A/N: Well it's been a long time, not as long as before, but you get my drift, no? Sorry for the delay, combination of various things ranging from laziness to friends to family have kept me busy all summer. It's why instead of 4 chapters this summer you're all getting 2. I do apologise and I hope this chapter helps move things along in the story.
Something's off. Yukio thought as he strode alongside his comrades. They had just finished their lunch, or was it breakfast, break. Yukio neither knew nor cared, he was focusing on something he overlooked completely until now.
"Those bandits had the same outfits." He announced, turning heads.
"What are you talking about kid?" Aika asked over her shoulder. Yukio scratched his neck and continued
"The ones we just fought and the ones from yesterday had the same outfits."
"You mean brown rags?" Denji asked cracking his knuckles. "I mean, yeah they're popular for bandits and all that crap but that doesn't mean it's, y'know, connected or something."
"No, no, not that." Yukio bit his lip, hoping he wasn't just remembering wrong "I remember seeing something on their outfits when we were disposing of the bodies. Like a red triangle."
"Specific kid, great detective work, you'll be ANBU fast with that skill." Aika quipped, to Yukio's dismay.
"Could you be serious for one moment?" he asked, kicking a small stone out of his way. Aika snickered before answering.
"Yeah, yeah. What of this triangle?" she asked, now sounding more focused.
"It wasn't just a normal triangle."
"So obtuse?" Yukio growled under his breath, much to Aika's amusement. "I'm sorry, couldn't resist."
"Anyway." Yukio was irritated now "It was a long triangle that was curved, like a fang or something." Aika's shoulders straightened as her body tensed, Yukio's observation had stuck a chord of sorts.
"Red fang?" she asked, her voice now sounding urgent. She turned while keeping her pace. "On their ratty outfits?"
"Yeah. At least I think it was." Yukio curled each finger on his hand into a fist before letting it go, stretching his digits.
"It's not an official thing I believe, but it's prominent on Inuzuka clan members from the Hidden Leaf." Aika sighed through her nose, looking down at her feet. "And that would be a bad thing if they were involved." Yukio looked to his friends, wondering what they thought. Denji shrugged his shoulders, and Arine simply nodded to listen.
"What about them?" Yukio asked.
"Thing about them is their specialty is ninja hounds. An Inuzuka clan member and his or her dog are inseparable and powerful, almost the perfect pair. They utilise brutal techniques, aiming for a lot of damage. I've seen Inuzuka members and their dogs perform some unbelievable things, like having the dog become a man clone, or the two becoming one canine monstrosity. They're fierce fighters, not ones to relent, much like a cornered dog. They usually have red fang marks on their faces." Aika explained, sounding like she was already calculating what to do.
"So you don't want to fight Hidden Leaf Shinobi?" Arine questioned. Aika nodded half-heartedly.
"It's that. Though if those lowly bandits had that marking on their outfits…" Aika rubbed her chin in thought. She was silent for a minute, thinking things out. "It's likely one of them disbanded and made it on his own, creating this small group long the way. After all, with their fierce fighting capabilities comes pride and easily wounded egos. It's possible he got insulted and left or someone tried something." Aika shrugged her shoulders. "Either way, if someone from their clan gets involved, it'd be bad. A fight with one of them means neither side is coming out unscathed."
Yukio suddenly felt the weight of his discovery on his shoulders, like his jacket had just gained ten pounds. Aika sighed.
"Regardless, let's get to that bounty station, we've got a ways to go." Aika looked up through the canopy of trees at the sun, which slowly made its way across the sky. "We should be there in a couple hours I think. Maybe less if we hustle." She rolled her shoulders "Wanna get there asap."
"Then let's hustle." Arine said, receiving a groan from her silver haired companion. Her eyes looked sidelong at him. "What?"
"Well" Denji inhaled through his teeth "I don't feel like hustling. Isn't there some way to get there fast without running?" he was whining, Yukio was aware, and he was aware Denji was aware. But Denji whined if he wanted and Yukio accepted that. As long as it wasn't a major issue. Aika seemed to think a moment.
"Well I should probably teach you kids about tree hopping." Their teacher answered. "Relatively simple, all in the legs mostly." Yukio raised an eyebrow.
"Tree hopping?" Aika nodded.
"Yeah. Basically jumping through the trees. It's a decently fast method of travel, I've been waiting to teach you but we could give it a shot." Aika looked up at the sun, which was near the middle of the sky. Whether before or after noon was debatable. "We've got time I suppose." Aika relented while stopping, stretching her legs out. She turned and addressed the trio. "You ready kids?"
