Chapter Eighteen
I flew through the tree's it felt like, my feet barely touching a branch before I was launching myself to the next one in order to get back to Choji as quickly as I could. It had been a mistake to leave at all. I wouldn't let Choji be another Akari or Rafu.
"Not today." I muttered to myself, sending more chakra to my feet and plowing ahead.
Only a couple of minutes later I felt a surge in chakra in the same area that I had last seen Choji. I saw the sound-nin get smacked back by Choji with his hand, which was expanded past its regular size, before following up with an axe kick with an enlarged foot.
The sound-nin rolled to the side and dodged, but Choji didn't let up. I remained hidden, waiting for the opportune moment to strike before revealing my presence.
The sound ninja grabbed Choji's hand and sent him flying, but Choji did an expansion jutsu in mid-air, this time enlarging his whole body and practically doing a belly flop on the enemy. My eyes widened and I jumped back, moving out of the way of Choji's suddenly huge body, and barely made it to a safe place when he landed. I
felt my hair fly back as the wind from his landing blew, causing a cloud of dust that was hard to see through as well. Everything got quiet for a moment as the dust settled, but suddenly I heard Choji groan in pain before he was launched into the air. Quickly, I moved forward and saw the sound-nin who had suddenly became another person.
The orange skinned and orange haired version of Jirobo stalked forward and picked up Choji again before tossing him further away, taunting him.
"You're better off playing ninja with your friends, weakling." Jirobo mocked, still moving towards Choji at a walk.
My eyes narrowed as he moved forward again and I pulled an arrow, glad my presence hadn't been noticed yet. Choji was laying on the ground, eyes screwed up in pain and panting heavily. I could tell he was exhausted from the amount of chakra he had used rapidly and would probably need a break before being ready to fight again.
"Doton: Seismic Arrow." I whispered to myself, pulling the arrow back before sending it flying towards Jirobo. At the last moment, he looked up and jumped backwards, the arrow leaving a crater between Choji and the sound-nin.
"At least he has friends. Looks to me like yours all abandoned you." I said, flipping out of the tree's and landing in the middle of the crater. Jirobo's eyes narrowed at me and I smiled tauntingly, daring him to come after me.
"Ren?" Choji said, sitting up slightly.
"Hey Choji. I know you could handle this guy on your own but I figured you could use a break." I replied, my eyes never leaving the sound ninjas.
"Get out of my way kiddo and I may not kill you." Jirobo said, grinning a little at me.
"We both know that you're lying and we both know you're going to have to get through me first." I replied dismissively, pulling another two arrows out of the quiver on my back. I pulled back and shot them quickly, activating my Sakimonagan at the same time, and watched as he knocked one of the arrows aside and caught the other one.
Jirobo broke the arrow between his fingers and tossed the pieces to the side carelessly. The sound-nin charged me and I jumped up, lashing out with a kick and moving out of the way as he struck out with his fist. I ducked out of the way and tried to sweep his feet, but he jumped up before I could, bringing his fist down once again in a punishing blow.
I attempted to dodge to the left, barely getting out of the way of his fist, but leaving myself vulnerable and unbalanced in the process. He seized the advantage my opening provided and I felt him grab my neck roughly, causing me to choke when my air supply was abruptly cut off, leaving me kicking uselessly with my hands scrambling to alleviate the pressure around my throat.
"Now that I'm in my second state, I'll need a lot more chakra. You won't mind if I take the rest of yours, will you?" Jirobo asked sarcastically, a demented grin on his face. I couldn't make any noises and felt my chakra being drained out of me, my dojutsu deactivating on it's own because of the drain. "I'm glad you came back. It's funny you think that fatso could take me when he can't even help you! You're both the useless people your friends sacrificed. Once I'm done with you two, I'm going to kill those heartless friends of yours."
"You don't know anything!" Choji suddenly roared, a super-sized fist coming to punch Jirobo. I dropped to my knees, gasping and trying to catch my breath. I watched as Choji moved forward, punching Jirobo again and causing him to fly back. "I'm not going to sit by while you hurt my friends!"
I struggled to my feet and used the body flicker technique to get behind Jirobo. My Sakimonagan came back on and I ducked as I saw the elbow coming he tried to use to hit me. I pushed as much chakra as I could to my feet and kicked out, hitting his back and sending him towards Choji.
