Hello peeps! I hope you are all well!
Here's chapter 43 Woop Woop!
Disclaimer: Read Chapter 1!
Enjoy!
Lee watched as the blade was brought swinging down, fighting with himself not to shy away.
A blur came out of nowhere ripping the blade from the women's hand, causing it to spin uncontrollably then embedding itself in one of the other soldiers. Again, the blur emerged this time sending the rest of the warriors in multiple directions. Finally, the blur took shape of Guy, as he stood there with a deadly calm expression on his face, his body in an attacking posture. Relief washed over the incapacitated teens at the sight of their sensei. Not taking a moment longer, Guy removed all the senbons from his students, helping each of them up.
"Are you both alright?" he asked, his voice thick with worry.
"Hai, Sensei." Both boys replied, as Neji leaned slightly into his friend. Giving the boys a quick look over, he nodded but thought to get them check more thoroughly later.
"Good, we need to regroup with Tenten and the others." Looking over to the fast recovering enemy. A familiar unholy screech echoed through the air, causing them to look to the sky for the fell beasts.
"We can't." informed Neji, looking with his Kekkei Genkai. "They've got those winged demons, breathing fire down on them, while there's enemy troops on the ground." Listening to what his pupil said, Guy began to formulate a plan;
"What can you tell me about those soldiers in that heavy armour?" Lee answered him;
"It seems as though they are protected by a barrier of some kind. It appears on impact."
"It seems the only way to strip them of that barrier is either through constantly hitting the same place over and over again, or if we have a Fūinjutsu master." Supplied Neji, his eyes now on the Brute he defeated. Taking a closer look at the cuirass, a large portion of the seals were destroyed or incomplete, along with whatever that strange writing was.
Humming in thought, the older male looked over everything, stopping on the impaled soldier. Reaching out he wrapped his hand around the blades grip, instantly a strong sensation of pins and needles spread through his hand and up his arm stopping at his elbow. Letting it go, he stared at his hand, feeling the sensation slowly disappear.
The boys watched their sensei, forgetting about the soldiers that reorganised, using the distraction, several of them moved in closer blasting green flames out of their hands.
"Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation!" executing the defensive jutsu, parrying the hellish flames.
Having them pinned, Matsuho's warriors spread out in a large circle, keeping up their torrents of fire.
"We need a way out of this!" bark Lee, as the chakra dome began to change to a cyan colour. "Neji can't keep this up indefinitely."
"I know, Lee." Answered Guy, tightly, his mind running through multiple scenarios. Then a thought accrued to him. "Lee, remove your weights." As he removed his own, but instead of dropping them, he kept them.
"I already have, Sensei." The spandex teen replied, wondering what he could possibly be thinking.
"Here, put them on." Passing them to the confused boy, turning to the other Jōnin. "Neji, when I say go, I'll need you to expand your rotation to twice the size for ten seconds." Of course, he didn't get a reply, but he knew the boy heard him. Seeing his mini-me ready, he added;
"Now, out stretch your arms, and hold onto my forearms tightly." Doing as he was told the pair got into the weird pose. "When I tell Neji to go, I'm going to spin you around in the opposite direction to his charka. When I say let go, you do so without any hesitation." Smirking at the wide-eyed look he got, "When you're outside, cause as much of a distraction so the rest of us can move."
"Hai, Sensei!" nervousness and anticipation settled in the teens gut.
"GO!" exclaimed Guy, as he began to spin Lee around in circles, getting faster and faster.
On the outside, the chakra shield began to expand, causing the warriors to step back, still they kept up their attack. The bigger the dome of chakra got, the further back they had to go.
"Oh, no you don't!" snarled the Female Brute, as she blasted out her own torrent of fire against the expanding shield of chakra. The remaining heavily armoured troops joined in focusing on the same point. The expansion slowed to a crawl, then stopped all together. Seeing it brought to a halt, they redoubled their efforts, unleashing their full power on the dome, watching as it was getting pushed back
Neji felt the insane resistance being exerted on the chakra field, feeling it being pushed back he began to counter it by letting more chakra flow out of him. But even that was beginning to take a toll on him, as exhaustion began to seep in.
'They need 5 more seconds.'
5…
A game of tug of war began. As both sides put everything into stopping the other.
4…
"Put everything you have into bringing down that shield!" barked the head Brute. Obeying the order, they redoubled their efforts.
3…
With the renewed attack, the dome was rapidly reduced in size.
2…
Neji pushed himself harder to counteract their renewed barrage, but still it was collapsing. Smaller and smaller it got, to the point where Lee's sandals were mere millimetres away.
'No! I can do this!'
1…
With renewed determination, the young Jōnin pushed himself harder than he ever has. His determination was paying off, as he managed to halt the collapsing chakra dome.
0…
"Let Go!" doing as he was told, Lee let go of his sensei arms and spun out of the chakra shield at an insane speed, colliding with the cluster of Brutes, knocking them down like bowling pins. Even with the sudden impact, Lee still spun some meters away from them, skimming along the ground like a pebble on water. As his spin eased up he dug his heels in to the ground, bringing himself to an uneasy stop. The collision caused enough of a distraction, that the other warriors momentarily eased up or stopped their bombardment all together.
Not giving himself much time to recover from the dizziness, Lee sprang into action, using hit and run tactics against the attacking soldiers. In seconds he had them either on the floor or disorientated enough that they weren't focus on the rest of his teammates.
Neji felt the sudden absence of insane pressure, allowing himself to bring in his chakra shield to a much more manageable size. Both Jōnin could hear the mayhem that Lee was creating outside, they didn't have to wait much longer before the streams of demonic fire eased. Taking that as their que, Neji stopped rotating, as soon as he stopped a spandex covered arm wrapped itself around his waist, while one of his arms was placed over shoulders. Having a secure grip of the exhausted teen, Guy took them both to safety.
"You did well, Neji." Helping the teen to the ground, pride prominent in his voice. "Now, rest up."
"I can rest when we aren't in danger." Stubbornly retorted the boy, as he reached into his weapons pouch and extracted a food pill. Popping it into his mouth, instantly he felt some of his strength return albeit for a little while.
"You're not going to sit this one out, are you?" The other Jōnin asked rhetorically, getting a 'what do you think' face. Shaking his head and chuckling softly, he said;
"That's my youthful student." To that he got an eye roll. "Time to meet our worthy adversaries in battle once more!" and with that he was gone, joining his mini me who was in the thick of it all.
When the Beast of Konoha joined the fray, he saw the bushy browed Chūnin in close quarters combat with a couple of the heavily armoured demons, nunchucks in hand. See him managing ok by himself, Guy turned his attention to the other Demons scattered about. Picking his targets, he launched himself at them fist cocked back like a spring coiled tightly, ready for release. As he closed in on his opponent, he unleashed his attack, landing dead on the soldiers' nose; the sheer veracity of the attack followed through, sending the unlucky warrior backwards. Not wasting another second, he rounded on another warrior, with a round house kick, followed by several punches.
