(With Chapter 39 we get back into another fight! I love feedback and constructive criticism, so please leave a review so I can improve my writing and storytelling skills. Enjoy!)
Kuroda recognizes the chill of harsh weather creeping up his skin even before his eyes can take in the white plains of the Snow Country. He immediately deflects several shuriken with a back spin kick and they plunge harmlessly into the snow beside him. Kuroda scans the area from which the projectiles came and spots two enemy shinobi, and this time confirms from their headbands that they are ninja of the Village Hidden among the Snow. Behind him, once again, is a battered young girl with curly white hair.
Eternal gratitude shines off her face as she says, "I knew you would save me."
Kuroda walks over to her, quickly taking note of the surrounding area. For the most part it is flat, but the enemy does seem to be at the bottom of a fairly large hill. He moves to his comrade, formerly a rogue ninja allied with dangerous criminals that were trying to destroy the Hidden Snow Village, but now she is working for him as a spy in the Snow Country. When he gets to her he kneels down and starts to heal her wounds with his medical Jutsu.
"You have both good and bad timing, Yukiko," he says, more to himself than to her, "I was eager to get out of my confinement, but I didn't necessarily want to be thrown into a battle. At least this time I came prepared."
"Your confinement?" she questions in confusion.
"It isn't important," he replies, "Now, who are those Kunoichi?"
"They are…" she starts to explain, but in a surprise move one of the enemies throws a few kunai at Kuroda's back.
He hears the weapons slicing through the wind and quickly draws a kunai from his weapons pouch and knocks them to the side. The clashing metal rings through the air, but the noise is quickly silenced by the howling winds.
"Who the hell are you?" the attacker yells.
Kuroda does not answer her, and continues to heal Yukiko. This time the Kunoichi fires off a Swallow Blizzard at him. The tiny crystal birds refract the light of the sun and it looks as if a hundred small rainbows are streaking towards him. He picks up Yukiko under one arm and leaps to the side to dodge the attack. Spotting a large boulder covered in snow he heads for the cover and quickly puts her behind it and out of danger.
"Stay here until I call for you," he orders.
"Understood," she replies with a weak nod.
He returns from cover and calmly speaks to the attacker saying, "It is proper to give your own name before asking that of someone else." Now that his attention is focused on her, he can evaluate her overall appearance. The female ninja looks just a tad older than himself, is about average height, has curly white hair down to her shoulders, and brown eyes. She wears a white t-shirt with a strapless sky-blue tank-top over it, and also an arm-length mesh undershirt. On the bottom she has a white skirt, help up by a blue belt, over sky-blue pants and ankle-high white sandals. Her lack of warm and heavy clothes puzzles him, but he decides to ignore it for the moment and try to figure out how to handle the situation.
"Why aren't you a cocky one?" she replies, "You interfere in some other village's business, and don't even identify yourself."
Kuroda looks confused for a moment, and then remembers he has his Leaf headband still on. "Oh, I see now why you are confused," he states as he removes his headband and stores it in a pouch, "I am interfering, because you just tried to kill one of my allies. Now why would you do that?"
"That weak little piece of shit is your ally? Well, then you must have been the one who told her to follow us around. My friend Rin and I don't appreciate people spying on us. I guess I will just have to kill you both then," she sneers.
"Hey, Gina, you think you can handle them both on your own?" says her partner coming more into view. She is dressed similarly to her comrade in terms of the color scheme of her outfit, but her overall appearance gives off a different vibe. The long flowing hair that is a very soft frosted light-blue color, and the white dress gives her a more feminine appeal. Yet Kuroda can't help thinking that the girls might be sisters.
"The girl is only a meekly Genin, and this guy doesn't look so tough," replies Gina, rolling her shoulders back in a cocky display of superiority.
Kuroda yells to them, "Yukiko will no longer be participating in this fight, but I would recommend that you both attack me. You might have a chance then."
"Why you are a cocky one," says Rin, licking her lips, "Go get him, Gina."
"Yeah, this guy is gonna pay," Gina comments as she runs forward.
As the enemy advances Kuroda also charges, with his kunai at the ready. The Snow Ninja takes out a kunai of her own and the steel clangs when the two blades meet. The force behind their attacks is even and they quickly separate from the engagement. Gina bends down and scrapes some snow off the ground and flings it at Kuroda's face. He ignores the distraction and easily blocks her strike when she comes at him from the side.
When her first attack fails she instantly reacts by twisting around into a back kick. Her heel slams into his hand and causes him to release his weapon. As it goes flying off Gina uses her momentum to move into a spin kick with her other leg.