Choji caught him with his fist and plowed him into the ground, Jirobo's body making a small crater in the ground. Choji reared back again, his hand once again larger than normal because of an expansion jutsu, and delivered a punishing blow straight to Jirobo's head, crushing the sound ninja. I watched as Jirobo slowly changed back, the orange receding and revealing his normal skin. I rushed forward as Choji stumbled, catching him, and holding him upright.
"I got you." I said, lifting him up so I could get a better grip.
"You..you came back." Choji said, looking at me with disbelief and surprise in his eyes.
"Of course I did. Leaf shinobi stick together. You're my comrade." I said, grinning at him a little, even if it was weak. The fight had taken a lot more out of me than I wanted, especially with the chakra drain Jirobo had done, but I had enough to continue on. "Ready to catch up?"
"I-I don't know if I can run." Choji admitted, looking ashamed.
"Then I'll carry you." I responded, slinging him on my back with a slight grunt. He was pretty heavy but I could manage. I reached into my weapons pouch and dug out two soldier pills, taking one and handing one of them to Choji. "This should have you on your feet again."
"Thanks." Choji said, taking the pill and eating it. I grimaced as I ate mine, always hating the chalky taste they left in my mouth, and then started running. "Thanks for coming back."
"No problem. You saved my ass back there, so I should be thanking you." I said dismissively, concentrating on my feet and making sure I didn't drop Choji. I wasn't looking for traps because I assumed Shikamaru and the others would have disabled them, but as I felt Chakra surge through my veins because of the soldier pill, I activated my dojutsu to keep an eye out.
"I couldn't let him kill you. It would crush Shikamaru." Choji said, making my face heat up in embarrassment. I felt a warm feeling curling in my gut at the thought, however morose it may be, that Shikamaru would miss me.
We came to an arrow marked on a tree, letting us know which way to go, and underneath were words written in Kanji. I stopped to read them and Choji climbed off my back, coming next to me and reading them out loud.
"Hurry up slowpokes. That was Naruto." Choji said, his voice shaking a little in wonder. It honestly kind of crushed me to see, that he was this happy to find out people cared about him so much. "We're waiting on you two, so hurry up. That's Kiba."
"Well, we better not disappoint." I said, smirking a little and offering my back to him once again. Choji shook his head and took off, leaving me behind to watch him for a moment before I followed. After reading that it was like his strength was renewed and we moved through the forest, following the arrows and attempting to catch up to our friends.
We caught up to someone, I could tell, feeling the chakra spike in the distance. We doubled our pace and arrived to see Neji, laying face down, with arrows in his back. His opponent was lying a few feet away, dead and face down in the dirt.
"Neji!" Choji called, rushing over to the Hyuuga and feeling for a pulse. His face looked relieved as he found one and he looked up to me to announce it. "He's alive!"
"I don't know medical jutsu." I said, frowning and looking him over. It was obvious that he needed medical attention but if the other opponent's were as strong as Jirobo, they were going to need our help. It didn't feel right to leave him either. "He needs medical attention. We can't just leave him."
"I'll take him while you catch up." Choji volunteered, determination in his eyes. I looked at him, unsure, and he just nodded reassuringly. "I've got this. You go help the others. I'm not going to be of much use after taking two of the Akimichi food pills, It's taken a lot out of me and I'm not sure how well I'd do in a fight."
I nodded tentatively, squeezing Choji's shoulders in a silent thank you before once again taking off to try and catch up to the others.
I flew through the forest, only stopping to make sure I was on the right track, following the arrows they had left as well as the subtle signs they had left while passing. A broken branch, a partial foot print; little things that the other guys hadn't bothered to cover up considering it was now a chase. I knew we needed to catch them and get Sasuke before they got out of Fire Country or he might as well be lost for good.
I came to another clearing, looking around with a frown at the obvious signs of a struggle. My eyes scanned the surrounding area and widened when I saw signs that two, maybe three, people had taken a tumble off of the edge and fallen down into what looked to be a rather deep chasm. I couldn't see the bottom at all, which made my heart constrict, but looking around the clearing I saw that at least three people had continued to move forward.
Once again I was torn on what to do. Follow whoever had fallen down the cliff to make sure they were alright or to continue on where the trail led? The trail was most likely to lead to Sasuke, I knew, but what if it was Shikamaru who fell over the edge?
