Ramen Doodles
By Andrew J. Talon
Disclaimer: I do not and probably never will own Naruto or any other copyrighted works mentioned in this story. I am not writing this for profit.
The port of New Orleans was a fairly bustling place, especially on a saturday. Today, as with every weekend, a bustling bazaar had sprung up near the docks and merchants from all around hocked their wares before they continued their journey either up the Mississippi or out to sea. Similarly all sorts of people crowded about the market, locals mostly but here and there one could spot sailors from and even one trader that must have been from Aztlan from the unique mix of western clothing, pelts and feathers.
It is here that Team 10 found themselves strolling by. Well, perhaps strolling is the wrong word. In the front Chouji was seemingly following some invisible trail, stopping every so often to get a better whiff of the enticing scent. Hot on the Akimichi's scent was Ino, intent on giving her teammate a thorough scolding.
"C'mon Chouji can you not think with your gut for once in your life." The mind walker complained loudly, turning quite a few heads as they stormed forwards. "That stall we passed had some cute dresses I wanted to check out. Chouji? Are you IGNORING me, Chouji?"
"How troublesome." Grumbled Shikamaru as he and Asuma trailed behind, walking at their own pace. "Our one free day and I'm stuck being dragged around."
Asuma just chuckled. "Well I don't I think your plan to spend today cloud gazing was ever gonna work. Besides, it's not like you couldn't use the exercise."
"Hmm."
Shrugging at Shikamaru's noncommittal grunt Asuma proceed to pat one of the pockets of his flak jacket. "Besides, I'm running low on cigs and I've heard that Antilleans bring in the good stuff. If nothing else, immagine how your ma's going to react if you don't bring her some souvenirs." That got Shikamaru to grimace. "I hate that you aren't wrong."
It did not take long to reach the place that had piqued Choji's attention. In front of them was a sizable tented area, a section of which was dedicated to a makeshift restaurant. "Welcome, welcome. Good food, fair price." Squawked the parrot manning the counter, Team 10 might have assumed that it was simply a pet if it wasn't for the bird writing down something with the pencil it gingerly held in one of it's claws.
Ino practically did a double take as they approached the counter though Chouji got over his surprise quickly, being more interested in placing an order.
"Davy's beard, what's all this squawking about now, Polly?"
A rather tanned, stout figure appeared from the kitchen, dressed in shorts, sandals and a very flowery shirt. Between the silvery hair poking out of his bandana and the lively way he moved about it was hard to gouge his age. Most interestingly, however, where the numerous scars criss crossing his arms. This man had obviously seen his fair share of battle, the wooden prosthetic right leg was proof enough of that. No simple merchant would stay in the game this long with those injuries.
The apparent chef sized them up before a wide smile plastered itself on his face. "By thunder! I've seen my fair share of sights sailing the main, but I've not seen strangers such as you." With a hearty laugh he beckoned them closer. "I've heard tale of newcomers, by the by you wouldn't happen to be the very same?"
"You can say that. I'm Asuma and the brats here are Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji."
That got the man to grin. "What a red letter day this is turning out to be, my crew and I were to ship out on the morrow. My name is Juan de Silva, but friends can call me Long John."
"Hey mister, what's that you've got coo-" Chouji was unable to finish as Ino shut him up, before clasping her hands apologetically. "We're so sorry for intruding, my friends here don't know how to mind there matters."
"All's forgiven lads and lassie. Now, excuse me for a moment." Leaning into the the rest of the private tent Silva let out a holler. "Hawkins!" Team 10 could hear afraid "Coming!" before Silva turned his attention back to them.
"Now, you've caught me at something of an awkward time I'm afraid. I've still got a few more steps before I'm able to serve a proper meal." As he talked an androgynous young, with pale hair and a light tan, teen stepped in, undoubtedly the person Silva had called over. Ino almost made to flirt with the new arrival, only a closer look confirmed that it was a girl rather than a boy. A very handsome girl, but still. Her languid teenmate however noticed a small but very curious tattoo on her forearm shaped like a compass.
Silva continued talking. "I'm not one to back away from a challenge and I always strive to improve my culinary skills. What better way to test them than with a foreign palette? I'll have a proper feast ready in a flash. All I ask in return is your feedback"
At that Chouji's eyes lit up, while Shikamaru's narrowed.
