Honor of the Heart
Chapter 5: Tests of Power
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu=Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique AKA Giant Vortex Jutsu
Suiton: Hahonryuu=Water Release: Tearing Torrent
Normal POV
The party of five continued on down the winding dirt paths, having already made it halfway to the Land of Noodles until they had to pass through a forest.
Dusk had crept up through the day, an opaque blue clawing its way through the sky from shades of crimson and pale yellow.
"Alright, we'll set up camp here." Kakashi said when they stopped at a clearing.
"Should I get firewood?" Akari suggested.
"Yeah. It's going to be a cold night." The silver-haired ANBU agreed, beginning to unpack sleeping bags.
"Alright, I'll be back in no time!" The redhead winked, leaping away in search of kindling.
"Geez, I'm gonna have to sleep on the bare ground?" Chikara groaned.
Saburo glanced over at him, a bored look on his face.
"If you don't want to sleep on the ground, there's always the trees. Sleeping on the ground with us, however, keeps you safer. If someone abushes us, it would be easier to surround and protect you rather than have them snatch you up from a branch. But, I guess that's your decision."
Now unnerved, the daimyo's son answered, "Okay, okay! I'll sleep on the ground!"
Taiki chuckled lightly. "Saburo, don't frighten him!"
"I was simply putting my point across." The black-haired genin shrugged.
"You don't have to scare him to convince him..." The brunette sweatdropped.
"It's so obvious you don't like kids." He thought grimly.
Saburo chose to ignore his comment, and continued setting up camp.
"I'm back!" A feminine voice called out, numerous logs suddenly getting tossed into the center of the clearing.
What followed was Akari, smiling away as she landed beside the pile.
"Okay! Let's get a fire going and eat!"
About an hour later~
"Well, that should do it." Taiki grinned, sitting back and enjoying the warmth provided by the bright orange flames. They were seated surrounding the fire, eating their fill.
The genin always seemed to have a smile on his face, which caused his forest-green eyes to glimmer whenever he did so.
"Say, Kakashi?"
"Hmm?" The jonin replied, glancing up from his book.
"Aren't you going to eat?"
Kakashi waved a hand. "I already ate, don't worry."
He felt uncomfortable somehow, as if there was a tenseness in the atmosphere.
"I feel like someone's staring at me..." The silver-haired shinobi thought, then realized that Akari had her eyes narrowed, glaring at him.
"Is there something you need, Akari-chan?" He questioned in a light tone.
"...hmm..." She simply hummed, watching him as if he were her experiment she was observing.
Waves of unease stirred inside the jonin, wondering why she was suddenly so quiet.
"Why do you always wear a mask?" Chikara suddenly asked, snapping Akari out of her trance.
Kakashi's eye flickered to the boy.
"Well, that's a very good question. And one I'd rather not answer."
Chikara frowned. "Why not? Is it that important to hide your face? I don't see the big deal."
"Give it a rest, Chikara. He's never answered that question." The redhead beside him spoke, taking a slurp of noodles.
"Does that bother you?" Kakashi inquired, but Akari simply shrugged.
"Everybody has secrets."
Though it seemed like a simple enough answer, the jonin read and saw her underlying message.
"That's true." Taiki agreed, oblivious to the shared look Akari and Kakashi were exchanging.
Saburo was silent as usual, eating slowly and gazing into the flames, lost in thought. He swiftly caught the look between the two members of the group, his ice-blue eyes reflecting the contrasting oranges and reds like shards of glass.
"Wow, even you have secrets, Taiki-nii-san?" Chikara asked incredulously.
The said genin chuckled in amusement. "That's right. Although, I don't have many of them. You can ask me a lot of things and I'll probably answer honestly. Saburo, on the other hand, will most likely ignore you."
The black-haired shinobi grunted. "Why're you dragging me into this conversation?"
"Just making a comparison, that's all." Taiki shrugged with a small grin.
Kakashi's single visible eye darted from Taiki to Saburo, and then to the restless Akari who seemed tense.
"Something wrong, Akari?" Her brown-haired comrade inquired.
Snapping her head to look at him, Akari answered, "Huh? Oh...no. It's nothing."
