Human

Whirlpool Arc

Chapter 7

Kushina

The kunai flew true, and Kushina ducked her head down and closed her eyes even before it detonated in Ameyuri's face. The metallic clang of Ameyuri's sword, Kiba, knocking the kunai aside was followed by a string of colorful swear words that let Kushina know the blinding light had passed. She opened her eyes and took stock of the field. Ameyuri was rubbing her eyes furiously with a forearm, and Kushimaru was making his way toward her.

Kushina moved. Her hands flew through the well practiced hand seals of the fireball jutsu while she sprinted away from her four pointed barrier— across the street and down an alleyway. Kushimaru followed her, and he was fast . He closed the distance between them quickly, and sprinted up the alleyway behind her, swords at the ready.

But Kushina was counting on it. Mist ninja were supposed to be fast, particularly master swordsmen and assassins. Once they were both between the buildings she spun around and exhaled. The flames erupted from her mouth as chakra surged through her, engulfing the alleyway and incinerating the walls of the buildings.

Kushimaru was engulfed by the looming shape of the massive fireball, and Kushina lost sight of him.

Fire was not her speciality. Kushina much preferred wind and water based ninjutsu, they came easier to her, but given her massive amounts of chakra, and given that they were standing in an alleyway, she figured it was worth the risk.

When she ran short of breath, the fire died away, leaving her in the smoke and rubble of two buildings missing walls and rooftops. She could sense Kushimaru's chakra still, agitated like a hive of angry insects.

He hadn't died, which was unfortunate but not unexpected. Killing an enemy combatant who had made their way into another nation's Bingo Book, a catalog of the most deadly ninja and samurai in the world, was difficult on a good day. One jutsu was hardly going to do it.

And besides, Kushina would hardly consider her day good. She hadn't slept. She'd used far too much chakra containing the tailed-beast sealed within Rin. She wasn't at her best.

So, while she could sense Kushimaru, she couldn't see him through the smoke. And what she could not sense was the needle-like sword flying at her through the smoke. It tore through the air so fast she barely saw it coming, and only just managed to lean enough away from it to stop it taking out her eye. As it was, it left a long, thin cut across her cheek.

The sword clattered to the ground behind her and Kushina ran forward. She could tell where Kushimaru was standing thanks to her chakra sensory ability. Channeling chakra into her arm as she darted forward, she cocked back her fist and threw a haymaker at Kushimaru's head, but connected with nothing.

The mist ninja ducked under her attack and delivered a savage blow to her back with the pommel of the sword he still held in his hand. Kushina stumbled forward out of the smoke cloud, and fell to the ground gasping for breath.

"How?" she asked.

Kushimaru walked up to her, a deadly coldness to him. "You really thought visibility would affect my ability to fight? We of the Hidden Mist fight in thick fog more often than we fight in the open. Why should the smoke of your fire technique be any different?" And then he was driving a blade down to impale her.

Kushina rolled, put her weight onto her arms and pushed herself into a handspring. Her foot connected hard with Kushimaru's head, cracking the mask and forcing him to reel away from her in pain. Weight still on her hands, she pivoted and pushed her entire body off the ground. As she flipped to her feet she drew another kunai and threw it at Kushimaru. He deflected it easily enough, dazed as he was from the kick to the head. But it gave her enough time to get to her feet and put distance between them.

She did not have time to collect herself. Ameyuri chose that moment to rejoin the fray, coming at her from behind with a mighty swing of her Kiba. Kushina ducked underneath the swing, feeling the crackle of electricity as the blades sailed overhead.

Kushina fell into the circle-walking pattern of the Whirling Palms taijutsu style, pivoting her weight from one leg to the other even as she was in a low squat, and twisting her leg around. She delivered a powerful blow to Ameyuri's side with her elbow as she spun away, palms open, and fell into the first form of the Whirling Palms.

Ameyuri glared at her. "How did you know I was there?"

"She can sense our chakra," Kushimaru said, taking his place beside Ameyuri. "She tried to fight me in the smoke of a fire jutsu."

"Would have been a good tactic against ninja from a lesser village," Ameyuri said.

Kushimaru nodded.

How did they figure it out so fast? Kushina wondered.

