United I Stand
Chapter Six: Chaos in Taki!
"That was easy," Anko complained as she let out a sigh, her foot pressed against the neck of the deceased Murasame. His body was held down by three cobra snakes and there was a single kunai sticking out from his eye.
"It was almost pathetic. Whatever he drank was strong but in the end, he overestimated himself," Inoichi said as she knelt at the head of the dead shinobi. He stood up and stretched his limbs and added, "However, it was a good warm-up for us. Now to find our students."
"Judging from the explosions, Naruto is over there," Anko said as she pointed to the east.
"And judging from the cold breeze, Menma is over there. Let's collect them first and then we find Naruko and finish this up," Inoichi said.
Anko nodded and together, the two darted off.
Menma skidded to a stop and swayed to the left then to the right to avoid the water-made blade that Hisame had swung before he leaped up and landed a solid knee to her upper chest, which sent her skidding backward but she immediately changed the sword to a whip as she shouted, "Suiton: Mizu Buki (Water Style: Water Weapons)!"
The whip shot out towards Menma but he rolled to the left to avoid the whip before he muttered, "Tōketsu Hāto (Frozen Heart)," which caused the air around him to shimmer with frost, icy blue chakra wisps flowing from his body.
"Oh-ho-ho. An Ice user. This will be more interesting," Hisame stated. "Suiton: Mizu Buki (Water Style: Water Weapons)." The whip changed into a large sword before she dashed forward.
"Tsume no Nigai Shimo (Claws of the Bitter Frost)," Menma muttered as a pair of fox-shaped claw ice gauntlets formed around his hands and forearms before he dashed forward and slashed his right arm down towards Hisame but she blocked it with her water-made sword before she pushed it away and aimed a kick to his chest.
Menma smacked the leg down with his left leg, causing a thin sheet of frost to appear on her leg, and landed a swipe of his claw at her chest, causing her blood to flow before it froze against her skin. Hisame hissed and swung her blade at him again but Menma ducked the strike and swiped his arm and clawed her right arm.
The sword went flying into the air and her right arm began to bleed…only to freeze her arm in place. Menma then swiftly delivered three swipes of his gauntlets, one on the right side of her hip, one on her left shoulder then finally one on her right elbow.
Hisame gritted her teeth as the blood that fell from her wounds began to freeze over, slowing her movements to a standstill as Menma let a small frown appear on his face. "Unfortunately for you Hisame, you were woefully unprepared to fight me," Menma said.
Menma eyed for a moment before he turned around and said, "The minute I activated my Tōketsu Hāto and Tsume no Nigai Shimo, this fight was finished. You have lost."
Hisame fell to one knee and growled, "You're right…You've beaten me. I have failed Suien-sama…So do it. Kill me. Let me die as a proper shinobi."
Menma remained silent for a moment, his cold gaze staring down at her. "There has been enough death for one day," He finally answered. "I will not kill you. However…"
Inoichi suddenly appeared behind Hisame and delivered a chop to her neck, causing her to fall to the ground, unconscious. "You won't be going free for all you've done," Menma finished to the unconscious Hisame before he looked at Inoichi and said, "Thank you for arriving, Inoichi-sensei."
"You could have killed her like the others we encountered," Inoichi noted.
"I could have. But what would that do in the end?" Menma asked. "People are still dead. The best we can do is keep her alive to atone," Menma replied. "No matter how long it takes…"
"Rightfully said. But tell me Menma…You three have killed before, haven't you?" Inoichi questioned. Menma remained silent before Inoichi let out a soft sigh."Kami…How old you were at the time…"
"Five years old…" Menma replied.
"Oh, Kami no…" Inoichi whispered with a choked tone. "What happened?"
"I don't want to talk about it…Later, okay?" Menma asked, his voice slightly hitching up but he forced it down to add, "We have a mission, remember? We must complete it to the best of our abilities…"
"You are right," Inoichi said. "But once we are done, all of us are going to have a long talk," Inoichi said with a tone that Menma couldn't argue with. "Now, let us depart and search for your siblings, yes?" Inoichi questioned.
Menma nodded and after Inoichi picked up Hisame's unconscious body, the two darted off.
