Naruto gazed up in mild confusion, locking eyes with the caramel skinned girl above him who simply stared right back, an uneasy silence settling over the claustrophobic patch of forest. It was as though the animals themselves could feel the tension in the air and had wisely evacuated. Both shinobi were tensed, their muscles coiled in anticipation for whatever the other would do; however after it became evident neither were ready to attack Fuu frowned.
"I'm sorry about this Naruto." Taking no other cues she suddenly darted forward, exploding off the branch with a blast of concentrated air. It was obviously a slightly more extreme version of her light-step technique that Naruto had already witness first hand. Her body span through the air like a drill as four translucent wings unfurled from her spine, rapidly buzzing to life and speeding her forward in the same instant. She impacted with the earth with a catastrophic boom, sending dust and dirt sailing over the canopy and into the air.
"Sorry about what?" Came Naruto's reply, not exactly from the position Fuu had expected; all she held in her hands was earth, Naruto was across from her, sitting up in a tree. His expression was cool and his tone was even, his eyebrow merely raising an inch as he looked down at her, their positions suddenly inverted in the blink of an eye. The verdette scowled, her now solid-orange eyes narrowing as her body suddenly contracted, crouching into the ground like a tightly-coiled spring before releasing with another blast of wind.
This time, keeping her Bijuu-enhanced eyes trained on the redhead, she managed to spot it; not that she could do a damn thing about it. At the very last moment, as her hands were poised to close around his throat, his hand twitched and released something into the air. However by the time she realised just what it was he had already vanished in a flash of crimson. He appeared within a millisecond though… right behind her.
With a strangled cry her eyes opened wide as she suddenly felt a strong grip on two of her wings. In the next moment she was spinning, and not in the way she wanted to; it was as though her shoulder blades were attempting to escape from her back. The pain was intense but brief as not a second later Naruto released her, sending her into an uncontrollable dive that had her skidding along the ground like some child's skimming stone. As she picked her self up from the shallow trench she had gouged with her body though, it was a scowl of annoyance on her face, not of pain.
"You held back." She coughed out, cracking her neck as she got back to her feet, not much the worse for wear. "You could have sent me right into the ground; I might have even been knocked out." She growled in annoyance; if there was one thing she truly hated with every fibre of her being it was being taken lightly, being looked down on.
"It might have also broken your neck." Naruto responded easily, hopping down to the ground with his expression calm and collected. His posture might have lulled lesser shinobi into believing he was open and unprepared, but Fuu wasn't fooled. However in the next moment he surprised her by actually lowering his guard, a saddened frown pulling at his features. "I don't want to kill you Fuu." It had the opposite effect than intended though; instead of matching his softened expression Fuu's scowl only grew more intense.
"Don't look down on me!" The ground around her seemed to shudder as a vile wave of what could only be described as pure anger washed over the immediate area. The kunoichi's entire body was enveloped by a coat of sickly orange energy that writhed and twitched as though it had a mind of its own. Her previously crisp and defined wings grew frayed and indistinct, gaining the same hue as her eyes instead of her hair. Her scowl twisted into something far more malicious as two antennae-like protrusions of Chakra grew from her forehead.
"Fuu, think about what you are doing." Naruto warned slowly, his muscles slowly tensing as Fuu hunched over, obviously fighting to control this new wave of power. "Don't let this thing-" However without a word of warning Fuu suddenly vanished from view, the ground behind her suddenly buckling under some unseen pressure. In the same instant Naruto leant back, catching himself with his hands on the ground as a massive scythe of orange-tinted wind screamed overhead. It was as though time had slowed down for a second and Naruto was able to look right up into Fuu's eyes; however there was little of the girl he had known in those solid orange orbs.
Time snapped back into motion and suddenly both were a whirlwind of movement. Fuu's attacks were relentless; what her wings had lost in finesse they had gained in pure power. Naruto found himself almost overwhelmed as she pushed the offensive. Every movement, every kick, every attack was pushed forward by those wings, giving them tremendous power and speed. There was no escaping them either; feints seemed useless with those antennae on her head. It was though she wasn't so much seeing him as she was feeling where he was in relation to her.
