Back from my vacation, Shang here to bring you the newest installment of NNG, fresh from my hard drive, finished just a minute ago :D I must admit that this chapter ended up differently then I imagined it will (partly because explaining Nezumi's ability took so much space x_x) and I kinda feel it doesn't live-up to how it was supposed to be all those years ago, when I planned it... oh well, I had a really rotten day and tomorrow won't be any better, so sorry, but I just don't have the heart to get into re-writing right now :(
Before going to the chapter itself though, the usual reminder that Character Popularity Poll is still open and you can cast your votes, but slowly we're coming to its end as votes will be accepted only till chapter 149 (the next one come the results), so I encourage you to case your votes, if you wish to cast any.
And with that, here's the continuation of Teela versus Nezumi:
Chapter #147: A Touch Can Be Deadly
Title Page: Hitomi's in a doctor's office and is given a task to read the letters from a board
"Still pushing yourself over the limit, I see?" Nezumi rather stated then asked as she walked up to Hizoku, who was training with his spear on the meadow. Sweat run down the boy's face as he huffed under the light of a crescent moon, shifting his eyes towards the kunoichi: "You insanely powerful as is, I really don't see a point in going this far to become chuunin... not like you'll have any problem in doing that..."
"I'm not going to Konoha just to become chuunin" the redhead reminded her sternly, making the rat girl freeze, looking to the side as she grabbed her arm. Silence filled the evening air as Hizoku let out a sigh at his own behavior.: "Nezumi, I..."
"Why?" the female demanded, giving a stern look of her own. "You said you were going to challenge the Kages... which I think is a ridiculous notion, but even so, how come you're not willing to say why? How come only Taka knows? That guy hates you! Why tell him? Why don't you trust us, dammit?"
At those words the redhead hesitated, opening his mouth slightly. Finally, after a few moments, he resumed his training, speaking calmly as if nothing happened: "That is on a need-to-know basis... and you guys don't. Truthfully, I have no intention to drag either of you into it; you're just going to pass the Chuunin Exam. The promise to my father is my own concern..."
"The hell it is!" Nazumi snapped, grabbing his shoulder to turn her teammate: "You may be good, but going against village leaders is suicide, even for you!" she announced with anger beaming from her voice: "This is why I demand to know why are you so hung up to do it!" and in a flash her expression turned into a smile as she added, much friendlier: "Since I'm gonna throw my life away, don't I at least deserve to know why?"
Hizoku didn't reply at first, staring confused at the kunoichi. Then he smiled and answered...
-Flashback end-
"Hamaru, time for us to go all out!" Nezumi announced, while she formed a quick seal, the tiny rat letting out a squeal as the chakra surged through its body. An instant later the rodent bit its master on the arm, making Teela rise her eyebrow at the action. In a flash the grass-nin's skin began turning green as strange, brown spots started popping out in various places. Her eyes gotten visibly red as she coughed, letting out a mysterious cloud of smoke out of her mouth. Another feature was the fact sweat began appearing all over her body.
"What the hell happened?" Kai asked confused, dropping his arms as a dumb-fooled look crept onto his face. "Just now, she looks like she's about to die herself..."
"That, more or less, would be the case" Tokame replied, narrowing his eyes at the predicament. This, however, made the blond even more clueless. Before he could probe further, Tobane explained, noting his bewilderment: "It's a double-edged sword... that technique, I mean. You see, Kusa is, by a great deal, a village of herbalists; we use our terrain, filled with all sorts of bush and flowers, to make medicine and potions that, generally, increase our capabilities... much like that Kogane girl of yours. However, this is not the cause of our geographical location specifically..."
"What caused this then?" Karame questioned curiously, but to his surprise, it was Kitsune that continued the topic: "In the past, when villages were only beginning to form, the area now known as the Land of Grass was tormented by a horrid plague, called Eisei no Mitsurin... the disease spread rapidly, since even a single touch from someone infected made the illness just to another. Most people died within a day – a short enough amount to put the populous into panic, yet also long for the outbreak to keep spreading..."
Kai gave the young blacksmith an impressed glance, yet the other boy only shrugged at the unspoken praise: "I read a lot of shinobi history... besides, it was part of Iruka-sensei's lecture back in the Academy. Seriously, haven't you learned anything before graduating?"
"One thing I don't get" Taraku interrupted, shifting his gazed towards the grass-nins. "If the disease was so dangerous, how come it didn't wipe out the entire area? How come it didn't spread beyond?"
