(The Fight continues in Chapter 40! I love feedback and constructive criticism, so please leave a review so I can improve my writing and storytelling skills. Enjoy!)
Kuroda stands in silent thought, attempting to come up with an idea so that he can escape from the prison Jutsu he has been trapped inside. He admires the way it will freeze anything trying to pass through the invisible walls connected by the four pillars of ice at each corner. This prevents escape, but also allows the captor to have full view of the prisoner. The two enemy kunoichi certainly did a good job of recognizing that he was more of a threat than initially anticipated and then neutralizing him. However, he still has a few tricks up his sleeve.
He opens his eyes and calls out, "Yukiko, I need you to come out where I can see you and lift up your shirt so I can see your belly."
Rin laughs and warns, "Whatever you are trying to do, it isn't going to work. There is no way you can possibly escape."
Yukiko does as ordered and once she is in position Kuroda calmly uses a few select hand signs and whispers, "Flying Thunder God Technique!"
The curse mark on the former rogue ninja's body briefly becomes visible, taking on a bright yellow color. Kuroda's body vanishes from inside the ice prison and reappears in front of Yukiko before anyone can even blink.
"What the hell?" Rin yells when she realizes he has escaped.
"But… that's impossible," Gina says in astonishment.
"Thank you, Yukiko, please return to a safe area now," Kuroda says politely.
Knowing not to make any inquiries at that moment, Yukiko does as ordered.
"You bastard, don't forget about us!" Rin yells, becoming more pissed by the second, "What kind of idiot takes his eyes off the enemy in the middle of a battle."
Gina is still in shock that he was able to escape her Jutsu and doesn't even have a reaction when her ice prison crumbles into pieces.
"I don't know how you got out of the ice prison," Rin hisses as she quickly makes hand signs, "But you're going to regret that you did. Ice Style: Swallow Blizzard!" Once again she sticks her palms out and hundreds of tiny icicles shaped like birds shoot out.
Because of the distance the attack isn't very accurate so Kuroda only has to sidestep to evade, however he does allow one of the birds to hit his arm, causing only a minor cut. Kuroda makes hand signs and swipes a bit of blood from the wound. He starts walking forward calmly saying, "You stated earlier that you wanted to know what would make Yukiko join me. Well, the reason is very simple. It is because I am strong. I have the ability to protect her and have promised to protect her whenever she needs me. You've already seen some of this ability and now I'll show you a little more. Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu!"
He plants his palm on the snow covered earth and then there is an explosion of smoke. Once the wind blows the smoke away there is another figure before him. It is a roughly human-sized mammoth with woolly white fur and several weapons tied around his legs and body with white leather straps.
"So you finally called on me, eh?" Uthuloxo yawns, looking like he just woke up from a nap.
"Yes, I wanted to see how you compared to your counterpart," Kuroda explains.
"Oh yeah, my cousin did mention that you summoned him for battle a while back," the mammoth replies.
"So he can use a summoning Jutsu?" Gina questions.
"I've never seen anyone summon something like that before," Rin states, "We'll need to be careful of it."
"Hmm…they don't seem to recognize Uthuloxo," Kuroda thinks, "They do look fairly young, so it is possible they have yet to be told about the summoning scrolls. But I guess since Taiki was using that iceberg as a secret base that he never told his superiors about the hidden scrolls back before he went rogue."
"So we are up against ninja from the Hidden Snow Village," Uthuloxo comments, "Well, I can't say I am particularly eager to go up against people from my former home, but you are the one who found my scroll so I'm loyal to you now."
"That is good to hear," the Leaf Ninja replies, "Now then, these two girls are a pretty good team so you'll have to be careful."
"Hah," the mammoth scoffs, "Just worry about yourself. I'm not going to let Dantoloxo upstage me."
"Okay then, follow me," Kuroda orders as he runs off and starts weaving signs.
"What should we do?" Gina asks her companion, "It is two-on-two now. We've lost our advantage."
"We're still the best tag-team in the Snow Country," Rin replies, trying to boost her confidence, "We'll keep using our combo-attack, and if that doesn't work then we'll break out our most powerful Jutsu."
"All right, let's do this," Gina nods.
