All of Yugito's awareness was focused on her left index finger. The bare mountain slope like a rising mountain lion, the winds of the south bringing cold—none of that reached her. Only the index finger remained in her vision. Gradually, she awoke through layers of concentration into the outer world. Her ears pricked as the sound of approaching footsteps attracted her notice.
"Excuse me? Yugito-san?" Asuma approached the height of the mountain. He reached out toward Yugito.
Yugito's right hand extended. Wavering blue lines of chakra extended from the tips of her fingers.
Asuma stepped back, nervous. He glanced toward the other jōnin on the mountainside.
Genma leaned forward in preparation for battle, taking out a kunai.
"You're Hidden Leaf, by your garb. I know Izumo, so at least one of you is with Hidden Leaf." Yugito studied the group calmly. "Well, then, what are you here for?"
"You're in danger." Asuma paused. "We've been hired to keep you safe until you reach the bottom of the mountain.
Yugito's eyebrows rose. "Really?"
"How long have you spent in that trance?" Izumo asked.
"About thirty days now." Yugito shrugged her shoulders. "Has something so world-changing occurred in my absence?"
"A lot's happened." In brief, Genma explained the prison break and the loss of the One-Tail.
Yugito nodded slowly. "Then, regarding the circumstances, it has to do with either Akatsuki or this 'Hakubo'?" She paused. Her brow furrowed.
"Yes." Asuma nodded. "That's correct." His brow rose. She's really got a knack for understanding things quickly. Perhaps she's not brilliant, but she quickly understands situations. If I had to describe it it's a gift for observation.
"Do you have any proof?" Yugito questioned.
"Proof?" Asuma glanced over his shoulder.
"The contract, or something like that. A proof that you're not attempting to kill me." Yugito looked down at the group.
"It'd take more than us," Genma remarked grimly. He glanced toward Kotetsu. "You have the contract, right?"
Kotetsu undid the clasp on his pack. He passed over the sealed scroll to Yugito.
Yugito skimmed through the scroll's contents briefly, studying the seal at last. She exhaled. "This is certainly A's chakra. Well, it doesn't seem I have a choice. In that regard, I'll be relying on you four." She bowed her head. "Please take good care of me."
Asuma's brow furrowed. "You're really something, aren't you?"
Yugito shrugged. "What are you talking about?"
"I mean, for a jinchūriki you're pretty level-headed. The one we have back home. He's, uh." Asuma paused, trying to think of the best way to describe him. "Well, you know," he stated finally, lamely.
"Irresponsible, bad-tempered, and impish?" Yugito suggested.
"Yeah, that."
"We're different, him and me. Different personalities. The people who are turned into jinchūriki differ as greatly as the Hidden Nations." Yugito shrugged. "I think it varies by case. Also, I've been meditating up here in the mountains for a while. If I weren't able to figure out something about inner peace, I'd be a complete failure." She smiled. "Mind you, he was a good teacher. One of the better ones. Killer B was more like what you're describing. But between the two of us, I think that he was the better man." She hesitated. Her smile faded. "That aside. That mad jinchūriki, Gaara. Why did he get sacrificed? I had heard he was strong."
The group began descending the mountain slowly and carefully.
"So's Hakubo." Genma shrugged.
Asuma slipped suddenly. His hand reached toward a nearby rock, missed. He tumbled downward, cuts and bruises accumulating on his body.
Izumo shouted loudly. "Asuma!"
"I'm all right. Just being an idiot." Asuma groaned as he wiped small trails of blood off his body. "Be careful of loose shale."
Yugito descended the mountainside carefully, moving in tune with the shape.
Genma's eyes glanced toward the rock line of the high mountain. His eyes narrowed. It doesn't make any sense. We should have been ambushed by now. Even after all this time, my sense that someone is following us hasn't lessened. But if they are a shinobi, they're a complete failure. The place to strike us should have been near here.
Asuma's eyes followed Genma's line of sight. He shook his head from side to side briefly.
"Are we being followed?" Izumo questioned in a whisper.
"I think so," Genma replied briefly. "Though, regarding the time, it's generally unfortunate."
"Eh?" Yugito questioned.
"If we go too fast down the mountain we'll run into other problems. Though I'd hoped we'd catch our opponents off guard, it seems that the opposite has happened." Genma paused. "We're no more than bait left out for a predator up here. The worst situation would be if the opponent stayed on the ridge and fired at us below, or knocked down boulders toward our current position."