"It doesn't seem like nothing. You've been glancing around the past hour." Taiki pointed out.
"Taiki. Drop it." Saburo warned him in a flat tone.
The brunette looked at him with a nearly baffled expression, his green eyes wide with innocence.
"What? What'd I do?"
His teammate met his eyes, the icy blue chips hardening until they appeared to be crystal or blue-colored diamonds.
"Just drop it." He enunciated each word clearly, sounding annoyed.
Akari's POV
I stared up at the moon and the stars, having taken first watch again.
Sensing a stir of movement, I sharply turned my head. However, all I saw was the rustle of a nearby bush.
"Huh, must've been the wind."
"Right, like I'm actually thinking that." I internally snorted, feeling something off in the atmosphere.
I felt like there were eyes watching me, laser-focused and waiting to strike.
Even though I was already gripping a kunai in my hand just in case, there was the urge to draw out another.
A few hours later I felt myself nodding off. I was barely aware that there was some more rustling, but it was probably just the wind or an animal again.
Then a ninja star spun towards me with accurate precision-
Poof.
Actually I was hiding in the bushes with Kakashi and a sleeping Chikara on my back. My clone disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Four figures landed down from the trees into our campsite: Three men and one woman.
"How disappointing. It was only a clone." A feminine voice sighed.
Glancing to Kakashi, he nodded and signaled an 'okay'. We formed the seals for a clone each, sending them in to see just how strong they were.
They appeared in a puff of smoke, dashing with kunais gripped tightly in their hands. Taiki and Saburo followed shortly.
I heard the clang of swords and a baritone chuckle. "Here they are! The three lowly genin and Hatake Kakashi."
We peeked out from behind the bushes to see what was transpiring, Chikara stirring slightly.
"Who are you? What do you want with us?" Kakashi's clone demanded, a kunai at the ready.
"Who we are isn't important. Now where's the kid?" An intelligent, well-built young man demanded.
"As if we'd just hand him over to you! Who are you and why do you want the daimyo's son?" My own clone questioned.
The female, who had light brown hair and deep blue eyes, sighed. "You're such a nuisance. Just give us the kid and no one has to get hurt."
"Sorry, that's not going to happen." Saburo shot back.
The apparent leader, the second tallest of the group after the muscular one, sighed. His ocean blue eyes gleamed with confidence as he sauntered about a little.
"Then I guess we're going to have to get our hands dirty." He commented, drawing a wide, slick blade from his back.
Apparently they all had their own swords. The female had dual katanas with forest green handles, the muscular man had a massive bulky one with spikes and a yellow handle, and the clever-looking one had a Kodachi sword with a black handle.
We split up, each taking on a different opponent. It was easy to discern which one of us should combat who: Taiki repelled the muscular man's bulky sword with two kunais, Saburo was fighting the clever-looking man with thought-out taijutsu and a bit of ninjutsu, I went against the only female and Kakashi battled the leader.
Well, our clones did anyways.
The female lunged at my clone, brandishing her dual blades. My clone flipped backwards a few times, trying to put some distance between them, but she just pushed on.
"Tch, I'm gonna have to use that technique." My clone sighed, ducking to avoid a horizontal swipe at her head.
It was a little strange, watching myself fight.
Seeing the source of light required to use the technique my clone had in mind, she praised her mind for luring the woman near the flickering flames.
She blocked another strike with her kunai, shoving the woman away with a strong sidekick to the gut.
Before she could close the distance again, my clone put her hands into the proper sign. Their shadows began to flicker beside the surviving campfire, stretching and shifting unnaturally.
"Kage mane no jutsu!"
Their shadows nearly merged when the woman caught on and leapt out of the way. She glanced back down at her from a branch.
"Oh, tricky little girl, aren't you? And you're apparently from the Nara clan. Well, in that case..."
She eyed the campfire, moving her hands quickly through multiple signs. "Suiton: Mizurappa!"
A powerful gush of water spouted from her mouth, forcing my clone to retreat from the campfire in order to avoid the attack. The flames sputtered and died, leaving only ashes and soggy, charred wood behind.
It was a basic water style technique, but I didn't think she even had the water style. Come to think of it...all of them had varying shades of blue eyes and brown hair, which were common in the Land of Water.