"Yes." They answered in unison. Aika smiled.
"All right then, let's start." Aika turned and walked to the trees. "First off, pay attention to which branch you're going to jump on and off of. Make sure it's thick enough to hold your weight and won't snap when you take the leap. Try and jump near the trunk, that's where it's the thickest and most stable." Aika patted a tree branch. "don't be right by the trunk though, otherwise you'll be jumping into the tree, and then you'll wind up becoming best friends with the tree, and then the dirt." Aika rolled her shoulders back and jumped up landing on the branch with ease.
"'Kay, now what you wanna do is see which branch you're gonna jump to. So, say, I jump to" Aika paused, looking around "that one." She pointed at a branch ten metres away. "You simply get into position" Aika crouched "and jump!" she leapt, sailing through the air until she landed on the branch she pointed out. She turned to the trio, holding the trunk. "And then you continue. Once you learn how to do a few at a time, it becomes second nature." She jumped down, meeting her students.
"So how far can you jump at once?" Denji asked, admittedly curious.
"Depends. At first you'll be able to do maybe five or ten metres if you try enough. Though the norm is… almost unbelievable." Aika smiled in memory. "I saw one do a fifty metre jump once. Let's just say he cleared distances like no one else." Yukio raised an eyebrow. Fifty metres? Quite a mark to strive for. "But most normal ones can go up to about twenty metres a jump if they strain themselves. Maybe twenty-two or twenty-three. Usually the norm is about fifteen to twenty."
"How far can you jump Aika?" Yukio was no curious as to the limits of his teacher. She shrugged as she slid her backpack off her shoulder and rolled it before sliding the pack back up.
"Oh, I'm about normal. Sixteen, seventeen." She made a kinda-sorta gesture with her hand. "You kids wanna try?" Yukio looked to his comrades and exchanged looks with them before quickly coming to an agreement.
"Sure." Arine replied. Aika clapped her hands.
"Great. Now find a branch and I'll help you guys out." Aika looked around before picking a tree with low lying branches. "Pick one in that tree and we'll get started." Yukio and co. turned to the tree Aika was talking about and walked up to it.
"So uh, this should be fun." Denji commented with a sigh.
"Relax, prissy boy." Arine replied grabbing a thin branch and began to climb, reaching a branch a mere three metres off the ground in a few strides. Yukio followed with Denji in tow, though when all three were on the branch, it groaned with the weight of all three on it.
"That's not a very thick branch so each of you find one for yourselves." Aika recommended, appreciating that they were listening. Yukio grabbed one that was just above his head and pulled himself up while Denji found a branch a step up. "Okay then. Find another branch that's about a metre or two away and take a leap of faith, as it were."
Yukio looked and saw a branch not too far from where he stood. Just up a bit higher than his branch. He aimed for it, crouched, and jumped. The moment that Yukio was in the air was one he looked back on from time to time. It was probably the feeling of being almost suspended in the air for such a short time. It was almost exhilarating. All of that ended, once he set foot on the branch in front of him. Yukio hit with a crouch and stood, pitching forward he waved his arms around, flailing them until he grabbed a hold of the tree trunk and stopped himself from falling, pitched forward and facing the ground. Not a high fall by any means, but landing on one's front from any height wasn't comfortable.
Then he heard the snap of a tree branch breaking and the thud of someone hitting. Who was answered by them yelling
"DAMNIT!" Yukio turned and saw Denji sitting on his rump, holding his back in pain. "That hurt!" he leaned forward, trying to push the pain away as he tried standing gingerly. He managed to get on all fours and up on his feet, but he quickly went against the tree and leaned there while clenching his free fist.
"Shit." Aika sounded irritated as she went over. Yukio looked at Arine, who was slowly getting down from her branch. Yukio sat down and his and let himself drop the few metres. He landed on his feet, but the impact sent a bolt of pain up his body.
Ow. He thought as he turned and went over to his friend. Aika had a hand on the poor boys shoulder as she examined the branch.
"No wonder" she held a hand at it "it's rotted to hell." Yukio had a look see.
"Oh…" he saw the wood was decayed and partially blackened behind the bark. That fall couldn't have been expected, nor fun. "You okay?" he asked his friend. Denji let out a deep breath before looking up at his friend. He smiled.
"Nothin' I can't handle." He said non-chalantly whilst trying to stand. "Aaaahhhh." He let out as he leaned back against the tree due to the pain. He didn't look good.
"Maybe we should take a break. Let Denji rest up a bit." Yukios' voice had a note of concern in it.