Naruko launched herself off the ground and aimed a roundhouse kick at the figure's head but the figure ducked it but when the figure stood up, Naruko turned around and landed the second roundhouse kick, which sent the figure flying through the window of a house.
Naruko held her right wrist as she stuck her right thumb up and pointed her right index finger at the house with her and shouted "Reppū Jūdan: Saisho Dangan (Gust Bullet: First shot)!" a shockwave with faint wisps of sapphire blue colored chakra flew from her finger and slammed into house and through the other side, the figure bounced against the ground before skidding to a stop.
Naruko dashed forward then jumped into the air and spun rapidly, her opened hands placed in front of her in a clawing motion as she shouted "Kuki Doriru (Air Drill)!" Sapphire-colored chakra flowed around Naruko's body as she shot toward the figure at the speed of a bullet.
The figure moved their cloak to reveal their slender right arm and twisted their body around, wind swirling around their right fist."Takigakure no Senpū (Takigakure Whirlwind)!" The figure shouted as her fist and Naruko's open palms collided, causing a powerful burst of wind that separated the pair.
Naruko was sent backflipping into the house while the figure skidded backward on the heels of their feet.
Naruko ran forward then jumped into the air while she aimed her right index finger at the figure and shouted, "Reppū Jūdan: Saisho Dangan!"
The figure rolled to the left to avoid the bullet, which caused a small crater to appear beside the figure. The figure ran forward and attempted to land a knee strike to Naruko, who blocked the knee and delivered a head-butt to the figure, which caused them to stagger back from the blow.
Naruko ducked the figure's left hook and moved forward and slammed her right palm against the left side figure's chest then leaned up and landed a left palm strike to the figure's right shoulder.
The figure stumbled but managed to catch themselves and blocked two more palm strikes from Naruko before ducking and nailing the blonde Uzumaki in the side with a right hook, which made Naruko stagger to the left only to get hit in the face by a left hook.
Naruko stumbled to the right and used her right palm to smack the next punch of her opponent away then twisted her right hand and delivered a hard palm strike to the figure's stomach then took a step forward and delivered a palm strike to the face, which caused the figure to skid backward against the ground.
Naruko then dashed forward and landed a strike with her right elbow against the figure's upper chest then took another step forward as she turned her body and delivered a second elbow strike to the figure's face before she twisted her body around, a shimmer of sapphire blue chakra flowing from her left palm.
"It's over! Tenohira no Soyokaze (Palm of the Soft Wind)!" Naruko shouted as she slammed her palm against the figure's chest. The moment the palm struck the figure, the figure shot backward as their cloak was shredded, revealing to Naruko her opponent.
'Our target?!' Naruko thought as Fū slammed against the wall and fell onto the ground.
Fū rose to her knees and coughed out blood, her shirt ripped to reveal several slice marks that were bleeding. "Fuck…That hurt," the teal-haired girl whined as Naruko walked up to her.
"You traitor," Naruko hissed out. "We come here on a mission to find you and you're here killing your own civilians? What kind of shinobi are you?"
"P-Please…" The Taki kunoichi whispered as she held her chest in pain. "I-I wasn't…"
Naruko stared at the girl long and hard before she held her right hand forward and formed a finger gun, her right index finger bleeding with slice marks in it. Slowly, sapphire blue chakra began to flow from her fingertip as Naruko said, "That was a hypothetical question, you lowlife…"
"J-Just stop and listen…I was trying to save them," Fū said.
"I've heard enough of your lies!" Naruko shouted. "I'm not a fool to believe you when I saw the destruction of this village. Reppū Jūdan: Saisho Dangan!"
The shockwave flew from Naruko's fingertip and towards the kneeling Fū but the teal-haired girl barely managed to switch herself with a fruit cart, which was destroyed immediately by the shockwave.
Fū suddenly appeared in the air beside Naruko and landed a roundhouse kick to Naruko's face, which sent her sailing backward and colliding with a wall.
Naruko stumbled onto her feet as Fū shouted "Mōjōrō (Net-Shaped Prison) and with her mouth wide open, she shot out webbing towards Naruko.
