Wow, this chapter was somewhat a bother to write... luckily I've manage to complete it somehow in time to update alongside LoL :D
Now, before I move forward, I'd like to announce (I did so in LoL as well) that recently I got very upseting news (and upseting is still an understatement): my father, who two years managed to beat cancer now has to struggle with it again. This, for obvious reasons, throws me off my 'game'. And, due to that, I may find it hard to concentrate on these fics of mine, so I apologize if updates may take longer then expected. I do have other things on my mind.
With that said, here's the new chapter of NNG:
Chapter #135: Brothers!
Title Page: Kogane in the lab is trying to break a difficult equation written on the white board
"Kisei Hazama!" Tsuino called out as wind picked up around Tarakudo. The sand-nin gazed curiously at his adversary as the currents wrapped his body, but it was only when the skin of his left arm ripped did he took his eye off the Ame gennin.
The Suna shinobi stared at the cut blankly for a moment, until a new one appeared, this time releasing blood from his right leg. Not long after his shoulder on the same side got slashed, followed by the left, lower side of his torso. At this his eyes narrowed, albeit he himself still haven't moved: "Scourging wind?" he asked himself while his back received a blow.
"What the hell?" Torune snapped, bending over the rail. "Wasn't Kamaitachi Suna's jutsu?"
"Apparently not" Tobane replied matter-of-factly, almost as if she was trying to provoke the Sand's kunoichi. Takai ignored the two as a worried expression crossed his face at the sight of his 'brother' receiving another slash. Meanwhile Ibuki narrowed her eyes, arms wrapped before her mouth: "Another wind master..."
"That's it?" Tarakudo asked, oblivious to the cut that scourged his forehead, letting loose few of the bandages. "All that fuss and this is what it comes down to?" he demanded, stretching out his arms only to have the immediately slashed several times. "If that is truly your worst, then there's no point in letting this drag any further" he proclaimed, charging at his opponent.
Ignoring the cuts that followed, the sand-nin jumped forward, his fist ready. As he launched the punch however, Tsuino's body suddenly got wrapped in currents, which literally formed an armor of wind around their master.
The instant Tarakudo's fist touched the suit, skin peeled off it, sending unimaginable pain through the arm. It did not end there though as the Suna gennin descent from his flight, allowing the wind armor to swallow most of his body. The skin burned as microscopic slashes ran through it, barely allowing the bandaged boy to hold in a scream of pain.
Finally the currents blew too strong, blasting the Sand ninja away, his right side nearly entirely painted crimson. The cuts also damaged the bandages, which could not hold anymore and as Tarakudo rose to his feet, they fell to the ground, revealing his face.
With blood staining some parts of it, it was a tad hard to determine, but Kai widen his eyes as there could be no doubt of the facts. Kusari on the other hand narrowed his at the sight of a boy with spiky, blond hair and surprisingly familiar facial lines: "There's no doubt about it... the eyes are different, but aside from that and the hairdo, they're identical... it really is true... this one and the string freak from before... they're twins!"
"You still get up?" Tsuino rather stated then asked, giving his enemy a judgmental gaze. "Surely you must realize you cannot break through this armor. This is what Death Valley's final form is; complete mastery of wind currents in the area! They're filled with my own chakra, which allows me to push them any way I desire as well as using the chakra within to slash what I want. The range depends on the user's ability, however I can cover the entity of the arena, so there's no place for you to run. And with my body wrapped in these current, neither taijutsu nor weapons can touch me! You're not a ninjutsu type and I doubt you're capable of genjutsu, so you can't break through my defense. This match is over."
"Over?" Tarakudo repeated with a smirk, this time allowing the whole stadium to see it, due to the lack of bandages. "It just got interested! You think a minor injury like this is gonna stop me?" he asked, making Aoru's eyes widen at the sight of her teammate's wounds closing: "Wha...?"
"This can't be!" Hari yelled, totally shocked, yet Takai didn't seem surprised by the predicament: "Why not? Tarakudo, just like myself and Honemaru, was created from Kaguya genes... one of their bloodline limit traits was quicken regeneration of skin in order to prevent wounds inflicted by using the kekkai genkai itself. Although me and Tarakudo mutated, our abilities are affiliated to bones and I myself were granted the healing factor. If that is so, it is not as far-fetched as you may think for Tarakudo to possess the same trait. He just didn't had the need to execute it yet..."
"What are you talking about?" Hari shoot back immediately. "I remember his fight with Horamaru when we were still in the Academy! He lost! Why didn't he use that ability then?"
"Actually, the answer to that question should be quite obvious, to you especially" Karame responded as his eyes traveled to Torune for a split second. The blonde kunoichi glanced at his confused and then lowered her head at the realization.