"I agree." Arine sidled up to them, having finally gotten down. "I mean, better than having a wounded Denji around in case more people decide to attack us from bushes." Arines' breaths were heavier from the climb down. Aika nodded her consent.
"I agree. Let's let him rest up. We have terrible luck with bushes." She eyed Denji as he slid down the tree trunk into a sitting position.
"Ow, ow, ow." He let out as he sat, not as softly as he should have. Yukio bit his lip. He wished he'd been the one who'd gotten the rotten branch. Then at least Denji would be in fighting order.
"Oi, kid." Yukio looked up at Aika, who had a disapproving look on her face. "Better stop thinking like that." Yukio frowned, what was she talking- "Don't wish you were there instead." Yukio didn't respond as Aika reached in her pack for her canteen, waiting for a continuation. Aika didn't so Yukio sat down beside his friends. Denji had pulled his canteen and was drinking slowly, raising his arm slowly, not wanting to do more damage.
"So how long will we be here?" Arine asked, sounding impatient. Aika waved her hand.
"Don't get your knickers in a knot, we'll be here a few minutes, let little Denji here" she lightly tapped his arm "rest up for a few and he should be up on his feet." Aika's lavender eyes looked at her silver haired protégé, who nodded. "There. Quick break, fun times."
"You know it seems like not a lot has happened these past couple weeks." Arine observed. Yukio frowned slightly. A lot had happened. Their escape, their training, the past couple fights, that all happened. Aika just took a swig of water and nodded.
"Oh yeah, simple couple weeks, really. My kind of thing." Huh? Yukio opened his mouth to speak but Denji beat him to it.
"What about all the fights and stuff?" Denji asked, almost disappointed. "I mean, that's all kinda important, right?"
"Well" Aika closed her canteen "that last fight was pretty good since you all did work as a team. Quite well actually. But you could use some polish. For example" she pointed at Yukio "Don't be the guy to rush into things. Let Arine or Denji do that first, allows you to get some recon, and allows you to build a mental image of their fighting style so you can counter them easier. Hucking spears everywhere isn't going to get you far. Speaking of" Aika now focused on Arine "If you're gonna throw that thing, aim for the heart or the head or the neck. Apparently that thing can pierce the heart of any opponent, but I think that's a lot of hooey. Just aim and throw, you'll hit your target, or near it at the very least."
"A lot of hooey?" Arine asked suddenly defensive of that scroll that came with her crimson spear. "We don't know though, it could be true." Arine wanted to make a more convincing argument, but the look on Aika's face showed that not only did she know Arine couldn't beat her on the issue, but that Aika also wouldn't listen.
"Yeah. And Denji." She turned to him. "You actually did pretty good. Though my advice would be to detach yourself a bit more from the fight, don't let emotions get in the way too much. Aside from that not bad." Aika smiled slightly, making Denji grin with happiness. Yukio smiled for his friend, but noticed his female friend wasn't as enthusiastic. In fact she was rummaging through her pack until she found the scroll in question. She opened up and began reading it.
"So that's all I got for you kids regarding your fight recently and your team work." Aika put her canteen back in her bag. "Denji, you good?" the boy nodded. "All right then, let's head out." Aika stood and stretched while the trio got up and ready to continue. Denji stood with some effort but he managed without too much trouble. As they started forward, Yukio made sure to be beside his friend just in case something happened. Denji seemed fine but Yukio didn't wanna take a chance. Childish, he was aware. But He'd spent too long with his friends for one to go out of commission due to a broken tail bone.
Yukio looked up and the sun was at its peak. Seems it was just around mid-day and everything seemed stagnant. The trees seemed to go on, the dirt path, the walking. He wondered when they'd actually get there.
Two and a Half Hours Later
Yukio wiped the sweat off his brow, coating his sleeve in the perspiration. He huffed under his breath. It was hot. Denji had removed his coat draping it over his shoulder and carrying it like that about an hour ago. Arine was fine; a fact that annoyed Yukio the most out of the rest of his internal complaints about the weather.
"Hey, you're not hot at all are you?" Yukio leaned to his side and asked quietly. Arine gave him a side long glance that showed she was more than content with the current temperature. She even smiled. Smiled. Yukio frowned and Arines' smile widened, but just a bit. She was enjoying this, the sadist. The white haired boy sighed and started flapping his jacket to cool off. It worked for a short time and that was all he needed for they had finally arrived at their destination. It was an innocuous little shack that had no markings on it that sat on the side of the road in some trees as if it were a road stop.