"Kaze Suteppu (Breeze step)!" Naruko shouted before sapphire chakra began to flow from her feet. Naruko flew into the air to avoid the webbing before it could hit her and then flew down towards Fū as shouted "Kūki Doriru (Air drill)!"
Naruko twisted her body so her feet were pointed at Fū and began to spin rapidly with sapphire chakra flowing around her.
Fū quickly formed several seals and then shouted "Hiden: Rinpungakure no Jutsu (Hiden: Hiding in Scale Powder technique)!" Bright, shimmering white mist flew from her mouth and surrounded the immediate area just as Naruko slammed into the ground on her feet, causing a gust of wind to cause the mist to expand away from her, and slice marks on the ground around her.
The mist quickly surrounded Naruko again, causing the blonde kunoichi to close her eyes due to the brightness around her but kept her guard up. "You don't understand anything. I wasn't trying to kill them. I was trying to save them!" Fū's voice exclaimed through the bright mist.
"Save them?" Naruko asked with an astounded tone before her eyebrows furrowed in fury. "Looks like you did a lot of saving then."
"I had to go along with their plan or else they would have killed not only everyone here but me as well," the voice said.
Naruko gritted her teeth and began to focus. The first thing that Anko-sensei had the trio was when one sense was lost, the others would heighten.
She just needed to focus and keep her opponent talking.
"The minute I came back, I warned as many people as I could but they wouldn't listen to me!" Fū argued.
"Of course, they wouldn't! You're working with evil people!" Naruko shouted.
"No! Because I'm a Jinchūriki!" Fū wailed through the mist.
Naruko paused.
"What?" Naruko softly asked.
"I hold a demon inside of me…The Nanabi…" Fū 's voice weakly replied. "No one would listen to me because of it…"
Naruko was shocked.
There were others like her?
"I tried so hard to warn everyone but no one listened and I failed…" Fū 's voice said with a tearful tone. "All they could see was what I held and not my intention to save everyone…Those two kids were the only ones I could save…"
Naruko slowly felt the fight leave her veins as she sat down on the ground and asked, "So tell me then…What happened?"
"Suien-sama asked me if I wanted to train to learn more Suiton jutsus. I jumped at the chance. Next to Shibuki-sama, he was always nice to me so I had every reason to believe in him…" Fū explained.
Despite the shimmering mist still surrounding her, Naruko knew that Fū was sitting right behind her due to how close the orange-eyed kunoichi sounded.
"Next thing you know, I was attacked by three shinobi and they kidnapped me. They told me their plans and said if I didn't go along with it, they knew of someone who would love to know about me holding the Nanabi…So I did…" Fū sadly finished.
Naruko stayed silent. Now that her anger had worked itself from her system, she could hear the heartbreaking truth in Fū 's voice and it made Naruko sad for her. Slowly, Naruko turned around and gingerly took the kunoichi's wrist and pulled her into a hug.
She felt the girl stiffen from the touch before Naruko felt hands at her back and Fū 's face pressed against her chest. "I-I looked up to him and trusted him…And he betrayed me and despite this village, I still cared, you know?" Fū whimpered against Naruko's chest as she began to sob.
"I know how you feel…All too well," Naruko replied softly as she shut her eyes. "Our fight is done… Just let it out."
"Man, I knew you were a freak but that whip takes the cake," Naruto said as he swiftly avoided another strike from Kirisame's water whip.
At first, the shinobi was giving Naruto a run for his money. He was quick with the whip and kept at a distance to keep Naruto from attacking but the moment Naruto insulted him about his eyebrow-less features for the third time, the shinobi lost focus and began sloppy.
Which gave Naruto a new plan.
Enrage him enough to slip up to bum-rush him and then capitalize.
"Like do I have a sign on me that says "Whip me harder, Daddy?" because if I do, you certainly don't deserve that role," Naruto taunted, which caused Kirisame to glare hatefully at the Genin.
"Stop moving and start dying!" Kirisame exclaimed as he sent another whip strike towards Naruto, who ducked the strike and stuck his hands into his pockets.
