Wow, I made it! Quite frankly with the among of work I had for collage just before Christmas, I was afraid that in the end this chapter won't be done in time, but I as usual, I rocked XD… boy, am I modest or what?
I have to admit I have mixed feelings about this chapter though. I did put everything I needed to end the Tanken Estate Assault arc in it, but once I was done, I had this weird feeling it ended up slightly rushed. Or maybe I'm just paranoid? Anyway, I did make it and overall I'm satisfied with the outcome and I can only hope you guys will be as well.
Just like every, other chapter I wanna take this time to thank everyone who reviewed the previous chappie. It means a lot and I do hope you guys will find this one worth waiting for. Also, I'd like to announce that there's hope this story will get a beta soon, so if everything works out, perhaps you won't have to suffer my bad grammar anymore. But that's to see in the future.
And now, without further to do:
Chapter #106: Her Own Ninja Way
Title Page: Kai is riding and bike and races with Kusari, who drives a pumpkin carriage with Kumiko and Ibuki inside
"Playtime's over" stated Naruto, rising his crimson-red eyes at Satsu, making the head of the Tanken narrow his: "Those pupils and that chakra… it's the nine-tails" he figured instantly without taking his eyes off the blonde. "This will complicate things a bit… I guess I can't afford to hold back now either…"
"Lets go!" the blonde yelled, suddenly jumping forward as red chakra wrapped around his body, forming tails and claws. In a flash the assassin pushed his sword forward and placing its blade in the Kyuubi vessel's way, he propped its flat side with his free hand. The moment Naruto's hand hit the weapon, the air seemed to explode, pushing Satsu back and forcing him to somersault in order to land safely on his feet.
In a flash he charged forward and while he jumped over the Jinchuuriki, the blonde felt his right arm escaping back, almost falling out of joints. "A string!" he realized as he saw a thin line wrapped around his wrist. The whisker-marks quickly recovered however and clenching his teeth, he pulled his hand back, making the string break. Yet, as soon as this came to pass, a sudden explosion that erupted right behind him, send him flying, causing a burning pain to shoot through his back.
"I see" Kumiko thought to herself, still observing the fight from the distance. "He filled the string with his chakra, making it act as some sort of a fuse. Upon breaking, the chakra is initiated and the string goes off!" and as she analyzed the situation, Naruto safely landed back on the roof, immediately jumping forward to avoid a cut from Satsu's sword, who quickly followed the blonde.
Coming to a sliding stop, the Kyuubi vessel released more chakra, blasting away the shuriken that came flying at him. In a flash he slammed his hands to the surface, smashing the roof beneath them and forcing Satsu to jump into the air in order to avoid the blonde's chakra claws that suddenly blasted from bellow the assassin. The whisker-marks didn't waste a second however and while his opponent was still in mid-air, he reached to his hostels, unleashing tens of shuriken and kunai at the head of the Tanken.
As the weapon flew through the sky with a cutting sound, Naruto began a set of hand seals, taking a deep breath with the last symbol. Meanwhile Satsu easily deflected the blades that came at him with his sword, only to see a powerful fireball leave the blonde's mouth, heading straight at him. Incapable of dodging, he quickly formed more seals with his left hand, creating a sphere of wind current around himself, thus blasting the flames to the sides, not allowing even one to burn him.
A sizzling noise made his eyes widen however as he realize the flames he just threw to the sides initiated explosive tags that were attached to the weapons he deflected a moment ago. Instantly a powerful explosion covered him, creating a thick, black cloud in the sky. Naruto however only narrowed his eyes as he gazed over his shoulder to see Satsu charging right at him, finishing yet another set of hand seals: "Mikazuki no Mai!"
In a blink of an eye three Tanken were coming at him, but the blonde merely gathered more chakra, making spikes of it shoot from around the red sphere that surrounded hi body. Instantly one of the clones stopped in his tracks, but the other two were not as lucky and ran straight into the spikes, fading away into thin air the moment they did so. The original Satsu only narrowed his eyes at this and quickly went through another single-handed chain of seals.
