Chapter 3
- With the various shinobi standing around 'Natsuha' and the others -
Dog could only stand there dumbstruck and speechless as he and Cat watched as the now pale, golden eyed and redheaded Jinchuuriki stretched out her small, delicate arm with an outstretched palm and quietly uttered:
"[Execute: Surround, Pierce, Bind, and Break - 'Forest of Chains']."
An instant later countless, spike tipped crimson chains burst out of the ground all around them and moving about as if they were alive and on the hunt before lashing out at them. Oddly, however, the chains seemed noticeably far less hostile toward Dog and Cat while viciously and mercilessly attacking the two ROOT agents and the lone Kumo-nin. Meanwhile, the rest of those strange, blood red chains circled protectively around 'Natsuha' and the two other girls who'd been gathered close behind her.
'...Wait. If Sensei's seal really had weakened or broke, then she would've just killed us all,' Dog thought as his mind raced to fully understand just what he was seeing in front of him and how different it was from what happened that terrible and tragic night six years ago. 'She's even going easy on Cat and I too, as if she's just trying to keep us away rather than fight us... and she's even protecting the Hyuga and that girl she ate ramen with.' However, before Dog could think any further on his young charge's odd behavior, he spotted the two ROOT agents flashing through hand seals at blinding speed while dodging countless chains aimed at their heads.
"[Fire Release: Grand Fireball]!" called out the smaller, female ROOT agent as she blew out several large fireballs raced straight at the seemingly human shaped Kyuubi no Youko.
"[Wind Release: Great Breakthrough]!" followed up the taller male ROOT, exhaling a powerful blast of wind moments after his partner, greatly increasing her fire jutsu's speed and power the moment they connected.
Unfortunately, Dog and Cat were still too busy fending off the lone Kumo-nin and his lightning clones to try and stop them.
"...Tch! I don't have time for this! Just get the hell out of my way!" Cat hissed in frustration as she defended against a lightning clone before finally managing to break its stance and bisect it down the middle with a quick vertical slash of her katana... and causing it to explode faster than she could evade, only now just realizing that they were, in fact, lightning clones. '...Shit!'
"Cat!" Dog cried out while fighting off the very stubborn Kumo-nin to a draw but still unable to fully push him back. 'Damn he's good. I can see why Kumo sent him to extract the Hyuga girl,' Dog thought as he recalled that little tidbit the darker skinned man let slip during one of their earlier exchanges, cursing his lot in life and the greedy 3rd Raikage for shoving that shitty mission down his throat.
"I'm fine, just got a little careless," replied the slightly singed purple haired swordswoman as she appeared next to Dog after successfully substituting away at the last second. 'Still a little too close for my comfort though...'
...And, speaking of 'too close for comfort'.
*BBBOOOOMMMM!*
"...Natsuha!"
"...No!"
Fortunately, or unfortunately (the pair really didn't know, situation being what it was), Dog and Cat didn't need to worry for 'Natsuha' when she acted almost immediately, countering the ROOT's combination jutsu with an even more powerful fire jutsu of her own.
"...[Execute: 'Foxfire']." 'Natsuha' then let out a constant, steady stream of unfathomably hot azure flames from her tiny little mouth. Needless to say, 'Natsuha', whose own affinity was fire, would have very little to worry about.
"...Ngh!"
"...!"
The resulting explosion from their colliding jutsu momentarily blinded and knocked the ninja back several dozen feet. Fortunately for Hinata and Anko, 'Natsuha's' crimson chain barrier kept the pair safe from the worst of it. With the shinobi dealt with for the moment, 'Natsuha' looked over her shoulder and confirmed that, for the time being at least, the other two girls weren't any worse for wear. 'Natsuha' then turned her attention to the unfamiliar person falling from the sky and headed straight for them.
"...?" 'Oh, so that's the source of the strange chakra disturbing the ambient natural chakra in the air. Hmm, well... at least I'm not sensing any negative intentions from whoever that is. Actually, I don't sense anything at all... how odd,' 'Natsuha' observed, more intrigued than anything before a random thought hit her. 'I wonder if they're going be okay once they finally hit the ground.'
- High in the sky, directly above 'Natsuha' and the others -
'...Hmm?' his consciousness finally stirring and eyes lazily opening, the still tired and injured young man with messy dark grey hair and amber eyes tried his best to take stock of his current situation now. After slowly looking around a bit, when he realized that he was in the sky, and falling... falling very quickly too. '..Oh. Well, that's not good now is it?'