At first glance one might assume the shack was abandoned but… no it wasn't. It was too… clean to be abandoned. The windows weren't broken or even that dirty, the wood that made up the shack was a bit grubby but well kept, and the roof looked like it had been recently fixed.
"Good eye there kid." Yukio turned to his side and saw Aika smiling. "You're noticing the small stuff, that's good." Aika turned to the cabin and knocked, sharing the password exchange with whomever was inside before the door was opened just enough for them to get in. Aika entered while Arine followed with Yukio behind her and Denji taking up the rear.
Once all were inside the door was closed and they were greeted to another dimly lit room much like the one in Makinami village. However unlike Sousukes' dwelling, this one was very well kept. There was a small bed in the corner that was made, simple white sheets and pillow on a metal frame. The windows had dark curtains draped over them tightly, shutting out any light. There were shelves everywhere with binders and books labeled with dates, times, names, various other codes that Yukio couldn't make sense of. He tried and his head hurt from the effort. At least Sousuke had been messy but understandable. This guy…
Said guy was sitting at a desk, writing down something in one of his notebooks. Yukio watched the man, who was very calm in his writing. He wrote slowly, making sure each character was perfect, legible. He was tall and somewhat lanky and very pale from what Yukio assumed to be a limited exposure to the sun. His hair was long and black, the man keeping it in a pony tail that fell flat against his back. Bangs encircled either side of his face down to his chin. His face was long, which reminded Yukio of a monk for some reason. He had that air about him. A small pair of rounded glasses sat on the edge of his nose as he wrote. Once he finished, she set the pen down straight and looked up at Aika, pushing his glasses up his nose.
"You seem to be the guy." Aika commented, to which the man nodded.
"My name is Jin." The man replied, his voice low and smooth, the kind who tended to stay as quiet as he could. "I received this letter from my colleague." He opened a small drawer in his desk and pulled out the paper in question. Jin flattened it out to show Aika the contents. It was indeed a letter from Sousuke inquiring about who had put out the bounty and if Jin had any information regarding the matter. The writing, however, was scratchy and nearly illegible. Jin smiled slightly as he continued "Once I translated the text" Yukio smirked "I did take a look into my records. I also contain no information on this person, which means no other station would either." Jin looked into Aika's eyes, getting the point across. "In order to save you a wild goose chase."
Aika nodded in confirmation as Yukio tried to get a sense of Jins' organization style. It seemed based on either date or some other code. Several numbers and letters adorned some books while others didn't. It was odd.
"I also took the liberty to examine similar cases last night, where no person was named in terms of who gave the bounty." Jin stood and pulled several books with codes on them. Perhaps it was all organised chronologically, but Jin put markings on ones he'd need for a certain situation. Not bad. Jin sat down and opened one to a page immediately, meaning that the page number and which line or something was written on the spines. "I found at least thirty-five scattered reports of anonymous bounties in this area within the past five years. Twenty of them were completed with the persons found and the money rewarded." Jin turned the first book to Aika. "As you'll notice there"
Aika stared intently at the page for a minute before waving the kids over. They approached and Yukio was greeting to two cases that read of bounties where the person was never found and any hunters who went after it never returned.
"Those are the two earliest cases." Jin had six more books with codes that he opened, one after the other, showing Aika and the trio the various cases. "What piqued my interest the most, however, was this" Jin pointed to the name of the target on a bounty from two years ago.
Tsukune Matsuda.
"Son of a bitch." Aika bit her lip in frustration. Jin nodded in agreement his face somewhat sympathetic.
"I even checked my records in terms of local census results and found one Tsukune Matsuda who went missing from Makinami village two years ago." That caused Aika to raise an eyebrow.
"Now hold on, how'd you get your hands on those?" she frowned and Jin smiled slightly again.
"That's personal. Now" he replied, going back to business "You can search for this missing man and see if you find him or turn back. This has been the only bounty for a week so it's possible that it's worth the trouble. After all for the level the bounty is quite alluring." Jin wasn't trying to convince Aika one way or the other, his tone of voice was more matter-of-fact.
Aika looked as if she were weighing the pros and cons of going. She tapped each finger to her thumb on her right hand idly as she thought. Once she came to a decision, she closed the book and slid it to Jin.
