Downfall of the Light 3
Chapter 9: Overpowered.
Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. Don't bitch at me or sue me because of it.
AN: I am not going to care about this story as much as I used to. I will write it from time to time, yes, but updates will be infrequent. Sorry to those who love this story, but this author certainly does not love it. Yeah, this story will end pretty soon, too. Perhaps a premature one, or one that's wildly unpredictable. Who knows, but not too many people care anyway.
Maybe there will be lemons, or maybe not. I don't know, and I really don't care. I'll see what sort of mood I am in. At the age I am in, perverted stuff runs around hourly for a good thirty minutes, and perhaps I would be able to write hentai or whatever if I have enough passion. Don't expect anything though, for I may not write it in the end. I think I said enough bullshit for one day, why don't you all be good audience members and read this chappie for my sake.
The more I practice, the more I realize that I suck at writing. I don't write good, nor do I have anything that you should be proud of. I am just someone who knows how to make BS look like art. They should really give awards to boring days, and I am sure I'll have a trophy case the size of Canada.
Without further nonsense, enjoy!
(Konoha Encampment at dawn)
"Let go of me, Chaos-chan!" a half-demon girl yelled as she fidgeted in a beautiful woman's hold, "As your keeper… I demand that you release me this instant!" Asuran shook his head with his head turned the other way to avoid Kagari's eyes; he knew this would happen eventually. It was only a matter of time before his sweetheart suggested the idea to look for her brother after her parents went out on their own. In the end, poor little Kagari was left at Konoha all alone not doing a thing to make a difference.
"And as your master," countered Chaos, struggling to keep her cute apprentice locked without getting her hurt. However, it was strikingly difficult when Kagari endlessly moved wildly. If Chaos ever loosened her grip just by the most insignificant bit, her little apprentice would surely take the chance to break free. "I am telling you to stay here."
"I can't just sit on my butt and not do a thing when oni-chan is still out there!" argued the female Paladin as she continued to retaliate. This time, she even tried smashing her head against her master's face but the grip merely increased to cause Kagari more pain. "Chaos-chan, you can't let me stay here for no reason!"
"What do you mean no reason? Hinata-sama and Naruto-sama told me to look after you specifically. I can't just let you do whatever you want to do and get yourself killed."
Kagari became furious at the justification she heard. Never had she been accused of being a kamikaze moron! "Getting myself killed? What are you talking about? When do I ever do something like that? Am I wrong for feeling the need to look for my only big brother? Shani-ni-chan might be in trouble, you know! Asuran, back me up here." She almost sounded like that she was pleading for support –in which she was, and desperately, too.
"Shani would be fine…" said Asuran, not having a lot of confidence in his voice, "Knowing him, I mean…"
"You are supposed to support me on these things!" the endearing long indigo haired girl shouted with disbelief.
Asuran nearly went deaf.
"Still," continued Uchiha Itachi's prodigy carefully, "Auntie Hinata and Uzumaki-san did tell you to stay here to keep yourself safe. Moreover, my father and mother told me to remain with you…Inside this encampment, I mean." His words made Kagari pout with her cheeks puffed up. Chaos gave a small sigh of relief as the young Uzumaki-hime actually stopped moving, and furthermore, there was no intent to retaliate any longer. "We don't have to look for Shani, and you won't be bored if I stay here."
"But…"
Chaos, Kagari, and Asuran immediately stopped when their mind sensed a massive aura of chakra coming their way. Although it was not anything hostile, it was shocking each time when they sense it. "What's going on here?" the newcomer asked as she approached the three. Coming along with her were Hyuuga Yamase and Uchiha Umi –who weren't talking or taking glimpses of another. Better yet, they were as silent as cockroaches, but they surely had an unquestionably irritated look of disgust. Somehow, their behaviour worried Asuran.
"Nothing… Tsunade-sama…" lied the Uchiha, scratching the back of his head with a forced smile. The Godaime was not stupid, since Asuran never acted this pathetically. In some cases, it was considered a total desperation to pretend that he had innocence.
"Why is Kagari-chan held by Chaos?" Tsunade inquired, a single brow raised up a bit while the other one remained unchanged. There was obvious doubt in her voice. Asuran did another 'innocent' chuckle, as if nothing was happening before he broke the act with a sigh. Kagari, because of Tsunade's reminder about the fact that she was still binded by Chaos, fidgeted by jumping up and down and side by side. This time around, Chaos couldn't take it much more, and it wasn't long when Kagari finally broke free by jamming her elbow in her demon master's stomach.
"Yes!" cheered the Uzumaki-hime with delight, "Kagari is free!" Asuran grunted in his hands; Yamase giggled at her cousin's exuberance; and Umi placed a hand on her left hip along with a sweatdrop. If her ears heard right, Kagari just referred herself in 3rd person. Those who actually did that were usually people with class, or noble. Umi was certain that Kagari was neither of those.
"Free from what?" the Godaime asked with curiosity, in which she had a good cause.
"Free from Chaos, grandmother," replied Kagari.
"I know that," the Hokage said back, eyebrow twitching slightly because Kagari just explained the obvious ever so casually, "But why was Chaos holding you."
Once the Paladin heard that inquiry, her face turned menacing. There was this smile of hers at that instant that Asuran didn't like. Kagari showed all her perfectly white teeth in a wide grin before answering, "Because Chaos-chan was being a bit-" The female demon's face cringed as her mind almost erupting from Kagari's comment.
"Why are you calling Chaos a bitch?" Tsunade immediately cut her granddaughter. "How could you say something that rude? I don't recall Hinata-chan ever teaching you such words! Your father wouldn't… well… I don't know about your father, but I know he wouldn't like you talking to your master like that. He doesn't talk like that to Auntie Kyuubi, either."
Naruto used almost every vulgar language in the Webster's Dictionary, if Tsunade recalled. Perhaps she should have presented him with the Honourary Jackass of the Decade Award when the war ends.
"I don't just call people bitches and bastards for no reason, grandmother!" protested Kagari, as she took Asuran's arm to have his warmth. He was now her confidence/good luck charm ever since they shared a moment during one of the nights. "Oni-chan is still out there, how can I still be here chilling around as if nothing is wrong?"
"And if I remember," Tsunade countered considerately, "Naruto and Hinata wanted you to stay here because having one of their children out there in this wartime chaos is hectic enough already. Hinata, I mean, your okaa-san will kill herself if she finds out her second child is also out there."
"Well, they shouldn't be angry if my intention of looking for Shani-oni-chan is pure! I am not going out there for the fun of it, you know! If oni-chan is dead… well, I will blame whoever was the hindrance!" It was rare to see Kagari with a great deal of hatred, but like Shani, she hated any unnecessary and pointless troubles or those who got in her way. These two twins rubbed off a lot on another more than they expected, and Tsunade was very curious as to know how deep their love really was.
From the looks of things, they weren't typical siblings.
"Kagari-chan…" Yamase whispered, speaking for the first time, "It's too dangerous out there though…"
"If you don't have the courage to go," Umi spoke, nearly taking the spotlight, "Then I will go look for Shani along with Kagari." The little Hyuuga girl had a hidden death glare behind her long hair at Umi after receiving that comment. Ever since they spilled their hearts to Shani, Umi had been such a bitch to her. Then again, it wasn't like Yamase didn't go on the defensive. In fact, the Hyuga girl was pretty bitchy herself, but just in a nicer manner.
