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The Way Out
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Lying prone on the ground, Shikamaru was wracked by a fit of coughing. As his chakra level had gotten lower, his breathing had become more ragged. With his face in the dirt, he had started inhaling more dust than was healthy, and his body was not handling it well. The coughing was abruptly replaced by a pained grunt as Shikamaru inadvertently managed to tighten Karai's grip.
Gritting his teeth, Shikamaru forced himself to calm down and breath easier. After a few seconds the additional pressure lessened, but did not reverse itself entirely. The Leaf ninja let out a hiss of annoyance. However, his breathing soon slowed, and applying chakra to his Shadow Imitation once again became bearable.
A moment later, Shikamaru realized why. "Shit," he whispered, unable to exert himself any further.
-
Fighting off an overwhelming a sense of vertigo, Temari slowly pushed herself up to her knees. She still had her headache, and her vision was blurry. As she struggled to contain her thoughts, Temari recognized the headache as an unnaturally induced one. But her thoughts kept slipping away, and try as she might, she could not recall what was behind her condition.
Intent entirely on her own thoughts, Temari stood up fully and unevenly walked forward.
-
Harsi tumbled back, in the midst of a complete rout. She hit the ground rolling, landing only just before Karasu. Harsi lashed out desperately at the puppet, not caring that the blow jarred her already damaged hand. It knocked the puppet off its center of gravity for a moment, and that was all that mattered. Turning as quickly as she should, Harsi sprinted through the trees. However, she was forced to skid to a stop a moment later as four kunai dropped out of the trees ahead of her.
The bandit made a break for to her right, leaping through an especially dense grove in the hopes that her pursuers would loose time going through it. Ignoring the scrapes she picked up as she tore her way through the branches, Harsi rushed forward as fast as she could. A moment after clearing the underbrush, Harsi glanced back. Nothing had followed her through.
Immediately sensing something wrong, Harsi cut to the right. As she did, a swarm of eight kunai burst through the trees off to the side. The kunai were aimed at where she had been running, but they quickly adjusted. Harsi took a cut to her already injured leg and tumbled to the ground. Knowing she didn't have time to waste, the bandit continued scrambling forward on all fours. Looking frantically for something to use to her advantage, Harsi spotted something to her right.
"Stay still!" She yelled. Changing course once again, Harsi ploughed headlong through a bush.
Shuffling through the forest to keep his Harsi in sight, Kankurou grunted. "Yeah, flailing around like that really mesmerized me," he sarcastically called back. "I'm ready to do whatever you tell me to." Sidestepping past a series of trees, Kankurou abruptly stopped short.
Standing haggardly against an unresponsive Temari, Harsi glared back at Kankurou. "Maybe I didn't," she said between gasps. "But you'll do what I say just the same!" Harsi pulled back Temari's head for emphasis and pressed the flat of a kunai against her neck.
Staring balefully at the bandit, Kankurou took a half step forward.
Putting her hand on Temari's shoulder, Harsi forced the kunoichi to her knees and leaned haphazardly against her. "Drop the kunai," the bandit ordered, letting her own blade press against the underside of Temari's jaw. "All of them. And the puppet too."
Letting his head dip down, Kankurou continued to glare at Harsi. "No," he retorted. Deliberately, he pulled his eight floating kunai into formation at his sides.
Harsi inhaled audibly. "Drop them and back off, or the Sand bitch dies."
Kankurou continued slowly walking forward. "You're not going to kill her."
"Yes I am," Harsi shot back, tightening her grip on the kunai.
"You're not going to kill her," Kankurou continued as if Harsi hadn't spoken. "Because she's the only thing between you," the Sand ninja momentarily trailed off. "And me feeding you your own heart."
Harsi kept her gaze locked on the advancing Sand ninja.
"Kill the hostage, and you'll have nothing left. No weapons, and no time to run. I'll cripple you the moment she drops." Kankurou lowered his voice for emphasis. "And then I'll drag it out. For as long as I can."
Harsi nervously eased away from Temari, though still keeping a firm grip on her. "What does it matter? You were going to kill me anyway."
"Only because you attacked first," replied Kankurou. "We're on a mission out here, and it's got nothing to do with runaway slave girls who want to play bandit. You could have walked away at any time." A humorless smirk came across Kankurou's face. "And you still can. Drop the weapon and end your little technique, and I'll let you run."
"So you can knife me in the back?" Harsi spat back. "I know how the Sand works…"
"It's the only offer you'll get," Kankurou informed her. "And you don't have any other options."
Harsi and Kankurou locked gazes for a moment.
Kankurou began walking forward again. "Last chance."
Breathing hard, Harsi anxiously pulled the kunai away from Temari's neck. Holding it for a second, she tossed it to the ground.
Kankurou stopped advancing.
With her other hand still on Temari's shoulder, Harsi glared at Kankurou, waiting to see if he would do anything.
"Bye," he said, tilting his head slightly.
Abruptly pushing off of Temari, the leather clad bandit sprinted away as fast as she could.
Kankurou grunted and began shuffling over to Shikamaru.
As she hit the ground, Temari abruptly came back to her senses. Immediately glancing around, she caught sight of the retreating Harsi. Reflexively grabbing the kunai on the ground beside her, the kunoichi let out a yell and hurled the blade at her adversary. Harsi fell over with strangled gasp as the blade buried itself in her back.
"Gah," yelled Kankurou, startled by Temari's sudden activity. "Relax," he admonished as he continued to where Shikamaru lay.
In control but not fully oriented, Temari continued to glare at the fallen Harsi. Pulling her gaze away, she glanced at her brother. Seeing what was beside him, her eyes suddenly widened. "Shikamaru!" She yelled out.
Kneeling beside his teammate, Kankurou held up his hand. "Hold it. He's got the snake in his shadow thing." The boy leaned down to catch Shikamaru's gaze. "Hey punk, how do we do this? Does what we do to the snake happen to you as well?"
"Just kill it," Shikamaru whispered hoarsely.
"Yeah, but—"
"Hold its head where it is," the Chuunin insisted. "And stab it. The blade won't hurt me."
Glancing up at his sister, who had moved up next to him and had a concerned expression on her face, Kankurou shrugged. "All right," he said, reeling in a kunai he still had at his command. Stepping over Shikamaru, Kankurou found the snake's head lying against a coil around the boy's back. Karai hissed, but did not move. Firmly grabbing his target, Kankruou shrugged. "Here goes…" With a quick strike, the boy drove the blade straight into the snake's brain.
Shikamaru grunted sharply and slouched against the ground.
"Shikamaru," Temari cried as she knelt beside the boy.
Kankurou held up his hands defensively. "Hey! He said it wouldn't hurt."
"It didn't," Shikamaru muttered into the dirt. "Much. Just jarred my neck."
Pulling the kunai out of the snake's head, Kankurou smirked. "Heh. Baby. Take it like a man."
Rolling Shikamaru over, Temari carefully brushed the dirt from his face. "You're really okay, then."
Exhausted, Shikamaru closed his eyes. "Yeah. Just get me out of this…"
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