"We might as well go. I didn't come out here for nothing." Aika answered stubbornly. "Besides, these kids need some live training and I intend to give them more of it." Yukio wasn't surprised at her answer. He looked to his friends and saw neither of them really batted an eye. Things would continue as normal. Aika nodded to Jin. "Thank you for your time." Jin nodded back and stood to replace his books. "It was my pleasure." Aika turned and she ushered the trio out into the sun, which was blinding after being in the dimly lit room for that time. Once their eyes adjusted, Yukio saw that a lone cart was making its way past the house. Drawn by horses with a single man driving, it made its way down the road.
As it passed, Arine looked ahead to the treeline.
"I hear water. Is there a river?" she turned to Aika, who rechecked her memory.
"Oh yeah, there is. It's just down the road and we take a slight detour to the right." Aika looked down the road. "Yeah, it's within eyesight." She turned back "come on, let's fill our canteens there." Arine smiled and walked ahead first, leaving Denji and Yukio to trail behind the two women together.
"So did any of that seem at all legit?" Denji asked with a heavy tone of wariness in his voice. Yukio shrugged.
"We've got possible former Leaf Village Ninja to face, a bounty that reeks of shady stuff, and we're prison escapees. Not an official prison but you know." Yukio looked to his friend, a small smile forming on his face. "You think this won't be the most fun thing we've done in years?" Denji seemed baffled by Yukio's sudden enthusiasm but returned the smile.
"I guess." He lightly punched Yukio in the shoulder. "I just hope you're right and we don't end up fighting for our lives too much." Yukio let out a deep breath.
"Truth be told, I hope so too." Yukio looked ahead and saw Aika and Arine waiting for them a few steps ahead.
"We don't have all day, come on." Aika sounded slightly irritated but that was due to the dragging.
"Yes." Yukio answered and they all went down the inclined path, trees on either side giving way to tall bamboo stalks as they neared the river, the rushing sound of it getting louder until they saw it.
It was wide, the sun's rays reflecting off the rolling waves, spreading the light everywhere it could. One could almost say it was blinding. Boats were scattered across the water, some moving leisurely along the river, some stationary holding men with rods, and some sailing as fast as they could go.
"Wow." Arine was captivated by the beauty of this scene, stepping forward for a better view. Yukio would be lying if he said he wasn't interested in the slightest, but it just didn't pique his curiosity.
"Ah, here it is." Yukio turned to see Aika by a water pump.
"Why is there a water pump by a river?" he wondered aloud.
"River water isn't the most sanitary stuff to drink kid" Aika answered, pulling her canteen and putting it under the pump and cranking. "This comes from a reservoir that the river feeds to, where it's purified and safe." Once Aika filled her canteen, she took a swig and closed it, backing away for the rest. Yukio held his canteen under the pipe and pulled the crank, sending a gush of water into his canteen and all over his hand. The sudden burst caught him off guard, irritating him. He held his canteen in his dry hand and shook his soaked one out. Aika chuckled. "Light pulls kid, light pulls." Yukio sighed and put his canteen under again, this time pulling more slowly. A steadier stream flowed from the pipe and Yukios' canteen was filled in seconds. He closed the cap and let Denji have a go at it. His friend pulled more slowly and filled his canteen quickly as well. Yukio turned and saw Arine was still on the river bank, staring at the boats as they passed.
"Arine!" he called out to her "Come on, get some water!" it took a second to get her attention but Arine finally acknowledged their existence. She turned and Yukio waved his arm at her. "Arine!" she blinked before coming over albeit slower than Yukio preferred.
"Sorry, it's just…" she looked down "It's been a while since I've seen a real river." Yukio raised an eyebrow. Why was Arine so entranced by a river?
"I get ya kid." Aika consoled her. "You're away from your home where something is plentiful and when it's gone you kinda miss it." She talked to Arine but her eyes fell on Yukio. Oh. Arine nodded and filled her canteen before they set out, going back up on the main road. As they left, Arine had her head turned back, taking in as much of the river as she could.
"Hey." Arine was shaken from her staring by Yukio. "Listen, um" he thought for the right words. "soon enough, you'll be able to see all the rivers you want." He gestured to the river they were leaving behind.
"You think?" Arine looked at him, hitting Yukio hard with her gaze. He may have been blind before but he'd never felt something from her that was quite like this. She seemed… helpless, desperate. Like something taken away from her had been allowed to be shown to her but only for a second before being snatched away again. Actually, that's exactly what happened just now, but not in such a cruel sense. Yukio smiled. He didn't want Arine like this.
"Trust me, no one's gonna stop you from reaching that goal. No one stops you period." Yukio meant these words. Considering she'd helped drag his useless self through a forest and survived a vile attempt, and not said a bad thing about him, he was repaying her as much as he could, even if it was minor.
