A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 29: Clash on the Bridge (Part 1)
"Hey sis?" Hanabi asked in a low voice, sitting on her designated sleeping place while looking over at her sister. The sun was already gone and the shinobi went to bed early, in order to be rested and fresh for the following day. They didn't know after all how bad the day might become and being rested and prepared was the best they could do for now.
Only getting a low groan from her sister in reply, she tried again. "Sis, you still awake?" She asked again quietly, hoping that she wasn't asleep yet.
Letting out a long yawn Hinata turned around to face her sister, only opening one eye to look at her. "What is it, mistress?" she asked with a sleepy voice, slightly mumbling. "Had a bad dream? I don't mind if you want to snuggle." There was a weak smile on her face, but it was clearly visible that she was just moments away from entering the dreamland herself.
Hanabi shook her head in reply, her voice still low. "No, that's not it. I..." she started, unsure how to word it. "I'm afraid about tomorrow, sis."
Sitting up as well Hinata rubbed her eyes, trying to fight off the sleep for now. If her sister needed some comfort, she would give it to her. What kind of sister would she be if she wouldn't look after her little sister after all? It didn't matter that they were bound by slavery, this was a moment in which one sister needed the other. "You are afraid about a repeat from back then, aren't you?" She asked quietly.
"Yeah..." was Hanabi's only reply, pulling her legs close to her body and laying her arms around them. "I mean... we are up against slavers, right? And some of the people who captured us are involved as well..."
"...but we aren't as weak as we were back then and we got Spooky with us." Hinata replied after a moment of hesitation. "I'm sure we will be alright."
Placing her head on top of her legs Hanabi thought about her sisters words. It sounded logical to her. They were indeed not as helpless as compared to three years ago. "And what if one of us dies?" her eyes focused on her sister.
It was Hinatas turn to keep silent, not sure how to reply to that. That sure was a possibility as well. But it wouldn't be a fate as bad as being enslaved. A smile entered her face once she made up her mind. "That could happen on any mission and we both know that, Hanabi. That is the risk a shinobi has to take, remember?"
"I know, but still..." the younger girl sniffed. "I don't want to loose you, sis. And I don't want to die... maybe we should have canceled this mission once we learned that it would be more dangerous than we thought."
That was it. Despite being totally tired this was the moment Hinata's patience snapped. She loved her sister. She had no problems with being her slave either. But that was simply too much right now. Being thankful that they had a room for themselves she got up and walked over to her younger sister. Said girl was totally surprised and didn't even react when her sisters hand neared her face. All she could do was look back at her sister in total shock while her cheek slowly turned red, sending pain through her body.
"Hanabi Hyuga, stop your depressive thoughts already." Hinata hissed, avoiding to raise her voice too much to not wake up the rest of the house. "Yes, we could die, something we have been aware of for what? Five years now? Or we could be enslaved. But look at me. Doesn't mean it has to be bad at all. But... and you should know that! We got friends with us who will help us, who will look at our backs when we can't. Friends we can trust and in which you should believe."
She kept silent for a while longer, only looking back at her older sister while her brain slowly processed what had just happened. Her own sister had just scolded her for her negative thoughts. No, that wasn't it. Her own sister had just slapped her because of her negative thoughts. Yes, she was getting closer, but it still didn't sound right to her. While the pain slowly subsided, her brain finally came up with a thought that stuck to her. Her own slave just slapped her because she, as mistress, wasn't showing authority with her mind clouded by negative thoughts.
Yes, that was it. That's what just happened, though she had to admit that Hinata got a valid point there. They actually had friends with them. Their teammate Naruto and their sensei Kakashi. That's why a team had four members in the first place, to watch each others back. "Hey sis..." Hanabi spoke up, an unreadable expression on her face. "Thanks. You are right. I... shouldn't think about these things now."
A small smile entered Hinata's face, hearing these words from her younger sister. "I'm glad you understand. But we should rest now, it's getting late."
"Yeah..." the younger agreed, smiling back at the older. "But I want to snuggle up to you for the night. It's always comforting to have you close to me..."
Nodding to that Hinata settled down next to her sister, making herself comfortable. Hanabi didn't waste any time, pulling herself close, embracing her sister like one would an oversized pillow. Both of them were laying like that for a while in silence, sleep slowly creeping up to both of them. Both enjoyed the closes of the other sister, their minds being at ease. Having a sister one could trust, that was something both of them treasured, despite their overall situation.
Nearly gone into the dreamworld Hanabi mumbled a few last words. It was pretty quiet, but the way they were entangled with her face close to her sisters ear, Hinata was able to hear the words, before falling asleep herself afterwards. "I'm going to punish you for the slap once we are back..."
With that both of them were gone. Hanabi's mind was at ease this night. She was dreaming, finding herself in the usual clearing of the forest in her mindscape. But it was surprisingly peaceful, her memories not pressing down on her for once. Hinata's mind was at ease as well. Her dream however wasn't as peaceful, as she found herself together with her other personalities, Mistress and Kitty, who had fun telling the real Hinata what the promised punishment might be.
The next day
It was early in the morning, the dawn just about to start, and most of the village was still quiet. The only people already out of their homes were a few merchants that were about to prepare their market stalls, in order to be opened once the majority of the villagers would be up. A slight fog lay above the village and the construction site of the bridge, but it wasn't too bad just yet. One could still see and only in the distance was the fog starting to block the view. But it was enough to send a shiver down ones spine, an eerie promise of things to come.