"That's very generous of you, Mister Silva." Ino said, falling somewhere in between here two comrades. She wouldn't say no to a free meal.
"Oh I find people are so much more agreeable with a full belly and willing to porous my wares. Plus, you can here all sorts of interesting stories along the way." That definitely sounded off some alarm bells in the Nara's mind. Asuma however could see that the mostly just messing with them.
Silva then turned to the young girl. "Now Hawkins, be a good lass and show our new guests from afar the finery."
"Aye aye, sir."
As the four disappeared deeper into the tent Asuma and Silva locked eyes. "I have to say, you certainly have a sharp one."
"You aren't just a simple merchant, are you?"
"Well, I suppose you can call me a gentleman of fortune, of a sorts. But aye, I've shivered my fair share of timbers. You may lay to that!" Silva maintained his geniality and nodding approvingly in the direction the four teens had scampered off too. There was real affection in the way Silva talked to the young girl, of that Asuma was certain. It was not too different from how when he messed with his kids after all. "If you're concerned don't be, I wouldn't want my 'prentice to get tangled in any ugly business and I am genuinely curious to hear of these new shores."
"You say that..."
"I'll throw in a box of my finest Cuban cigars."
"Cigars you say?"
The food was exotic and spicy and Chouji was in heaven. Everything put in front of him, he gobbled down eagerly. Shikamaru, Ino and Asuma also enjoyed their smaller portions, though obviously not with as much relish. Asuma finished first, an old jounin habit, and leaned back to smell his new cigars. He looked up at Silva and smiled graciously. A beautiful melody filled the air, some kind of stringed instrument that put everyone at ease.
"Your hospitality has been very welcome," he said kindly. "If a little obvious."
"Hmmm?" The old buccaneer asked, a smirk on his weather face. "Not sure what you're aimin' at-"
Asuma sighed and held his cigar out to the side.
"If you would?" He asked.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes and leaned back on his stool.
"Took them long enough," he muttered. Ino blinked and looked between her sensei and her laziest teammate. Chouji too had paused, confused.
"Huh?" Chouji managed.
The music stopped, and a woman giggled. All four Konoha ninja watched the air shimmer next to the bar, and a dark skinned woman in bright green, red and yellow clothing appeared. She wore a blood red corset to emphasize her charms, which were already quite generous, and a wavy skirt, short in front, that showed off long, well formed legs in sailing boots. Her raven blue-black hair was held back by a scarlet bandana with an eagle feather tucked in the side. She beamed at them as she held a violin in her hands.
Silva chuckled, as Hawkins just huffed.
"Show off," Silva shot with a smile. The woman smirked and bowed, sweeping her arms dramatically.
"Guilty as charged!" The woman explained in a smoky, melodious voice. She stood back up and tucked her violin and bow away against her back, holding them in place with chakra. She snapped her fingers, and produced a small flame she applied to the edge of Asuma's cigar. "Here ya go, sugah."
"Thank you," Asuma said with a nod. He held the cigar up to his lips and took an experimental drag. He let out the smoke, and smiled appreciatively. The woman sat on the stool next to him as he let the smoke drift from his nostrils. "I assume you're our agent?"
"Lieutenant Ranger Harriet Johnson, at your service," she replied, giving them a beautiful smile.
"I take it Silva and Hawkins work with you?" Shikamaru guessed. He sighed. "How troublesome."
"Now now," Silva chuckled, "ain't like I forced ya into it! But killin' two birds with one stone, what man passes that opportunity up? Besides, Harriet is an old friend."
"Harriet still ain't sure why you keep mentioning her in the third person when she's around," Harriet deadpanned. Silva snorted, crossing his scarred arms over his chest.
"A habit anyone would form, how often you run out on the bill," he replied. Harriet huffed.
"It ain't that many times! Sides, you never serve up yer best for me!"
"If this isn't your best, I can't wait to try it! This food is great!" Chouji cheered. He then coughed. "Ah, and your music was great!" He said with a bashful nod to Harriet. The dark skinned woman beamed, and reached out to pinch his cheek.
"Well ain't you just the nicest little man ah ever did meet!" Harriet gushed, and Chouji's cheeks burned brighter. She shot him a wink. "Glad y'all came with good manners!"
