Opportunities multiply as they are seized.
-Sun Tzu
Chapter 41: Opportunities Multiply
Hiashi had to admit he was a bit curious with what the genin would come up with. It wasn't as if he didn't have the time to wait and see what they would come up with. His mission was to stall and debilitate the Kyuubi container and nothing else. They had adequate man-power to defeat the loyalists at all of the major checkpoints, and it was up to Hiashi to decide whether or not he wanted to involve himself in any other conflicts. Maybe his daughter would prove that she had an ounce of potential. If she did, he would consider just having her imprisoned rather than her becoming an inconspicuous casualty of war.
After a minute or so, the three genin separated. Hiashi raised an eyebrow when he saw only his daughter coming towards him. Hiashi frowned. He realized that his daughter was perfectly useless, but he had rather hoped that she would be used as something more than cannon fodder. He gave a small sigh and shook his head. He would just have to deal with this in stride. It wasn't as if he could complain to them about their atrocious plan, if there was one at all.
Hiashi walked slowly towards her as the young girl ran at him. As soon as she was within striking distance, Hiashi stabbed at her right arm socket. Hinata hit his arm out of the way and flipped backwards, striking at his head with her foot. Hiashi leaned out of the way and grabbed her leg, about to throw her again. Hinata pulled herself up with her leg in Hiashi's hold and kicked at his head with her other leg. Hiashi's hand snapped out and snagged her other leg, and Hinata twisted in his grip.
She arched her body backwards and blindly struck at Hiashi's legs. Her elbow crashed backwards into Hiashi's left knee cap, and she gave a yelp as her left arm suddenly went numb. Hiashi's hold on her immediately released, and she tumbled to the ground. She took the brief opening to hit three of the tenketsu in her father's legs before scrambling away. Hiashi threw three senbon at her, and Hinata easily maneuvered out of the way. Hinata knew that her flexibility was probably the only up she had on her father.
Hiashi had skill, he had experience, but his bones weren't made the same ways hers were. She could bend herself into all sorts of forms that would injure Hiashi if he even tried. Hinata knew that she had to take advantage of that if she was going to get Hiashi all the way to the round-about. She glanced past Hiashi and saw the scuffed up dirt trail that they had left. Hinata let out a small sigh. She had got him at the first seven feet over, so she only had a bit more to go.
Hinata watched warily as her father brushed himself off. A certain spark entered Hiashi's eyes, and Hinata knew that meant trouble. Her father was angry, really really angry. "Stupid girl. You'll regret that." Hinata knew that she would eventually, but she only hoped that she could put off that regret for as long as possible. Hiashi rushed at her, and Hinata stepped out of the way. After her first brawl with Hiashi, she realized that she wouldn't have any hope if she tried to face off with him directly. Neji would have been able to put up reasonable resistance against Hiashi's punches, but Hinata didn't have that kind of skill.
The thought of her deceased cousin made her heart twinge with sadness before anger bubbled up into her chest. If Neji had been killed by the rebels, then her father had been involved in his death. Hinata's speed increased as she continued to swerve out of the way of Hiashi's strikes. As Hinata danced out of the way, she threw senbon at Hiashi. Hinata wasn't a master strategist by any means, but she knew enough to be able to buy her time to reach Naruto's checkpoint. The senbon she threw weren't supposed to hit Hiashi. It would be impossible to hit him with her skills. Their job was to force Hiashi out of making certain strikes that would debilitate her. As long as she could prevent him from making crippling strikes, she could bear the rest of the blows.
Finally, Hiashi slammed a palm into Hinata's chest, causing the girl to fly backwards. She tumbled across the ground before jolting up to her feet. A quick look around her told her that she had reached the intersection. Hinata's heart pounded in her chest as she set herself down into her fighting pose, beckoning her father on. Hiashi rushed towards her, and Hinata caught sight of a flash of yellow. Naruto.