I shook my head, clearing those thoughts, and focused on the task at hand. I couldn't be distracted like that while on a mission; Shikamaru wouldn't want me to be worried about following him, he would want me to make the logical choice, think with my head, and go complete the mission.
Having made up my mind, I leaped into the tree's and once again followed the trail my comrades and enemies had made. I quietly approached the fight, making sure to hide my chakra signature as much as possible to retain the element of surprise. I saw Shikamaru and the red-headed Sound Kunoichi in what appeared to be a deadlock. She got uglier from when I had last seen her; longer hair, horns coming out of her head, and her skin had a gray tint to it that was completely unnatural. It was most likely the curse seal that Jirobo had as well.
I watched as Shikamaru's shadow wound it's way around her body and attempted to strangle her, but she was obviously resisting because it wasn't able to quite make it. I could see the sweat gathering on Shikamaru's forehead and so, without making a sound, I dropped down to the ground and revealed myself to Shikamaru. Tayuya, the red-headed Kunoichi, couldn't see me with the shadow possession technique restricting her movements. Shikamaru's eyes flickered to me before returning to focus on Tayuya. I knew he had observed my presence and I activated the Sakimonagan, quietly walking forward as I did so, and readied two arrows from my quiver to be shot.
Just as Shikamaru released the shadow possesion, Tayuya let out a victorious snarl before I released the arrows. One pierced through the back of her skull, coming out through her forehead, while the other went through her neck. All I heard was the gurgling sound of blood in her throat as she attempted to make some kind of noise before her body hit the ground. She was dead within seconds.
"About time you got here." Shikamaru said, walking away from Tayuya and collapsing next to me for a second. He looked at me, his expression conveying a large amount of concern and only a little relief at seeing me, not bothering to wipe the blood that had splattered onto his face from my attack off yet. "Did you see any of the others?"
"Choji and I came upon Neji, who had defeated his opponent but was in a critical state. Choji took Neji back to the village to receive medical attention while I continued on." I explained, sitting down myself to rest up a little before we moved on. Shikamaru's shoulders relaxed a fraction after hearing his best friend and Neji were alright. I quit speaking for a moment as I took a drink of the water pouch Shikamaru offered to me, the liquid quickly soothing my parched throat. "I didn't see anyone else until I found you. What about Naruto and Kiba?"
"Kiba fell off a cliff fighting one of them." Shikamaru said, gesturing towards the dead body a few feet from us. "Naruto went after Sasuke because another Sound ninja came and took the coffin. We need to go after him."
"Alright, let's go." I said, getting to my feet and offering my hand to Shikamaru to help him up as well. He took it gratefully and after storing the water pouch, we took off to try and find Naruto. I could feel my legs burning and how low my body was on chakra; I would be next to useless in the coming fight, I'd have to rely on my brain and my weapons.
Shikamaru and I jumped from tree to tree, with him slightly in the lead although I could tell he was pushing himself to his limits as well. It wasn't long before I felt a massive spike in chakra up ahead. Shikamaru stopped, glancing at me with a questioning look to see if I had felt what was ahead, and I nodded grimly. We made it to the edge of the forest and took in the scene of some white haired sound ninja fighting against Lee, making my eyes widen in surprise considering last I had heard he was still recovering from the surgery Tsunade had performed. Something seemed off with the taijutsu expert, however, he was almost wobbly on his feet and was moving in an extremely unpredictable manner and I wasn't convinced it was not the result of upsetting his healing injuries.
"Is he..?" I asked quietly, watching as Lee went head to head against the enemy shinobi admirably.
"He's drunk." Shikamaru deadpanned
"Wha-?" I asked, shocked that someone could fight like that so inebriated. It was definitely an.. Interesting style, his Drunken Fist. We quickly got serious again when something changed with his opponent and the sound shinobi took on another form, much like the opponents we had faced before had. I scowled as I saw him punch Lee, causing the spandex clad Konoha ninja to fly back. "Those damn curse seals."
"Can you hold him for a moment while I think of a plan?" Shikamaru asked, seemingly hesitant to ask.
"I've got this bastard." I growled, notching three arrows and jumping from the tree, releasing them in mid-air before my feet touched solid ground.