No, it wasn't just the distance or speed at which he was falling that bothered the young man; it was the dome of crimson red chains and the very, very fierce battle going on around it that concerned him.
'And that's some seriously dense ether down there too... Oh, and some of it feels... malevolent? No, not malevolent exactly, but... hmm...' Squinting his eyes, the young man tried to focus in on what was in that dome. Specifically, the source of that odd feeling ether. 'Ah, it must be that red haired little girl then? And it seems she's protecting two other little girls too... Wait, they're all just children?'
Though he didn't actually feel or show it himself, the young man still knew what those feelings probably were; it would have been surprise and a fair amount of curiosity at the sight of the five other figures around the dome of chains. 'And what about them? Are they here to help them, or...'
But, before the young man could think on things any further he felt something tugging on him, causing him to fall even faster towards the dome as it was calling out to him. Whatever that 'tugging' was, it was increasing and becoming stronger the closer to the ground he got. Worse still was that he hadn't yet fully recovered on top of being unable to move very well. Really, it took everything he had to set up a low powered barrier around himself. 'I... really hope those chains don't skewer me alive though...'
- With 'Natsuha' -
"...Oh. Looks like he's coming in faster than I expected," 'Natsuha' muttered to no one in particular as she used her now enhanced senses up into the rainy skies above. '...Hmm. I wonder if I can trust him to take care of the rest though... Either way, my time's almost up and the girl's body won't be able to hold up for much longer. Well, I suppose all I can really do is gamble the odds and hope I come out on top,' she mentally added, unable to hold back the ghost of smile as her golden eyes briefly flickered with a mischievous light. Anko and Hinata though, still bound and unable to move or speak, could only lay there on the ground wondering just what she was even talking about. Honestly though, they just hoped it was help and not another kidnapper.
- With Dog and the others, just outside the dome -
'...What the... A person falling out of the sky? But, more than that, what's with that chakra?'
"Dog. What's wrong? What are you looki-Wait, who is that and is he seriously falling from the sky!?"
"Probably, but that's not what's important right now. Can't you feel it? His chakra levels; they're huge," Dog replied without taking his eyes off the man in dark clothes as he was just about to make contact with the dome of red chains 'Natsuha' had erected. '...Shit, really!?'
The other three shinobi were so distracted by the mysterious young man's sudden appearance and high and strange feeling chakra levels that they didn't notice just 'where' he was falling until it was too late.
'I can only pray that it's not another enemy shinobi; we're already outnumbered as is and the space around us... I can't feel anything outside of it either for some reason... Ugh. This really just isn't my day...' Dog mentally grumbled while wondering what would happen next, hoping that whatever it was, wouldn't be worse than things were already.
The two ROOT and lone Kumo-nin, however, put aside their own differences for the moment and went to go deal with whoever this was before he became a problem while sending out several more clones to keep the two Konoha-nin from getting in the way.
"...Look!" said the female ROOT to her partner, pointing to the dome of chains.
"Hmm? Has the Jinchuuriki finally started to run low on chakra then?"
"Unknown, but likely. After all, Jinchuuriki or not, she is still only a six year old little girl with no real knowledge or training in the shinobi arts. That being the case, it stands to reason that even if she did call on the Kyuubi's power, her body likely wouldn't be able to withstand using it for too long without running the risk of permanently damaging it."
"Then that simplifies things."
"And the Kumo-nin?"
"Ignore him. He's only after the Hyuga girl and we've already wasted enough time as is. We'll simply need to accept we've lost her and move on," replied the taller ROOT agent. "If we have to, we'll eliminate them both over letting Konoha losing one its strongest Bloodlines."
"Understood."
- With 'Natsuha', Anko and Hinata -
It was as if, at that very moment, everything decided to go wrong all at once. First, the dome of chains started to weaken and flicker in and out of existence as 'Natsuha' began losing her strength followed by the sudden appearance of some strange man in dark clothes with a huge and odd feeling chakra signature about to land practically right on top of them. Last, but certainly not least, was that the Kumo-nin and whoever those two ANBU looking weirdos were hadn't given up on capturing them yet either. No, they might have even decided to simply cut their losses and just get rid of them all then and there. Hinata and Anko could only watch on helplessly as the three of them readied to unleash another wave of jutsu now that 'Natsuha' looked like she could barely keep herself standing. Her red aura and nine 'fox tails' were already gone while her hair slowly shifted back from red back to blonde.