Feeling slightly rejuvenated, Neji joined the battle, picking his targets carefully to extend the last of his chakra, leaving the Brutes to the other two. Confronting his first opponent the Jōnin, weaved and ducked gracefully, taking hold of openings in the others stance and jabbed his fingers into the others tenketsu points, blocking they others flow of chakra. In less than a minute, the soldier was incapacitated dropping to the floor. Again, he moved to the next one, and repeated it all over again.
Both Lee and Guy were giving the Brutes a hard time; tag teaming each one, not lingering for more than a second before going to another. Free from their weights, they were hitting them harder and faster. The warriors armour glowed a constant purple, from the rapid hits; Guy appeared above a Brute, sensing an incoming attack, the soldier raised his arms up locking them to block the blow. The Jōnin's drop kick came thundering down, impacting against the block; the warriors armour rippled purple as the seals tried to absorb the insane strength that accompanied the attack, the ground underneath fractured creating an impact crater. The other spandex leg came swinging around catching the other man in his side; his armour rippling purple, seals buckling and disintegrating from the enormous amount of kinetic energy.
Whatever kinetic energy wasn't dissipated by the barrier, continued through the man's armour, causing it to collapse inwards dragging out a shout of pain from the Brute. Not letting up, the Beast of Konoha followed through with several more punches and kicks. His opponent did his best to block and parry the assaulting ninja, but the Beast was that much faster; a thundering punch smashed him in the face, causing both his helmet and face to cave in, killing the Brute instantly. Guy grimaced as he extracted his clenched fist from what remains of the others face.
Lee was confidently taking on another Brute; nunchucks twirling so fast they were a blur. His adversary had dual swords; her stance solid and unflinching as they clashed together. They seemed in a never-ending dance, both keeping up with the other with minimal effort. The young Chūnin upped his agility, his attacks and his evasion of the others answering blows. Using the extra burst of speed, Lee managed to wrap his weapon around one of the blades, yanking the captured weapon out of the others hand. Recovering rapidly, using her remaining blade, the warrior slashed and hacked at the boy, with deadly precision pushing him into a defensive posture.
Her blade sliced through the air, at that point both nunchucks entangled themselves around the blade, but this time she was ready. Before the Chūnin could react, he was violently pulled closer to the woman, catching him off balance she slammed her foot into the boys' abdomen and kicked him back the way he was yanked. Lee let out a pained gasp as the boot connected, his weapons being wrenched from his grip. Discarding the others weapons carelessly, she moved swiftly after the Shinobi. The spandex cladded youth met her halfway ducking and weaving, getting in a few punches of his own. This went on for a few more minutes as the paired danced around each other. As the foul blade came slice down, Lee grabbed her armoured wrist, and pried the weapon out other her tight grip, and gave her a volley of punches and kicks followed by several more. Matusho's soldier was set off balance by the barrage of kicks and punches that assaulted her, she struggled to get her footing. Lee appeared before her shockingly fast and smashed his fist into her chest; the whole cuirass glowed purple, the protective field absorbed the impact. In the next split second, he was behind her and repeated. He did this twice more, on his third strike his attack was intercepted, the sound from the collision echoed loudly. The Brute held the Chūnin's fist in a crippling grip, barely controlled rage filled her having enough of the fight she twisted his clutched fist violently; the sound of snapping bones echoed in the Chūnin's ears along with the searing pain that accompanied it.
Not moments after breaking his wrist, she assaulted the pain ridden shinobi, crippling him in several places. Her eyes burnt brightly from anger and satisfaction she felt at the whimpering teen before her.
Every part of Lee's body screamed in excruciating pain; an ice-cold hand gripped his throat, hauling him up so he was a head above her.
"I'm going to take great pleasure in extinguishing your life." With the hand around his neck tightening, choking the life out of him. Breathing came evermore difficult; his ability to remain conscious slipped from him.
Matusho's warrior gleeful smile began to spread ever wider beneath the helmet, as she increased the pressure of her occupied hand around the Chūnin's neck. The end was nearing rapidly for her captive; his eyes rolling to the back of his head, his spandex clad body going limp.
Finally, it was done.
The armoured hand released its death grip, letting the limp body fall unceremoniously to the ground below. Wiping her hand on her legs as if trying to get something foul off, she moved away from the crumpled remains collecting her discarded weapons. As she sheathed her blades a warmth made itself known; reaching inside her side pouch retrieving a small orb that was glowing a faint yellow, before turning blue. For a few moments she stood there listening to what was being said;
"As you command." With that the orb returned to its original soulless colour, pocketing it away. Giving a short whistle she watched as her comrades disengaged from the Konoha shinobi and vanish on the spot.
Both Guy and Neji looked around as the enemy disappeared one by one, until all that remained was the head female Brute; her eyes gleaming with twisted satisfaction, and then she too left. In the wake of her leaving, she revealed the crumpled remains of their fallen comrade. In seconds the pair raced to him, as they reached him Neji dropped to his knees, hastily moving aside his long hair and rested his ear against the still chest of his friend. Straining his hearing, he prayed to every deity in existence that his friend lived. Nothing reached his ears, activating his Kekkei Genkai he saw the weaning remains of the others chakra.
Without a second thought the pair sprang into action, gently straightening out the teen as to minimise the possibility of coursing more damage. Once that was done they began to preform CPR.
Minutes passed at a snail's pace as the pairs first aid training took over.
As the Hyūga went through the compressions, he sent some of his own limited Chakra through the others body, to try and get it flowing by itself. Pale eyes watch as each burst of his own nudged the others Charka, but still nothing was happening. Beads of sweat streamed down his face as exhaustion made itself known; knowing he wouldn't be able to keep it for much longer, he gave one final push of Chakra. Having enough, his body succumbed to the fatigue that he stubbornly kept a bay, just as the darkness embraced him like an old friend, a series of splattering coughs reached his ears.
Guy caught his student, holding him securely, he watched as Lee's large almond eyes fluttered opened. Turning his head ever so slightly, Lee looked up at his mentor;
"Sensei?" came the raspy question, instinctively he began to move, pain screamed throughout the boys broken body, pushing pass his split lips.
"Easy, Lee." Resting a large hand on the others shoulder. "Be still, you've sustained multiple broken bones." Heeding his mentor's advice, Lee rested his head back down on the dirt, closing his eyes. The pain subsided somewhat but was still coursing through his warn out body.
"What happened to Neji?"
"He's fine for the most part." He replied as he laid the Jōnin down, next to the other boy. "He pushed himself to the brink of collapse." A small amount of pride coloured Guys words as he looked at the pair of them. "You both did wonderfully, my youthful students." Getting up, Guy surveyed the surrounding area for any threats, satisfied he moved over to some trees and began to break branches that were straight enough to be used as splints. Satisfied with his haul, he moved back over to his charges and began to gently secure Lee's broken body.