"Healing factor, eh?" Tsuino noted unimpressed. "You know this changes nothing, right? All I need to do is kill you one blow" he finished, instantly making Tarakudo jumped to the air and split his legs as another, wind slash came at him horizontally in the attempt to slice him in two.
However the second the sand-nin got airborne, the currents picked up again and pushed him downwards, pressing his face against the ground. With all his strength the Suna gennin rolled to the side just before a drilling blow struck from above, digging into the surface at the exact spot he laid a moment later.
"This much control over such a wide area" Mushi thought to himself as he observed the match. "You truly mastered Kasei Nazama, brother" he noted his a smile while Nazaa tightened his fists: "So back then, during eliminations... he could've ended our fight whenever he wanted... he's so much stronger then when he first... I... I couldn't keep up in the end..."
"Interesting fellow" Saiken thought to himself as his eyes settled on Tsuino. Meanwhile, down on the arena, Tarakudo got tossed to the side as he wasn't fast enough to dodge the slash coming from his left, The wound healed quickly, granted this time the cut reached the bones.
The Suna gennin kept on smiling as he danced around, avoiding most of the wind blades that came his way from all sides. Those that reached their target, left a gash, yet those didn't last long, vanishing few moments after inflicted. Funbo felt annoyance building up as he watched how the fight was progressing: "At this rate it'll take forever to finish."
Finally Tarakudo froze, the currents suddenly calming down around him. He glanced at his adversary, still clad in the wind, curious as to what will come next. He didn't had to wait long as a small tornado blasted towards him with a deafening hum. Strafing to the right, the sand-nin dodged, only to note the cyclone made a u-turn and came at him again, this time from behind.
Instantly the blond rolled near the ground, making the attack go just above him, yet also this time the hurricane turned, dropping from above at its target. Tarakudo jumped back, which made the assault bury into the surface, but the next moment the spinning wind rose from below, once more heading straight for him.
Unable to dodge at point-blank range, the sand-nin merely bended his head backwards, avoiding the full strength of the blast, yet still getting his face scourged by the edge of the tornado. As the wounds healed, he wiped the blood from his eyes, spotting the cyclone which came from his right.
"This time around that freak can't win" Futatsu thought to himself with a smirk as he recalled his match from the eliminations.
The Suna gennin quickly bended his middle body back, leaving the part from neck up and waist down in place. This maneuver allowed him to avoid the hit this time as well, granted the hurricane simple changed course again to resume the attack.
Surprisingly the sand-nin charged forward and ducked under the cyclone that caame right at his face. He kept running even as a buzzing sound filled his ears, the moment tornado turned and went after him.
"Before I finish this, there's one thing I'd like to ask you" Tarakudo yelled over the noise of the storm, his gaze set on his opponent. Tsuino glanced at him emotionless, which the sand-nin took as an agreement to listen: "When we engaged in the conversation about Horamaru and how I was umoved by his loss, you seemed to get agitated over the matter... why?"
"Because I'm a brother also" was all the scar-faced gennin said before slamming his tornado right into his adversary's back. The hurricane pushed the Suna ninja forward, breaking his arms and legs in several places, until finally a loud crack echoed through the cyclone, indicating the snap of Tarakudo's neck.
The Ame shinobi widen his eyes in surprise however as his opponent rose his head, grinning evilly just before he launched himself at him with the tornado following. His elbow smashed against the wind armor, immediately losing skin, but the instant cyclone came, the currents surrounding Tsuino died down, allowing the sand-nin to ram his stomach.
In a flash the scar-faced boy gasped for air, but the unsteady current he inhaled only worsen the situation. This gave Tarakudo all the time he needed; in a blink of an eye he unleashed a storm of kicks and punches, hitting all the vital points of the Rain's representative, finishing the barrage with a palm to the lungs, making Tsuino choke.
The rain-nin dropped to the ground motionless, all the noise around the stadium dying down as he did. The winds stopped, the crowd silenced as the Suna gennin stood over the fallen form of his adversary. Mushi's face twisted with anger at the sight as he readied to jump down to the arena... only to be stopped by Ryu who placed his hand on the shoulder and shook his head in negation.
Lee stared at the scene from a distance, his eyes narrowed. The jounin remained in place, even as the Suna ninja lowered himself, moving his face nearer and nearer to Tsuino's: "I'm not gonna kill you, granted most people would expect me to do so" he whispered just before his fallen opponent gasped for air again, life returning to his body. "I'll acknowledge the fact you're a brother, however I want to make myself clear on one thing: you know nothing of me and Horamaru and so I will not allow you to lecture me as to how I should treat him. That is something for me and him to sort out and your reaction was unsuitable. I do not know what relationship you have with your sibling, so in that regard you're free to do as you please... that is all" he finished, rising back to a standing position.