"So, I guess you're a genjutsu specialist?" Ino asked, a bit annoyed at the attention the boys were paying the older woman. Harriet frowned.
"If that means 'illusions', then yes, that is one o' mah specialties," Harriet replied. "Ah also do what ah can to liven up this dismal little shack when ah visit, so Juan can have his customers."
"Lies and scullery!" Juan growled, as Harriet smiled cheekily back. She looked over at Asuma, brushing an eagle feather back against her hair.
"So sugah, you may have guessed we ain't exactly lettin' ya'll gallivant around the country for free, hm?"
"We're ninja, it's what we do," Asuma said, even as Ino groaned.
"Geez, so, what is it?" Ino asked. "Because I thought this was a vacation!"
"Now now, it ain't too big a chore," Harriet soothed. "You'll get paid enough for another shopping spree or two! More than that? You'll be helping out kids jest like yerselves." She gave them a smile and a wink. "What do ya say, hm?"
Ino hummed, then shrugged with a smile. "Sounds good to me!"
Chouji grinned. "I'm for it!"
Shikamaru sighed, leaning back. "Troublesome," he muttered. He shook his head. "But we're going to do it anyway, aren't we?"
Asuma gave him a smile and a nod.
"Huh! He sounds just like you, Hawkins!" Silva chuckled. "Guess some things are universal!"
Hawkins rolled her eyes. "Terrible adults dragging kids along to do their dirty work?"
"Not that much!" Silva protested.
"Sooo... remind me what we're looking for again." Chouji droned out droned out.
Team 10 now currently found itself on a river boat. Their vessel gently cruised upstream, pushing further inland. By now they were on the second day of their voyage.
They had passed by a number of towns, villas and haciendas, but none of them proved to be pit stops. They had a tight schedule to keep after all.
"Geez Chouji, where you even paying attention?" Ino groaned at her robust teammate.
"I did, really! It's just between all the yummy food it kinda.. slipped my mind?" Unfortunately this merely served to get the poor boy scolded even harder by the blond.
This being fairly routine for the team both Shikamaru and Asuma payed this little mind, Long John and Hawkins watched in amusement though their agent, Harriet watched with some concern.
"Really darling, It ain't no problem. Besides, ah would've done a another briefing soon enough anyways." The ranger entoned, breaking up the little spectacle.
They voyage from New Orleans to the mouth of the Rio Grande on Captain de Silva's ship the Benbow had been a smooth one. But thought he Benbow was quite the ship the Rio Grande was no Mississippi. A river ship had been commandeered through one of Long John's contacts in the region and a skeleton crew assembled to man it.
Now Team 10 and the rest crowded the cramped captain's quarters. There a prominent map of the Rio Grande, among others, was displayed.
"First, it's not a what but a who."
On a table Harriet Johnson spread out a number of photos and papers. Most displayed the same man, a weasley looking fellow that looked skinny as a pencil and mean as a whip.
"This right here is Billy "Buster" Walker. Up until a week ago he had been a sergeant in the US Federal Rangers same as me."
"Following some unusual incidents. An internal investigation was launched and turns out that Walker is a loyalis of the Golden Circle."
"The Golden Circle?" Intoned Ino.
Besides the blond her two teammates listened intently.
Harriet grimaced at the question. "The Golden Circle is... an open secret ah suppose."
"Membership is something they keep close to their chest, we don't rightly know just who's calling the shots. Even digging into the lower ranks is something of a pain."
"They one thing we do know is what they want." A dangerous glint appeared in the ranger's eyes.
"See my home state's a relatively recent addition to the Union. Back during my folk's time this warlord, Andrew 'Old Ironoak' Davids, ran the self-proclaimed Peachtree Republic. 'Course the only voice that had any say back then was the gentry. " She said bitterly.
"Teddy eventually kicked Ironass out, but some fools still yearn for the bad old days. For them there's no cost too high to turn back the clock."
Asuma nodded in turn, taking a puff from his cigar in the process. "That explain why your after him, Johnson."
The jounin turned to the silver haired captain. "But not so much why you're getting involved, Silva. Hardly seems something that concerns you buccaneers."
Long John let out a heart laugh. "And you'd certainly be right, Mr. Sarutobi!"