"Though she'd be dead if she couldn't sense me. That last attack should have taken her head clean off." Ameyuri said. "Fucking chakra sensors. It's a blessing that their kind were wiped out. Especially the Uzumaki."

Kushina's blood boiled, and her outward calm was replaced with a snarl. "Don't talk about my clan. You have no right!"

"Don't we?" Kushimaru asked. "After all, we of the Mist led the charge against the tainted blood of your kind."

Kushina saw red.

She charged forward, rage boiling through her every sense. Ameyuri met her blow for blow, and Kushina found herself dodging swings from the spiked swords more often than she was able to throw a punch. But she did not stop. With each dodge or twist of her body, she pressed Ameyuri back with the sheer force of her own ferocity. And then, finally, she managed to catch Ameyuri's left hand with her right and pull the mist ninja forward so that her fist crashed into the other woman's face.

Ameyuri was lifted off her feet from the force of the chakra reinforced punch, and sent head over feet through the air and into the barely standing wall of one of the fire-singed houses. She went through the old, brittle wood with little resistance, falling into the building and out of sight with a crash. The rest of the building collapsed on top of her.

Kushina, breathing hard, but with a fierce and triumphant grin on her face, turned her attention to Kushimaru, who was standing calmly with both of his swords in his hand. When had that happened? Hadn't his second blade been thrown beyond the buildings?

But the glint of the light caught the ninja wire, and Kushina realized that unless both blades were taken from him, he would not be disarmed.

"My my," he said. "Such a savage display of barbarism. All that yelling and punching. Putting you down like the animal you are will be almost as rewarding as returning the tailed-beast to Lord Mizukage."

"Shut up!" Kushina yelled. "What do you know anyway? I lost my family!"

"Do you think your loss makes my revelry any less intoxicating? Don't you see. You deserved to lose your family." And he laughed, cruel and unhinged.

Kushina charged with a battle cry, fists raised. She realized her mistake too late. Kushimaru had not been idle while she had been trading blows with Ameyuri. He had been setting a trap.

Senbon, a ninja's throwing needles, burst from the ground at her feet at the same time a length of chakra infused ninja wire wrapped itself around her middle. The needles pierced her feet and ankles and stopped her legs from cooperating while the ninja wire held her suspended, feet dragging painfully along the metal protruding from the ground.

She screamed in pain.

Blood dripped from her feet.

Kushimaru laughed harder.

"Don't you see that it is hopeless? You will die and we will have our prize." Kushimaru walked to her, stepping deftly between the needles in areas that were safe to walk. Kushina watched his footsteps carefully.

When he was right beside her, he grabbed her hair and yanked her head back. Exposing her neck. "As much as I would love to make it slow and painful, our orders are to get the tailed beast back to the village as quickly as possible."

He raised the Nuibari and placed the point of the blade against her throat.

"Sorry I'm going to have to keep you from your appointment with the Mizukage," Kushina said. Chains of pure chakra burst from her back, broke the ninja wire, and crashed violently into Kushimaru. He was pushed back and Kushina fell towards the senbon. But she caught her weight with the chains and then tenderly put her feet where Kushimaru's had been.

The pain was unbelievable. But Kushina forced herself to stay upright. With a grimace, she stepped forward, one foot and then another, and followed Kushimaru's path out of the needle trap.

"That fucking hurt," Kushina said. The chains behind her flicked menacingly, like glowing angel wings.

Kushimaru tensed and fell into a low crouch with his swords pointing up at diagonal angles. She could hear his cold laughter still. "I'm impressed," he said. "It's been a long time since anyone survived that attack. Killing you will be so much fun! "

Two more chains came from beneath Kushina's armpits and snaked their way down her arms until she had the chains firmly grasped in her hands. The length of them trailed onto the ground.

They moved in tandem. Kushina swung her chains down at Kushimaru at the same time he rolled to the side and threw the sword in his left hand at her.

Her chakra chains slammed into the ground, creating a divot over a foot deep.

The sword sailed past her harmlessly, just as it had the last time Kushimaru had thrown it. This time, however, he flicked his wrist, and Kushina knew the errant blade was pointed at her back. She leapt to the side just in time. The needle-sword pierced the air where Kushina had stood less than a second ago.

