Whoa. Took long enough to update, sorry. Compared to the beginning, the story feels like it's gotten dull, this chap in particular. I don't seem to have much talent for fight scenes right now. please comment on the feel of this chapter, okay?
And have you seen the newest Naruto episode? They're totally ripping me off.
"W…Where?"
Sand in my mouth. A sun overheard and the sound of the ocean. I tried to move, but it felt like every bone in my body had been broken.
A cough sent a spray of blood into the air. Maikeru lay gasping for breath, his body emaciated, every spare ounce of fat and more cannibalized for energy.
A figure looming over me. Words I didn't understand. Being carried away, others over me talking to each other, arguing.
He flipped over, the wound in his chest closed but still wracked with pain.
Learning the language, struggling to remember my past. Being accepted as Chishio-sama's apprentice. Finally understanding what I felt inside of me, channeling it, shaping it, performing my first jutsu.
The man crawled across the ground towards a corpse, steam rising from its still-hot blood towards the sky.
Being at peace. I didn't remember the past, but I didn't care. I had a home. I had a family. I had ninjutsu! I stood on the cliffs that overlooked my new home and raised my arms towards the night sky, opening my mouth and letting out a howl of pure, unadulterated happiness.
Maikeru paused over the body, one of Date's guards. This was one jutsu he'd sworn never to perform. Its use was unthinkable, despite it's undeniable practicality. But that was then, and this was now. His home was gone, his family was gone, and his master's work would cause untold pain and suffering in Murashi's hands. He yanked the head back to expose the neck, gathering what chakra he had into his mouth, his teeth growing longer, sharper. He needed every ounce of strength he could muster, and he would get it any way he could.
"Hinata."
"N-N-Naruto-kun!"
Hinata turned in surprise as Naruto dropped out of the trees, crouching on the ground in front of her. Sasuke and Sakura appeared as well, landing next to Shino and Kiba.
"Murashi is the one that killed Chishio-sama. He's taken the scrolls and…Hinata? Is someth-"
A kick to the face interrupted the sentence. Sasuke had a kunai halfway out of its sheath before he realized he couldn't move, and Sakura jumped away just in time to avoid the shadow racing towards her across the ground.
"Using the image of a friend to get close to someone..."
Hinata dissolved to reveal Ino, twirling a kunai on her finger.
"But you know, it's pretty basic to study your targets before trying to imitate them. Here's a hint…Naruto's a lot louder."
The kunai flew out, and 'Naruto' leapt away. He turned at a scream of pain to see 'Sasuke' flattened against a tree by some massive rolling ball before the trunk shattered under the pressure and his henge collapsed, one of Murashi's men crashing to the ground and moaning in pain. A tiny poof revealed Shikamaru, grinning and nodding to Chouji.
"But…you were supposed to be the Hyuuga girl's group!"
Ino huffed and rolled her eyes, leaning forward and pointing to her face.
"Shi-no-bi. Saying Murashi was the culprit was a nice touch, but you didn't actually think the Hokage trusted Murashi to begin with, did you?"
The man spat and drew a blade, the second nin dropping his henge and reaching for something in his vest.
"Heh. It doesn't matter. You're all just genin, anyways. Three to two or even one, it doesn't matter. You can't beat us. We'll finish you, and find the Hyuuga girl."
Having kept the same slow pace as Shikamaru's group at the very limit of her Byakugan's range, the group had rushed forwards the second the fake Konoha genin appeared. Hinata and her teammates alighted on the ground behind the nin the second the boast was out of his mouth. He turned just enough to see two delicate-looking fingers wreathed in angry chakra thrust forward.
"JUUKEN!"
"OH F-"
The nin flinched at the sight of those piercing red eyes, and it cost him as a kunai was pulled across his forearm. The two jumped away from each other, and Sasuke smirked as a jounin twice his age began to tremble.
"Don't you get it? Let me explain, then."
Sasuke pointed to his left, where a horde of shadow clones was throwing themselves against one of Murashi's nins, having no reason to fear the constant rain of Tenten's weapons. He pointed to his right, just as another enemy nin jumped past, Sakura, Lee and Neji screaming a battle-cry together and pressing the attack as their opponent scrambled to retain his footing.
"We told you the genin teams would be flanking Date's group in case he tried to flee. That was true. However, the teams were arranged so that if you wanted these-" Sasuke pointed the tip of his bloody kunai at his eyes "-and the Byakugan, you would have to break up into two groups, dividing your forces to capture us and escape as quickly as possible. In addition, the teams that did not posses bloodline limits were following the ones that did, acting as a reserve force."
Sasuke reached to his belt and pulled out a dozen shuriken, sending them flying. The nin jumped straight up and the shuriken followed, wire slicing into his legs and wrapping around them.
"Do you understand it now?"
Sasuke yanked on the wires in his hands and pulled the nin back down, forming seals before he even hit the ground.
"Katon! Ryuuka no jutsu!"
The nin didn't even have time to scream before the flames washed over him.
"What is taking so long?"
The yell echoed throughout the forest as Murashi finished the last set of hand seals, slapping his hand onto the parchment in front of him, feeling the chakra flow into the seals on the paper, change, and flow into a syringe sitting in the center of the design, the final ingredient. He lifted it and jabbed the needle straight into his heart, smiling as a strange sensation worked its way through every vein, bone, and cell of his body. He stood slowly and stared at his hands, flexing and moving them slowly through the air.
"But I suppose it doesn't matter now…"
"MURASHI!"
Murashi turned in surprise as a figure flew down from the treetops, a kunai held with both hands over his head.
"You! How?"
Murashi pulled his sword and sidestepped at the last moment, bringing it upwards at burying the blade in Maikeru's gut. He startled as the sword stuck, and the image of Maikeru vanished to reveal a log with a smiley face carved into it, giving a peace sign.
"No, me."
Out of sight, Kakashi was leaning against a tree with a second Konoha nin crouching next to him.
"Iruka-sensei, if you would."
"Of course. Fŭbaku Hojin!"
A faint hissing behind Murashi was the only warning as the notes attached to the log detonated, and he was thrown into the air, landing face-first in the dirt and not moving.
"Another copied technique, Kakashi?"
"I had to modify it a little. I'm not that crazy."
The two walked forward, halting when Murashi pulled himself off the ground. Through rips in the fabric of his clothes, instead of skin, Kakashi and Iruka saw pale white plates covering his body, and as Murashi turned to face them, a wide plate of bone retracted from over his face and sank back into his skull.
"What was…"
"So this is Shikotsumyaku!" Murashi threw his head back and laughed, spreading his arms wide. As the Konoha ninja watched, his flesh began to ripple, and short spikes of bone sprouted along his arms, and Murashi brought one hand in front of his face, watching tiny blades extend from his fingertips. "Tell me, Kakashi, isn't it beautiful?"
Kakashi slowly lifted his forehead protector to reveal his sharingan, drawing a kunai and stepping forward carefully.
"But of course, I imagine it will be even more beautiful…when I see it through new eyes." Murashi stared across the distance between him and Kakashi, raising his arms, looking at the copy nin through the mass of twisted bone. "Help me, Kakashi. I can't decide. Byakugan or Sharingan? SHOW IT TO ME!"
And with that, he leapt forward.