"You aren't going anywhere, Umi," said Asuran, with a serious face that he occasionally used when the time was right.
"And why not, Asuran?" the Uchiha girl questioned. It was more of challenging for superiority, "You went out last time, and Kagari and Shani fought plenty of times! What's more is that you guys lived."
"Kagari and Shani lived because of their demonic powers," justified the Itachi prodigy, "You won't survive for a minute against those Enhanced bastards…"
"But you went though!"
"Because Kagari and Shani were covering my ass back then… and now Shani is gone… we can't do anything reckless…"
"But that gives more of a reason for us to get Shani back!" Umi fought on, and Yamase's face appeared to be agreeing with her rival this time. Tsunade and Chaos knew the little Hyuga girl was fairly anxious to see her loved one again as well, but of course she was holding it in better than Umi.
"It wouldn't help if you get yourself killed out there," Asuran said, hopelessly.
"Shani is your best friend, Asuran!"
"Why don't you try to help him instead of leaving him out there?" This time it was Yamase who was yelling, and Kagari took a step back at her cousin's rash behaviour. It wasn't like her to just scream so randomly. "What if he dies? Can you live with that?" Chaos looked sympathetic at the cornered Uchiha Asuran, and despite how much she wanted to support him, the female demon knew the young ladies in the room would go against her. At a minimum, she would have Umi and Yamase completely agitated, and the last thing that Chaos wanted was more… chaos. How ironic that was, as the young female demon would say.
The little Uzumaki girl took this opportunity and claimed it as an advantage. With Chaos temporarily distracted due to her cousin's entrance, Kagari instantly made a cunning leap move as she left her demon master stunned. However, the midnight-green haired demon gasped once she saw Kagari charging up her fists with energy. "Ten-Ryu-Ha!" she declared, which literally translated into Sky-Dragon-Bolt (or wind or whatever you wanted to call it) and shot at whoever had the best agility. Ironically, that was her demon master. The initial bolt shocked Chaos badly, but it didn't wound her much. In reality, Kagari just used less chakra, yet the desired effect of paralysis worked like a charm.
"Kagari… why…" gasped Chaos as she fell, and the rest rushed to her aid.
"So you can't catch me!" the Paladin girl yelled back, stretching out her angel wings that had thousands of divinely white feathers, "I'm going to save oni-chan no matter what you say." With that, she turned around before taking off to the nearest exit at full speed. Tsunade, Yamase, and Umi had no ability to fly, and therefore no one could match up with the speed she was able to muster. Chaos was practically out of commission, obviously, and the last person available was the Uchiha prodigy, and who was grunting with endless frustration.
"Asuran…" Tsunade said, "Please… follow her…"
"Bring Kagari back safely, Asuran-kun…" Chaos moaned weakly, and it wasn't long before she fell asleep from her paralysis sickness. Seeing that he had no options to choose from, since it was either abandon Kagari and let her die, or go with her and increase her chance of surviving, Asuran would do anything to preserve her from death. He loved her too much just to lose her now. And without another word, the Uchiha Itachi prodigy generated his own spiritual energy in the most unique fashion as he gained the strength to fly.
Needless to say, he flew out –fast.
(At the moment with Naruto and Kimimaro)
"Kuso…" cursed Naruto as he took on step back with his blade tight in his right hand, "Who the hell are you…"
He didn't like this newcomer –not like he was supposed to- but he just couldn't shake off this strange feeling. Not only was Kimimaro facial expression too similar to Naruto's, the Death Knight certainly found his entrance rather terrifying. Naruto was too proud to admit it out loud, but that 'thing' which Kimimaro used to wipe out his Kage Bunshins from his 'Chaos Rendan' shocked him. From the angle Naruto was at, he first thought it was a white spiked amphibian with tremendous strength. Once he took the time to think about it, he never recalled any animal with that sort of strength and power.
The next assumption he had was to accuse it as a demon. Then again, his eyes detected no demonic aura. This mysterious man intrigued Naruto, yet it gave him a good reason to watch his back.
"I already told you," Kimimaro said with a voice dripping with neutrality, "I am Kimimaro."
"Not that…" hissed the Death Knight as he lowered his eyes slightly to express his agitation. Just when he tried to speak again, Kidoumaru groaned as he stood back up from his previous exhaustion along with a hateful glare. Even if he got back up on his feet, Naruto didn't need to care about him. His eyes never lied; and what he witnessed with those teal eyes were low chakra levels flowing around the enemy body. With that fact in tact, Naruto had no means to be afraid.
"Kuso…" whimpered the Sound arachnid nin with a small flinch near his mouth, "Kimimaro… you kono-yaro… trying to take all the glory?"
The bone-user merely took a small glimpse at the shorter person next to him. "What is there to take?"
"Don't try to act dumb with me! You can clearly see that I was about to finish him off!" Kidoumaru suddenly coughed hoarsely, and what made Naruto growled was the spider freak vomited with some blood. Kimimaro's face remained unchanged, but the Death Knight's high awareness noticed his mouth formed a nearly undetectable smirk. What arrogance, as Naruto would say.
"I will give you credit for being so… persistent," commented the Sound newcomer, raising his hand a little while making a small seal.
Without any warning in advance, Kimimaro jammed his palm right into Kidoumaru's stomach in a finishing blow fashion. No doubt the spider abomination screamed in terror when he was it, and more so when he literally glided on air before his back struck a tree. The initial force was sufficient to knock the poor tree down, and what disgusted the Death Knight was how Kidoumaru was still injured. Clearly, the demon hunter had no love for any Sound members, yet using such brutality on a powerless person was immoral. Naruto couldn't form words at the sight he just observed, and at the same time that incident gave him a better reason to take Kimimaro down.
"What was that for!" shouted Naruto, pointing Nightshadow at his standing enemy cautiously and angrily while demanding answers. "Can't you see he's already down?" To increase his rage, Kimimaro easily grinned darkly. It wasn't a big one though, but it was honestly there.
"Those are strange words for a demon," replied Kimimaro, still smirking a confident and casual smirk, "Aren't you supposed to lust for blood like the killing machines you people are? I thought I was doing you a favour."
"Shut up!" Naruto scolded with fury, "Don't pretend that you know everything when you know nothing about me! You arrogant bastard…"
"I should be throwing those words right back at you. What do you know about what I just did?"
"What?"
Kimimaro eyed the direction towards where Kidoumaru was. "See for yourself." He didn't want to believe his eyes, yet he knew his eyes never lied. Kidoumaru was actually standing up; the difference from the last time was that he actually had the proper strength to do it. The Unholy Sight once again scanned through Kidoumaru's body, and Naruto wanted to curse out loud when he found out he was fine as ever; if not better than before.
"How…"
"I can never get used to the way you heal people…" Kidoumaru grumbled with his hand over his stomach, "To the very least you got my body back together… Thanks." Naruto watched carefully when the archer stretched his arms, and judging the easiness of it Naruto could tell Kidoumaru was telling the truth. It was very unbelievable indeed, and this didn't get him too delighted.
