Arc One, Chapter 8: The Fifth Affiliate
Kaito had unconsciously balled up his fist.
"Kaito!" Aoi's voice brought him back into reality, "Go! Extinguish that fire before it's too late! We'll handle her!" Her voice was stern, her statement meant to have no questions or declinations.
He nodded his head, already regretting that he had to leave his teammates behind to fix the mess that was already their fault. "Alright!" He turned from his teammates, giving them a parting glance before he raced towards the fire. Kaito's team had gone farther than he had thought, because at this distance, the fire was only a small dot of light.
They had failed. The easiest task of putting out a damned fire, and they had failed it. Sora's plan was ruined, and it would be their fault. Why couldn't the villagers keep their fire out for a day? For a freaking day! Not even that; a night! Was that such a loathsome task that they were willing to risk their life for it?
'Idiots!' Kaito screamed mentally, 'They're all such idiots!'
The wind whistled past Kaito's ears as he pushed each step, forcing his body to go faster than his usual pace. He jumped on one last branch and was suddenly arrested on it, his ear twitching as he heard another sound; the harsh thud of boots pounding the ground, followed by a loud group of grunts.
Kaito turned his head, only slighty, and for a moment, his heart thought it might have been Sora who came back with reinforcements. Maybe that was part of his plan? But no, their sensei's face was not that of a dirty, gritty, evil grinning bastard. And not only was there one, there seemed to be hundreds of men, and they were bandits no doubt. They marched across the forrest grounds, eyes running over the flame of the village hungrily, the anticipation of attacking so great that a few of the men chuckled. Kaito's heart had sunk. What had he done. They were far away in the distance, but Kaito still knew that it would be almost no time until they reached Kaito's position, then the village.
Kaito snapped his head as he heard the snap of a twig, then see shadows race beneath him. 'Scouts?' Kaito cursed and started leaping from tree to tree again. Maybe if he stopped the scouts, then that would give him more time. Just maybe...
Whatever the chance, he was willing to take it. Heck, any chance was better than none. And Kaito refused to let anyone die because of his mistake.
. . .
Mai hadn't made any actions since Kaito had left. She didn't try to pursue him, nor did she try to throw any projectiles at him to halt his movement. She simply stood still before the two genin, sizing them up with cocky glances.
'Either this woman is extremely cautious,' Aoi thought, 'Or she doesn't take us seriously.'
"Do you mind if I get this over with?" She sighed and bent backwards, her hair dangling over the cold forest floor, "I'll make sure you two kiddies don't die, though, mmkay?" Mai curled her lips into a creepy smile before the fight began.
She flicked her wrists, and two black wristbands with spikes made from chipped bone appeared. She thrust her hand towards Aoi, and something white shot out.
Aoi side-stepped and watched as the projectile flew past her. Upon closer examination, Aoi saw that a string was connected to whatever she had thrown so Aoi gripped the kunai in her hand tightly, raising the kunai to cut the string. The woman, still in the same awkward position, suddenly was yanked towards the kunoichi. Aoi cursed as she pulled herself to the side, the woman spinning gracefully in an attempt to cut her with her sharp bracelet. The woman flew past Aoi and connected with a tree before another needle shot from her bracelet toward Aoi. Aoi ducked, and gripped her kunai even more tightly. She raised her blade to cut the string, but Mai had swung her arm to the side, dragging the wire along with it.
Hayato was suddenly by Aoi's side as Mai shot another projectile and flew into the branches like a puppet with strings. Aoi and Hayato stood back-to-back as more and more projectiles rained around, all thrown off target and hitting somewhere farther away. Aoi caught a glimpse of the same material the spikes on her bracelet had. 'So she's shooting the spikes? So they're connected to her bracelet through some wiring technique? This is gonna be...' Aoi bit her lip, her mind racing in an attempt to devise a strategy.
"Want to play monkey in the middle, kiddies?" Mai's voice bounced off the trees, "You two are it."
In a blur, she appeared above them with a blade in her hand. The two genin split, and just before she crashed into the ground she froze in place like a puppet's strings who had been cut. She hung mid-air, her hair creepily covering her face. Still in the air, she abruptly moved towards Hayato with unbelievable speed. He jumped to a higher place, and she seemed to follow. He tried to go somewhere else, and she easily got there just as fast. Mai was practically flying as Hayato tried to evade her blade. He brought out a kunai and they began clashing in the air.
