"One condition?" this raised Hibuko's attention and the hairs on his neck stood up as Karu pulled out a blank scroll.
Karu bit his forefinger and it bled profusely into a vial he held below that looked like an inkwell. Once it was full he pulled out a brush and started writing.
What? Thought Hibuko as he stared at the characters he was writing.
"Read it and sign it with your name, in your blood," said Karu nonchalantly.
Hibuko read it and it basically was a peace treaty except that if it was broken and one of the two signers died at the other's hands (on purpose of course) the murderer would die as well. Once he finished his name in crude blood finger painting, the scroll flashed with a strange chakra and it rolled up and leapt into Karu's hands. Hibuko tucked away the copy he made with a jutsu and stood up. The coils of wire were loosened and Hibuko released the lighting constrictions that had still faintly tangled around Karu.
"WHAT?" Hitake screamed as the story has told to her of her newfound guardian. She didn't trust the blond grass shinobi at all and her hand was often times at the butt of her crossbow. After two days of glaring and avoiding, princess Hitake and Karu began to get along.
It was a burden to have to walk with someone that was not a shinobi because they couldn't leap from branch to branch of the surrounding forests unless they summoned Okamazuki and Raimaru. The two ninjas generally didn't summon them if it wasn't an emergency. However longer the trip would be from north western the land of earth to the southern land of fire would be, the time to talk would be nice. Unfortunately, the ice that had to be broken to allow pleasant conversation was tough to crack.
It was the third day they were together and they still felt uncomfortable together. Karu was busy scanning the surrounding areas for possible threats and Hibuko was busy either switching places with Karu or studying from one of the many ninjutsu scrolls that he always carried around with him.
"Ninjutsu? You seem to specialize in it," Karu commented as he flicked his eyes across the dense vegetation. He activated the dōjutsu unique to his clan that allowed him to see not reflected light waves but the organic life of the things around him. He saw the vague green of the brush around him and the slightly more vibrant green of the trees and the null of color that was the ground. Suddenly there was a flash of orange in his vision and he knew it was a sentient life-form. It hesitated in the tree and he recognized its shape as a human and its behavior as a ninja. He knew that the hitai-ate headband the enemy ninja was wearing wouldn't have a discernable mark in his biosensory kekkei-genkai and that the lifeless metal was just a black void in his vision.
"Yeah, now that we are not a threat to each other I guess I could show you some stuff," Hibuko offered friendlily.
"Yeah, sounds good, but don't the trees cast long shadows today?" Karu slipped the signal message into his sentence.
Hitake and Hibuko suppressed any panicked emotions as they heard the signal that meant there were enemies nearby. They resumed a casual and muffled conversation as they all prepared themselves for the upcoming conflict.
Karu glanced through the forest and saw that now there were three ninjas and he said, "Those three trees in particular have long shadows. I can't tell what kind of trees they are though."
Hibuko decoded the encoded message instantaneously and as he feigned a stretch he grabbed a kunai. Karu unfastened one of his double bladed kunai swords casually and they continued leisurely down the path. Their ears were now listening intently for any movement to their left in the trees.
There was a tiny rustle in a bush right ahead and with the slightest flick of motion Hibuko hurled his kunai at the hidden ninja. There was a louder noise and a ninja emerged holding the kunai in his gloved hand.
"Nice shot, hand over the girl," called the ninja, who was now identified as shinobi from Village Hidden in the Mist.
Karu just laughed as he now noticed the kunai had a wire attached. He saw that Hibuko was slowly converting some chakra into electricity as to not be noticed, the gloved Mist ninja grimaced as he saw that fighting two Chuunin wouldn't be easy. Karu knew from experience that the pain the ninja would receive from the electrical burst would most likely knock him unconscious and as he saw the wire start to glow he knew it would happen soon.
Hibuko made a swift motion with his hands and a jolt of energy passed through the metal wire and hit the ninja. There was a brilliant flash and a burnt smell in the air but the ninja still stood. In fact, Hibuko and Karu were both distressed at the smirk on his face.
"I'm wearing rubber gloves you idiots," stated the ninja, whose gloves couldn't conduct electricity. The wire was molten from the excessive energy that just jolted through it and this made Hibuko release the metal but the gloved ninja was protected.
Hibuko sensed Hitake's growing panic and he glanced at her to reassure her but inwardly he was losing his confidence. His eyes flicked through the trees as he saw some movements, if they're all this well prepared, we'll lose for sure but maybe if Karu has something…
Coincidentally Karu did have a ninjutsu that would help this situation.
