AN: Thanks to those who have read and enjoyed the story and told me so. I enjoy writing this stuff, so it's good to know that others enjoying reading it. :D I hope you continue to enjoy it.
Another translation: Ninpou: Kamaitachi, is slicing winds.
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9- Playing with Fire
When Neji saw the ninja coming, he alerted his team immediately. It had been hours since Sharino and Nekoya had left them and Gai had been wondering why they hadn't come back again yet. They had not even seen a single enemy ninja. Gai had been sitting, leaning against a tree, waiting to see if they would ever attract any enemy attention. Now, though, he stood up and turned to Neji.
"How many?" he asked. Neji concentrated his vision on the group of ninja that were headed towards them.
"Six," he said. Lee grinned, his hand making a fist as he cried out with excitement.
"All right!" he said. Gai smiled inwardly, but told Lee to be quiet. Lee instantly shut up. The enemy wasn't far away now. Soon, they would start to encounter Tenten's traps. Tenten concealed herself above them in the trees, where she would be most useful. The three Taijutsu specialists found positions around the clearing. The preparation time was over. Now it was their turn.
They didn't try to hide, instead each taking their own battle stances. Neji's Byakugan was active, his stare penetrating the forest in every direction. Lee stood, facing the same way as Neji was, one arm out, beckoning, the other behind his back. His eyes were wide with excitement and expectation and his face was set in determination.
'This time,' he thought, 'maybe this time I'll prove to Neji that I am strong!'
Neji just stood, his left hand extended, palm open. His other hand was at his side, ready. He kept his attention focused on the ninja that were running through the forest toward him, careful to look for any others that might be trying to hide.
Between the two boys, Gai stood, in the same stance as Lee. He turned his head to his favourite student and flashed him his bright white smile. Lee returned it in kind.
In the trees above them, Tenten held three kunai, one in her throwing hand, two in the other. She also had her scrolls ready. If she was needed, she was ready to use her strongest techniques. The trap was set. The enemy was coming.
The first three ninja exploded into the clearing with no concern for stealth or caution. They sighted the Konoha shinobi and charged towards them, one heading for each of them.
Lee took out the first using the 'Konoha whirlwind' to knock him to the floor. In similar style, Gai kicked his opponent in the stomach, sending him flying back into a tree. The third came running towards Neji forming hand seals for an attack. Not waiting to find out what it was, Neji rotated into a Hakkeshou Kaiten, the divination whirl, and sent the attackers' rain of fire spinning easily away from him and disappearing into the air. He stopped spinning and dived for the enemy, landing a clean hit to the ninja's chest before he even knew what had happened to his fire attack. He stopped dead, shocked and confused, then collapsed to the floor, coughing up blood.
"They are testing our abilities," said Neji, unamused by the pathetic attacks. Lee's opponent had just dragged himself back to his feet, and Lee kicked him again, in the head. The ninja fell to the floor and did not attempt to get up a second time. Lee's heart was racing now.
"Youth is explosion! Fight for our allies!" Gai said, grinning broadly. Neji glanced sideways and grunted. Lee agreed whole-heartedly.
The other attackers were much less open, though Neji, of course, knew exactly where they were. They hid in three positions around the clearing. Neji looked through the concealing bushes, directly at one of them and a tiny smile curled up the corners of his mouth as he saw the series of hand seals that the enemy ninja was forming.
He jumped through the bush, nearly landing on top of the hiding ninja. He had seen immediately that the enemy had a lot of chakra built up for the technique and he didn't feel like waiting to find out what it was. The enemy scrambled to his feet as Neji rounded on him, changing his stance as he faced the ninja, deciding to end it quickly.
Lee jumped out of the way as a Grass Nin launched a Doton jutsu attack at him. He dodged the flying mud, swinging himself up into the trees. From there he saw where the hidden ninja had attacked from and jumped back down beside Gai pointing into the bushes.
Gai nodded.
They both heard a scream of pain as Neji launched his deadliest attack on the enemy ninja, both knowing that very soon that ninja would not be able to use any chakra at all. Back to back, Lee and his Sensei waited for the next ninja to come.
---
As they ran through the forest, Temari asked Sharino how she had let the Missing-Nin get so far.
"There are too many of them. We don't know when the attacks will come, or what kind of attack it will be, or what skills we will need to defeat it. Short of sending Jounin out on every mission, no matter how trivial, there was not much we could do."
"So what are you doing at the moment?" Kankurou asked.
"We have three teams in the forest," she replied "Hopefully, the enemy will find them and attack them as they have been, not realising just how ready they are." Temari and Kankurou smiled. Gaara said nothing.
They stopped, sensing an enemy up ahead. The Sand ninja, or rather Temari and Kankurou, did not particularly want to get involved in a war. They were just there to kill the Sand Nin.
He had once been one of the Sand village's Chuunin. Most of Suna's Hunter Nin and ANBU members were busy with missions more important than this, so it had been given to the three Genin. Even if it had been too much for Temari and Kankurou, Gaara's unique abilities would keep him safe and allow him to complete the mission easily. Their Jounin Sensei hadn't even bothered to suggest that he go with them.