"Certain occurrence made it possible to fight the plague" Tokame responded simply, his expression as stoic as a stone. "The illness wasn't defeated per say, but the more skilled, chakra-users found a way to seal it into a group of people. These individual proven to have a specific immune system, which allowed them to withstand the disease... somehow keeping it alive within them, but dormant. To that end, they were infested, but Eisei no Mitsurin didn't spread through them. The area in which they lived in was quarantined, opened only after everyone besides that one family died out..."
"That's kinda harsh" Taki noted with dismal.
"Better few then the whole world" the Kusa gennin shoot back simply, gazing at the masked kunoichi. "Either way, the family reproduced, with the bacteria of the disease still in their bodies. Their descendants becoming both carriers and keepers of the illness. Eventuallyone couldn't even tell they were infected, allowing those people to blend into the crowd. The plague forced Kusa to dispatch some of its resources to medicine in order to prevent the repeat of the outbreak, especially since the danger of Eisei no Mitsurin is still alive..."
"Let me guess" Horohoro asked, his arms crossed. "Nezumi is a descendant of those carriers."
"That's exactly right" Tobane confirmed with a nod. "But just halfway" she added, making the ice user raise an eyebrow. "Hamaru is one too and by biting Nezumi, he can break the 'seal' on the cells, releasing the disease anew in Nezumi's body..."
"But it's a disease that attacks people" Toku reminded them, still a bit confused. "What good will it do against the body of water?"
"One of the reasons Eisei no Mitsurin spread so rapidly was the fact that it was highly contagious" Hizoku jumped in, keeping his calm exterior. "If it was otherwise, all the carriers would've died before infecting anyone else. While only humans were visibly affected, anything that a carrier touched became a carrier as well... that included plants, animals... and drinking water..."
"In other words, if this blue-haired chick gets touched, be it in her physical or liquid form, she gets infected either way" Takai concluded, ignoring an unpleasant smirk that just appeared on Funbo's face as the young Tanken stood before him. Tokame nodded at the statement, which in turn made the scythe user narrow his eyes: "Truly a perfect technique to counter the bloodline limit of that Moon girl..."
"Sorta" Tobane corrected, finally showing worry. "As said – Eisei no Mitsurin is very deadly and once the containment seal is broken... the carrier is just as exposed to it as anyone else" she announced, forcing Kai's eyes to widen.
"What the hell?" the blond snapped, grabbing the Grass kunoichi by the collar: "Are you actually telling me that for some, dumbass reason like becoming chuunin, she's willing to throw her life away?"
"She's not fighting just to become chuunin" Hizoku lowered his head, recalling the events from a couple of months back. To this the leaf-nin shifted his attention towards him, but the redhead said nothing more. Kusari on the other head, kept observing the match, for most part ignoring the conversation: "Terrifying indeed, but even so... this Nezumi girl won't win..."
Meanwhile, back at the arena, Nezumi launched a kick right into Teela's stomach, yet the blue-haired kunoichi instantly made her mid-section turn into water and split, making the attack hit nothing but air, while twio steams of liquid flew on either side of the rat girl's leg. The grass-nin reacted immediately and began spinning in an attempt to splash through one of the 'waterfalls', yet to her dismal, the water suddenly stopped dropping, creating a hole, which allowed the assault to leave the Moon gennin's body without contact with anything.
Without a second waste, Teela took a few steps back as Nezumi pressed, quickly dropping her foot down and using it to proceed with a punch to her opponent's face, forcing the latter to bend right in order to dodge the fist.
Having another attack failed, the brown-haired kunoichi launched her other hand forward, going for the moon-nin's gut from bellow, only to have the Tsuki gennin's legs change into water and release inhuman pressure against the ground, blasting Teela upwards just before the attack reached its target.
To this, Nezumi pressed her feet harder against the surface and sprung to the sky as well, somersaulting in the process. In a blink of an eye she flew above the Moon kunoichi, throwing a kick downwards, going straight for Teela's back.
To everyone's surprise though, the instant Nezumi's foot smashed its target, the latter disintegrated, turning to mist which wrapped entirely around the shocked grass-nin: "What the...?" she wondered, landing on her feet.
"This is getting tiresome" Teela's voice rang in the air, seemingly coming from every direction. "Your technique is quite fearful, but that still will not grant you victory" she announced, making the rat girl narrow her eyes... only to open them a moment later as she felt her throat clog.
