SailorStar9: Nya? Chapter 22 goes up and only one review!
Hellboy: okay, seriously, this is getting outright scary right now.
Wesker: What are you looking at ME for?
Hellboy: You're the one that fixed the damn java machine!
Wesker: Oh sure, blame ME for the fact the machine came from Umbrella!
Nemy: BAAAAAAAAAD! (This is most troublesome!)
Disclaimers: I own nothing, well except the pairing.
Chapter 23: Heated Battle
"Good work." Murayama told the team. "The extended game is two halves of 5 minutes each. No time to daydream,. Get back in the game."
"There's no here." Genzo told the team. "We must be on our best. Tsubasa, aren't you the captain?" he caught himself.
"Huh?" Tsubasa blinked. "Yeah. Listen everyone. Nankatsu is going to win."
On the field…
"Pass, Takeshi!" Hyuuga barked after the whistle sounded, the pair bypassing Tsubasa and headed towards the goal.
Hyuuga then made his shot, only to have Genzo save the ball. "Damn." He cursed.
"Ishizaki, go!" Genzo tossed the ball out.
"Leave it to me." Ryo trapped the ball.
"Let's go, Tsubasa." Misaki caught the pass.
"Stop him!" Hyuuga ordered as Tsubasa led the attack.
"Misaki." Tsubasa passed the ball over.
"Come on." Wakashimazu readied himself as Tsubasa connected with Misaki's pass and made a volley-shot. The Meiwa goalkeeper managed to save the ball.
After the failed attempts get score a goal, both teams fought it out under the sun.
Sawada claimed the ball and made the high center pass.
Don't underestimate me. Genzo growled.
You can't have it. Tsubasa swore as he and Hyuuga fought for the ball.
"Get out of the way!" Hyuuga snapped, sending the ball flying into the net via an overhead kick.
"Beautiful." Tsubasa beamed after Genzo caught the ball with a single hand.
Darn, I'm hurt, Genzo cursed, having landed on his left foot and reopening his wound. "Go!" he tossed the ball out.
Ryo caught the ball and passed the ball over to Misaki, who then passed it to Tsubasa, after dodged Hyuuga's slide-tackle.
"Too simple!" Wakashimazu deflected Tsubasa's shot.
Tsubasa went for the second chance, trying to slide the ball in.
"Wakashimazu!" Hyuuga intercepted, kicking the ball to the keeper, who immediately cleared the ball.
"Darn!" Sawada cursed, Misaki having cut in on him.
"Tsubasa." Misaki snatched the ball and made his pass.
"Wakashimazu!" Hyuuga warned.
"It worked!" Tsubasa declared, Wakashimazu having jumped to block his shot. The ball then brushed past Wakashimazu's fingernail, missing its mark. "No good?" he noted as the whistle sounded.
Darn… Genzo hissed. The pain in my leg is getting worse.
On the bench…
"Wakabayashi, keep it up in the latter half." Tsubasa encouraged.
"Tsubasa, promise me." Genzo requested.
"Huh?" Tsubasa blinked.
"I'll watch the goal." Genzo stated. "You and Misaki wait for the chance. Don't come back even if there's trouble. Trust me, get enough time to rest. Wait for the chance."
"So, it's Ami's 'Golden Triangle'." Tsubasa mused. "But, it's…"
"For once, I have to agree." Ami relented. Raising a hand to cut Tsubasa's protestations off, she added, "Yes, I've said it's one of those 'Use as a last resort' kind of plan; but against an opponent like Meiwa... it can't be helped. Boys, look," she sighed. "Remember, I only lay out the basic plan; it's up to you three to execute it as you deem fit."
"Got it." Tsubasa nodded. "We must score."
"Nankatsu was beaten by Meiwa once." Genzo stated. "We must win this time, even if by one point." I will not lose a point, even if it costs me my leg.
On the field….
The match restarted and both teams fought over the ball.
"Okay!" Hyuuga made a second shot, his first attempt having been blocked by Genzo's fist.
"Go!" Genzo caught the third shot and tossed the ball out.
Damn, we must score this time. Hyuuga cut in, stealing the ball from Teppei. "Takeshi!"
