Hi guys! Sorry this took so long to get out, but it's the final stretch towards the end of another college semester, and I had a whole bunch of papers and presentations that took priority, including one that had to be 15 pages minimum. Anyway, I got that all done, so I'm free to write more till next semester rolls around. Enjoy!
Chapter 26: Bugs vs Swords
"Nanami Otoribashi! Shino Aburame!" Genma called out, his voice sounding clearer now that the audience had quieted down. "Please make your way down to the battlefield!"
"This should be interesting," Shizuka mumbled as a swarm of insects suddenly emerged from one of the tunnels. They slowly converged in a spot close to where the proctor was standing at, dispersing as they revealed Shino standing within their midst. ". . . He always did like making an entrance."
"That is just not normal." Temari mumbled, a little unnerved by all the beetles that were flying around the arena. She wasn't much of a fan of bugs, so she was definitely glad that she wasn't matched with the bug user.
"We're ninjas with supernatural abilities," Naruto reminded her as he looked down at the field. "We will never be normal."
"Now isn't that the truth," Shikamaru grumbled as he tried to wipe the sleep from his eyes. "It's a fate we have to live with, whether we like it or not."
"Well, it does have its perks," Shizuka added as Nanami emerged from one of the other tunnels. ". . . As well as its drawbacks."
"You're telling me . . ."
Eh?! What the hell do you mean by that flesh bag?!
"I'm sure you'll figure it out on your own Shukaku."
"So, do you really think your teammate has a chance against Aburame?" Temari decided to ask as Genma talked to the two competitors down below. "Those bugs of his are not the easiest things to cut through, regardless of how good a swordswoman she is."
"True, but Nanami is more than just a swordswoman," Shizuka countered, coming to her friend's defense. "You'll just have to wait and see."
"Aw, the anticipation is killing me."
Genma soon gave the signal for the match to start, and Nanami was quick to jump back a few feet, giving herself some space from Shino and his kikaichū. Not wanting her to get too far, Shino sent a drove of his insects toward her. Nanami dodged the initial strike, and she soon found herself in a game of cat and mouse with the numerous insects.
Eventually, Shino commanded his insects to surround the two of them, and the beetles happily obliged, circling around the two as a giant cloud of chakra sucking agony. Nanami knew that she was pinned in, and that jumping up and out of the swirling insect ring was her best bet, but she figured that was a move that Shino expected her to do, so she held herself back.
"It would be best if you chose to forfeit this match," Shino advised, the kikaichū narrowing their circle. It forced Nanami to take a couple of steps forward, ensuring that she had a decent berth from any of the bugs swarming behind her. "My kikaichū are quite interested in tasting new chakra today, and it doesn't have to be yours."
"Hmm, thanks for the offer Shino, but I can't quit now. . . As for your insects, well, you'll just have to forgive me for what I'm going to do next."
"Sorry, but I don't plan on letting you get that far!"
Though his voice was calm and leveled, there was no mistaking the authority in his tone as he sent his insects toward his opponent. Noticing the incoming onslaught, Nanami could only smirk as the kikaichū neared her position.
It was a look that didn't go unnoticed by the ninjas within the arena.
"She has something up her sleeve," Temari mumbled as the swordswoman seemingly disappeared within the surge of insects that overwhelmed her. An audible gasp echoed from the main audience, and all eyes looked up to see Nanami up in the air, as if she had suddenly jumped. "Oh, there she is."
"She must have used a substitution jutsu to escape the bugs, but did she substitute herself with?" Gaara asked as the pastel haired girl twisted around, catching sight of the insects that were coming right after her. ". . . Anyway, she'll be a sitting duck up there if she doesn't do something fast."
"Don't worry," Shizuka mumbled as Nanami quickly went through a series of hand signs. ". . . Nanami isn't one for being a sitting duck."
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"
If Shino hadn't been wearing his sunglasses, his wide eyes would have been an obvious sign to those in the audience that he hadn't expected to hear such a technique coming from her mouth, let alone seeing it materialize to massacre the kikaichū he had sent to apprehend her. He quickly moved back as the large torrent of water crashed to the ground, bringing thousands of dead beetles in its wake.
He ended up having to send some of his chakra to his feet to make sure he didn't end up with soggy toes. Nanami's attack was so big that the water managed to cover the entire battlefield from end to end.
"Hmm, that was a huge jutsu she just used," Shikamaru remarked as Nanami landed among the sea of dead beetles that littered the ground. "And she barely looks winded . . ."
"Her chakra reserves must be large if she can pull off such a technique without falling over." Temari added, her eyes never moving from the scene below as Nanami looked poise to start another jutsu.
Her chakra reserves are not as large as a jinchuriki's own, Shukaku mumbled, watching the battle unfold through Gaara's eyes. . . But it's obvious that her reserves are likely larger than the boy's.
"Is it possible for Aburame to pull out a win here?"
Unless he still has a large amount of those bugs still hiding in his system, nope! Came Shukaku's rather nonchalant response. I have a damned good feeling that most of his bugs were in that first assault he sent her way. Now that they're dead, he's going to have to use his remaining bugs a lot more wisely if he wants to win.
"Sorry about your insects," said Nanami as she quickly flashed through a series of hand signs. "But I can't lose to you today. Water Release: Demon Spears!"
The water under their feet quickly shifted, shooting upward as they formed into long sharp spears. Sharpening into slick points, the spears immediately went after Shino, forcing the Aburame to dodge as quickly as he could, sacrificing more of his beetles in the process. Not letting up, Nanami unsealed her sword - the same one she used during the preliminaries - and went after him, ready to end the battle.