A group of slightly above a dozen people were hanging out near to the construction site. Some were sitting on the ground playing cards, another leaned on a tree with his eyes closed. A few of them were slightly scattered around, watching the surroundings while three were talking to each other. "Told ya it would be pointless coming here that early. The workers ain't here just yet and will most likely just turn 'round the moment they see us." the scarred mercenary spoke to his friends. "Should have been waiting for 'em to show up and start working before we came."
"But our orders were clear. Stupid, but still clear." The one with katana shrugged. "I mean, it would be better if the workers would turn around and leave. Or do you really want to slaughter civilians?"
The female among them let out a long sigh. "Really guys, I've got a super bad feeling. Let's just sneak away and look for another contract somewhere. I'm telling you, this won't end well here today..." she looked around nervously, as if expecting to be ambushed by the construction workers any moment. Though they wouldn't be a challenge at all, but she just couldn't get rid of the feeling that something evil was coming their way. If she only had prove...
"Ya worry too much, Liane. It's just the old carpenter and some workers. That's easy earned money!" the scarred man grinned at the woman.
Looking back at him was she thought about his words for a moment before shaking her head. "...don't complain if you are the first to die, Angriff. You do charge into any enemy head on after all."
The third among them yawned loudly. "Will you stop it already? You two can fight once that job is done. We get paid, so yeah, whatever."
And with that it became quiet again, the determined vanguard of Gatos thugs tensed up, waiting for the workers to appear or for anything else to happen. They had no idea just yet that today's mission would be everything but easy for them.
Some distance away two other figures sat on the roof of a building, watching the patched up group of bandits and mercenaries through the fog. They were well aware that these were Gatos men, but they weren't really sure why exactly they were there this morning. The black haired teen looked up to the man sitting next to her. "Say, Zabuza-sama, didn't he order you to come here today to deal with the carpenter? Why are his men here as well?" the girl asked her master.
Looking back at his slave who wore plain green clothes now he shrugged his shoulders. "Honestly, I've got no clue. Would be interested to know their orders, though. Are they here to assist us, or shall they get rid of us as well? I don't trust Gato at all and this is making things worse." He shook his head slowly, letting out a long sigh. "And I'm worried about that Organization as well. I really wonder why they showed up here... and there are the Konoha shinobi as well... you got your equipment?"
Nodding Haku pulled out a white ANBU mask with red markings on the lower half out of a pocket, sporting the insignia of Kiri on the forehead. In addition she also showed her master the amount of senbon she had with her, earning her an approving nod from Zabuza. "You should know that I'm always prepared, Zabuza-sama." she smiled at her master.
"Just wanted to be sure." he answered, his eyes already back on the group of thugs. "But we will wait for now. I want to know what's going to happen there before we make a move."
Tazunas house
Our shinobi sat in the living room eating breaktfast together with the old carpenter. The mood was tense, all of them were aware what could happen today. "Alright, last chance to go over our intel." Kakashi spoke up, getting the attention of everyone gathered. "Say, Tazuna, where and when do your workers meet up?"
He thought about it for a short moment before he replied. "They usually gather at the same spot, some distance away from the construction side and walk together from there. Should happen in an hour or so." he shrugged slightly. "But I wouldn't be surprised if they were late today. They had a few free days after all and most have trouble getting started after that, right?"
"Well, I do know people who can't wait to get back to work after some free days as well. I wouldn't count on that to happen." Kakashi pondered aloud. "Anyway, we should make sure to reach the bridge first. We don't know about the situation there and it would be a problem if anything happened to the workers in the end."
"You okay, Hanabi-chan?" Naruto asked concerned, watching the unusual quiet girl that barely touched her breakfast either.
"Huh? Yeah..." she answered quietly, shaking her head. "Just thinking about that Ice Style girl. My... memories of that icy mist aren't the nicest ones, you know?"
"It might become a problem, that much is clear. Zabuza is a master of hidden assassinations after all, using a jutsu to create mist for him to move unseen, according to the general known information. And if his slave uses her Ice Style to freeze the water inside the mist..." Kakashi trailed off, thinking about possible solutions. Maybe a Fire Style jutsu to warm the area up in that case?
Smiling at her teammates was Hinata sounding confident. "But his hiding won't help him in the end. We will be able to see him quite well, won't we, Hanabi-sama?"
"Uhu..." the younger girl nodded, a weak smile entering her face. "We will be able to spot him, no problem. But I don't think that we would stand a chance if we had to fight him. He is a well-known missing nin after all, right?"
"Right. And that's the reason why I am the one to fight against Zabuza, should he show up." Kakashi cut in, before the mood of his genin got a chance to drop. "Your job will be to defend Tazuna and his men. This includes fighting against Zabuzas slave and Gatos thugs. Understood?"
The kids nodded to that order and continued with their breakfast, before Naruto spoke up again after a while. "And what if Cs old friends show up?"
Shrugging his shoulders Kakashi averted his eye, looking at an interesting spot of the wall. "Maybe a sudden retreat? Not sure... I haven't planned so far yet." he admitted through gritted teeth.
"But you won't abandon me and my men?" Tazuna asked, slight panic in his voice. First his family went missing and now the shinobis he hired were playing coward?
"That wasn't the plan, no." Kakashi confirmed. But he didn't know yet how he would save them all, if worst would come to worst.
