So, I guess I can't say if you will like this story or not, because I hate giving away the story. Sorry. I will say this, though: there will be some really important relationship building in the segments right after this battle is finished. And kissing. There will be some of that in the next few chapters too. That's all I'm going to say.