Arine perked up a bit, smiling lightly.
"Thanks Yukio, I know you'll help me get there. You and Denji." Yukio smiled too.
"Hey!" Yukio turned and saw Denji staring at them, an amused expression on his face. "You two gonna move it or what?" He smiled, revelling in the fact that he was telling them to get a move on. "I mean we've been doing this all day, we gotta stop having still conversations… or something, I dunno what to call 'em." Denji made a dissatisfied sound before shrugging and turning to follow Aika. Yukio and Arine followed their companion and met up with Aika before setting off once again. Though once they had gotten a distance from the river, Arine brought up the question of
"Where are we going again?" Aika looked up at the sky for a second before answering.
"I've got to meet up with a contact about something I've requested and she's about halfway to the next village. I figured we might as well go there and come back. It's only a half hour walk or so." Aika looked over her shoulder and smiled without remorse as Denji groaned.
"I'm tired of walking!" he complained. Aika turned and walked backwards, staring at him.
"Either go through this without whining like a baby or I'll make you walk on your hands all the way there. And trust me, it can be done. I know a guy who can." Aika sneered at Denji's horrified expression.
"Okay, okay, I'll quit." He submitted quickly, not wanted to suffer punishment. Aika's face had an expression of smug satisfaction on it.
Then the wind blew, carrying a foul scent on the air that all three could identify. It was faint but all four stopped immediately.
"There's a dead body somewhere near here." Yukio commented, speaking the mind of everyone.
"Yeah. But where…" the wind blew once more, bringing the scent. Aika sniffed, her face now a stone mask. She stood a minute. "This way." She turned and started making her way into the woods. Yukio took the time and slid his overcoat back on as Denji put his heavy coat on before they followed their teacher into the woods.
The trees were thick, spreading out all around them as they walked in. The sun's rays, once plentiful, were now limited to what was able to get through the canopy. Aika tugged at her sleeves as she walked, pulling them up more to her hands. What was she hiding? The wind carried through the trees and brought the scent back, but stronger.
"This way." Aika turned to her left and began walking at a faster pace, the trio following. They'd smelled worse in their time in the prison labs, this was nothing. Combine the stench of death along with the various other bodily excrements in tiny halls and cells with dim lights and no sanitation made for a nightmarish scent. However, the trio never cared for it regardless. They followed, the stench of rotting meat getting stronger and stronger until…
"Ew." Denji visibly recoiled from what was in front of them. A dead man lying against a tree, his white hair in strands on his head, his vibrant yellow clothes stained with brown. His skin was a mottled blue-grey-black, with patches missing, showing decayed muscles and tendons with various little maggots wriggling underneath.
"Well, he's been here a while." Aika commented, idly kicking his leg out. "Or…" she leaned down, looking at the grass. "He was placed here recently." Yukio looked and saw that the grass below him was still green, but flattened. "He's been here a couple days at most." She commented. Aika then grabbed the man's remaining hairs and lifted, showing his decayed face. "Son of a bitch, it's our guy." Tsukune Matsuda. His face was emaciated and his throat had a large cut in it. Like someone took a knife and just cut as deep as they could in one brutal slice.
"That explains how brown his clothes are near the top." Yukio commented, biting his lip. The smell was getting to him now. He looked around. This seemed too convenient. Dead bounty, decayed after what looked like a long time. In the middle of the woods in this area. Yukio closed his eyes and focused his chakra into them before opening. He saw the world in greys and reds, thermal. He looked around and saw flickers of movement behind the bushes and trees. This wasn't right, not at all. He looked to the corpse, which was cold as cold could be. But there was a heat source on his chest. What was…
Yukio saw a rectangle shaped heat source on his chest, which suddenly bloomed under his jacket. Yukio blinked and looked at his teacher
"Aika! Look out!" Aika's eyes widened and she jumped back, the trio following suit as the paper bomb exploded with a loud bang! Chunks of the man once known as Tsukune Matsuda flew everywhere as yelling could be heard. The trees and bushes were alive as men dashed at the group.
"Kids, get down!" The trio ducked as a group ran at them in a circular formation. Aika flung her arms out and spun, letting the kunai tied to thin rope on her wrists came out making a deadly dance as the knives sliced into the throats of several in the formation, blood spraying out in a swirl. "Yukio, you're down low kid, get to it!" Yukio heard this and saw, he was at knee level. He flicked his wrists, needles appearing in his hands, he threw them as hard as he could. Many missed but many hit, piercing the skin, some beside the kneecap, puncturing cartilage and tendons, making several fall, holding their wounded knees. "Guys, go for 'em!" Aika stopped spinning and brought the kunai to her hands, backhanding one and holding the other up. The trio stood and readied themselves. More men came from the woods, in outfits of various browns and greys. Yukio eyed some of the dead ones and sure enough: a red fang-like triangle was on their backs.