There was little he could do about it as well, at least right now; attacking would have been foolish when she was in this state. While his blows might have been enough to wind her in this form the cost would be too high; he knew all too well how volatile and poisonous that Chakra could be. If he was touched then he shouldn't have been expecting the use of that limb for the rest of the fight; and that was if it didn't just kill him. So for now he dodged, using deft motions to stay just outside of the berserk kunoichi's range; it couldn't last though and both of them knew it.
For however evasive Naruto may have appeared, for how much it looked as though he were on the back foot, the redhead's mind was always working, always thinking ahead the next few steps. His eyes darted craftily about as he began to throw kunai about the clearing; in her enraged state Fuu didn't even notice the subtle movements. When his net was complete Naruto gave the bijuu-possessed girl a sly wink before vanishing.
The moment she realised her 'prey' had disappeared Fuu let out a tremendous roar. It was an unsettling sound that seemed crossed between the staccato buzz of an insect and the growl of a predator. The surrounding forestry shook from the sheer force it exerted however it got her no closer to locating her suddenly missing opponent. The question didn't reaming unanswered long though as suddenly Naruto was in front of her again, a look of intense focus on his face as he suddenly grabbed her by the shirt.
This time there was no pause, no slowed moment shared between the redhead and the berserker. Naruto simply grabbed her and immediately threw her up with a grunt of effort, a moment later popping out of existence and revealing himself to be a shadow clone. However Fuu's short flight didn't end there as not even a moment later another clone was in front of her, inexplicably appearing in a blight flash before performing a similar manoeuvre. He span as he grabbed her, using the sudden rotation to throw her further up at the cost of his own existence.
This repeated countless times for Fuu in a dizzying, disorienting display of flashing acrobatics, always from different directions and always too fast for her to react to until she was far above the canopy. It was only then that she finally noticed the kunai hanging in the air above her, just completing its arc before falling back toward the ground. Before it did though a final Naruto, the real one this time, suddenly teleported into existence, a firm grasp on the hilt of the blade.
In a seemingly impossible feat of human flexibility, and with momentum retained from a previous jump, he suddenly twisted his body, simultaneously curling and unfurling his body before lashing out with a tremendously fast axe-kick right to Fuu's stomach. For a single agonizingly long second the verdette's entire body curled around his sandalled foot before she was sent flying back down toward the earth. A low sonic boom drowned out the enormous crash her form made upon impacting the ground, a visible ring of displaced air rushing outward.
Of course that wasn't enough to keep a Jinchuuriki down, or even a truly seasoned jounin, and after a few moments with her head ringing Fuu was able to drag herself out of the sizable crater Naruto had decided to dig with her body. Of course, that was all simply the distraction; a hiraishin seal she hadn't noticed Naruto plant on her stomach glowed faintly as the redhead appeared in front of her, a frown marring his features.
"I didn't want to have to do this; it's going to hurt." He intoned with a hint of regret as Fuu growled in response, lashing out suddenly. However the redhead Shifted his entire body around her clawed hands, lashing out with a strike of his own to plant a solitary paper tag on the verdette's forehead. A moment of calm followed before Fuu reeled back, her entire body twitching uncontrollably as she cried out in pain. Visible streams of virulent orange energy began leeching off her body, drawn from the tag to the kunai Naruto had steadily planted around the area in a make-shift hexagon.
The redhead could only watch in morbid fascination as the Bijuu's energy was quite literally ripped away from Fuu's form. He had never needed to actually use this particular technique before and it was quite the sight to see. He was in no way extracting the beast of course, that would kill Fuu; he was simply siphoning off the energy Fuu was attempting to use, diverting it away from her Chakra system and into the kunai. It would have likely worked as well, causing Fuu to pass out from both the shock, pain and sudden absence of the double-edged power.