"Whatever," said the bone user uncaringly, "I can deal with this Death Knight, why don't you go help Jiroubo with that flying witch?" Somehow, Naruto became quite disturbed at that comment. How dare he called his beautiful wife a witch! No one ever called her that –perhaps maybe his son did once. That wasn't the point, Naruto just hated it when people insulted Hinata.
"I am sure Jiroubo could handle it," said Kidoumaru in a strong voice, "Besides, I want to take my revenge on this demon." If this becomes a 2 on 1 battle, Naruto's chances of survival would be cut drastically. He didn't like where this was going, but what could he do about it? Unfortunately, there was nothing.
"Jiroubo could use your help more than I do," explained Kimimaro, who was not actually looking at Kidoumaru and more or less spoke. Instead, he was eyeing the Death Knight the entire time, since he was confident that Naruto was much more complicated than he looked. "Having you as my partner is more of a nuisance."
No one among the three dared to challenge Kimimaro's words once they left his mouth, just like how Tayuya was when they did their missions. The only slight difference between these two people was that reason could get to the Sound girl's head where as Kimimaro preferred dictatorship of a pure absolutist. Seeing how the order was past down to him, Kidoumaru, despite he practically hated it, grunted to himself before taking flight towards the direction Jiroubo was fighting at. Deep down he was pissed off but in front of his sempais he just had to wise up.
However, Naruto was not that kind to let someone leave his sight that simply. Whoever challenged him in a real fight must end up in defeat. That was his ninja way, and he loved sticking to it.
"You wish!" shouted the Death Knight as he charged up his sword using tremendously dark energy before performing a dangerous slash upward, "Chain Lightning!"
Naruto smirked when Kidoumaru didn't even react; that spider freak was more of an idiot than he expected. The beam was just inches away from striking the target the demon hunter gasped inwardly once the same spiked white thing intercepted the lightning strike. Not only was the beam completely deflected, the power of this unknown weapon smashed Naruto's attack into useless chakra waves. He couldn't believe it, but his eyes never lied. It was shocking to see this sort of display, for it truly was fascinating yet dangerous. However, the Death Knight finally figured out what sort of marvelous individual Kimimaro was when he spotted the weapon he used.
This time, it was good enough to make him flinch. "A bone?" Naruto fought hard to keep his face straight. He couldn't afford himself to show off any surprise, but this guy was too much. In his 29 years of being alive, he never seen such a magnificent sight. No, it was more of a jeopardous opportunity. At first, all he wanted to do was to save Temari's troops, and these Sound nuisances weren't much of help. First it was Kidoumaru, and now it was this monstrosity. Naruto was surprised that this guy was actually human because calling him a hybrid or a freak was justified.
A freak that used bones… what a feast of opportunity…
"You look surprised, Death Knight," said Kimimaro as he attracted back his spine whip to his left hand, "What, haven't seen a spine before? I am sure you have killed many others in your lifetime, it shouldn't be a shock to you. Don't tell me you have a fear of internal organs now." It didn't take a wise person to understand Kimimaro's tactics –especially when Naruto was a master at psychology. To be more accurate, Naruto was just excellent at penetrating other's weakness where as Shani took others' life for being a fool to reveal their deepest vulnerability.
Like father, like son.
"Don't take me for a fool," Naruto told him, eyes cringed with his pupils turning into a sharp teal colour, "Why don't you tell me what you did earlier to heal that friend of yours? From my perspective, it certainly looked like you were striking him instead."
Miraculously, Kimimaro actually found some humour in those words. For the first time today, Kimimaro was actually laughing. Goosebumps built up soon when Naruto sensed the drenched evilness in that laugh, and if that guy was this dark while being optimistic, what did he look like once the situation needed him to be serious? The Death Knight simply couldn't imagine that instance in his head without shivering.
"You really are an idiot," Kimimaro said back, smashing his palm on his forehead, "Haven't you heard of chakra stimulation? Looks like demons are nothing more but simple barbarians who don't know anything but brute force."
"I can't believe you would actually go that far as to use chakra stimulation on your comrades," Naruto countered the insults calmly, "Don't you know that it's only used on emergencies? That's basic! Pushing someone using that method is pushing them to the limit… how could you force their chakra to flow faster like that so they could regain their strength quicker? How can you be so heartless?"
"They are used to it. Don't worry about them that much, Death Knight, you should be worried about yourself. Do you have any idea of what is going to happen to you?" It was then when Kimimaro finally held his bone sword in his preferred stance, Naruto was wondering if they would ever get this over with. At the same time, the Death Knight wasn't looking forward to this battle –especially with such a rare opponent. What was wrong with him? Was this Hinata's doing? Being married to such a sweetheart truly made him soft, and as ridiculous as it sounds, Hinata was such a loving woman to him that it was good enough to destroy his character.
When did become such a desperate person to get the will to fight? It was pathetic!
Naruto's thoughts were immediately interrupted as the long spiked whip extended to a great length before it was launched at a ramming speed aiming for his face. The first reaction for the Death Knight was obviously to defend by striking it away with Nightshadow. However, the clash between the two weapons was more than sufficient for Naruto to realize the extreme density of the bone. Naruto never assumed things on the mark without some evident proof, but having the Chain Lightning broken by that satisfied his thesis.
Forcing himself to evade the whip that was coming from behind in a twist, Naruto immediately leaped to the skies as he powered Nightshadow to counter. "Death Coil!" the demon hunter declared as he lashed out a coil of death from his death-like runeblade. It was a close call, but unleashing his attack somehow gave him a moment to thrust out of the whip's attack path. Naruto knew it was nothing but luck this time around, since skill would determine the final outcome of this fight in the end. As for the Death Coil earlier, Kimimaro easily broke it into two using the sword on his right hand. Twisting his left hand just a little bit, the spiked whip made a sharp turn before launching itself at Naruto, as if it was trying its hardest to drill through the demonic Death Knight.
"You won't escape…" hissed Kimimaro, almost wanting to laugh at his prey. His eyes showed excitement as the tip of his whip came crashing downward from above. It was such a shame to see Naruto swiftly spun away as a form of evasion, but Kimimaro was surely confident at getting him eventually.
"You got to do better," commented Naruto as he once again slashed the annoying whip away to create an opening. With the given strength Naruto put in on his previous slash, there was indeed a clear spot for him to strike back. "Die!" To Kimimaro's surprise, the Death Knight didn't use his blade to unleash his onslaught. Instead, his left hand engulfed a venomous blue before a bolt of negative energy was blasted in a linear straight line. This was more known as "Mana Burn".
"Baka!" Merely seconds before the Mana Burn reached Kimimaro's heart, the Sound ninja disappeared as if he knew how to teleport. With the Unholy Sight activated, Naruto instantly leered up to catch up with the energy signature. Although the Death Knight could find his target, it puzzled him as to why Kimimaro appeared to be unarmed as he came downwards in a frenzied dive. Was this person/freak unpredictable or what! He was truly something.
Naruto didn't want to find out what Kimimaro was trying to accomplish; all he knew was that he had to stop him before anything drastic came from this confusion.
