Well, finally, here's the next chapter! I really wanted to get it up last night, but it would have been posted at about one in the morning so…yeah. Once again, thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far! I luff you all! Think we can get to 100 this chapter? I'll give everyone who reviews a virtual cookie!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. But I do own the dragons, and will use them to take over….FINLAND!
Kankuro and Shino were doing a lot of running on this mission.
After the avalanche of trees, rocks, mud, and other various objects of nature had ceased, they had looked up to see a large red dragon circling the sky. After a few minutes, it went down and landed somewhere. Now, seeing as how it was their mission to find out what was really behind the sudden dragon appearance, they had to chase towards where they thought it had settled; and, of course, the fastest way was to run.
While most shinobi would take this opportunity to come up with some kind of strategy or battle plan, their trip was used to send fierce glares back and forth. Tired from fatigue and exhaustion, the two had pretty much reached their limit of tolerance: Kankuro was annoyed with Shino's 'shitty attitude,' as he called it, and Shino was tired of listening to the Sand ninja's complaints about him. He also didn't like being compared to Kankuro's brother, who, in his mind, was basically a psychopath who fought just for the joy of killing. Not that he was wrong, exactly; he was just referring to the Old Gaara, so to speak. The New Gaara was much less violent, and didn't kill nearly as often as he used to.
To put it simply, the two were going completely unprepared into a battle in which they knew absolutely nothing about their opponent, all because they were too busy being pissed off at their companion. So, it's really no surprise that when they arrived, they didn't do too well.
The first thing they noticed was the size of the dragon. It was big, to say the least. It was at least fifty meters long from head to tail, and another twenty meters wide. He – for they decided that the beast was male – had two short legs in the front and two in the back. How they supported him was anybody's guess. He seemed to be waiting for them to arrive; as soon as the two shinobi stepped into the clearing, he lifted his head, and actually gave them a small smirk.
They didn't know dragons were capable of smirking.
The red dragon stood and stretched his front legs, making a kind of groaning sound. He turned to them and blew a small ring of smoke from his mouth, as if taunting them. The two shinobi just stared at for a moment before Kankuro spoke. "It's big."
Shino looked at him. "I think that's fairly obvious."
Kankuro scowled. "Shut up! I was only making an observation! Annoying little brat…" the last part he muttered under his breath, not really caring whether his 'comrade' heard him or not.
"I would appreciate it if you wouldn't resort to name calling," Shino said, calmly and quietly, an unspoken threat hidden in the words. Kankuro shivered; he hated being reminded of his brother, especially in the way of silent death threats. Before he could think of some sort of witty comeback, however, he was interrupted by loud laughing behind him. The two shinobi turned, and saw that the dragon was laughing at them.
"Stupid humans," he said, snorting and breathing more smoke from his nostrils. "You never shut the hell up, do you? You do realize that I could have easily killed you while you were arguing, don't you?" He sighed. "I'm having a hard time deciding which one of you I should kill first; neither of you look like you'd even make good appetizers.
The two just stared at it. "Did that thing just talk?" Kankuro said after a moment.
"I believe so," Shino replied, their argument temporarily forgotten.
The dragon snorted again. "Yet another example of the stupidity of humans. In case you have forgotten, I am a dragon of legend. I have lived for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. It's only natural that I would learn your language after so long; however strange it may be."
"Ok, sure. Anything else we should know?" Kankuro asked sarcastically. "You know, while you're at it, can you tell us your weakness or something? After all, we humans are so stupid we won't be able to figure it out on our own."
The dragon laughed again. "You amuse me, human," he said. "In that case, I will tell you one thing. My name is Kaji, the dragon of fire. As for my weakness, it wouldn't matter even if I did tell you, seeing as how you're both going to die anyway." And with that, he flew up into the air, flapping his large wings and creating a violent swirl of dust and wind. In seconds, he was high in the air, circling the two, as if toying with them.
"Well, this is great. How the hell are we supposed to fight him if he's in the air?" Kankuro said. "Neither of us have any techniques that can reach that high, and last I checked, we couldn't fly."
"In a situation like this, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't be so sarcastic," Shino replied. "We need to come up with some kind of strategy."
"No shit, bug boy," Kankuro said, folding his arms across his chest. "I was just trying to lighten things up, but I guess that doesn't work for you, does it? So what do you suggest we do? Somehow, I doubt your little bugs would be able to stand up against that thing." He gestured towards the dragon, who, to their horror, had decided he was bored of playing with his food and was now attempting to dive-bomb the two shinobi. His mouth was glowing red as he flew down, and seconds later a giant fireball had formed and was shot down at the two below. It hit the ground with a deafening explosion.
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On a small beach near the ocean, Gaara and Hinata were also about to encounter a dragon; the light purple one was heading straight towards them. It was similar to the red one, aside from a variance in size: this one was only half the size of the other one.
Hinata looked on nervously as the dragon came to a rest in front of them. Beside her, Gaara just grunted, wanting to get the whole mission over with. For a moment, dragon just stared at them. "Jeez, I never thought you two would come out of hiding!" it said in a high-pitched voice, signifying that it was female. "Seriously, do you know how long I've been waiting? I got bored, so I decided to blast you out." She swung her head to indicate the pile of burning trees and brush atop the cliff. "See? Isn't it impressive?"