Were they missing-nins? Outcasts? Shinobi ordered to stir trouble?
What did they want with Chikara? Why were they in Fire Country territory? Were they trying to ambush Konoha while at our weakest?
Agh, all of these questions...
My clone dodged several more spurts of water from the same jutsu, leaping from branch to branch.
"Tch, just because you snuffed out a campfire, you look so smug. What kind of idiot relies on only one jutsu?" She snapped, creating more clones.
"Wow, that was super smart my dear clone. Just try and insult your opponent when you have that exact problem. That'll work out very nicely." I thought in exasperation.
The only advanced technique I really had at my disposal was the Kage Mane no Jutsu due to my lack of chakra concentration and the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. But I'd been through a war; a few stray shinobi weren't going to scare me. I just had to outsmart them. There was no way they'd be getting Chikara.
Not when I was here.
"Oh? Would you like me to entertain you? Very well, let's play little child!" The woman smirked, her long fingers running through a series of signs.
Let's see...tiger, ox, monkey, rabbit, ram...
...Crap.
"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!"
Water surged and rose from her mouth, rising up dozens of meters above my clone's head. Before it streamed down into one big cascade, my clone used Kage Mane no Jutsu to get thrown out of the radius.
After the wave had settled down, the woman scowled at her. "Tch, weaseling your way out of it, I see."
My double smirked, weaving the Snake hand sign. The woman narrowed her dazzling blue eyes in confusion.
A hissing could be heard as the planted explosive tag on her branch and back ignited, stirring alarm within 'my' opponent. Her eyes widened as she flailed to take the tag off her back.
"Not at all. Just putting myself a step ahead." My clone remarked, amethyst eyes tracking the woman's movements.
She fell to the ground, trailing smoke as she descended. That would definitely leave a mark.
However, she quickly recovered. Standing again, she threw a kunai at my clone, who swiftly dodged.
"You little brat! I'll make you pay for ruining my silk kimono!" She screeched, weaving signs of boar, dog and ram.
"Suiton: Hahonryuu!"
The delicate, shining silk of her kimono shirt was tattered in the back, singed from the nicely placed tag. The woman's hand created spiraling water that was meant to fire at my duplicate.
"Maybe you shouldn't have worn something so expensive to a shinobi fight!" My clone retorted, leaping up to avoid the blast.
Swinging with a roundhouse, she forced the woman into a taijutsu battle instead. Which, apparently, she wasn't as skilled at.
After earning a clock across the face, she started talking.
"If you'd just give us the boy, you can walk away in one piece with your team! Why do you insist on fighting back?!"
My clone glared at her. "Despite what you might think, Konoha has not weakened. We still stand strong and we'll see this mission through! Plus...I'm not letting you abduct Chikara to use him at your own expense! He's just a kid!"
"No, he is a spoiled brat that has all the riches and luxury he could ask for. If you were to ask me, he had this coming."
The double used a sweep kick to make the woman back away. "He never deserved this! He's got problems like every other kid! And I won't let you have him!"
A hand shot out to emit a jet of water, sending my clone back. The woman finally unsheathed her dual katanas.
"Looks like I'll have to use these after all. Better to get this over with than play around with you any longer." She growled, the blades suddenly appearing foreboding.
It was as if she'd gotten stronger the moment she pulled them out.
Suddenly she became a blur, appearing behind my clone in an instant. My duplicate's eyes widened in shock.
The dual katanas were parried by her kunais, but it was obvious she was struggling to hold them back.
"Why has her chakra suddenly increased? Why is she so strong now?"
My clone was pushed back, heels sliding across the ground.
"Damn it..." She cursed, back flipping to get more space, which was swiftly closed by the woman.
"Take this!" The woman cried, slashing at my clone and finishing her off.
I took in as many facts as I could about her fighting style before I leapt in behind her as my clone disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Before she drew out her katanas, she used long-range Water Release jutsus and her taijutsu wasn't up to par with my own. But once she did, it was as if her strength increased ten-fold, upping her speed and stamina. It had something to do with her swords, but what?