There was no time to waste. Kushina flung her arms forward before Kushimaru could send the Nuibari at her again. Her chakra chains wrapped around Kushimaru's leg and she pulled. He fell onto his back, hand concentration temporarily broken.

Kushina took advantage of her moment, leaping forward and driving her knee into Kushimaru's stomach. Her full weight drove the air from his chest, and she let her momentum carry her into a forward roll. She came to her feet just past Kushimaru, arms down behind her, and let her chakra chains wrap themselves around the downed mist ninja.

She lifted him off the ground with the chains, his arms pinned to his sides. Kushina punched him in the face, and the stomach and in the ribcage.

Kushina felt the crackle of electricity and the surge of chakra an instant before she saw it. A massive bolt of lightning shot from the wreckage of the house Ameyuri was in and caught Kushina square in the chest.

Her chakra system went haywire as her body was electrified. Her chains loosened their grip and Kushimaru fell to the ground. She was launched back and into the much more intact wall of the barrier seal. Her breath left her and she slid limply to the ground, vision blurred from the pain and the lack of oxygen. Her muscles spasmed violently.

The chakra chains flickered once, twice, three times, and then faded from view.

Kushina watched dazedly as the two mist ninja approached her, blades in hand. Both of them were dirtied with soot and ash. Kushimaru was battered and clutching at broken ribs. Half of his mask was missing. Ameyuri, on the other hand, had barely a scratch on her.

Even as they approached, Kushina was vaguely aware of the itching sensation of a wound that was closing too quickly.

The Uzumaki clan had been renowned for their vigor, and it translated on the battlefield to immense stamina and the ability to shake off even major wounds more quickly than the average person. Kushina was doubly blessed in this way, because Jinchuriki were also cursed by the beasts they imprisoned with an ability to recover from wounds quickly.

Kushina got to her feet and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. "You're going to have to do a hell of a lot better than that if you want to get into this barrier, ya know?"

"How the hell are you still standing?" Ameyuri asked. "That lightning jutsu should have killed you."

"Sorry to disappoint," Kushina said. She reached for her kunai pouch and her fingers closed around the blade's handle. Last one.

They faced off once again, and when Ameyuri's blade swung for her chest, she batted it aside with the kunai, trying to look as confident and arrogant as she could even as she fought her own body's protesting muscles.

It was a fast exchange of blows, Ameyuri would attack with enough power to level a building, and Kushina would either parry the blow or step aside. And though she didn't show it, Kushina's arm felt the jolt of each blow all the way up to her shoulder. Ameyuri was strong.

Going blow for blow with her was not a winning strategy.

Kushina danced away from both Ameyuri and Kushimaru while her mind raced for a strategy that would end their battle quickly. Precious minutes had been wasted that Rin did not have. She turned down one alley, and then another, and ducked behind a half collapsed wall to catch her breath.

Kushimaru and Ameyuri were going to wear her down and win because they were both just as good as she was— if not better. Kushina had the advantage of stamina, and she knew she had more chakra than both of them combined. But Kushimaru was faster than she was, and Ameyuri was stronger.

If only she could reliably use the power of the Nine-Tails. I'd be able to flatten them .

But she couldn't. She sometimes took the smallest bits of chakra from the monster to help her move faster, or to heal from an injury quicker. But it was difficult to control, especially in battle, and the onslaught of rage that coursed through her scared her to death.

Every time she used the Nine-Tails chakra in battle, she was on the edge of losing control of the monster (and of herself). And the last time she'd done it to win a fight, she'd woken up in the hospital over a week later covered in chakra burns.

She dismissed the idea of taking enough chakra to destroy them. If she did, she didn't know if she'd remain in control enough to let the power go. Enough to save Rin.

So what did that leave? Kushina was better at Taijutsu, but against two swordmasters it did her little good. While they were both wielding those deadly swords, Kushina didn't like her odds. If she could disarm them, then maybe she could win. The question was: how? And if she couldn't?

Well she might be able to—

Kushimaru's Nuibari exploded through the wall she crouched behind, and Kushina dove to the side, rolling over her shoulder and coming up from the ground in a sprint.