Anko, for her part, only had one thought about this entire situation. '...We're so screwed...!' In the end, all she could do was just close her eyes and pray to whatever deity might hear and take pity on her that someone, anyone, would come and save them. After all, even if her life wasn't the best, Mitarashi Anko still didn't want to die. Really, what six year old would? No, even if she was tied up and couldn't move, Anko was going to do whatever she could to live even just one second longer. If praying for a miracle was all she had left, then she was going to do it, hopeless situation and impending doom be damned. Yes, she was a very stubborn girl like that.
"..." Hinata, on the other hand, couldn't help but let her curiosity at what might happen next overtake whatever fear she had been feeling at that moment. Yes, for some strange reason, the young Hyuga girl had the oddest feeling that things would turn out alright in the end. Now, there was absolutely no real reason for her to believe that, but it was similar to what she felt just before the Kumo-nin crashed into her and Hanabi's room. Oh, the feelings themselves weren't at all the same, but the sense of 'certainty' they shared was. Rather than dread and urgency though, it was... a feeling of relief that everything was going to be alright. Again, she had no clue where that feeling came from, but right now, anything was better than feeling scared or resigning herself to death or a fate worse than that.
And Natsuha? What did she think now that she was back in control of her senses and body, even if she was probably about to black out again. Simple; she looked up into the sky, specifically up and into the young man's eyes, and simply uttered a single and sincere wish from the very bottom of her heart.
"...Please, Mister... save, us... Please...!" She didn't know who he was or why she called out to him but, something deep inside told her that she could put her trust in whoever this man was and that he would save them.
...
...And, with those final words, the girl in front of them who'd been keeping them all safe finally fell over drained and out of chakra, along with her barrier of chains she'd erected... right at the exact moment the barrage of jutsu came headed their way.
- With the young man from 'so very far away' -
He could barely catch it, but he definitely heard her ask him to save them.
He had no idea what she was saying but could guess what she wanted from the look on her face and the tone in her voice. It was strange, but ever since he woke up or maybe even before that, the young man realized that something was off, that he was missing something deep inside and that he no longer felt anything... as if his very 'heart' had disappeared while leaving everything else behind. It was a very strange feeling, knowing how things are 'supposed' to feel and how to respond according if need be, yet not being able to actually feel the emotions themselves. Still, he acted and moved almost by instinct alone when he heard the girl's plea for help, as if he was being guided by muscle memory alone. And for now, that would have to be enough.
"..." 'Lightning, fire and wind artes huh? And wow they're coming in fast. Fairly high powered too.'
He was sure that he would be freaking out if he could but right now, there was nothing but a detached calmness and no real thoughts other than trusting in his body and memories to guide him. The young man wasn't quite sure what was really going on but there wasn't any time and he needed to act fast as he felt his body fill up with ether as it quickly molded itself into the desired artes he imagined as he launched them outward in the shape of black, shadowy chains and surrounded himself and the three helpless little girls now behind him, barely making it in time to absorb the force of their attacks.
'Well, at least we're alive and in one piece anyway,' he thought as he let out a small sigh of relief.
It was a close call, but the young man wasn't going to complain. If anything, it let him get a better sense of just how powerful the magic his attackers used really was. Unfortunately, those artes were a lot stronger than he expected on top of still being weakened from his journey to wherever this place was.
'Damn, outnumbered and drained too, great..,' the young man observed as he took up a defensive stance in front of the three little girls behind him, his own shadowy chains now circling protectively around them. 'Hmm? Oh, it looks like one of them is saying something to me. Probably threats to leave/surrender or warnings of much pain and/or death if I get stay/get involved...'
And how was the young man so sure that these were threats? Simple, the lone Kumo-nin spoke while pointing his chokuto at him. The two other masked strangers standing farther back didn't look much friendlier either, but he could tell that much of their hostility was aimed more at the ones attacking the girls so there was that at least. Still, the fact that he couldn't understand their language made it so that even defending himself wasn't even an option... which, really only left him one choice. '...This will likely make them even more suspicious of me, if not outright attack me, but I really can't afford to deal with a language barrier on top of everything else...' Mind made up, the young man internally molded his ether and quickly formed an autonomous analysis sphere arte that would record and decipher any unknown languages a mage might come across and run them through a sort of 'adaptive translation program' that could be 'mentally downloaded' later. It wouldn't always let one communicate perfectly with the other party, but broken or incomplete understanding was still better than none at all.