"I'm ashamed of myself that I thought you were going to be tough," Naruto said as he hopped to the left to avoid another strike of the whip. "Anko-sensei can whip me without trying and yet you're getting mad for missing. I don't know whether to applaud my training under her or be ashamed of your lack of training."
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Kirisame screamed as he dashed towards Naruto. Naruto, with his hands still in his pockets, jumped up to avoid a shot of the whip and nailed Kirisame in the face with his right foot then kicked himself off of it, sending the shinobi to the ground and Naruto back flipping in the air before he landed on the ground.
"Tell you what, I'll give you a free shot," Naruto said as he slipped his hands from his pockets turned his back to his opponent while performing several seals, and then muttered "Hibana no Aoi Honō (Spark of the Blue Flame)…"
A ring of cobalt blue flames exploded to life around Naruto's wrists and feet but Naruto merely suggestively slid down his jacket and said "Here's my back. Come on and whip me. Maybe if I let you do it, you'll manage to land a hit."
Kirisame scowled before a crazed look appeared on his face. "Suiton: Mizu Buki (Water Style: Water Weapons)!" Kirisame shouted as he flipped to his feet and with a water katana and ran towards Naruto, who kept his jacket off.
However, Naruto heard the oncoming footsteps and let a smirk appear on his face before he slipped the jacket on and moved to the left to avoid the attack.
The playfulness that showed on Naruto's face soon became a fearsome grin as the blue flames covered Naruto's right fist. Naruto pivoted his body to look at the stunned-looking shinobi and shouted, "Got you, Bakuhatsu Nakkuru (Eruption Knuckle)!"
And without hesitation, he landed a brutal punch to Kirisame's face, which caused a massive explosion of blue fire to erupt against Kirisame's face, sending the shinobi crashing to the ground hard, his entire head covered in blue flames.
Naruto watched as the man tossed and turned as the flames burned at his face and slowly walked to the man and crouched down. "You know something about the Hibana no Aoi Honō? I should have the ability to control the intensity of the flames. I tried to make it light so I didn't cause you so much pain but you really pissed me off."
Naruto watched as the man slowly began to stop moving and said, "Because of how pissed I was at the senseless slaughter, I couldn't control how intense that punch would be. And yet while I feel guilty for your agonizing death…A part of me feels that your death is justified for what you and your friends have done to this place…So I guess this is goodbye. I'm sure I'll see you in Hell…"
The man soon stopped moving and when the flame faded away, only his brittle and burnt shrunken skull remained.
'Past me would be ashamed at breaking my promise immediately after breaking it the first time…' Naruto thought as Naruto stood up and spat as the flames extinguished themselves from around his fist and ankles, leaving his right hand slightly charred.
Naruto looked at his messed up hand and thought 'Can these hands only bring death?' Naruto turned around to see the horrified-looking Shibuki staring back at him. "I'm sorry that you had to see that but knowing he took the lives of so many here really made my blood boil…"
"I-It's okay…" Shibuki said with a fearful tone.
Naruto sighed and said "I know his death won't bring them back and I'm sorry you had to experience all of this…No one should suffer this fate…"
Naruto eyed the deceased girl in the leader's arms and said "Most of all someone so small…" Naruto felt a burst of sadness at the sight of the little girl and felt a tear fall down his face but he took a breath and said "Come on, let's get you to Anko-sensei and Inoichi-sensei so we can figure out our next plan…"
"Relax Gaki, I'm already here," Anko's voice said, which prompted the two to look at the roof of the house to their left. "Sup," Anko said as she leaped down and landed beside Naruto. "Nice job with the battle. A little too playful but you got into what is left of his head."
"Thanks, Sensei," Naruto said with a small smile.
"Now come on you two. Let's go find Naruko," Anko said.
"Are you feeling better?" Naruko asked as Fū separated from her, a sad smile on her face.
"I didn't realize that I was crying so much," Fū admitted with an embarrassed smile. "I'm sorry, I got your shirt all wet."
"This old thing?" Naruko asked with a grin. "No worries, I stole it."
The two shared a small laugh before Fū asked "Really?"
"Yeah. I am a shinobi after all," Naruko teased as she stood up and held out her hand.
