Chapter 3 - October 10
Something was coming, and of all the people in Konoha, perhaps it was the Aburames who felt it most radically. The insects could feel something was not right, that something was far off in the distance, terrible and powerful, but unpreventable.
As the first cool winds of fall began to blow, it not only brought in the hints of winter, but an event that the entire village would never forget. A form of death far more powerful than winter itself. A force that rivaled nature.
It would be a day that would change the history of the entire village, for everyone in it.
RRRRRrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeee! The village alarm siren sounded off clearly that evening in October. The sun had just disappeared behind the mountains.
Shibi and Kaho, filing mission reports at heir kitchen table both looked up. Shino, who was sitting on the table in a pile of finished papers, startled.
"The village alarm?" Shibi stood up quickly.
Kaho picked up Shino, who looked like he wanted to cry but was too scared to do so, "They only sound that if-"
Sakuya burst through the front door, "Both of you, outside!" She voiced in a loud and serious tone. She then disappeared as quickly as she came, leaving the door open.
Before they could react, Shen ran up into the doorway, "They need every available ninja, the village is in danger!"
"What is going on?!" Kaho asked quickly, getting a bit tremble-y. Her kikaichu buzzed uneasily. In fact, everyone's kikaichu had been uneasy that day.
"A Bijū! Less than 2 miles from the village walls."
They stood for a brief moment in terrified shock. Shibi glanced over at his son's face, frozen in fear and worry. At 8 ½ months old he couldn't understand the situation, but he could feel the unsettled buzzing of the kikai bugs inside their chests. Shibi narrowed his eyes and grabbed the gourd from the back of his kitchen chair.
"It won't harm this ichizoku." He voiced in a tone worthy of a clan leader.
"Shibi!" Kaho yelled after him as he ran out the door after Shen. He stopped and looked back at her.
"I am NOT standing by and letting everyone else defend this clan while I sit here."
"Kaho!" Ussa ran up, "Tesuro is staying behind to watch the children."
With Tesuro watching over Yesetteru and Shino, soon everyone in the clan stood atop the village wall looking out across the forest. Although over a mile away, the massive form of the kyubi, the nine tailed fox Bijū, was painfully clear to see.
"Shibi-sama!" A fellow Konoha ninja darted up to them from further down the wall. It was Nara Shikaku. Shibi had never seen him so full of energy, "Yondaime is coming as quickly as he can; he was in the neighboring country on business. We need to hold that thing back until he gets here."
Shibi nodded, "We, the Aburame clan, will make sure of it."
"The Uchiha's are on their way, they will suppress it's chakra as long as they can. Prehaps your insects can assist them and sap away some of its strength until the fourth can get here to fight it." Shikaku bowed quickly and darted off, spreading the news to the other clans.
"EVERY AVAIABLE NINJA TO THE FRONT GATE NOW!!" voices could be heard screaming.
The Aburames wasted no time, they jumped off the village wall and darted through the trees.
"Maybe Kahinakuya can stall it…at least for a few minutes…" Kaho gravely looked at Shibi.
"You have never summoned her before," Shibi replied seriously, "Will she even listen to you?"
"I've been accepted by the rest of the kamakiri, grandma said if her kin approve of the summoner she usually will as well. While Konoha ninja are dying going hand to hand with that Bijū, I can't not even try."
Shibi nodded, "Just don't let her get near that thing. One well-placed tail swipe and it could kill her in an instant."
"I understand," She reached back and un-hooked the large jutsu scroll from her back. She distanced herself a little from the group as she rolled it out, the paper dancing through the air like Sakuya's brushwork. She had done this before to conjure up various jutsus that were written on the scroll, but this was her first time using its first 10 feet of length…for summoning the head of the kamakiri, the 300-foot tall, queen flower mantis Kahinakuya.
Kaho focused her chakra. It would take a large amount to summon Kahinakuya. She was not even sure if she had enough to be able to do it, but she never had a problem summoning any of the other members. Even the very large subordinates she had trained to be able to summon.
She had her kikai insects rip forcefully on purpose through the skin of her arms, so that they were covered dripping in her blood. They flew out and swiped along the whole length of the writing on the scrolls drawn out paper.
Her insects returned to her.
…
…
…
Nothing.
"DAMMIT!" She yelled angrily.
They all skidded to a halt as they ran out of trees to dart through. The forest to the front of them was leveled. Above their heads swooshed the tails of the kyubi.
"You were unable to do it?" Shibi asked as she came up along side him.
She clenched her teeth, "I guess I don't have enough chakra."
"We can't dwell on it right now," Shibi looked at her seriously as the rest of their clan darted past them and joined the many ninja on the ground already doing their best to hold back the advancing beast, which was now less than a mile away from the village. Kunais flew through the air, fire, earth, wind, and water jutsus raged towards the beast.