Naruto rubbed his hands together. He had hidden around the street corner in order to prevent Hiashi from seeing him until he reached the intersection. Gaara had already completed his part of the mission and had dropped clumps of sand all around the intersection in addition to laying a thin sand coating along the ground. The layer was so thin that Naruto doubted that the Hyuuga clan leader would notice before Naruto's plan was already underway.
He closed his eyes and called on the Kyuubi. You ready for this, Naruto-brat? I checked you over, and in order for this stupid plan of yours to work, I'm going to need to wrench open the closed tenketsu in your shoulder. I already have enough control of your chakra system, but you'll feel it. Naruto took in a deep breath and bit his lip. Kurama hummed in his mind before sending a bolt of chakra through the closed tenketsu. Naruto dropped onto his knees as the chakra points were opened, and Naruto had to stop himself from screaming even after it was over.
You okay, brat? Naruto breathed heavily but mumbled, "I told you to stop calling me that." You're all right. Good. The old man is in the target area. Get your butt moving, and I'll help you. I won't control your limbs unless you ask me to, but that doesn't mean you can rest while I do all the work! Naruto clicked his tongue and whacked the side of his head. Kurama was way too loud sometimes. You realize that I hear what you think, right?
Naruto crept up to the edge of the street corner and quickly signed through the jutsu before whispering, "Tsuin Tatsumaki no Jutsu!" The two whirlwinds blew to life in his palms, causing the two fighting ninja to stall as the storm kicked up in the alley. Hinata, realizing that this was her cue, shunshined away from Hiashi and towards the street where Naruto was hiding. Naruto ran out of the alleyway and held both of his hands before him.
Hiashi scoffed. "I won't fall for the same trick twice, boy. Did you really think that would work? It's demeaning." Naruto smiled back at Hiashi.
"It's demeaning to me that you think I'm dumb enough to not improve!" Naruto flung his hands apart and a faint blue glow appeared in the palms of his hands. The glow flashed brightly and suddenly, the whirlwinds shot away from his palms. The tornados danced around Hiashi, zigzagging around him in a torrent of wind and sand. The carefully laid sand trap that Gaara had placed in the intersection tore through the air, slicing at Hiashi. Thin blue chakra cords stretched from the palms of Naruto's hands to the whirlwinds as they moved aroud.
Naruto gritted his teeth as the Kyuubi manipulated his chakra reserves to keep the chakra cords intact. The only reason the two whirlwinds were able to detach from his body was because Naruto had changed the tornados' energy source. The jutsu normally worked by funneling Naruto's chakra directly from his body, but Naruto realized that as long as the jutsu received enough chakra that it should be able to move freely from his body. Naruto knew that his chakra control was exceptionally weak, so he had been forced to call upon the Kyuubi for help. Even so, he could feel the strain that it was putting on both of them. The Kyuubi was used to large, explosive jutsu, not ones that required careful control.
Naruto glanced behind him and saw Hinata looking on with awestruck eyes. "Hinata-chan, I can't do this for very long. I need you to go with Sabaku-san and look for another jounin. Sabaku-san knows some of the faces of the jounin that are on our side." Hinata snapped out of her daze and stared at Naruto's incredulously.
"I can't just leave you, Naruto-san! What will you do when you have to drop the jutsu?" Hinata protested. "You'll be vulnerable to attack!"
"I'm a pretty good runner," Naruto said with a cheeky wink. The smile dropped off of his face, and he nodded across the intersection to where Hinata could see Gaara standing. "Now hurry! Waiting like this isn't going to get the backup to me any sooner!" Hinata looked at Naruto before looking to Gaara. Hinata lowered her head slightly before giving a hurried nod.
"We'll be back soon! Just hold on!" Hinata ran around the current of swirling air and joined up with Gaara. Naruto watched as the two spoke for a moment before running off. Naruto gave a small sigh of relief and closed his eyes. Now, he could finally execute the second part of his plan. What plan are you talking abou-... Ahh, I see, Naruto-brat. Heh. I like this plan much better. When Naruto opened his eyes, they were surrounded by a glowing red ring.