"Let's go!" Denji yelled as he charged forward, colliding with one guy hard enough to double him over letting Denji get him to the ground with a solid punch to the jaw. Yukio pulled his left spear and narrowly dodged the swing of a large sword, side stepping it before bringing the pike down on his opponent's wrist, eliciting a yell. The boy then drove the weapon into his opponents' shoulder hard, sinking the spike a quarter way in. The man yelled out, pulling back along with Yukios' spear. He gritted his teeth, forming the hand signs and concentrating.
Think! Imagine your chakra as a storm brewing, lightning and thunder rumbling in the clouds just before the strike. He had it: that image. He looked at his stunned opponent. He was big, this would take a large amount of chakra. But no matter. Yukio finished and gripped his right wrist, channelling the lighting chakra in his body into his hand, readying for one strike to stop his foe. He dashed forward, thrusting his hand forward.
"Lighting Style: Spark!" he hit the large man dead centre in his chest, sending the stored electricity through him. The man recoiled violently, the wind forced from his lungs and his body shortly stunned. Yukio ran up using the man's arm as a pivot point he jumped and pulled his spear out and thrust it forward again, piercing the mans' eye and brain, killing him. He fell backward with a thud as he landed, dead. Yukio pulled the spear out and turned to see a fist strike him in the face, knocking him on his rear. Yukio covered his eye and looked up at his assailant, another man, not as large as this one, but pretty big.
"You got balls, kid. Real balls standing up to Rokusho like that." The mans' hair was black and wild on his head but kept short, his eyes white with black slit pupils, a fur lined coat on him, and red fang like marks on his cheeks. He was huge. He stood tall and was built like an ox. He had a vicious sneer on his face, the kind that said he could back up his cockiness. He spat on the corpse beside him. "I mean shit, you even fuckin' killed 'im. That's brutal."
Yukio sat there, wide eyed. Something about this guy radiated brutality, as if he lived and breathed it. He turned his head sideways to pop his neck before rolling his shoulders.
"You know I oughta gut you kid." The man reached back behind him, pulling what looked like someone took a rock club and tried to make a rudimentary sword. Just chipped, sharp rock. It didn't even need to be sharp, just hitting someone would do the job. "And trust me, I will." He hefted the thing onto his shoulders. "Slowly. Believe me when I say that I can do it. I've had practice." His sneered turned even more malicious, baring his teeth until an orange light appeared form behind him. He turned to receive a blast of fire in his face, sending him back.
"Kid, get back!" Aika ran past him without a second glance, kunai at the ready. Yukio's body couldn't respond, it wouldn't respond. He merely turned his head slowly to see Aika swinging her roped kunai around, trying to slash at this beast of a man, who managed to dodge most of them. Aika took a quick glance at him before shouting "Damn it Yukio, move!" She pulled a kunai and lobbed it at him before returning to her fight. The knife embedded itself right by his left hand, making him recoil. Yukio looked at his hand.
Okay. Okay. Breathe. Breathe. And move. Breathe and move. Just do it. Yukio let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Suddenly a weight lifted from his chest and he took deep breaths before standing shakily. He looked over to his friends who were… no.
Arine stabbed a man in the throat before another appeared behind her. She pulled her spear and swung around, but he man dodged the tip. Denji was fighting off two guys that were holding him down as best they could. He bit and struggled and managed to punch one of them in the face, but they held him steady. Something inside Yukio ticked. He didn't like this. He clenched his young fist in growing anger before walking over to the corpse of what the man called Rokusho and pulled his spear from the mans' eye. He hefted it in his left hand, reaching back and pulling his right spear, flicking the spike out. He inhaled, then exhaled.
Then charged.
"Hey asshole!" he screamed, drawing the attention of the remaining assailant against Arine. He turned and took Yukio's left spike in his shoulder. The man recoiled violently, trying to pull the spear from his shoulder. Yukio ran up, his hand already sparking from electricity. He jumped, grabbing the man's face with his hand, sending out the electricity. The bandit started convulsing, his body taking on such a surge. Yukio drove his spare spike into the man's neck, killing him. Yukio rode the body down to the ground as it fell, ending with him standing on the dead man's chest. He pulled his spike from the shoulder and stared at the spectacle that was Denji spewing profanities at his attackers. Attackers wasn't really the word for it though. Handlers was more or less the right word.