Near the bridge
It was some distance to the bridge that multiple men gathered, all of them in a good mood and motivated. It was the exact opposite from what Tazuna expected to happen. His workers weren't late for comming back from a longer break, they were actually early, eager to get back to the construction. "Alright. Seems like all of us are here. Anyone missing?" one of the workers asked into the round.
"Nope, we're all here. Can't wait to get back to work. Whatcha think? How long til we got the bridge completed?" another one answered.
"Not sure. Two or three weeks, maybe? If there's no interruption." a third shrugged. "So, still wanna go over and start early or are we waiting for Tazuna?"
"The earlier we start, the earlier are we finished." the first spoke, a grin on his face. "I mean, it's all nice that Tazuna went to hire guards and stuff, but do you think we really need them?"
Yet another worker spoke up to that. "Nah. Gato hasn't done anything stupid yet. We will be fine."
The group nodded in agreement and started to move towards the bridge. It was still foggy and the sun was just about to rise, but they were sure they would have enough light to start working once they arrived. And if everything failed they would simply wait til they could actually work. It wouldn't be too long anymore anyway.
Closer to the bridge, at the place Gatos vanguard was waiting, Liane tried her luck again with her two companions. "What about our morale? Didn't we become mercenaries to protect the weak who can't protect themselves? Slaughtering workers has nothing to do with that, you know?"
The scarred one, Angriff, raised an eyebrow at that before looking over to their katana wielding friend. "Ya know, Revy, she got a point there. Shouldn't we be on their side instead of Gatos?"
Revy simply shrugged at that, answering again in a bored tune. "Maybe. But, you think they could pay us?"
Rolling her eyes at that Liane was getting annoyed. "What? Since when is money more important to you than what is right?"
"You volunteering to fight the Demon and his slave?" Revy shot back without missing a beat.
That silenced Liane for a moment, thinking about a reply. Fighting someone like that might mean certain death. But before the argument had any chance to go on any longer, one of the lookouts approached them. "Shut up, all of you. The workers are approaching."
"Hah, talking's over! Tell ya, it's getting interesting now!" Angriff grinned at his friends before walking off in the direction the lookout came from. He would be the first to charge, even if it were just some construction workers. As long as he could fight was every target okay for him.
The following skirmish wasn't exactly long and resulted in a few workers being dead. Another handful of them got injured and brought onto the unfinished bridge, guarded by some thugs as hostages. It was Lianes doing, convincing the other thugs that it had benefits to not kill them - at least right away. And just a single one managed to sneak away from the situation. His face was pale, shock clearly etched into it. All he could think about was getting to Tazuna to tell him what happened.
-on their way to the bridge-
Somewhere halfway on his way to Tazunas house he ran straight into him and the shinobi. Realizing that he found the person he was looking for the worker dropped on the ground, breathing fast. "Chief, it's terrible. Gatos men..." he started, his words forced out of his lungs.
Kneeling down next to the worker Tazuna watched him worried. "Hey, calm down. Take a few deep breaths and than tell us what's wrong."
Nodding slightly the worker did exactly that. Once his pulse calmed down a little he looked up to the group waiting for him to speak. "Gatos men were waiting at the bridge. They ambushed us. Some of the guys are dead, some got taken prisoner. We never stood a chance against them..."
"And with this fog you couldn't see them before it was too late..." Tazuna added in thought, before turning around to Kakashi. "Hey, we need to hurry. You have to save the guys, no matter what. We can't finish the bridge without workers. Though I never expected Gato to use such drastic measures..."
"What kind of bastard kills innocent people?" Naruto asked angrily. "What's the plan?"
"The plan is, Naruto, not to rush in blindly and make things worse. That's the last thing we need right now." Kakashi answered, thinking for a moment. "But for our actual plan, we need to observe the situation before we can decide on anything." And with that was the group quickly moved on towards the construction site. The sun was just starting to rise and the day already promised to become a real bad one.
Just minutes later they were near the bridge, checking out the situation. They could see the corpses lying around in front of the bridge, but there were no signs of the survivors or the thugs. Jumping up on a nearby tree Kakashi could quickly see why that was the case. And he couldn't help but to question whether or not the thugs knew just a little bit about tactics. "The thugs moved onto the unfinished bridge and took the prisoners with them. But something is completely wrong. The bridge isn't finished at all, so they are sitting in a dead end. And the surviving workers are all tied up and sitting together, closer to the beginning of the bridge, unguarded. Like they are just waiting for someone to come free them..." He analyzed the current situation.
"But we have to risk it. We can't leave my workers alone to their fate." Tazuna replied in thought. He had to agree that it sounded like a trap, but there was not much they could do about it.
"You think they are expecting reinforcements that would pinch anyone who tried to rescue them?" Hanabi asked, looking up at Kakashi.
Hinata activated her Byakugan, quickly scanning the close surroundings. "Does sound possible to me. I can't see anyone around in hiding. Either are they expecting more to come, or..."
"...or they are really just a bunch of useless bandits being paid!" Naruto said grinning.
"Concentration!" Kakashi hissed down from the tree he was standing on. "All of you. Becoming careless will just get you killed." After getting nods from his team he jumped back down. "Alright, here's the plan. We are going to sneak onto the bridge and rescue the workers. If they spot us or if it really is a trap you three will defend them. I'll try to judge their strength and draw the attention of their strongest ones on myself. Understood?"
