Night Rain
Chapter Eight
3rd Person POV:
Several hours after the point when most of the village of Konoha went to sleep, Genma finished his third tour around.
Normally, he'd be by the middle of the fourth for this time but it was such a night that required more attention than he could spare while sprinting. Not that it was a busy night, quite the opposite, it was utterly deserted just because Mother Nature had decided to defend alone against unwanted intruders.
The wind was sensibly stronger, relegating at least 10oC from the normal temperature but also, shaking the branches so hard it made it impossible to distinguish different forms or sounds. The moon was just a tiny little bit of light with the width of a hair under a cloudy sky, reducing the light to a minimum.
Even the well-trained eye focused hard and Genma was pretty sure even some wielders of the Byakugan would have trouble around here. He knew for certain that he could barely separate the trees from humans.
Unconsciously, he chewed tighter on his senbon. If someone was to make an ambush right now, highly likely due to the weather conditions, Genma wouldn't be able to do much against them. Depending on the number of 'them', of course. He wasn't the only Konoha shinobi patrolling as he knew for sure ANBU were situated on the borders, but he was alone in this part of the woods. No one ever came here.
Which was yet another reason to worry. Civillians, genin and even chunin didn't know about this unguarded spot and so did shinobi from other nations. Normally, even if they somehow found it, it wouldn't be problematic, because it was way too silent and open for infiltration or any of the sort missions.
If it somehow happened a foreigner to be aware of it and the weather forecast, however, it could become a weighty threat.
Genma made a mental note to inform the Hokage about this right after his shift was over.
Amaya POV:
I took a small step back, partly because I didn't want Kamiko to notice my fear but mostly because I was shaking so bad, a bigger step would just trip me over.
The killer intent emitting from Kamiko suffocated me.
My eyes hurt from trying to focus her in the pitch darkness but I couldn't bring myself to stop staring. And even with this big pressure on my eyes I failed to detect the unbelievably fast move of her hand. A kunai, seemingly appeared out of nowhere, was sent flying towards me.
In the last second I found the strength to move and the weapon just trimmed the ends of my hair.
"Come on, I didn't want to kill you!" Kamiko yelled. "But you are way too impudent." She tilted her head slightly. "You can still come voluntarily and spare some injuries, though."
I ran through my options mentally. Not that I had many.
I could indeed go with Kamiko and hope I find an opening to escape but I didn't want to. I had to shut her mouth. Running away way just made her job easier and offered me no more than a day to live. If she really was a part of the Foundation, which I believed her to be, I had to stop her from delivering the Intel.
My better choice was too stay here and fight her in an attempt to kill her.
I was going to die either way so let it at least be an honorable death.
My eyes wandered off to the kunai on the ground; it wasn't far from my reach.
"I don't know Kamiko," I took a step towards it. She, of course, noticed it and stiffened. "I don't feel like it!"
I jumped to grab it and she darted forwards.
I managed to get hold of it before her but she lay over me, pressing my hands to the ground.
She was damn strong for her skinny figure. And fast.
I glimpsed her bring her fist up to hit me and momently stirred to hit her supporting arm. She collapsed onto me and I pushed her to the side.
Jumping on my trembling legs I pointed the edge at her. She sulked, not seconds after, smirked.
My eyes widened at the sight of smoke at my feet and my heart skipped a beat when I felt something cold touch my neck.
"Clone Technique," Kamiko whispered behind me. "You should know it."
I gasped. I hadn't seen her forming signs.
'No shame.'
I hit her with my butt, pressing my head to my chest. The kunai cut through the air above.
I twisted and hit her in the waist, which she counterattacked by grabbing my arm and landing a right-hand.
My teeth interlocked, making a horrifying clack. A taste of blood filled my mouth.
Then, I remembered the kunai I still clung to and lashed at her. It was already too late as Kamiko had once again disappeared at light speed.
I looked around nervously. There was no trace of he-
Oh.
My legs felt weak and I once again fell on the ground, dropping the knife in the meantime.
It took a few seconds for the pain to finally bring me to my senses. I realized Kamiko was punching me straight in the face; a fist after fist. I felt my jaw crack and yet couldn't fight against her.
It continued some more time, which seemed far too long for me.
After all, it had probably been a better idea to follow her.
Suddenly, someone pounced right on top of Kamiko, pushing her a few meters away from me.
"AMAYA! Are you alright?"
I was disoriented but instantly recognized Dai's voice.
Shaking, I managed to sit up and wipe some blood from my mouth. I got up, getting just a bit dizzy, and staggered to Dai.
He had Kamiko in his grip in an attempt to calm her down. Probably.
She hissed, making an 180o turn. Her arms twisted in an odd way and cracked, leaving Dai with a horrified expression.