Kuroda bends backwards and watches the kick fly over his face. Then he twists his own body at the perfect time and slams his foot into the back of her hand, causing her to drop her weapon. As soon as her body turns all the way around she thrusts her right leg forward, intending to smash her heel into his gut. He anticipates the move and catches her leg with his hands. Not missing a step, Gina jumps up and attempts to smash her left foot into his chin.
Kuroda leans back while also lifting his arms, causing her kick to go too high. As the Snow Ninja flips in the air, he shifts his stance and then uses a shuffle kick. He catches her unawares as she is about to land. His heel smashes into her gut and sends her flying back. Gina clutches her stomach, but she is quick to recover. Her feet touch the ground and she slides back in the snow, but she manages to stay standing.
As she slides she reaches into her weapons pouch and gathers shuriken in both hands. She releases two waves of three projectiles each. Kuroda dives forward into a roll and goes under the first wave. As he comes up he grabs the kunai that his enemy dropped and then uses it to deflect the second wave of shuriken.
"Not bad, this kid is pretty good," Gina thinks as she waits to see if he makes a move.
"She won't be able to beat him with Taijutsu alone," thinks Rin as she watches the fight from a distance.
"All right, looks like I need to change things up a bit," Gina announces as she makes hand seals, "Ice Style: Ice Weapons Jutsu!" Snow drifts up from the ground and swirls around her hands until it forms into an object and then solidifies into ice.
"A mace?" Kuroda thinks as he looks at the large spiked ball on the end of a pole, "That's an interesting choice."
Gina twirls the weapon around in one hand with a big grin on her face. Then she grabs it with both hands and charges back in. When she is almost in range she lifts the weapon high overhead and then brings it down with tremendous force. Kuroda easily avoids the attack by hopping back, but the mace smashes the ground and sprays snow everywhere.
The weapon shoots out of the snowfall, aimed right at his chest. He barely has time to move his kunai and prevent one of the spikes from stabbing into his heart. Gina continues moving ahead, pushing him back across the battlefield. Kuroda is forced to take out a second kunai so that he can swing upwards and divert the momentum behind the mace.
Recovering, the Snow Kunoichi uses a backspin kick, which is easily blocked with Kuroda's forearms. But it was just a preliminary move so that she could swing the mace all the way around. The Leaf Ninja narrowly avoids the deadly weapon by once again leaning far back and watching it pass over him.
But again Gina continues spinning around, only this time when she is half way she lifts the mace up high over her head. Kuroda drops flat to the ground and rolls to the side, barely managing to circumvent being smashed into a bloody pulp. He quickly plants his fists on the ground and flips up, but has to leap back to dodge another overhead smash.
The mace once again sprays snow everywhere, and this time instead of a thrust, Gina steps forward and swings the weapon horizontally. Kuroda tries to hop back, but not before the spikes slash across his midsection. He instantly takes a large leap back to put distance in between him and his opponent.
"Damn, I missed," thinks Gina as she tears a few pieces of cloth off of her weapon.
"I guess it is time I stepped up my fighting as well," Kuroda says as he tosses his kunai to the side and starts making hand signs.
"What makes you think I'll let you!" Gina yells as she rushes forward. She lifts her mace overhead again, but when she smashes down her enemy has already moved several feet away.
"So he's faster than he was letting on," Rin observes, keenly watching the fight with her arms folded across her chest.
Gina charges another time and again uses an overhead smash, but by this time Kuroda has already completed his Jutsu.
"Ice Style: Ice Weapons Jutsu," he whispers.
Gina slams her mace down, but it is stopped by a long crystal staff that Kuroda is holding above his head. He raises a leg and kicks forward, his heel slamming into her gut and sending her sliding back in the snow.
Once she recovers, Gina's expression is laden with the disgust she is feeling. She spits on the ground and then says, "That little bitch is a traitor to our country for teaching an outsider that Jutsu."
Kuroda does not reply to the comment. Instead he starts his counter-attack. Gina breaks contact with her mace and it starts looking like it is dissolving into water, but then forms into a new shape. She makes it into a staff of her own. Yet Kuroda is too fast and before she can fully complete the change he is in front of her and already whacking her arms and legs. Her face cringes as the solid ice weapon repeatedly beats against her limbs leaving bruised flesh and maybe some fractured bones.
She manages to complete her change of weapons and then is able to block his attacks for a few moments, her adrenaline allowing her to ignore the pain of her injuries. But she soon realizes that his attacks are getting stronger and more accurate. She sweeps a cloud of snow into the air and uses is as cover so she can buy some time.