"Okay." Sawada caught the pass, before passing it back to Hyuuga.
"Tsubasa, let's go back." Misaki suggested.
"No," Tsubasa objected. "Wait here."
"Tsubasa." Misaki protested.
"Leave it to Wakabayashi." Tsubasa assured. "We'll wait for our chance here."
"You're right." Misaki relented. "Just like Wakabayashi trusts us, we must trust him too."
Yes, Tsubasa, Misaki. Genzo agreed. Wait there.
Before the Nankatsu defense line, the defenders fought to shave off Meiwa's assault.
I'm coming, Wakabayashi. Hyuuga reclaimed the ball and made his shot.
Despite his injury, Genzo dived to block off the shot. "I will not lose the point." He jumped to punch on Sawada's shot.
"Wakabayashi." Tsubasa gasped, the keeper having landed on his injured foot after blocking off Hyuuga's shot.
He… Hyuuga realized. Is your leg hurting? But, a game is a game. And fired his next shot, only to have Ryo block the ball with his face. "We're going to win this." He swore, renewing his attack.
"Darn!" Ryo's attempted header missed its mark.
"Good save." Tsubasa beamed, Genzo having saved the shot.
"I won't give you one point." Genzo swore. "Ishizaki." He tossed the ball out. "There's no time. Attack."
"I'm counting on you, Tsubasa, Misaki." Ryo passed the ball out.
"Stop him!" Hyuuga barked, rushing back as Nankatsu's 'Golden Combo' started their attack.
"We're going to… win!" Tsubasa declared.
Oozora Tsubasa? Or Misaki Taro? Wakashimazu mused. Who will shoot? It's Tsubasa. He focused on Tsubasa who had charged ahead.
"It's Misaki!" Hyuuga shouted as Misaki fired his shot.
Wakashimazu dived to punch out the shot.
"I won't let you!" Hyuuga kicked the ball away.
"The promise I made to Wakabayashi…" Tsubasa jumped into the air. "I must realize it." And made the goal with his trademark 'Overhead Kick'.
It's over. Hyuuga thought in regret after the whistle sounded, signaling the end of the match.
"Can you walk, Wakabayashi?" Ryo asked.
"Yeah, sorry." Genzo apologized, leaning against the defender for support.
"Wakabayashi." Tsubasa hurried over. "Are you okay?"
"It's no big deal." Genzo assured.
"Good job." Tsubasa praised.
"You did good too." Genzo agreed.
"Everyone worked hard." Tsubasa told the team.
"I thought we were finished." Ryo whined.
"Tsubasa, you win." Hyuuga admitted.
"Hyuuga." Tsubasa nodded, both captain exchanging handshakes.
Back in the present, in Japan…
"She's taking her time." Jupiter said coldly.
"Flame Spear!"
Jupiter dodged the fiery attack and smirked, turning around to face the Mars Senshi. "Finally... Now the fun begins. Ready yet?" she snapped.
"Anytime you want." Mars snapped back. She dodged Jupiter's punch, then kicked her in the gut, sending her crashing down to the ground.
Jupiter stood up and grinned "Time to stop playing... Jupiter Berserker Fury!"
Mars leapt back and frowned as Jupiter's gloves charged up with electric energy. Jupiter charged at her, and Mars did the best she could to dodge as the green-skirted Senshi tried to hit her with a flurry of blows. A few of them connected, the electricity running through Mars' body with each punch. Jupiter ended the attack with a jab to Mars' jaw that sent the fire Senshi flying out of the rooftop they were on.
"Too much for her meelee skills," Jupiter muttered.
"Rei?"
Mars opened her eyes and moaned. That fall had really hurt, and that was not counting those lightning-charged punches she'd received.
"Are you okay?" Uranus asked, looking at her.
Mars stood up slowly and nodded. "I'll live." She then realized something. "Mako went evil."
"I'll take care of that." Uranus assured and leapt up to the rooftop.
Mars tried to follow but fell to her knees. "Damn... I'm out of this battle." she muttered bitterly.
"Don't worry, we'll get them," Neptune said as she ran into the scene.