"Death-" He didn't manage to launch it unfortunately, since Kimimaro seemed to have fired something from… his fingertips. Using all the agility his body forcefully mustered within that second, Naruto took a leap backward in order to escape but not leaving his shoulder getting hit once. "Shit…" cursed the Death Knight as a pained grunt came from his lips.
What the hell was that…
It truly disgusted Naruto to see Kimimaro landing safely with a smirk that ceased to be wiped off from his face, and it was merely a millisecond later that he pointed his fingers at Naruto, as if his hand was a gun. "Perish…" Once more, his fingers blasted a series of five bones directly at the retreating Death Knight. With the best intentions to save himself, Naruto pushed his sword forward as the bullets make shattering sounds on contact. Having such power hitting him, it was difficult not for Naruto to be pushed a several feet back; but that was insignificant when he realized those bullets were also bones.
He shot his fingertips? What in the hell…
"Fire…" announced the Sound nin as he continued to attack over and over with his bone bullets. The Death Knight sure looked helpless under that suppressing fire, and more so when he had a hard time defending underneath this deadly shower. It obviously gave Kimimaro a reason to keep on firing. "You're pathetic, Death Knight. Is this too much for you already?"
"You take your opponents too lightly," stated Naruto, a glint appearing in his eye as he spoke. Suddenly his chakra energies rose drastically, and therefore, the Death Knight was able to slash all the bullets using one brutal swipe. Kimimaro was quite shocked, yet impressed, at the extreme improvements. Was Naruto hiding his true colours until now? He sure had his own deadly surprises; Kimimaro was willing to acknowledge Naruto to have such talents at being such a cunning bastard. Moreover, he detected Naruto's stance had changed into a 'firing' position within less than a second; how was he so fast in such a snap?
"Crap…" grunted Kimimaro, nearly blaming himself for failing to catch his enemy's new motives until it was too late. He had no other choice but to react or this demon would take his life.
"Mana Burn!" The timing was perfect: no delays, and definitely no hesitation. Overall a perfect coordinated blast altogether, yet the bone user had enough skill to shift his body before the beam struck his heart. It made Kimimaro sweat a few drops at the accuracy in that blast. He had heard from Orochimaru that Death Knights had the abilities to burn off chakra, and he was quite certain that the last attack had to be it. He also remembered the effects well, and judging from what Orochimaru carefully elaborated, the Mana Burn was something that had the potential to turn the entire duel over.
Surely enough, Kimimaro needed to love himself just a little bit more.
After another Mana Burn was fired, Kimimaro had no way not to commence flight. He promptly used the correct amount of energy, he ejected to the skies. Naruto followed suit by merely opening his long devil wings; he had an unquestionably easier time when no chakra was needed to soar up to the air. Pointing his runeblade diagonally upward, Naruto smirked darkly as another negatively charged bolt fired from his sword. Although Kimimaro evaded it again, he was starting to understand how dangerous of the Mana Burn due to the quick firing rate.
However, somehow he believed that quick firing rate was only one of the many surprises.
"You're good…" hissed Kimimaro in a way that hurt his pride a little, "But it won't be enough!" Again, he pointed his left hand fingers at the incoming Naruto. "Die!" More of his fingertips launched out dense bones at that instant, but it was clearly not enough to stop the Death Knight from charging –of course not without smashing the bullets into pieces in two slices. With this demon still increasing his speed, the bone user had to think of something –and fast!
He realized it was too late when Naruto appeared two feet in front of him without warning. His runeblade was already in a position to stab, meaning the Death Knight had his right arm back before this sudden warp. Erasing all humane thoughts in his head –knowing that they would only be a nuisance in this battle- Naruto emitted an angry roar as he rushed the sharp end of Nightshadow at his opposing force. Needless to say, this was intended to take out Kimimaro's life; yet the bone user (in Naruto's disbelief) summoned just the right amount of chakra to add on in his flight to dodge.
These bastards had no limits to their astonishment.
"Not good enough…" Kimimaro spoke stoically as he took out his bone sword, "I have to say you are one unexpected person to be fighting equally against me, but your little surprises obviously has no effect on me." During this minor distraction, Kimimaro (with his face still fairly passive) slashed from the right without making any sort of noticeable intent. His eyes narrowed once the Death Knight shifted perfectly backward as a form to evade; it was almost like Naruto had a clear idea of how he strikes. "Even if you had your agility, you haven't been able to do a single thing."
Naruto had no counter against those words. He really had not done anything to do a speck of damage.
The bone whip soon extracted from his spine, and automatically equipped itself into Kimimaro's left palm as if it was alive. As far as the demon hunter's knowledge went, inanimate objects had no will to live. Then again, this could be one of the special effects of a bloodline ability. Naruto was no idiot when it came to combat (unfortunately a moron who always fell for affectionate intimacy) since dangerous bloodlines was always the reason why the impossible became possible.
Not saying another word, Kimimaro (ironically) whipped his whip wildly to smash Naruto apart.
In a natural reaction, the Death Knight swiftly shifted Nightshadow defensively to the right in order to shield himself from any damage. Expecting the worst was one of Naruto's strong beliefs in a fight, since ninjas were always taught to be careful –and more or less anticipate obstacles seriously and take caution in everything. As the lengthy weapon crushed against the blade, Naruto quickly pushed it away by using Nightshadow as a barrier before he rushed at Kimimaro completely unwounded.
This demon just refused to give up… and it truly began to tick Kimimaro over the top of his bent. Persistent wretch, he would make Naruto crash and burn endlessly. That should destroy not only his confidence, but his hard efforts would be for nothing. Yes, Kimimaro would do that, since Orochimaru would be real pleased to know such results. Whatever Orochimaru wanted in this life Kimimaro would do his best to deliver it. Even if his life was on the line and prepared to be used pointlessly.
"What?" Kimimaro asked to no one in particular when the Death Knight disappeared once more in a teleporting fashion. There was no trace of him whatsoever, where could he have gone? Instincts kicked in immediately like a charm; and moving the best he could, Kimimaro twisted himself around. Fortunately for him, Naruto was behind him in a 180-degree angle, and was the bone user ever glad to have faced the right way. If he didn't, he wouldn't have had the time to block the onslaught that was intended to strike his head.
At this moment, the duo seemed to be in a stalemate with the both their swords clashing. Needless to say, they were trying to tower over the other person in brute strength.
"You aren't good enough," said Naruto, grinning a cunning smile, "You think you can beat me in strength?"
Kimimaro was unaffected by those taunts –or perhaps facts. "You want to compete with me on brute force?" the Sound shinobi questioned inactively as if he was half-dead, "You don't know what strength is…"
"What?"
"You call that strength?" Kimimaro inquired one more time. Suddenly, his eyes were completely wide and wild, as if he was breaking his quiet persona. "This is strength!" The next thing Naruto could remember was Kimimaro pushing him down towards the ground with brutality alone. He tried to fight back, but it didn't seem to be effective. Part of it was due to the annoying gravity, yet Kimimaro's chakra flow also increased by a notch. This wasn't good at all. Everything was a blur after that, but Naruto obviously knew at what point his back and skull crashed onto the ground with Kimimaro's right foot giving a heavy stomp.
