Chapter 20: Moonlit Hunt
"What the...?"- Hono muttered, opening his eyes before yawning. Someone was banging, not knocking, on his door. He took a quick glance at his alarm clock before heading for the door.- "It's 3 am, who the hell is it?"
"It's Shikamaru! Open the door, it's urgent!"- hearing this, Hono quickly unlocked and opened his front door to see Shikamaru fully equipped. He had become a Chuunin as well after the Shiken. In counterpart, Hono was wearing white pajamas and a tired look.
"What is so urgent?"- he asked, rubbing his eyes in order to see better. Shikamaru had a serious expression his face, something that was rare enough to get Hono on his guard.
"Sasuke has ran from the village to join Orochimaru. The Hokage told me to assemble a Genin team and go get him. It's likely that we'll face powerful enemies so I figured I'd get the team a bulldog like you."- he explained. Hono couldn't say he was surprised with the situation. Sasuke was an avenger after all. He needed power and obviously went to search for the one who gave so much power to him in so little time.
"Ok, go get the others. I'll meet you by the village gate in ten minutes."- Shikamaru quickly ran away as Hono got dressed. He was about to throw his sleeveless vest on when he saw his own cursed seal. A full moon. I'll probably need to use it later.
10 minutes later, he was at the gate, looking at the approaching group. Shikamaru had brought Shino, Choji and Kiba with him. Shino quickly walked over to Hono and fistbumped him, letting a small smirk appear on his face.
"Ok, time to get this fucker back to the village."- Hono said, getting ready to leave. Shikamaru stopped him.
"Wait a sec. I want to explain the formation and see the equipment of this team. Hono goes on the front since he is our best striker. Behind him comes Shino who will use his insects to scout ahead for traps and smells. I'll go in the middle so I can quickly process information and give orders to everyone. After me goes Choji who has the best defence in the whole team and then comes Kiba who will keep our rear safe, scanning for smells all around. Now, everyone show me the tools you have on you."- as they nodded, they took out their ninja tool bags, showing shuriken, kunai, string and other common things. When it was Hono's turn, he simply showed the two serrated machetes and a hundred explosive tags.
"Why in hell do you need a hundred explosive tags?"- Kiba asked, shocked. Hono's teammates narrowed their eyes at what he was holding and took a step back for good measure. Hono shrugged.
"I love explosions."- he replied. They stood there for a moment, looking at him like he was an alien before regaining their focus and starting to walk out of the village.
"Wait!"- they turned around to see Sakura running over to them, crying. She walked over to Hono and handed him a forehead protector.
"uh..."- he muttered, not sure what to make out of that situation. She hugged him, tears coming down her face. He was confused, but decided to act when his teammates gestured for him to do something. He hugged her back before she broke it.- "What's the matter?"
"I'm ok, thank you. That is Sasuke's forehead protector. Maybe that will put some sense into him. I wanted to ask you a favor. Please promise that you will take him back to the village."- her face was covered in tears, and for a split second, Hono felt sorry for her before shaking his head.
"Sorry, but I can't promise that. I can promise that you'll talk to him one more time though."- he replied. She was confused, but accepted it. The team turned around, got into their formation and dashed forward.
As they dashed, there was something that was confusing Kiba. Something he had wanted to know for some time, but never had the chance to ask it.
"What's wrong Kiba?"- Shikamaru asked, noticing his behavior. Kiba shrugged.
"Don't you think Orochimaru will be there?"- he asked.
"Not a chance. When I fought with him, I sealed his arms' souls. He can't perform jutsus at all. He probably sent some subordinates."- Hono answered.
"Doesn't that technique come with a cost?"- Shikamaru asked. Hono smirked.
"I've been broken. I don't have a soul anymore. I fooled Death itself."- was all he said.
"Speaking of seals, I want to know what this cursed seal thing is all about. I mean, no one ever told us."- he replied. Choji nodded. Hono sighed.
"Ok, I'll tell you guys. The cursed seal has some variations. Sasuke has the Cursed Seal of Heaven which is among the three strongest seals. The other ones being the Cursed Seal of Earth and the Cursed Seal of Moon. They are designed not as a seal, but as an unseal. They unblock the part of your spirit and body that controls your dark chakra. 8 people out of 10 die in this process, it takes a very tough body and mind not to die from it."- Hono explained to them. Kiba remembered something.