Suddenly the roof broke before the assassin as a powerful wave of wind zoomed right at the Kyuubi vessel, speeding just inches above the wooden surface. Acting on instinct, Naruto jumped over the assault, only to see Satsu flying right at him with his katana ready. Before he could react, the sword's sharp blade cut his side, spray crimson liquid down to the roof. The head of the Tanken however seemed to be unmoved by that and merely reached for some shuriken as the blonde's body got replaced with a pale.
"He certainly is quick" Satsu concluded in his mind, scanning the surrounding area. "Plus, he used that chakra sphere around himself to throw my attack off course to avoid a fatal wound. In this sort of situation, my physical attacks will be less effective as long as that red chakra surrounds him. It must be the power of the Kyuubi…"
Just then Naruto jumped up from bellow the roof, breaking it into pieces in the attempt to grab his opponent from behind, yet the assassin reacted immediately and pushed his sword back, piercing the blonde's chest right in the spot his heart was. Instantly he pulled the blade out and bended his knees as four, more whisker-marked jounin jumped out around him, while the one he just hit disappeared in the cloud of white smoke.
Using the moment all clones reached the top spot of their jump, Satsu swung his katana around, which whistled loudly in the air between cutting flesh. In a fraction of a second four explosions of white smoke covered the assassin's view, while the wooden roof beneath him made a cracking sound. Instinctually the head of the Tanken jumped up, while it collapsed, freeing Naruto to come flying after him with a large, red sphere of chakra spinning wildly in his right hand.
"This is bad!" Satsu cursed in his mind, clenching his teeth. Without a moment waste he performed another set of hand seals, sending powerful, wind currents straight at the incoming blonde, thus pushing back to the ground. What the assassin did not saw coming, was another Kyuubi vessel emerging from beneath the wreckage bellow.
Instantly his chakra hands shoot up, grabbing the clone that got blown back towards the ground by the shoulders, and used him to bounce off, coming at Satsu with an even greater speed. Before the head of the Tanken could prepare counter measures, the blonde flew right before his nose. Again the Kyuubi vessel gathered air in his lungs, performing a well-known chain of hand seals, letting out yet another fireball, although this time much weaker then the previous.
Still it proven to be enough to push him back and as Naruto flipped in mid-air, he found himself falling right behind the assassin, grabbing him in a Nelson grip right before they landed safely on the ground bellow. The swordsman made an attempt to free himself, yet to no vial as the blonde's hold was firm.
"Why are you doing this?" he asked Satsu, whispering into his ear, while keeping him in a headlock. "Regardless to how much you try to hide it, even you cannot rid yourself from emotions. Funbo is the best proof of that" and with that statement, the head of the Tanken gazed at him (A/N: as much as the hold allowed him to), slightly surprised, but the blonde didn't seem fazed by that at all as he continued: "I already told you that I'm not a moron. You think I didn't know? Funbo is Kantetsu's son. Just as well as I do, you know his mother died at birth and his father soon followed during a mission. Him dying is one of the things I'll never manage to forgive myself for, but that is the fact. If you really don't have any feelings inside, why did you took him in as your own child? You even let him be a candidate to the clan's leader title… there's no way I'll believe you did that all on a whim" and with those words he let his opponent go, but surprisingly the assassin didn't attack him and in stead just looked into his eyes.
Finally Naruto broke the silence, speaking up again, loud enough only for Satsu to hear him: "You loved your brother. I know it and deep down you know that as well. That's the reason. Perhaps you even grew to love the boy. But just because you didn't had a son gives you no right to torment Ibuki. We all choose our own, ninja way. You're free to walk your own path, but you shouldn't force anyone to accompany you on it…"
At hearing those words, Satsu's eyes narrowed, while he gazed down at the ground in silence. As several moments went by, he raised his head once more, turning it towards Surudoi: "Go to the dungeon and free my daughter" he said, surprisingly without an ordering tone, which apparently shocked the Tanken guard for a second. Once he regained his posture, he bowed slightly, ready to complete the request, yet a sudden voice stopped him in his tracks: "That won't be necessary."