"Here I go," Rin declares as she makes a complex series of hand signals, "Ice Style: Wolf-Fang Avalanche!"
The ground begins to shake and in front of the Snow Kunoichi a massive mound of snow rises up.
"So she doesn't even need to be on an elevated plain to use her Jutsu," Kuroda analyzes as he turns and runs in another direction, "She can make her own mountain."
As the shaking becomes more violent and the rumbling becomes louder, an avalanche of snow rains down from the top of the newly formed hill. As the snow slides down, it coalesces into large snow wolves. The ravenous pack charges down the hillside, leaping and bounding over one another in order to get to the prey.
"Be ready to take aim at the other girl," Kuroda orders, as he changes directions once again, now also carrying a staff composed of ice in his left hand, "She is setting up a trap."
"Right, just clear away these canines and I'll take care of her," Uthuloxo shouts back.
Kuroda changes directions again, the woolly mammoth right on his heels closely followed by the wolf Jutsu. However, because of the twists and turns the wolf pack has separated and now two separate groups come crashing into each other. Shards of ice explode all around causing a massive pileup and destroying all the momentum of the Jutsu.
Kuroda slams his staff into the ground and uses it to vault high into the air. From there he spots Gina preparing to use her ice prison to trap them.
"Target is at four o'clock, about 30 feet away," Kuroda calls.
Uthuloxo twists around to aim his trunk in the correct direction. "Ice Style: Swallow Blizzard!" he trumpets before the stream of razor sharp icicles shoot out his trunk.
Gina senses the attack and dives to the side just in time, but this forces her to stop weaving hand signs and she is unable to complete her Jutsu.
"Damn, he has only seen it once and he has already figured out how to negate our attack," Rin thinks with a scowl on her face, as she hides using the cover of falling snow, "I'll have to buy Gina some time so she can set up her next Jutsu."
"What now?" Uthuloxo questions.
"We'll take this one out as quick as possible," Kuroda says, "But be on the lookout for her partner."
"What kind of guy plans to team up on a girl," Rin yells as she jumps in from above. Her custom ninjato slices through the air, but Kuroda has more than enough time to block it with his staff. Rin flips back and puts herself in between her partner and the Leaf Ninja.
"The kind of guy that is smart enough to recognize that the girl is a deadly ninja," Kuroda retorts.
"Is that how you treat all the girls you meet?" Rin flirts.
"Only the ones who aren't on my side," he responds.
"Swallow Blizzard," Uthuloxo shouts as he fires off a round of deadly bird-shaped icicles.
Rin expertly twirls her blade in her hands, hacking away any projectile that comes close. "Please," she mocks, "That Jutsu won't work on me."
Kuroda dashes in, whipping his staff around and aiming for her head. She ducks under the attack and then blocks the staff with her ninjato when he swings it around again. Their power is evenly matched, with neither able to press their weight onto the other. Kuroda breaks the engagement and drops down to the ground, extending a leg to take out her feet.
Rin jumps over the tripping attack and then leans back, narrowly avoiding the ice staff as it shoots up from below. She dances around and slices towards the ground only to find that Kuroda is back on his feet again. They trade blows for a few moments, with neither seeming to score a direct hit. Finally, Rin disengages and retreats back several meters.
"Giving up already?" Kuroda questions, "I was enjoying our ballet."
"I'm not giving up," she explains, "I just completed my objective."
"Your ob…" Kuroda starts to ask before he realizes that she was just distracting him, "Uthuloxo, the other one!"
The mammoth, who had been focused on the combat, snaps back to attention and roars, "Swallow Blizzard!"
Gina finishes the last hand sign to her Jutsu and smiles confidently as the icicles come rushing at her. "Ice Style: Freezing Mist Jutsu," she says calmly.
Then the ice birds suddenly stop their attack in mid-air, coming to a halt and then dropping to the ground. Kuroda leaps back to what he judges as a safe distance, not knowing what his enemy's Jutsu is capable of.
The mammoth fires off another attack, but the result is the exact same. Rin joins her companion, standing behind with a confident smile.
"It is similar to her other Jutsu except that it is not contained to a specific structure," Kuroda observes.
"It has a limited range," Uthuloxo adds, "I calculate that it extends about ten meters in every direction to the front of her. It will only affect us if we get close."