The captain elaborated further. "We buccaneers generally don't stick our oars in continental affairs. Provided the cowboys don't meddle in ours we're content enough to leave things as is."
"But they've somehow earned your country's ire? Despite their goals being centered exclusively on the US." Now it was Shikamaru that chipped in. The gears in his head were turning, he could see a pattern but he needed to know more.
The normally jovial captain's mood had turned stormy. "Aye, there's the rub of the it. Rebellions are expensive and the Golden Circle finances at least part of their operations with human trafficking. They track down promising young adepts and shipping them off to Aztlan like so much-"
"Cargo." Grimly finished Harriet.
"And people ain't cargo, mate." Hawkins said ruefully.
Beside her the younger members of Team 10 noticed how this talk was affecting her. It was clear that this was also personal for Jamie. After all how could it not?
Early into her apprenticeship she had almost been taken herself. Had it not been for de Silva's quick actions who knows what fate awaited her.
"Mostly they center their kidnappings to the US and the Sunbelt nations, but some of their most prominent smuggling routes use Antillean shipping lanes." The federal ranger explained, gesturing at various points of a map to get her point across.
While Long John continued. "Which is where this little agreement comes into play. We buccaneers don't have the cleanest history, we'll be the first to admit that. But to see children fettered, abused and who knows what else? It's inhuman, that's what it is and by thunder we'll do our damndest to shut such a thing down."
A silence settled on the group. For the genin this was a splash of icy water to their face. This new land had so far been amazing, it almost seemed idyllic. But now some of that glitter had been wiped away and they were left wondering whether their lands really where any different.
Shikamaru was the first to break the silence, pointedly staring at Harriet. "And you don't expect trouble."
"Oh, ah am." Replied the ranger. "But he was fixin' to leave New Orleans lickety-split. The whole reason we even know where he's run off to is because he couldn't properly clear out his hidey hole."
At this Harriet dug up a number of half-burned papers.
"Walker might be able to rustle up a posse 'round himself. But nothing too impressive ah reckon. We know he was traveling light and his rank's pay was piddlin'. Chances are he ain't flush with cash."
She grimaced and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Still, had ah gotten there just one day early we wouldn't even be here."
At this Silva interjected. "No use obsessing over lost plunder, Harriet. Keep your eyes ashore."
"Ah know, Long John. This is why we can't let the slippery devil escape again." With a heavy sigh she set herself straight again, newfound determination settling in.
A call came in from the lower deck. "Cap'n, we've arrived."
"Very good, Mr. Arrow. Set us ashore."
The spot where the riverboat had anchored was still aways from the town where Buster Walker had holled himself up in. However it was out of sight and the local geography and shrubbery offered partial concealment. As the group plodded on shore Team 10 turned to the adults.
Surprisingly Chouji was the first to ask, "So what's our role?" though his two teammates and even Hawkins where similarly moments away from asking the same.
Checking over her instrument and weapon one last time Harriet set her sights on the teens, giving them a stern look.
"Your teacher, Silva and myself will be heading into town."
The agent locked eyes with each of them, stressing the seriousness of the situation. "You kids are gonna stay right here. First, ah don't want you darlings getting caught in the crossfire."
"And from what I've gathered it's also likely that at least a few kidnapping victims are being processed here before they're smuggled into Aztlan."
At this Team 10's eyes hardened.
"If this is true we will be sending these kids in your direction, Ah want you lot to keep them safe." The ranger continued. "Do ah make myself clear?"
A chorus of hai/aye aye responded in kind. Which was surprising, Harriet had heard all sorts of stories from fellow agents having to corral their apprentices from getting in over their heads. She familiar enough with Hawkins to know the girl would heed her warnings and the little ninja's seemed to have a good head on their shoulders, but it was nice to see how seriously they were taking this situation.
_
The three adults could now see the town. It was fairly nondescript, looking like any old settlement out west. Most of the buildings were constructed out of wood, all pockmarked to varying degrees by gunfire, only the local church was more solidly made out of brick and mortar. The main avenue was spacious, as if specifically made for high noon duels, but none of the roads were paved.
Practically the only thing unique about this town was it's name: 'Interesting'. Evidently the locals at least had a sense of humor.
"So, how do we do this?" Asked Asuma. The jounin had put out his cigar, saving it for later. He idly fingered his trench knives while the three overlooked the town. They studied it closer, looking for points of interest. The hotel/saloon was the obvious first choice. But while Walker would probably be found there, the adepts would likely be held elsewhere.