-TSUME-
Shadows danced across the stone walls as the candles flickered. Two sets of eyes drifted towards the doorway as a gust of cold air entered the room. Ino gently shut the door behind her and looked nervously towards the two men standing in the middle of the room. "You're late," Danzo commented. Ino swallowed. The words themselves seemed like they held no hatred, but Ino could hear the annoyance seething in his voice.
"I apologize, Danzo-sama. I was delayed." Ino bowed at the waist before scurrying over to where Danzo stood. She glanced up towards the other man who had a black hood over his face. A pair of green-rimmed glasses was all she could see before she shuffled past. She bit her lip tightly. Was she doing the right thing? Shikamaru seemed to think that she wasn't, but no, he had abandoned her. This was her redemption, and no one would want her redemption other than her. She had to fight for it, right?
"I'm surprised something could delay you from such an important mission, but I assume that you know more than I." Ino cringed. Well, it was a particularly bad time to think about the consequences of what she was doing. She just had to do it and think of nothing else. She peered into the gloom to see a limp figure collapsed against a wooden chair. Black belts clamped his arms and legs to the chair, and a metal frame kept his head in place. Orochimaru's pale white skin almost glowed in comparison to the darkness that surrounded him. Ino felt a chill run up her back as she stepped closer towards the man.
"Don't waste any more time than you have to. Our mission is one that is of the utmost importance, and time is of the essence. This must be completed before we finish the other steps of our plan do you understand?" Danzo paused before grudgingly adding, "Only you can complete this mission, Yamanaka-san. Make sure you do it well. You have ten minutes." The words, no matter how little Danzo wanted to say them, cheered Ino. She took in a deep breath and nodded.
She reached a fair-skinned hand out to touch the side of Orochimaru's face. Suddenly, another bolt of cold air rushed into the room. Ino jumped in surprise as three more figures stormed into the room. The man with the green-rimmed glasses turned towards the door and growled, "What are you doing here?" His voice sounded like the creak of a rusted door as he spoke, his glasses glinting in the candlelight.
"I should have known you were up to something, Homura-kun!" Koharu rested her hand on the doorframe as she drew breath into her lungs. She had had her suspicions that Homura had been planning something under her watch, but it was only when Konoha erupted into chaos that her suspicions were confirmed. It had taken her a few minutes to round up some ninja to come with her before she descended into the underground. If there was anything that Homura wanted to hide, Koharu knew it would have to be in the underground. They had found the tunnels when they were genin decades ago, but as both of them rose in influence, they had abandoned the tunnels for the streets. Koharu never forgot them though.
In her youth, Koharu had some talent as a sensor, and she was proud to say that her talents hadn't dulled completely. She wasn't highly talented, but she was proficient enough to captures traces of Homura's chakra and hunt him down. It pained her now to see her long-time teammate skulking in the darkness, but she was a ninja. She refused to be weak. Koharu squinted through the darkness and saw the shackled form of Orochimaru and Ino who stood beside him. "Get away from that man, girl!" Koharu ordered, causing Ino to instinctively step back.
Danzo frowned and yelled, "Continue your mission! They are of no importance to you. The only thing important for you is your mission. Do it now!" Ino nodded hurriedly and placed both of her hands on the side of Orochimaru's head before resting her forehead against his. Koharu immediately recognized the jutsu and opened her mouth to call out, but one of her comrades beat her to it.
"Ino-chan, stop it! It's too dangerous for you!" Anko dashed into the room, making a beeline for the girl. Ino was the girl who always came to bring her father lunch when he forgot it at home. She was the little girl that Inoichi valued just as much as his own life. There was no way Anko was about to let her dive into the mind of a psychotic mass-murderer!
"I'm sorry, Mitaraishi-san, but I'm afraid that is not up to you." Danzo shunshined in front of Anko and swiped her legs out from under her. Anko grunted as she fell backward. She dropped her hands beneath her and sprung backwards as Danzo punched at the place she once was. Anko stepped back and let out a low hiss.