The three kids nodded again to these orders, Hanabi visibly gulping at the thought of getting into a dangerous situation again. Having seen that Hinata put her hand on her sisters' shoulder, squeezing lightly to reassure her, that she had her teammates with her. It helped to calm the younger girl down a bit.
"I'm going with you. These are my men, after all." Tazuna stated with conviction. "If I don't show that I'm taking this serious, will we never finish this bridge."
Thinking about that for a short moment Kakashi agreed. "Alright. Leaving you behind would put you into danger as well, so better to stay close to us. That way we can at least defend you if needed."
Having decided on a plan the group started to move towards the unfinished bridge. The worker that informed them was the only one staying behind. He wasn't willing to put his life into danger for a second time this morning.
-on the bridge-
Shortly after the three genin, together with Tazuna, slowly approached the tied up workers. Upon getting closer they realized that all of them were also gagged and blindfolded, ensuring that they wouldn't cause any problem to the thugs that captured them. Still, leaving them unguarded was a move they would regret soon. Hanabi was the first to reach them and to her relief they still hadn't been spotted yet, by the men further onto the bridge.
Knowing that something was totally wrong, but willing to save these workers, Hanabi started to whisper. "Stay calm, don't make a noise. We are here to rescue you." Her voice startled some of the workers, and the one closest to her started to shake his head, trying to tell her no. But she wasn't paying attention, starting to undo the ropes keeping that person tied up.
Just moments later the rest of the group reached the prisoners as well and started to undo the ropes of other workers. "Everything will be okay. Gato went too far now and we won't tolerate that anymore." Tazuna spoke quietly to his men, helping with the bindings.
"I don't think so." A voice spoke up from within the group of prisoners, catching all four of them by surprise. They watched somewhat shocked when a figure stood up in the middle of the group, a sword in hand and ready to jump at the old bridge builder. "You idiot really came. It was a good idea to let that one fool get away." The guy was grinning and already in motion to get rid of Tazuna, who still wasn't moving from shock.
Hinata was the quickest to react, already moving to try and attack that man, but she realized that she wouldn't be quick enough. Naruto reacted just a moment later, already having two staff segments in hand, trying to get between the attacker and bridge builder, but he too wasn't quick enough. "Don't think so either." Kakashis voice was heard while he appeared right next to the attacker, kunai already buried into his chest. The man could only watch in disbelief before he died, quick and efficient. Reacting in time Hanabi grabbed his sword before the corpse could drop it and injure or kill the workers by accident.
"That trap really was too obvious. Now, quick, unbind them and get them away." Kakashi ordered, laying the corpse on the ground, his eye scanning the surroundings.
But before the kids got the chance to get back to the ropes they heard a loud scream echoing through the air, a heavily scarred man wielding a great sword charged straight at the group from the end of the bridge. "Shinobi, huh? Now that's a challenge I like!" he spoke with a grin, quickly closing the distance with the rest of Gato's vanguard on his heels.
"Protect Tazuna and the workers! I'll take care of that guy!" Kakashi shouted, already rushing to intercept the mercenary he recognized as one of the guys who C tricked prior, a kunai in his hand. He never managed to reach him however, as he quickly had to dodge two thrown knives aiming for his head, followed by a katana swing that awaited him on the spot he landed after the dodge. Looking up he recognized the other two mercenaries he saw before. The female grinning, new knives already in her hands while the male readied his katana, entering a fighting stance.
"You ain't gonna stop our 'dozer as long as we are here. Think your kids can handle him?" Revy asked with a smirk on his face.
"...and I still tell you it's wrong." Liane mumbled, but was loud enough to be heard by both her teammate and Kakashi. "At least now we have an opponent that can defend himself and don't have to slaughter civilians."
"If you know it's wrong, why are you doing it?" Kakashi asked curiously, entering a fighting stance himself.
"It's a job." Revy answered with a shrug before charging at Kakashi, katana ready to slice him up.
-with the kids-
Realizing that Kakashi wasn't able to reach the berserker coming their way, Naruto attached the last segment to his staff and gave a weak smile towards the girls. "Don't worry, I got that. Take care of the workers you two." Was all he said before making a single handsign, creating three shadow clones and moving towards the man that promised death to all of them. He was certain that the quality of his staff would be able to block his great sword, he just wasn't sure if he had enough strength to hold against it. But the clones proved to be useful against the Demon Brothers, so he had hope.
Angriff was laughing at the four Narutos coming his way. "Ya think that will stop me, kid? If anything will I laugh myself to death because of ya choosen colour." he shouted, raising his weapon over his head to drop it down on Naruto with a clean vertical cut through his body.
Gritting his teeth Naruto held his staff above himself, ready to catch the incoming blade. Two of his clones positioned themselves close to him to do the same, in order to block the huge weapon and the strength that would be behind that attack. All three of them went down on their knees on impact, but the staff wasn't breaking. The biggest threat in that moment was the strength itself, nearly crushing him on the bridge due to the weight pressing him down.
The force was constant and the first clone disappeared with a smoking explosion pretty quickly, a grin entering Angriffs face. "Ya know, I'm surprised. Yar weapon ain't half bad, but yar just a kid in the end. Was hoping for more fun."
"Don't underestimate me!" the last clone shouted while appearing on Angriffs left side, landing several hits with the staff on his arm. He looked in surprise before disappearing in a cloud of smoke as well, when the only reaction from the mercenary was to use this arm to deliver a punch at the clone. At least was the force behind the blade reduced and Naruto with his last clone was able to push it away.