"Damn…"
"Fool…" Kimimaro never had a liking to give opponents time to rest up –not even for a second. With that philosophy stuck in his stubborn head, he immediately drew back his left foot and then literally kicked the Death Knight to send him gliding off before he collided into a rock. Naruto coughed hard after that, and his eyes didn't make lies when he saw Kimimaro dashing for him with a bone-sword in his hand. "Shi-ne-nassai! (Die)"
As if Naruto would declare forfeit –especially not to this freak! He instantly moved the chakra to his as he made a small shift to the right. Kimimaro roared angrily as he attacked nothing but an immobile rock, smashing it to pieces in the process, of course, but nevertheless, he knew that demon couldn't dodge forever. Holding out his left hand, Kimimaro drew it back as he unleashed his spine whip to hit Naruto.
After dealing with this demon for over 10 minutes, Kimimaro obviously knew his opponent's battle plan. Firstly, Naruto would counter or defend. If he chose to defend, then Naruto would come rushing in with great speed. If the choice were to counter, then the Death Knight would forcefully make Kimimaro have an opening before striking back. And if the art of disappearing were the case, Kimimaro would turn around 180 degrees to intercept. This demon had predictable tactics for someone known to be sneaky. It was a shame to see a good fighter, who had cunning battle skills, to be so obvious; not when Kimimaro was hoping to have a new thrill in this fight.
It didn't matter now; even if he lost his chance to show off his powers, at least Orochimaru got his wishes granted. As long as he was his faithful servant, Kimimaro's interests were only secondary importance. Once the whip crashed upon Nightshadow, Naruto grunted loudly at the force used. It was one of those superhuman powered moves that caused him to stumble. Not only that, the Death Knight knew that the whip had the ability to crush his bones, and what it made worse was how he figured out evading was not the most prudent decision.
And yet why was he just dodging? Was that his way of being a ninja? No, was that what he was supposed to do when his life was jeopardized? When did the Naruto that Hinata loved so much show cowardice? Enough was enough! Gripping on his runeblade tighter with confidence, Naruto instantly jammed the sword's end to the ground as a brake before flipping back on his feet. Meanwhile, a dark chakra blade formed in his left hand.
"Choke on this!" the silver haired demon yelled while his hand was in position, "Shadow Strike!" Without warning, Naruto hurled the venomous beam blade and allowed it to spin like a boomerang.
"Idiot…" said Kimimaro, while launching out his spine-whip before breaking the chakra blade into essence of energy, and permitting his weapon to dart straight for the kill. Seconds before it smashed into Naruto's skull, the Sound nin jolted a bit to witness another sign of Naruto vanishing. Although that warping move was still unknown to Kimimaro, it wasn't a big deal. All he needed to know was to figure out how to counter it. Since Naruto chose to disappear, naturally, the Sound nin safely assumed he would come at him from behind.
Therefore, Kimimaro spun around without haste, and launched out his whip with ferocious force. This time it might be enough to break that vampiric runeblade in two –or possibly even into three. He was sure that without that sword the Death Knight would be useless.
However, Kimimaro's attack only struck fresh air; and Naruto was nowhere to be seen. "What the hell…"
He felt his body system came to a dead stop when he noticed a presence with intense killing intent appeared right beside him on the left. Kimimaro didn't dare to move his pupils to look at who it was, since this must have been the Death Knight, Naruto. "I never knew you had a liking for hitting air, bone freak."
"Damn you…"
"How did you like me pretending to be predictable? It was a good act don't you think? I know you were observing me to watch my style of movement, and that's why I continued to showoff the same moves. But do you seriously expect that you could read me when I can move anywhere and anytime I want if I had the move "Blink"?"
"Bastard…" At the same time, Kimimaro felt his side sweating when two other Narutos suddenly appearing beside him. Their smirks rivaled the devil.
Suddenly, the Sound nin coughed blood as a foot crash against his chin, making him to be completely defenseless and creating plenty of openings all at once. "Chaos Rendan!" declared Naruto, who was commencing one of his fashionable deathblows. In perfect coordination the other two Kage Bunshins flew to the skies, surrounding that helpless fool with no means for him to escape. Next, they fired Mana Burns consecutively right at the stomach area.
Naruto would choose to aim for the heart, but where was the entertainment in that? Surely, causing pain was a form of discipline, but killing the targets meant that the fun session would come to an unwanted premature end. However, by hurting them badly enough but not taking their life meant there could be a next time to beat them up. Despite that Hinata's kindness did influence his natural decision-making; Naruto was still a bloodthirsty demon who loved pain.
More specifically, who loved to wound others –if they deserved it that was.
"My chakra…" Kimimaro not only felt pain, but his spiritual energy was also burned away to an extent that his high chakra capacity issue became a nuisance. Because of this amount, the Kage Bunshins could keep destroying the chakra until it reaches an absolute zero. Even if it may take some time to reach depletion, the Death Knight was all too welcomed to show him how having so much chakra was a disadvantage. "My chakra is being used against me…"
"You are absolutely right. What a smart man you are," praised the Death Knight, voice drenched with sarcasm while the Kage Bunshins kept blasting away. When Kimimaro couldn't help himself not to scream with agony, it delighted the demon hunter. "It's such a shame that it wasn't my wife who is attacking you… because she would strike your chakra organ compared to my poor aim." Naruto, from below, raised Nightshadow upward while covering it with dark chakra. "Well, it doesn't make a difference who deals with you, since I'm done with you." By now, Naruto was ready to attack. "Send my regards to hell, you son of a bitch…"
He grew tired of playing silly games; tasting blood was just too fabulous to ignore. Taking a great leap to the air, Naruto raised Nightshadow just above his head, and allowed gravity to do its beauty by letting Naruto come down. Whatever went up must come down eventually; and with Kimimaro being stuck in that deathly tangle there were no gaps to breakout.
If I get defeated here… Orochimaru-sama can never take over Konoha… Not only that… this demon will still be a nuisance… I can't die here… not by somebody like him!
"You will taste hell!" Naruto exclaimed with passion as he dived downward, cackling in the best devilish laugh.
Kimimaro had it with him.
"You won't defeat me! For the Sound!"
"You speak of nonsense! Accept your failure!"
"Never!"
In an unspeakable turn of events, Kimimaro miraculously summoned up an enormous amount of chakra, and rage, before using the spirit's force to push the two Kage Bunshins away with a tremendous power. Needless to say, the dark warrior's clones were destroyed in an instant, but Naruto wasn't discouraged. Although part of his plan was halted, the most crucial blow was expected to be performed by the original after all. Once Naruto managed to pull off the final rush, which was to plow though the target with extreme speed, the effort would be worth it.
And thus, not wasting anymore time, the Death Knight charged up the last bit of his dark energies hurriedly before plunging downward for a deadly ram using his demonic energized sword. Despite how quick Naruto was, just merely inches before the tip made contact on Kimimaro's spine, his body vanished out of the blue. What shocked Naruto was not how he missed. Rather, it was how the bone abomination managed to evade in such agility that his fully activated eyes were not able to read it, let alone predicting it.
In short, Kimimaro was just a little bit too… overpowering –all of a sudden.
The next flash of events contained Naruto getting kicked in the face –hard.
