Chapter 8

Without A Thought

"Again!" She commanded from her seat on a rock near the river. And again they went. Two flashes of white appeared from the forest like miniature tornadoes, both aimed at the blonde standing in the clearing. At the last moment, Ino jumped into the air, causing Kiba and Akamaru's Gatsuuga to smash into the ground needlessly. Instantly after that though, The two tornadoes changed direction, coming after Ino in the air. There was no way to dodge in the air...usually. But just as Ino started to fall, a small mass of purple formed underneath her foot, and she used that to launch off of, flipping neatly out of the way of the second attack. The swarm of purple then caught her foot again, and she began walking downward, Shino's bugs acting as steps beneath her feet and making it look like she was walking on air.

Kurenai watched performance, a small smile on her lips. They were doing extremely well together, especially for a mixed team that had been working together only since yesterday. That fact was precisely why Kurenai had insisted on this training exercise. Because Ino wasn't originally part of their squad, she was worried at how well she'd be able to work with the team. Kurenai hadn't been told exactly why Hinata was not in Team B, but she had assumed it was because of her Byakugan's powers. It made sense that her eyes would be more useful for finding Sasuke than tracking Akatsuki. And besides that, Ino seemed to be fitting in just fine with the two boys.

Even as Ino was walking down the path of bugs, Kiba didn't give up. He and Akamaru skidded to a stop on the ground for a second, and then they were off again. But again, Ino saw them coming, and leaped unbelievably high in the air, easily doing a back flip as she watched the boy and his dog miss terribly some feet below her. This time, Ino did some acrobatic spins and flips as she fell, and just before she landed, again her feet were caught by Shino's bugs, and the swarm carried her gently to the ground. The training exercise over, the three of them came closer together.

"Wow, Ino...that was great!" Kiba said enthusiastically. Ino laughed modestly.

"No..it's just a couple of things I picked up. I would've been dead without Shino's bugs." She smiled gratefully. Shino didn't move.

"Yes, you would have." He said simply, immodestly ending the string of compliments. Kiba gave Shino a look that actually wasn't that rare between the two of them, but then suddenly his eyes widened and his nose twitched slightly. Akamaru had already smelled it as well, and was looking nervously in the direction of the scent. Shino knew what was going on, but Ino was too new to know.

"Kiba? Wha-"

"Shhh.." He cut her off softly, taking a step back so that he was right next to Shino. "That way." He whispered, nodding in the direction he was facing. Shino didn't move.

"I know." Before Kiba had even given him the direction, Shino could tell from the way Akamaru was facing which was it was, and had already sent his bugs in to investigate. Three bugs, to be specific. In a moment, a small beetle returned and landed on Shino's uplifted finger. By this time, Kurenai had made her way over to them, having seen that something was wrong.

"So?" Kiba asked in an impatient whisper. The bug flew off Shino's finger and he let his arm fall, looking straight ahead.

"Akatsuki." Everyone else's eyes widened, and a small whimper could be heard from Akamaru. The dog was still facing the part of the forest the scent was coming from, and had started backing up slowly, his tail between his legs. Kiba looked at his companion, his brow furrowed in concern.

"This is bad.." He breathed. And as if that was his cue, a flash erupted from the foliage, becoming a silhouette again the sun high above them.

"Quick! Formation C!" Kurenai ordered, moving out of the way as quickly as she could.

"Right!" The three subordinates responded, just as the shadow came crashing down, causing the ground where Ino, Kiba, and Shino had just been to explode. Hidden in the resulting dust for a moment, his bandaged sharkskin sword, Samehada, buried deep in the ground, Kisame chuckled to himself.

As the dust cleared, the members of Team B waited in formation for the order from Kurenai. The pregnant jounin watched the dust carefully, waiting for it to clear just enough to ensure a successful attack, but not enough to allow the enemy to see what was going on very easily. She could make out parts of the man's silhouette through the dust, and watched him pull an object out of the ground and straighten.

"Now!" She cried. In a flash Kiba and Akamaru initiated the attack that was Formation C. When Kisame had landed, Kiba, Akamaru, Ino, and Shino, had quickly moved out of the way. But it wasn't just in some random direction. Each of the four of them represented one corner of a square that now surrounded their enemy. And when the order was given, Kiba and Akamaru, being opposite corners of that square, started a fearsome Gatsuuga onslaught. Again and again, the tornadoes of claws and teeth criss-crossed over each other, slamming into the enemy many times before the dust had even finished clearing. But just as the enemy became clearly visible, a sharp whine was heard, and Akamaru was sent sailing into the air, skidding to a stop on the ground. Kiba stopped his attack immediately, concerned for his dog, but a moment later, he leaped high into the air, his brow furrowed in anger.

"Take this!! bOokami Shikon!/b" He roared, as he brought both of his arms down on Kisame in a white flash. The power of Kiba's Wolf Fang struck the blue-skinned man head on, and the ground exploded again in a greater fashion than before, leaving behind a smouldering crater. This was the first stage of Formation C. As Kisame stumbled from the devastating attack, two long rips in his black cloak, stage two of Formation C began.