"We could try to go around it," Kuroda suggests, "But we don't know if she can move it or not."
"Damn, I thought I could at least catch one of them in it," Gina complains.
"It is fine, they still can't attack us," Rin reassures her.
"I'll just have to extend the field," Gina says as she makes hand signs, "Ice Clone Jutsu!"
Small mounds of snow begin to rise up beside her and wind blows, swirling the snowflakes into a small twister.
"What is she up to now?" Uthuloxo questions.
"Maybe her clones will be unaffected by her Jutsu," Kuroda theorizes.
"Crap, I've used up too much chakra. I don't have enough for the Jutsu," Gina realizes as the swirling snow dies down and leaves nothing behind.
"I thought you might run out of chakra soon," Rin says as she makes her own hand signs, "It's fine, I'll just use my Jutsu instead. Just keep your field active and one of us will get them."
"She must have run out of chakra and not had enough left to make her clones," Kuroda states.
"Good news for us then," Uthuloxo yawns.
"But her partner still seems to have plenty," Kuroda observes.
"Ice Style," Rin says with a huge grin, "Tiger Pierces Dragon!"
A massive gust of wind flows out from behind her and then settles in front of her, circling around into a giant globe of snow. After a few moments the snow blasts out in all directions and reveals a crystal figure in side. The ice has taken the form of a large beastly tiger.
The tiger opens its mouth and lets out a resounding roar. Then the beast begins to move, and as it does the ground where its paws touch instantly freezes over into a slick sheet of ice.
"That is going to be a problem," Uthuloxo sighs.
"I suggest we run," Kuroda replies as he turns tail and bolts. Rin quickly sends her beast after the fleeing targets. It runs around the perimeter of Gina's freezing field and chases after the Leaf Ninja and his friend.
"You don't happen to know any Fire Jutsu, do you?" Uthuloxo inquires as he frantically gallops.
"No," Kuroda says, flinging some shuriken over his shoulder to try and slow down the ice beast, "Not yet anyways." The tiger chomps down on the tiny metal weapons and then spits them out harmlessly to the ground where they shatter into frozen pieces.
"You may be fast enough, but I won't be able to outrun it for long," Uthuloxo warns, as his breathing starts to get heavier.
"Just distract it for a few seconds while I think," Kuroda orders, "You can go home after that."
"Understood," the mammoth replies as he splits off to run in a different direction.
Thinking strategically, Rin sends her crystal tiger after the slower of the two targets. After a few moments the beast quickly catches up to the smaller and slower elephant. It smacks Uthuloxo in the side with its giant paw. The mammoth goes hurdling through the air and his body starts being taken over by ice. Before he is completely encased he poofs into smoke and disappears into thin air. The shell of ice that was forming around him falls to the ground and shatters.
"Good work, Rin," Gina complements.
"One down and one to go," her partner replies as she aims her beast at the next target.
"Well, that didn't last as long as I had hoped," Kuroda thinks as he runs, "But I just realized how to get rid of that troublesome Jutsu."
He turns and heads straight towards the tiger in order to get its full attention. His speed and agility are still superior to the beast so he is able to slip past and get behind it. But instead of attacking from the rear he keeps on running. The tiger of course spins around and immediately gives chase. Kuroda zigs and zags, weaving his path in several different directions so that his enemies don't catch on to his true destination.
"What does that guy think he is doing?" Gina laughs, "He is only going to tire himself out. Your tiger is not going to stop chasing him unless you tell it to."
"I don't know," Rin replies, her skin tingling and letting her know something is amiss, "But I get this feeling he has something up his sleeve."
"Wait a minute, I just noticed something," Gina exclaims, "Rin, call off the attack!"
"What why?" Rin questions.
"He's been getting closer and closer to us this whole time." Gina reveals, "He figured out the weakness of the combo!"
"Shit, I can't stop it!" Rin yells, "He's too close and going too fast."
Kuroda smirks before he jumps off to the side and the tiger jumps straight into Gina's Freezing Mist Field. It struggles for a few seconds, but eventually it becomes completely paralyzed inside the field.
"Crap, when did he figure it out?" Rin questions.