Mars nodded as they leapt up to the roof. She then leaned on a wall and sighed. "I had to be careless enough and get beaten up... Way to go, Rei..."
"You're not going to win this one." Jupiter snapped, glaring at Uranus.
"Just shut up and fight" Uranus shrugged.
"Suits you..." Jupiter charged forwards again and summoned her new attack. "Berserker Fury!"
Uranus summoned her sword and used it to block Jupiter's attacks. Some of them hit her, but Jupiter got the worst part of it, as the electricity of her own attack zapped her.
"That was fun, do it again" Uranus teased.
Jupiter frowned and sent a punch straight to her gut. Uranus blocked that with her sword but didn't see Jupiter's other fist coming straight for her jaw until it was too late to block it.
"Come on, blondie, let's fight for real," Jupiter snapped as Uranus crashed on the ground a few meters away.
Uranus stood up and growled. "Thought you'd never say that..."
"Berserker Fury!"
The two Outers dodged the attack and Jupiter frowned. "Okay then, let's try again. Berserker..."
"Flood Gate!"
"FURY!"
Neptune's attack was faster, and soaked Jupiter just as she released her own attack. The backlash zapped her out cold and the two Outers sighed.
"Well, that solves this problem." Uranus said. "Uranus Eternal Power!" she unleashed the healing wave on the unconscious Senshi.
Omake
The Power of Electricity... In My Pants
"I'd like to register a new jutsu," newly-minted Jounin Hatake Kakashi said proudly, standing at the Jutsu Registration Desk in the basement of the Hokage Tower.
"Ummm…" the Chuunin staffing the desk hesitated, staring at the infamous 'whiz kid' of Team Minato. "You do understand, Sir, that it must be an original technique? The Jutsu Library is down the hall; they deal with known techniques."
"No, no," Kakashi cheerfully interjected. "This is an original technique. I have created an original technique!"
"I call it… " and here Kakashi paused to heighten the dramatic impact. "Chidori!"
"That's excellent, Sir!" the Chuunin enthusiastically replied, wary of getting on the stuck-up prodigy's bad side. "So, what does it do, exactly?"
"It enables me to recompose my chakra's elemental nature into Raiton, and then manipulate it spatially/physically into a weaponized form." Kakashi explained, as though reciting from a memorized text.
The Chuunin stared at him dumbly.
"It lets me coat my hand with electricity, okay? I have the Power of Electricity!" Kakashi clarified, a note of giddiness creeping into his habitually monotone voice.
"Oh, okay, I see," said the Chuunin, nodding in understanding. "So you are talking about elemental recombination; it's some kind of Raiton technique. I'm with you so far. So you generate the Raiton-natured chakra, and then what? What is the actual technique?"
"What do you mean, 'What is the actual technique'?" Kakashi huffed indignantly. "That is the technique. I stab stuff with it. With the Power of Electricity!"
"But that's not really a new technique," the Chuunin asserted dubiously. "All raitontechniques start off with generating Raiton-natured chakra. That's self-evident, really. Q.E.D. You know what I'm saying?"
Kakashi gave the Chuunin a cold, menacing stare.
The Chuunin began to remember that Kakashi was not referred to as a 'prodigy' because of his ability to play the piano. This boy was an experienced killer.
"This is my new, original technique," Kakashi repeated, back to that chilling, dead monotone. "I have the Power of Electricity. Allow me to demonstrate."
And with that, Kakashi grabbed his right wrist with his left hand, and flared his raiton-natured chakra with the sound of a thousand birds.
"mzmmzmzmz," mumbled the Chuunin, drowned out by the noise.
"WHAT?' Kakashi shouted over the chirping din. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU! IT'S THE POWER-"
"RIGHT, RIGHT," the Chuunin hurriedly interrupted. "JESUS! CAN YOU SHUT THAT THING OFF?"
"SU- Oh, yeah, sorry. No problem," Kakashi replied, releasing his 'technique'.
"So, your chakra affinity is Raiton, isn't it?" the Chuunin inquired, crossing his arms and nibbling a thumbnail thoughtfully.