"I remember how in the forest of death, Sasuke was too much for the sound team to take on even though they had defeated Lee and Ino-Shika-Cho's team. What power..."- he said. Shikamaru and Chouji remembered it as well.
"How do I put this... Remember how the girls from Kirigakure said that I had red chakra enveloping me? That was my one tail mode. The first level of the Cursed Seals is equal in strength to it. But the seals don't stop there. If you are truly powerful, if you are in control of your body and everything on you, you can unlock level 2. Level 2 is even more powerful than level 1 and it morphs your body into a form that increases your physical and spiritual power. Only one person was able to do this by themselves. It takes being more evil or dark than the actual seal. All of the others had to take a certain pill to do it. This kills most, unless they are supervised by capable ninja. Anyway, it is really powerful and something you shouldn't mess with. If you face someone with level 1 or 2 seals activated, throw everything you have at them."- they all shook except for Shino, considering the ammount of power that that meant. Shikamaru rose his right eyebrow.
"How do you know so much about this?"- he asked. Hono turned his head and pushed a part of his vest up, letting them see his full moon seal.
"Because I have it. I'm the only one that could unlock level 2 without nearly dying."- he explained. Their eyes narrowed. Just how powerful was this guy?
"My bugs are saying that there is a scent of blood up ahead."- Shino announced. They all looked at him. Kiba nodded.
"Five smells, one is Sasuke's have collided with two other smells. The two smells are stationary while the others are on the move."- the dog boy detailed. Shikamaru grunted.
"Someone's guiding him. This is going to be troublesome. If there's blood smell, it probably means there was a battle. We can either go to see the two and find out one or two things or we can head straight for Sasuke."- he said, giving them a choice. This time, Shikamaru grunted.
"If we go see the two, Sasuke will get out of the Land of Fire. If he crosses the border, there is nothing we can do."- the Aburame offspring replied, cutting any chances of opting.
"Ok, let's go for Sasuke."- Shikamaru decided as they altered their course.- "Watch out though. Now that they've battled someone, they are alert. There will be traps anywhere."
"How boring."- Hono commented minutes later as they were walking through a minefield. As he was walking, he was almost stepping on an invisible wire when he jumped backwards.- "Double trap."
"A well conceived trap means that they are either resting or hurt."- Shikamaru explained. Hono performed the Tora handseal and closed his eyes.
"BYAKUGAN!"- he proclaimed, opening his now white eyes. He looked around in all directions until he found a camp with four people and a barrel with a fifth person inside.- "Found them! Four people. Sasuke is inside a big wooden barrel. Near death, but he is stable."
"Ok, let me make up a plan."- after some minutes, they all separated to play each of their roles in the plan to take them out. Suddenly, one of them threw a kunai with a bunch of explosive tags at them. He wore gray robes with a giant purple rope knot around his waist. He had another head on his back. Shikamaru and Shino were blasted away, falling at their opponent's feet. One of them prepared to fight.
"Wait! We're not here to fight! We're here to negotiate!"- Shikamaru exclaimed. One of them who had four arms laughed.
"Then who are them?"- he pulled a bunch of web wires, Choji and Kiba came flying. Kiba simply smirked, turned and threw a smoke bomb at them.
"What's the point of that smoke bomb?"- the spider guy asked. When the smoke disappeared, Shikamaru was smirking. His shadow connected to the four enemies.
"You might have some interesting techniques with your wires and such, but I have this technique."- Shikamaru said. The guy with two heads smirked.
"I have this technique also."- shuriken came out of nowhere, Shikamaru lost his concentration and the Shadow Binding technique was canceled. A big bulky guy placed his hands on the ground.
"Doton Kekkai Doro Domu!"- he said. The ground began to shatter in a line before splitting into two and creating a circle around Kiba, Shino, Choji and Shikamaru. Rocks piled up and they were trapped in a half sphere made of rocks. The fat guy looked at his teammates.- "I've got them. Want to rest?"
"We'll get going. When you're finished filling your fat ass, join us."- the spider guy replied, grabbing the barrel with four of his arms, keeping two free and walking away, followed by a crimson haired girl and the two headed guy who now had two heads again. Hono was hiding, but he activated Byakugan and realised that the wall wasn't a normal wall. It was draining his teammate's chakra. Now he understood what the spider guy said. He was filling himself with chakra! He was about to act when Choji came out, rolling with his Meat Tank rolling technique. The fat guy clapped his hands.