Falling, virtually helpless to make a difference, the demon hunter literally –in an ungraceful manner- fell face first as he ate dirt. Although the taste was horrifically nasty, who was Naruto to care? The important thing was that he was still alive, but he knew it wouldn't be for much longer if he didn't find a possible solution to deal with the current obstacle. Firstly, he couldn't read Kimimaro's speed. Secondly, he got punched without having a single clue how his opponent did that. And lastly, was it even possible for anyone's chakra base capacity to increase this significantly without warning? Naruto expected surprises in the spiritual department, meaning chakra change, but was it necessary for him to have a complete makeover –while not using makeup.
These new, although unique, black patterns were undeniably disgusting in Naruto's eye. Never had he seen such a poor fashion sense on… well… anybody!
"What in the hell is this…" Naruto coughed, standing back up as he brushed his clothes while looking nearly unaffected from the prior attack.
"Surprised, Death Knight?" Kimimaro inquired, smirking with more emotions than before. This man was not only stoic, but naturally creepy. "Not too many people have a chance to see this, you should consider yourself proud and special."
"You've ruined my vision forever now with this ugliness," Kimimaro was impressed to see how Naruto still had a sarcastic sense of humour despite the seriousness of the situation.
"Ugliness is only skin deep. You really should not just worry about the looks, when this new look of mine is more than enough to deal with you."
"What did you even do?"
"Orochimaru-sama's Curse Seal, Death Knight," the bone user explained, half casually, "A wonderful gift from a wonderful master, don't you think? I feel so much more alive after using this. I haven't felt that way in a long while now."
Naruto, no doubt, was very disgusted. He tightened his grip on his sword before holding it securely, "Wonderful master? Orochimaru? You must be insane."
"Don't judge Orochimaru-sama like you know him! You know nothing!"
"I don't care what kind of shit you are trying to pull," announced the Death Knight, pulling his weapon back as though he was ready to initiate a dash, "It won't be enough to stop me."
"We'll see, now, wouldn't we?"
And the two warriors collided again.
(Meanwhile with Hinata)
It was almost pointless to say that Hinata had a very dull battle, and more so when she figured out that her opponent was one of the Sound's so-called elites.
She expected more, a lot more.
It had been so long that she actually had a chance to fight when she worked in the medical field so often and her presence in hospitals were almost mandatory. It was a miracle to see how her skills in combat hadn't rust up after all this time. Then again, there was no point in taking glory after pummeling such a pathetic opponent. Despite how Jiroubo was such a disappointment, Hinata was still glad that at least one more problem was out of the way. It would be wrong for her to wish the Sound to be stronger for the sake of her self-interest. After all, it was safety of her home that mattered more, right?
Watching this chubby blimp unconscious and defenseless was almost pitiful to look at. Hinata rarely showed such disliking for anyone, but it became very common the moment someone laid hands on her son or daughter in the negative aspect. Hinata was a medic, and being a medical specialist, she obviously knew how to kill in more ways than one. She could end this life silently and painlessly, and the sole reason to that was because her victim was already unconscious.
Taking out one of her many knives on her belt with her eyes cold as ice and merciless, she raised it above her head as she cherished her time to find the perfect spot. She had many places to choose from; the genitals, the heart, the throat, internal organs, spine, stomach, lungs… they were all perfect! But she knew she could only pick one. How deliciously intriguing!
She finally decided at last… and then she raised her knife…
"Teme!" the Hyuuga heiress suddenly heard loud screaming coming at her from her right, "Take this!" Her eyes screamed horror when she saw three arrows already fired from his bow, and even more so when the three piercing armament struck three different spots on her blade. Luckily she released her hold on it just a millisecond before the arrows shot through her hand, but that didn't stop the newcomer from attacking. In fact, his persistence was frightening Hinata. When she stretched out her wings and flew, he practically hunted her down with everything he had left.
"Who… are you?" Hinata questioned this stranger's reason to attack her.
"How dare you hurt Jiroubo, witch!" roared Kidoumaru, gaining on her as she increased her speed in escaping. It was a new thrill for her to hear a new insult. Hinata had been called a lot of things for the past twenty nine years of living, but ironically she had never been accused to be named 'witch' when that was one of the most common words in the English literature despite they were Japanese. "I won't forgive you!"
Not showing any mercy, Kidoumaru yanked his spherical breaker back before he lashed it out to strike Hinata's back. His face lit up delightfully when the weapon crushed against her beautiful backside like he wanted it to. And of course, that intrusion was more than sufficient to send her off course before she failed to save herself from crashing.
That really made her ticked. She loved being clean, and now she was filthy… and it was all his doing! If he was so desperate to play hard, then she was more than willing to fool around. Kidoumaru would pay for defiling her stunning beauty.
"How dare you do this to me!" yelled Hinata, taking possession of another one of her knives, "Who the hell are you?"
Kidoumaru landed softly to show off his abilities while he still could. Just knowing that this enemy knew how to take flight as well did not please Hinata for a second. This only meant more trouble in the near future, and she prayed that her intuitions did not prove themselves to be right.
"Kidoumaru of the East, angelic witch," replied the said Sound nin, "Can't believe I have to fight such a gorgeous lady as my opponent. Must be my lucky day."
The Hyuuga princess flinched at the tone of voice. She was a married woman, and completely despised any moment when she was exposed to flirting. She didn't mind if Naruto flirted with her, because she always rewarded him the gift of making love thoroughly and passionately. And if was anyone else, her temper usually raised to an extent where she was unapproachable.
"Don't speak to me in such a perverted way, bastard," she hissed, silently preparing herself to slam her palm into his chest. She didn't want to prolong anything this time.
"I won't, don't worry," he said, laughing it off easily, "You'll be dead by then,"
And without warning, he opened his mouth to reveal a fully generated plasma powered up in the opening. Hinata instantly fled, attempting to evade.
(Shani's moment)
Pain, pain, and more pain… Shani strongly believed that deadly philosophy, and there wasn't anyone on the face of existence that could sway him from that sort of thinking. The little Death Knight could not picture women the same way ever again, and he had all the justifications he needed from the experiences of last night. Surviving last night made him love a woman's pair of breasts. Suffocating by them for hours on end made him realize how lovable they really were. It was almost no wonder why men had such attractions for them, and what disgusted even him was how he was starting to enjoy it.
No one could match Tayuya's breasts… Really… no one. He felt like a survivor through the toughest trials in life, and someone who needed comfort. What better way to do it than to offer physical healing kindness! Not like Shani lost his virginity in such early stages of the game, but he certainly had a fantastic illusion of it by physically touching a set of gorgeous mounds despite they were behind a shirt and lingerie. They were sexier than his mother's sets, and what a shocking revelation that was to Shani.
How this boy knew Hinata's set of undergarments was his own little secret. Then again, his mother always showed how much she loved his father, and often wanted new ways to please him. Not like Naruto minded such things, he was happy enough just to have a wife, but Hinata liked to spice things up a little bit to the extreme. It was almost common to have Hinata coming up to them and ask for opinions about the underwear she brought home. Obviously it was only used to seduce Naruto.