Would have.
Suddenly the stealthily hidden kunai, given away by the streams of Chakra connecting to the tag on Fuu's head, began to shake and quiver like they had been taken upon by some invisible grip. A moment later and they were wrenched from the ground, hurtling across the forest and into the shadows. In the same moment a flood of what appeared to be plain white tags poured into the small clearing Naruto's attack had created. They enveloped Fuu, covering and surrounding her like a cocoon spun by some papery spider.
"I'm afraid we cannot let you finish that Jutsu Naruto Namikaze." A gruff, monotone voice called out from those same shadows. A figure soon joined it as a tall orange-haired man clad in a dark and all-too recognisable cloak stepped out of treeline. However what had Naruto freezing in place for a moment was not the cloak he recognised as the Akatsuki's, but the man's eyes. The steel-grey ringed sclera that he had only ever heard stories… no, legends about bored into him. That second of hesitation cost him though as the man suddenly raised his hand.
"Shinra Tensei." No hand seal was made, there was no build-up of Chakra, the man simply intoned a command and the world answered. An invisible wall of force that Naruto couldn't have possibly seen coming slammed into his unprepared form, tossing him like a rag-doll away from the clearing. He managed to gain his senses in time to twist his body and land roughly in a three-point stance but by that point the man's strange technique had thrown him hundreds of feet away. He was just lucky not to have hit any trees.
However before he could dash back towards the man a wall of paper fluttered into the space in front of him, blocking his route and causing him to skid to a stop. It quickly resolved itself into the form of a blue-haired woman, floating a few feet of the ground with a cold expression and orange eyes not dissimilar to Fuu's. She seemed incomplete, her body flaking off in places and seemingly composed of sheets of tightly packed paper. Naruto's first thought was that it was some kind of clone, however that was quickly dashed when she began to speak.
"I cannot allow you to interfere, you will not go any further than this." She motioned slowly to the wall of paper that even as she talked was beginning to encircle them. The redhead looked about for a second before shrugging and placing his hands in his pockets; if the woman was surprised by this she hid it extremely well behind that indifferent façade.
"Alright then, what exactly would I be interfering in?" He asked, eyes carefully roaming the wall for any hint of a trap; he wouldn't believe for even a second there was no tricks hidden in whatever technique this was. The woman merely raised a single eyebrow less than a fraction of an inch, a truly impassive exterior.
"You do not care for the wellbeing of the Jinchuuriki?" If she had any genuine curiosity in the question then her bland, disinterested tone didn't show it.
"You stopped me from completing a Jutsu that, to you, likely looked as though it would have removed her Bijuu, thus killing her. You aren't here to do that." His eyes narrowed slightly. "Not yet anyway." He took the brief twitch of her hand and crinkle of her brow as a confirmation of that fact. "There are two of you and the Akatsuki are known to be comprised of powerful individuals…" At the mention of her organisation's name the woman's reaction was slightly more visible "…you are here for suppression, not elimination."
"You know of the Akatsuki." The woman replied blandly; Naruto took her evasion as another confirmation.
"You don't stay an ANBU captain for so long without learning about the freelance competition out there." For the first time in the conversation Naruto's gaze hardened, losing its previous carefree quality. "The question remained then of why such a powerful and, if rumours are true, expensive mercenary group after a Jinchuuriki." It was a concerning notion; if they had been hired then it was tantamount to an act of war from another village. It certainly wouldn't be Konoha, there were known missing-nin within the organisation and Konoha did not affiliate itself with such groups.
"You do not need to know that, you must merely stay here until Pein-sama has left." She replied resolutely, however her brow crinkled at the same moment Naruto's raised, both realising her mistake.
"Pain-sama?" He repeated with a smirk; a name was a useful thing to know. The woman didn't seem all to eager on continuing the conversation though.