"Haven't you heard? It's not a good idea to make a lady angry. Get out of my way or I'll kill you as you stand," Anko gritted out. She flipped a kunai out from her kunai pouch and brandished it in front of her. Her eyes glanced over to Ino, and she frowned. Ino had already entered Orochimaru's brainspace. It would be a pain to try and drag her out now. Anko's gaze shifted to the smaller boy behind her. He might be able to do something if he was anything like his grandfather.
Teru had shrunk back against the door and looked like he wanted to disappear. Teru knew he wasn't a fighter. Heck, he didn't even have the gumption to think of himself as a ninja in the first place. It was a great way to get people to fall on their feet and say that they loved you, but fighting wasn't really his thing. So when he saw Anko smile cruelly at him, his heart fell into his stomach. "Crap." It was the only thing that came to mind.
"Boya, I've heard great things about you... Or your grandfather at least. I'm hoping that talent is at least partially hereditary." Teru thought back a few generations to his grandfather. He didn't remember anything particularly great about the old man. He hadn't been a ninja or anything, but he had studied chakra-related sciences for medicinal purposes. "Ino has inserted an overwhelming amount of chakra into Orochimaru's head area in over to overwhelm his own chakra's control. We want her out of there. You savvy?"
Teru blinked slowly as the gears slowly turned in his mind. Anko grunted with annoyance and turned back towards Danzo. She would just have to hope that he would get what she was saying otherwise it would be a nuisance. She couldn't just scream her plans out for the entire world to hear, but it seemed as if genin intelligence was in decline. "Obaa-chan," Anko said, looking over at Koharu. "Can you take care of the Ojii-san over there? I'll get the mummy if you can get him."
Koharu chortled. "I am a relic, but I'm not a useless one. I will take care of Homura-kun for you." Koharu squinted towards Homura and let coldness set into her features. "I'll take care of him." She reached up and pulled the hair needle from her hair and let the locks fall down beside her face. The beads jangled as they tumbled around, and Koharu gave a grim smile. She hadn't fought for a long, long time.
Behind her, Teru finally realized that Anko was trying to say. "But I can't do that!" Teru jumped at Anko's venomous glare and amended his statement to, "I think I can remember how to do it. I'll try, Mitaraishi-san!" Anko gave a satisfied nod before turning back to Danzo. A broad grin grew across her face as she looked at the older man.
"I'm coming to kick your butt, Ojii-san! You had better be prepared!"
-TSUME-
Jiraiya rubbed his hands together excitedly. "Let's get this party started!" He clapped his hands together and yelled, "Ranjishigami no Jutsu!" Lee yelped and jumped away from him as his hair sudden pricked up. White strands of hair coiled up in the air before spiraling down at the two S-rank ninja. Konan leaped out of the way as the hair stabbed into the ground. Some hair split off towards her, and Konan clicked her tongue. She flipped backwards in mid-air and sent explosive tags flying towards the hair. The tags collided with the jutsu, exploding on impact. However, this was not enough to prevent the oncoming attack. Konan landed on the ground and held her hands above her head.
Paper tags leafed off her body and collected above her head to form a paper chakram. The ring spun above her head, and the edges gleamed in the sun. She jumped out of the way as the hair crashed into the ground and flung the chakram at the white mass, slicing it right down the center. Konan held out another arm and more tags formed around it in a ring. That was when she heard the sound of air moving behind her, and she whirled around and sliced the air with the chakram. Kakashi leaned out of the way and whispered, "Raikiri."
He gripped his right arm tightly as blinding white electricity crackled in his hand. He swung at Konan, and she hissed as the jutsu burnt her across the chest. She signed quickly and shunshined off to the side, leaving her paper clone to fight with Kakashi. Kakashi's left eye whirred as his sharigan recognized the clone. He growled and smashed the clone with his raikiri. The clone glowed slightly, and Kakashi shunshined back as the clone exploded. He crashed back into a nearby tree and groaned as he slipped down to the trunk.