As everyone's eyes turned to the source of the voice, they saw Ibuki slowly walking out of the estate, barely managing to stand on her feet. With just few, more steps she lost her balance and used a pale to stay straight, but after doing so he continued forward, marching towards her teammates. Again her legs broke beneath her once she walked into the garden, but before she could collapse, Takaru and Kai appeared beside her, holding the young assassin up, and wrapping her arms around their shoulders.
"Don't worry" the blonde gennin told her gently, giving her a warm smile. "You're safe now" and upon hearing those words, she turned towards the scar-faced boy, who merely nodded at their teammate statement. The weapon mistress managed a weak smile and then gazed at the other, two young shinobi, who now rushed towards her, hoping to help as well.
As the five gennin slowly headed towards the gates, Naruto turned to Satsu, giving the assassin and approving nod, before following his students. The swordsman simply observed the group as they entered the streets of Konoha, now engulfed in the day's final sunrays. He then looked at his hand and lifting the left sleeve of his shirt, his gaze stopped at a small cut that went across the arm. His eyes narrowed again, as a recollection of a certain day began ringing in his head, but his trail of thoughts was suddenly disturbed by someone's voice:
"Satsu-sama, there is one thing I do not understand" stated Yaiba as he walked over to the clan's head. "We took away all her weapons and placed special seals on the chains… there was no way Ibuki-san could've escaped on her own, so how come she got free?" but the Tanken leader merely gazed at the estate's roof and responded with his voice as calm as always: "Yes… ain't that a wonder."
Without another word spoken, he turned around, slowly heading back into the household, making the guard look up as well. Only then did he noticed Funbo standing on top of the roof with his arms crossed, staring into the distance. A playful smirk appeared on the boy's face as he watched the five gennin exiting the Tanken ground, the two boys helping his sister walk.
"With their level and number, there was no chance for them to succeed" he thought to himself, confused by everything that occurred up till now. "Only if they were complete morons could they not understand that. And yet, aware that they'll loose eventually and most likely get killed, they still came, trying to save her… so this is that whole 'companionship' thing everyone keeps talking about? What stupidity. But then, all four seem pretty interesting. Now I really can't wait for this month to be over" and with that his eyes narrowed, while his smirk widen.
And so the sun went down on the horizon, marking the end of the day and the beginning of the countdown to the Final Exam. Thirty days for training, preparing strategy, fighting own doubts. Certainly all the participants will use that time to its full extend, hoping to get prepared for what's to come. For in only a month's time, they'll carry their dreams, ambitions and misunderstood emotions into battle, when they'll all collide. And once they do, some things may never be the same again.
---the heroes walk away into the setting sun… but that's just cliché XD---
Coming up: as night falls on Konoha, dark secrets are revealed. Demon's from the past emerge as a sad tale is told. A tale of treachery, murder and monsters, but also hope and friendship. Brace yourselves, coz up next: TAKAI'S STORY!
Well, this concludes this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it and that you'll leave me a review once you're done (in the spirit of upcoming or past Christmas, dependable when exactly you'll read this). I probably won't be able to update this year, but I'll try (as usual I can't promise anything and I don't want you to get your hopes up, coz there's a higher chance I won't manage this time) to put up Takai's entire story in one, big, multiply update (hard to say how many chapters that'll be, but if my calculations are correct, it'll take 5 chappies at minimum to tell the tale, so…). But that's a goal that may be hard to achieve and one for 2008.
One more thing I wanna write, which is mostly a note for those of you who read my other stories, besides N:NG – I'll be (finally) updating my original works on FictionPress (I'll try before Christmas, but not sure if I'll manage to finish all the chapters until then), so you might wanna keep an eye out for updates on my FP account. Unless my internet gets screw, at least "Dragonblood" will be updated before Xmas.
And with that said I believe all that's left for me to do is to wish you all A MERRY CHRISTMAS and A HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope To read you all in 2008!