Chapter 8: Making Waves
The wind blew across the area in a soft and soundless breeze. Normally it would have been a soothing experience during a warm day, but it had no such effect on the warriors upon the unfinished bridge of Wave.
Asuma fixed his hard gaze on his chief foe, Zabuza, who returned it in equal measure.
Hinata and Chouji kept their positions but had turned to face their enemies. Now that the enemy didn't have their advantage of unseen movement, they could safely adjust to face them.
'Stay strong, Hinata. Stand firm and protect Tazuna. That's what Naruto-kun would do.' Hinata encouraged herself, her own eyes fixated on one of the brothers, the one on the same side of the bridge as herself.
Chouji locked his eyes on the final opponent, who stood on the other side of Zabuza. He was nervous, but he felt more prepared than last time. Being able to see his enemies had helped immensely.
Suddenly, seemingly at an unseen cue, the two Jounin threw themselves at each other in a flurried frenzy of slashes, deflections, dodges and parries. Each hit of the blades causing loud clangs and sparks to fly. The two "demon brothers" shot past the fighting pair and headed straight for the Genin and a terrified Tazuna.
"Get behind us, Tazuna-san!" Hinata ordered in a voice no one has heard her use before. A firm and strong voice. It surprised even herself, but she didn't give it any consideration as her fight with her enemy was underway. Tazuna backed up as he was told to. Putting his life in the hands of the young Genin.
Chouji dueled with the other brother using his kunai. Being very mindful to keep the blades from harming him, or he knew he would be done for. He had not yet mastered his clan's jutsu to expand or even partially expand his body. Instead, he was using his reserves to enhance his strength. It came as a surprise to the brother he was fighting when his strength seemed to double itself out of the blue, requiring him to redouble his own efforts just to keep up in their fight.
However, both were keenly aware that increased strength doesn't mean increased speed or skill. The brother switched to a more dodgy and speedy style of attack. Chouji had to rely on more evasive measures. Luckily, his clan had put some emphasis on being able to dodge, especially because they were so... bulky. At least until they get their clan jutsu into the mix, then their focus shifts to that.
Hinata's foe was, unfortunately, the same one she faced before their arrival to Wave. So he knew what to expect from the Hyuuga female. However, this only really helped him in avoiding her strikes, not landing his own. But Hinata was in the same boat. Stalemate.
In both fights, it was one of endurance. Who could outlast the other? Being Genin, it did not speak well of their chances.
Asuma and Zabuza were duking it out and, since they were aware of many of the other's tricks, it was also a very even battle. Neither could predict how the fight would go, but they would do their utmost to achieve victory.
Shikamaru and co. had reached the town center. There, they met a woman in her 30s or so.
"Deshio-san?" Tsunami addressed.
"Tsunami-san? Oh! What are you doing carrying those men?" The mistress of the brothel inquired.
"They attempted to capture me to use as a hostage against my father." Tsunami said with a delicate frown and a clear distaste in her tone.
Gaining one herself, Deshio commented. "I'm surprised you bother carrying these low-lives."
Shikamaru grunted out in exertion as he answered. "Troublesome grunt, the idea is to stow these pricks away so they don't cause any trouble and for Wave to put them on trial later. Have the grunt justice they deserve."
Deshio reluctantly agreed with his logic. But no sooner had she come to that conclusion when a voice spoke out behind her.
"Well, well, well." They turned to face not one person, but a whole mob of thugs mixed with some pirates. Some were still arriving at the town center as they were speaking.
"Look lads! It seems our favorite brothel broad is out for a stroll. And she's with another nice piece of... hey, wait a second. Those guys are..."
"They're part of our gang!" Another mercenary remarked angrily.
The first one spoke again with a smirk. "It would seem the whore and the rest of them are part of some illegal activity here. We can't have that."
Shikamaru cursed in his mind as he unceremoniously dropped his load onto the ground. Tsunami and Inari did too. Deshio slowly but determinedly approached the agitated mob of mercs.
"'Illegal'? If anybody's doing anything illegal, you and your 'boss' are the ones doing it."
"Deshio-san! What are you doing?" Tsunami called out.
She continued as if she hadn't heard Tsunami. "But rest assured, it will all come to an end soon. You see these thugs my friends have caught? These are merely the beginning of your end. I suggest you turn tail and run."
"What the hell does she think she's doing?" Shikamaru asked Tsunami in mild distress for the woman in front of the mob.
"I... don't know." But then she noticed the faces of people behind windows and doors, looking out to find what all the commotion was about.
Shikamaru also noticed a second after. 'She might have seen them and wanted to spark a revolt. Man, she picked a hell of a time to try this stunt. She's bound to get killed.'
Inari didn't know the woman at all, perhaps seen her in passing on occasion in the village. But she was of the village, and he loved his village very much and didn't want anything bad to happen to anyone in it. He rubbed his hands in worry. Not only her, but the entire village was in danger. He could tell. He prayed for a miracle to happen.