Temari and Kankurou were cautious, listening and watching for signs of the enemy. However, sensing blood, Gaara stepped forward.
"Gaara," Kankurou said tentatively, not wanting to anger his little brother. "We should find out if he is among them first," he said. Gaara ignored him. He disappeared in a haze of wind and sand and then reappeared on the ground below where the enemy ninja were gathered. Sharino was startled by the frightening boy that Gaara had become. She only had vague memories of him, but she did not remember anything about him that even remotely resembled the hate-filled, bloodthirsty boy that he was now.
Temari and Kankurou exchanged glances, then followed him down. Sharino in her turn followed them.
Gaara was stood facing five ninja, among them the Sand Chuunin that they were seeking. They were fairly near to the Missing-Nin campsite, so Sharino had expected there to be some of them around, but she felt it very fortunate that they had come across their target so fast.
"Ha!" said the Sand Chuunin. "The Hidden Sand thinks so little of me that they send mere children!" he shouted. Gaara smiled, but the smile was not at all pleasant. Sharino shuddered at the sight of it.
Sharino was about to step forward, but Kankurou and Temari both put their arms out to stop her.
"We will handle this lot. You will have other battles," Kankurou said. He had taken the bandaged package from his back and Sharino smiled.
"Yeah. Looks like you guys will be ok," she said.
"I wish we could stay and catch up, Sharino-chan," said Temari, her hand on the top of her fan. "But we have to get back to Sunagakure after this. We're being entered in the coming Chuunin exam." Sharino smiled at her.
"Well, good luck to you. Farewell!" With that, she jumped back into the forest and vanished.
The Sand ninja stepped forwards from the enemy group. Gaara stood looking at him blankly. The Chuunin did not appear to recognise him, or his siblings, as the Kazekage's children. However, none of them cared.
He gestured to his companions and one on each side of him dashed around Gaara to meet Temari and Kankurou, the older and, the Sand Nin suspected, stronger ones.
"Not so fast," said Temari, whisking her fan out and holding it ready. She waited a moment until the enemy was closer, then smiled. "Ninpou: Kamaitachi!" she shouted, giving a broad sweep of her fan towards the approaching ninja. He was instantly swept back, screaming as the winds viciously cut into his skin, even through his clothes.
On the other side, Kankurou waited, arms crossed, for the coming attack. The ninja started forming hand seals for a Suiton attack, but Kankurou did not move, even when the final seal formed.
"Suiton: Sanseiu! Water element: acid rain," the ninja said. A vicious rain started falling directly on Kankurou. He still did not even move or scream as the rain started to dissolve his flesh. The enemy ninja stopped short of him when he saw the brown wood underneath the sand that formed his outward appearance.
Behind the revealed puppet, Kankurou burst from his prison of bandages with a flourish, and used the blue chakra strings that connected him to Karasu to extend Karasu's arms, blades appearing on the inside of each.
Too late, the attacking ninja realised that he had come too close to his target. He tried to move back, but Karasu jumped forward, embracing him in a deadly hug. The ninja's scream was loud and piercing, making their leader think again. Now they had no advantage of numbers.
The Sand ninja stepped forward. He started forming an attack, directed at Gaara. Gaara stood, arms folded, staring at him as his siblings released their victims and stepped forwards beside him once more. The Missing-Nin looked at Gaara's unconcerned stance and smiled, spreading his hands in front of him. The air around his hands started to swirl as winds formed. Then, the ninja ran towards Gaara, his hands extended in front of him.
The wind howled around his hands, ready to cut through anything that stood in its way. Gaara did not move, letting him come. As the Sand-Nin closed in, Gaara stared blankly at him, completely uninterested.
As the Missing-Nin's hands extended to hit Gaara, the shield of sand sprang up in front of him. The Sand ninja collided with it and then jumped away. His face showed a terrified recognition as he suddenly realised who this child was.
The cork from Gaara's gourd had fallen out, and now the golden sand came spilling out from it in tendrils that wrapped around him loosely. The boy stared menacingly at his victim. The Sand ninja stopped, unable to move as Gaara extended his open hand towards him.
"Sabaku Kyuu! Desert coffin!" Gaara said. The enemy Sand ninja's companions stood stock still in fear as the sands whirled from Gaara's gourd and surrounded the Sand-Nin, wrapping around him, encasing him in sand. Gaara stared at him. The fear was in his victim's eyes now. The fear that Gaara recognised so well. The fear that he had grown to relish. "Sabaku Sousou! Desert funeral!" he said, his hand snapping shut into a tight fist.
The enemy ninja were terrified as they watched the sand contract with deadly force, crushing the Sand ninja that had been selected as the leader of their squad. The Sand ninja's screams did not last for more than a second as blood and sand sprayed them.
Gaara looked up and turned his attention to the others. The Sand Nin fell to the ground with a look of terror on his dead face. Temari was ready to step forward with her fan and Kankurou readied Karasu, but Gaara's blood was pumping now and they didn't dare stand in his way. He extended both his hands.
Seconds later, two more screams were heard and the other two ninja lay dead.
The sand returned to its gourd, and Gaara calmly plugged the cork back into to its opening. Kankurou stepped forward to the Sand ninja. They had to destroy the body.