"Shibi-sama, perhaps Kikaima and Kikaiju could do something…" Kuroji said in an eerily calm voice for their situation as he was about to follow everyone.
"Perhaps," Shibi nodded, taking one last look at Kaho, who recomposed herself, putting her personal disappointment aside for it was not a ninja's way to let such things get in the way of their duties.
Just then the Konoha Military Police Force (which comprised much of the Uchiha clan) arrived, and darted through the lines and over the many dead on the ground. They quickly got to work on combing their efforts on a group jutsu to help supress the fox's chakra.
Sakuya darted to the front of the lines and whipped out her brush and began dancing in large, swooping strokes. Large kanji appeared in glowing blue. Her kikaichu ripped from her skin and darted out onto the letters, seeming to form a wall in front of the fighting ninja, but the letters from the seal were so complex that it just seemed to be a soild wall.
The Kyubi let out a deafening roar, feeling the effects of the Uchiha's efforts, flattening all nearby trees and scattering birds. The gust of wind generated from it could be felt in the village. Parents held their children close, shielding their ears and battening down the houses. Glass shattered and trees were ripped from their roots.
The ninja at the front lines that were still alive soon realized they WERE still alive, thanks to Sakuya's justu shielding them all from the blast. The captain of the Konoha Military Police Force, Fugaku Uchiha, nodded respectfully to her.
"This shield will only take a few more hits from that Bijū, so use it while you can! Your attacks will go through it while it protects you, so hurry!" She staggered a little from the large amount of chakra she used up, but quickly got a hold of her self and darted off to see to any of the injured with her medicines.
"Where's the Hokage?" voices could be heard wailing.
"He's lost too much blood!"
"AAAiiieee!"
"Our attacks aren't doing anything!"
"It's still advancing!"
"Are you really going to summon Kikaima and Kikaiju? Because now would be a good time!" Kaho asked in-between them throwing explosive tagged kunai at the Kyubi. Shibi's kikaichu protectively swirled around them. Just as she said it the monster darted sideways in an attempt to avoid their attacks and swooshed its tails. Everyone held onto anything they could find so they were not blown away from the hurricane force winds. Many were not so lucky to find something to hold onto.
As the wind left as quickly at it had hit, Shen jumped up, unclasped the gourd from his back, and spun, sending it into the air after those who were sent flying hundreds of feet up. Kikaichu seemed to explode from it, going after anyone they could get to, catching them, and slowing their fall. He couldn't save everyone, but any life saved is not an effort wasted.
His kikaichu returned to him, hauling he gourd behind them. In their haste to all get out as quickly as possible they blew a hole though it's upper top side.
"T…thank you!" One of the ninja he has caught gasped, catching their bearings.
He clasped the gourd back on and gave a respective nod, before they both darted off.
Shibi clenched his teeth and wavered from the blow of the wind gust. His kikaichu were hastily working to patch the ribs he broke. Blood dripped from the side of his coat. He was going to need more chakra than he had at that time to summon Kikaima and Kikaiju. Had he not been injured he could have done so, even then it used a large amount of his chakra. However, at that moment the extra chakra was going towards his quickened healing.
Meanwhile, Yusuro and Kuroji were carefully watching the Kyubi, tracking it's movement. Waiting for the right moment to strike like patient spiders.
"Shibi!" Kaho, who was blown a good distance away from him, could see that he was hurt. She narrowed her eyes, knowing that there wasn't anything should could do right now. She thought about Tesuro, Yesetteru, and especially her little Shino back at the clan, wondering if they were alright. Hearing the noises of the chaos drawing nearer.
Jima darted up alongside side Shibi.
"Jima, find Kuroji."
She body flickered out of sight.
"Ahhhhh!" Shinobi scattered, one of the Kyubi's large clawed hands was about to fall dangerously close.
SSCCCrrraaaaa!
A 35 foot tall, slender praying mantis flew in and from its back jumped a 6-foot tall, white, green and pink mantis covered in spines. Both took a slash at the fingers of the kyubi with their jagged, dangerous front limbs, causing its blood to spatter on all of them, but at the same time it withdrew and stumbled in surprise. Although huge, the larger mantis was still dwarfed by the massive form of the Kyubi.
The ninja on the ground only had moments to stand in surprised shock at them being saved. In those moments they could catch a glimpse of a fuzzy-haired woman wearing a dusty-red, high-collared coat on the head of the larger mantis. Her expression similar to what you see on the face of a mother protecting it's young.
I may not be able to summon Kahinakuya, but Kashivu, Kawamasu and I can still protect this village. She thought.
"Shibi-sama!" Kuroji and Yusuro came running.