"...!"
But, just as he feared/expected, everyone saw his actions as an attack and quickly moved in to try and neutralize the 'threat', with the lone Kumo-nin being the first to act, lightning ether infused chokuto in hand.
- With the attacking shinobi -
"I said, step away from those girls! Hey! Are you listening!?" shouted the Kumo-nin at the stranger in slightly torn, dark foreign looking clothing. '...What's with him? Can he not understand me? ...No, forget it. It doesn't matter. The fact that he's standing in my way is enough. Dammit! If these blasted Konoha-nin weren't already enough of a headache, now I have to deal with some apparently insanely powerful foreigner who can use sealess jutsu!? ...Seriously, what the fuck...' Mind made up and chokuto drawn, he moved in for the kill.
The two ROOT, meanwhile, skipped talking and moved straight to attacking him with jutsu, hoping to take advantage of the stranger focusing his attention on the charging Kumo-nin.
"[Fire Release: Flame Spear]!" called out the smaller female ROOT as she thrust out her left hand, aiming the powerful spear shaped fire jutsu at the foreigner's left side.
"[Wind Release: Sword of the Wind Count]!" called out the taller male ROOT as he followed up his partner by swinging down his right palm, releasing a compressed blade of wind at the foreigner's right side.
The pair moved so quickly that Dog and Cat (who had finally finished dealing with the Kumo-nin's lightning clones) failed to react and move in time when the two ROOT made their move, only beginning to move when the grey haired stranger responded with another powerful sealess jutsu of his own.
"...What!?"
"...!"
Extending both his arms outward to either side of him, the stranger in dark clothes suddenly held two blades of pure darkness and met the ROOT's fire and wind jutsu faster than either of them expected before swatting them away and countering with several more chains in an attempt to either restrain or cripple them. Either way, it was an effective enough counter that it forced them back and made the two regular ANBU hesitate even more. The three children, on the other hand, could only stare up in silent awe at what was happening in front of them, their thoughts running a mile a minute as they tried to process what exactly was even going on.
'Is that some form of Yin Release? It reminds me a bit of the Nara's ability to manipulate shadows, only far more advanced and versatile,' Dog mentally observed, his sharingan active behind his mask trying to make sense of the abilities the foreigner was using. 'But what's with that strange green sphere above his head following him around? It blinks any time someone says something... Maybe it's some kind of sensor type jutsu? But when did he activate it?' he wondered before his eyes widened as he quickly came to a rather unsettling conclusion. 'Wait! Is he able to activate multiple jutsu simultaneously, and without hand seals!?' Dog really hoped he was wrong, but it was very, very hard to deny when the proof was right front of him. '...Dammit! Just who in the Sage's name is this guy and why did he have to show up now of all times?'
"...Dog." Cat quietly said from next to her fellow veteran ANBU and captain, quickly bringing him out of his racing thoughts and back to reality. "Did you notice how Natsuha reacted to him when he showed up? What was that all about?"
"...Hmm?" 'Come to think of it, Cat's right. What 'was' that all about? Now that I think about it, the timing is really convenient too...' Dog really didn't know what to think about all of this, but he knew that noting about this situation could be ignored or overlooked, not with Natsuha and the others still in danger and caught in the middle of this whole mess. There was just too much at stake. "Frankly, I'm just as in the dark as you are, but what I can say is that it doesn't matter right now. Those girls need us and we don't know if that guy is an enemy or ally yet. Him fighting off the ROOT and that Kumo-nin might just be coincidence and he could be there to take them away to Sage knows where himself. For now, I think it's best we don't take any chances and move in as soon as we see an opening."
Cat nodded, hand at the hilt of her katana. "Understood."
Meanwhile...
"...Gotcha!"
Taking advantage of the gap in between his chain attacks and being preoccupied with the two ROOT agents, the lone Kumo-nin quickly blurred in front of the now wide open young man and unleashed a quick flurry of lightning chakra infused sword slashes. The girls behind him could only look on in muted horror as their mystery savior was constantly being forced into defense, barely doing more than counter attacking yet doing everything he could to not move even a single step back, presumably to protect them and keep them from getting involved any more than they already are. And, as much as the girls might have wanted to, they just couldn't look away.
'...Mister!'
'...No way...! Is, is he done for!?'
"No! Nononono!'