"Congratulations, you broke my Doton jutsu and did your best. Good job, for a bunch of weaklings."- he smirked. Kiba got mad and ran at him.
"To fight him like that is reckless Kiba."- Shino warned.
"I don't give a fuck! Tsuuga!"- he spun, creating a drill. He was just about to hit the fat guy when he simply punched him away. He proceeded to beat Kiba until he performed the snake hand seal and placed his hands on the ground, creating a wave of rocks. Choji made this jutsu useless with a quick spin of his Meatball mode. On went a battle of wits, but nothing seemed to work against the big sound nin.
"If the Captain is an idiot, the subordinates are automatically useless."- the fat guy commented before laughing. Hono decided to act then. Performing one handseal, a thick mist appeared.
"What is this?"- the fat guy asked. Shikamaru smirked.
"My subordinates aren't useless."- he simply replied as the mist disappeared and the fat guy was punched so hard that he flew against a tree.- "Hono has been hiding this whole time and you didn't even notice."
"Damn you... I am going to kill you!"- he shouted back, but Choji appeared in front of him.
"Guys, go! If we wait any longer, Sasuke will be lost forever. I'll take care of this guy!"- he proclaimed. Shikamaru was worried.
"Choji..."- he started. Choji shook his head.
"Trust me! We either do this or he'll be right. We have a stupid captain and are all useless!"- Shikamaru smirked at this and they all ran, following the smell of Sasuke. The fat guy tried to go after them, but Choji quickly stopped him. Kiba smiled.
"I don't care what everyone says. That guy is strong."- at this, everyone nodded.
It took them several minutes, but they managed to catch up to the enemy team. Shikamaru quickly disguised as Jiroubo, the fat guy and approached them.
"Finally you got here you fatass."- the girl said before pointing to the barrel.- "Take the fucking barrel, it's your god damn job you dickhead."
"Sure."- Shikamaru said. Everyone looked suspicious to him. The spider guy stopped.
"You know Jiroubo, I'm not even going to hand you the barrel. You know why?"- he asked, throwing the barrel to the girl.
"Why?"- Shikamaru asked. The spider guy smiled.
"BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT JIROUBO YOU IDIOT!"- he shouted before spitting web that glued Shikamaru to a tree. He didn't have a chance to rest though, as five Mizu bunshin of Hono jumped down at him. He quickly dealt with them with one web. However, he was still falling, and Kiba soon appeared with Akamaru.
"GATSUUGA!"- he yelled, two drills headed to the spider guy who simply pulled some web threads, avoiding the blow.
"Sakon, Tayuya, take the barrel and go! I'll take care of them!"- he ordered as Kiba tried to get rid of the web that was glewing his feet to a tree.
"Just be fucking sure that you kill them, Kidomaru!"- the girl proclaimed before running away. Kidomaru smirked before realizing that Shino was falling down on him. Shino was barely able to lay a finger on him before being glewed as well.
"This web is special. Not even elephants could break it! You'll never get away!"- Kidomaru explained before laughing. Hono quickly took out his machetes and made fire run through them before slicing the web apart.
"Nothing can beat fire!"- he replied, cutting his teammates out. He didn't get to cut Shino out because he dissolved into bugs who just flew back to him, several meters away.
"Bug Bunshin?"- Kidomaru asked. Shino nodded.
"Hono, take the others and go find Sasuke. I'll take care of this one."- Shino said. Hono smiled and ran away.
"You're gonna leave him just like that?"- Shikamaru asked, shocked. Hono looked back.
"Shino is unique. I'm more worried about his enemy's chances."- Hono replied. Shikamaru and Kiba gulped. For Hono to say something like that, it meant that Shino was unreal. They quickly dashed away.
"So you think you can take me?"- Kidomaru asked Shino, laughing. Shino performed a tora handseal. Kidomaru exploded and flew backwards, hitting a tree. After a minute, he managed to sit down.
"What...the...fuck...?"- he muttered. Shino tilted his head.