She sensed the surge of chakra behind her, and knew another lightning jutsu was coming right for her. But it was coming at her at the wrong angle. She dug her feet into the ground and gripped the side of a building to change direction as abruptly as one could while running at super-human speed.

The lightning jutsu blew a hole through another half collapsed house. Kushina didn't stick around to see what was left in the rubble.

I need to separate them, Kushina thought. But then, she could, couldn't she? Kushina could just make clones, both the intangible ones, and the more solid and tangible shadow clones — like the ones holding up the barrier around Rin. Kushimaru and Ameyuri were not chakra sensors, and as far as she knew, neither of them had dojutsu or any other way to specifically differentiate the decoys from the real thing.

Dozens of clones, more than she had ever made before, popped and shimmered into existence, and took off in every direction imaginable. Kushina stumbled as she ran as her chakra stretched and diminished in so many different directions. She felt dizzy.

Can't stop now.

From behind her, she could hear Ameyuri's shout of dismay as the Mist ninja caught sight of the many, many copies of Kushina. The chakras of her pursuers slowed and then veered in two different directions. Kushina slowed her pace and ducked into a house, slumping against the door as it shut behind her and catching her breath.

The needle pricks on her feet and legs had already healed themselves, she saw, but the burn from the lightning jutsu that had struck her square in the chest still throbbed painfully. The attack from Ameyuri had burned a hole straight through her flak vest, her shirt, and the thin layer of protective mesh she wore underneath. The seared flesh was tender and itchy as the wound slowly, painfully, healed itself.

She felt her chakra flutter as her clones were destroyed one by one. Not much time, I need to try and take them out .

Kushina fished into the gear she had on her. Besides the empty kunai holster and the kunai she held in her hand, Kushina had little. Most of her ninja gear was at the house they'd taken residence in. And in the one pouch she had attached to her belt, Kushina found a single smoke bomb, a ration bar, and a blank piece of chakra sensitive sealing paper.

"Well that's not good," Kushina said, blinking in disbelief at the contents of the pouch. Had they really been here so long that her things had been moved elsewhere? She supposed they must have been.

Another flicker of chakra crossed her senses as a clone was destroyed. Kushina blinked the minor disorientation away.

Ameyuri and Kushimaru were very far apart now, dispelling clones with impunity, and Kushina had nothing to—

Kushina grinned and pulled the blank sealing paper from the pouch. She pricked her pointer finger with her kunai, and pressed the paper firm against the door with one hand. In a flash, she drew out a seal, and dried the blood with a low-powered wind jutsu.

A minute later, she stepped out into the street and towards the closest of the two chakras, which belonged to Ameyuri. Kushina found her on the rooftop of the administration building, shooting lightning jutsu down on any of Kushina's clones that dared get close.

Kushina circled the building so that Ameyuri was facing away from her, and scaled the building. Her skin tingled each time Ameyuri attacked a clone with her lightning jutsu. Surely she'll run out of chakra soon .

It was wishful thinking.

Still, the woman was laughing and taunting the clones as she destroyed them, and seemed not to have noticed Kushina sneaking up to her position.

"You can't hide forever, Uzumaki!" Ameyuri yelled out into the village as she launched another lightning jutsu. The accompanying thunderclap and ripple of chakra left static in Kushina's mouth that tasted like carbonated water.

Kushina slipped her kunai and the sealing tag back into the holster on her leg, and instead summoned her chakra chains back into place from beneath her arms. When the golden chains coiled on the ground at her feet, Kushina grabbed the chains where they fell past her hands. She waited for her moment (when Ameyuri began firing off another lightning attack) to strike.

Golden chains whipped forward, wrapping themselves around Ameyuri's forearms pulling taught and forcing the Mist ninja's arms into an awkward position. Ameyuri gave a shout of surprise and tried to turn to face Kushina, but Kushina didn't give her a moment to recover. With a mighty, chakra enhanced heave, Kushina pulled on the chains. Ameyuri was pulled clean off her feet and straight into Kushina's waiting fist.

The punch, which Kushina had placed in Ameyuri's stomach, left Ameyuri sputtering and gasping for breath, even as she lost the grip on Kiba, both blades clattering to the concrete of the rooftop. The chains hefted Ameyuri upright.