She let out a few grunts as she bended over, the feeling of drowning slowly making her vision blur. She felt her eyes widening further, like they were about to pop out, while her limbs grew heavy, forcing her to her knees: "This... isn't Eisei!" she realized as she sprew out water from her mouth, still grunting.
To her horror, the liquid she just vomited began shaping into a human form, revealing Teela, who slowly rose back to a standing position, while Nezumi remained on all fours, air still rid from her lungs as the pressure on the organ increased.
"You've gotta be kidding me!" Ibuki thought to herself terrified, ignoring Hanamaru who choked on his chips. Kogane's jaw nearly hit the floor; even Rei looked shaken. Naruto merely closed his eyes as a single drop of sweat run down his face: "This level of control... even Unabara couldn't do this at her age..."
"Scary as always" Tasuki concluded with a smirk, seeing the grass kunoichi drop to the ground completely. Barely holding onto consciousness, the rat girl glanced at her opponent, who now stood above her, her expression emotionless as always.
"What did... you do?" she demanded with a grunt in between, but the blue-haired ninja didn't flinch at the question: "You should surrender... I don't intend to kill you, but the long you keep this up, the more likely it is you will drown."
"Like hell!" Nezumi shoot back with a smirk. "Regardless to how... you got... into me... Eisei... infected you! I just... need to... hold on... longer then... you and... let me... tell you – upon invading... most people... are incapable of... moving within... an hour... I'd give you... ten minutes tops..."
"True, disease is hard to deal with without medical ninjutsu" the moon-nin nodded, keeping her calm. "But, ultimately, it just spreads if the body functions. Tell, what effect would that have on a body in suspended animation?" she asked while her left arm slowly turned into ice.
This development shocked the rat kunoichi, but her expression quickly changed to a confident one, despite still lacking air: "Fine... turn yourself... to ice... once that... is done... you'll... be immobilize... and then... I'll just break you to pieces!" at those words, Teela's eyes narrowed slightly, widening her opponent's smirk: "What... didn't expected... such a possibility?"
Surprisingly, a moment later, the moon-nin dragged her right hand back, making liquid flow out of Nezumi's mouth, connecting with Teela's palm. In a flash the Grass kunoichi felt air entering her lungs, while her body got lighter, finally responding to her commands. Instantly she rested her hands on the ground and used them to prop the rest of her body up, putting it into a spin in an attempt to sweep her adversary off her feet.
Just as her leg hit the target though, it went through water, accompanied with a loud 'splash' as Teela's feet reshaped in a blink of an eye. Nezumi didn't give in however and kept spinning, aiming a kick to the blue-haired kunoichi's face, only to get a similar effect.
With one, smooth flip of her hand, the Moon gennin allowed a steam of liquid blast at her adversary, but the rat girl managed to relocated herself in the last moment. Her eyes widen though as the current turned and slammed into her anyway, knocking her back to the ground.
At this, Teela swung her, other arm, making the water rose up and shape into needles, each pointing at the fallen grass-nin. Seeing this, Horohoro flinched, while Kakashi narrowed his visible eye as well: "That technique... it's the same as Horohoro's and that boy from Wave Country..."
Soaked, Nezumi gazed at the blades above her, feeling her blood run cold. It took her a second to realize the water that was still drenching her clothes turned into ice, trapping her completely.
"Since I cannot hold out longer then you, the logical solution would be making sure your endurance runs out first by direct approach" Teela announced calmly in a monotone. "Or force you to surrender, but me trying to drown you proved the latter would be a wasted effort" she added. "I have one question though – the victory of this match is obvious... so why do you persist like that teammate of yours from a while back?"
"That's because we're not fighting for ourselves" the grass-nin proclaimed with a strong gaze, yet didn't manage to change her opponent's indifferent exterior. The blue-haired kunoichi did however glance to the platform, her eyes stopping on Kusari, who was still observing the match intensively.
"I believe that I can understand" she announced, shifting her gaze back to the rat girl. For a second, that stretched like millennium, the water needles hung in the air, only to lose their solid form in the next, just as the ice crumbled, freeing Nezumi from her bonds.
The sudden release made the Kusa gennin drop to her knee as she looked over her shoulder confused, only to see Teela fall onto her back, her breath slightly quicken. Hamaru let out another squeal, the outcome of the match being decided as Lee landed next to the two kunoichi.