Long John was the first to break the commiserating.
"I'll go ahead and skulk about the place, see where they're keeping the adepts." As he said this the buccaneer was busy taking off his prosthetic right leg, folding it up and hiding it in a worn leather bag, earning curious looks from both Asuma and Harriet. "Cripples rarely ever get more than a glance." He dragged down his bandana over his left eye and to really sell the effect he snapped off a sturdy looking branch to use as a crutch. He made a convincing tramp as he deliberately hobbled around in a half-drunken daze.
His two companions thought on it for a moment before they agreed that this was the best course of action at the moment.
"Right, we'll wait a while and then come in after to approach Walker. If he's smart he'll turn himself in." Said the federal agent.
In response Asuma asked. "And if he's not?"
Harriet grinned.
"Well that's where the fun begins, sugah."
_
When the time came for Harriet and Asuma to follow through the town was now bathed in warm hues of orange and gold. The setting sun marked closing time for many of the shops, as shopkeepers locked up and headed home.
Only a few prominent establishments showed no signs of closing. Chief among them was the local saloon, a half burned out neon sign beckoning any and all travellers to kick up their feet, grab a drink and rest.
As expected their target had predictably sought solace with a bottle, a good a place as any to drown out his misery.
So a ninja and a cowboy walk into a saloon and a sudden silence gripped the establishment. One could practically hear a pin drop with how quiet it had gotten.
The smarter and less inebriated patrons began to quietly excuse themselves upon laying eyes on Harriet's shiny badge. Only the bar continued a pace, the clients too lost in their drink to pay heed to much of anything.
There was their man, hunched over and nursing a glass.
"Billy Walker?"
"Yeah, yeah. Look I told you guys I'd pay for my damn room in a sec-" The tall, thin turncoat shifted in his seat, turning to face the pair. One good look at the agent's badge set him stumbling out of the stool,
Just as he landed on his ass, Harriet pressed harder. She lorded over the spawled Buster, who continued to trip backwards.
"Billy Walker, for your role in the kidnapping of American citizen, participating in human trafficking and association with banned organizations while under federal employ you are hereby ordered to present yourself to the nearest US courthouse. Surrender yourself so that justice may be served." Harriet thundered as she and Asuma marched forward, each covering an exit Buster might try to make a run for.
"Listen to the lady, buddy. This won't end well for you if you don't." Calmly said Asuma.
By now the outlaw had managed to regain his footing and though he backpettled his beady eyes zeroed in on his once fellow ranger. His thin lips locked into a snarl as he growled out his response.
"You think I'm stupid or something? I know I got a date with the hangman if I'm taken in." He practically spat at them, his hands slowly twitched to his revolver but Harriet already had her shotgun out while Asuma gripped his trench knives.
Harriet offered him one final chance to come in quietly, for the sake of the town if nothing else.
"If you don't lay down your arms that's for damn sure. Throw yourself at the mercy of the courts and enter a plea deal or it's the gallows for you." Her tone was imperious, but Walker was having none of it.
His back was against the far wall but he remained defiant. His face became ruddy with anger as his features twisted into a unrepentant look.
"Is that what you think? Well screw you." He hissed before suddenly raising his voice. "Alonso!"
Asuma was quick to pull Harriet down as the wall nearest to them exploded. As the dust settled they could see a man step through the dust and debris. He was of a fairly average built but he wore a strikingly white suit inlaid with intricate gold embroidery. His face was largely shadowed by the wide-brimmed sombrero.
The newcomer began chuckling as he surveyed the scene.
"Billy, Billy, Billy. What am I to do with you. You allow yourself to be discovered, you bring such a small shipment with you this time and now you bring the law on my doorstep." Buster scowled harder at his apparent business partner.
"Whatever man, just help me get rid of these assholes." Billy said, reaching for his revolver, but the intruder did not seem to be in much of a hurry to help. He seemed more amused at this erstwhile ally's situation than committed to his defence as he held his guitar lazily.
"You're lucky that I'm neither of our bosses, Billy. Your's will no doubt be so very cross with you, and mine? Well, let's just say I've seen the Cult's priests rip out men's hearts for less."
