Disclaimer: No I do not own Naruto.

Wings of the White Angel

Chapter 15: Shifting like the tides

Kin kicked the bedroom door open. "Guys?" There was no one in the room. "Where'd they…"

"Suiton; Yuki Hari!"

Kin turned and saw someone right outside the window. "What in…" Then the glass of the window shattered inward and he was pelted by hundreds of cold needles that punctured his flesh.

Frost stepped through the shattered window casually. "You're still standing? Good, then I get to play." Her hands began to form seals.

Kin growled and with one flex forced the needles back out the way they had come. "Fuuton; Shirakaze Tenshi no Jutsu!"

Frost gritted her teeth, right before she had the air blown out of her by a clothesline from Kin. Locking her head in place, he charged out through the window and into the middle of the street. ("I wasn't able to stop him before he activated the technique…")

"Sorry, I have to end this quickly!" Kin ran in a tight circle before he let go of her head, trapping her within the rapidly formed whirlwind he had created.

Frost was so off-balance that she could do little but get lifted to the top of the whirlwind. ("Damn…")

Kin appeared above her, riding the whirlwind easily. "Shirakaze Rendan!" Slamming her in the back with a drop-kick, the whirlwind reversed directions and slammed them both into the ground roughly with an explosion of dirt.

A few seconds later, Kin came rolling out of the whirlwind, the white silk-like aura around his body gone. "It's over. Now I have to find the others." Turning, he walked away the crater he had created slowly.

"Suiton; Ninpou Yuki Fuuin!"

Kin froze in his tracks. ("What…she's okay?") He tried to turn to face her, but he couldn't move his feet. ("What's the matter with me?") Looking down at his legs, he saw why. Thick layers of ice had formed around his feet, holding him to that spot of earth easily.

Frost giggled and walked out of the crater, nothing wrong with her but a little dirt on her clothing. "That would have hurt…" She squeezed some water out of her hair. "If I didn't saturate the ground with water in that area. Since I did, I had you trapped. All I had to do was force water to the area around your feet and then freeze that water after it gushed up. You're trapped. I know that if you can't run when you have that technique going, you'll explode with chakra overload." Her hands started to form seals. "Suiton; Yuki Hari!"

Kin braced himself as his body was peppered with hundreds of ice needles. ("I can't fight back…can I? Without the White Wind Angel I have no way to…") His eyes hardened and he took a deep breath. ("I have to do this with perfect timing, because if she sees what I'm about to do she'll be sure to try and stop me.")

Frost walked around him, keeping a safe distance from his arms. "You're an interesting boy…you know that? I like the eyes, by the way. Very demonic…"

Kin growled deep within his throat at her. ("Calm down…calm down…")

She giggled again and took a few steps away from him, her hands forming those same seals. "Suiton; Yuki Hari!" Lifting a hand up to her mouth, she formed a little ring shape with her thumb and index finger. When she blew into it, a storm of needles came out the other side.

Kin bit back his pain, anger, and humiliation as he felt the numerous cold pricks of pain shoot up all along his body.

"So you're not going to scream or get mad? Then I'll end it now." She formed a new set of seals. "Suiton; Yuki Hari Tsunami!" She raised her hands up and the air became misty. "You'll love this…" She faded from view as the mist grew thicker.

("Now!") Kin's hands moved as fast as they ever had in his life.

Frost smiled coldly. ("The Snow Needle Storm will hit him on all sides…it's the end!") She clapped her hands together and the mist turned reflective as the sky filled with icy needles. "Let the icy sting remind you that you are mortal." Then it rained death down at Kin.

Kin felt his chakra surge within his body, and something was different about it this time. ("I can feel it…I can feel the wheel!") "Suiton; Aumizu Iruka no Jutsu!"

Frost heard this and shrugged it off. ("He can't escape the…") Her mind froze as pain filled her from head to toe. Somehow she tilted her head down and realized that she was completely covered in her own ice needles. "This…" Her head lifted to look at Kin.

Kin was surrounded by a glowing aura of blue chakra that moved like water. "The Blue Water Dolphin technique…completed."

("He deflected every single needle towards me before they hit him? That's impossible…") Frost started to fall towards the ground back-first.

"When you wake up, consider if it is worth your life trying to harm me or my friends again." Kin disengaged the Blue Water Dolphin as she passed out from the pain. ("Now to get free and find the others.")

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"I suppose by now you are wondering what exactly I intend to do to you." Blind's gruff voice echoed out into the cloud. "You will see very soon. Are you ready to face your darkest fears?" Standing right outside of the cloud, he sneered. "Welcome to the Nightmare Cloud! Akumu Moyamoya!" Seconds later Kai's screams of fear echoed from inside the cloud. ("The illusion that will pitch you into your darkest fears…")

After a few minutes, Blind withdrew the cloud back into his hands. ("He should be cowering in fear by now.") Sure enough, Kai was curled in a ball on the ground. "I've won." Drawing a kunai, Blind slowly walked towards Kai. "This is the end for you…let me free you from your misery." Lifting the weapon up, he prepared to drive it down.