But it wasn't long before Hayato was on the defensive.
Wherever he retreated to, she would suddenly freeze in the air, and change directions, almost as if gravity had no effect on her. As she changed lunged at Hayato again, and her hair parted to show the crazed expression on her face that made Aoi shiver. Hayato narrowly dodged a thrust to his stomach, the blade nicking his side. He cursed, and flashed into the forrest.
"That's one." She smiled wickedly, turning her head towards Aoi. "You ready, doll?"
Aoi gulped. Without any hesitation in the slightest, the woman zipped down towards her, but suddenly Hayato was there, slamming his knee into her ribcage. She was yanked to the side and crashed into a tree as Hayato fell limply to the ground, landing near Aoi.
"H-Hayato!" she ran to the boy, sliding on her knees to sit beside him.
She quickly checked on the boy, rolling him over. The wound was beginning fester, and the area around the wound was red with a tint of sickly green.
"Poison." Aoi cursed. At this rate...
"Your friend got quite the hit on me," Mai screamed with suppressed rage, "I won't forgive him. But then again, I'm not sure which poison he was infected with. He could very well not have much time at all. You see, on each of my spikes they have a different poison. It won't be long before you're subjected to all of them..."
Aoi stood up slowly and calmly.
"Do you have the antidote?" Aoi's voice stood steady even in the predicament she faced.
"That's strange of you to ask. If I do?"
The clouds finally parted, the moonlight showering the wires in bright, gleaming light that exposed Mai's trick.
Aoi brought her hands together.
Blue chakra bloomed around her feet, and enveloped her in beautiful waves. She thrust her arm out, and the chakra rushed down along her arm and into her hand. It began taking form, and materialized into a longbow made of pure chakra.
"Simple enough. I'll take it from your unconscious body."
. . .
Kaito had made one final lunge, and was now over the scouts. There were four of them, and these scouts were dressed differently than the bandits behind, but they sluggish way they moved about told Kaito that what little training they had, it was nothing compared to his years at the Academy. Keeping up with their pace, he made three rapid hand seals.
"Water Style: Wild Water Waves!" Water fell upon them, the force crushing all four of them. Kaito landed in front of the fallen scouts to fight any who were still up. The two whom were knocked out had their faces buried in the ground, their clothes completely soaked. Guess Kaito had used a bit too much chakra in that one...
"W-what the? You stupid brat..." One moaned, staggering up.
"I'm going to kill you!" Another stood. The others seemed completely unconscious.
The two men standing in front of Kaito seemed strong, and each of them carried a large axe on their backs. The one on the left was big and burly, while the only on the right had less of a build.
Kaito decided he would quickly finish the one on the right off and proceed to the one on the left. He needed to finish off these guys so he could return back to the village. It was about time he used a new technique he was working on back at Konoha!
Dashing at them, he made the same hand seals and shot the water at his feet, blasting him into the air.
"Raining Kunai Dance!" He screamed, bouncing from tree to tree throwing kunai. With every five pair of kunai thrown, he'd shoot a small burst of water at them, launching a flurry of water and projectiles at the men. The bandit on the right had been pierced by three kunai before getting shot by water, stumbling. What Kaito hadn't predicted, however, was that the bandit on the left would stand in front of his affiliate, shielding both of them with his axe.
"Tsk," he said, "Give me your axe!"
Without waiting for a response, he turned the scrawnier scout around and yanked the axe off his back. "H-Hideo" the scrawny one wailed in protest.
"Shut up!" He slammed the back of the axe against his partner's head, knocking him out cold in one fell swoop. Kaito gulped before picking up two kunai off the ground, holding both of them in backhanded grips. "Bring it, kid." he gestured in a barbaric stance.
Kaito nodded, remembering all of his training.
Kaito dashed, running from side to side while remaining eye contact with his foe. Nearing him, the man bellowed, "It won't be that easy!" and rose one of his brawny arms high. Kaito smirked slyly, and charged straight for him. "Haaa!" the man screamed, bringing his arm down. Little did he know, the way he swung was too slow for the quick genin.