"Matsuri Tsuta Amimono no Jutsu!" He shouted as he finished some brief hand signs. Ivy sprung forth from the packed ground and with a life of its own it attacked the Mist Shinobi who fought back with a kunai. He managed to slice some of the ivy but it kept coming and eventually it grabbed his legs and crept up along his torso.
Thank you Karu! And I almost forgot about Raimaru and Okamazuki, this battle is ours! Hibuko thought optimistically.
To the amazement and horror of the ninjas and princess, tendrils of murky liquid rose from the ground around the entangled ninja and hung suspended in the air. The pupils of Karu and Hibuko contracted as they sensed an enormous chakra presence around the ninja.
Before Karu's next intake of breath the tendrils of liquid exploded into a dense mist. Karu felt his ivy cocoon unravel as their enemy escaped.
Using the flicker technique, Shunshin no Jutsu, Hibuko instantaneously grabbed the princess and lined up back to back with Karu to ensure absolute defense.
Karu's pupils and irises fused into one black dot as his kekkei genkai dojutsu was activated. He saw naught but a faintly glowing fog around them and the faint glow of trees in the background.
Wait, the fog is alive? Karu was shocked, he focused on some nearby fog and realized it must have bacteria densely packed into the droplets. If we breathe this stuff in, we'll die!
Karu grabbed the other two and jumped above the fog utilizing chakra to strengthen his jump. Their hearts leapt into their throats as the vertical g-force took effect and then the rest of their organs leapt into their throats as they saw the overwhelming fog below. The liquid opal blanket that lay over the trees only allowed the very tips of the trees to escape the swirling gas below.
In the nanosecond that they hung in the air, a hundred feet above the trees, Hibuko formulated his plan. While Hitake was speechless and absolutely horrified, Karu and Hibuko exchanged a meaningful glance.
With sound breaking speed Hibuko pulled out a scroll from a pouch on his belt. It unraveled itself in the wind as the Lightning shinobi formed a single seal and bit his fingertip.
"Kuchiyose: Tatsumaki Soyokaze!" Hibuko had the unfurled scroll clenched in his fist as he shouted his technique. There was an explosion of smoke and out of the scroll that Hibuko was holding erupted powerful, and warm, winds. The zephyr formed a whirlwind around the group and the mists around them were repelled as smoke is repelled with a fan.
The whirlwinds subsided and so did the deadly fumes around them.
"Chikushou!" exclaimed Hibuko, "that was my last Zephyr Whirlwinds scroll! Do you know how long it took to write that one?"
"You can write scrolls?" Karu was amazed.
"Uh, yeah. Let's talk later, okay?" said Hibuko pointed to three shurikens that surrounded them and were lodged halfway into the packed dirt. Karu observed that their courses were altered from the winds earlier but they still came from three sides.
At the speed the wind was going those shuriken must have been going very fast. He did a quick mental calculation and pinned the approximate places that the enemies were now.
Suddenly maniacal laughter sprung from all degrees and swarms of shurikens launched themselves from the surrounding flora. As the shurikens arced in at them, Karu heard Hitake's scream and then he felt immeasurable pain blossom from his entire front. He saw that he was perforated by shurikens and he found him self unable to move his legs. Panic was welling inside his chest as he saw another volley headed for the group.
He looked at his group quickly and saw naught but complete astonishment, pain, and horror. Again he flicked his eyes to the horde of shurikens which would inevitably hit and he closed his eyes.
I will not die. I will not die. I will not die until I know why that happened. I can't die until I realize why Orochimaru did that to me. I need to know! I won't die! Karu's past flashed before his eyes and he saw the nightmarish entrance that had entranced him a thousand times before. He saw himself in the tiny cage that wouldn't hold anyone past the age of six. He saw Orochimaru and another old man who he still didn't know grinning at him as they pulled out the same syringe they used on him everyday. He saw himself in a large underground cave that he had been force to "train" in everyday and master his kekkei genkai under the surveillance of many evil ninjas. He saw his eyes as they melded into a new shape and he saw himself finally escaping the underground village. He also remembered the last words Orochimaru had said to him and he knew that he couldn't die until he killed Orochimaru and understood what those words meant.
Think, think, think! He screamed at himself as the next flock of sharp metal stars approached at breakneck speed.