"Enough." She called, sweeping her arm out as a multitude of tags dotting the paper wall suddenly sprung to life, flipping around to reveal a seal all Shinobi knew very well. However as the explosive tags raced toward the redhead he remained unconcerned, staring the bluenette in the eye before giving a wink and tilting his head her way as if tipping his hat.
"Nice talk." It was almost lost among the ensuing explosions but Konan was just able to make out the flash of red a millisecond before the first tag reached the Konoha shinobi. With a curse she called off the rest of her attack, great paper wings springing from her back as she took to the skies in the direction of her partner.
Pein walked steadily through the forest; he was in no rush. Either Konan would keep Naruto busy long enough or, if his reputation was to be believed, the Namikaze would have escaped already. Sure enough the orange-haired man suddenly shot out his right hand, easily catching the sweeping kick that suddenly appeared in a flash of red. With a grip like steel he held the redhead there, eyes narrowing as he turned to meet the Konoha shinobi's gaze.
"You should have heeded Konan's warning." He suddenly let go of the redhead, palm opening in the same instance to blast him far away. However Naruto was a quick learner if nothing else and was already gone before the attack had time to discharge. Instead, a tree a few metres away was violently ripped out of the earth and sent careening back, smashing a ragged path through the forest.
"Konan huh? She didn't actually tell me her name." Pein's head lazily swivelled toward Naruto's new location, halfway up a nearby tree. He had not noticed the man throw any of his famed kunai; that was very impressive. However it only made the Akatsuki member take the situation more seriously.
"You have no need to know of it. What do you intend to do now?" The pierced man turned his full body toward the redhead, giving him a great view of Fuu's unconscious body slung over his left shoulder. "I warn you; if you attack me I will not hesitate to destroy you Kyuubi Jinchuuriki." Naruto was only surprised for a moment before his gaze hardened once again; these people had suddenly turned from a notable threat to a true danger.
"Then maybe it's not best for me to engage, for now." Naruto commented, his legs waving absently; once again if the man was surprised by the comment it did not show. Something about those perfectly stony exteriors on these two really irritated Naruto. "However…" Suddenly he was gone, only to reappear a moment later in the same spot, only Fuu was now sat limply to his side "…I will be taking this." Pein's mouth only twitched fractionally before his hand snapped up, palm already splayed.
"Ban-" Before he could even get another syllable out Naruto was gone, reappearing on another branch standing up. Fuu was slung under one arm while the other leant against the trunk of the tree.
"Ah ah ah, I'm not letting you do another of your tricks again." He called down; as if to prove it he vanished the moment Pein tried to point his hand in the redhead's direction again. "Don't think of this as a retreat though." He vanished once more, only irritating Pein further; when he appeared it was behind a tree in Pein's blind spot. "Think of this as me having better things to do." Another flash took him away as the tree he was behind was summarily obliterated by an invisible wall of energy. Just to be irritating, the final time he appeared it was directly in front of Pein, if only for a moment.
"Bye." And like that, he was gone.
A minute later Konan landed in the small clearing to see Pein idly turning one of the hiraishin kunai in his hands. However even as he watched, the seal decorating the hilt slowly began to burn away leaving nothing but a blank tool more useless than a normal kunai. Soon even that was reduced to scrap metal as Pein crushed the offending tool in his hand.
Naruto sat across from the Hokage in the small, comfortable ante-chamber next to his office. His head was leant back and he held the bridge of his nose to stave off the headache he just knew was coming. Fuu had been taken into custody by the ANBU and he had been assured that she would be kept comfortable but that didn't decrease his worry. There was also the matter of the Akatsuki, a powerful group that's intentions remained unknown; they were an unknown variable in all of this.
"This news is certainly… troubling, I will admit." The aged Kage began slowly, weary eyes looking ahead at nothing in particular as he remained immersed within his own thoughts. "I fear this may mark a turning point in this war, for better or for worse." Naruto looked back down at that, a sigh escaping his lips.