By the time the man's arm was halfway down to hitting Kaito, Kaito was already on him. He knew that attacking his straight on was no use; no, from the look of his body, this guy could take a couple of hits. So instead, he tackled this opponent his way.
Kaito added chakra to the bottom of his feet to smoothly slide under him, burying the kunai he had in each hand in both of his bare feet. "GAAAAAHHH!" The man cried out, slamming his axe down into the ground. Kaito wasn't done yet; the man still had his other axe in the hand behind his back. Kaito snatched the axe from the scout who was too busy wailing in pain to even notice. "Haaah!" Kaito let out a battlecry, slamming the back of the axe against his head with as much strength as he could muster.
'Timbeerr!' Kaito thought as the man—Hideo, right? —fell down like a log, the thud of his body on the forrest ground equivalent to that of a walrus'.
Kaito didn't have time to smile or admire his handiwork for long, so he turned behind to see how far the rest of his enemies were from him—And saw the large army of bandits staring at him. They looked at him, down to Hideo, and back to the snow-haired genin. "Ahehe... It's not what it looks like, guys! See, I can explain everything... as soon as I'm GONE!"
He turned and bolted, running as fast as he could to the fire; he had to outrun them, not only to avoid the sure defeat, but to warn the village and everyone in it. He just had to. The fire was just so close.
He panted heavily as they howled behind him, the sound of their stomping feet echoing in the forrest. Kaito's heart was hammering so hard in his chest that he thought it would explode. As soon as he began to get tired, a throwing knive flew past Kaito's face, and Kaito quickly got a second wind. Dashing out of the woods, he reached an open area.
The bandits were on his tail, and from the previous fight and they way he pushed his muscles to go forward, every step felt like he were lifting concrete bricks.
An open field lay in front of him, the fire nearing even closer. In his haste, however, he made the fatal mistake of tripping, and he fell. "Dammit!' He screamed, as he rolled trying to stand back up. They were right behind him. He needed to hurry!
He looked up towards the fire and paused.
The fire was large, but he realized he wasn't in the village. He was in an open field. An open field! So they hadn't relit the fire after all!
Giant logs were burning inside of the fire, and in front of it stood Sora, his eyes gleaming in the bright light of the unimaginably large campfire.
"Welcome to my bonfire." He spread his arms out announced venomously, the shadows of the flame dancing wildly behind him. "Right into my trap."
. . .
"What technique is that, girl?" Mai stared in shock—and what seemed like horror—as more chakra poured into the bow, making it grow stronger and brighter.
Aoi ignored her question and drew back the string of her bow. An arrow made of chakra swirled into existence as she drew the string back. She nocked her arrow and aimed at the woman, closing one eye to better her focus.
"Silly girl, I can just maneuver around your pathetic shots." She tugged at her bracelet and started zooming around in a crazy, unpredictable fashion. "Go on, give it your best shot!"
Aoi took a deep breath in, and let a silent breath come out like a whisper from her slightly open lips. Without a word, Aoi released the arrow. With precise accuracy, gleamed in a flash as it pierced Mai and dug deeply into Mai's thigh.
A high-pitched howl went out in the silent woods. She swore as she yanked the arrow out, stifled cries of anger and rage barely concealed by her sloppy breathing.
"You bitch." She spat, crushing the arrow and watching it turn into a blue, steam-like substance. Blood streamed down her right leg, the crimson red liquid dropping onto the wires below. Her leg lay limp as she used one of her wires to swing back to a tree, hoping to keep from view.
However, she had underestimated Aoi's skill with the bow. And she would regret that dearly.
Again, Aoi said nothing as she took three steps to a tree, pulled the string back, and shot. Another shriek pierced the air. "How does that rib feel?" Aoi was calm in an almost deadly manner. "I'll give you one more chance to give me the antidote. Now." She nocked another arrow. The thing Mai did next, however, Aoi could not predict.
The woman jumped from the trees with a bow piercing through her left abdomen.
She fell towards Aoi, a mad grin spread across her face and revealing her bloodied teeth as more trickled down the side of her face. The horrifying sight making Aoi grip falter.
"Together we shall die, then!" She yelled, and ripped the fabric off her shirt to reveal a large paper bomb.