She tended to leave her back open for attack, but I knew that window was closing fast. And she'd likely catch on that I didn't know a lot of jutsu. Perhaps I could use her vanity to open up another opportunity and get her gloating.
At this point, Chikara had awoken and was frightfully clinging to my neck. I set him down, putting a finger to my lips. Without words, I did my best to reassure him he'd be safe before I appeared behind my opponent.
"...eh? This wasn't the real one?!"
Whipping out a kunai, I aimed for her neck, only to be blocked by her katanas.
A smug expression spread across her countenance. "So, you're the real one! I'll cut you into pieces and be on my way in a matter of seconds!"
Crash!
Glancing away, I saw Taiki get pummeled by a thundering blow from his towering opponent, his spiked blade in his free hand.
"Nice work, Ryota!" The leader grinned.
Ryota sent a small smile back.
Saburo was barely holding off the clever-looking one, who had also drawn his blades. Hatake was in the midst of battling the leader, his sword also unsheathed.
Their swords gave them extra power...perhaps a seal?
"Never look away from your enemy!" The woman exclaimed, shoving me back and cutting my arm.
I winced as rivulets of blood flowed from the wound.
How was I going to defeat them now? I needed more time to figure it out.
"Alright, time to call in the cavalry! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Nine more clones poofed into existence. Letting out battle cries, two each aided Taiki and Saburo, while I only sent one to help Hatake.
He probably didn't need the help anyway.
Refusing to let my injury weigh me down, I sprinted at the woman, who parried my blows with exceptional speed. My remaining four clones aided me in the task, aiming for her legs and sides.
Since she was only one person, they succeeded in landing some blows. Now bruised and bleeding a little, she sent me a heated glare.
"How dare you! These costed a fortune! If that's how you want to play it, be my guest!"
Somehow she managed to weave the hand signs necessary with her blade handles gripped in her palms, all while keeping some distance between us. She even dodged the ninja stars that were thrown at her.
"Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!"
At first it was just a watery apparatus, but soon molded into a fluid copy of my opponent. And she conjured three.
"You're not the only one who can make clones!" She smirked as I ducked a horizontal swipe.
A clone took a hit for me when we secretly traded places. I summoned a few more, sending one each to Taiki and Saburo since two of my previous clones had been defeated.
"We need to switch!" I called, back flipping closer to Saburo.
Locking eyes, we nodded before passing each other. I hastily parried the kodachi blade descending in an arc above me from the clever-looking younger man.
"Hey! I'm not done with you yet!" I heard the lady call, but I didn't exactly care.
My new opponent had a lanky build, but he was oddly enough incredibly powerful. It had to be their swords...but how? How were they drawing power from them?
He smirked at me. "You'll find I'm not exactly an easier opponent than dear Nanase."
"Why do you want Chikara?! Who ARE you? How did you know we were coming? Answer me!" I demanded, managing to push back his kodachi.
"Ohh, you seek answers do you? I suppose I could indulge you in one: Chikara is much more valuable to us alive than dead, so that should put your conscience at ease."
"But why do you want him?" I insisted, the grip on my kunai tightening.
"I believe I said only one answer. If you want more, you'll have to defeat me. That is, if you can manage such a feat." The man replied smugly, adjusting his grip on the kodachi blade.
The reason I hesitated was because I wasn't sure if I could. I was just a lowly genin-these guys were practically high-level Chuunin or even Jounin. How was I going to defeat this person, who was obviously much more experienced and intelligent?
I'd never find out, because I heard a cry of fear and a victorious chuckle.
"Hey Teruo! I found the little brat cowering behind the bushes! Let's get out of here, I've had it with these pesky genin." Nanase remarked, one arm holding a wriggling Chikara.
Apparently she'd been speaking to the leader, since he deviated from his ensuing battle against Hatake. He had to be the strongest, since he'd been on par with, regrettably, a genius.
"Nice work Nanase. Now we can put this behind us."
"Unhand me, peasant woman! I am royalty!" He sneered, which did not help him in the least.
She sent him a death glare ten fold. "Shut up, little brat. It's because you're royalty we're taking you alive. Say goodbye to a life of luxury, since where you're going is far from pleasant."