"Either Taki will realise they have lost their trump card and withdraw, or they will only grow more desperate." Naruto surmised grimly, already knowing the more likely of the two. The Hokage simply nodded, blowing out a gust of smoke from his pipe as he finally focused his eyes on the redhead.
"Both you and I know that if Orochimaru has his fingers in this, then the former will be impossible." He sighed, eyes turning to the window overlooking the village. "Konoha is holding its ground in this fight and given enough time we can and will end it." There was an air of finality in his words that one could not help but believe; there was a reason he was Hokage. "However…" he sighed again and Naruto could safely say that he had never seen the older shinobi look his age quite so much "…we are stretched thin at the moment along the northern border; we cannot afford these free radicals in the form of Akatsuki or anybody else running amok while we are weakened." His frown turned thoughtful as the famed mind of the professor continue to work on the problem like it was a puzzle lacking a few pieces.
"Things are only going to get more complicated from here on out aren't they?" Naruto asked tiredly; he hadn't even had a chance to see Anko since coming home and he was sorely missing his bed. However, as if summoned by some higher power with a twisted sense of humour, an ANBU suddenly dropped from the shadows. He leaned over and quickly whispered into the Hokage's ear and even as he watched Naruto could see the old man's already pale features whiten even further. When the operative vanished once more Naruto simply raised an eyebrow only to receive a grave look from his commander.
"Shimaku Gai has been attacked." Naruto frowned at that; it was a small village on the northern border and was known for its tin mines but other than that it held no real strategic value. It was also strangely out of the way for an attack, even from Otogakure. He sensed there was more though and was quickly proven correct as the Hokage blew out another stream of smoke. "Witnesses report the attack was carried out by Kumogakure shinobi." He intoned gravely.
Like a shark smelling blood, a new player had entered the fray.
"You know…" Twin sighs echoed through the still forest as Ami struck up conversation once again, however the girl paid them no heed "…Izumo and Kotetsu are always complaining that gate duty is the most boring mission a chuunin can be assigned." She grunted as she shifted the heavy back-pack she was forced to carry as they trudged through the frosty landscape of northern Yu no Kuni. "But at least they don't have to carry around weights heavier than themselves." Her only response was a grunt for her stoic Uchiha teammate; at least it was better than the utter indifference Hinata exuded.
"You know, it might not be so bad if you guys would actually talk for once and answer in more than monosyllables… or at all." She aimed a pointed look at Hinata's back, knowing that with her Byakugan active the girl could see it. However the ever-aloof Hyuuga princess didn't so much as glance her way, causing the violette to sigh irritably.
"I miss Sakura, at least she would talk to me. It sucks she got shifted to the med-corp… stupid lack of med-nin." She grumbled in futility as she kicked a clump of half-melted snow petulantly. On missions with Sasuke and Hinata she might as well have been assigned to escort some statues across the country. In each other's presences the scions of Konoha's two most prominent clans were completely intolerable. It made Ami almost thankful she hadn't been born with a Doujutsu… almost; it was still a highly unfair advantage she consistently called Sasuke out on.
"Perhaps if you simply stopped whining and focused on the mission, it might pass quicker." Came the clipped response from the long haired Hyuuga; there was a tone of distinct displeasure there that Ami took satisfaction from. Anko really had been rubbing off on her a bit too much.
"Oh so the princess does have a voice!" Ami gasped in mock surprise, only to scoff a moment later when Hinata simply continued ignoring her. "As if that would ever happen, these treks are about as boring as they come." A few moments of continual silence later and she let out another loud sigh before beginning to hum. There was no particular tune or melody; she was just trying to be as irritating as possible. Sure enough after around a minute of the obnoxious noise Hinata turned back and glared at her, the veins bulging around her eyes giving her a decidedly menacing look.
"Stop that." She ordered in a dark tone, only to have Ami stick out her tongue in a child-like manner. Instead she looked across at Sasuke, the current team-leader much to Hinata's consternation. "Make her stop." The dark-haired teen merely grunted back, rolling his eyes in a mix of exasperation and amusement. He was a lot more used to Ami's antics and he held no great love for the Hyuuga heir so this arrangement suited him just fine.