Out of the three of them though, Hinata, having already faced that very same Kumo-nin before herself, became especially distraught as her pale, lavender eyes went wide and began to well up with tears thinking that it was the end for him(and them), which was why all of them were surprised by the smirk he now had on his face before he spoke in an unfamiliar language.
"neneYN den vindere mea/." calmly said the seemingly defenseless young man when the sure of his victory Kumo-nin came within earshot of him, unnerving him a bit with how unemotionally he spoke.
"...What the fuck did you say!? What, you uttering your last words or something?" The Kumo-nin had no clue what the stranger said, but honestly, he didn't really care either. That said, the foreigner's words were spoken with such calm indifference that he couldn't help but feel just a tiny bit curious about what he actually said.
"...Alinen, vindere mea/." replied the unknown foreigner in that same quiet, emotionless tone as he stared straight at the Kumo-nin without any fear while tightly gripping his 'blades'.
"Tch!" Fed up and irritated, the Kumo-nin pressed his attack even further. However, it seemed karma, the many Gods above, and especially the strange foreigner in front of him had other plans.
"...[ziythe]."
"...!"
Before he (or anyone really) could register what just happened, another trio of black, shadowy chains shot out and struck the Kumo-nin from behind, piercing him with two while wrapping around the now wounded sword arm with the last chain before yanking hard, throwing him off balance and right into a hard kick while aimed at his stomach while at the same time, the foreigner's chakra spiked and flowed out of his blades into the still stunned ROOT agents that sent all three flying back several dozen more feet, opening up some much needed distance between them. This, unfortunately, left the now very exhausted foreigner wide open for the two ANBU in the back to finally make their move.
"Cat, now!" Dog called out as he worked to gather and shape the lightning nature chakra into his right hand for his signature 'Lightning Cutter' jutsu.
"...!?"
"Right! [Hazy Moon Night]!" Charging forward, Cat swung her sword in a wide, circular motion so quickly that it left afterimages she then used to mask her movements while she moved in closer to the still winded and now weakened foreigner. Then, after a few brief yet very fierce exchanges later, Cat finally managed to break through the young man's guard and land a clean but still shallow slash down his chest, cutting open his dark grey shirt and drawing blood, forcing him back even further and with one less blade in hand.
"...Kuh!"
'...Damn. He still had enough energy to evade just enough to keep from taking a fatal strike. Still, I bought more than enough time, and Dog should be finished by now.' Cat then looked over her shoulder at the still downed Kumo-nin and the two now recovered ROOT getting ready to jump back into the battle. 'Whatever he did to that Kumo-nin still seems to be affecting him so I think I can leave him be for now. That just leaves those two.' Situation quickly assessed and mind made up, Cat lifted up her mask and took a soldier pill in order to refill her depleted chakra reserves so she could use her best techniques and, hopefully, quickly wrap things up and finally rescue Natsuha and the other girls.
- With Natsuha and the others, earlier in the battle -
'...Wow...!' Natsuha, even in her tired and groggy state, still had enough presence of mind to be amazed at what she was seeing. She'd already seen a little of the many things shinobi could do with chakra, along with remembering many of the stories her Jiji told her whenever he could visit her. 'And he's not even using those flashy hand seal thingies either!' Then her young, delicate brow furrowed when she finally noticed. '...Wait. Why can't I feel anything from him? No hate, no sadness... there's, nothing there... But, he's still trying to protect us...' Well, to be honest, she had no clue what he was doing there or why he was fighting but, he hadn't hurt them and was fighting off the same people that took them away. She also noticed the scary but warm feeling black chains floating around them. Seeing all that, the little blonde chose to believe in him, stranger or not. As for the others...
'He's strong... very strong,' the young Hyuga heiress candidate thought. She couldn't use her newly awakened Byakugan at the moment, but she still had her keen observational skills her family drilled into her, allowing her to spot things others might easily miss. 'It's like he's 'empty' somehow, almost like he's acting entirely on memory. And there's no killing intent either. Is that even possible? And those jutsu, how can he use so many all at once like that with no hand seals?' Being a member of one of Konoha's oldest and most powerful clans, Hinata was thoroughly educated on many of the concepts of the shinobi world. She and her sister were also regularly exposed to killing intent as part of their very strict training and could even withstand its effects to a degree now. Incidentally, Natsuha and Anko were also well acquainted and somewhat used to 'killing intent' thanks to their less than pleasant lives
'...Two blades, huh? He kinda fights like Papa did, and those chains... they're kinda like Natsuha-chan's. But what's with that power of his? It feels... warm, but empty too? Weird.' Despite her age and not being from a kunoichi yet herself, she was still the daughter of a fairly well known jonin and samurai and was taught some of the basics before they passed away. In fact, analysis became one of her personal specialties, alongside using and countering poisons, which were what her mother was most famous for. 'He's quick and pretty skilled, but those two masked weirdos have really good teamwork and way more experience. Then there's that dark skinned guy too... He might not be on the other two's side, but he's good at adapting on the fly. Crap, this could be really bad if the fight goes on for much longer! Especially if the dark skinned guy decides to jum-'
Her thoughts were cut off when that very scenario began playing out right in front of her. A moment later, a flurry of lightning charged strikes rained down on the stranger the moment he managed to knock back the two masked weirdos.