"I noticed that when you first sent the tiger after me that instead of taking the most direct route you sent it all the way around the area in which your partner's Jutsu was active," Kuroda calls, "At first I didn't think much of it, but then I realized that you must have done it for a reason. I theorized that the reason was that your friend's Jutsu is more concentrated than yours. My theory proved to be true seeing as your tiger is no longer animated; it is just a harmless block of ice now."
"Dammit Gina, why didn't you tell me sooner," Rin complains, "I just wasted a whole bunch of chakra."
"Don't blame me," Gina yells, "You're the one that can move your Jutsu around. You should have paid more attention to where it was going."
"But you weren't doing anything," Rin counters, "You just had to sit there and wait to see if he would stumble into your field."
"Oh no, you're not putting this one on me," Gina says, deactivating her Jutsu so that she can point her finger at her partner.
"You're the one who ran out of chakra first," Rin shouts, "I always have to do all the hard work."
"Hey, that isn't fair," Gina complains, "It is not my fault I don't have as much chakra as you."
"Maybe if you used it more effectively you wouldn't have to rely on me so much," Rin responds.
"So now you are questioning my fighting tactics…" Gina starts to say, but before she can finish Kuroda has taken the opportunity to close the distance and now appears right in front of her. Before she can blink he slashes her across the chest with a kunai.
"Gina!" Rin screams as she dives in trying to save her partner. But it is already too late and Gina falls to the ground and slips into unconsciousness. Kuroda dodges a powerful kick aimed at his head and then backs off several meters.
Tears roll down Rin's eyes as she glances at her fallen comrade. "You'll pay for that!" she promises.
"I doubt it, but go ahead and give it your best shot," Kuroda retorts motioning with his hand for her to come at him.
Realizing that the Leaf Ninja is much stronger than initially anticipated, Rin sees that her only chance at winning is to use her most powerful attack. She quickly starts weaving a complex series of hand signs, and Kuroda makes no attempt to stop her.
"You'll regret your words," Rin says as she completes the last sign, "Ice Style: Ice Whale Jutsu!"
"That again?" Kuroda signs, recognizing the name of the Jutsu from a previous battle.
There is a great rumbling from the earth and then a huge horn bursts up from the ground, attached to a massive block of ice in the form of a whale. The ice sparkles in the sun, deflecting rainbows in every direction.
"Interesting, I remember Taiki's being larger," Kuroda thinks as he starts running, "Is that a difference in the size of their chakra or a mastery of the Jutsu?"
He sprints as fast as he can in order to evade the body slam of the ice whale. He manages to make it out of range in time, although he is still hit by the shockwave caused by such a large object hitting the earth. The wind and snow blown up by the impact buffets his back and throws him in the air. Luckily he lands in an area with a large amount of snow to brace his fall.
Rin scans the area, trying to determine if her attack was successful, but her concentration is waning as the exhaustion from using up so much chakra starts to take its toll. Each breath of air is hard to swallow and her legs feel like they are going to collapse at any second.
"You do realize that type of Jutsu isn't meant for one-on-one battles?" Kuroda says calmly standing a few feet behind her.
"What? He was able to escape?" Rin thinks as she turns to confront him. Before she can even complete the turn Kuroda is right on top of her. Her body is so worn-out that she can't even react as he slashes his kunai across her chest. She hits the ground hard, but she is so drained that she is numb to the pain. Kuroda grabs the collar of her blouse and drags her over to where her partner lies.
Gina's eyes flutter open and she immediately feels the sting of the gash on her chest and remembers what happened. She tries to stand, but her whole body has gone numb. Then she notices that her partner is lying down beside her with a similar wound.
"Rin," she calls weakly.
"Sorry, Gina," Rin coughs, "Looks like I wasn't able to beat him on my own."
"It isn't your fault," Gina replies, "We didn't know he was so strong."
"I'm sorry I yelled at you," Rin apologizes
"I'm sorry, too," Gina responds.
"So, Yukiko, what do you think I should do with them?" says Kuroda walking towards them with his young supporter in tow. Most of her wounds are now healed thanks to his secret training in Medical Jutsu.
"That is your decision to make," she replies meekly.
"Yes, but I want to know your opinion," he says.
"I…I don't know," she says.