Aoi stared in shock as the woman plummeted towards her, her body paralyzed by fear.
Sure, Aoi could escape, barely at that, but Hayato couldn't. Aoi let the chakra of the bow and arrow disperse, and ran to cover Hayato, preparing for the worst.
Boom!
. . .
"S-Sora!" Kaito stuttered, crawling to his sensei.
"Glad to see you, too, kid." The jounin smiled. "Where are the others?"
"They're fighting some woman. We need to help them—"
A large explosion went off somewhere in the forrest. And worse, it sounded like it came from the area Kaito had just come from.
Kaito's body went numb.
"What was that?" Kaito feared for the answer, a cold sweat rolling down the back of his neck.
"I don't know," Sora glared at the large group of bandits surrounding them. "We won't find out until we deal with these pests."
Sora bent down and handed Kaito four coins.
Kaito barely realized when they fell into his palm. He was literally numb with shock. Nothing could have happened to Aoi and Hayato, right? Was it really the right choice to have left them? Kami he was making so many mistakes...
"Twenty minutes," Sora told him, "I'll get rid of them in twenty minutes. I'm sure the others are okay. I can feel it in my gut. They wouldn't lose to some maid, right? So rest," He ruffled the boy's hair and turned to the crowd. "Because you see, I won't be fighting alone," he told the crowd, and displayed a coin.
He gently lay the coin on the ground and made a hand seal.
"Coin Summoning: Beast."
Light exploded from the coin, and another Sora erupted from the small piece of metal.
But this clone was different.
He had longer, much more spiky hair than the original that touched the ground and was half a head taller than Sora's head. He had a feral, wild and unpredictable look in his eyes, and stood in a bestial pose. His teeth were sharper, fingernails and toenails transformed into sharp claws, and he growled like a lion ready to strike.
This wasn't the Sora he knew at all.
Without a command, the clone launched an attack on the clones. It jumped in the air, and struck it's first victim with gruesome accuracy, the man not able to utter a word before going down. Another tried to turn towards the beast. It slung it's head over, and suddenly three more had fallen. In one motion, it stabbed an attacker, bit into another's neck, and slammed its foot into the head of a fallen enemy. Using the man who's neck it was attached to as a weapon, he flung him into the crowd.
By this time some had fled, while others had charged recklessly at the demon, trying to avenge their fallen comrades.
Either way, they would all go down.
Finally one had jumped on top of it, and others followed his lead, climbing and stacking themselves on the clone. A flame rose from the center of the mass of bodies. Men rolled off frantically and began running, but an inferno of flames had already engulfed them.
In the middle of the ball of fire stood the clone, his head raised high and his mouth open in a silent howl. Kaito looked down at his hand. Only one coin remained.
The rest of the bandits had fled, and the beast came stomping to Sora. Kaito stared at the being. He knew he should be scared, horrified even, of this creature. It had probably just murdered, butchered, and slaughtered men left and right, burning some alive. But somewhere inside of him, Kaito knew that there was no need. He couldn't explain it, it was just... there.
Kaito gulped and looked down to the ground. 'Murder, huh?' he thought to himself, 'Not my first time seeing it, but just as scary all the same'. He felt his chest and thought his heart might burst out of his chest.
"Don't worry," Sora said, still standing next to the genin. In fact, the ninja hadn't moved at all. The clone pretty much did all of the work. "He didn't kill any of them. Wounded heavily, maybe. Burned to a crisp, possibly. But killed? Nah. We've still got the boss left to deal with, anyway." He nodded towards the dark woods.
A slow round of exaggerated applause began, and a man in a red shirt, white coat with yellow trimmings, black pants and shoes, and wore a spaulder made of metal on his right arm. He had red spiky hair, and a black tattoo on the palm of his right hand.
"Well done, well done." He commended, "It has been long since I've seen a Konoha-nin of your rank. Tell me, what is your name?"
Kaito sensed that something was off with the way he asked the question. It wasn't much of a question, but more of an unenthusiastic greeting; as if he knew of their sensei already.
"I don't intend to give it to strangers. Stranger-danger and all." Sora shrugged.
"Ahh, a joke! Are you the clown of this group, or something?"