Daft hand worked swiftly, securing each splint in place, mild grunts of pain accompanied the process. This went on for a few moments longer before the older male was satisfied with his work, a slow sigh of relief passed Lee's lips as the shooting pain settled back down to its original level.
Guys head shot up as two sets of feet touch down not that far from them;
"What happened here?" came Tentens hoarse voice, as both she and Sai approached the trio.
"We engaged Matsuho's soldiers." Explained Guy as he took in the pairs appearance. "It seemed you both had your own encounter." Dark eyes noted the numerous scorch marks, raw cheeks, blackened faces and the stench of smoke that clung to them like a dark cloud.
"We were almost BBQ!" explained Tenten, as she gratefully accepted the container of water from the teen next to her.
"They planned this." Expressed the not-so-pale ex-root member, "It was too much of a coincidence for it not to be planned." Guy hummed in agreement, taking his eyes off the newcomers and looked back over the battlefield. Laying undisturbed were the two deceased soldiers; the need to investigate grew, but the care of his pupils out weighed it. Not wasting anymore time, he summoned Ningame.
"I need you to take these four back to Konoha Hospital." He instructed the summons. The age-old turtle gave a shaky nod, walked over to the young teens;
"I need you boy, to be touching the two on the floor, while you Tenten, holding onto him with one hand, while the other is touching me." Realising that they weren't going to get a say in the matter, they did as they were told. Satisfied with the bridge they made, they were gone in the customary plume of white smoke. Breathing a bit easier knowing that they would be taken care off, Guy moved over to the impaled warrior. A ghostly sensation of pins and needles ran up his arm, absentmindedly rubbing his arm to remove the unpleasant sensation. He stood there observing the corpse trying to come up with a way to remove the imbedded weapon; his analysing gaze rested on the warrior's gloves, reaching down he removed one, almost dropping the article as it doubled in size. After a few long moments he waited to see if it would do anything else, but it remained inert; steeling himself he put on the item, it seemed to swallow his hand whole. As soon as it was on, the piece of armour shrunk down to fit his hand perfectly, as though it was made specially for him. The instance it shrank down, the experience Jōnin ripped it off his hand sending it several meters away, landing on the dirt, it reverted to its original size. Silence followed, only the rustling of the leaves filled the air. He stared at the gauntlet, half expecting it to suddenly jump up and scurry off into the surroundings like something possessed; still it lay there innocently.
"You've been watching too many horror films." He muttered to himself, as he retrieved the article and reinserted his hand, not having such a freak out at such an innocent piece of clothing. Making his way back over to the imbedded long sword, he hesitantly wrapped his covered hand around the hilt of the blade, expecting the ghastly sensation to shoot up his hand, however it didn't. Giving a forceful tug the blade was extracted from its confines; as soon as the blade was free an indigo coloured liquid began to run free. Guy watched as the liquid made its way out, making tiny streams as it went. Stabbing the blade into the ground, he cautiously crouched down to get a closer look, but far enough away if the need arises. Senses on high alert, he carefully wiped a covered finger over a nearby stream of liquid. Swiping a finger, he noticed it left a slight smudge mark on the armour;
"Interesting." He muttered to himself as he rubbed his finger and thumb together, watching how it behaved. "It seems a lot like blood…" almost with out a thought he brought the coated finger up to his nose; hesitantly he gave it a whiff, a metallic smell filled his nostrils. "Yep, that's blood, or whatever is their equivalent of blood." His curiosity satisfied, he unclasped a storage scroll and unravelled it to accommodate the fallen enemies' body and weapon. Moving around he took a hold of the Cuirass and hauled him onto the outstretched scroll, retrieving the blade Guy laid it on top off the warrior. His attention was caught by a simple looking necklace; yet again his curiosity got the better of him, gently holding the piece of jewellery, turning it over in his gloved hand as he examined it. A small latch caught his attention, taking a deep breath, he unclasped the latch revealing its contents.
It was a locket.
Two pictures stared at the unfamiliar face; one was of a woman, warmly smiling up at him sitting in a high-backed chair, her hands resting on her swollen stomach. And the other of a boy and a girl no more than six or seven years old smiling brightly. Shakily drawing in a breath, the shinobi closed the locket, gently placing it on the man's chest. Raising to his full height, he activated the scroll, sealing away its contents. For a moment he stood there unmoving trying to recenter himself. He thought back to his old sensei;
A young Guy sat alongside his sensei in a tavern; the noise of the locals not making an impact on the duo as they sat in silence. It was the aftermath of a hard fight were the young Genin had taken his first life. The shock of it still hung around the boy like a dead weight. The silence between the two males dragged on. Attentively, he looked at his teacher, who was sitting calmly, offering silent support to him. A realisation crept up from the back of his mind, as he looked over at the man. Gathering what little courage he had he said;
"When we fight, you make them not people. So, their deaths don't stick to you." The Jōnin turned his head to look at his young charge.
"Yes. I picked that up from my own sensei. You've got to keep it separate. Out there anything could be a threat; you kill for the team. No questions asked." He confirmed, pausing to allow it to sink in. "When we're at home or in the tavern, it goes back to normal. People get to be people again."
"What happens if someone attacks you at home or in a tavern?" Guy inquired, his reply;
"That's when shit gets messed up."
That conversation always stayed with him, drawing on the wisdom of his sensei's words, he recentered himself, becoming detached from his feelings. Resealing the scroll securely, he moved over to the mangled Brute. Again, he repeated what he did with the first warrior, once that was done, he left the area and began to look for the others.
Lady Chiyo and Sakura found themselves instantly being engaged with Matsuho's soldiers; luckily, they managed to remain relatively close together, each able to watch the others back. Kunai in hand Sakura parried each blow that her assailants brought down, any opening that presented itself, her clenched fist connected with the enemies' body and annihilated their armour as though it wasn't there. Her eyes blazing with determination as she engaged yet another enemy.
Lady Chiyo dispatched two soldiers that naively thought of her as a weak old lady. Taking the opening that presented itself, she unravelled a scroll, seconds later a rather large plume of smoke erupted from the inconspicuous item. As the smoke began to lessen in density two shadowy shapes could be seen; as the smoke faded revealing the Mother and Father puppets. In seconds the puppets came to life, weapons at the ready; with purposeful finger movements the parent puppets launched into battle, fighting as one.
The battle lasted for a good half an hour until the final soldier dropped to the floor, an eerie calm followed. Nothing moved. No sound. Both Kunoichi stayed on guard, eyes constantly scanning for threats. Still nothing.
"Stay vigilant, Sakura!" called out the veteran, "I doubt that was it." The groaning of the younger female's leather gloves reached her ears. As if out of nowhere, the surrounding temperature dropped drastically, an ice-cold mist came rolling along the ground. A violent shiver ran up and down the pink haired teens spine, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.