Both Asuma and Harriet where on their feet again, only now Harriet had taken out her violin in response. That got a glimmer of recognition in the white suited man as he now faced them.
"My, my a fellow artist I see and-" The intruder paused as the gave the ninja a one over. "now this is most intriguing."
He took off his sombrero and pressed it against his chest in a greeting, revealing his face. The man was fairly handsome, he was olive skinned with a finely trimmed pencil mustache.
"Well I'm nothing if not a gentleman. You may know me as Alonso Ernesto de la Concepción y Santiago." He finished his introduction with a small bow and a dramatic flourish. "I'd add 'at your service', but" The guitarist locked eyes with Harriet. "we all know that would be a lie. Wouldn't we?"
And then the pin dropped, and the saloon exploded into violence.
Thin arrows of electricity raced towards the pair as the mariachi strummed a tune with his guitar. Both dodged, Harriet leaping behind the bar counter. The song shifted in pitch and the electric arrows turned on a dime, zeroing in once more on their targets.
Counting on his elemental advantage, Asuma swung down one of his trench knives. The buzzing whirl of the wind chakra infusing the blade met the electric blasts and cleaved right through them, dissipating the technique.
The other bolt pierced right through Harriet's cover and through the wall behind it, but did catch the ranger.
Noting the disappeared ranger, Alonso narrowed his eyes before they went wide again. The mariachi side stepped and where he stood a pillar of flame erupted, his eyes darting across the room trying to pinpoint the ranger.
Billy Walker did not idle during this, he had ducked behind the saloon's upright piano. Finally able to pull out his gun he proceeded to hammer away at the ninja. Once, twice, soon all six of his revolver's cylinder where empty and the traitor cursed under his breath as he tried to quickly reload.
In turn Asuma ducked, dodged and weaved through the hail of gunfire, the bullets grazing his uniform in several places. The jounin fingers ran through several seals and he took a deep breath.
As the ninja exhaled the saloon became almost completely obscured in a thick, dark cloud of smoke. Just as Alonso and Billy smelled the familiar scent of gunpowder in the smoke, Harriet appeared and with a note from her violin tufts of flame danced towards the black cloud.
The blast tore the saloon open and could be heard far beyond the town proper.
Walker sprinted from the smoking wreckage, coughing all the while. He felt a lick of heat caress his skin and he threw himself on the dirt road as a jet of flames danced overhead.
Buster felt the familiar rush of his tincture bubbling within him. He punched the earth in front of him and a jagged wall burst up. He peaked up from his makeshift cover and took potshots at the figures moving within the smoke.
Further down the road he could see the nine outlaws he had hired to be his bodyguards. None of them looked particularly bright, and to be blunt they weren't.
But as they got nearer Walker could tell there was something going on.
"Boss! The cargo managed to escape somehow?" Stammered out the first hired gun that reached him. Buster sneered at them. "What are you idiots doing then? Go after them?!" Three of the outlaws
Walker heard a whistling sound and instinctively backed away, his remaining posse following his lead. Soon enough a blast of wind crashed into his earthen barrier, cutting deep into it.
Before Asuma could capitalize on it however the combined gunfire of Walker's crew forced him find cover as he moved about the town's roofs.
Suddenly a lucky shot connected right between the jounin eyes and the ninja began to stumble backwards. The outlaws broke into loud hollering as they celebrated. The sharper eyed Buster however, noticed the slight way the crumpled shinobi shimmered and shaked just like a heat mirage...
Before he could warn a melodious sonata rang out and a stream of flame, shaped like the devil himself raced down the main avenue, propelled by the very wind itself.
It seemed as though their goose would be thoroughly cooked until Alonso appeared, sliding on his knees. The mariachi's powerslide put him right between the coming inferno and the outlaws, his ballad conjuring a thunderous bull to meet the devil head on.
However that did not save the hired guns in the end. An explosion hit the grouped up cowboys, taking out four of the six men.
All eyes followed the faint trail of smoke until they rested on its source. There with his prosthetic leg revealing a miniature cannon, was Long John.
"What's the matter you bilge-sucking dogs, ain't never seen a buccaneer before?"
_
Back with Team 10 they could tell that fighting had begun in the town from the bright flashes of light and the wind carrying the melodies of the dueling musicians.