The sound-nin had bones growing out of him, which was one of the creepiest sights I have ever seen, and he deflected two of the arrows easily. The last, third arrow hit him dead on in the chest but the metal arrowhead shattered on impact, leaving the wooden shaft to fall harmlessly to the floor and me to gape at him.
The next thing I knew, the man was in front of me and throwing a punch with his bone re-enforced fist. I activated my Sakimonagan, grimacing as I felt the drain on my chakra and at the realization I wouldn't be able to use it long, and I rolled to the left with my bow still gripped firmly in my hands. The future was changing rapidly, basically in real time and only giving me split second warnings before the guy was on top of me again. He threw an uppercut and I twirled to the side to avoid it, jumping over the sweeping kick he lashed out with next, and then using my arm to push his next punch upwards so it went above my head. It was like I was hitting a stone pillar and the limb barely avoided crashing into my head.
I kicked out with my right leg, which he didn't even attempt to dodge, and I attempted to push off of him and flip backwards in order to get some distance. There was no way I was going to even come close to winning, or more honestly lasting much longer, in a close range fight with this guy. Even though my kick didn't cause him to move an inch, I pushed off with the leg and for a second thought I had succeeded until I felt his hand clench around my ankle painfully. I let out a grunt as he swung me around, driving me into the ground, and I rolled as soon as I landed and he let go to avoid the follow up punch which left a small dent in the ground where my head had previously been.
By the time I had gotten up, he was on top of me again, and I used my bow like a blunt weapon. The wood was incredibly resilient and I used the bow to move his fist to the right, whipping it up and catching him on the chin with the other end. He attempted to knee me but I moved slightly to the side, having seen it coming, ducked the arm he swung out as well. As fast and as gracefully as I could, avoiding his attacks, I got through his defense enough to push the bow against his chest so that the bowstring was parallel to his collarbone. Using the last bit of chakra I had, deactivating my Sakimonagan in the process, I flipped over his head and twisted the bow so I landed behind him, both of my knees driving into his back, and I pulled the bow as hard as I could so the string was taut against his throat. I used all the strength I had, pulling back as much as I could, and felt the last of my chakra deposit into the wood.
"Kyujutsu: Steel Strangulation!" I grunted, watching as the bowstring caught the line as it hardened with satisfaction. I felt the sound-nin hit the ground on his knees, his hands coming up to his throat, but I kept pulling as though my life - as though Shikamaru's life, depended on it.
I heard the man make a guttural sound in his throat, my eyes widening at the fact that he could make any sounds at all with my bowstring digging into his throat in what was supposed to be a fatal manner. He jerked his head forward slightly, causing me to lean forward at the unexpected action and alleviating some of the tension around his neck accidentally in the process, only for him to drive backwards with even more force. My knees, still digging into his back to give me leverage, disconnected and I had the strangest sensation course through my body, almost as if I was flying.
I watched helplessly as the bowstring snapped against his neck while I was launched backwards fifty feet, clenching my teeth together in pain as my body skidded across the ground after finally connecting. The wooden bow, the upper limb and lower limb no longer connected by a string and thus incapable of firing arrows, was still gripped tightly in my gloved hand. I struggled to lift my head, my sore body protesting as I launched to my feet with the wooden bow spinning in my hand just in time to deflect the bone sword that had been launched towards me by my opponent.
The sound-nin's eyes narrowed, watching me silently while I steadied myself. I pulled an arrow from the quiver strapped to my back like I had a thousand times before, the feeling of the dyed green and white feathers between my fingers almost therapeutic, and clenched the shaft in one hand like a dagger while holding the now almost useless bow in my other hand. Though my eyes never left him, it was as if the white-haired shinobi was a blur as he moved, dashing towards me with killing intent falling off him in waves. I readied myself, watching carefully, and then jumped backwards quickly to get out of the way. The sound-nin stopped in his tracks, his pale eyes showing frustration, anger, and disbelief.
"Shadow possession complete." I heard Shikamaru rasp out, which made me want to relax but I held myself up with the knowledge that the fight wasn't over as motivation to remain on my feet. Shikamaru's shadow was stretching from where he was behind me, to my own shadow, and then underneath my legs to connect with the sound-nin's.