"bKonchuu Gufuu/b..." Came the muttered command from the third corner of the square. Like a swarm of locusts, an enormous mass of beetles seeped from the forest, blocking out the sun like a cloud. The bugs enveloped the entire area, and then the Insect Typhoon began. Hidden in that mass, the man with shark-like features was battered again and again by sweep after sweep of bugs...bugs with a thirst for chakra. After numerous strikes, stage three, the final stage, of Formation C began.

Because of the way it was set up, stage two led straight into stage three. Carried again by the bugs, the final corner of the square emerged from within their masses, her purple clothing doing well to partially camouflage her among the similarly colored beetles. Confused and disoriented, by the time Kisame saw Ino emerge inches from his eyes, it was too late.

"bShinranshin no jutsu!!/b" Ino shouted, holding up the hand sign that matched the shape of Formation C, her fingers forming a square.

But just as she began the Art of Mind Destruction, Ino was suddenly catapulted out of the mass of bugs, bouncing and sliding until she became a still heap on the ground. Realizing Formation C had failed, and feeling the intense amount of chakra building up within his bugs, Shino pulled his miniature army back just as Kisame unleashed a sweeping swing with his great sword. Kiba was at Akamaru's side now, and looked on in astonishment.

"That guy..." He whispered, "He's...not even breathing hard! How?!" It was true. Kisame stood, his sword on his shoulder, a low chortle coming from his throat, which then burst into an outright laugh. His breath wasn't bated at all, and the only sign that he had even been attacked at all was the two long slashes in the front and back of the left side of his cloak from Kiba's Wolf Fang.

"What luck, to run into some Konohagakure Shinobi like this. And here I thought today would be boring!" He laughed again as he turned to face Kurenai, his face becoming serious all of a sudden. "You would do well to run now, because if you stay, you're toast." He warned. Kurenai glanced at Ino, who had yet to get up from the ground, then at Akamaru, who was just barely standing. Kiba and Shino were the only ones left that were completely undamaged. That meant the best option was...

"No." Kurenai shook her head. "I've fought you before, Hoshigaki Kisame. I know your strengths, and I know your weaknesses. Besides that, it is our mission to seek out any remaining Akatsuki members, and destroy them." She smirked, "So, it would wise for you to run, rather than us. Not that we'd let you get away." Kisame's smile faded, and he shifted his blade on his shoulder a bit. He wasn't afraid, but he could see that this wasn't going to be as fun as he thought.

"Kiba! Shino! Maneuver six!" Kurenai called. Kiba blinked, surprised, but then nodded. Maneuver six actually hadn't been perfected yet, because it was nearly impossible to train with it effectively. But this was exactly the kind of situation they needed to test it out. Shino began moving backward, edging towards the forest. Kiba leaned down, petting Akamaru on the head.

"C'mon buddy...just one more move, okay? Can you do it?" Akamaru wagged his tail, though a bit more slowly than usual, and let out a soft bark. Kiba smiled, proud of his brave dog.

"bKonchuu Enkai/b..." Shino said silently. The bugs from before began to swarm together again, and more joined them as well. In one big wave they began covering the ground Kiba, Akamaru, and Kisame were standing on. Ebbing and flowing as the jutsu's name suggested, like an Insect Ocean, the bugs swallowed up Kiba and his canine, and began to swallow up Kisame. Then, the purple ocean began to swirl around and around, until it had become a whirlpool, making it almost impossible for Kisame to stand. Finally, like a desert sand trap, something began to emerge from the center of the whirlpool, right beneath Kisame's feet.

"bGAROGA!!/b" Came a roar from beneath Kisame's feet. And at that moment, an unbelievably enormous white cyclone emerged from within the bugs, hitting Kisame point blank. The Wolf Fang Over Fang attack, Kiba and Akamaru's ace attack and last resort, bore into the Akatsuki member's body like a nightmarish drill. As they climbed higher an higher in the air, somehow, Kisame got into the right position, and with a mighty swing, his Samehada smashed into the two-headed dog. The transformation came undone, and Kiba and Akamaru were sent spiraling down, hitting the ground brutally. His cloak in tatters, and a large wound in his chest, Kisame barely managed to land on his feet as he fell to the ground. His razor-like teeth clenched together in a painful grimace, he glared at Kurenai, who still stood some distance away.

"I was careless, letting myself get hit like that." He muttered, then louder, "I'm sick of your little formations and maneuvers! That's enough!!" He shouted as he started running at Kurenai, sword in hand. Kurenai put one foot behind her, preparing for his attack, but Shino would have none of that. With one move of his arm, he sent his bugs after Kisame. But, with one glance back and a hand sign, Kisame took Shino out with a shark-shaped mass of water from the river. The bSuikodan no Jutsu/b, or Shark Bomb, engulfed most of the bugs Shino had sent after the shark-like man, and then continued on to smash into the boy himself.

As Kisame approached Kurenai, he leaped into the air, raising his sword above his head with a yell. Kurenai started to move out of the way, but with her extra baggage, she wasn't fast enough...Kisame landed, and the sword came down...

But Samehada was stopped in its tracks...