Chapter 27: Strike
It's arrival was sudden. One moment, people were animatedly talking about the match they just witnessed and the matches yet to come. The next minute, thousands upon thousands of silvery feathers were floating around the arena, grabbing everyone's attention as soon as they spotted them fluttering in the wind.
It was an awe-invoking sight, with many being transfixed by the feathers' beauty. However, those that knew better were deeply suspicious, especially since the Showcase wasn't known for using such fanfare, regardless of who was hosting it.
"Hmm, well this is quite an interesting sight," King Rasa mused as he watched the feathers float by. His eyes soon moved to the arena's roof, where a number of masked ninjas stood, some of them still throwing the feathers out into the air from their vest pockets. "I didn't think your organizers were such showmen."
"They tend to be a straightforward bunch, actually," Minato mumbled as he looked up at the men standing on the roof. "As for the feathers, if I had indeed approved a show for the proceedings, I would have asked for something entirely different."
"Oh, so these feathers wasn't your people's doing?"
"Oh no! This wasn't something that my organizers planned, though some in the audience do seem like they're enjoying it." said Minato as his wife stood from her seat. Curious by his words, the Wind King leaned over the railing to see that the audience was looking at the feathers with varying emotions on their faces.
It was irritating to the covered man, his emotion only seen through the hard glare in his eyes. It was as if he had expected a different reaction from the people, and since he wasn't getting it, he immediately knew that things weren't going as planned. "On the contrary, I believe you know more about these feathers than I do."
"Me?" the Wind King asked, keeping calm, not sounding the least bit offended by the accusation. In fact, he sounded quite amused by it. "You believe my people have something to do with this?"
"The Wind, no. The Sound, yes. . . I always thought you were a straightforward king Rasa," Minato stated, not deterred by the other man's reaction. "Then again, you're not the Rasa I remember, are you?"
"You are making a very dangerous insinuation King Minato," Rasa challenged, his eyes narrowing slightly as his hands moved slightly along his lap. "Are you sure you want to continue with that thought?"
"I'm not sure . . . Are you even the true King Rasa?"
Before anyone could even blink, 'Rasa' jumped up, aiming to palm strike Minato in the throat before anyone else could react.
Unfortunately for him, the Fire King wasn't known as the "Yellow Flash" for nothing. Minato immediately disappeared before the strike was even five inches from him, reappearing a few feet away with an inquisitive look on his face. Before the Wind King could even turn his head, he found himself wrapped up in numerous chains, all of them coming from the arm of the reigning Fire Queen. 'Rasa' was effectively trapped, and he couldn't look toward his guards or the rest of his entourage for help, with all of them being held back by Minato's people in turn.
"Well, things just got interesting. . ." the imposter mused, his eyes never leaving Minato's form once he found him slowly approaching. "I would ask your wife to let me go, but it looks like you won't give in to any such request so easily Queen Kushina."
"Not in the slightest, your grace," Kushina stated, saying the words with a sweetness that was obvious in its fakeness. "I would apologize for my behavior, but my apologies are reserved for those that have actually earned my respect."
"And I haven't?" the king asked, looking offended. However, judging from the look in his eyes, he couldn't care less about the redhead's feelings. "Oh, your words wound me. . ."
"As if a few words could hurt you," Minato mused, already with one of his special kunai in hand. "Last time I checked, not much could phase you . . . Isn't that right, Orochimaru?"
With his eyes being the only part of his face that was visible, the Wind King's reaction could only be seen through his gaze, and it was not friendly. Suddenly, the man broke into a hoarse, almost raspy laugh, one that was disturbing to friends and foes alike.
Before anyone could even comment on it, they became even more disturbed at the sight of the man's face suddenly melting, like candle wax under a flame. Disgust soon turned to anger as the face underneath was revealed, the pale skin, purple marks, and almost sickly appearance a dead ringer for the same attributes a certain Snake Sannin was famous for.
"Hmm, I never thought we would see your face in this kingdom ever again Orochimaru," Minato mumbled, shaking his head. "However, it seems you've done well for yourself since you've disappeared."