"How did you know that?" Kakashi asked in turn, startled by the other man's perceptive and astute observation. Was he a Yamanaka, perhaps?
"Lucky guess," the Chuunin replied, shrugging it off with a slight roll of the eyes.
"So, do you need me to stab something?" Kakashi offered, eager to move the process along.
"No, no, that's quite alright," the Chuunin quickly declined. "So, what class is your new… your 'technique'?"
"What do you mean?" Kakashi questioned the other man.
"We class techniques just like missions; that's how we pay the creator, for adding them to our inventory. The lowest are E-ranks, and the highest are S-ranks. Of course, there are different subcategories within each class, ranging from Non-Combat to Assassination."
"What's the highest?" Kakashi asked.
"S-rank Assassination. But how many people can you kill with it? That will determine the level."
"If it's an assassination jutsu," Kakashi frowned. "Doesn't that imply that I only need to kill one person?"
"I don't make the rules, Sir," the Chuunin shrugged, grateful to finally be seeing some light at the end of this very long, very dark tunnel.
"Well, I can kill anyone who is standing right in front of me, and not moving. Or resisting. I can't really see too well with all of that ELECTRICITY." Kakashi tap-danced around the question, wiggling his fingers in electric-y gestures as a distraction.
"So, multiple, unarmed, stationary targets? I guess that would be a C-"
Kakashi glared.
"I mean a B-"
Kakashi increased the voltage of his glare. With the Power of Electricity.
"An A-rank. An A-rank Assassination jutsu," the sweat-dropping chuunin confirmed, more than slightly intimidated.
"Exactly. That's exactly what this is: an A-rank Assassination jutsu. That I created." Kakashi had a smug, self-satisfied smile on his face (not that anyone could see it).
"Very good sir. I'll cut you a check."
"Nice," Kakashi acknowledged. "But could you hurry this up? I don't want to be late for my mission."
A few weeks later, Kakashi was back at the Jutsu Registration Desk. He was wearing a false nose and eyeglass combination, which covered his recently-acquired Sharingan eye.
"I'd like to register a new jutsu," he said.
"Ummm…Okaaay," said the same poor, overwrought Chuunin staffing the desk, staring incredulously at the recently-christened 'Copy Nin'. "And you do understand, Sir, that it must be an original technique?"
"Yes, yes," Kakashi dismissively waved off the weak protest. "I'm an old hand at this."
"So what is your new technique?" the Chuunin asked, biting back a long-suffering sigh.
(His mother thought a nice desk job would be a good career choice. "It will be less dangerous," she said. "The hours are better," she said. Stupid old cow. If only… )
"It's an S-rank Assassination technique. It's called, Raikiri. Allow me to demonstrate."
"I'm sorry, Sir," the Chuunin demurred, after Kakashi had performed and released this new… technique. "But I'm afraid that technique is already registered. It's called the Chidori."
"Don't be silly," Kakashi scoffed. "This is completely different! See? This is blue. The Chidori is white."
"And you think the color-?" the confused Chuunin began.
"Structural discombobulation," Kakashi replied, looking down his mask-covered nose. "Elemental matriculation. It's probably over your head. I am a genius, you know."
"Riiiight," the Chuunin slowly drawled, looking skeptical.
"And I can kill anyone I want now, moving or not. Why, I could blast right through this desk and stab you straight through the heart - for example. Hypothetically."
"I'll c-cut you a check," squeaked the Chuunin, reaching nervously for his ledger.
And that's the story of how Hatake Kakashi - a certified genius who was promoted to Chuunin at the same age that other children are still mastering the finer points of bladder control - was credited with creating his only (or should we say two) original techniques.
SailorStar9: The Chidori is more of an overpowered elemental chakra manipulation exercise than a true technique in its own right.
And Kakashi's affinity is Raiton! How difficult could it have been for him to pull up a handful of Raiton-natured chakra? Some 'genius'.
Sasuke's Habataku Chidori is just more of the same, as well (fueled by tainted Cursed-Seal chakra).
And then calling this 7.1HP wrist-mounted chainsaw an assassination technique, on top of all that? That simply takes the cake. Konoha really does suck up to its 'prodigies'.