"...Aaagghh!"
And then the three girls saw three more shadowy chains appear behind the Kumo-nin that struck his right arm before yanking him away and throwing him backwards, pinning him to the ground just as the the young man pulsed out more chakra through his blades and violently pushing away the two ROOT before jumping back to try and get some distance from them. But, just when the girls thought he'd managed to finally catch a break, Natsuha noticed Cat begin to attack their savior just like the other three ninja did.
"...N, no! Wait, wait! Cat, don't...!" cried out the little blonde, desperate to try and stop the ANBU. However, the sound of the heavy rain and the current state of her tired body kept Cat from hearing her. 'Wait, what is Dog doing? Is he getting one of those jutsu thingies ready? But, why... wait! Is, is he gonna use it on Mister!? ...Oh no!'
'They must be here to try and rescue us. But, how does that girl know them?' Hinata mentally shook her head. 'No, that doesn't matter right now. That person, he's too tired to fight anymore and is likely using whatever he has left to keep up these protective chain barriers.' Looking at all the facts of the situation, Hinata, in a rare moment of clear seriousness she rarely ever outwardly displayed, could only come to one grim conclusion. '...He's going to die...!'
'Hey! That guy saved us! What are you doing!? He's, he's not one of the-wait, what's that dog masked guy doing?' Anko mentally railed at the cat masked swordswoman picking on the man who protected them... only to see her dog masked partner begin to move in the moment she pulled back.
"Dog! No! Stop!" cried out a panicked Natsuha as she practically crawled over, hand outstretched and tears streaming down her violet eyes as the silver haired ANBU appeared in front of that person and pulled back his lightning chakra charged knife hand, ready to put a hole in his chest. '...Mister!'
...
Unable to take any more, the little blonde's whole world quickly went pitch black as she passed out from the stress.
xxx xxx xxx
'..Oh, that can't be good,' the tired young man thought as he caught sight of some dog masked weirdo coming at him with blinding speed with a really dangerous looking electricity covered right hand vaguely shaped like a short, bright blue blade.
"[Lightning Cutter]!"
Though incredibly fast the attack was just slow enough for the young man to dodge, barely avoiding being skewered in the heart by leaning to the side after redirecting the dog masked warrior's attack at the cost of losing his remaining shadow blade, effectively rendering defenseless, and with part of his left side now deeply cut in the process. But, before the situation could get any worse, the young man summoned forth another set of shadow chains that, by some miracle or another, succeeded in getting the dog masked warrior away from him.
"...Tch!" 'Damn. That ability to use multiple jutsu at once without hand seals is very dangerous,' Dog mentally complained as he threw a quick glance at the children behind him, surrounded by some more of those same shadowy, black chains. 'Not to mention we still don't know what his intentions are. He seems to be protecting them, but not being able to communicate makes it hard to be sure. Then there's the fact that, mission aside, we attacked him along with those ROOT and that Kumo bastard...' Though his mask covered it, Dog was very, very frustrated at how complicated the situation had become. He honestly did feel a little bad that he may have to kill an otherwise innocent foreigner who happened to stumble into the wrong place at the wrong time, but Natsuha and the others' lives took priority over some random stranger's. "You probably don't understand a word I'm saying, but try not to dodge so I can at least make this as quick and painless as possible, yeah?"
"...What, and let you... kill me?" It took awhile, but the analysis sphere arte had finished its work and dispelled sometime during his battle with the Kumo-nin, quickly downloading its contents into his mind. Though he couldn't feel the emotion at the moment, he was sure that the pause his reply elicited would have made him feel at least a little proud. Sure he stumbled a bit with the words but hey, progress was progress. Unfortunately, the young man had no time or energy to enjoy said progress when the dog masked warrior was now joined by his cat masked partner. Luckily, they weren't using any of those strange artes of theirs this time and just to engaging him in close quarters combat. It wasn't much of a consolation really, but such was life sometimes.