Ameyuri was held aloft by the chakra chains now, arms spread wide and legs dangling helplessly over a foot off the ground. "How… are… you still… standing," Ameyuri said between gasping breaths, all the while kicking and tugging at her restraints.. "Some of those clones were solid. You can't have that much chakra or stamina. Both of us landed direct hits on you."

"I'm an exceptionally gifted ninja, kind of like the Seven Swordsmen. Only difference is, you don't know who I am," Kushina said.

"I don't need to know the name of an Uzumaki." And then Ameyuri laughed, and the bravado it contained earned her another punch in the gut. Bile and spit came with the air this time, and Ameyuri's breaths became labored.

There was a flickering of chakra as the last of Kushina's clones was dispelled halfway across the village. She blinked the disorientation away and shook her head.

"So you do have weaknesses," Ameyuri said smugly.

From where she hung, Kushina didn't feel Ameyuri was very intimidating, but she needed the woman to go down and stay down. Kushimaru's chakra was closing in, and fast.

"I'm gonna have to make sure you don't get back up," Kushina said.

"Can't let that happen, sorry," Ameyuri replied through a mouthful of blood, and made a single seal with her right hand.

Electricity arced between them, and despite Kushina's chains conducting a vast majority of the deadly attack, the painful jolts and tremors still racked Kushina's body. She had to let go of Ameyuri, and fast. With a heave of her chains, Kushina threw Ameyuri over the side of the building.

Ameyuri crashed to the ground with a dull thud, an awkward flailing of limbs, and a swirling of dust.

Kushina let out a breath and let her chakra chains dissipate. She took a shaky step towards the edge of the roof, trying to reconcile all of the disorientation that came with being electrocuted multiple times, and using more shadow clones than was ever recommended. Her balance gave way and she staggered awkwardly before falling forward, catching her weight with an outstretched hand.

She was tired, but the fight was far from over. Kushimaru's chakra was closing in fast.

With a supreme effort of willpower, Kushina forced her body to move. She stumbled to her feet, and staggered her way to Ameyuri's swords. She picked them up the same moment Kushimaru reached the rooftop, and turned to face him.

"You're giving us quite a bit of trouble, Uzumaki," Kushimaru said. "And I don't like it when I stab someone and they don't die."

Kushina gave each of the swords an experimental swing. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I've never been one for taking direction from others, ya know?" She readied her swords.

"Do you even know how to use those?" Kushimaru asked.

"Just stab your opponent with the sharp end, right?" Kushina replied, flippantly.

Kushimaru's chakra prickled with annoyance. "You disrespect the Swordsmen."

"I kind of feel like it's my duty as an Uzumaki, to be honest with you."

Kushimaru closed the distance between them in two bounding steps and fell upon her with the fury of a tidal wave. Kushina blocked his blows, but she was the worse swordsman, and was forced to give ground with every other parry.

His superior speed and skill with a sword forced her to the edge of the rooftop in moments, and Kushina allowed herself to be pushed from the rooftop. The clash of blades did not cease as they walked down the side of the building, their feet stuck to the wall with chakra.

Kushina's foot slipped into a blown-out window as she retreated down the wall, and her balance tipped backwards towards the ground. Kushimaru pressed his advantage, slipped his Nuibari through her guard, and disarmed her of the blade in her left hand.

The sword flipped past her head and fell to the ground, glinting in the sunlight as it fell out of her reach.

Kushimaru redoubled his onslaught and Kushina swung her weight through the window and into the building to escape the biting metal of his blades. As it was, they passed over her head with a whoosh . Something tugged on the back of her head, but she gritted her teeth and forced herself to keep moving. She found herself in a ruined office on the second floor of the administration building, and not wanting to wait around for Kushimaru to join her, dashed through the half-rotted door.

She was down the hallway and around the corner as fast as her feet would carry her, searching desperately for the stairs, or a place to hide, or something to take down Kushimaru.

Stairs came first, and she took them three at a time, as she went down one flight and then another. The surging chakra of her pursuer was a floor ahead of her, and she was sure he could sense her well enough to follow.

Outside, she felt Ameyuri's chakra flicker and stretch itself. She could tell from the angry, agitated feel of the chakra that Ameyuri was going to rejoin the fray.