'Somethings watching us.' The sound of slow, shuffling feet echoed around them; the pair looked everywhere as it sounded as though it was drawing closer to them. A ghostly clicking sound vibrated throughout the area, then more clicking noises seemed to answer it. A snapping of a branch caught the Kunoichi's attention.
A hunched being stood there; its head bowed and at an awkward angle along with its arms and legs. The things skin a pasty grey, and in some parts showing the rotting flesh or the bone itself. Once again, the clicking sound started, but this time it was coming loudly from everywhere. A shocked gasp came from the Suna-nin as her experienced eyes widened at the sight of the multiple mysterious creatures all around them; more emerged from behind the tall trees while others were crouched on the over hanging branches of said trees. The clicking sound reached a crescendo, then dropped dead silent putting the shinobi on high alert. A sharp snapping sound drew emerald green eyes back to the first unearthly being; she watched the jolted movements as it seemed to try and straighten itself. Time seemed to freeze as the undead demon brought itself to its full height; it stood almost at six foot, then went still again. Fear and anticipation swelled in the young Kunoichi's stomach, trying her best to not let the fear take hold, she subconsciously shuffled her feet into a familiar stance. As if been slapped awake by the sound of moving dirt, the ghastly creatures head sprung up; its eyes blazing an ethereal green, its mouth barely hanging in place. A blood curdling scream erupted out of the things mouth, its loose jaw bobbling back and forth before snapping shut, then another couple of screams followed.
Abruptly lifting its right leg up, it appeared, as though it would topple backwards for the briefest of seconds, then flung itself forward running full pelt at the pair. It was then that the other demonic creatures came at the Kunoichi, gangly legs making short work of the distance between them.
A shadow came over Sakura, green eyes widening at the sight of one of the things coming at her from above; its decaying arms out stretched, its bony claw like hands poised to attack. Movement from the side caught her attention, quickly dodging the attack she grabbed the withering arm, ignoring the burning coldness that seemed to emanate from the appendage, and throw the creature at the other one that was attacking from above. She barely had time to duck another series of attacks, more seemed to be coming from all directions; she ducked, weaved, punched, kicked and hurled the horrors away, but still they came.
Time seemed non-existent to the battling shinobi, still the hordes of demonic creatures still came, no matter the state they were in; some were missing limbs while others were missing whole parts of their spindly bodies.
Chiyo was finding it hard to remain out of reach of those deadly hands; she watched as both the Mother and Father puppets were overran; the creatures ripping them apart. She watched as the splintering parts of the puppets were scattered everywhere, unholy green eyes locking onto her. Tired eyes blazing with determination as she readied her aging body for close quarter combat. She didn't have to wait long before she herself was confronted by the undead.
Just like her younger counterpart, the seasoned Shinobi engaged the beings from hell. Her strikes, parries and dodges were seamless against the onslaught. For several intense minutes she remained steady, but her old age began to make itself known; her breathing became heavier, her seamless movements began to suffer. Still the enemy was relentless in their attacks, driving the pair further away from each other. A razor-sharp hand came slashing at her face, she barely managed to dodge the full force of the attack, the claw like hand managed to inflict a cut on her wrinkled face; no bigger than a paper cut. Subconsciously she wiped the faint tickle of blood that oozed from such an ordinary looking cut. Having enough, Chiyo rounded on the closest demonic creature and went through a series of punches and kicks, completely decimating the creature. Resolve bolstered, she went to the next one and on and on, refusing to let her age stop her.
Sakura smashed two heads together ignoring the sounds of bones breaking, or the questionable bodily fluids that was splattered on her. One of the creatures managed to catch her unaware, jumping on her back, hands ready to shred her alive. Instinctively she reached over her shoulder, grabbing a tight handful of whatever remained of their clothing and wrenched the screaming thing off her back, hurling it towards its own kind.
As Lady Chiyo fought off multiple enemies, a steady wave of dizziness and nausea began to cloud her mind. Stubbornly she persisted, engaging each new threat with the same determination and resolve at the start of the conflict. She managed two repel two more, but the third creature proved to much for her to handle, as the knife-like fingers were plunged into her stomach. Excruciating pain exploded through her body; a high-pitched ringing filled her ears, faintly hearing Sakura cry her name out.
The teen raced towards the older woman; disposing of anything that got in her way. As she was mere meters away from her target, her cocked fist blazed blue;
"Chanara!" she shouted as her fist connected with the decomposing torso; the chakra enhanced attack ploughed through the things torso, with her free hand she grabbed the creature's wrist effectively snapping it like a twig. Retracting her embedded hand, she kicked the creature away from them. Again, she clenched her fist engulfing it in chakra, she spun on her heel and struck the ground with the chakra enhanced hand. Smashing her fist into the ground, causing the ground to explode outwards, sending huge chunks everywhere; shrieks filled the air as the unholy beings were flung in many directions. Satisfied with the time that was brought, Sakura turn her attention back to the retired Shinobi examining the imbedded hand.
"I'm going to heal you, while slowly removing the hand." She explained, receiving a wooden nod in reply. Taking a deep breath, she began. Slowly she began to extract the hand, while she healed the wounds. After three agonisingly long minutes the appendage was removed, a relieved sign accompanied the removal;
"Thank you, Sakura." A soft smile answered her, the sound of sand could be heard, both looked at the decayed hand as it began to crumble. In less than a minute it was completely gone, so was any evidence of body fluids on the hand she used to heal the other with. Both were perplexed by the sudden turn of events.
"Sakura. Pass me that arm over there." Instructed Chiyo, doing as she was asked, Sakura picked up the wanted limb, and handed it to over. "I wonder…." In moments her free hand was surrounded by healing chakra, placing it on the decaying limb. For a few minutes, nothing happened, then just like the hand, it began to crumble into dust.
"Amazing." Breathed out Chiyo as she watched the dust sieve through her fingers, "It seems as though healing chakra completely destroys them."
"Yeah, but that was after constant exposer." Voiced the other medic, "How can we apply what we know, to our current situation?" silence fell between them. A familiar clicking sound resonated around them, instantly putting them back on guard; both watched as more and more poured out from their hiding places. Soon the area was filled of the unholy creatures, all making clicking causing the pair to wince at the deafening sound. Somehow the temperature dropped even lower, to the point that frost was spreading up the trees and covering the leaves. Just like before the clicking reached a peak then fell silent, but this time, a different clicking drifted over the stillness; movement from the back ranks caught their attention.
A heavily cloaked figure floated down from the tree tops, stopping gracefully mere millimetres off the floor. Nothing happened for several seconds then two elegant ice white hands reached up and pulled back the hood. Wispy white hair floated freely around as if it had a mind of its own; As in matching her hair the rest of her face was just as pale with a slight ting of blue around the eyes and lips.
"Lady Chiyo, will you be able to continue fighting?" inquired Sakura, as she stood in front of the older woman, poised ready for the fight to come.