Fū took her hand and Naruko pulled her off the ground, wiped a stray tear from Fū 's cheek, and whispered, "No more tears okay? You're amongst a friend that shares your same burden."
Before another word could be spoken, a cruel voice shouted, "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu)!"
Without hesitation, Naruko grabbed Fū and shouted, "Kaze Suteppu (Breeze step)!" And with a mighty leap, the pair found themselves in the air before the water dragon exploded in the spot they were in previously.
"What the hell?!" Naruko shouted. It was then Naruko saw a middle to late-aged man with long spiky hair, small dark eyes, and a goatee. He wore a dark blue jacket, grey pants, sandals, and a bandanna that held his hair out of his face with two water bottles on each side of his hips.
But on top of his clothes looked to be see-through armor made of water.
Fū paled and whispered, "That's him…That's Suien…And it looks like he has his Mizu āmā (Water Armor) Jutsu activated…It's just that much harder…"
The man smirked and held his right hand back and shouted. "Suiton: Suiryuusou (Water Style: Water Flowing Lance)!"
Just as Naruko landed on the side of the building, she performed a powerful leap off the building to avoid a water-shaped lance, which caused the wall to break and scatter into the air. Naruko held her right hand up with her middle and ring finger out and shouted, "Reppū Jūdan: Saisho Dangan (Gust Bullet: First shot)!"
A shockwave flew out of her fingers with the blowback causing Naruko and Fū to fly further into the air while the shockwave headed straight to Suien, who smirked and announced, "Suiton: Kamisori Enban (Water Style: Razor Discus)."
Water flowed from the front right container and up into his open palm where it then took the shape of a buzzsaw disk and with a yell, he launched it through the shockwave, cutting it in half and sending the halves slamming into the roof beside him.
Naruko's eyes widened in terror as the water discus flew towards her and performed a front flip in the air, barely able to avoid it cutting through the pair. The minute the two came upright, Suien was in the air on top of them, water forming in his hands.
"Suiton: U~ōtāhanmā (Water Style: Water Hammer)!" He yelled as a large water-shaped hammer formed in his hands before he swung it down towards the pair.
"Tenohira no Soyokaze (Palm of the Soft Wind)!" Naruko shouted as wind formed against her palm and with a thrust of her right hand, the front of the water-made hammer slammed and then swirled around the wind before the wind in her palm and the water hammer exploded, sending the pair soaring backward to the ground while Suien went further into the air.
Naruko slammed to the ground back first as Suien landed on the rough on his feet.
"Fuck…" Naruko groaned out as she leaned up and looked down at the green-haired kunoichi on top of her. "You alright?" Naruko asked.
"I'm okay," Fū responded. "What about you?"
Naruko looked at her right arm, which was now bleeding from the various slice marks that were on her palms, fingers, and upper arm. Despite the pain, Naruko let a grin appear on her face. "I'll live…" She replied.
The two rose to their feet as Suien said, "Oh my dear Fū …I should have known that heart of yours would make you betray me."
Naruko narrowed her eyes and motioned for Fū to step behind her and snarled, "So you're the cause of this senseless slaughter!"
"Senseless?" Suien questioned with a smirk. "I was always meant to rule this quaint little village but the villagers made it so hard. Along with that pathetic Shibuki so if I wasn't able to rule it, I would crush it…Using the same water that many tried so hard to protect."
"I was wrong before," Naruko admitted with a dark tone in her voice. "I called Fū a traitor and a lowlife…When in reality she was being forced into this by scum like you…" Naruko balled up her fist and narrowed her eyes, fury burning within them.
"You…" Fū whispered, her eyes softening as Naruko looked back at her with a serious look on her face.
"Fū, I want you to run as far as you can and find either a black-ish-haired woman or a tall blond man," Naruko said.
"I'm not leaving you to fight him on your own," Fū argued.
"Go," Naruko repeated. "I'll be fine. Just go find one of those two." Fū looked concerned but then Naruko gave a smile."I will make him pay for his treachery. Trust me…"
Fū nodded and smiled before she ran off, leaving Naruko and Suien alone.