Deshio stopped a few feet from the first man to speak, who was in front of the mob, perhaps even leading it.
"And what makes you believe that we'd take your word for it? All we see is a handful of weak villagers." He glanced over her shoulder at Shikamaru. "And a single leaf shinobi. Are we supposed to tremble in our boots from that?"
He got a round of laughs from the men behind him. Deshio merely smirked confidently, something that mildly surprised the men.
"He's not the only one, he's got friends. And I know enough about ninja to tell you that their numbers are enough to wipe you out."
"Is that a fact?" The man asked, clearly unconvinced. The man and woman stared at the other. Deshio never wavered in her gaze. Such conviction did give the man a slight pause, wondering where she got her backbone from. He was completely convinced that she had no reason to feel that way. But he cared not for where she got it from, only that it was unacceptable for anyone to harbor any rebellious notions.
He lunged forward and grabbed her by the throat faster than Deshio could react and, sadistically, making a deliberate motion, reaching for a dagger. Deshio was startled and scared now, scared that she would not live to see a liberated Wave.
"Oi, why are you going to kill her, man?" Asked one merc.
"Yeah, she's a defenseless woman. She can't stop us, and we can enjoy her later once we're done with our job." Another said.
"Shut your mouths!" The man shouted. "She needs to be made an example of." He said as he held the dagger in Deshio's view.
Shikamaru thought a mile-a-minute for some solution, but even the master strategist was at a loss. He alone couldn't do anything to prevent what was about to happen. Tsunami had tears form as she covered her mouth in terror. Inari closed his eyes for the inevitable.
It was a good thing he did.
(Youtube: Xcom 2 War of the Chosen Hunter Combat theme) (Repeat as necessary)
Out of the blue, literally, came a brief hail of sharp projectiles, striking the gathered mob.
"AMBUSH!" Yelled a surviving merc. The others indistinctly calling and yelling as they scrambled into action.
The man holding Deshio was distracted by the event, enough for Deshio to knee him in the groin. He lost his grip on the weapon, dropping it. Deshio acted on pure instinct and grabbed the weapon and stabbed the man in the flank. He dropped immediately, hit in the heart by the dagger's point.
Shikamaru traced the barrage form a nearby rooftop, upon which stood a... girl? Yes, a girl in a pink sleeveless shirt of some kind he couldn't see from where he was. She had her hair made into two buns, one on each side of the top of her head.
The girl discarded a scroll she was holding and continued to hurl weapon after weapon, mostly kunai and shuriken, at the mob. Thinning the mob further, man after man, but far from enough. Some of the men had made their way to the rooftop where she was and she then became occupied fighting the men there. First throwing a shuriken with her left hand over her right shoulder at a man, hitting him squarely between the eyes. Another attempted to flank her and catch her by surprise, but she swiftly grabbed a scroll and unrolled it instantly with the seal within facing the assailant. From the scroll came a burst of shuriken, covering the man from head to toe with them. Following this, she produced a bo-staff and skillfully began a melee with the other men there. She was very much a shinobi. Probably one of the reinforcements the leaf sent, Shikamaru reasoned.
The now very angry mob started to draw their weapons and advanced on the group, which Deshio had rejoined. Shikamaru's relief was all to brief as he now tried to figure out a way to combat them. The villagers were taken by complete surprise by the attack upon their oppressors. They didn't seem able to comprehend what just happened yet. He knew he couldn't expect them to help.
But then, yet again, another volley appeared and struck the mob. This time from the other direction. This time, it was a volley of arrows. Arrows that samurai tended to use.
Before the mob could recover from that additional surprise, a war cry that held intense fury came from the small army of samurai that came out of the streets behind the mob of thugs and pirates. The surprise attack clashed with the mob and a frenzy of hacking, slashing and stabbing ensued. Pirates and mercenaries fell left and right, some screaming in agony from their wounds, some didn't even have life left in them when they fell, cut down in a precise and efficient manner.
Shikamaru knew that this time, there was hope. The mob was still considerable, but it was thinning every second. He knew that sooner rather than later, the mob will regroup and casualties on the samurai side may begin. Quickly considering his options, he concluded that helping that girl on the rooftop may bring about more volleys to end the thugs once and for all before serious losses on the samurai side were sustained.
Quickly explaining his intent to the rest of the group and telling them to go hide, Shikamaru sprung into action. He made his way swiftly to the rooftop and stabbed a pirate in the back and shadow-bound another that was about to strike at the girl's side. No sooner had he bound the man before the girl gave a vicious strike to the temple of the restrained man, dropping him for good.
"Thanks, but he wouldn't have gotten me." The girl said as she held off one of the last remaining opponents.
"Better safe than sorry." Shikamaru countered. He threw a shuriken at one merc, who dodged it. He then had a brief melee with him before dropping the less skilled enemy with a slice across the abdomen. A kick to the neck ensured that he wouldn't make some form of last-effort attack before succumbing to his wound.
