Chapter 9: A Viney Ordeal
Just as one battle was closed, another one was only beginning in another area near Konoha. There stood Inuzuka Kiba and Roronoa Zoro, staring each other down while trapped a wide cage made from vines in the middle of another side of the forest.
"We didn't get to finish, did we?" Kiba asked with a smirk.
"I was thinking the exact same thing," Zoro replied.
Soon, both men clashed their katanas and claws at each other. Not one holding back a bit.
One mysterious lady outside of the confinement, who was sitting high above on a tree branch, was laughing wholeheartedly as she watched the spectacle before her. "Simply marvelous!"
Before
While Zoro and Kiba (with Akamaru) were combating enemies one by one, the numbers finally started dwindling, and eventually, the battle with the lifeless soldiers ended. Before they had a moment to even think though, a new enemy immediately entered into the picture in a timely fashion.
She had long blue hair and was pretty tall. She stood there in a tight body suit as she stared down her target and his accompanied comrade.
"Oooh, it seems that I have found myself the swordsman of the notorious pirate crew. Simply marvelous."
"Eh?" Zoro curtly questioned with a grumpy look on his face. "Who are you supposed to be exactly?"
"You can call me Desara, Zoro-san. A pleasure to meet you."
"I would say the same…, if we were under different circumstances," Zoro replied as he unsheathed his katanas.
"Hey, don't hog the final boss all to yourself. Me and Akamaru can her!" Kiba butted in with a wide grin. Akamaru (while under the Beast Human Clone jutsu) nodded with approval while growling under his breath.
"I'm far from the final boss, but that doesn't mean I will go down easy, boy…" she commented, but soon felt a void of emptiness as she realized her words didn't reach them.
"She even knows my name, while she doesn't even know who the hell you are. Why should I let you fight her!" Zoro argued.
"Bullshit! Knowing a person's identity means nothing BEFORE the fight. When I'm done with her, 'Inuzuka Kiba' will be engraved in her mind, trust me!"
"There is only one way to settle this then, dog boy."
"If it comes to this, then I accept your challenge, sword freak."
"Paper…"
"Scissors…"
Being completely thrown to the side, Desara erupted with fury and dashed forth. "You will NOT ignore me!"
"Rock!"
Two fists was crashed right into her face, knocking her back some distance before she regained her posture.
"A tie, huh?" Zoro commentating as he saw two rock signs were the end result.
"Shit… Rematch?" Kiba suggested.
Before Zoro could come up with the answer, a thorny vine popped out of the ground right below him. It sprouted out and cut a bit of his leg before Zoro dodged away. Kiba sensed that he would be attacked also, so he flipped backwards to avoid the oncoming attack. Akamaru got into a defensive stance as he stared down the woman who was behind these "plant" attacks.
"I got one, now the other… I should take care of his shadow clone first though…"
Suddenly, she disappeared in front of their eyes and immediately re-appeared behind Akamaru. With a kunai, she went for his head, but he ducked and gave her a backwards dropkick to push her back. He went forth for a strike, but she threw a high kick to the jaw to knock him up into the air.
Kiba saw that his dog partner was in trouble, so he burst forth on all fours and tackled the woman to the ground in an animalistic manner. She kicked him off and stepped on him, in a very sensitive spot…
"Be a good boy and let me finish things with this stubborn clone of yours. (steps harder) I want to have a little fun with you and Zoro-san here before it all ends…"
Akamaru rushed over to defend his master, but instead was immediately met with a double-fist attack to the chest, which sent him flying out of sight.
"That takes care of one problem. Now let the fun begin!" A sharp vine (much like the earlier one) from the ground beneath where Kiba laid sprouted and swiped at his back, leaving a noticeable bloody mark. Kiba's withstood the searing of the pain and immediately counter-attacked. He pulled out shurikens and aimed them at her neck, but she jumped back in time for her to avoid the projectiles from hitting its intended target. Instead…,
"How dare you ruin the neck of this suit? This happens to be my favorite one." Her cleavage now seemed to be more noticeable.
As Kiba got back up, he just smiled slickly. "I'm not sure whether I should be mad that I missed or not."
"Why you…," she said with a glare before she realized she stepping on something mushy. Once she understood her situation, she immediately jumped up on a high tree branch with an extremely irritated look on her face.
"I got to say, the dog shit goes well with your ripped clothes," Zoro commented as he stepped forth.