"Winner: Tarakudo!" the Leaf's Green Beast proclaimed as the victor began walking away, flapping his arms and legs. Snaps that accompany the activity indicated he was put his bones back in place. Not once has he turn around to gaze at Tsuino, who was taken away by medics.
"I see" Kumiko said to herself as she observed the returning sand-nin. "During eliminations he prove he could put the bones out of joints, so there really is no way to break his bones... with the wind armor surrounding that Rain guy, he couldn't get close enough to land the blow and so he used the tornado as a clear-path... when that cyclone hit the armor, the two canceled each other out, leaving the scar-face wide open. That guy... he used the technique against the user!"
"Dammit, I had no idea that Tarakudo fellow is so strong!" Kai whined, turning towards Takaru. The other boy only nodded with a simple 'yeah' escaping his mouth as he glanced at the entrance to the platform, where Tarakudo just appeared.
"Yeah?" the blond gennin snapped at the reaction. "Is that all you got to say in the matter? I'm freaking out here!" he yelled, to which Hizoku reacted with a sweat drop: "Why? You're not taking part in the tournament any more, so why should you care what sort of monsters advance?" he asked curiously, immediately noting that the sand-nin froze for a moment at the word 'monster'.
"Good job, Tarakudo-kun" Aoru greeted her teammate with a warm smile as he reached his cell. "I must say that without those bandages you look much more dashing! Did you ever considered leaving them off?" she asked hopefully, to which the boy merely glanced at her.
Karame quickly unwrapped a part of his own outfit and handed the unmasked boy the material, to which Tarakudo gave a nod before he began to cover his face again. The redhead lowered her head at this, gazing at the floor: "Well, what did I expect? He's not like Takai-kun..." she reminded herself with a sigh.
"Would the participants of the next fight, please, come down?" Lee asked, making both combatants jump onto the arena without a word. Calmly they reached the center of the battlefield as the jounin announced: "Seventh match: Manako Akira from Konoha against Dekai of Suna" his voiced echoed throughout the stadium, while spectators hold their breaths. And then the command came: "BEGIN!"
-the tournament moves forward...-
And this concludes this chapter. I feel as if it's lacking something as I completed it, but I can't place my finger as to what. Oh well, hopefully it wasn't important ^^' Now, with Tsuino dropping out of the tournament, there's only 8 teams left on the battlefield, which consist of the following:
Konoha #7 (Naruto): Murasakki Kumiko, Tanken Ibuki, Gekido Takaru, Hagane Kusari, Haisha Kai
Konoha #3 (Shikamaru): Konpaku Rei, Rikoteki Kogane, Amagasa Toku, Debano Kitsune, Gusoku Hanamaru
Konoha #4 (Hinata): Igaku Mikka, Inuzuka Tsume, Benda Kokoro, Hatake Senkou, Kobushi Galu
Konoha (Shino): Hamano Taki, Hyuuga Hitomi, Manako Akira, Tanken Funbo, Horohoro
Suna #1 (Temari): Aoru, Torune, Tarakudo, Takai
Suna #2 (Kankuro): Sabaku no Sabure, Hari, Dekai, Karame
Kusa (none): Hokku Tobane, Kanraku Nezumi, Kuchibashi Taka, Kyohaku Tokame, Wanabi Hizoku
Tsuki (Hinami Hoshiru): Junsei Teela, Tenka, Chishio Nobu, Chishio Kumo, Kihako Tasuki
Kane (unknown): Futatsu
And, as usual, here's a reminder of the tournament match-up:
Fight 7: Manako Akira (13) vs. Dekai (14)
Fight 8: Hyuuga Hitomi (15) vs. Tenka (16)
Fight 9: Hokku Tobane (17) vs. Sabaku no Sabure (18)
Fight 10: Murasakki Kumiko (19) vs. Debano Kitsune (20)
Fight 11: Junsei Teela (21) vs. Kanraku Nezumi (22)
Fight 12: Horohoro (23) vs. Hagane Kusari (24)
Fight 13: Aoru (25) vs. Hamano Taki (26)
Fight 14: Torune (27) vs. Hari (28)
Fight 15: Amagasa Toku (29) vs. Kyohaku Tokame (30)
Fight 16: Kobushi Galu (31) vs. Karame (32)
Fight 17: Takai vs. Wanabi Hizoku
Fight 18: Tanken Funbo vs. Gekido Takaru
Fight 19: Benda Kokoro vs. Tarakudo
I must admit I'm anxious over the next match. As you may remember, Akira is one of my personal favorite characters (and he's doing quite well in the popularity polls as well) and this next fight will finally give me a chance to elaborate on his character (as well as Dekai) as I didn't get to do so yet. Hope I won't mess up x_x
Thanks for tunning in and keep reading... and reviewing, of course ;)