"If Eisei was released, then the whole area is probably contaminated" he frowned in his mind as he quickly examined the fallen girl with his eyes. "We can't really have anyone enter the arena or they'll get infected too" he let out a sigh, his attention turned towards the grass-nin: "Winner: Kanraku Nezumi!"
-the most unexpected outcome!-
HA! Now, show up hands how many of you actually thought Nezumi will emerge victorious out of this bout? Well? From the premise and all, you thought Teela was a sure-win, didn't you? Don't be too sure of any outcome in this tale... I'd hope Kai's match taught you that ;P
Being completely honest, in its original form, I was positive this fight will take three chapters to finish, but in the end I decided to shorten it slightly, as I imagine the next match is one many anxiously await, considering Kusari always had quite a fanbase... so – you're welcome ;)
Konoha #7 (Naruto): 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, 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, Kihako Tasuki, Chishio Kumo, Chishio Nobu
Kane (unknown): Futatsu
Kumori (Tategamaru): Saiken Tenma
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
Fight 20: Manako Akira (automatic win)
Fight 21: Sabaku no Sabure vs. Debano Kitsune
Eisei no Mitsurin – as a whole, it roughly means "Death from the Jungle/Forest"
Hizoku Wanabi – his first name means "rebel", a fully-intentional allusion to how his family is seen by others as a whole. Wanabi on the other hand is the Japanese pronunciation of "wannabe";
Tobane Hokku – shamefully, I know "tobane" meant something when I choose that name for her, but all translators I'm using no claim there's no meaning to it... ARGH ^^' Her clan's name though mean's "hook", which is also her weapon of choice;
Taka Kuchibashi – taka means "hawk", which is also an ANBU-styled mask that the boy wears, while "kuchibashi' mean's "beak", playing further on his mask;
Nezumi Kanraku – as some of you may have figured it out, 'nezumi' stands for 'rat'; a direct reference to her partnership with Hamaru. Kanraku has several meanings, all of which fully intended - "cheese" is another reference to Hamaru, "pleasure/merriment" hints Nezumi personality and (to a lesser extend) her beauty, while "fail/sinking/surrender/capitulation" is a twisted allusion to her special ability, which you just learned ;)
Tokame Kyohaku – tokame is actually a typical, Japanese name, while "kyohaku' stands for "authority/big-shot";
Tasuki Kihako – Tasuki is one of the characters named before I even searched for a meaning behind names and one of the few mentioned, who managed to keep his name from the original draft, but if you must know, his names means a cord used to tuck up a sleeve of a kimono or a sash worn across the chest. Kihako roughly means 'spirit'... ironically, when I created these characters, that was the meaning, but in many chases when I check the word in my translators, they apparently don't exist anymore ^^'
Teela Junsei – like most moon-nins, Teela's name was chosen before I paid heed to the meaning behind the names; she shares the name with a character from a lesser-known anime "Candidate for Goddess", whose design was the inspiration for Teela's look. Junsei, among its several meanings, here stands for "pure/genuine/perfect"... I'll let you guys decide what it refers to in this, particular case;
Nobu Chishio – again a character with a name created in an early draft (the idea was for the Chishio twins to both have short, simple names)... ironically though, 'nobu' does stand for "knob", which I find a very fitting name for him :D His clan's name on the other hand can be translated as "blood spilt from the body" - a direct allusion to his family's bloodline limit;
Tenka – the only moon-nin whose name has a fully-intentional meaning... and a lot of it actually; you see, 'tenka' can be translated in various ways - "the whole world", "society/public" or an allusion to her treatment by bloodline-driven Tsuki Gakure... "the ruling power/supremacy over nation", "peerless/superlative" is a play of her 'inferiority' by comparison to villagers with kekkai genkai... "having one's own way" directs you to her resolve to find her own way of the ninja in contrast with her companions... "fire caused by lighting" is a hint about her abilities... and if you add a single "i" to the end, you get 'tenkai', which means "heaven/celestial sphere" :D
Kumo Chishio – like Nobu, his name was a random word I came up with, completely forgetting Kumo was an actual village in Narutoverse ^^' Aside from that, 'kumo' can also mean 'spider', as those of you who read my "Those Who Inherit..." story may know. His clan's name was explained with Nobu.
And this concludes the chapter. Hope you had fun reading it and that the end turned out as a shocker, as I intended it to be. Thanks for tuning in and until next time!