Usually, Kagari nosebleeded right on the spot as her eyes scan over the lingerie. Hinata always found it hard to ask Shani's opinion because he was a boy, but there were plenty of times that Kagari just wasn't available and her son had to do. He took it like a mature man, and gave suggestive comments.
"Kaa-san, sometimes I wonder if there is a need to buy such underwear. I mean, we all know what it's for. It's not like you are going to just wear them in public to secretly tell people that behind your shy, charming, medical specialist exterior you wear sexy undergarments that make men die for. I am just kidding, but think about it though. It's not like otou-san would hate it. He likes almost everything that you wear. It's senseless worrying, don't you think? If otou-san stops making love to you… then maybe you should get a little concerned, but it's just most likely that he isn't really in the mood –which is often, by the way. However, that's not really an issue, since you know what buttons to press to get him back alive… or you simply force him with your unspeakable, exquisite beauty."
Up to this date, Hinata still had no idea how her son was so dangerously sharp like his father. They were nearly identical, yet so different altogether.
Speaking of breasts, where in the hell was he? He felt fucked up. The right side of his back was still aching, and the only good thing was just it didn't hurt as bad as yesterday, but not like he really remembered clearly. His right arm was very much dead where moving it was almost an impossibility, and at the same time it was unquestionably tight as though it was wrapped up. His legs felt like little broken chicken wings. The only parts he could actually move were his head, torso, waist, and left arm and hand. He had suffered from injuries before, but never this severe and life threatening. There was always a first time for everything, and he didn't want to start cherishing it.
"Kuso…" he cursed when he still couldn't budge at all. But more importantly, where in the hell was he. Then he heard it from not too far away from here were dripping sounds like water. It was actually pleasant water flowing, as if a river was nearby. Maybe it was because he was next to one. "I would get myself some water…" he grunted more in annoyance, "but this body won't obey…"
"You want something to drink?" Shani suddenly caught a voice from behind him. He stiffened instantly, and not without good reason. Two things kept running through his mind. One was him, and the other was her –her as in Tayuya. From her voice, he could tell that she was fine and had plenty of strength. Him, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. With his condition this messed up, the girl behind him, and who was actually approaching him sweetly, could easily kill him with him having no means to retaliate. "Are you thirsty?"
"Did you do this?"
"Do what?" asked Tayuya innocently, and Shani despised that sort of facial expressions. It reminded him of Yamase and Umi. No, he didn't even want to think about them right now. Everything was too confusing, and he just wanted to run away from all these damned things. Although death was going a bit overboard, it was always a good solution.
"Did you save me? Why did you save me?"
She thought about it for a while, and then giggled. "I don't know, actually,"
Shani felt his face fell. "Wh-What do you mean, 'You don't know'? Aren't you supposed to give some thought into these things? Saving an enemy… are you insane? What if I take advantage of it and kill you afterwards?"
"You won't, I know that," Tayuya returned her words kindly with a happy smile.
"You obviously don't know me very well, Miss Sound ninja,"
"You don't know yourself very well, then,"
"What?"
"If you are going to take advantage of my help, you would've attacked me by now,"
"I am still too wounded to move, genius. Why did you help me… you must have your reasons. And I know that you were hugging me the entire night… I could hardly breathe while I slept…"
Shani almost gulped when he found her kneeling next to him, and more so once she started to rub his cheek and brush her hand through his hair gently. The little Death Knight, despite his cold personality, could not fight back a blush, in which Tayuya giggled as a result. That got Shani even more humiliated.
"But you were nice and warm, right?"
"I guess…"
"You were freezing last night, remember?"
"I don't think I was conscious to recall anything like that." Shani now really wanted her to stop touching him so affectionately, yet it was too comfortable to reject. Was he doing the right thing by letting her do this? Wasn't this considered harassment? This girl, she was so different from anyone else he had met. It made his heart hurt knowing that this beautiful, yet angelic dark red haired woman was an enemy. It did upset him, especially when she nursed him back up. However, he didn't ask for this, he wanted to die honourably… or just die simple.
"I saw someone falling from the skies not too long after I crashed here –no thanks to you, of course- and I got curious so I looked for you. When I found you… you were really hurt… and without some medical attention, you would've died…"
Shani smirked out of dark nature. "You should've let me die then. It would've been a very noble death. Why bother saving me? Isn't it all just pure stupid?"
Tayuya still smiled warmly, like Hinata, before she held his hand gently with her own soft ones. Shani didn't dare to look at her. Not because he was afraid, but rather he was scared of being indirectly seduced. Hopefully, Tayuya had no intention to use her beauty to set up any sort of dillusion of sexual advance, because with that delectable body of hers, she could literally do wonders. He could not give in now, not after all that strong and firm acting he gave. In fact, he hated being weak or showed anyone his frail, fragile points. Once more, she giggled to make his pride suffer more, but she did it out of good intentions to have a more fun discussion.
To the Forbidden child, such customs were as good as blasphemy.
"I would've killed you, yes," she continued, but she stopped fondling with his hand put held it firmly, "But I couldn't…"
That perked up his interests. "Why not? I am your enemy. We already fought another over three times, but it always ended in stalemate. You had your perfect chance!"
"I couldn't… because… because… I…"
His patience wore thin –fast. "Because what?"
"You… you looked like me when you were suffering…" That made no sense at all. Shani could do nothing other than stare blankly at her, and he had not carry a clueless face in almost a decade. He was never ignorant, he was always the intelligent one amongst his friends, and now he was rendered useless.
"Care to explain yourself with that justification, Miss Sound Lady?"
"I'm always in pain," she told him sadly, although their eyes did not meet another's, "There isn't a day that I am not hurt. Sometimes I am yelled at, sometimes I am called an idiot or moron… or slut if Orochimaru-sama feels like it, and maybe I have go test on some new drugs… that often makes my body hurt… And then later on I would be twitching or screaming because it hurts so much… I don't know why I have to keep doing this… When I found you, you looked like me… someone who is in pain and needs help but nobody wants to help you when you clearly need it. If you see that kind of rejection with your eyes, you would understand how painful it is to be abandoned and not taken care of when you have nothing to help yourself. I don't want something like that to happen on anyone else anymore."
Shani was bewildered and lost. After all that, he still failed to realize what she was trying to say. He could not put the facts together, for they seemed like random puzzle pieces that were not meant to be connected. He got some, and he did not understand the rest. "What? Drugs? You take drugs? I don't get it… Are you a drug dealer?"
"I am not a drug dealer, boy,"
"Then what are you?"
"I'm a human being like you, you know. I'm just… different…"
"I am different, too. So what are you saying?"
"I'm not like you!" she yelled, unintentionally forcing her grip on his arm too strongly. He winced immediately, but luckily she noticed and looked down apologetically. Shani smiled weakly, silently encouraging her to continue despite his pained hand. "You may be a demon, but I am Enhanced, a living warrior who lives only for the Sound! I only live to fight, obey, and never to disobey regardless of the circumstances. Orochimaru-sama is always right, we are always wrong and considered the idiotic who can't even take simple instructions right. I am tired of it! I hate it! I am not a loser! I am not just someone that people can just boss around! I don't want to live like that anymore… I really don't want to…"
And the mighty, mean, strong, hardheaded Tayuya began to cry. If Shani knew her better, he would realize that she never wept out loud –especially in front of someone that she barely knew.