The beast Sora snarled at this and leapt at the man. Lightning flashed, and the redhead swiped his right hand to the left; the clone was split horizontally from side to side, it's lower half flopping to the ground.
The man grabbed the top half of the clone, and wiggled a finger at them.
"Now, that wasn't nice, now was it, jokester."
Sora took a step forward. The clone wasn't bleeding; in fact, the section where it was cut from the bottom-half gleamed.
'Like copper!' Kaito thought. Cracks like spiderwebs appeared on its body, and it dissolved into a golden-tinted dust.
"If you don't mind, I must go someplace else. I sent a small squad to the village, so they should be handling that with ease. Excuse me," he turned.
Sora clapped his hands together.
"Fire Style: Lumber Spirit!"
The flames in the distraction Sora had made burned brighter, all the wood in it disappearing into ash and then becoming one with the flame. The flame raged, and spears of fire shot out of it. In a flash, the spears crashed into the spot where the man was. Just when Kaito thought Sora had gotten the man, he heard his voice:
"Was that needed?"
The man appeared on the left side of a huge, burned crater.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a comrade to avenge. From your little genin nonetheless."
. . .
Aoi's head was throbbing painfully when she came to. She looked around and sucked in a breath.
A black, crystal-like dome protected her from the blast. She was alive, she thought gratefully.
She turned to Hayato, who had his hand dug deeply into the dirt.
"Pine Style," he panted, "Dome." Hayato collapsed, his breath sloppy but breathing nonetheless.
Aoi looked up. It was blurry, almost foggy outside. She touched the dark material, thinking it would be hot from the blast.
But the dome was cool to the touch.
Aoi looked around.
'How long have I been out? More importantly, how am I going to get out?' She pondered. But now, Hayato's condition was more important. She turned him over to expect his wound and almost doubled over, nausea creeping up her throat. Aoi turned her head and pulled out gloves placed in her shuriken holster to put them on. She carried them for an occasion like this, though she hadn't imagined that it would be so soon that she was forced to use them.
She took out her ointment and rubbed it on the wound. This would relieve some of the pain, but she still needed to do something about to poison. The problem was...
She didn't know how to do it.
The boom of thunder went off somewhere near their area. Aoi looked around, but everything was still dark and hazy under this dome. Aoi tensed, and looked up; A searing light came to the dome, slamming into it. Aoi prepared to move Hayato if the dome collapsed, but she looked up and her eyebrows rose in amazement.
There wasn't even a crack.
A man tapped it, and she could hear the faint sound of a chuckle. He slid to the side of the dome where Aoi and Hayato lay. The man cracked his fingers, and lightning erupted from his palm and coated his hand. He slammed the fist into the dome, over and over. The impact from the punches shook the barrier.
It was obvious that this man was not trying to help them.
A few more punches and it finally began to crack. Panicking, Aoi touched the dome. Focusing, she transferred her chakra into the crack, and while not being able to restore it due to the barrage of attacks, she spread her chakra in the dome, strengthening it. This would buy them enough time.
'Enough time for what?' Aoi thought, 'We can't handle this man. Not in this condition. Why must there always be someone new to fight, one after the other?'
His voice seeped through the small crack, and she heard him yell:
"Come out, come out! It will only hurt a little."
His fist was now punching at a rapid rate. With each thud of a fist, Aoi felt the impact, the transferring of chakra somewhat giving her the feel of the shield. IT wasn't long before she felt like she was an overused punching bag. Aoi didn't know how long they had. "We can't go out like this!" Aoi screamed in frustration.
. . .
Hayato slowly and stiffly rose. He was slick with sweat, and along with a terrible feeling of nausea, he had a pounding headache. Coming from his dizzy state, he could almost imagine the dome he made was moving.
Wait, it was moving.
"Hayato!" Aoi had her hands placed on the wall, and was growing paler and paler by the second. A man outside was launching an assault, Hayato finally noticed, and Aoi seemed to be trying to prevent the inevitable. "C-can you make another one of these things?"
He cursed, but his voice was weak, and was barely heard over the slamming outside.
"I'm guessing that's a no!" She screamed.
He opened his mouth dryly, searching for the words to say, and then firmly closed it. He couldn't figure out a way to help her. He was too tired, too exhausted.