"If I could, I would have a long time ago." He muttered unhelpfully only to wince as Ami appeared behind him, slinging an arm around his shoulder and pressing her body far too close to his for his liking.
"Aw, you know you love me Sasuke-kuuun." Luckily she let go after a moment but didn't drop her cheeky smile, mostly because Hinata was still glaring at her.
"I preferred you when you were the useless dobe." The Hyuuga derided with a sneer only to have Ami cock her head in that direction with an easy grin.
"And I preferred you before your family stuck that massive stick up your ass." She responded, earning a disgusted look from the heiress as she turned to Sasuke.
"When did she become so crass?" She asked in irritation, turning to the rather immature tactic of talking about Ami right in front of her. Sasuke on the other hand merely shrugged.
"Blame our sensei's psycho girlfriend." He finally responded, only to feel a dark presence as Ami once again wrapped her arm around his neck, this time just a little tighter.
"What was that about Anko-sensei?" Out the corner of his eyes Sasuke could spot Ami's fingers twitch toward the hilt of the sword on her back. A single bead of sweat began to drop down the back of his neck as he noticed the familiar and all-too sweet grin twisting Ami's lips. Damn, she had nearly gotten that down to a tee; it was positively chilling. Luckily he was saved as Hinata suddenly raised her hand.
"Quiet you two, we're approaching the camp." After another squeeze from her arm Ami detached from her teammate and slinked back to the rear of the formation. The formation itself was redundant but they stuck to it out of habit; after all with a Sharingan user and a Byakugan user on the team there was little chance of an ambush. Plus, they were missing the usual fourth squad member due to Konoha's ranks being spreads thin. In any case it was just a simple supply delivery to a camp near the border with Shimo no Kuni, Kumo territory. The backpacks they carried were filled to the brim with storage scrolls containing new equipment and food.
After a moment though even Ami's usual grin slipped away, Hinata's expression was dead serious and her eyes were straining even more than usual. Her pace slowed and the other's followed suit, Sasuke's Sharingan spinning to life in his eyes; however they were not designed for range and he could not make out whatever it was that had put Hinata on edge.
"What is it?" He asked as they came to a stop just below the peak of the ridge that would overlook the small camp.
"The camp is too empty, I'm only detecting four Chakra signatures." She whispered back, her eyes slowly roaming across the camp hidden to the other two. Suddenly though her eyes stopped, her face darkening at the same moment as her gaze became positively murderous. "Kumo Shinobi, they've slaughtered the camp. Ami gasped while Sasuke's expression became more thoughtful; he was the squad leader, as honorary as that position was supposed to be for this mission, and it was up to him what they did now.
Technically the correct option, the one he would be praised for when returning to the village, would be to gather information briefly before retreating. However there was the small problem that Hinata had already begun to move forward, dashing silently into the treeline that ringed half the camp. Cursing inwardly the Uchiha raced after her, motioning for Ami to follow him at a distance. When he alighted on a branch just behind the Hyuuga he grabbed her shoulder forcefully only to have her turn around and glare at him.
"What do you think you're doing?" She questioned venomously, shrugging his hand off her shoulder like it was on fire. He simply returned the glare with one of his own, made more intimidating by the three-tomoe Sharingan rotating rapidly in the sea of red that were his eyes.
"What are you doing? You'll give us away." Hinata scoffed and turned back to the cam, her Byakugan still blaring.
"I wanted a better vantage point so that I could read their lips; we need to find out what they're doing here." She shot back imperiously causing Sauske to grumble, inwardly arguing with himself before finally nodding, albeit reluctantly; he might as well make the most of the situation.
"What are they saying then?" He finally sked in a hushed whisper; he suddenly agreed with Ami and wished Sakura was here instead; at least then they could communicate silently through the hand signs Naruto had taught them.