Gina runs away with an angry scowl on her face while somehow making hand signs with an object in her hands. "Ice Style: Ice Clone Jutsu," she says once she is done. She stops and spins around as the snow beside her rises up from the ground, swirling around into a small tornado. After a moment the extra snow falls back to the ground and a crystal copy of herself stands by her side. The clone does not have pink skin, or the blue and purple blots of flesh, or the colorful fleece and wool clothes. Instead it is made of a clear crystal that reflects light off in all directions. Yet this copy does carry its own crystal staff.
Both the clone and the original release hold of their weapons and change them into a new shape. This time the weapon of choice is a nice sharp broadsword, good for cleanly chopping opponents in half.
"How is she able to change the shape of her weapon without making new hand signs?" Kuroda wonders as he prepares his defense, "Does she have a special ability? Or is she just at a much higher level than Yukiko?"
Gina charges in with her clone right on her tail. Kuroda notices that her speed has improved, guessing that it is because of the lighter weapon she now wields. The Snow Kunoichi lifts her sword up and swings down in an overhead strike. Kuroda plants his feet and lifts his staff up with both hands, stopping his opponent's blade before it can harm him. The clone comes in thrusting her blade forward, the strike extremely close to slicing her own creator.
Kuroda twists his staff in the air, the bottom half coming down and knocking the clone's blade to the side while the top half throws the original's sword off to the other side. The clone expertly plants her foot in the ground, then turns the blade so the flat face is parallel with the earth, and then slices back towards the Leaf ninja's body.
The original uses the exact same technique, only on the opposite direction. Kuroda plants his staff in the ground and uses it to vault over the girls and land behind them. He spins around to smash the clone in the back, but Gina has already turned around and blocks the blow with her broadsword.
The clone steps on her creator's back and leaps towards Kuroda, attempting to cleave off his head. He ducks under the slicing ice blade and waits for the clone to pass over before sticking his left leg out and kicking his heel into her back.
"Damn, I forgot she is made of ice," Kuroda thinks, trying to ignore his throbbing foot.
Gina disengages and comes in for another horizontal strike. Kuroda parries and then counters with his own attack. They clash several times until the ice clone returns to the fight and starts giving a clear advantage to the Snow Ninja. He manages to drop low to the ground and twirl his staff around, knocking both enemies off their feet. He releases his grip on his ice weapon and it dissolves into a harmless pool of water. He flips back several times until there is a fair amount of distance between him and the enemy.
"Ninja Art: Shadow Clone Jutsu," he announces after completing the hand signs.
Gina stands back up and watches as two clouds of smoke appear next to the Leaf Ninja and then reveal two perfect copies.
"So he can make clones too," she comments to herself, "However he had to sacrifice his ice weapon to do so."
"He decided to make two clones, but Gina should still have the advantage in this environment," Rin thinks, still observing from afar.
Kuroda and his clones each withdraw a kunai from their weapons pouch and then charge forward. They run in a v-formation, one in front and two following close behind. Gina's copy steps up to her side and they both prepare for the assault by shifting into defensive stances.
The two forces clash, blades slicing through the air, knives stabbing at flesh, kicks aiming to break bones, all movements in an attempt to either hurt the opponent or defend their own body. The fighting is so fast and so close together that everything seems to blur together in one big glob of motion.
Yet one side must come out as the victor, and after several minutes of conflict it becomes clear who the winner is. The Ice Clone flies out of the scuffle, two kunai sticking out of its chest. It bursts into water as soon as it touches the snow covered earth. Gina also shoots out of the combat area a moment later, her body tumbling through the snow and leaving a red trail behind.
She slowly moves to her knees and then plants a foot in the ground to stand back up. She has a number of cuts and scratches, but the worst wound is a deep slash in her left arm that is bleeding profusely. Kuroda and his clones on the other hand have barely any noticeable damage.
"Crap, this kid is better than we thought. Gina is actually losing against him," Rin observes as she takes her arms out of their folded position, "I guess it is time for me to step in." Recognizing that they had underestimated their opponent she becomes concerned for the safety of her longtime partner. Acting quickly to help her best friend she starts weaving hand signs for a Jutsu.
"Damn, I thought I could handle this own my own," Gina thinks as she holds her throbbing arm, "But Rin always has my back. We'll take him down together." Her confidence and pride are hurting as much as her wounds, but she knows that her friend will always be by her side and she has no doubts that they can bring him down together.
"Ice Style: Swallow Blizzard!" Rin yells as soon as she has prepared her Jutsu. She extends her arms, palms open, and suddenly a stream of small crystal birds flies out from them.