He hopped back to me.
"Can you explain me what's happening?" he asked.
"It's quite a long story," I answered, my voice hoarse.
"What's happening is that I now have to kill both of you!" Kamiko stated while setting her shoulders. Dai's eyes widened. "I wasn't actually going to use jutsu but…" She started making handsigns.
"Be aware now," I warned.
"Wind Release: Air Bullets!"
Both Dai and I dodged the first wave of deadly wind coming at us, however the second landed a deep scratch on my arm.
"God," I hissed in pain. "Shit just got serious."
Dai looked at me, accessing the wound.
"Here, catch that," he tossed a kunai at me. "I was ready for training." He explained after I shot him a confused look.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"
This time, the attack was too fast for both of us. It collided with our bodies, throwing us into separate trees that fell crashing down at the big impact.
I was surprised to find I hadn't broken all the bones in my body.
"Eat that!" she threw a kunai at each of us.
We rowed away, grunting and panting.
'This won't end well,' I bit my lip.
3rd Person POV:
Genma froze. He even held his breath in order to listen closely. This time he was sure he had heard something out of the ordinary.
There it was again – steps and crashing sticks, maybe some muted talking.
He was 67% sure it weren't tricks of his mind. Even if it was indeed a hallucination, he ought to check.
As he leapt in their direction, the sounds loudened and became clearer. Someone was fighting.
'I knew it.' Genma thought back to his disclosure about the incognito place.
He slowed down to make sure he wasn't noticed and hid behind a mass of bushes. It was tricky to hide but yet espionage in this darkness. He couldn't come nearer and from this position it was impossible to distinguish faces.
What he saw, and quite for certain too, was that the participants in the fight were three and they were all… kids.
At most they could be the recent graduates, Genma noted. They didn't put up a good fight - that was for sure. From what he could tell it was two against one and the pair was losing.
One of the kids, the only boy, bore a Konohagakure headband on his forehead. He showed some taijutsu skill whenever he got close to the enemy. Most of his blows didn't land unless the raven-haired girl didn't interfere and help him. She was a bit more reserved in the fight but Genma suspected it was rather due to exhaustion than unwillingness. From what he could hear, she gave tips to her male friend, which contained information about the other girl.
"…special training...," he managed to overhear.
His gaze stopped on the all-black-clad girl and he took the time to observe her fighting style.
Her fighting style was indeed…different. It definitely wasn't what they taught in the Academy, not in Konoha and not in other nations. A not well educated man would consider it a clan style but Genma recognized it as something much worse.
Two fresh genin were fighting against a member of the Foundation.
Genma almost facepalmed at his luck. Those were the situations, whose guts he hated. They required a lot of careful thought before any move and usually went together with a bad headache.
Well, Genma's head didn't hurt (yet) but he also didn't know how the hell those kids messed with Root.
He could simply jump straight in the fight and question the brats but he doubt they'd say anything. Plus, he ought to call ANBU in such a situation, which was a bad idea – ANBU and Root didn't go well.
The jonin didn't want to cause more tension between the Sandaime and Danzo.
For all he knew, this could just be a stupid misunderstanding between the three children.
Genma settled for a bit more surveillance. He'd interrupt only if things got lethal.
They did eventually.
Danzo's girl had been cautious with the other lassie but obviously tried to kill the boy. He had been close two times and after the third Genma decided it was time to stop this madness.
Which, mind you, did not mean he'd go there and stop them.
"Genma, you've been serving Lord Fourth and me good. You should really consider taking a step back and perhaps surpass your skills to the new generation."
Genma got bitter just by thinking about the offer the Hokage had given him earlier this month. He was a tokubetsu jonin - he wasn't meant to be a jonin leader, damn it! His fears had justified when he had seen the graduates for the next year. He knew Ebisu, his former teammate and a tokubetu jonin as well, was taking on a team but the guy was his complete opposite. While the four-eyed man enjoyed showing his superiority in front of the confused newbies, Genma preferred to stay as far away from them as possible
Genma might be too proud to confess he needed a break but he for certain wasn't going on D-ranks with a group of uncoordinated, stuck up and ill-mannered brats.
He turned his attention back to the fight.
'Alright then.'
He came closer soundlessly, choosing his position carefully. Just a few meters in front of him, the trio didn't suspect a thing. He drew a spare needle from his pouch and waited for the right moment. Effortlessly, he threw it at the purple-haired girl, aiming for the tenketsu in her shoulder.
Before Kamiko felt anything, Genma had already shunshined to another hiding spot. From there he observed how she grabbed her arm, unsuccessfully trying to regain control over it.
With that little intervention the other kids should win this fight.
They had potential, Genma admitted.
I wiped away the sweat from my forehead with a shaky hand.