Shani became sympathetic –for once. "Miss Sound Lady… I understand what you're going through… but can you please not cry?" Why did he have to go saying that? When a woman was crying, as a male he should be doing his best to comfort, not making matters worse. Unfortunately, he believed that he messed up –badly. To make up for his mistakes, Shani (who did not fully know what could be done) weakly wrapped his movable arm around her after barely sitting up, and pulled her in a small embrace. Despite that she was shocked, Tayuya did not fight back. In fact, she melted into it warmly. Shani took this time to observe her once again. Indeed, Tayuya appeared to have a mature body, but her nature resembled a teenager that was not much older than himself. Was he imagining things, or was he being too critical. He banished that thought for a moment, knowing that making her smile again was just a bit more important. "It's okay, Miss Sound Lady, no one is going to hurt you. No one is going to give you drugs that you don't want to take. Everything is going to be okay, I promise. I am not going to force you to anything that you don't want."
The flute girl did stop her weeping, in which Shani was grateful for, but she still sobbed occasionally. "I am scared though…" she told him, whimpering as her strong arms held him closer than before.
"For what?"
"I am afraid that Orochimaru-sama will hurt me again for not… n-not being strong enough… I've failed him again… because I wasn't able to beat you… and I even saved your life when I am not supposed to. I don't want to get beaten up…"
"You don't have to do that anymore!" exclaimed the Forbidden child, completely outraged despite he didn't know this girl well. Actually, he was stunned that he summoned a zeal that great. "You saved my life… and I am going to help yours, Miss Sound Lady. You… even if you are an enemy… you are a good, kind-hearted person… I can see that… You don't deserve to be treated like that. I'll help you find a way."
Tayuya almost cried again, but she kept her emotions together than letting it crumble. "Demon boy… you would do that for me?"
"I just don't want to continue living a life with a huge debt," said Shani, snickering his usual dark grin, "Come back to Konoha with me, Miss Sound Lady, I am sure Oba-chan, my grandmother, will think of something. She is a woman of pure wisdom; better than my father even. Start your life anew, okay?"
The Sound girl blushed despite herself. "Can you not call me Miss Sound Lady?"
"I don't know your name,"
"My name…" she hesitated for a reason that Shani could not tell, "My name is Tayuya."
"Last name?"
"I don't have one… I was never given one… I was just called Tayuya and that's it."
"Really…" the Death Knight seemed sad as he said it out loud. The girl wisely chose to light up the mood no matter how difficult it was, but it didn't go unnoticed.
"What's your name, demon boy?"
"Shani," said the Forbidden child, "I am Uzumaki Shani."
The duo did not realize that they were still holding another, but didn't release just yet. The Death Knight, however, did not see her blushing. What a rare sight he missed indeed. "Ano… Shani-san… Do you still want something to drink? Are you hungry?"
"Yes, that'll be a pleasure."
From the back of their minds, these two knew this was a good start to a beautiful friendship regardless of their backgrounds.
Who said Sound and Konoha could not be friends anyway? At that moment, Shani and Tayuya thought of that philosophy was as good as blasphemy.
(At that instant)
"Hinata…" Naruto mumbled to no one in particular once he felt her chakra intensity went up. Rather, a lot higher than before, but for what though? It wasn't crucial now, not when his worries for his wife became number one on his list.
The Death Knight grimaced significantly once he found his enemy suddenly came at him with a dashing stab. Luckily, Naruto managed to twist his sword a second before he was struck in the heart. "Something on your mind?" inquired Kimimaro, snickering as if he already caught the dark warrior in his grasp. "You look a little distracted."
"I don't have time to play with you," Naruto replied, a glint appearing in his eye. Shifting around to get more room, Naruto didn't take long to react when the chance was his. He immediately broke the sword lock they shared, and then raised it above his head as he slammed downward –hard. Although Kimimaro saved himself from his head being split open, the force itself was more than enough to push him downward. However, that effect was temporary. Kimimaro knew what Naruto was trying to do. Any moron could tell he was trying to escape from this fight for whatever reason he had when Naruto began to fly away.
"You think you can just come and go?" Kimimaro called out as he laughed and reached out his fingertips to the skies. Next, he fired out his bone bullets in a wildfire when Naruto expected no such attack. It turned out that the Death Knight cried in torment as the bullets dug forcefully into his back and wings, making him lose his composure and zapped all the strength required to keep up his balance. As a result of this nasty intrusion Naruto crashed landed, but just fortunate enough not to break a leg or arm. "I'm not going to let you do that."
Kimimaro laughed insultingly to deepen Naruto's humiliation.
"Damn you…" the Death Knight seethed under his breath as he slowly got back with his blade used as support. Under anger, Naruto's usual rationality drastically decreased, and soon enough the Death Knight charged right back at the bone monstrosity with a punch aiming straight for the face. He made sure this attack would hurt. However, having the Curse Seal activated, Kimimaro easily turned his body by the smallest inch to move away from the incoming fist. Worse of all, he even caught it, in which shocked the Death Knight noticeably. Naruto winced at the strength of the grip.
"You are a hasty one. Did you come back for me to beat you again? It would be such an honour." Kimimaro, in return, generated chakra into his left hand, and sent electric painful sensations throughout Naruto's entire body both externally and internally. Screaming was one of the only things he could do, and it brought much delight to the Sound nin's ears as his howling intensified each passing second. Knowing that his opponent was virtually defenseless, perhaps it was a good time to end it. Sure, he had his fun, but the main course was just coming.
Death was a meal that surpassed all other varieties that could be served.
"Looks like you can't even help yourself now, can you, Death Knight," the bone user taunted hideously while still continuing his dreadful torment with the Death Knight still in his grasp fidgeting helplessly. To make matters worse, he heightened the charge two fold. That was when he moved his sword a foot or two above Naruto's throat. "Maybe it is the best moment for you to see hell, ne? Such a shame I can't join you. Say hi to the Maker for me, Death Knight, I am sure Kami-sama would have an endless supply of divine wrath for a demon like you."
In total paralysis, Naruto could not believe how powerless he really was. Despite how much pain he was suffering, he desperately tried to budge, yet had no result that was helpful. No matter what he did, he was still frozen like a sick puppy that had no strength to disobey its master. And if he didn't react now, that sharp ended bone sword would be through his throat in a matter of seconds. Naruto was so sure that was to become reality soon enough.
Kimimaro lunged his sword down at last. "Shi-ne-nassai (Die)!"
Was this the end?
AN: Over half a year of no update and I made this. Well, I supposed it's better than not writing at all. Feel free to tell me your suggestions and ideas. Yeah, I really don't want to start making my own ideas on this fiction when I have 'Simplicity is Complexity' to worry about. That story is just easier to write than action. Why the hell did I go action anyway? I hate that more than writing fluff!
Yes, OpForce is a moron. I said it, and I am so not proud of it. If you care enough to review, then I thank you. If you don't care, then I don't care either. It's not like anyone gives a damn about what I write these days. If you really do want me to continue this (Because I feel this is a total waste of my time), please say so and save me the trouble of using my overworked brain. Thank you.