"Nothing useful, I think they're just the clean-up squad; the main force must be elsewhere by now." She responded, her tone becoming more professional, earning another nod from Sasuke; that would make sense.
"Can you tell what rank they are?" If they were just a squad of genin then they might be able to capture them; even if they were chuunin they would have a shot. If there wqas a jounin among them though. Well, it was enough to say that Naruto had beaten some respect for the difference in ability between ranks.
"I can't tell, their Chakra levels would indicate either powerful chuunin or-" Her eyes widened suddenly before she dived off the branch. Sasuke followed, his Sharingan having caught the two speeding kunai at the last moment and allowing him to dodge them easily. However the way they were thrown, in a strange curved arc, forced them forward into the camp. Immediately they were surrounded by three kumo shinobi while the last stayed further away. He had his fingers pressed to the ground and a look of concentration on his face.
"We take offense to that; we may be fresh but a jounin's a jounin ya'know?" A blond haired man that looked no older than eighteen started up with a cocky grin, causing both Hinata and Sasuke to tense as both easily slipped into their family's stances.
"Don't get any funny ideas kids." A far more serious looking man with dark skin and unnaturally grey hair cut in, the scars crisscrossing his body speaking of a lot of experience.
"Hey, I think this one's the Uchiha kid." The last of the trio piped up, a young woman who also had dark skin and white hair. All three had blades of different kinds strapped to their bodies and all three were now staring at Sasuke intently, most notably at his eyes. He tried to ensnare them in a Genjutsu at that moment however the shinobi that had hung back, a tanned man with wavy red hair and a blindfold across his eyes cleared his throat.
"I wouldn't try it kid." He spoke up in a gruff tone at the same moment both Konoha chuunin felt a pulse of Chakra travel through the ground, snapping the genjutsu on the three Kumo-nin. "Don't look him in the eyes." He spoke with a commanding tone and the three Kumo shinobi looked a little sheepish for being caught out; he was obviously the commander. The man slowly turned his attention of Sasuke, looking right at him despite the blindfold.
"What's an Uchiha doing all the way out here; doesn't Konoha have a better hold over its assets?" The leader asked in a calm, rough tone; it seemed to imply an age greater than his appearance would suggest.
"Heh, those Sharingan are a pretty rare commodity nowadays." The blond spoke up tauntingly.
"My eyes are not a commodity." Sasuke growled, earning him a sour look from Hinata that obviously said 'don't let them rile you up.' However it seemed a lost cause as the cocky blond continued with a grin.
"Sure they are; after that Itachi guy went all psycho and butchered the lot o'ya those things became worth your weight in gold." Sasuke's eyes twitched and his hands clenched into fists so tight that his knuckles became white. The leader of the Kumo group seemd to be sending a warning look to his subordinate but he continued anyway. "'Cept, I heard he's the real strong one, so I imagine his eyes must be worth like… three times yours, ya'know?" That seemed to be the last straw for Sasuke though as he suddenly dashed forward.
However this seemed the be exactly what the blond was waiting for as in a flash his sword was off his back and he'd slipped into an indecipherable stance. He was surprised then when Sasuke circumvented his first, second and third strikes with a deft ease. His eyes span rapidly as they showed him the movement of the katana before the kumo-nin actually made them. His glare was burning as he ducked into the man's guard with a blow that would have crippled his temple.
However with a strangled cry he was sent skidding backwards towards Hinata, clutching his throat as his eyes watered. Suddenly the Kumo squad leader had interposed himself between the two shinobi, the hilt of his sword pointed in Sasuke's direction. Hinata blinked in surprise, not having even seen him move only to cringe as he turned his sightless gaze on them.
"I do not appreciate people attacking my subordinates." He took a step forward only to pause; suddenly his blade came around in a flash of steel as an ear-shattering clang rang through the desolate camp. There was an incredible moment where Ami simply hung there, suspended by the grinding contact between her blade and the squad captain's. However it couldn't last and, eyes narrowing, she used the leverage to flip herself over the man, placing herself between the Kumo-nin and her squad mates.