"Ya got guts, kid. I'll give ya that much. But..." spreading his arms wide, holding the sword with his right hand, he showed off his scarred body. "...look at me, kid. I got way worse than what ya called an attack just now. I'm not gonna go down by someone like ya!"
Making a grimace in response Naruto formed the single handsign again. "We will see about that... Shadow Clone jutsu." he grumbled, creating another three clones to bring his fighting strength up to five people.
Starting to laugh the mercenary grinned. "An infinite supply of opponents? Now that could be fun. Alright, bring it, kid!"
-with the girls and Tazuna-
"Sis, take Tazuna and free the workers, I'll cover you two." Hanabi said with slight panic in her voice. Seeing that Kakashi was tied up with two of the mercenaries they saw before and with Naruto being pushed back by the third of them, having a hard time but somehow holding his ground. That left the sisters with a good dozen of other thugs that rushed their way. Their goal was clearly to kill Tazuna and the workers, something she wasn't willing to let happen. Taking a few steps in their direction, to get some distance between herself and the workers, she tried to think of a course of action.
Though the voices she could hear from the group weren't helping much. It was angering her, if anything at all. "Hey, look at that. Two little girls trying to protect 'em." One of the thugs spoke out loud, never slowing down a bit and quickly closing the distance.
"Yeah. Think Gato would pay us a bonus if we captured these two?" another one asked, a lecherous grin on his face.
A third one quickly responded, licking his lips. "You bet he will. Do you have any idea how much little girls are worth?"
That was it for Hanabi. Her mind snapped at that talking and she lost her temper. "What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you all about enslaving girls?" she shouted in anger, starting to do a set of handsigns.
The first thug started to laugh. "Look at that cute virgin. She doesn't know how life works."
"Uhm, say, her hands... is she a shinobi?" another of them asked, watching Hanabi sceptical.
While the mercenaries that were busy with Kakashi and Naruto were stuck some distance away from the captured workers, the group was nearly within reach by now. Hinata and Tazuna did their best to quickly unbind them, but it was clear that they wouldn't make it in time. But Hanabi's mind, despite being clouded by her temper, was focused enough to know that she had to buy her sister the time needed. Finishing her signs she pushed her hands on the ground. "Earth Style: Stepping Stones!" she shouted, lifting several stones that were worked into the finished parts of the bridge out of it.
The group of thugs wasn't paying much attention to them. Some hit the stones and fell, some didn't. The immediate effect was at least what she hoped for, to stretch the incoming group of enemies out a bit. Activating her Byakugan she barely noticed that one of the thugs fell on another, piercing the heart of the unlucky bastard already laying on the ground. A small part of her mind noticed that this was technically her first kill, even if it was indirect, she was still the cause of it.
But there was no time for her to think about it, as the first of the thugs reached her, weapon ready to strike. The sword came down on her from the upper left side and she quickly ducked under it, landing a hit with her clans Gentle Fist style on the guys stomach, letting him drop down to the ground while passing her. There was barely any time for her to react to the next threat, an axe coming from her right side, aiming low at her ducked body on knee height. A quick jump forward into the direction of the attacker with her knee connecting on the mans chin solved that problem as well. Said man dropped KO'd on the ground, the opposite momentum of his own movements and the incoming knee enough to knock him out.
Seeing one of their men barely moving and holding his stomach in pain, Hanabi wasn't too sure what she hit inside his body but it clearly was effective, and another one being knocked out with just one hit. The rest of the group stopped their run, eyeing Hanabi wary. Said girl took that moment to go back into a defensive stance, while inwardly cursing about this delay as it gave the men who stumbled and fell down time to get back up and join up with the rest of the group again.
"A feisty little bitch, huh?" one of them spoke, eyeing the young girl carefully. "Her ninjutsu sucks, but her taijutsu seems to be dangerous."
"Eh? You know about this stuff?" Another asked, looking over to the one who spoke first.
"Sure. There's always the risk to run into shinobi. Knowing at least some basics about them is vital, idiot." The first shot back, growling slightly.
"So, any ideas? It's just one little girl after all." Another spoke up, nodding in the direction where Tazuna and Hinata were still busy with the bound workers. "The reinforced rope was useful and all, but they won't be busy forever."
A quiet groan could be heard from Hinata about that comment. Next to her was a broken kunai that failed to cut the rope and even her Gentle Fist couldn't cut it, leaving her and Tazuna with undoing the knots manually as the only option.
"Eh? Simple. Overwhelming with numbers." The second said, bringing his sword in position and charging at Hanabi.
-with Kakashi-
He was troubled. The mercenaries he was fighting weren't shinobi, they weren't able to use ninjutsu or anything. But they clearly knew how to handle their weapons, as he was dodging Revys katana quite often and never managed to get a counterattack in as there was always a throwing knife precisely aiming for him whenever he tried. These two mercenaries were working great together he had to admit.
The troubling point for him however was the fact that he wasn't sure whether he wanted to kill them or not. He was certain that he could end it quickly with ninjutsu, but at least the female was doubting their actions to begin with. If he could influence them, talk to them to change sides, to protect the workers instead...
"Not half bad." Revy spoke up after Kakashi dodged another slash of his katana. "You got good reflexes and speed. But you are holding back, aren't you?"
"Right back at you. You know how to handle your weapon." Kakashi smiled slightly. "And you are correct. I'm unsure if I should kill you two or not. The logical thing would be to get this over with quickly and help my team, but..."