"Let me go you pieces of shit, I swear I'll destroy you!" Denji screamed at them. He struggled as they did their best to keep a handle on him. "I've thrown morons bigger than you!" he yelled.
"Shut the fuck up kid!" the guy was holding a knife but couldn't get a good aim at where to stab. Yukio took advantage of this. He exhaled through his nose, taking into account what he could. If he threw his spear and hit, the man would possibly turn and come at him. If so… Yukio hefted the spear, ready to throw.
"Yukio, what are you doing?" Arine asked, Yukio finally noticing her.
"Gambling." He responded, lobbing the spike as hard as he could. It hit the man with the knife in the shoulder, making him yell out.
"Agh, fuck!" he turned and Yukio started forward.
Initiate. Yukio was trying his best to put his anger to good use. He stared at the man, hoping to get him to come at him. He did. Success. The man raised his knife up, the tip pointed to the sky. I think… Yukio kept running, watching the man until he swung the knife from the side. Yukio dove forward to slide away, but felt the knife hit him. He was too close! He hit the ground in a painful slide, but stood. The man turned and Yukio ran at him again, a pain in his side starting to burn. He didn't care, he had to win this. The man raised his knife and swung from the side. Yukio dove away from the swing, to his right, rolling into a crouch, before propelling himself at the man, driving his spike into his knee.
"Arine!" he yelled. The man was too bust focusing on Yukio, ready to stab, when a red spear flew into him, piercing his chest, the spear tip pulling a chunk of his heart out with it. The bandit stood for a minute, the red spear holding that heart chunk before he collapsed, dead. Arine ran up and grabbed her spear, pulling it out.
"I didn't throw it that hard." She wondered aloud as Yukio heard a yelling behind him. He turned and saw Denji was now on top of his assailant's back, beating fiercely on his head with his fists, going berserk. He reached out and his hand found a nice sized rock. Denji lifted it high before bringing it down onto the bandit's skull once, twice, three times before the man stopped twitching. Denji sat up, his face and hands covered in blood stains and splatters.
"That wasn't fun." Denji spat on the ground, his lip bleeding with two black eyes and a bloody nose. He smiled still. "Well beating that guy was." Just then they heard a roar of effort as Aika landed in front of them, her rope kunai now off, with a single kunai in her hand. The man with the club-sword picked his weapon from the ground where he'd swung.
"So nimble. Your reputation precedes you." He commented, that sneer on his face still present. The words weren't a compliment, more like he was trying to antagonise Aika. She growled at him in response. The man laughed heartily. "Oh come on, I wanna see those skills I've heard so much about." With a yell, Aika threw her kunai, only to have it blocked by this man's club-sword. "Come on!" he yelled, pointing his weapon at Aika. "I heard so much about you, find out you're dead, then you're here in front of me and you're being disappointing!" Aika spat in his direction.
"Just throw some more kunai at him." Denji suggested, earning a hard glance from Aika.
"I'm out." She whispered. Now she was weaponless as this beast of a man whistled loudly. Another group of ten men appeared, encircling the group in a wide circle. Following them came a huge wolf with husky grey and white fur. It was easily a couple heads shorter than Yukio, being a huge dog. The man reached down and scratched behind its ears. It was his.
"This is so disappointing." He sighed, letting his wolf sit beside him. "But I mean now you gotta." He sneered wider, baring teeth again. Aika gritted her teeth together, reaching to her lower back. Yukio finally noticed it. What was she- "I mean, come on!" the man held his arms out to his men. "It's not every day we meet the deceased Aika Furude, former Hidden Leaf Village ANBU Black Ops, am I right boys!?" the ten men cheered in excitement as Aika held the scroll in her hand. It was thin, meaning there wasn't much on it. "But you know, I wonder" the man's voice softened. "What kind of ANBU Black Ops member, former or not, doesn't have their precious sword?" Aika moved, pulling the scroll into public eye and touching the seal within. In a puff of smoke, the scroll was replaced with a sheathed sword. Aika held it by the sheath in her left hand, her right hand poised over the handle. The man's smile widened immensely.
"WHADDA YA KNOW!" he bellowed, making Yukio want to cover his ears "We got her!" he gripped his club-sword in both hands. "Aika Furude, the Witch of the Hidden Leaf!"
A/N: Apologies for the wait, but I finally finished. Hope you guys enjoy. Read, review, follow, favourite.