Not good.

She was on the ground floor now, gripping Kiba tightly in her right hand. Above her was Kushimaru, and outside Ameyuri waited.

Rin

The journey through the false Land of Fire was not an easy one. The weather was always warm, but it blistered at this time of year, and Rin could tell no difference between the real world, and the strange one she found herself in. To make matters worse, she could do nothing to make her journey go by quickly. Her pace was far slower than she had figured it would be, even without chakra. Each step made the heat feel a thousand times worse.

She stumbled off the beaten road and into the trees, hoping the shade cast down by the trees would lessen the scorch of the midday sun. To her chagrin, it did not. If anything, it was even hotter off the road.

But that doesn't make sense, Rin thought.

She had traveled for hours and the sun had not moved at all in the sky. And now it was somehow warmer in the shade than in the direct sunlight. Sweat poured off of her face, and she couldn't catch her breath properly. It was like her body wasn't using its chakra to offset the physical expenditure of energy like it should be.

It wasn't a problem she'd encountered before. Actively channeling and using chakra for jutsu had been out of the question, but the natural way the body absorbed chakra had never been affected before.

Rin forced herself to keep moving, staggering back to the road. And that was when she saw it.

Less than two-hundred meters away were the gates to the Leaf Village.

Rin was going to cry.

But at the gates was someone, a person, standing and waiting for her. Rin squinted, the figure wasn't a shadow at all. It was someone wearing a cream colored jacket and dark pants. Rin stepped towards the gate, curiously.

And then she was at the gates, blinking in confusion and staring at the nurse from the hospital that had been there when she'd regained consciousness.

"Nurse Yume?" Rin asked, looking around, trying to figure out how she'd gone from the treeline to the gates of the village in the space of a single step.

"I'm sure you've realized that things don't work quite the same way here," Yume said.

"Where is here?" Rin asked, crossing her arms and peering back into the village to make sure the shadow figure was nowhere to be seen.

"It's your mind, technically. But it's also the creation of a seal that was designed to incapacitate intruders," Yume said.

"I don't follow," Rin said. "How is it my mind and a seal? Doesn't it have to be one or the other?"

Yume smiled cryptically. "Your understanding of sealing fundamentals is solid, but you lack the requisite experience and training to fully grasp how the seal that currently affects you was created. You could learn, with time, but first you must survive this place."

Rin held up a hand. "Hold on. Why are you helping me? If the seal was designed to stop intruders to the village, shouldn't you be my enemy?"

Yume laughed good naturedly. "I should be exactly what I need to be. Had you been an enemy of the blood, I would be your greatest adversary. But you are not, so my purpose here is not to be your enemy."

Rin blinked owlishly. That explanation helped not at all. If anything, Rin was more confused now than when she'd been running in place for hours trying to leave the village. "What?" Rin tried. Yeah, that basically summed up her feelings.

"What you must know is that this seal was designed to remove enemy combatants from the field. To have them jumping at shadows— make them paranoid. Eventually, they would see an enemy in everyone and turn on their own comrades, even after the battle in which they triggered the seal." Yume gestured to the village behind them. "The doctor, your mentor, and even the shapeless shadow that stalked you here from the waking world are all manifestations of that."

That was certainly familiar. Rin nodded.

"The creator of this seal recognized that accidents happen on the battlefield, however. And so if a person who was not an enemy of the Uzumaki were to accidentally trigger the seal and not have the knowledge to disarm the trap on their own, then I would a appear to guide them through their dream." Yume offered a hand to Rin. "Are you, Rin Nohara, prepared to face your worst fears? In doing so, you will find a copy of the seal here, in your mind, and will have the opportunity to disarm it."

Face her worst fears?

She didn't want to do that at all, but what choice did she have?

"Why my worst fears?" Rin asked.

"Because the seal makes you afraid, and you must master your own fear to conquer the power of the seal," Yume said.

"And none of this is because of the monster sealed within me?" Rin asked.

Yume tilted her head in confusion. "You don't have a monster sealed within you, Nohara-san. Not right now."

…What?

Rin sighed in defeat and confusion, and took the hand that was offered.