He ducked under another throwing knife that aimed for the side of his head. It was the first one thrown at him in an offensive way he noted, and not to protect the man he was fighting. "Ah, just shut up. I know exactly what you are trying to do here. Want to sow doubts within us, to confuse us til we give up or something. So what? Yes, I'm not happy with this contract, but it's still a contract. You as shinobi should understand that." Liane snapped at him. The sheaths attached to her clothes were already somewhat empty, having thrown a good third of her knives at Kakashi.
"Well, you got me there." Kakashi replied before disappearing from the spot he was standing, appearing behind the woman just to be greeted by yet another throwing knife. Dodging that one as well his smile intensified. "You got a good instinct. Let's see if it will help you." he spoke calmly, again flickering away to appear at another side of Liane. She was protecting her friend with her knives, but what if he changed his tactic and put pressure on her instead? The katana wielding man couldn't appear everywhere to return the favor.
He was still unsure whether to kill or not. The female at least was doubting that this fight was right and if he could pull them on his side, to get them to protect the workers, this might be a useful blow against Gatos men. You never knew who might follow their example as well.
-with Naruto-
Angriffs laughter was echoing over the bridge. It was a total blast for him, to cut down boy after boy without running out of targets. He wasn't even trying to defend himself whenever they attacked in a group, taking a few hits from the staffs without even flinching. "Well boy, that all ya got?" he taunted him.
Naruto was growling. No matter what he tried, even if he or a clone landed a hit, it was like that man before him wasn't feeling any pain. The only positive thing he could see right now was the fact that he was able to distract him, to keep him away from the workers and the girls. Watching another clone being cut down by that giant sword he thought about what else he could do.
All he did so far was train with his staff and he knew basic taijutsu. That wasn't much at all. There was also the point of him missing an element, which was the main reason why he hadn't tried to work on ninjutsu so far. But there must be something he could do. Something... anything... 'Wait a moment!' he thought to himself, watching the next clone disappear in smoke. 'What have I done when I was fighting that one brother... I was angry and... I focused my chakra on the staff, right? I think that was it. And we had chakra control training the other day...' his thoughts trailed off when his last clone got cut down after landing a solid hit on Angriffs side that the man wasn't acknowledging either.
"What's wrong, boy? No stamina left to give me more playmates?" He lifted the sword up on his shoulder, grinning down at Naruto. Expecting more entertainment he was waiting for a reaction, not wanting to cut the obvious original down as well just yet.
"Oh, I have. But I think I wanna try something new now." He answered with a wide smile on his face while already channeling his chakra not in his feet as he did for the tree walking, but in his hands to transfer it into his staff. It was an all or nothing situation, but considering his opponent he would loose anyway if he just continued on. There was a small tingling in his hands, a resonating feedback from his staff, which he took as a hint that if he wanted to attack he should do it now.
He charged the scarred mercenary head on. No new clones to fight or distract him, no diversion either. Shaking his head in disappointment Angriff readied his blade. "That ain't no fun, kid. Yar done for now." he stated calmly, ready to cut Naruto down.
-with the girls-
Not having waited for the others to agree or do something as well, the foolish bandit fell to the ground. His movements were sloppy and the swing of his sword was predictable, even without using her Byakugan. A simple sidestep was all she needed to avoid his attack and in return she hit him three times with her hands in the flank, effectively paralyzing the whole right side of his body.
"Last chance to leave us alone." she hissed out at the group of attackers standing in front of her, her expression clearly promising worse for the next one to come too close to her.
"The little girl is trying to threaten us, how cute." One of them chuckled, eyeing the bandit on the ground. "You know guys, his idea wasn't that bad at all. Ready?" He asked, seeing some nods both left and right of him. "Alright, then go!"
With that the ten bandits moved at once, aiming at her from different angles. She wasn't really thinking about it, adrenaline taking over, when she quickly formed another set of handsigns, pushing them on the ground. "Earth Style: Earth Wall!" She shouted, raising a wall wide enough to block off most of the bandits. There were even two or three curses to be heard, followed by a thump, when some of them weren't able to stop in time and crashed into it. That left only two attackers from her left side for the moment, each wielding a spear.
That quickly became a problem as these had longer range, making it harder for Hanabi to land an attack herself, while avoiding the piercing attacks from the spears. After some side- and backsteps, one of them actually managed to leave a scratch on her left shoulder, she growled and lunged out at them, quickly moving past the spearheads, leaving the two bandits defenseless. Her anger was taking control and she quickly ended both of their lives, landing clean hits on their lungs and hearts, blocking the function of these organs with her Gentle Fist.
Having decided that they had enough of that girl standing in their way, the rest of the group came around both sides of the wall, blindly charging at Hanabi now, trying to end it with overwhelming numbers. Hanabi, despite still using her Byakugan, had lost the overview of the situation with her anger taking over, only seeing the ones in front of her.
A scream behind her suddenly caught her attention and she took a quick glance before focusing back on her front, now sporting a grin on her face. Behind her stood Hinata who decided to join the fight after struggling with the knots. They could leave that task to Tazuna for now and still save the workers later, after the bandits were taken care off. The bandits coming at Hanabis back were surprised when the second girl, which they actually had forgotten about already, suddenly charged into their own flank, bringing down the bandit closest to Hanabi with precise hits of her Gentle Fist on his upper torso.