Kakashi's eyes widened, and he dodged out of the way as a red blur sawed the tree in half. "Rahh! How annoying!" Hidan complained as he sliced at Kakashi again. Kakashi flipped backwards and sent two kunai at Hidan, who stared blankly as one of the kunai embedded itself in his head. "Ow!" Hidan plucked the kunai from his forehead and gave it a good glare before flinging it back at Kakashi.
From behind a tree, Lee watched Kakashi with morbid interest. He took in a deep breath before saying, "Yosh! With all of this youthful spirit in the air, I can't just sit back!" He had decided to wait a few moments to figure out what Jiraiya meant by "they aren't ordinary ninja", but now he thought he understood. Lee took in a deep breath and shook his arms out before clapping his hands together. "First Gate, open!"
Energy flooded his system, and Lee roared as he dived at Hidan. Hidan's head whipped over to the side just in time to see Lee's foot. Hidan soared through the air, and Lee grinned. "I'm not done yet!" He leaped after Hidan and punched him in the stomach, sending Hidan spiraling past Konan and Jiraiya. Konan's eyes widened as she ducked out of the way to avoid Hidan as he smashed into the ground.
Did the genin of Konoha have that kind of power? Konan frowned as she waved her arm at Lee, sending a cloud of explosive notes at him. "Yipes!" Lee yelped as he jumped out of the way. A few of the notes crashed into the ground, but a majority swerved out of the way just before impact and continued the chase. Lee picked up the pace as he tried to think of how to get rid of the notes. "Aieeee!"
"Get down!" Lee covered his head and ducked as Jiraiya jumped over him and in the way of the notes. Jiraiya took a deep breath in before blowing out, breathing fire at the notes. Explosions filled the forest, causing Jiraiya and Lee to madly dash out of the way.
"Thank you, Jiraiya-sama!" Lee yelled as he continued on his mad dash. He looked around quickly before catching sight of his earlier target. As Lee ran off to reengage Hidan, Kakashi ran towards Konan.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Kakashi yelled as he signed. A puff of smoke appeared beside him, and the two Kakashi's ran at Konan. They sped up as they reached the Akatsuki member and weaved in and out of each other. Konan gritted her teeth as she lost track of which was which. She flung paper notes at the two figures, but they split apart to attack her on either side. Konan put up two paper shields as she tried to deflect the attacks. She sliced at one of the forms only to have it pop into oblivion. Her eyes widened as she tried to jump back, but it was too late.
"Gamayudan!" Jiraiya spat out a stream of brown oil. Konan just barely put up a layer of defense around her back as the jutsu hit. The oil seeped into all of the paper notes on her torso and head, and Konan tumbled to the ground. She shakily got up from the ground and recounted her losses. Konan wiped her mouth and glared at her former sensei as she realized that at least eighty percent of her paper notes were now unusable. "I know your strength and your weaknesses, Konan. You've changed a lot since I last saw you, but some things will never change," Jiraiya said with a shake of his head.
Konan gritted her teeth. She had changed since Yahiko died, but it was Jiraiya that had stayed the same. He had stayed so irritatingly the same. Her face turned cold as she stared back at Jiraiya. "Come at me, Sensei!" Konan hissed the name out as notes began peeling off her back and reforming into two chakrams behind her. "I'll show you how much I've grown."
Author's Note: When I set out to writing the final battle scene, I was pretty worried about how it would turn out. There were punches flying and jutsu blasting all over the place, but I think it turned out pretty well! I hope you guys think the same! ^^ Recently, I've been in a writing slump, so it was getting harder and harder for me to write. I wasn't enjoying writing very much at all then. ): I think I've worked my way out of it, so I'll try to work more on these chapters for you all!
I wasn't able to get this betaed in time for the update, so if you see any problems just let me know! Thanks for reading!