"Ryota, Satoshi, time to go." Teruo beckoned, his fellow comrades leaving the battle.
"NO!" I charged forward with my clones, managing to distract the other shinobi as I landed a solid side kick at Nanase's stomach, sending her flying and releasing Chikara.
"We won't let you take him so easily." Hatake said, battling Teruo.
I grabbed him and started to run, weaving signs as I did so. A clone appeared just as the leader, Teruo, came after me and took Chikara away once more.
"I'll be taking that, thanks." He smirked and rejoined his comrades.
"You made this very difficult for us, Hatake Kakashi. As did your team of genin. That underestimation will not happen again. Let us never see each other in the near future, hm?"
And with that, they took off.
With Kakashi
He had almost gotten the best of the leader Teruo until he drew his blade. It was as if it acted like some kind of charger for his strength and chakra. The silver-haired Jounin suspected a seal of some kind, though he had yet to find it.
When Chikara was taken, Akari and the rest of them fought hard to get him back, but to no avail.
Akari, and her clone, did not appear as solemn or angry as he'd anticipated. Had she not grown fond of the young royal? Well, it wasn't as if he had, but she'd always held a soft spot for kids.
"What're we gonna do now?" Taiki groaned, a hand clutching his side.
He'd gotten beaten pretty bad by Ryota.
"You guys have to complete the mission." Akari stated, which confused all of them.
"But we don't have Chikara." Saburo frowned.
"What're you talking about? I'm right here idiots!" The clone sneered, and in a poof of smoke, Chikara appeared.
"What...? A Transformation Jutsu?" Taiki said, eyes wide with disbelief.
"I'm a clone. The real Akari managed to put a Transformation Jutsu on Chikara, but didn't have enough time to change me into Chikara in time, so she did it on herself. They took her instead. She wants you to continue the mission without her. I'll disappear in a few seconds-she's getting too far away to maintain the jutsu." The remaining Akari duplicate elaborated.
Kakashi's features switched to surprise. "What? That explains the odd reactions...why would she go this far?"
"She couldn't-" The clone began, but then poofed out of existence.
"Damn it, now we'll never know," The ANBU member grunted, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Unless you guys have a theory. She is your teammate, after all."
Taiki shrugged, worry glistening in his forest green eyes. "I don't know. Usually Akari-chan isn't like this. "
Chikara huffed. "Because she's stupid, that's why!"
"She did it to protect you, Chikara. You don't have the right to say that." Saburo stated with rather great conviction.
"What makes you say that so surely, Saburo?" Kakashi questioned, earning a side-ward glance.
"...Saburo-kun? You know why Akari-chan did this?" His brunette teammate said, confusion written across his features.
The dark-haired genin clenched his fists in frustration. "...She made me promise not to tell, but...it can't be helped now."
With Akari
"The kid's finally fallen silent. Thank god, I was about to knock him unconscious just to shut him up." Nanase sighed, rolling her eyes.
Satoshi smirked. "Don't speak like that, Nanase. Once we contact his dear father, he'll be on his way soon enough. Instilling fear by saying such unpleasant things like earlier does nothing to help us."
"Don't speak to me so condescendingly, Satoshi! We're in the same boat!" She growled.
"I have to figure a way out of here. Fighting or planning an escape, anything. I can only keep up this transformation for so long." Akari thought, feeling her chakra reserves deplete.
It was a good thing she had a bucket load to exert, and then some. She got it from her mother, though she never really understood why.
"Isn't there an easier, less illegal way to get our village back up and running?" Ryota asked, uncertainty evident on his countenance.
"There is no easier road or shortcut to achieving great things. We need the funds, and the reputation. Besides, it's not like we'll be acting as the kidnappers. Remember the plan." Teruo answered, eyes and body facing forward.
"Right..." Ryota trailed off.
"I need to get out of here!" Akari cried mentally, panic rising from her stomach.
Or was that bile? Ugh, she didn't want to know.
She needed to escape, before she was caught up in whatever scheme these people were planning, and before her jutsu stopped.
If she couldn't, she'd be dead within the hour.
A/N: Sorry for the VERY late update, I'd been lacking inspiration and motivation to write. Anyway, review, favorite, and follow! They help me write more as well!