Hinata was pretty confident about the situation with these bandits being much weaker than the Demon Brothers they fought before. She wasn't afraid of their greater number either, willing to protect her mistress at all costs. That was the one thing she knew for sure, that got even clearer for her after having met with the Demon's slave in the forest. A small part of her mind was wondering if and when she might see her again.
-with Kakashi-
The change of tactic seemed to work in his favor. The woman was throwing her knives even faster now, emptying one sheath after another to try to keep Kakashi on distance. The man had a hard time trying to follow Kakashi, to stop him from attacking his friend. It worked just as planned, both of them getting tired through the continuous changes of direction and Kakashi even got pretty close to her a few times before he had to flicker away and try from another direction.
"You are quite good. But now I've got you." Kakashi spoke, dodging yet another knife and this time closing in on melee range. Liane was doing a backflip to dodge, one of her feet barely missing Kakashis head, before throwing another two knives at him during the last turn of the flip while her arms and body were on their way back up. He managed to avoid the feet aiming for his head and to dodge the first knife, but the second, thrown from this short distance, managed to leave a scratch at the side of his stomach.
A small smile entered her face seeing that she managed to hit him, before a curse left her lips the moment she completed her flip and felt a body behind her. Kakashi was quick to catch both her arms and pulled them behind her, securing her hands there, holding them tight with his own hand. His head was close to hers and he couldn't help but smile, something she wasn't seeing. "And that's 47. You are out of knives." he spoke quietly to her. "So, what now? Still interested to continue this fight? Or do you want to rethink your current contract?"
"How did you...?" she asked quietly, her breathing quick. She wasn't exactly the worst when it came to stamina, but with the pressure Kakashi put on her she used up loads of energy way faster than usual. "...the blonde card freak..." she answered her own question. There were only three people knowing the amount of blades she carried and neither Revy nor Angriff would tell anyone, only leaving the blonde man she allowed to get intimate with her.
"It's sometimes strange how events are connected, huh?" Kakashi agreed. "It was easy to count til you ran out of them. So?"
But before Liane got a chance to answer or even think about it Revy appeared behind them, finally having caught up to Kakashi. He too was breathing heavily, having tried to follow Kakashi's movements and to keep him away from his friend. "Get away from Liane!" he growled loudly, his katana already on his way down to cut Kakashi from behind. Too late did he realize that Kakashi flickered away again the moment he heard him growl, only leaving a confused Liane standing in the way of his katana. There wasn't anything he could do to stop his movement, the blade leaving a heavy cut from her shoulder down across her back to her hip.
She screamed in pain, falling down forward to the ground. Revy didn't waste any time, kneeling beside her right at the next moment. "Shit! Liane, you there? Hey, I'm sorry. Dammit..." he didn't care about the fact that Kakashi was still there, that his fight technically wasn't over yet. All he could think about was his friend he just heavily injured.
Spitting some blood to the ground she gritted her teeth. "Told you... got a bad... feeling... about it..." she pressed out of her lips, her breath growing heavy. The pain in her back was intense and she feared the worst. If her friends had just listened to her, if they had left...
"If I were you I would bring her somewhere safe and quickly do something about the bleeding. The damage might heal, but she'll bleed out if you don't attend that wound." Kakashi noted from some distance away, eyeing the injury on the woman's back.
"So you are not going to finish us while she is injured and I'm distracted?" Revy asked rhetorically while helping Liane up, half carrying and half dragging her along the bridge, trying to get down from it and away from the fights.
"From my point of view this fight is over." Kakashi shrugged. "All I'm asking is that you should rethink your allegiance with Gato." he spoke calm, turning away to leave towards his team, to see if his help was needed at another place.
Coughing up some blood Liane pressed out another word. "...agreed..." was all she said quietly, letting Revy guide her away. She knew before that working for Gato was wrong and she would clearly cancel that contract - if she survived.
-with Naruto-
Naruto was bringing his staff up while the blade of Angriff went down on him, the outcome of that pretty obvious to both of them as it was basically the same situation they had at the start of their fight. And there were it three Narutos trying to block and basically fail with it. It wasn't a surprise when the sword hit the staff, pushing Naruto down on his knees due to the sheer strength behind the impact, while he tried his best to not get crushed by it. "Was fun while it lasted." Angriff stated laughing, increasing the pressure on Naruto.
It was then that the blade actually managed to sink further down towards Naruto. For a possible onlooker would it seem like the staff was finally breaking, the huge sword finally cutting it in half. But both Naruto and Angriff had a different view on the situation, a smirk entering Narutos face. "Yup, it was fun, somehow. But I believe you are going to loose now." he spoke with a happy tune in his voice.
Angriff could only look in shock at the scene happening right in front of his eyes. He didn't understand what was going on and couldn't find words to voice his disbelief either. All he saw was that his sword indeed sank further down towards Naruto. But not because of his blade cutting the staff, but the staff melting the metal of the blade away at the point they were connected. When he finally snapped out of it, the staff was already halfway through his blade and his tries to get it free, to get it away, resulted in a match of strength as Naruto was desperately holding onto his staff, holding it in place.
In the end Narutos fight was futile, Angriff pulled his sword away in a strong pull that sent Naruto flying in the direction of that pull. He shifted mid-air to not land face first on the bridge but still let out a loud curse when he landed on his ass. That curse was quickly followed by the sound of metal landing on the stones of the bridge. They looked at the source of that sound with surprise written on both of their faces. "What the hell have ya done, kid?" Angriff shouted angrily, looking at the detached upper half of his weapon laying on the ground. His pull was too forceful, resulting in the damaged sword to simply break by that action.