The girl deflected a strike from the last man. This steered the man, who had overextended his attack, into stumbling forward. A kick to his rear from the kunoichi caused him to tumble over the edge of the roof to his death below.
"Now that that's taken care of, mind delivering some more of those barrages? Our friends downstairs could use the help." Shikamaru spoke, slightly winded, but still looking very lazy.
Raising a delicate eyebrow at his attitude, the girl nevertheless complied. "Sure thing." She then took out a scroll and opened it, rather lengthily too. She, he assumed, aimed the scroll somehow in the general direction of the now recovered mob that now tried to mount resistance to the samurai, and were doing it with some success, though they still took losses.
Then, Shikamaru witnessed in awe, dozens upon dozens of shuriken and kunai and even some senbons and an arrow here or there were launched from the scroll and struck the thugs, and none of the samurai, down below.
Said mercenaries and pirates were now so demoralized that they turned around and tried to retreat. But their exit route was blocked... by armed and angry villagers. The sight of the samurai and ninja cutting down their numbers so rapidly was the spark, nay the flame that ignited their own. As if it was planned beforehand, the villagers had picked up anything on hand that could be used as makeshift weapons and took up positions behind the still fighting mob. More and more came, until just about all of them were present.
Deshio stepped forward and spoke. "Like I said before. Your reign of terror and oppression ends here, today!"
The villagers roared in agreement, followed by the samurai's resonating cheer. Ronin, who was at the front of his men, couldn't help but grin in gleeful delight at witnessing the people of Wave freeing themselves of their shackles. The thugs dropped their weapons in surrender.
(Youtube part end)
After all was done, about 40 men were captured out of roughly 135 mercenaries and pirates. Samurai losses were about 10 wounded, no deaths, out of 60. No civilians or ninja were harmed in that battle.
Shikamaru and the kunoichi came down from the roof to meet with the samurai.
Ronin saw them and recognized them as ninja from their headbands. "Greetings, shinobi." He greeted with a nod. "You have my sincere thanks for your aid in this battle."
"No need for thanks, it's part of our mission here." Shikamaru replied lazily, but he was smiling. "I'm Shikamaru, this is... um... I never caught your name."
"I'm Tenten, Higurashi Tenten." The now identified Tenten introduced herself with a respectful bow.
"You may call me Ronin." Ronin said simply. "But we shouldn't dally. We should get moving to the battle on the bridge."
"Battle?" Tenten asked. "I thought the fight was here?"
"This was merely one battle of a small war, Tenten-san." Ronin told her. "The other, and final one, is taking place as we speak on the bridge. We should head there post-haste and render aid."
"We'll all come." Deshio spoke up. "We need to see this through, as a people." The villagers agreed in a excited murmur.
"I shall not stop you. However, I suggest you leave behind some men to watch these scum. Come now, we must get moving."
After some volunteered to keep an eye on the bound thugs, the rest of the crowd started their small trek towards the bridge. While walking, Shikamaru questioned Deshio about her actions. "What made you put your life at risk that recklessly? There was nothing to gain from it."
She regarded him with a small smile as they kept in pace with the rest of the mass of people. "You were not there to see it, but I met this interesting individual clad in black. He brought hope to me and my girls, especially since he made a little show of some of his abilities. He probably didn't intend for it to be such, but it emphasized the validity of his claim of ridding Wave of Gato. That convinced at least me that there was more than a fair chance that Gato would be de-throned soon, as it were.
But I wouldn't have done this based on that alone. What made me bold enough to stand up to the filth we now have under arrest was my chance encounter with Ronin-san and his band of Samurai at the edge of the village. They were about to enter the town when I came across them and I told them of the plan those scum back there had to gather in the town center and later proceed with the sacking from there."
"How did you come by this information?" Shikamaru asked with a curious expression.
Deshio smirked deviously as she replied. "Let's just say that inebriated and... excited men say more than they should, with their heads on a pillow."
It took a second for Shikamaru to get the insinuated image. "Right..."
"Anyway," Deshio continued. "Ronin-san quickly thought of a way to make an effective ambush for them. But we all underestimated the strength of the force Gato would send. Still, I was too exhilarated with hope to let that discourage me and I felt the need to stick it to them."
She then had the decency to look a bit embarrassed as she said, "Didn't think I would stick something into someone though."
Ronin, who walked nearby put in his five ryo. "It was a reckless gesture, even knowing we were set to strike them. But I applaud you for your courage, nonetheless, Deshio-san."
"Why didn't you strike when she was in trouble?" Tenten asked.
"We were just about to do that when you managed to strike first. It gave us a bit of a pause before we launched our own attack." Ronin answered.
Deshio nodded in thanks as Shikamaru muttered how troublesome the whole thing was and Tenten giggled lightly at his reaction.
As they all exited the town and were moving towards the bridge, something big briefly made them pause.