He was too weak. He needed...
An idea suddenly struck Hayato.
He reached in his pocket and fumbled around for the item. It was the only way, he decided. He said he'd never use it because there would be no need, but this day he stood corrected. So much for keeping it...
Slam!
Aoi flew back, crashing into the other side of the round dome. She moaned, slumping to the ground while her arms fell to her side. There was a thin vertical tearing in the barrier, the edges of the tear burning red hot with electricity coursing through the burnt rock. A redheaded man was on the other side, rearing back his fist bathed in lightning for one last punch.
And Hayato pulled out the coin.
Dropping it to the ground, he slammed it with his fist just as the wall was shattered.
The pieces of the coin shone a radiant white, and in a flash Sora appeared in front of his students. At the sight, Hayato had never been so happy to see his sensei. But he had also never been so tired...
"You have received Sora-Cent-iments," Sora bowed towards the man, "And you, my friend, have received Sora's rage."
. . .
Kaito rushed to the village, running to save someone or something seeming to become Kaito's "thing". Sora had given him a detailed enough map to where he could find it, even with no fire. Finally reaching the village he found it in one piece, but it was seemingly deserted. Not knowing many places to check on, he ran to the first place he could think of: Mamoru's house.
After thoroughly searching the place, he found no sign of the family. 'Have they been adbucted..?' Kaito thought despairingly. Before abandoning hope, he ran to the mansion. Going past various houses, he found bodies of men wearing similar cloaks to the man they found messing with Mariko's head.
They were all doused in water, a trail of bodies leading to the mansion.
What the heck was going on?
"Gahh!" A man yelled at the top of the building. Kaito looked up just as he was thrown off the building and fell to the ground. Peering down at the man, he saw that his eyelids rolled to the back of his head and a large amount of water on him. Whomever it was up there, Kaito thought, wasn't their average bandit.
Gathering up his courage, Kaito jumped up to the top of the building and prepared for battle; but instead, stared in shock.
"M-Mariko!?"
. . .
Sora made a clone that took his two genin to safety. He cracked his knuckles as the man in front of him sighed.
"I guess I cannot get to them unless I pass you." The redhead growled irritably.
"That's right, Raiden."
"Oh? And how might you know my name?" The redhead rose an eyebrow.
"I have my information. Mind telling me why you chose this village?" Sora's eyes narrowed.
"Ah, that I cannot say. I do believe, however, that you owe me an explanation as to why you're so persistent in getting in my way."
"Well that's easy. Other than you taking my hostages and knocking out the rest, hurting my little shrimps is just punishable on its own account. Sometimes by death." He glared.
"Well, why don't we just see then, jokester?" Lightning crackled in the villain's right palm, his gaze becoming more serious.
"Why not, redhead. I'll give you a real shade of red." Fire swarmed around his forearms.
Thrusting his fist out, a ball of flame shot out at Raiden. Raiden held out his hands, fingers splayed, and lightning pulsed from them, disintegrating the fire like it was nothing.
Raiden moved like a flash of lightning, ramming Sora with his left shoulder. Sora stumbled, caught off guard, and rose his hand to block at the last moment as Raiden slung his fist into Sora. Sora skidded to a halt and crouched low to the ground with catlike agility.
"Lightning Style," Lightning coursed through Raiden's right arm, "Thunder's Pulse!"
The lightning travelled up to his hand, and he threw it forward. The lightning disappeared, and a large, almost invisible shockwave slammed into Sora, sending him flying into the air. Sora twisted and slammed his feet onto a tree, raising his head to glare once more at his foe. Sora crossed his arms and the flames on his body intensified. He yanked his hands apart, and his entire body was covered in a swarming mass of flames. His eyes glinted brilliantly as he flung himself off the tree and sent himself flying towards Raiden.
Then Sora sensed something else being launched at him and shot himself to the ground, avoiding the water bullet aimed at his previous location.
He turned his head to see Kaito, but he wasn't the one whom had shot the bullet; he standing beside Mariko, who was dressed in standard Konoha attire and had her hands out. She was the one who had launched the technique.
"Sora," she said firmly, "Please let me fight my brother. He needs to be taught a lesson in messing with his village; and more importantly, his family."