"...!" 'Okay, did I say something wrong? I mean, I didn't, right?'
For the next several dozen seconds to a minute or two later, the three whirled about in a wild dance of black and grey blurs accented by the sparks of clashing weapons and the occasional grunt of the combatants' exertions. All the while, the young man knew that he wouldn't be able to keep this up much further, a fact that his two 'dance partners' were also well aware of.
"You're wide open!"
'...Dammit!"
*SHHIIINNNGGG!*
Letting out a hiss of pain with a grimace on his face, the young man now found himself pushed all the way back to just a few inches in front of the three little girls he was keeping safe which, he figured, was the reason why his two current attackers had stopped. 'Well, at least I don't need to worry about these two wanting to hurt those children... But yeah, that one really hurt. A lot, actually...' Realizing that he would very likely die very soon if he didn't do something, the young man very quickly came to a decision. 'Right, time to retreat. A hasty one, preferably.'
Quickly moving into action, the young man dispelled the remaining chains around the girls and used a good deal of his remaining ether to throw out a not so small number of more spear tipped black chains before quickly running over to scoop up the three little girls fully intent on making their escape and sort out what to do with them later when he isn't busy fighting for his life.
"...Kuh!"
Looking back over his shoulder, he could make out the dog and cat masked warriors making their way through the wall of chains hurling several dozen more shuriken and kunai his way, with a few even managing to hit their mark and into his back. It was during moments like this that the young man was actually very grateful that he couldn't feel anything, emotionally or otherwise, quite certain that he would be scared shitless and out of his mind.
'Oh yeah, definitely time to go.'
Needing to buy just a little more time, the young man sent out one last barrage of chains while he used the last of his ether to summon a wave of darkness in front of him that quickly tore open a hole in space that would serve as their exit. 'Almost there. Almost the-!'
"-op! Hey, stop!"
"...!"
*SSSHHHIIINNNGGG!*
He was so focused on getting the portal open, the young man barely registered what was being said until he felt the sharp pain of another shuriken or kunai lodged in his back, causing him to stumble forward into the now fully opened portal with the three little girls in tow, which then quickly vanished right as Dog and Cat finally managed to get through the wall of chains.
"Dammit! Where did they go!?" Dog half shouted with clear panic in his voice, desperately scanning the surrounding area with his sharingan eye while mentally freaking out that he had lost not just another precious person, but his sensei's only daughter... the little girl he had sworn to protect with his life; a vow he failed to live up to.
"...No...!" Cat could only utter that one single word as she dropped to her knees, eyes wide and simply staring at the patch of grass where the portal they caught sight of just a moment ago faded away without a trace.
The pair was so distracted by the sudden and abrupt end of their long chase out of Konoha, that they didn't notice that not only had the strange interference that cut off and hid the area from the rest of the world lifted, but also that their reinforcements, led by Hyuga Hiashi and Hyuga Hizashi no less, had finally found and called out to them. The only things the two ANBU heard were the sounds of the heavily falling rain...
xxx xxx xxx
A/N:
And that wraps the third chapter!
The end of the Kumo Incident has come and Uzumaki Natsuha, Hyuga Hinata, and Mitarashi Anko have, quite literally, vanished from the face of the Earth. Oh, but don't worry. They won't end in another universe or anything like that. What the young man used was something along the lines of true spacetime movement technique... only with no set destination on the other end save for the local coordinates being synced to the same world and temporal coordinates where it was initially cast. He, didn't really have any time to set any before getting some shuriken to the back and with part of his side gouged out by Dog's jutsu... on top of trying to make sure the girls he had with him didn't end up dead in the crossfire. visually and functionally, I guess you can think of it as a somewhat limited version of a 'Corridor of Darkness' from Kingdom Hearts. All I'll add to that is that they won't end up in the Land of Fire and won't return to Konoha for awhile.
As for the chapter itself? A lot happened, but I managed to fit all in, and with results I'm pretty happy with.
All that's left is to deal with the fallout of the failed Kumo Incident as well as the girls properly meeting and interacting with the person who saved their lives.
Anyway, I hope whoever did end up reading enjoyed themselves and I'll see you next release1