"Well then, I guess I'll just kill them," Kuroda responds with a darkness in his eyes. Once before he killed someone who was defenseless and he thinks back to that time and emulates the calculating and cruel efficiency in order to prepare himself to repeat the task. Utter coldness radiates off him as he takes out a kunai.
"Wait, please!" Gina begs, desperate for her life.
"Oh, how rude of me," Kuroda apologizes, "Did you have some last words you wanted to say?"
"Please have mercy, don't kill us," she pleads.
"Why should I?" he asks, "You're an enemy ninja who attempted to kill me and my ally. If I left you alive you'd probably go back to your village and send them after us."
"No, that's not true," Gina replies, trying to show her sincerity as much as possible.
"Oh really?" Kuroda questions.
"We can't go back to our village," Rin admits, "And we don't want to either."
"So that makes you rogue ninja I suppose," Kuroda surmises.
"Yes, we abandoned the Hidden Snow a while back," Rin explains, "We couldn't stand the way that it was being run. No one cared about anyone else. They would sooner stab you in the back then they would sacrifice their life for you."
"Well, that certainly doesn't sound pleasant," Kuroda comments, "No wonder there seem to be so many rogue ninja running around the Snow Country. Is that why you left as well, Yukiko?"
"I was never a member of the Hidden Snow," Yukiko reveals, "Taiki and Funimo were the ones who trained me and taught me Ninjutsu."
"I guess that is one reason for you to be thankful to them," Kuroda says.
"I suppose so," Yukiko responds rather indifferently.
"So you two claim to actually be rogue ninja, but that still doesn't give me a reason to let you live," Kuroda states, "In fact it would give me more of a reason to kill you so that then I could turn in your bodies for a reward."
"Hold on! Just wait," Gina begs.
"Please just hear us out," Rin pleads.
"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt," Kuroda shrugs, "Okay, go on and convince me to spare your lives."
"Gina and I have known each other since before we could walk," Rin says, "We're pretty much inseparable. She is the only one I have ever cared about. I'd do anything for her even sacrifice my life. It is because of that bond that we make such a good team. That is why I am so amazed by you. I know you are not from around here, I can tell by your complexion, and yet you formed such a strong alliance with that girl that you risked your life to protect her. Despite the fact that you beat us you took us on without even knowing how strong we were. I've never met anyone who would do that for a mere ally before."
"I told you," Kuroda repeats, "I have the ability to protect her and have promised to protect her whenever she needs me. In return she has promised me her unwavering loyalty, she'll follow any order I give her."
"That's what was missing from our village, that is what we could never find there," Rin explains, "That is the thing that we have been searching for. If you spare our lives then we join with you."
"Yes," Gina agrees, "We will pledge ourselves to you."
"Well now, this is interesting," Kuroda comments, "What do you think Yukiko?"
"They are just like me," Yukiko recognizes, "They have been searching for someone who will be there when they need them."
"Yes, the similarity is remarkable," Kuroda admits, "Well, then I guess I really can't refuse. I mean, they are willing to join, beautiful, talented, but most importantly strong. There is a stipulation that you should both know about. This isn't just a verbal agreement where I just take your word. This is a binding agreement between us that cannot be broken." He pulls out two of his special contracts from the pouch on his waist.
"I'll do whatever it takes," Gina says.
"Me as well," Rin adds.
"All right then," Kuroda says as he unrolls the contracts before them, "Just sign your name down at the bottom. I don't have anything to write with, so you'll just have to use the blood from those wounds I gave you."
Gina shows signs of doubt, but when she looks over into her partner's eyes she gets a wealth of reassurance. She nods her head and then gathers up the strength so that she can move her arm to sign.
After the last stroke Kuroda rolls both contracts back up and stores them back in his pouch. "Good, now that that is over with I'll need you both to take off your clothes," he says, "Yukiko, they don't seem to be able to move too well, so please assist them."
"As you wish," the girl replies.
"What?" Rin shouts.
"Wait a minute, what is…?" Gina starts to say, but before the rest of the sentence gets out they are both blasted with a surging pain that moves through their bodies, hitting every nerve they have. Even though they were both practically numb the pain ignites every cell in their bodies, torturing them with intense agony.
Kuroda apathetically explains, "This pain will happen every time you do not obey me. It is not fatal, but it hurts a lot. It won't stop until you follow the order."