"As you can see, I've moved up in the world . . ." Orochimaru teased, looking unfazed as Kushina tightened her hold on him.
"And to do that, you had to steal the identity of another monarch. . ." Shikaku mumbled, being one of the few in the room to not be fazed by the sannin's reappearance.
"Oh yes . . . I didn't really have a good reason to visit once I found out the last remaining Sound genin was killed after the preliminaries ended, so I had to improvise," Orochimaru gladly admitted, chuckling in a way that put most of the room on edge. "Thankfully, the traveling Wind retinue provided me one."
"You ambushed King Rasa and his travel party," Minato accused, staring the serpentine man straight in the eye. "And what have you done to their bodies?"
"Bodies?" Orochimaru asked, an eyebrow raised in curiosity as everyone else looked at the Fire King with various degrees of shock and disbelief on their faces. "You don't even ask if they're alive first? You think they're already dead?"
"Can you blame me?" Minato asked. "You were never one for leaving people alive on the battlefield. If someone interested you, you just keep them alive to study them later on. . . Your interest in unique jutsus has gained a nefarious reputation after all."
"When you seek to gain the knowledge on every jutsu known to man, you have to be willing to go the extra mile," the serpentine man conceded. "I must admit, King Minato, that your Rasengan and Flying Thunder God techniques have both caught my interest, as well as your wife's unique chains."
"Well isn't that just lovely . . ." Kushina spat, her dislike of her captive becoming more obvious by the minute.
"Don't worry, I'm not here for you two, or your children for that matter," Orochimaru admitted, smirking despite the situation. "I'm actually here for a different prize."
"A different prize?" Shikaku mumbled. "Would that prize happen to have a valuable dojutsu in their possession?"
"Am I really that transparent?"
"Your interest in dojutsu is not a hidden secret Orochimaru, particularly your interest in the Sharingan," Minato announced, his eyes narrowing. "And yet, you have yet to make a move on the Uchihas, or the Hyuugas for that matter . . . Either you haven't figured out a sound way to enter either of their compounds, or you've been using the time to scout out a specific target."
"If he's going for a target, he would go after one that has yet to reach their dojutsu's full potential," Kushina added, grimacing at her own words. "That would mean one of the children, or a possible genin."
"Maybe even a clan heir, or heiress . . ." Shikaku added, tightening his hold on his jutsu.
"It's so irritating to see you putting the pieces together so easily," Orochimaru mumbled, his smirk still in place. "But do you really think capturing a dojutsu wielder is the only thing I plan to do while I'm here?"
"And did you not think we would take account of that possibility?" Minato challenged in return. "Your plans have a tendency to be . . . multi-faceted, after all."
"It seems you have things all figured out Minato. . ." Orochimaru grumbled, shaking his head as the smirk remained in place. ". . . But you are still decades away from facing me in a battle."
"Hmm . . . Shall we test that theory then?"
A ~ x ~ R ~ x ~ T
The fuck is all this? Shukaku grumbled as he watched the spectacle through his vessel's eyes. "I'm sure the organizers weren't planning on dropping a shit load of feathers on the arena as a form of spontaneous entertainment. . . Something else is going on here.
"Well, you're not wrong about the feathers . . . Gaara mumbled as he looked around at the audience, his eyes widening at the sight. "The stands . . . The feathers are definitely having an effect on some of the audience members."
Some of them? Most of them look like they're going to fall asleep in their seats fleshbag! The tanuki crowed. The only ones that look wide awake are all the shinobi in the stands! Everyone else needs a nap!
"I knew something bad was going to happen during the tournament, but I didn't think genjutsu feathers would be brought into the mix."
"Genjutsu feathers?" Gaara was quick to ask, tuning in just in time to hear the princess state her observation.
"That's exactly what we're dealing with," Naruto mumbled, looking up and grimacing. Gaara and Shizuka both followed his gaze to see the men on the roof, one not too sure of what to make of this development while the other simply scowled. "These guys are just dropping them like confetti."
"It definitely looks low level. It'll only really affect the regular citizens the longer they are exposed to them," Shizuka added, grabbing one of the feathers. "Some of the Academy kids may be affected by it too, but anyone that's genin or higher should be fine if they know what to look for."