Kai disappeared and appeared behind Blind. "Do you think I'd fall for that illusion?"

Blind gasped right before he was struck in a nerve at the back of neck, knocking him unconscious immediately.

Kai shook his head and walked off. ("Genjutsu users are fools…")

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An explosion shook the village as Pride was sent flying through another wall.

The Aiko rainbow replication casually strolled towards the hole he had created. "What's the matter Pride? Am I not so easy to pick on now? Maybe you should have killed me when you had the chance."

Pride stumbled to his feet, his gray hair disheveled and his eyes narrowed in both anger and shock. "You've improved by so much in such a short time…you are truly amazing, Aiko-chan."

Another replication appeared out of nowhere and punched him full strength in the gut. "Don't call me Aiko-chan, you slime."

Grabbing at the spot she hit, Pride dropped to his knees and gasped for air a few times before his breathing regulated itself. ("I have to open the first two seals for now…") He stumbled to his feet and towards the nearest wall, his hands fumbling rapidly.

Aiko narrowed her prismatic eyes and leapt forward, grabbing his arms and twisting them painfully. "You think I'll let you perform a technique?"

Pride sneered and disappeared in a puff of black smoke. He appeared out in the middle of the street, his hands completing the simple seals. "You're too late. Seal one open!" A light trickle of chakra came from him. "Seal two open!" The trickle grew bigger, but not significantly so.

Both of the Aikos crossed their arms across their chests. "That's it? Come now, where's your real power?"

Pride smiled slightly. "Very well…Seal three open!" The chakra flow rose, and he formed a shadow katana. "Let's go, Aiko-chan."

"Don't call me that!" Both Aikos disappeared and appeared on both sides of him. They punched for his face at the same time, but were completely surprised when he ducked under the blow and stabbed one in the chest with the tip of his sword. She disappeared in a burst of colored smoke.

Pride slashed the weapon across the chest of the other replication and it blew apart into green smoke. "You can't toy with me now. Show yourself."

Aiko, the real one, stepped out from around a corner. "Let's go…I'll show you something I owe Kane. A move he always did but never bothered to teach me." She charged at him, going full speed.

Pride snapped the katana at her, but she was already gone. ("She's that fast?") Then he remembered that rainbow replications were one-seventh the strength of the original. ("If that is true, I have to open the next two seals.") He relaxed his swinging arm.

Aiko's face appeared a few inches from his. "Forget about me already?" She bashed her forehead against his head, sending him sliding back. Then she pushed off the ground, striking his side with a roundhouse kick at full strength. As his body leaned in to the blow to lessen the damage, she saw her opening in the form of his exposed neck. "Guillotine Fist!" The edge of her right hand slammed full force against his exposed neck.

Pride's vision swam as pain shot up his neck. "What…what did…" Pushing her away, he stumbled back and clutched at his burning neck.

"I struck a chakra point on your body that controls your inner balance." Aiko leapt forward and dealt a devastating three blow attack to his head, instantly flooring him. "You won't stand a chance against me…"

Pride's brain was throbbing now. ("That annoying bitch just did it.") He snarled and made one seal. "Four and five emergency release!"

Suddenly Aiko was launched backwards by a blast of chakra that had come from his body. ("What was that?")

Pride, his vision normal again, stood up slowly. ("She's definitely stronger than she looks. I think I'll have to show her six.") His hands blurred together. "Seal six open!" An aura of chakra flared to life around him. "Now you get a small taste of my true power…let's go!" Forming two shadow katana, he disappeared and appeared behind her. Aiko disappeared and appeared behind him. They did this to each other for a full minute, before finally they appeared a few feet apart and facing each other on another street.

Aiko didn't dare start to breathe hard yet, even though she wanted to. ("He's as fast as I am now…how can someone hide their power like he can?") Then she realized what he had said, about this being only a small taste of his true power. ("Though my training resulted in a great increase of my physical power, I still don't have much physical stamina. There's no chance I'll last another seal being opened. I have to take him down now…and that means I'll need to use the Rainbow Dragon Spiral.") Closing her eyes, she growled darkly. This was risky. "Niji Bunshin no Jutsu!" She exploded into seven rainbow replications, each of which stood in a circle around Pride.

Pride glanced amongst them slowly. ("I see…by putting yourselves in that formation you can counter me if I try to attack one.") He snapped both shadow katana up. "Then I'll defeat your replications with replications…"

Each of the Aikos began to form the same set of seals.

"Kage Tsuki…no mai!" A copy of Pride appeared behind each Aiko replication. "And then there was one…"

"Nijiryu no Jutsu!" All seven Aiko clones yelled out at once. There was an explosion of energy as seven different colored dragons exploded from their hands and between to dance in the air around Pride.