Rin looks to Yukiko who reassures her with a nod and then begins to undress. Yukiko moves to assist Gina as she is the one who can't move her body as much. They slowly take their clothes off, exposing their naked flesh to the freezing temperatures of winter.
As soon as Rin is ready Kuroda quickly sets off to work, knowing that she could easily get frostbite, pneumonia, or some other ailment if exposed to the cold for too long. He places his hand above her body, using his chakra to search for a specific spot where her chakra is concentrated. Once he finds the spot on her chest he uses a kunai to lightly carve a special symbol into her chest. Then he pours some of his own chakra into the symbol, and once he is done it fades away like nothing is even there.
"Put your clothes back on quickly," he advises before turning to repeat the process with Gina. Once finished with both Kunoichi Yukiko aids them in redressing.
"What was that? What did you just do?" Rin asks.
"Wait a minute, I remember that symbol from our fight," Gina realizes, "You had your friend show it to you so you could escape my prison."
"That is correct, it is the method I will use to protect you from now on," Kuroda reveals, "I was all the way back in the Leaf Village before I was called here to help Yukiko."
"You were where?" Gina exclaims in astonishment.
"But that is thousands of miles away!" Rin says, "How is that possible? Is that some kind of Space/Time Ninjutsu?"
"We can discuss that later," Kuroda responds, "Right now I have to heal you injuries. Yukiko, please go find us a warm place to stay. I'm sure I am not the only one who is freezing."
"Right, if I remember correctly there should be some caves nearby," she replies before taking off.
Kuroda begins working to repair their injuries while they wait for her to come back.
Yukiko eventually finds a suitable cave and leads the others there. After a few days of rest and recovery the newly allied ninja start discussing what plans Kuroda has in store for them. To start off, Kuroda has Rin and Gina divulge all the information they have on their former village.
"Some of our information may be out of date," Rin reminds him at the conclusion of her briefing.
"Yes, I am aware," Kuroda replies, "But still, this intel is extremely valuable. It gives me a much greater understanding of not only the Village Hidden Among the Snow, but also the Snow Country as a whole."
"So what do you plan to do with this intelligence?" Gina inquires.
"Right now, nothing," Kuroda reveals, "I don't have a significant amount of forces and even if I did this country is outside the scope of my initial goals. I won't be conducting any activities here for a long while."
"If that is the case then what is next step? Where do we go from here?" Rin asks.
"Well, I do have some time on my hands, so I'd like to go out and personally explore more of the Hidden Snow Village," Kuroda reveals, "I'll be taking Gina along with me and we will pose as two siblings searching for our missing father."
"What will I be doing then?" Yukiko inquires.
"I want you to stay here and train with Rin," Kuroda says, "You need to work on improving your Jutsu."
"I'm not really the type for babysitting," Rin complains.
"Don't worry, it will only be for a few days," Kuroda assures her, "Besides, I would hardly call Yukiko a child. She's been on her own for several months now and fared pretty well."
"All right, all right," Rin sighs, "Just hurry back, I don't like being away from Gina for long periods of time."
"She is perfectly safe with me," Kuroda states.
"It is not that I don't trust you," Rin replies, "But I don't trust you."
"Rin, I'll be fine," Gina assures her, "You saw what he can do."
"Yes I did," her friend responds, "That is what concerns me."
Gina blushes when she recognizes the other girl's meaning and then gives her a big warm hug. "I'm a big girl, I can handle myself," she says, "And besides, something tells me that he's not the type to do something like that."
"Just be careful," Rin says, squeezing tightly, "Don't get caught and come back soon."
"Ready to go?" Kuroda inquires, picking up a pack of gear.
"Yes, I think so," Gina nods.
"All right, then lead the way," he replies.
Rin watches as her best friend in the entire universe walks off with a stranger that they met only a few days ago. Her worry threatens to take over, but she pulls herself together and recognizes that she can do nothing to change the situation. She dubiously turns her attention towards the young girl who she had been intent on killing not so long ago. "Now what are we going to do about you," she comments.
(Well that is the end of the chapter, what did you think? I hope you liked it, What has been happening back at the Leaf with Kuroda missing? Read the next chapter to find out. 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.)