"So, I'm guessing that all these feathers are not your kingdom's doing then."
"Nope; if our father wanted to knock out the entire audience, he would have thought of something a lot better than just dumping feathers on the place." Shizuka mumbled as she looked down at the battlefield. While Temari was talking to Genma, Shikamaru was looking around at the feathers, and even though he wasn't facing her, she could tell that the lazy clan heir was already putting some of the pieces together in his head.
"I'm sure you're well aware of how problematic the Sound Kingdom has been these past few weeks," Naruto announced, setting his sights on Gaara. The redhead simply nodded, his face almost breaking it's blank expression to implore him to continue. "Well, out dad did suspect that the Sound would be trying something during these finals. . . I guess we're in the beginning stages now."
"Do you have any idea on what they're plans may be?" Gaara asked, just as a sudden explosion erupted from the VIP box. The shockwave was enough to rattle many of the citizens that were sitting closest to the area, the commotion sending them toward the nearby exits. "That's not good . . ."
"Ma and Pa has always said that they would always be possible targets if an attack ever did happen," Shizuna mumbled as she started backtracking toward the exit. "That explosion definitely didn't do them in, but something is definitely going on over there . . . C'mon, we need to head to the infirmary."
"Why?!" Gaara asked as Naruto quickly followed after his sister, bypassing her to run into the hallway.
"When it comes to the battlefield, they always say that the medics have to go first right? Protect the medics, and you'll protect the one group that can keep you alive in a fight," Shizuka suggested, staring him straight in the eye. "So, do you want to come along, or do you just want to stay here and look at the feathers all day?"
GO DAMMIT! Shukaku screeched, making his presence known once again. Take the chance! Follow them! Besides, the finals look like they've become moot at this point, and do you really want to stand here and act like everything's fine when it's clearly not?!
"Dammit . . . I hate when you start making sense, and you almost never do."
I will take that as a backhanded compliment . . . I will show you no mercy if you say another one.
"Well, there's nothing else keeping me here . . ." Gaara conceded, shaking his head. "Lead the way."
The two ran into the hallway, the outside noise becoming fainter as they moved further and further away from the battlefield. As they neared the medical bay, their eyes widened slightly at the occasional dead body they would run into as they went.
"Your brother came this way before we did," Gaara remembered as they passed by the third dead body along their route. Unlike the first two that were embedded with kunai in their chests, this body had its throat savagely cut, most likely by someone, or something, with claws. "I'm guessing all these bodies are his work?"
"You would be guessing right," Shizuka mumbled as they turned the corner. "The infirmary should be just up ahead now."
The chakra that was coming off that last body's wounds . . . That was definitely Kurama's, Shukaku stated, almost sound pleased, which was unexpected since he always seemed annoyed whenever he talked about his brother. Looks like big brother might be coming out to play. . .
"We shall see about that . . ." Gaara thought as they ran into the infirmary, coming to a complete stop when they saw Naruto kneeling beside an unconscious Sakura, the medics all strewn out across the room unconscious, or dead. When he looked up, he watched as Shizuka approached Haruka, who was dealing with a nasty cut to her left side.
That's when he remembered who else was staying in the infirmary. "Kankuro?!"
"I'm here!" the puppeteer yelled out, appearing from behind one of the curtains. "I'm still banged up, but I'm fine."
"Shino and Neji are still out cold in the other room, but they should be okay. None of the enemies went in their direction." Haruka grumbled as she pushed over an overturned bed before sitting down. "Those Sound ninjas do not play."
"What were they after?" Gaara asked, turning to the cat girl as Shizuka got to work healing her wound.
"Not what. Who. . ." Naruto clarified as he picked up his unconscious teammate and walked her over to an empty bed. Once he got Sakura settled, he turned around, and Gaara's eyes couldn't help but widen when he came face-to-face with slitted, bright red eyes instead of the blonde's usual blue.
"This wasn't just some random attack. It was also a diversion for the Sound's real aim," he said, his tone brokering no room for arguing. "Sasuke was their target, and I think he always was."
A/N: Please review!