Having been distracted by the incoming projectiles, Shino barely had any time to react to Nanami as she neared his position. He jumped back once he saw her blade come straight for his torso, ordering some of his remaining kikaichū to block the spot she was aiming for.
Unfortunately, he didn't have enough kikaichū on hand to stop the attack, having lost many of them in his first onslaught.
He visibly winced as he felt the metal cut into his skin, ignoring the tiny screams of the insects still within his system as he felt their collective loss at their fellow brethren. Opening his eyes, he raised his arms just in time to block the kick that Nanami aimed for his chest. However, he was off-balance, leading him to skid along the ground a couple of feet before coming to a stop, flat on his back.
"Sheesh, that had to hurt," Shikamaru mumbled as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Probably nicked an organ too . . . Or maybe a few?"
"It was definitely a deep wound," Shizuka mumbled, never moving her gaze. "However, when it comes to Shino, it's never good to get too close to him, especially if his insects are still active."
"I don't think you have to worry about that this time around sis," Naruto mumbled as they watched Nanami tentatively approach the fallen Aburame. "Shino lost a whole lot of his arsenal up to this point. With lesser numbers, the beetles would prioritize protecting their host over all else."
"Which means the remaining insects in his system would focus more on protecting him from any more attacks rather than go on the offensive," Temari concluded, coming to the same conclusion as Naruto. "Huh, you definitely are smarter than you look."
"Thanks, I guess . . ." the crown prince mumbled as Shino continued to remain unmoved on the ground. Genma soon approached the Aburame's still form, reaching his body around the same time Nanami did.
Despite his stillness, something told the two that the young man was still awake.
"Proctor Shiranui, I would like to concede this match to Otoribashi." said Shino, his tone simple, yet firm as he slowly turned his head to face the older man.
"Are you sure?" Genma slowly asked. "Is this your final decision?"
"It is. . ." said the Aburame as he looked up at the sky. "I'm low on chakra and I no longer have enough insects on me to launch another counterattack. Plus, I believe Nanami's last attack did a lot more damage than I first thought."
"Yeah, I coated this blade with a paralysis agent before coming here today. At this moment, Shino has probably lost all the feeling within his torso, and he'll eventually lose feeling in the rest of his body within the next few minutes."
"Is it permanent?" Genma couldn't help but ask as he turned to the lavender haired girl.
"No; the effects should wear off in a couple of hours . . ." Nanami offered as she looked up at the buzzing crowd. ". . . And I don't think the crowd will be willing to wait a few hours for this match to continue. Plus, he's bleeding out, and that's never good."
"Agreed!" Genma decided, moving away to address the crowd.
"Anyway, sorry about this Shino, but you did put up a good fight!" the purple swordswoman offered as she put away her weapon. "How are your beetles doing?"
"My kikaichū have lost plenty of their fellow beetles, and are starving for more chakra, but other than that, they will recover," Shino answered as a medical team arrived. "I knew that facing you would be a definite challenge, and I must admit, my strategy was a little reckless, even for me . . . Still, you earned this win. I wish you good luck for the rest of the finals."
"Thank you, Shino. That means a lot coming from you."
Shino remained silent as the medics got to work in staunching the blood flow that was slowly seeping out of his wound, his glasses and his high collar giving nothing away as Nanami finally started making her way back to the waiting area.
"Well, at least that's one less person to worry about," Shikamaru mumbled as he watched Shino get carried off the field. "Granted, Nanami is tough, but it would have been a hassle to deal with Shino and his beetles."
"Looks like you dodged a kunai right there," Temari teased as she pulled her fan from off her back. "But your luck is about to run out. You're facing me next sleepyhead, and I want you wide awake when I kick your ass!"
The Crown Princess of the Wind Kingdom needed no prompting from Genma to get down to the field. She leapt onto the railing and swung her fan open, sending a gust of wind that reached the other side of the arena. The remaining competitors could only watch as she leapt onto the flat side of her fan, gliding down to the field below with a grace that only a ninja princess could muster.
"She's going to be quite the handful, isn't she?" the sleepy ninja mumbled as he watched her approach the slightly impressed proctor.
"She will not make things easy for you," Gaara decided to say, sneaking a glance at Shikamaru from the corner of his eye. "Plus, with our brother's failure, Temari will be that much more motivated to beat you."
"Great . . . Good to know."
"Oh, don't worry Shikamaru! I'm sure you'll do fine. Besides, if anyone can think their way to victory, it's certainly you!" Naruto practically exclaimed as he patted the Nara on the back. Unfortunately for Shikamaru, Naruto put a little too much force into his show of support, thus leading to the brunet going over the railing.
"Did you do that on purpose?" Shizuka couldn't help but ask after watching Shikamaru right himself just before he hit the ground.
". . . It wasn't what I intended!" Naruto countered in his defense as he turned to his sister. "But you got to admit. Shikamaru would take his sweet time getting down there and no one wants to wait for that long . . . This was just me helping him cut corners."
Gotta admit, it was effective. . . Shukaku quietly admitted, his tone shocking since he's never heard the tailed beast speak so normally before. I'm starting to like that boy a little more. I hate the creature sealed inside him, but I like the boy. . . Um, why are feathers falling from the sky?
"I don't know Shukaku. . ." Gaara mumbled as he realized that the crowd was starting to get quieter instead of louder, as if they knew that something was amiss. ". . . But whatever it is, I think it's going to get worse before it gets better."
A/N: Please review!