"Can you channel chakra drained using Kikaichu kumoro no jutsu into another person?" "I can convert the chakra flow as he drains it," Yusuro said. She was showing her prowess as a ninja by staying calm in the situation, although only a genin.
"But what source are we going to use?" Kuroji asked.
Shibi tilted his head towards the monster above their heads.
"You're kidding me," Kuroji sighed.
Soon after, kikaichu were flying out from his sleeves in 'ropes', spreading out in a web-like pattern. The chakra of the Kyubi was so great that the insects didn't even need to be touching it or be that close to it to drain off some away. Besides, it was so powerful that they didn't want to take a lot of its chakra, as it could overload their insects and kill them.
Yusuro stood one hand extended to Kuroji and the other to Shibi, kikai insects connecting them so thickly that her arms were completely out of sight. With it now being dark, and the moon rising over the mountains, it could have looked like they were all one being to a glancing observer.
Shibi swooshed his hands through seals as he felt the influx of chakra hit him. Kuroji and Yusuro were sent flying backwards from its force. The Kyubi didn't even notice the infinitesimal drain on its chakra. Besides, it was also far more distracted with the Uchaia's suppressing its powers and the massive praying mantis taking slashes at its paws (hence the reason why it didn't just blast all the ninjas away like a person swatting at gnats.)
"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" Shibi voiced, placing his hands on the ground.
From the cloud of smoke emerged Kikaima and Kikaiju, called "the mother and father of all kikaichu." They were basically massive kikaichu insects, but with more ornate antennae and ceremonial-like scribbling on their wing covers. After about a century of the Aburame living alongside the kikaichu, a scroll just appeared in the clan's tree grove. On it was the contract for summoning them. Apparently their good relationship with the special insects did not go unnoticed. The contract was kept in the ichizoku ever since and summoning the two large insects was never done in vain. This was most likely only the 30th time since then they were called on.
The female was 90-some feet long, and the male about 70-feet. Still, they paled in size to the Kyubi (who must have been at least 300 feet tall). But when they rammed into its side, and began to drain some of it's chakra, the Kyubi certainly took notice.
RRRoorrraaarrr! The Kyubi let out a cry, and writhed its tails, staggering slightly. Its head snapped around quickly and sunk its teeth into side of Kikaima, who's SSCCCcccreee call echoed like a siren through the forest as the insect was flung off and into the air.
However, she was not defeated, and despite bleeding she turned and flew back at the monster, latching onto it's neck in a place it couldn't reach.
The combined efforts of all the ninja, and with the Uchiha's suppressing the beast's chakra and the large kikaichu summons draining what they could, the beast never reached the village, although it got dangerously close. Had he not been slowed, a swing of his tails could have wiped out the village in an instant. They stalled the beast just long enough for the fourth to appear.
With all the ninja retreating, the wounded being carried or staggering the best they could, the huge figure of Gamabunta the boss toad could be seen going the opposite direction, Yondaime on his back. Just as Shibi and his clan reached the top of the village wall, a blinding flash of light could be seen, all within miles would have to shield their eyes from its brightness. When they could see again, the Kyubi was gone.
Shibi didn't have much time to think about how or what the Hokage did. He had his clan to tend to. Everyone was wounded in some way or another, some worse than others. Jima and Ussa got a blow from a tree that was flung by the Kyubi's tails, so the two of them were on their way to the Konoha hospital. Sakuya wanted to follow Ussa, but Shibi said he needed to stay. The hospital would be overflowing with patients, so Sakuya's healing talents would be needed to help her clan (as anyone without serious injuries was asked to not go to the hospital).
Thankfully, no one was lost…
"Yusuro!" Kuroji voiced in a tone not typical of him. Shibi looked over to see Yusuro just finish her collapsing to the ground.
"What happened?" Sakuya blinked.
Kuroji picked her up, "I…don't know, she was-"
"She could have internal bleeding, get her to my house!"
"But she wasn't wounded!"
"The chakra transfer," Shibi spoke up in grave quietness.
Kuroji's eyes widened beneath his sunglasses.
Kaho arrived moments later than the others with Shen and some others riding on Kashivu's back who were too wounded to walk. She was just in time to see Kuroji with Yusuro in his arms rushing into Sakuya's house.
…………..
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In case you forgot:
Kamakiri is Japanese for the animal "Praying Mantis".
And:
Kahinakuya is pronounced Kah-Hin-Ah-Ku-Yah.
Kamawasu is pronounced Kah-mah-Wah-sue
Kashivu is pronounced Kah-she-Voo
Google image search "flower mantis" and "Indian mantis" to see how beautiful these real insects really are if you have never seen them. Or check out the gallery of deviant art photographer deviant id: Blepharopsis for some of the most amazing mantis (and bug) photos I've ever seen.
More Aburame Ichizoku 2 to come. Sorry for the cliffhanger. XD