"My precious shoes," she complained before she took them off and threw it to a side. "This trashy place has no standards of living. After this recruit, I'll make this will be the first place I will take down under the leadership of…, crap I've said too much… No matter, since one will be dead and the other will be brainwashed, it's like explaining the meaning of life in front of a crowd of infants. Now the battle will turn the tide according to my say!"
"This bitch talks too much…"
"I'm sorry, but I'm going to end this quick. I wanna grab some sake before finding a place to sleep, so I don't have the time for your pointless monologue," Zoro said as he pulled out his bandana and put it on.
"Allow me to apologize beforehand, because from now on, your lives end here!"
Soon after her words of threat, vines burst out of the ground all around them. At first the movements of each vine seemed random, but soon it made out into its intended shape.
"A cage? Really, you think too little of Konoha shinobi…," commented Kiba. He dashed forth to a side with a kunai in hand slashed at the barrier that confined them. It seemed to have no effect. The attempt was just bounced back, pushing Kiba to the ground.
While Kiba had a semi-bewildered and angry look on his face, Desara smiled confidently and began to explain, "You see here, my silly shinobi boy, this maneuver isn't your basic, easily-rippable trap. I began with allowing my "cage" to feed on your chakra slowly while I toyed with you guys. When it was durable enough (my plant makes use of every drop of chakra it sucks, so it didn't take long at all really), I sprang the trap and now none of you are able to run away your inescapable destiny. One dead shinobi and one brainwashed swordsman!"
"We'll see how durable this plant is!" shouted Zoro, "Tatsu… MAKI! A tornado of gust enveloped as soon as he slashed out his sword, aiming for the thorny vines that blocked his path. A large opening was made after the contact of the attack.
"Easier than I thought," Zoro replied with a grin. "Hey, dogboy let's get out of here!"
Before they can exit, the opening soon recovered completely, leaving it the way it was before.
"We have to act a little faster next time," Zoro decided. "Get ready this time!"
"Gotcha!"
"Really, I'm telling yo it's all futile. Oh well. Boys always have to learn it the hard way," Desara said to herself with a hand over her smiling face.
"TATSUMAKI!" Zoro roared as another gust of a dragon figure dived in toward its intended target. After a cloud of dust covered the area, Kiba quickly dived toward the opening where the attack was aimed at. Before he allowed him to go through head-first, he noticed something peculiar, so he flipped in mid-air, just barely avoiding contact with the spiky thorns.
"What the hell was that? Use the same amount of power you did the first time, can ya?" Kiba cried as he stared at the unscathed fence of thorns.
"I even made sure to exert more power that time so we both can get out…"
"Bravo, it seems the pirate has finally caught a clue. Yes, this cage strengthens after every minute and it strengthens even more after every attack!"
"Shit! That means we are at more of a disadvantage with every passing second. If she were to start sending vines up from the ground, we only have so much room to dodge. We need to get out quick or we're done for," thought Kiba.
"Hmm, that just means I just have to get stronger then!" Zoro responded with a grin. He began to concentrate, and the width of his arm began to expand immensely. However before he had a chance to lock in that growth of physical strength, a vine from beneathe the ground sneaked behind him and pierced itself all the way through.
"Agh," the swordsman cried as blood dripped from the wound.
"Zoro!" yelled Kiba before another vine from the ground burst out of the ground also. Kiba smelled it coming, so he rolled out of the way just in time to avoid it completely. But it curved and chased the shinobi, forcing Kiba to take quick agile steps, along with a faira amount of mid-air maneuvering. As he went toward Zoro, suddenly a slash of a sword brought him to an immediate halt, allowing the vine to finally make its way through him.
"You SON OF A BITCH (painful cursing)! What the hell was that for?" Kiba said, while his plant covered wound soaked in blood.
"I had no control in my arm at that time…" replied a confused Zoro.
Desara laughed uncontrollably at the scene before here, almost making her fall off of the branch she was still standing on. "Ya see, these thorns are just your average thorns. It is one of the features of the cage really. Before I could set up the trap, my plants have to know whose chakra signature it should steal from, so I had to offer it some of your blood you see (refer to the beginning of the encounter if you don't remember). And now with the cage set up at its perfect moment of ripeness around its intended target, the vines it produces at the bottom of the cage underground has more than the effect other than the wonderful feeling of stabbing pain. Yes, it spreads itself wherever blood flows within your mind and can manipulate it however I wish it to be manipulated. In other words, you pirate-ninja duo never had a chance!"