Hinata looked at Gaara. "I-is it talking?" she asked shakily, alarmed at the fact that a supposedly mythical beast was speaking to them. The dragon, however, answered for her.
"How rude!" she said huffily. "I do have a name, you know! It's Rai, the dragon of thunder!" She stood proudly, as if her name was legendary and sent shivers into anyone who heard it.
It was then that Gaara spoke up. "You're purple. In no way does that color associate with the element of thunder." His voice was calm and void of emotion, which only ticked off the small dragon in front of him.
"That's mean!" she said angrily. "It's not my fault! I can't control what color my beautiful scales are!" She extended her claws. "I've decided: you get to die first!" She flapped her wings and rose into the air, snarling. "Meanie!" she yelled as she fired a large stream of lightning from her mouth.
Hinata began to move to dodge the attack, but stopped when Gaara spoke. "Don't move," he said, flinging the cork for his gourd to the ground. "My sand will protect us." Indeed, the sand began to converge in front of him, forming a wall to prevent the attack from hitting the two shinobi. Unfortunately, the blast was stronger than expected, and the two were sent flying backwards as the last remains of the attack broke through the shield.
They landed roughly on the ground, the sand cushioning their fall. Hinata sat up and rubbed her head, but was surprised when her arm felt somewhat heavy. She glanced over at Gaara and saw that he was eying his own hand suspiciously, and was about to say something when she heard laughing.
"Surprised?" Rai chuckled. "I told you I was the dragon of thunder; my attack was charged with tiny electric particles. When it hits the target, they instantly enter the body and attach themselves to the iron particles in the blood stream. There's approximately five or six grams of iron in the body; plenty of substance for the electricity to find. Once they attach themselves to the iron, then adjust their makeup and make them ten times as heavier, causing the body to become heavier as well." She laughed again. "This is what you get for underestimating me! You were lucky that my attack only grazed you, otherwise you wouldn't even be able to move!"
"Shut up," Gaara said, standing up. "I don't care about your stupid technique." He performed a series of hand signs, sending the sand that surrounded him towards the dragon. Beside him, Hinata got slowly to her feet, watching as the sand sped towards the opponent.
Just before the sand was about to hit, the dragon…disappeared. Hinata stared at the spot where she had been flying. Where did she go? She wondered; then she heard the sound of wings fluttering behind her. Before she could turn around, she was caught in the tight grip of Rai's claws.
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Temari was on top of Kiba, having pushed him to the ground only moments before to avoid a large blue fireball. Upon closer inspection, however, the two saw that it wasn't made of fire at all, but water. Very dangerous water.
Noticing that she was still on top of him, Temari got up and moved away from Kiba. "S-sorry," she muttered, blushing slightly. Kiba turned red as well. "No problem," he muttered, standing up; Temari did the same. Turning, they saw the final dragon sitting patiently on the beach. This one was blue, and was in between the other two in size.
"Well, I was wondering when you'd notice I was here," it said; judging from the voice, it seemed to be a male like the first one. "You humans sure are slow." He stood up and stretched. "Well, I might as well introduce myself. My name is Mizu, the dragon of water. Pleased to meet you."
The two shinobi exchanged glances. "Did you know that dragons could talk?" Temari asked. Kiba shook his head. "Nope," he replied, Akamaru barking in agreement.
"I've lived over five of your lifetimes," Mizu replied, sighing. "Did you really think I wouldn't be able to speak?" He stretched again. "Now, I hate to do this, but I have my orders to eliminate you. Please don't take it personally." With that, he shot another ball of water from his mouth.
Temari whipped out her fan, hopped onto it, grabbed Kiba, and flew into the air. They hovered just out of the water's reach, and it landed with a harmless SPLASH on the beach; loud, but harmless nonetheless. Or so they thought. As they landed back on the sand, the water particles from the blast began to reassemble around them, until it created a large bubble of water around the two, and they were trapped within.
Damn, Temari thought, a small bubble of air escaping her lips. She once again opened her fan, which took up almost all the space inside their watery prison; with one swift wave of the object, the wind created blew the bubble into pieces. The two genin sat fell to the ground, and sat coughing on the sandy beach.
"Well, that was fun," Kiba said sarcastically, standing up. "Now it's our turn! Right, Akamaru?" The small dog poked his head out of his owner's shirt and barked in agreement. Kiba reached into his pocket and pulled out a pill; he gave it to Akamaru, who instantly swallowed it.
Temari watched in amazement as the small dog's fur began to change color; in seconds it had gone from pure white to deep red. Akamaru jumped out of Kiba's shirt and growled at the dragon. Kiba performed a series of hand signs. "Jyuujin Bushin!" he yelled as Akamaru transformed into him "Now the real fun starts. Gatsuuga!"
Well, this ends chapter eleven! I know, it wasn't a very exciting chapter, but the battles will continue in the next one. Sorry this one took so long to get out, I had stuff to do. Also, I have some quick notes regarding the dragons. Each one has a name relating to their respective element: Kaji means fire, Rai means lightning, and Mizu means water. And, as a quick note about Rai's attack, I really have no idea if this is actually possible, with the electricity and the iron in the body. But, then again, this is my story, and if it's not possible, then it is now. Anyway, remember to review. Let's see if we can get to 100 reviews!
Ja ne!