"No." she replied, however she removed a scroll from within her robes. "However, they can." With that she unravelled it with a flourish activating its contents;
"White Secret Technique: The Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets." Ten white clad puppets emerged, all in default fighting stances. "I took a fort with these." Both Kunoichi, waited for the other shoe to drop.
The newcomer stared at them blankly, her chilled face void of any emotion, even as she raised a slender hand pointing at the shinobi.
"Feast upon them, my Children." As her icy words left her mouth, the decomposing bodies let loose skin crawling screams, then just like before all hell broke loose; Human and Puppets vs the Demonic Abominations.
For what seemed like hours the two sides fought; hacking, slashing, punching, kicking. Even though the shinobi were outnumbered hundred to one, they still didn't give up. Meeting each abomination as if was the first. More and more of those creatures kept appearing, as if there was an unending stream. Just like earlier, it was beginning to become too much for the twelve of them to handle; Their skills and teamwork was far superior than that of the enemy, but they had numbers.
Exhaustion was becoming harder to ignore, causing more mistakes from the young medic; she let out a hiss of pain as a talon like hand slashed across her arm, anger bubbled up from within as she smashed the creature in the face.
'Focus!' berating herself for such a slip in concertation. Ignoring the gashes on her arm she leaped back into battle. Longer it dragged on the more ground they lost; one by one the puppets fell to overwhelming odds, until only one remained.
As each puppet fell, Chiyo tried to take down more with each remaining one, sweat running down her face in steady streams, her stubbornness was the only thing keeping exhaustion at bay. With her last puppet, she aimed straight for the anaemic looking woman; hacking and slashing its way through towards the back. Disposing of the last bit of resistance, she had a clear shot to her. Two massive blades came down in an arc, and for the briefest of moments it appeared as though the weapons would make contact. They did, with the ground where the creature was moments before. Age old eyes widened in surprise as she watched the attack miss, her hesitation caused her final puppet to be decimated. The air around her dropped further, her senses screaming there was something dangerous behind her.
Everything seemed to slow down, as the Suna-nin turned to face the floating demon. The demon's nails grew several feet longer, growing into points then thrusted them at the old lady before her. Shock filled Chiyo's body, her mouth wide open, a splatter of crimson blood on her wrinkled cheeks.
"Sa…Sakura!" cried the older medic, as she looked at the impaled teen. She watched as the teen reached for the extruding nails, gripping them tightly; a short shout of pain followed the action. Hearing the shout of pain jolted the other Shinobi out of her stupor, in an instance her hands were blazing green as she began to heal the injuries. Her eyes moved up to the attackers, noticing those transparent eyes harden. Sakura gave another shout of pain as the demonic creature tried to extract her imbedded nails. A tug of war ensued; Sakura held on with all her strength, trying to ignore the agonising pain that ran rampant through her body.
Realising that she couldn't extract her nails from the pink haired girl, the demon drew herself closer until she was flushed against the other girl. Once she was flushed against the other girl, she latched her mouth onto the others neck sinking her teeth into the warm flesh.
This time Sakura really screamed in unadulterated agony; as the sensation of frozen water flooded through her, setting her nerves alight. Intricate patterns of frost began to spread across her body, sapping the warmth from her. Everything was becoming to much for her body to handle; the pain, the despairing coldness. She felt as though she was floating in the ever-darkening void, detached from her body.
As the darkness encompass her, a distant voice seemed to be shouting something, but for the life of her she couldn't understand it. Again, the voice shouted, still the young Kunoichi couldn't understand it. The Darkness fully encompassed her, as she floated into oblivion.
'FIGHT!'
That single word shouted with determination bounced around the teen, until something clicked into place.
The blanket of darkness suddenly evaporated around her, felling herself back in her own body. Without warning she flung herself backwards, with all her strength taking down the demon with her. The demons mouth unlatched itself from the teens neck, as she was thrown backwards with the teen. Thanks to the abuse her nerves suffered, the resulting pain was dulled somewhat; with every ounce of strength she possessed she pinned the being down with her own body. Not wasting any more time, she enveloped herself in healing chakra. The demon beneath her thrashed around franticly trying to get away from the chakra, blood curdling screams resonated throughout the area.
Sakura slammed onto the floor as the creature managed to get out of the hold; both Shinobi watched as the pale being floated wildly around, clawing at her own face. Suddenly she dropped to the floor, still screaming and scratching. Her 'Children' started to disintegrate, until finally all that was left was the 'Mother'. The screeching stopped abruptly, elegant hands withdrawing from her pale face; Hatred and anger blazed within those near transparent eyes, as she stared at the other females. Her face twisted to match her eyes, and screamed at them, with everything she had; then it was sharply cut off. Slowly, her once elegant face gradually turned grey, spreading all over her body. Soon her entire body went rigid, and just like her 'Children' she crumbled away.
Ignoring the rise in the surrounding temperature, Chiyo was instantly at the Chūnin's side healing the worst of the wounds. Noting the teen was fazing in and out of consciousness, she acted quickly. Immediately after the worst wounds were healed her hands changed from a calming green to blazing pale blue. For several moments she worked, bringing Sakura back from the brink of death. Disengaging her chakra noticed the teen Coming to.
"Are you alright, Sakura?" gentle but firm hands held the teen, steadying her as she rose in an upright position.
"Yeah, just feel like I've been trampled by a dozen Tsunade's." woodenly, she reached into her pouch withdrawing two food pills. Silently handing one over, then popping one into her own mouth. Once feeling slightly better she shakily rose to her feet, holding out a hand to the other. Chiyo took the offered hand, she too rose to her feet, suddenly stumbling forward as a wave of exhaustion hit her. Sakura caught the Sand Shinobi, easing them back down on the ground.
"We need to get you back to Sunagakure, so you can rest." Stated the teen, as she got them back onto their feet.
"No."
"But..."
"There is something I have to do, Sakura." The finality in the elders worn voice, quelled any argument from the teen.
Clashing of steel, explosions of Jutsu's colliding, the collapsing of trees and the destruction of the ground filled the air.
"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" multiple fireballs streaked towards the Agent of Matsuho, dodging the attack with ease, sending back his own volley of fireballs. Spinning around he blocked the blonde's blade; sparks flying as the two blades grinded against the other. Kakashi appeared behind the agent in a blink of an eye, his own blade cutting through the air. Sensing the Jōnin appearing behind him, the demon slayer kicked the teen forcefully in the stomach, sending him several feet away, while spinning on his heel to block the Jōnin's attack. As the two blades grinded against each other, the demon used his spare hand and blasted the Shinobi with a torrent of flames.
Demonic flames engulfed the Jōnin, sending him crashing backwards, cutting it off to dodge a series of savage attacks from the Jinchūriki. Glowing red eyes fixed unblinkingly on the agent; faint wisps of Kyūbi's chakra began to leak out of the boy. A twisted smirk grew on the Bijū slayers face as he matched the emitting chakra with his own; the two chakras clashing together hissing violently.