"I am from Konoha's Aburame family. We do not underestimate our opponents and we do not perform any useless attacks. When I attacked you head on, it wasn't my purpose to actually hit you. I just wanted to plant an exploding tag on you."- he explained before showing him the other 99 exploding tags. Insects started creating clouds around his forearms. Dark chakra came out of Shino's shoulder, from the seal that Hono had given him.- "This day is the day you die."
Back to the three remaining Konoha ninja, things were pretty smooth. They could detect the enemies, but they couldn't reach them. Only by sunrise they caught up to them.
"God damn it, what the fuck did Kidomaru and Jiroubo do?"- Tayuya asked, looking back at them.
"FUCK IT! I'LL TAKE CARE OF YOU MYSELF!"- Sakon shouted, jumping at Kiba, Shikamaru and Hono at the same time. Kiba and Shikamaru jumped to hit him, but were repelled by a flurry of punches that made them dissolve into water.- "TARENKEN!"
"CAREFULL, THEY'RE MIZU BUNSHIN!"- Tayuya warned. Hono already had Rasengan prepared on his palm. He rose it to meet Sakon, but it never landed. An extra arm came out of nowhere and stopped the jutsu. Hono merely smiled as Kiba came from behind.
"TSUUGA!"- Kiba drilled through Hono, making him dissolve into water as well before heading for Sakon. Sakon ducked, but the problem wasn't quite solved yet. Tayuya was stuck in place by Shikamaru's Kage Mane. Kiba continued to drill the air before catching the barrel and throwing it at Hono who received it with a smirk.
"Let's go!"- he ordered, dashing away as Shikamaru canceled his technique and the jumping Sakon crashed against Tayuya. Shikamaru quickly dashed away with Kiba, joining Hono. The glory didn't last for long as Sakon activated level 1 and rushed after them, quickly joined by Tayuya, though she wasn't in level 1. Akamaru barked and Kiba smiled at him, knowing what was going to happen next. Sakon jumped to the tree branch where Akamaru previously was, only to discover it was covered in exploding tags.
"FUCK!"- he shouted as the tree exploded multiple times. Sakon quickly appeared, running at them again, unharmed. He threw a wire at Akamaru, making him stick against a tree that had an exploding tag on it.
"Akamaru!"- Kiba called, jumping to save his dog. When he got there, the tag started to shine. A few moments later, it exploded. Kiba was already falling into a ravine with Sakon.
"God damn it."- Shikamaru muttered.
"What happened?"- Hono asked, looking down at the ravine that was strangely in the middle of the forest.
"HEY! YOU SHITHEADS!"- Tayuya shouted, dashing at them.
"She's coming!"- Shikamaru warned.- "It can't be helped. Go forward and take the barrel with you. I'll take care of her!"
"Are you sure?"- Hono asked. Not because he worried, but because he didn't want to miss the fun.
"Just go!"- Shikamaru ordered. A shadow fell through the trees.
"Why are you here?"- Tayuya asked as the shadow fell on the barrel, grabbed it and dashed away.- "Kimimaru."
"You're late, Tayuya. What happened to the other three? You, who were once part of The Five."- Kimimaru commented.
"Why are you here? Your body is no longer..."- she muttered.
"I'm not moving with the power of my body. I'm moving with the power of my spirit and mind."- he replied. She smirked.
"Geez, you're living beyond your time..."- she said.
"Fuck all this talking."- Hono quickly jumped at Kimimaru, but Tayuya did the same and tried to punch him away. He catched her hand, spun and threw her to a tree before landing on a tree himself. Kimimaru approached Tayuya.
"I haven't killed you already because you need to fulfill a mission. My mission is to deliver that barrel to Orochimaru-sama."- he explained.
"I thought it was too late?"- she gasped.
"He's the next container. I leave these two pieces of trash to you."- he said before taking the barrel and running away. Tayuya took out a flute.
"You two aren't going to survive this day!"- she taunted. Hono just had enough of being calm. He fully released his seal, making black feathered wings come out of his back and horns come out of his head. His eyes became slits and his fingers claws. His hair became raven black. His vest popped open to reveal a dark tattoo.
"Shikamaru, I leave this bitch to you."- he smirked before flying away. His wings flapped so quickly that Tayuya didn't have a chance at stopping him. Once she was away enough meters, he canceled the seal, going back to his old self. He needed to conserve the seal's power for later.
"Guess it's my turn."
(I based Hono's second stage on Tekken's Devil Jin.)