Enraged of being controlled, Zoro and Kiba prepared their deadly techniques within the confinements of the cage.
"Sanzen Sekai!"
"Shikon Ikazuchi (Fang Thunder; Twirls in Tsuga-like position slowly then pops into the air like a bullet with a strong push off of the ground then pushes himself off of the ceiling (or whatever there is to catch him) aiming toward the target using only smell as a sense (since the speed is too fast to be able to see anything other than blurs))!"
Instead of reaching the spot of the cage where Desara stood closest to, their attacks changed directions as soon it was launched, creating a clash of fangs and blades from ally to ally.
"Watch where you're aiming that thing!" Zoro yelled after having Kiba's attack block his and pushed onto the side of the cage. It didn't take long for what used to be a perfectly good white shirt to be drenched in red due to the bloody wound in the center of his stomach with the vine still very tightly attached to his innards along with dozens of punctured areas caused by the thorns on the cage.
"You're one to talk. Wear glasses if you can't see!" retorted Kiba with a bleeding hand after the direct contact with the blade. The dripping blood stain the ground beneathe him as he breathed heavily.
"As you can see, you guys are screwed. I can have you guys kill each other if I wanted to, so why not entertain myself first? Fight each other."
"What are we, your faithful little plants or something?" retorted Kiba as he forced a grin on his exhausted face.
"I guess I should state this before you guys are really going to start obeying me. I can kill you at anytime I please…." she threatened with a waver of her hand.
Suddenly, Kiba pulled out his own kunai and held it up against his own throat. "This is really bad, huh? You got all the little tricks to have things go your way, don't you?"
"Suicide? I never thought that was really your style, dog boy," joked Zoro as he breathed heavily.
"At least I'm not going to whore myself to god-knows-who?" Kiba replied.
"Fight, you say?" the swordsman asked Desara.
"I've got time to kill, so yeah. I'm very interested to see what's so special about the Straw Hat pirates. I can mke you guys fight by merely controlling you of course, but I want to see your pure skills. Whether you are worthy of our organization."
Zoro slid his katanas back into their sheathes as he pulled out a dark green bandana and tied it over his head. "Really, as pirates, we're nobody special. We're just an odd grouping of weirdos, freaks, and dreamers… However, as individuals…, I can't say for the rest, but as a swordsman, I won't accept defeat against anyone. Not until the day I have the chance to face him again."
"So, will you let me use my body again or will I be fighting him as a stiff board?" Kiba stated with an excited look on his face. Before she let the restraint of the vines inside his body loose, she made him leave a thin slash mark across the neck with the kunai that was being used against him by holding himself hostage (hopefully, you're understanding what's going on; if not, re-read).
"If you play yourself right, I might offer you a lowly position within our ranks. But that is only if you fight him with the intent to kill."
"I'm sorry, I'm not interested in that… (turns to Zoro) But I'am interested in kicking your ass."
"Yes. Winner gets a piece of the woman outside," Zoro suggested while pulling out his weapons again.
"Sounds like fun."
Author's Notes: Sorry for the very long update. I have been very busy with being lazy (that's not really a good excuse now, is it?). And to all others that are wondering, I don't write multiple chapters at a time (one chapter is already too much if you ask me). I release as soon as I'm done (well, maybe delay until daytime release instead of a nighttime one) and edit and re-fix around old chapters if I need to (so if you remember the story being one way rather than the other, but no longer see that contradiction, it can be me at work there).
At first (back before I realized how much a drag making a half-decent fight is), I intended on bringing all these "soldiers" or whatever out and having them all defeating in their own respective chapters with a team of characters. Now, due to laziness, I'm wrapping up this part of the ordeal up with the next chapter while still continuing in this arc's general direction.
And no, by the end of all of this, Naruto isn't setting sail nor will Luffy learns the way of the ninja (hmmm, that does sound cool though). Prepare for a goodbye at the end (that is, if I ever reach that point).
Anyways, to all people that are still reading the story, please enjoy and complain about my slowness. And remember to subscribe if you haven't so you can be kept in touch with my story updates. Also check out my other stories (that might not be updating anytime soon though), since some are pretty decent and I actually intended big plans for them. Anyways, read and review!