Shikamaru had launched his shadow out, hiding it within the depths of my own shadow, and I had waited until the last moment to move so he could push the shadow forward just enough to capture our enemy. Despite myself, my lips twisted at the corners into a satisfied smirk as I readjusted my grip on the shaft of the arrow in my hand. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Lee getting to his feet, a somewhat dazed expression on his face as he took in the scene in front of him.
My eyes were quickly jerked back to our opponent when I heard Shikamaru call out a warning; The sound ninja's curse mark had pulsed with energy, the black marks extending out like tendrils across the pale expanse of his chest while I watched on in morbid fascination as even more bones grew out from his torso. In what seemed like slow motion, although was truthfully incredibly fast paced, the sound ninja broke the hold Shikamaru had over his body and jerked his hands up towards me so that all of his fingers pointed in my direction, the shadow that had previously held him immobile now retreating rapidly back to Shikamaru's position behind me.
"Digital Shrapnel!" I heard him yell out in a quick, hard and angry tone of voice. I watched as white objects, which I barely registered as bone, shot out from the tips of his fingers. I felt panic take over my body, my first reaction was to dodge to the side, but Shikamaru's last known position was directly behind me. Out of options, chakra, and the time necessary to come up with a better solution, I brought my arms in a cross, with both the arrow and bow still gripped firmly by my hands, and braced myself while trying to cover the vital areas of my body with my arms.
The small chunks of bone, some of the pieces moving faster than others for an unknown reason yet causing a staggered attack, made a sickening sound as they pierced my arms. I felt them drive through my flesh, my muscles, and finally my own bones as easily as water passes through the fingers of a child when they cup it in theirs hands from the river during the summertime. I felt the first one stop in my upper arm, having made a hole clean through my forearm already before coming out on the other side and losing momentum as it drove into the muscle. The next piece of bone went clear through my thigh uninterrupted, the one after that lodged itself inside my chest cavity, most likely either piercing my lung or having damaged it in some way if the sudden pain and struggle to breath meant what I thought it did.
My body jerked as each piece made contact, burning through my body with more ferocity than anything I had experienced prior, and I distantly heard someone yell out in a desperate voice even as my vision began to blur and get darker around the edges. I must have closed my eyes for a moment, bracing for the remaining bone fragments, because when I opened them again it was to a golden, constantly shifting wall spread out in front of me protectively. Even though I was quickly becoming unconscious, I saw a red-haired boy around my age shift in front of me with a blank expression on his face, almost casual in his manner while examining the sand spread out in front of us and watching carefully as more bone fragments sunk into the sand shield, which followed the bone as it attempted to tear through the shield, slowing the momentum down until the fell uselessly to the ground on the other side.
I heard more voices, what sounded like incredibly high speed winds, and what followed was the sensation of being caught up in a particularly powerful windstorm. I couldn't hold myself up any longer, my eyes fluttered shut as I collapsed onto the solidly packed earth. From what sounded like leagues away, I heard Shikamaru desperately calling my name and I could partially feel my body being shaken by someone. Everything seemed so abstract, as if I was removed from the situation, floating away like one of the clouds Shikamaru watched so often with what I would almost classify as reverence in his steady and intelligent eyes.
I tried to force my eyes open, only being able to crack them open for a split second before a heaviness forced them shut once more. I noticed absently that it was a beautiful day, a bright sky filled with layers of clouds that appeared endless in their depths, a fluffy kingdom that was ever changing for the amusement of those who cared enough to watch.
The last thing I remember thinking, even as my body relaxed and I began to feel like I was floating without a corporal body to stay anchored to, was that I hoped Shikamaru was okay.
It would be a shame for him to miss out today, the sky looks so beautiful.
A/N: Okay, so it was longer than I thought between updates; which appears to be, unfortunately, a recurring theme in my life. I saw the reviews, which made me smile and want to update with a desperate fervor, and I have finally completed the next chapter. I hope you all enjoyed this one, I can honestly say that it didn't go the way I originally thought it was going too.
To my lovely reviewers: Thank you for the encouragement, the wonderful thoughts, and kind words that you've given me! You have all handled the time in-between chapters gracefully and without pressuring (read: heckling) me into posting faster! I truly appreciate all of this more than you know. If anyone has any ideas or an interaction they would enjoy seeing as the story unfolds, let me know and I'll do my best to include it or at least talk to you about it.
Thanks for all the love and see you next chapter!
~Rache