"You're going to pay for that you bastard!" snarled the teen as he kept up his strikes, not giving the other a moments reprieve.
"I'm soo scared." The agent mocked, as he deflected a blow, "What am I going to do?" sidestepping. "How do you hope to defeat me, when you couldn't save your friend?" his words were met with a blast of Hinako's chakra, hitting him like a tidal wave. Wicked laughter flowed from the demon's mouth, enjoying riling the Jinchūriki up. "Is that all you've got?! No wonder you failed your friends!" getting up off the floor, dusting himself down.
"Shut up!" screamed the feral Chūnin as he came flying at the agent with a purple Rasengan. Just as the Jutsu made contact, the demon vanished causing the attack to destroy a large portion of the surrounding area. Rematerializing some distance away, he watched the destruction the single attack did; the sound of chirping birds came loudly from behind him. Annoyance flashed through his soulless eyes as he watches the Jōnin come at him.
"Chidori!"
'Again, with him!' he thought irritatedly as he teleported out of reach, 'Why can't he just die?!' heartless eyes watched as the two Shinobi regrouped. Multiple scenarios formed in his mind, his eyes never leaving the distant pair. A warmth made itself known to him, reaching inside his side pouch he retrieved a small orb that was glowing a faint yellow, before turning blue. For a few moments he stood there listening to what being said; as it turned back to its original colour he called out to the pair;
"It seems our fun is being cut short." A smile threatening to explode over his face. "Until next time!" and with that he was gone.
"Get back here you coward!" roared Naruto as he jumped to where the agent last stood. "The next time we meet, I swear I'll destroy you!"
"That's enough, Naruto!" scolded the Jōnin as he placed a firm hand on the boy's shoulders, "He's gone." The last part he said more calmly, squeezing the others shoulder. "I doubt that would be the last we see of him."
"I…I…I just want to hurt him soo badly, Kaka-sensei." Barely contained rage coloured the boy's words as he tried to calm himself down. He was finding it difficult to calm down, the need to kill and destroy was roaring deep within him. "I know that some of the rage is coming from Hinako." He turned to his sensei looking the man in the eye, "But the rest is all from me." A second hand gripped the other shoulder, "I hate Him. I hate Her. For what they did to Gaara. I just don't know what I would do if something happens to the people I care about." Tears steadily ran down his whiskered cheeks. "I don't know if I would cope with the loss." Strong arms enveloped the emotional teen, bring the younger boy flush against him. Kakashi stood there holding his young charge, as he allowed the teen to cry into his jacket; the teens own hand clutching the back of his jacket.
For several moments the pair stayed like that, slowly he released the Chūnin as he felt the boy being to step away from him.
"Thanks, Kaka-sensei." Sniffed the boy as he wiped his face with his sleeve.
"No worries, Naruto." Affectionately ruffling the boy's blond locks. "Let's go and see if we can regroup with the others." With that the pair left.
Lady Chiyo and Sakura walked in silence, slowly making their way back to the clearing were Gaara lay. The young Kunoichi kept stealing glances at the exhausted medic who was braced tightly against her.
"Chiyo-baasama. The jutsu you used after healing me, wasn't a medical jutsu was it." Silenced followed that statement.
"No, it wasn't." confirmed the retired shinobi. "It was a life transfer jutsu that I developed some time ago. I was going to use it for my Grandson…" silence followed, as she refused to give up anymore information. Taking the hint, the pink haired Chūnin remained silent.
Half an hour passed lazily before they arrived back into the clearing, instantly spotting Guy, Kakashi and Naruto, who was standing next to the Kazekage's corpse. Hearing the pair arrival, sorrow filled eyes locked onto the younger Kunoichi's green ones;
"Sakura." Was all that the teen said, as he looked imploringly at her, the smallest flicker of hope in his azure eyes. Gently smiling at him, Sakura nodded at him, while Lady Chiyo gazed emotionlessly at him.
Having moved to a better location, four pairs of eyes watched the Chūnin kneeling over the Kazekage's still body. No one dared break the silence that hang around them as the teen worked, a rushing breeze ran freely through the clearing. Unable to take the silence any longer, Naruto took a tentative step forward.
"Sakura-chan…" his eyes on her, as she reluctantly removed her hands of the teens chest, raising to her feet, she shook her head refusing to look at her friend. The message was received loud and clear. Still the wind moved unhindered around them, unfazed why the sadness the hung around the humans.
It was finally hitting the whiskered cheek teen, that his friend was gone. Tears started to swell in the corners of his eyes, desperately trying to hold back the tears that now flowed freely down his face.
"Why…? Why did… Why is it always Gaara?" he bit out, his fist clenching tightly. "Why did he have to die like this?!" taking hollow steps towards his deceased friend. "He just became the Kazekage!"
"Calm down, Uzumaki Naruto." Came Chiyo's voice;
"Shut up!" screamed the heart broken teen, tears falling rapidly down his face as he faced the old lady, his sapphire eyes shining from raw emotion. "This wouldn't have happened if you Sand Shinobi hadn't put a Bijū inside Gaara! Did you even ask Gaara at all about how he felt?!" pausing for a moment, as he tried to calm down he muttered;
"Jinchūriki, my arse." Everything was bubbling to the surface. "You've no right to act so arrogant by labelling us with that word you created!" for the first time in a very long time, the retired Kunoichi felt shame of herself and her actions. The anger finally ran out, and all the teen could do was allow himself to cry freely, his heart aching from all the emotion.
"I couldn't save Sasuke… and I couldn't even save Iruka. And now…I… I couldn't even save Gaara. I trained so hard for three years, nothing's changed from three years ago." His voice hitching at the end, unaware of Chiyo shakily rising to her feet, as she made her way to Gaara's corpse.
Uneven footsteps made the emotional teen to look up, as Lady Chiyo walked right pass him stopping at Gaara's body. Kneeling, she looked at the red-haired teen for some time, as if looking for answers. For a while nothing happened, all eyes were on her; finally closing her eyes having found the answers she sought, she placed her hands on the teens torso. Taking a deep breath, she activated her jutsu; everything in a tight radius around her moved from the force of the jutsu. Sakura's eyes widened as she recognized what the older lady was doing;
"Chiyo-baasama! That jutsu will…" she didn't finish her sentence as the medic turned her head and gave her an eye smile. Emerald green eyes softened as she understood what the medic was saying.
"What are you trying to do?" asked the stumped blond, as he watched the woman work. Sakura on the other hand watched sadly as she thought back to the last conversation she had with her.
'This is what you were talking about.'
"Is that…"
"Yeah." It was all the two adults said to one another as they watched on.
"Hey! What do you think you are doing!" called out Naruto angrily, as he took as step towards her, but he was stopped by Sakura's hand. He looked at her, her gaze unblinkingly staring at Lady Chiyo.