Dai and I were pathetically hiding in the crown of a tree. It was actually quite praiseworthy that we managed to escape her for a second in the first place.
As a matter of fact we wouldn't have been able if just about a moment ago something hadn't happened to her arm. Suddenly, Kamiko had made an abrupt turn to stare in the nothing, clutching her shoulder.
Now, the limb looked kind of useless and she was disoriented.
"What do you think happened?" Dai whispered curiously.
I shrugged, "No idea but it's in our favor. Our only chance is to take her by surprise."
Dai nodded.
"Here's what we'll do…" I continued.
Kamiko didn't take too much time to spot us. I jumped down just when her eyes landed on our branch.
"Look K-Kamiko," I faltered. "I will come with you, just let Dai go."
She judged me with a glance, then, smirked.
"I don't think so. You know, unlike you, I am not stupid."
She made a rapid turn and caught Dai's kunai.
The brunette gaped in mild shock as she threw him high in the air with a chakra-enhanced blow.
I hurried to hit her while she was with her back to me. Pulling her hair as hard as I could, I concentrated all my strength in my fist.
I had never actually hit a person this way in both my lives but I was proud of what I'd just accomplished.
I felt Kamiko's teeth under her skin and heard her jaw crack. A few drops of her blood splattered on my cheek as she lurched to the side.
"Now!" I shouted on top of my lungs.
She instantly looked up in the direction she had just sent Dai and shock graced her face.
"Damn you!" she hissed. "A Bunshin."
Finally crawling out of the hiding spot, Dai threw a bunch of shuriken at her. They were all baring an almost invisible but super strong string.
Skillfully, though a bit unsecure, Dai tied them around Kamiko, tightening them enough to restrict any movement.
I went closer and drew my own kunai. I pointed it at her at looked in her eyes.
My hand trembled.
"Faster, Amaya," Dai's voice echoed.
I grit my teeth and stabbed her, right in the heart. Its position was the lone thing I remembered from anatomy classes.
A trickle of blood ran down from her mouth.
"Oh my God," I instantly drew back like stung and collapsed on the ground.
Dai came to me and hugged me from behind. He didn't say anything just held me.
I was shaking; trying hard not to burst out in tears. The feel of cutting through flesh was still roaming in my consciousness.
'That's what had to be done. There was no other way out of the situation!' I kept repeating to myself.
I and only I was responsible for this mess and the worst part was I had accidentally dragged Dai in it.
I paced nervously back and forth, trying unsuccessfully to calm my shit down.
I did manage to dump my moral and conscience and forgive myself for taking a human life but the fact that there was a dead body to deal with was no calming.
"Okay, maybe we should just leave her here," I finally said, a lot more uncertainly than I thought I'd sound.
"But they will find her here! And track us down! Didn't you mention she worked for the bad guys? We will die!" At least Dai didn't care for such things as hiding emotion.
"Oh come on, how are they going to link us with the murder? This is not CSI. Look around, nobody saw us."
"CS-what?" Dai looked at me confused.
I sighed, "Nothing."
Sometimes I forgot that those references don't work in here.
I looked back at Kamiko's corpse and gaged.
Over the years I had, I admit, thought about killing someone. I even wanted to on multiple occasions. What I have never considered was that I was still a normal human, although a bit messed up, and killing a person, as in deprive him/her of the right of living, was not in my nature.
What a great time to realize I thought as a very human not a ninja.
Even right now I was looking at this situation like it'd be looked at in the normal world. Police, criminalists, evidence, charge, prison; this procedure didn't work here.
ANBU's work didn't include collecting fingerprints or hairs from the crime scene or at least I wasn't aware of that. In which case, I was just tying the knot of the rope around Dai's and my neck by insisting on leaving the body.
Back to rational thinking, I was now in a universe where killing people was actually the most mainstream, and honorable, job.
If the wild beasts didn't eat her and someone stumbled across her, he'd just ignore it. Right?
It was a valid argument if she had been any normal kunoichi but she was far from that. Her immediate connection with Root suggested we'd get in serious trouble.
But that was a given even if we buried the body.
I didn't know how much information Kamiko had for me or how much she shared with Danzo. I didn't know what had her mission been or for how long she suspected me. I also didn't knew how Root worked.
I had a feeling that deceased members on missions were not a big deal. After all, Danzo can't afford to care this deeply for his people.
Only, the possibility of the existence of a girl that knew the future was a BIG deal, I assumed. It should be. If Danzo knew even a bit of the story he'd go after me on the second.
"But I did see you."
My heart skipped a beat.
"Genma…"
A/N: This chapter was a pain to write. Apologies if it's complete crap and also for the long wait. I hope the next one goes up quicker. Please review to let me know what you think~