Pride instantly lost his connection to the Shadow Moon replications. "What…is this?"

The seven dragons began to weave and create a glittering pattern of beautiful light as they started to entrap him within it.

Each of the Aikos smiled at once. "It's a move I came up with after pondering how to prevent you from escaping. The Rainbow Dragon Spiral…the perfect seal and killing move in one attack."

The pattern condensed to the point that Pride had disappeared, somewhere within the ball of glowing rainbow lights that was in his place. Then the energy condensed into solid crystal.

"By manipulating my abilities to create gems from chakra, I can change the energy used for my Rainbow Dragon technique into a crystal shell that will prevent you from escaping. Also…" The red and purple-haired Aikos charged in towards the ball and dropped to their backs, sliding towards it. Then they pushed off the ground when they reached it, kicking it straight up into the air.

The green and blue-haired Aikos rebounded off the other twos' chests and kicked the ball even higher. Then the orange and indigo-haired Aikos rebounded off their sisters and kicked the ball up another twenty feet, leaving it spinning insanely fast sixty feet in the air.

The yellow-haired Aiko appeared above the ball, her leg nearly folded to her back in preparation for this kick. "…it's the end for you. Nijiryu Sensha!" Her hair returned to rainbow and she kicked the ball as hard as she possibly could. Little hairline fractures appeared in the crystalline surface right as the ball was launched towards the ground at super-speed. "Oh, and one more…" The ball began to glow brightly. "I can change crystal to energy just as easily."

The ball shimmered and melted downwards, reforming into the dragon shape it had originally been. Howling, the huge rainbow dragon crashed into the ground and vanished, burning deep into the earth with its power.

Aiko hit the ground roughly, barely able to break the fall at all. ("I nearly burned myself out there…but it worked. I felt him in there every step of the way, and that means he's currently not only badly injured, but trapped about a hundred feet underground.") Taking a few more deep breathes; she sat back and closed her eyes. ("It's finally over…I can finally say that I have protected your memory…Kane…")

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He was cold…cold and yet it burned… ("That little bitch…she did this to me? Incredible…she improved so much in such a short time.") His lips curled slightly, ignoring the dirt that swallowed him up easily. ("It's amazing to think she pushed me to my sixth seal and actually beat it. I'll have to congratulate her with a quick death…") "Seventh seal…open."

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Aiko stood up and brushed herself off. ("I didn't even have to push my chakra to its limit. My training really paid off.")

The earth around the spot where her dragon spiral had struck started to churn. "Aiko…oh Aiko…"

She paled and immediately started to form the seals for the rainbow dragon. ("I'll kill him…I won't let him…")

An explosion shook the earth as Pride launched free. The moment his feet touched the ground he disappeared.

"Nijiryu…" Aiko gasped in pain and looked down at the blade sticking out of her chest. ("There's that much difference between his sixth and seventh seals? Is…is he that strong?")

Pride slid the blade free slowly. "You did well…you've gotten the closest out of a lot of people I've fought…but still, it's no good. I cannot fall that easily, my dear Aiko. Isn't it funny how I'm fourteen, and yet I'm strong enough to make you seem like you are standing still? Perhaps, just maybe, you were never meant to be a ninja? Maybe you would have been better off admitting your blindness and leaving it at that?"

She clenched her fist tightly. ("Bastard…you bastard…") Coughing up a few drops of blood, she tried to move. But it hurt far too much to do so. ("I failed…forgive me…Kane…")

"Ponder your failure in death." Pride's sword dropped towards her neck…and then was stopped by something wrapped up in linen coverings. "Hmm?"

Yurei's arms were quivering slightly from merely stopping the force of Pride's sword swing, but he knew that if he softened it would be the end of Aiko-sensei. ("No…I won't fall.") He had used the wrapped bundle as a shield to block the attack. "So…you're Pride huh?"

"Yes, I am. And you must be Yurei…which means that Pain failed. How sad that my foolish apprentice lost to someone like you." Pride formed another sword. "Anyway, die now." The other blade fell towards Yurei's face…but never got there. The bundle was long enough to stop each blade with a different end. "What exactly is in there anyway?"

Yurei smiled slightly. "You want to see? I suppose it would be alright, since you seem like the kind of person to acknowledge fine art." Smacking the underside of the bundle, he knocked both of Pride's katana away and took a few steps back. "Ayumi, please keep an eye on Aiko-sensei."

Ayumi ran over and started to drag Aiko away from the street and towards an alley. "Won't you need help? He just took her out…"

"No…I'll be okay." Yurei tugged on the wrappings of the bundle, and it started to loosen. "In fact…I'm kind of curious just how powerful you really think you are." As the wrappings gathered at his feet, the item was revealed. It was a long straight sword with a black body. The hilt and guard both were grey-black and plain. It stood a little taller than half of Yurei's body. "Let's go, Kage Kifuijin. We've got see which one has the better blade."

To be continued…