"Chiyo-baasama… in exchange for your own life…"
"Sakura…" his words stopped abruptly as his teammate looked at him, hard.
"She's going to bring Gaara-kun back to life." Shock filled the younger teen, while the Jōnin expected it.
"Back to life…Is such a thing… really possible?" he asked as he turned to the older woman.
"This Jutsu…is a special jutsu that only Lady Chiyo possesses…"
"Really?" for the first time that day he felt hope swell within him. Kakashi on the other hand observed the chakra flow with his sharingan.
"There's no doubt that it comes with a heavy price…"
Sweat rolled down in steady streams, her age-old body shaking as she pushed herself beyond it's limits. The pale blue Chakra field began to shrink, making a disgruntled groan, she forced it to stop, but it lasted for only a second, before shrinking further until the chakra field barely covered her hands. Seeing this, Naruto began to make his way around his dead friend,
"Kuso! I don't have enough chakra…" she breathed out as she tried again, determined to do it. Now the field was just over her fingers, her body tired, she looked at the Kanji tattooed teen, her breathing heavy. "Kuso." She muttered, as she looked down at her own hand, unaware of the approaching teen.
Experienced eyes widened as two hands appeared in front of her; shakily she looked up and found Naruto looking at her with hope and determination;
"You can use my chakra Dattebayo! Would that be possible, Baa-chan!" both looked the other in the eye.
"Gaara is a Jinchūriki just like he is. More than anyone in Sunagakure, Naruto knows how he feels. After all, Jinchūriki have been treated the same way in every village. That's why he feels like he must save Gaara. It doesn't make any difference to him if he's from Konoha or Suna."
Kakashi words echoed through her thoughts as she looked at both boys, making her mind up she spoke to the boy;
"Place your hands, on top of mine." Her voice wiry, hearing an affirmative sound, the Konoha shinobi did as he was directed to. In an instance the chakra field was ablaze again, small noises of pain came from him as his chakra was pulled from his body. Still her eyes were cast down as another memory came to her;
"Naruto's dream is to become Hokage. He was frustrated when he heard that Gaara had been made Kazekage. But at the same time, he was also very happy for him from the bottom of his heart. Naruto has a mysterious power; however small the words he exchanges, he makes friends immediately with everyone he meets…"
A small smile rose on her face;
"Amidst this shinobi world created by foolish old people…I am glad that a person like you showed up…" Naruto watched in surprise as the woman went on; "The things I did in the past were nothing but mistakes… But… in my last hour, it seems I shall finally be able to do the right thing. Sunagakure…Konoha…" raising her head, as she looked up at the changing sky. "The future is likely to be different from the way things were in our time…" Looking down at their touching hands she continued, "Your mysterious power that Kakashi spoke of… That power is likely to alter the future greatly… when you become a Hokage like none before…" Naruto's eyes shone with emotion at hearing her words. "And you, Sakura…!"
"Hai…" surprise etched across her face, as the woman she began to look up to addressed her;
"Next time help the person you cherish most…not an old lady with one foot in the grave. You are very much like me. There aren't many women who have a man's courage. You will become a Kunoichi who surpasses her master." Tears streamed freely down the girls face after listening to her.
"Naruto, this old lady has a favour to ask you." Only a sound of surprise followed her words, "You are the only person who can know the extent of Gaara's pain, and he knows your pain too. Please…help Gaara…" her breathing fading as she uttered her last words.
Incessant ringing filled Gaara's ears, his mind jumbled as he tried to think clearly. Something echoed from the corner of his mind, still he couldn't make heads or tails of what the sound was. Again, the noise echoed, this time sounding more than a random noise. His mind subconsciously focusing on it over the constant ringing;
"Gaara!"
He knew that from somewhere, but he couldn't quite place it;
'Who's Gaara?' he thought, as the ringing continued.
"Gaara!"
'There it is again.' Jolting out off his thoughts when a warm hand rested itself on his shoulder. Looking up he saw a Spiky haired teen, looking at him with unabashed joy.
"Gaara." The teen said, it took the Kazekage's mind a few seconds to catch up.
"Naruto…" the smile on the boys' face widened, woodenly turned his head to look around him; everywhere he looked, he saw Sand Shinobi. "This is…"
"Everyone came running to help you." Supplied the blond happily, a Sand nin came running up to them;
"Gaara-sama! Are you all right?!" she asked, watching as the surprised Kazekage stiffly nodded his head. Cheers of joy and thanks filled the air at his response. All around him people celebrated, still in shock he couldn't seem to speak;
"Putting us to all this trouble!" joked Naruto, still overcome with joy.
"Good grief." Came Kankuro voice as he walked towards the trio, "You're such a bothersome little brother, making us worry like that."
"What's with you guys, acting arrogant like that?!" cut Tamari's voice as she scolded the pair. "Gaara's the Kazekage. Don't be so disrespectful! You're nothing but subordinates!" huffing out her displeasure at them, in her next breath she pushed aside Naruto to be closer to her younger sibling. "Gaara…How are you feeling?" teal eyes looked at her for a moment before he slowly tried to stand up. His whole body shook as he tried;
"You shouldn't try to get up so quickly. Your body hasn't completely healed." She said in a compassionate tone, taking her advice he sat back down. It wasn't much longer before the whiskered teen was knocked out of the way again by a pair of girls who wanted to be closer to the revived teen. One of them said;
"Out of the way, underling." He skidded across the ground a few times, before coming to a halt. Rising from the floor he looked at the pair chatting away to each other while Tamari blocked them from getting to the red haired teen.
"Don't feel so depressed." Came Kankuro's voice, as he kneeled next to him. "It's a well know fact that women have a weakness for the cool, elite type. But that's not something you have to worry about." He said with a knowing glint in his eye.
"I think Shikamaru said something like that too." Naruto commented as he sat on his legs, looking disgruntledly at the two girls. Kankuro looked back over to his brother;
"He knows the same pain as me…and he has taught me that I could change the path of my life. Someday, I want to feel needed by someone."
"Arigatou, Naruto." He said as he looked at the Chūnin.
"If you're going to say that, then you should say it to Baa-chan, not me…" he said as he looked over to where Sakura was holding her. "She saved Gaara with an incredible Medical Ninjustsu. She got tired out so she's sleeping now, but when Baa-chan gets back to the village, she'll get well again…" he was cut off by the other male;
"No, you're wrong." Startled by the finality in his voice, hearing the tone Gaara began to pay attention to what was being said.
'Chiyo-baasama used that jutsu…' he thought as he looked at the still form.
"What do you mean I'm wrong?" a stillness followed, as it seemed everyone was paying attention to what was been said.
"She wasn't using Medical Ninjutsu, she used a Reanimation Ninjutsu." Gaara looked around to the fallen elder. Sapphire blue eyes widen in understanding. "Lady Chiyo is dead."