'Naruto…Menma….Bad things…Suien, the leader that caused this mess is here and I am in combat with him. Physical damage is a no-go but my wind was able to hurt him but I don't know how long I got before I wind up in deep shit. So um…Help would be nice!' Naruko thought.
"Fucking hell! We're on our way with sensei!" Both Naruto and Menma said in unison.
Help was on the way but for now, Naruko found herself alone with a powerful opponent. "You are very foolish to fight me, a Jōnin level shinobi, all alone," Suien advised with a smirk.
"Heh, Jōnin, Chūnin, Genin, levels don't matter to me," Naruko boasted, despite the bead of sweat falling down the left side of her face. "I'll defeat you all the same."
"The hero water will be wasted on an upstart like you," Suien noted with a laugh. "A little charity from me to you before you die. So come and back up those words!" Suien ordered.
"Kaze Suteppu (Breeze step)!" Naruko shouted as slammed her foot to the ground and took flight towards Suien.
Suien smirked and clapped his hands together and began to spread them apart as water from one of his containers flowed in between the space while he said "Takigakure-Ryū: Mizukiri no Yaiba (Takigakure Style: Watercutting Sword)."
He spread his hands completely as a water sword hovered before he snatched it and leaped off of the building towards Naruko and swung his blade down at her Naruko managed to avoid the swipe and landed a punch to Suien's face but he while he took the blow, he shrugged it off immediately.
"Nice try!" Suien shouted as he kicked Naruko in the chest, which sent her sailing down to the ground but she quickly flipped onto her feet and held up a sliced-up and bleeding right index finger.
"Reppū Jūdan: Saisho Dangan!" She yelled and fired off a shockwave of wind towards Suien, who smirked and sliced through the wind, causing it's two halves to collide and explode against the building behind him.
Suien landed on the ground and dashed towards Naruko, who sneered as her bleeding and cut right hand shook before she ran forward and ducked the swing at her head and landed two palm strikes to Suien's gut, which made no indication that it hurt him.
He smirked and announced, "Suiton: Mizu āmā (Water Style: Water Armor). Always battle with it," before he landed two knee strikes to her stomach and then one to her face, causing Naruko to stagger backward on her feet.
Naruko rolled behind him to avoid the stab from his blade and hopped backward off the ground to gain some distance but she wasn't quick enough to avoid his water blade slicing her back from lower left hip to right shoulder blade.
Despite the pain, Naruko landed and twisted her body around only for him to appear beneath her, his water sword swinging upwards. Naruko leaned back to avoid it enough to not be killed but she was sliced upwards from her right jaw to the bridge of her nose.
Naruko dashed backwards but Suien smirked and shouted, "Suiton: Suiryuusou!" Suien then created a water lance and then launched it at the retreating Naruko, which pierced through her right shoulder. Naruko held back a scream that wanted to leave her mouth but instead, she held it back.
She crashed through a window and rolled into a living before she pushed herself onto her feet and stumbled out the back door into another street where she fell to one knee, panting heavily.
He had caught her twice now, each time could have ended it but she was quick enough to escape it. how could she land any damage on him when that damned water armor was on?
She blinked and rolled her eyes with a "Duh," before gathering chakra in her left hand and said "Regular attacks won't work. Let's see if the wind does…Tenohira no Soyokaze…"
Without warning, Suien dashed out of the house towards Naruko, who then launched herself towards him and delivered a flying roundhouse kick. Suien ducked it and aimed a slash at her stomach but Naruko slammed her left palm against the sword, dispersing the sword while the water swirled around her palm.
Suien eyes widened as his now empty hand swung past Naruko's head. Naruko smirked and slammed her palm against Suien's face, sending him spiraling into a building as she landed on her feet and aimed her left index finger at the building but then a water lance shot out, aimed right at her.
Naruko flew to the left to avoid it only for another water lance to shoot out where she had moved. Naruko flew above it while going upside down before she floated right side and shouted "Reppū Jūdan: Saisho Dangan!"
She was then blown backward into the air as a shockwave flew towards the building but a water discus flew out and cleave through the shockwave.