Yugito frowned. "Why can't we move down the mountain fast?"
"There's a significant risk of spraining an ankle or twisting your body down this path. I noticed it on the way up but it seems problematic here too. The ground is covered in debris and roots of various types, so it seems that if we did we'd be at a major disadvantage. For now we have to keep moving downhill at a slow and steady pace, picking our way over the path." Genma glanced up toward the apex of the mountain again. "Did you have to pick such an out-of-the-way place to train?"
"You can't successfully train in a bazaar." Yugito sighed heavily.
"I know that, but a lot of villages have isolated rooms for exactly that purpose—places that can be gotten to relatively easily but aren't in the path of any direct traffic. Why didn't you use one of those?" Genma went on steadily.
"Hold up. Wait." Kotetsu raised his hand. "Aren't we just supposed to fight a holding action against Akatsuki?"
"Plans change. Do you think we've got a chance at luring them out, Asuma?" Genma turned toward Asuma. "You know these two better than me."
Asuma shook his head. "Kakushiro, no. She might come out after everyone's dead, but not before. I'm sure she'd wait until we were all dead."
"There you go. Chances are we won't get a chance to fight that holding action. Originally, we'd planned to find her and then Akatsuki, but it doesn't look like that's feasible anymore." Genma paused. "Anyway, why didn't you use that training space?"
"Honestly?" Yugito hesitated. "There's someone else training up there."
"Who?" Izumo went on.
"Another jinchūriki." Yugito paused. "That's probably all I ought to say."
The five travelers fell into silence, shadows crossing their faces. They crossed a brook. Genma's foot sunk into the soft, loamy earth that smelled of salt and detritus.
In the open like this certainly it's not worth saying anything about other jinchūriki. Well, being that as it may, the change of plans helped us out this time. If they hadn't done that we'd be in a lot of trouble. So far it seems Akatsuki hasn't spotted us. Asuma's brow dripped with sweat. To be honest, we're going in contrast with Tsunade's original plan, but when Genma has a feeling like that it's a good idea to heed it. At least that way we can link up with additional forces. If we're lucky, we might even make it back to Hidden Cloud.
The air glowed with sudden, piercing red light. A rock shattered to pieces next to Asuma's head.
Asuma's eyes widened. A shard of rock crashed into his cheek, cutting a long line up to his ear.
"What the hell?" Izumo took a step backward. He tilted his head to one side. "An attack from this far off?"
Asuma knelt. Grasping the crumpled shard of iron, he stared at it with incomprehension. Someone just threw this at me from so far away. "Akatsuki! Fan out; let's find 'em!" he shouted loudly.
Genma's brow furrowed. "What's this?"
Yugito pointed down the mountain. "There." She lifted her fingers, her eyes narrowed.
A man in black and red samurai armor, complete with a glimmering white demonic headpiece, stepped upward, standing atop one of the larger rocks in the area. A sliver smile, designed to cut away pretense, shone beneath the headgear. White teeth shone in the light. His body, lean like a predator, leaned against the rock. "Evening, folks. I'll be takin' that cat lady off your hands." His hands grasped the enormous blood-red swords at his back, made of some heavy and enormous metal. "You guys are with Hidden Leaf, right? I guess you should probably understand the circumstances aren't great if you do that, but even so, you have to accept that if you don't hand her over?" He tapped the hilt of the sword with one finger. "You're going home in body bags."
Asuma's brow dripped with sweat. "Who the hell's this guy supposed to be?" he questioned, his brow furrowing as he studied the enormous form on the rock.
Yugito scowled. "Well, we can say one thing about him. His sense of fashion is about three hundred years outdated."
The man's eyes narrowed. He glared at Yugito.
Kotetsu shrugged. "He's not anyone we're familiar with in Hakubo. It makes sense to guess he's affiliated with them, though, or at the least a new member of Akatsuki."
Genma's eyes widened in shock. "Shit!" He reached upward, grasping the senbon in his mouth.
"Looks like at least one of you knows me." The red-clad man grinned broadly. "Been a while, huh, Genma-san?" He adjusted his grip on his sword, his eyes narrowing.
"Who is this guy?" Izumo demanded, glancing toward Genma. "You know him, right?"