"Wh…What do you mean by that?" stammered the blond as he looked at the older teen.
"It's a ninjutsu that allows you to bring a dead person back to life in exchange for your own. At one time, in the Sand Puppet Brigade, they were doing research to develop a jutsu that could bring puppets to life. Chiyo-baasama led the project. They succeeded in developing the jutsu in theory, but midway, they decided that the risks were too great, so they designated it as a Forbidden Jutsu and was in turned sealed." Stunned from Kankurō's explanation, Naruto slowly began to rise to his feet; eyes never leaving the elders peaceful face. Her final words echoing clearly.
Ebizō looked own at his sister, expecting her to burst out laughing for pranking him.
"Just like that. She looks as if she could start laughing at any minute. Her face looks so…peaceful." As he found the word he was looking for.
"Hai." Sakura said, as tears fell down her scuffed cheeks, tightening her hold on the retired elder. "Hai." Ebizō turned to face the revived Kazekage, his face unreadable.
"Naruto, you are a mysterious one, after all. You have the power to change people." Came Tamari's voice over the silence. "Chiyo-baasama always used to say she didn't care about the village's future. She wasn't the kind of person to do such a thing for Gaara."
"Chiyo-baasama entrusted the future to Gaara and you. Hers was a magnificent end, befitting of a shinobi." supplied Kakashi, as he looked at his student.
"Yeah...just like Sandaime-Jiichan."
"That's right."
"Now, I can clearly understand Baa-chan's wish Dattebayo."
"Gaara-sama." Called out one of the kunoichi, as the teal eyed teen tried to rise to his feet; stumbling slightly, refusing the young shinobi's help. Gain he tried, almost loosing his balance completely, before a hand caught him; looking up he saw Naruto looking in another direction. Accepting the others support he managed to stand on his own two feet, as if on the same wave length, the pair walked over to the deceased Elder, stopping mere meters away. Feeling the two teens, Sakura looked up at them;
"Everyone let us pray for Chiyo-baasama." Gaara said, as all around them, everyone closed their eyes and sent a pray for the Shinobi.
Two soldiers walked through a busy street towards the palace that sat high over the bustling city. The city was alive with people selling and trading goods from across the land, music and entertainment filled the air. After several minutes they reached the outer complex of the palace, they began to make their way up the many steps to the palace proper. As they walked up the final flight of steps they paused for a moment and looked out over the city and surrounding area;
"We better not keep Her waiting." Said the male soldier as he turned to walk over the viaduct that connected the palace to the rest of the complex. As both soldiers walked along the bridge, they felt the eyes of the palace guards watching their every move.
"Do you think they ever smile?" he whispered, to the other.
"Yeah, when they run their weapon through a threat." She whispered back, making brief eye contact with one of the guards.
"Ohh, I suppose you know all about that." He joked as he wiggled his eyebrows at her, his smile growing as he caught the faintest of blushes dusting her cheeks.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Turning her face away from him, miffed that he caught her blushing of all things.
"Ohh come on Usami. That was your bonded wasn't it!?" shock filled his voice as he did a double take between his companion and palace guard. "How the hell did you manage to do that?" she didn't say anything. "How come I never got an invite to the ceremony?" huffing like a child.
"You were on assignment." She simply said as if that explained everything.
"So, how's bonded life treating you?" he asked innocently.
"Great. Better than great, I've forgotten what it was like to …"
"Be flipped arse over tits and hammered like a bent nail?" he supplied.
"No, to be loved." Giving him a hard look;
"Oh right, of course." Slightly embarrassed with his previous comment;
"Not that I'm complaining about the other thing." Smiling at her friend.
"If you two are quite finished." Came a sharp remark, causing both to snap to attention.
"Sorry, General." Both said in unison, trying hard not to giggle.
"Matsuho-sama is waiting." With that the general spun on her heel and marched through the ornate palace doors. Both promptly followed their superior;
"When is she retiring?" the bonded warrior asked keeping her voice low.
"Please, the old bat isn't going to die anytime soon. The sun will grow cold before she retires from service." He stated, matching his counterpart's volume.
"Rumour has it: she was a young maiden around the time the ten holds were in their infancy."
"Get out of here. That would mean she's what? Five-hundred-thousand years old?!"
"If not older."
"If that's true, then she'll definitely out live the sun just to spite us all. Stubborn old bat."
The conversation would have continued but they arrived at the throne rooms main door; Two heavily armoured guards stood either side of the high door. The General looked at one of the guards, inclining her head slightly signalling for them to open the highly ornate door.
Soundlessly the door opened allowing the trio entry revealing an expansive room; All around the walls were decorated with vibrant tapestry's and paintings. Opposite them was a raised platform, and in the centre was the throne, which Matsuho sat regally a small smile on her face. Behind her were wall to ceiling stain glass windows, optimising the use of sunlight.
"Welcome home." Greeted Matsuho as she rose from her chair, taking a few steps forward waving an elegant hand signalling them to rise. With a meniscal nod a servant emerged from the side, carrying a tray with four goblets. First, he went to Matsuho then to the three military personnel. The soldiers took the offered goblets but waited for their Mistress; raising her glass in a 'cheers' jester, then proceed to drink from it. Mimicking her action, they too drank from their glass.
"I'm interested in how things went in the Shinobi world." Matsuho said, getting down to business. "From what your reports said, and those from my own Agent, everything went to plan."
"Hai, Mistress." Replied the commander, "Having them scatter in smaller groups, allowed us to confirm the intel we have from the Dark Moon Syndicate."
"And what of your assignment Commander?" Matsuho asked as she looked at the young female.
"The experimental armour worked extremely well. There are still some issues that need to be fixed, but it performed as we were told it would." She answered, "However, we lost three of our own people to the humans."
"I read that in your report. I've written letters of condolence to the families of those we lost." She looked to her General, "Have five years of pay sent to those families, as compensation." She received a nod from her trusted general.
"Mistress, if I may. I would like to hand deliver those letters, it's the least I can do."
"Very well, Commander." A sharp wave of her hand, another servant walked up to the female Commander, handing her the three sealed letters.
"You are both dismissed. Your units will be called upon in two weeks' time, until then you are on leave." With that the two Commanders bowed respectfully to her, then turned sharply and marched out of the room.
"General." Matsuho said as she sat back down in her throne, "Are your troops in position?"
"They are Mistress. They are awaiting your orders to proceed." Came her answer.
"Then they have my blessing to begin the attack on the second hold." A smile gracing her lips.
"By your command, Mistress." Bowing to her, then she too left, to dispatch the orders.
I hope you enjoyed it and was worth the wait. I know I used a bit from canon, but to me it fits nicely with everything. Regardless of if a story is Canon or Fanfiction (which is us) Chiyo passing on the torch to Naruto is a intricate part of who he is. If that makes sense, well it does in my head!
PM/review if you want to :-). Until next time!