Jamie furrowed her brow and tapped the feather tattoo she had on her right wrist, which now glowed a soft yellow.
"Polly, what do you see?" Hawkins asked the parrot summon that circled far above. Despite the distance however the bird heard her loud and clear.
From it's view up above the parrot could see a clear picture of the battle taking place in town. Polly had known Harriet long enough to attribute the bursts of fire to her and soon she could see the tendrils of water that her master used. The other element being thrown around though...
"Thunderbolts and Lightning, very very frightening!" Replied back the parrot. Hawkins bit her lower lip, a part of her worried for her Silva as an apprentice naturally would. But she also knew that her and Team 10's job here was equally important. She was about to ask another question before Shikamaru's voice interrupted her.
"Wait, what's that?" They collectively squinted at the horizon and could see vague shapes moving towards them. Relaying the question to Polly they soon got their answer.
"Freedmen, with three cowboys on their heels." The summon squaked.
Shikamaru was quick to command, his mind puzzling through the various options they had. "Everyone in position like we planned."
They had a few advantages on their side. The sun's position now cast long shadows and dark crevices to hide in and the way the road dipped would slow the cowboys for a short while.
Ino concealed in some shrubbery herself high above a rocky above a rocky formation. Shikamaru flattened himself against the wall of said outcropping, ready to cast his family's signature jutsu once the cowboys rounded the corner into the dark shadows. Hawkins likewise hid herself among a tall dead tree.
Lastly Chouji, as tankiest of the team hollered at the escapees leading them towards the river boat and covering their escape.
As the three cowboys got into view and prepared to fire upon the retreating figures they were dive bombed by Polly. The parrot screeched and fluttered, distracting the three as they tried to shoot the bird out of the sky. Soon enough the first was completely paralyzed, his shadow stretching and connecting to his new captor. The second thug had little time to react as his own body now became puppeted by someone else. The final man, now thoroughly freaked out tried to fire blindly before an anchored crashed into him, it's long chain slithering around him and connecting all the way back to Hawkin's ship wheel tattoo.
Now immobilized the three unlucky fools that had been chasing the escapees were rolled over by the human boulder that Chouji had become.
With that threat dealt with the young kidnapping victims beggan to let their emotions take over, as their saviors rushed to comfort them and usher them to safety.
"Easy there, everything is going to be alright."
_
Back in town the battle had turned into a mostly equal affair at first. Billy still had the numbers, but aside from Alonso, Harriet's side had the skills.
But now the tide had turned once again, the last two hired guns where knocked out cold. White Billy himself...
"What the hell? Get me outta this stupid thing, Alonso!" Shouted Walker as tendrils of water wrapped around him tightly, said appendages flowing back to the squid tattoo on Silva's chest.
Now alone Alonso stood atop the church's steeple, the crackle of lightning surrounding him and his guitar just like Harriet and her violin were covered in flakes of fire. A tense standoff now ensued.
The dandy mariachi's once impeccably white outfit was now dirtied and bloodied, though he maintained his cool composure. But he shook his head at his ally.
"Ah, Billy. I like you, I truly do. But you've dug your own grave, while I know when to stop digging." Ignoring the colorful curses spilling out of Walker's mouth he turned his gaze at his opponents.
"Señorita Harriet, I must say with musical skills like those you truly must be a woman after my own heart. But alas, I remain married to Aztlan." Had this been a different encounter, and had the man she'd been facing not been an agent of Aztlan, the violinist might have felt the urge to flirt back. But her eyes remained narrowed, ready to counter another melody.
"And your companions are so interesting. The old man I underestimated, I'll admit that. And you-" Alonso and Asuma's eyes locked. "I have never fought anyone like you, You ninjas are such a curiosity."
He lifted his right hand up before once more giving a careful bow.
"But for now I must bid you, adios."
"You ain't going nowhere." Replied Asuma, his hands prepared to race through another jutsu.
"Oh, but I am." With a flick of his wrist the town was bathed in light and the roar of a thunder clap.
Walker remained, now cursing up a storm before being gagged by Long John. "Oh quit your blabbering, 'fore I keelhaul ye."
Harriet studied the surrounding before sighing. "That man's long gone now. At any rate we have what we came for, let's head back to the ship"
Written by Najziur and myself. Hope you enjoyed!