With only seconds to act, Naruko bent backward with an alarmed scream and watched it sail inches above her before crashing into a house behind her. Naruko quickly rose upright only to see Suien running towards her with two water blades in his hands.
Naruko landed on the ground and swayed from left to right to avoid each swipe of his two blades before he managed to land a kick to her chest, making her stumble back before he aimed his sword at her and extended it, causing it to pierce her stomach.
Naruko's eyes bugged out in bright white pain from the water blade piercing her stomach but when she saw him swinging the second blade towards her head, she aimed her cut-up left index finger at his feet and shouted, "Reppū Jūdan: Saisho Dangan!"
With an explosion, both Naruko and Suien were sent backward into the air but Suien managed to extend his water blade and swung it before they left the ground, which caught Naruko from her left hip to her right shoulder, barely avoiding her right breast.
She landed on the ground and fell to one knee as blood fell from her second wound.
Naruko knew that she was getting lucky that her wind techniques were beating out his water ones but with her right arm too damaged to do another attack and her left hand getting there, how long could she last before she was unable to defend herself?
She had to deal with him as best she can…And there was one other jutsu that could help her. "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Naruko shouted and with an explosion of smoke, ten clones stood in front of her.
"Five of you, remain behind. The other five, Go!" Naruko ordered five of the ten clones.
The five clones then shouted "Kaze Suteppu!" And then flew towards the building at top speed while the remaining five stood in front of her.
Naruko pulled out a piece of paper and flipped it open as best as she could with the use of one hand and hastily said, "Okay…Any other special jutsu that can help me out of this?"
Naruko then saw a particular jutsu that was derived from her Tenohira no Soyokaze and said "Whew…That looks good…But I'll be sacrificing my left hand…" She looked down at her left hand before she snorted and said "No pain no gain. Only one shot at this anyways!"
With some difficulty, Naruko formed six hand seals and finished as she pointed her left palm to the sky. Almost immediately, grey and sky blue chakra began to form in her left palm before a streak of lightning slammed into it, causing Naruko to lower her left hand in alarm and pain.
She hunched forward and used the last of her strength in her right hand to grip her left wrist as bolts of lightning streaked across her left hand randomly along with slice marks cutting against her left hand, causing Naruko to wince with each one.
She could hear the sounds of the first five clones falling to Suien and soon, he dashed out of the building as he exclaimed, "Now it's time to end this!"
"Go!" Naruko shouted.
The five clones nodded and began to engage him, each one swaying from the swings of his blade as Naruko fell to one knee, drips of blood rapidly falling from her left palm but as the chakra warbled in an unstable manner.
"No! No! I can't lose it here!" Naruko screamed in terror as Suien sliced through the third of the remaining five clones.
Panic filled Naruko's heart as she looked at her failing jutsu. She was already wounded enough. No one was going to get here in time to save her. She was going to die which meant Naruto and Menma were going to die as well.
"You humans are far too loud…" A voice whispered in her head. At first, she thought it was Menma or Naruto but it sounded so much more menacing for it to be them. Not to mention, she could hear the feminine tone in it.
Naruko then felt a burst of chakra fill her veins and explode outwards from her body as thick crimson wisps of chakra filled her jutsu, seemingly helping to stabilize the chakra enough to complete the jutsu.
"I helped you with this brat now shut up and finish this so I can sleep!" The voice said as a fierce wind blew around her hand and forearm, crimson chakra shaped as lightning crackling from around the fierce wind that was slicing her hand and forearm and onto the ground below.
Naruko looked up to see Suien sliced through the last of the clones with a furious look on his face "Enough of these games, child!" Suien exclaimed as he launched himself towards Naruko, who quickly rose to her feet and smirked as she dashed forward as well.
The moment they got close, Suien took a swipe at Naruko but Naruko lifted her right arm and winced as the water blade cleaved part way through it Naruko shouted "Tenohira no Soyokaze: Gōzen Arashi (Palm of the Soft Wind: Roaring Tempest)!"
Her left palm crashed against the water armor that surrounded Suien's chest, where it began to swirl rapidly before it exploded and with a yell, her palm slammed into his chest, causing a funnel of wind and lightning to explode through his chest and out of his back.