He never got a chance to answer as Angriff was already charging at Naruto after speaking, the broken sword discarded, willing to finish off the boy with his bare fists. The anger clouding his actions also resulted in his attacks loosing efficence however, making it easier for Naruto to dodge them now, landing several hits in return. Again he did not acknowledge them, simply forcing the attack before he dropped down on his knees after a good minute of this.
Now with the movements gone were both of them able to see the effect these hits actually had on his body, as every spot Naruto hit was showing signs of burnings, some of them still smoldering. Making a grimace was he giving Naruto a somewhat twisted looking smile. "Ya ain't bad, kid. Not at all..." he spoke through gritted teeth. He wouldn't voice his pain, he never did. But he could feel that his time had come, that whatever Naruto just did to him had more than just an effect on the outside. He could feel the inside of his body heating up, his blood cloting, his organs dehydrating.
"Hey, you okay?" Naruto asked concerned, not knowing what to do or what he just did. He knew that it was an enemy on his knees in front of him, but he just couldn't help but worry about what he just did. Especially since he wasn't really sure about what he did at all. He barely tried to remember what happened against the Demon Brothers and to re-do it.
Angriff forced a smile on his face. "Yeah... just signed the wrong contract. Never leave the right side, ya hear?" His voice was trembling and getting weak. Naruto looked at the mercenary in surprise before he finally realized that his breathing stopped. He was still on his knees, not willing to drop down, not succumbing to the pains he felt. He stayed proud until his end, not showing any kind of weakness. Even in death he was living up to the nickname of 'Dozer' that Revy gave him years ago for always charging head first into a situation without even flinching.
"Not planing on leaving it..." Naruto said quietly and nodded to the man he had just killed. Taking a quick look around he walked over to the discarded parts of the blade and brought them over to his opponent, laying it at his side, before hurrying away to help the sisters.
-with the girls-
Hanabi was panting, the anger and rage still written on her face. By now she was sporting three injuries, the one on her left shoulder had gotten new friends at her right thigh and the left side of her stomach, but all of them were basically just minor scratches from weapons she couldn't dodge completely. Around her on the ground were the bodies of the bandits that attacked her. Some of them were still moving slightly, holding parts of their bodies in pain, while some of them were clearly dead.
She was sick of people talking about enslaving her and her sister, implying how they would basically defile and rape them. While she had no experience in these things she was well aware about the things that could happen. It was that fact that lead to her not thinking or caring about whether she killed these bandits with her Gentle Fist or just disabled them. And it would take some time for her to come down from her high, before she would think clearly and be able to realize what exactly she had done.
Behind her stood her sister. Her breath wasn't as heavy because she only joined the fight later and she hadn't used chakra draining elemental jutsu like the younger girl. Around her was a similar picture, just with the slight difference that more of the bandits laying on the ground were still breathing instead of being dead. But that didn't changed the fact that these too were in agonizing pain or completely paralyzed, Hinata having used her Gentle Fist effective. She too had an injury from a weapon and to her dislike on the same leg that got hurt during the fight with the Demon Brothers.
"I'm so going to need some rest for my leg once this mission is over..." she grumbled to herself. Her body relaxed a little and she deactivated her Byakugan once she scanned the close surrounding area and figured that there was no bandit left. Despite the numbers they were facing they did do a good job on them.
Taking several deep breaths to calm herself down Hanabi nodded slightly. "Granted..." she spoke quietly before turning around, a smile directed at her sister. "And thanks for the help."
Smiling back at her Hinata nodded slightly. "Don't mention it. But... what about the others?" her body tensed up again at the thought that both Naruto and Kakashi were still fighting and might need help. They were facing the stronger enemies after all.
Having her bloodline still active and a created wall blocking off any direct visual contact to their teammates she quickly checked the area further on the bridge. "Uhm... Spooky is coming back to us. The woman from before is severely injured and the man with the katana is helping her to get away. Seems like he let another one go, just like he did with C. And Naruto... there. He seems to be finished too." she spoke while observing the rest of the bridge.
"I'm glad..." Hinata spoke relieved, relaxing again.
It was then that a coughing got the attention of the two girls, both of them turning their heads to look at the source of it. "That's all fine and all, but... would you mind helping me with these ropes now?" Tazuna spoke slightly annoyed to them. Both of them had a combination of a smirk and an apology on their faces directed at Tazuna, before they went over to him to finally get his workers free.
XXXXX
Authors Note: I believe I'm somewhat rusty. I can feel my English currently getting worse again, in the grammar section at least, and I'm needing longer to write. On the positive side stands that I actually managed to get someone to look over the chapter and correct the grammar thingies for once. It's the user named "Lahmikhara" who's also helping me with ideas from time to time when I'm struggling.
All things considered somewhat late, but here you have it, still some progress.
I also tried out something new, fighting wise. Considering that there will often be fights with multiple locations and stuff - what do you think of this approach of a rotation? I believe it serves the purpose. That and with their skillsets still limited, uhm, yeah *shrugs* working on it. That was more or less the warm-up or something.
And to give the random thugs a bit more character did I also add names, gave it all together more depth. But don't worry, they won't be added as additional OCs or something. They won't appear outside the Wave arc.