"Hinata, take Sasuke and get out of here!" Sasuke looked ready to argue with that order but was currently suffering from a case of half-crushed windpipe and could only manage a few weak choking noises. The Hyuuga seemed more indecisive, watching hesitantly as Ami took her stance, her expression becoming like steel. "I'll hold them off for as long as I can, just go!" At that Hinata took one look at the confused but hurriedly re-organising Kumo shinobi and the gasping Uchiha at her feet, grabbed him by the shoulder and took off in the opposite direction as fast as she was able.
"You're comrades have abandoned you." The Kumo captain intoned slowly as he wearily eyed Ami's stance; it was a habit of swordsmen to be wary of styles they did not recognise. "How long do you really think you can hold us off; eventually we will simply defeat you and chase them down." However he saw no waver in Ami's expression, it was one of pure determination.
"I have to at least try." She shot back with a steely tone, the grip around her hilt tightening as he feet shuffled in accordance with his own movements. However the man didn't seem fully focused on her, instead raising a hand and ordering his subordinates to chase after her teammates. Before they could even move Ami's sword sliced through the air like a silver flash. Instantly a small crevice was carved between her and the Kumo-nin; she seemed to have at least caught their attention.
"Don't ignore me." She growled. "You won't cross that line." All four of the Shinobi looked at her in interest before all of them reached for their respective blade.
"If it is a Kenjutsu fight you want young Konoha Kunoichi, then you have chosen poor opponents." Despite the taunt from the far-more stoic squad leader Ami couldn't but help smirking cheekily.
"Oh I know, I'll try to go easy on you guys."
Ami collapsed to her knees, her body battered and cut all over as she crept backwards across the ground. It was useless though, behind her only lay a high cliff and below that a rather uninviting river roared faintly in her ears. She'd like to think she had put up a fair fight, keeping the Kumo shinobi at least occupied for a few minutes in what she hoped was enough time for her teammates to escape. However soon enough the others had peeled off, leaving her to face against their captain alone. It quickly became obvious who was more proficient with the sword. She took pride in the small wounds she had managed to inflict.
"I praise your teacher, he taught you well." The red-haired man spoke as he advanced on the beaten girl, spinning his blade once to remove it of her blood before sheathing it on his back. Ami would have felt insulted at the gesture but honestly, she was only barely able to crawl at this point, never mind launch any kind of assault. She couldn't even speak, the man seemed fond of aiming for the throat with his hilt and despite never giving him a direct hit the repeated attacks had taken their toll. Still, she settled for flipping him the bird as she inched her way closer to the cliff; Anko would expect no less.
"Cute." The man intoned drolly as Ami finally reached the cliff; with nowhere left to go he slowed his pace, advancing forward with an easy gait. However for just a moment he saw her eyes flicker downwards, his own widening in response as she suddenly used the last of her strength to push herself back. He jumped forward to catch her but only grasped at air as she fell out of his reach and into the swirling waters below. He gave the foaming waters a cursory glance before sighing at the wasted potential and walking away.
A solitary man slowly walked down the sand bank of a river, hands in his cloak's pockets. It was relaxing to watch the waters ebb and flow endlessly. However something one wouldn't normally expect to find in such a place caught his eye. A young girl, her clothing torn and shredded with injuries littering her body, was tiredly, and with great effort, dragging herself onto shore with what seemed to be her only working arm. From the state of her it seemed miraculous she was even conscious and the man approached carefully.
She didn't even seem to notice him until he was almost directly next to her, and that was only because she had rolled herself over and lay there gasping on the river bank like some beached fish. At that point her entire field of vision was taken up by his face; at least it would have been if it weren't for the mask covering it. The last thing she focused before the energy finally left her body was the glint of red she caught behind the mask's single eye hole.