Naruko felt the blood splash against her face as Suien gasped out, his pupils fading away until she only saw the faint outlines of them before his body rocketed away into the building behind them, causing it to crumble upon impact.
Naruko was blown back from the impact and crashed through a window where she slammed into a fridge, denting it upon impact. Naruko then slide down the fridge door and landed on the kitchen floor, both forearms and hands bleeding heavily as her head slumped forward, unconscious.
"Where the hell is she?" Anko asked with fear in her voice as the group, now joined by Fū, ran toward where Naruko was last seen.
"She's not responding," Naruto told Menma with a scared tone in his voice.
"We're alive so she isn't dead but I fear we will be if we don't find her," Menma replied.
"Menma is right," Inoichi said calmly as he turned to look at the worried Fū and asked, "Are you sure she was this way?"
"I'm positive," Fū said as they turned a corner that lead to a new street.
The second they did, however, both Naruto and Menma heard a female's menacing voice in their heads, prompting the pair to skid to a stop.
"You hear that too?" Menma asked.
Naruto opened his mouth before the voice added, "I helped you with this brat now shut up and finish this so I can sleep!" And not a second later, the sound of rushing wind met their ears and the house to their left exploded, causing them to shield their eyes from the debris.
When the smoke faded, Shibuki and Fū let out an alarmed gasp and when Team 11 looked, they found Suien's upper body in the remains of the house, his eyes a bright white and his mouth wide open, blood spilling from it.
"T-That's Suien!" Shibuki shouted.
"He's dead…" Fū breathed out in relief. "Then that means she was able to do it!"
Naruto and Menma exchanged glances before they heard another crash and when the ran to the house and looked across it, they noticed there was another house in front of it with a hole in it where they saw a flash of blonde.
"Naruko!" The two yelled as the group ran past the dead Suien and across the road and into the house where they found Naruko's body hunched over. With a puddle of blood around her.
"Oh, Kami no…" Fū whispered as she skidded into the blood and smacked her cheek. "Wake up! Please wake up!"
She was still breathing but there was no response.
Naruto and Menma both shook their heads as a light-headed feeling overtook them both momentarily. Inoichi seemed to notice this and shouted "You two sit down now!"
Fū pulled Naruko forward only to feel blood seeping from the wound on her back and said "Shit…This is worse than I thought. Luckily, I can heal her…"
Keeping Naruko's body hunched over, Fū quickly formed a set of seals and then whispered, "Chakra no Ito: Hīringu Kumonosu (Chakra threads: Healing Web)…." Fū then lifted her arm and pointed her hand and light green webbing flew from her wrist and landed against Naruko's forearms, shoulder, and the entirety of her chest.
Fū then aimed her wrist at Naruko's face to heal it and the completed the webbing by getting the entirety of her back.
The group watched as the webbings glow began to ebb from dim to bright with worried anticipation until one by one, the webbing dimmed into a pale white before falling off of Naruko's wounds where they were now healed.
Fū checked over the wounds before Naruko let out a weak groan and slowly opened her eyes to see everyone around her. "Oh…hey…" Naruko said with a weak laugh, only for Fū to wrap her arms around her tightly.
"You idiot. You motherfucking, goddamn idiot!" Fū angrily shouted as she tightened her hold on Naruko's body but the group could see tears falling from Fū's eyes and knew that she was relieved to see Naruko alive. "Leave you alone you said! You'll be okay, you said! Well, you nearly just died you idiot!"
"Sorry…" Naruko replied as she shut her eyes and allowed her head to rest against Fū's shoulder. Just then, she was jolted awake by both Naruto and Menma sliding to her side and hugging her as well with relief on their faces.
"You dumbass," Menma said. "Thank you for not killing us all!"
"But damn did you end that guy! Sweet Job!" Naruto said with happy tears falling down his eyes.
"That Kami you're okay," Inoichi said. "I'm going to save the hour-long screaming session for a later time. Just relax for now."
Naruko nodded tiredly and drifted off to sleep.
"But while that has been settled, there is something else that needs to be settled…" Shibuki said with a disappointed tone while Fū lowered her head.
This was going to be bad for her….