Asuma's brow furrowed as he studied the figure. What's going on here?
"One of the worst criminals I've had to oppose in my entire life. I conducted the investigation a long time ago. His name is Akaihi." Genma pulled the senbon out of his teeth, his eyes narrowed. "Charismatic and totally insane."
"See, there! He knows me. For the rest of you, I'll take my time carvin' in my name." Laughing loudly, the red-clad figure tightened his grip on the blood-red sword. "As he said, the name's Shā Akaihi, formerly of Hidden Iron, currently associated with Hakubo. Pleasure to meet 'cha." He swung downward, the swords blasting into the ground. Cracks formed in the stone beneath his feet.
Asuma's eyes widened. From this distance?! He raised one of his knives. Let's try taking him out quickly. The knife slashed forward rapidly.
Simultaneously, Genma fired a senbon toward Akaihi.
Akaihi's eyes narrowed. "Just that?" He drew one of the swords up incredibly rapidly. The sword slammed rapidly upward, sending the knife shooting upward through the air. His second sword spun rapidly, slashing through the senbon and cutting it in two.
Asuma's brow furrowed. How did he manage to block it that easily? He stared at the trench knife. That's a weapon charged with wind chakra. Ordinarily you wouldn't be able to touch it at all without losing a finger or two.
He's gotten faster. Last time I met him he wasn't capable of moving so quickly. He's adjusted. Genma's brow furrowed. If he still has metal clots in his brain he has a chance at moving.
Izumo's eyes narrowed. It's not that easy to lift and draw swords that big. He must have a lot more strength than he seems to.
Akaihi's eyes narrowed. "So I guess the combined forces of Hidden Cloud and Hidden Leaf really don't amount to much, do they?" He clenched his fist, a grin crossing his face. "I knew signing up with Hakubo was a great idea! Guess my power really has increased!" He lowered the sword briefly. "Weaklings like you guys aren't going to be able to stop me next time!"
"Are you an idiot?" Yugito asked coldly. Her hand lowered. Blue ethereal claws lashed out from her fingers. She blurred forward with a crack of lightning, appearing immediately next to Akaihi. Her fingers slashed outward, cutting toward Akaihi's body.
Akaihi's eyes widened as the claws lashed into his armor. His head tilted backward. He stumbled, preparing to fall over the edge of the enormous rock.
"There are five people here, and one jinchūriki." Yugito glanced around the mountainside. "In your next life, throw away your bravado." She lifted her foot, kicking toward Akaihi's body. Quickly, she kicked his waist.
Akaihi's body for a moment dangled on the edge of the precipice, trembling without motion.
Yugito's brow furrowed. She stared at her foot. Her eyes suddenly widened.
Akaihi's head tilted backward. After a long moment, he began to laugh. His hands gripped Yugito's foot. "Are you kidding me?! I'm fucking deathless with this shit!" He disappeared in a flash of red light. Appearing immediately next to the group, his sword swept toward Asuma. "Pity you're not so lucky!"
Genma gasped. This is definitely more than he could do last time!
Asuma's eyes widened.
Yugito's face drained of color.
Izumo swallowed.
Kotetsu stumbled backward, sweat dripping down his face.
The sun, standing high above at high noon, glimmered above the sky. Blood-red light stained the water of the creek a dark color.
A/N: Feel free to skip past this to the end; relevant info to the story comes there.
-Review Response Break-
So last chapter I received a review from oscarelc. I'm fairly sure I've received a review from him or her before, but don't want to guess or reveal his or her identity here. As is my standard practice these days, I sent them a response email inquiring about ways to fix the errors they discussed; they didn't respond. I've decided to cut down my response to its most basic elements as a consequence.
Yes, I agree that I made changes to the story that made it unpalatable to some readers; no, I don't agree those made it 'horrible', as oscarelc maintains from his or her first review. I have a few consistent readers who follow and favorite the story. I'm okay with that. In general, I've made edits in response to what feedback I have received, or worked out with the person why that doesn't work. So I'm doing my job as an author here. I'm not giving up on the story just because it's an unpopular premise or universe.
-Review Response Break-
The story will be taking a hiatus after finishing the Two-Tails arc. Hopefully it won't be as long a pause as the break between Parts I and II, but I can't confirm that. Either way, I need to take a little time off from writing.