Kuroda and his copies dive in all directions, making sure to evade the deadly projectiles. Yet the attack was mainly used to buy time so that Rin could make her way over to her partner. It also allowed Gina the chance to switch her ice sword back to an ice mace. Confident in their ability to work as a team the Snow Kunoichi charge back in to the battle.
The women's tag team attack is superb, evidenced by the fact that they are able to destroy one of Kuroda's clones in only the first few moments. Rin wields a custom ninjato that is shorter and lighter than normal. This gives her great speed and allows her to perfectly compliment the power that Gina has with her large ice mace.
"They've obviously been working together for a very long time," Kuroda thinks as he sidesteps the mace and then blocks the ninjato with his kunai, "However I know exactly what moves my clone will use while they have to predict each other's actions."
The fight drags on for a while, with neither side seeming to gain the upper hand. They both try several different tactics and strategies, but nothing seems to work. The battle stretches across the white plain, eventually coming close to the large hill, which is the only visible landmark around. Eventually the two Snow Ninja disengage and take the higher ground on the hill.
"This is taking too long," Rin complains, her breath a bit short, "The battle should be over and he should be dead already."
"Time for our Combo then?" Gina inquires, releasing her ice weapon so it dissolves back into water.
"Right, let's finish this," Rin nods as she makes a complex series of hand signals, "Ice Style: Wolf-Fang Avalanche!"
The ground begins to shake and Kuroda looks around, wondering what is coming next.
"Time to move," his remaining clone warns.
"You're right, we need to get out of here," Kuroda replies as he sees the top of the hill starting to move.
As the shaking becomes more violent and the rumbling becomes louder as an avalanche of snow rains down from the top of the hill. As the snow slides down, it coalesces into large snow wolves. The pack charges down the hillside, hungry for blood; they leap and bound over each other in order to be the first one to get to the target.
The avalanche is gaining speed and becoming too fast for Kuroda to escape. The remaining shadow clone grabs hold of Kuroda's arm, swings him around in a circle, and then hurls him out of range. The clone is swallowed up by the ravenous wolves, but real Leaf Ninja has been saved. Kuroda watches the wolf pack die down as the Jutsu runs out of gas, and he searches for his opponents.
"Ice Style: Ice Prison Jutsu!" says a soft feminine voice whose owner is hidden by the clouds of snow.
All around him large pillars of ice rise up from the ground. They are about three feet thick and ten meters high. The space in between each pillar is too small for him to slip though, but he can still see the area around him. They form a square around, he attempts to jump up and over, but a ceiling of ice quickly forms over the top of the structure before he can escape.
"These Snow Ninja really are a great team," Kuroda thinks as he tries to determine a way out, "The avalanche was a strong attack, but they also set this trap up in case it failed. But, will I be able to break out of here?"
"Perfect timing, Gina," says Rin, her smirking face visible now that all the snow has settled.
"Yeah, I got him trapped like a rat," Gina replies, a smug grin across her face as she walks into view.
Kuroda charges at one of the pillars and uses a sidekick in an attempt to break it. His kick has no effect except for making his own leg go numb from hitting such a solid object.
"That's not going to work," Gina giggles.
"I'm betting those pillars extend underground, so my Headhunter Jutsu probably won't work," Kuroda thinks as he reaches into his weapons pack, "I guess I don't have any choice then."
He extracts one of his special kunai with the secret seal wrapped around the grip and throws it towards the gap in the pillars. However instead of going through something else happens. The kunai hits some sort of invisible barrier and stops. It freezes over instantly and then drops to the ground and shatters into several pieces.
"That won't work either," Gina giggles again, "Oh, and if you want to live for a few more minutes I'd suggest not trying to run through the gap. It'll freeze you dead in an instant."
"So what should we do with him now?" Rin asks, raising an eyebrow, "Some interrogation maybe?"
"Yeah, I want to know how he got that little bitch to turn traitor," Gina replies, showing of her sharp fingernails threateningly.
"I've never heard of a Jutsu like this before," Kuroda thinks as he goes through his options, "I guess the Leaf Village has incomplete data on the Hidden Snow. I'll have to investigate when I get back home. But for now I think I'll have to improvise since I can't get my kunai out of the prison."
Kuroda tries to throw another kunai outside just to be sure, but again it freezes and drops to the ground.
Gina laughs and explains, "You cannot escape unless I release the Jutsu."
(Well that is the end of the chapter, what did you think? I hope you liked it, how will Kuroda get out of this one? As usual, if you want more information on my characters you can see their bios on my profile page. Be warned, there may be some spoilers. Also I'm in the process of getting pictures drawn for the characters, but I have no idea how long that will take. If you're interested in drawing and have a DA account then send me a Message. Enjoy the next chapter, and please review.)